Last night, a numberofemployees of longtime Mac developer Ambrosia Software tweeted that they had been let go from their jobs and that the company was shutting down.
Mr. Welch didn't say if Ambrosia is scaling back on its app lineup, but his confirmation that the company isn't shutting down is good news for the people that rely on its products. Snapz Pro X and WireTap Studio, for example, are critical tools for many writers, bloggers, and podcasters, and losing those would mean some serious redesigning of workflows.
Ambrosia has a long line of games and utilities that it has developed and distributed over the years, including Deimos Rising which came preinstalled on a number of Macs ten years ago, and the Asteroids-style shooter Maelstrom that put the company on the map in 1993.
Real Racing 3 received its first major update today, adding two new cars from Chevrolet, including the Cobalt SS and the Camaro ZL1. Players will also find 100 new events, along with a new event type called Hunter Chase.
In Hunter Chase, the idea is to chase down a target car and overtake it within a single lap. With the additional events, Real Racing 3 now offers players more than 1,000 total events.
Most importantly, this update brings Cloud Save functionality, allowing players the option to transfer save data between multiple devices, a feature that was noticeably missing at release. There are a few other minor additions to the game, like new social features, an improved tutorial, and performance optimizations.
-New manufacturer – Chevrolet! The Cobalt SS and the Camaro ZL1 join the lineup -New event type – Hunter! Chase down the hunted car and overtake within one lap –100+ new events! Total number of events now exceeds 1,000! -Cloud Save functionality! Transfer your save data between devices -New social features! See who is online and compare how your friends are doing with the statistics leaderboard -Check your TSM mailbox for the latest friend notifications -Improved tutorial and main menu -Numerous additional improvements, fixes, and performance optimizations
Despite a controversial release due to its freemium gameplay, Real Racing 3 has proven to be a popular title. It is still ranked as the number one racing game in the App Store and remains in the top 20 free games list.
Bloomberg reports on comments from a U.S. District Court judge in Miami chastising Apple and Google for engaging in patent lawsuits as part of a broader business strategy rather than focusing on resolution of the disputes. The judge is currently overseeing a legal dispute that began with an initial complaint by Motorola Mobility in late 2010 and was expanded in January 2012 with the approval of Google, which had agreed to acquire Motorola several months earlier.
“The parties have no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute; they instead are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end,” U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami said in an order dated yesterday. “That is not a proper use of this court.”
Scola went on to blast the companies' "obstreperous and cantankerous conduct" in refusing to streamline the 12 patents and over 180 claims currently involved in the lawsuit.
“Without a hint of irony, the parties now ask the court to mop up a mess they made by holding a hearing to reduce the size and complexity of the case,” he wrote. “The court declines this invitation.”
Scola has given Apple and Google four months in which to streamline the case on their own before he puts the case on hold.
Several weeks ago, photos of a pair of parts alleged to be from the iPhone 5S surfaced through a Japanese parts vendor. The parts included a flex cable for the device's home button and a second flex cable housing the vibrator and volume/mute controls.
Another Japanese parts vendor, iLab Factory, has now posted a new set of photos showing not only those two parts but also a third flex cable that appears to house the device's front camera. iLab Factory points out that these parts may be from the iPhone 5S but could alternatively be from Apple's rumored lower-cost iPhone.
Vibrator/audio control flex cable for iPhone 5S or lower-cost iPhone
One interesting item of note that we neglected to point out in our previous report relates to the vibrator/volume control flex cable. The part contains a strip of three buttons to run along the edge of the device, corresponding to the locations of the two volume buttons and the mute switch on previous iPhone models. But on this part, all three features appear to be buttons, suggesting that this upcoming iPhone may see the mute switch become a push button.
iPhone 5 audio control cable with mute switch boxed in red (Source: iFixit)
iLab Factory also notes that the vibrator in this part uses a dual-head design, which is distinct from the iPhone 5 vibrator design, although it is unclear what may have prompted the change.
The other two parts shared by iLab Factory reveal little information, with the home button flex cable appearing essentially identical to the previously seen part except for a part number change from 821-1684-01 to 821-1684-02. These parts do, however, contain a significantly longer cable than seen on the corresponding iPhone 5 part.
The layout of the front camera flex cable is nearly identical to the corresponding iPhone 5 part, although this leaked part is missing the microphone and other sensors seen on the iPhone 5 part offered by iFixit.
Fierce Wirelessreports that while discussing Verizon's LTE investment at the National Association of Broadcasters conference yesterday, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam claimed that he convinced Steve Jobs to add LTE to the iPhone.
"I was really trying to sell him and he sat there without any reaction. Finally, he said, 'Enough. You had me at 10 Mbps. I know you can stream video at 10 Mbps.' And Apple's next phone was LTE," McAdam said.
McAdam did not indicate the timing of his conversation with Jobs or whether he was CEO at the time, but he was appointed Verizon CEO in August 2011. The next iPhone released was the iPhone 4S, which did not include LTE.
In April 2011, Tim Cook had said that LTE chipsets at that point in time forced Apple to make design compromises the company wasn't willing to make. Two of those design compromises were likely battery life, as LTE chipsets consumed a lot of power at the time, and size, as the need for multiple chips required more space than Apple was willing to dedicate inside the device.
Months later, in August 2011, it was reported that Apple was testing an LTE-enabled iPhone and was hiring additional LTE engineers with the first LTE iPhone arriving as the iPhone 5 in September 2012.
At yesterday's session, McAdam also claimed that half of wireless data traffic is now video, predicting that two-thirds of Verizon's network capacity will be used for video by 2017.
Research firm IDC today released its preliminary calculations of PC shipments for the first quarter of 2013, finding the worst year-over-year performance in the nearly 20-year history of its tracking studies. According to IDC's numbers, the worldwide PC market declined nearly 14% compared to the first quarter of 2012, with the U.S. market declining by nearly 13%.
Despite some mild improvement in the economic environment and some new PC models offering Windows 8, PC shipments were down significantly across all regions compared to a year ago. Fading Mini Notebook shipments have taken a big chunk out of the low-end market while tablets and smartphones continue to divert consumer spending. PC industry efforts to offer touch capabilities and ultraslim systems have been hampered by traditional barriers of price and component supply, as well as a weak reception for Windows 8. The PC industry is struggling to identify innovations that differentiate PCs from other products and inspire consumers to buy, and instead is meeting significant resistance to changes perceived as cumbersome or costly.
While Apple's performance was far from stellar, the company did outperform the market by showing only a 7.5% decline in shipments in the United States. Apple's performance allowed it increase its third-place share of the U.S. market from 9.4% to 10.0% as leaders HP and Dell saw significant declines, but a smaller decline from Toshiba and strong growth from Lenovo placed those vendors close behind Apple.
IDC's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q13 (Thousands of Units)
Apple does not rank on IDC's list of top five vendors on a worldwide basis, with Asus holding down the bottom spot at 5.7% of the market. Lenovo was, however, the only one of the top five worldwide vendors to avoid major declines in PC shipments, managing to hold steady amid the declining market.
Update: Gartner has released its own data showing a similar picture for the PC market as a whole, estimating an 11.2% year-over-year decline for the worldwide market and a 9.6% decline in the United States.
Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q13 (Thousands of Units)
Gartner's numbers for Apple in the United States, however, show a completely different story, with Apple's shipments estimated to have risen by 7.4% compared to IDC's estimate of a 7.5% decline.
Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-1Q13 (Gartner)
M.I.C. gadget points to a report [Google translation] from Chinese tech site Zol.com.cn earlier this week claiming that Apple Senior Vice President for Operations Jeff Williams is currently in China dealing with the public relations fallout from criticism of the company's iPhone warranty policies in that country.
The criticism appeared to have been coordinated by China's state-run media, with an investigative television special highlighting customer service issues and the government-run channel having reportedly organized a series of celebrity posts on microblogging site Sina Weibo targeting Apple. Criticism continued in the form of several articles in state-run newspapers taking Apple to task for its public statements regarding warranty terms and its refusal to grant interviews to the media.
Last week, Apple published an open letter from CEO Tim Cook on its Chinese site announcing changes to iPhone 4 and 4S warranty policies, along with clearer support information and additional training for service providers.
Williams has been at Apple since 1998 and was promoted to the senior vice president level in mid-2010 as then-Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook began to take on more responsibilities from Steve Jobs. Williams has traveled to China a number of times as part of his oversight of Apple's massive operations there, and has also led much of Apple's efforts on improving working conditions for the over 1,000,000 workers in Apple's supply chain.
A job listing posted by Apple earlier this month indicates the company is indeed looking at using flexible displays in future products, along with high optical efficiency LCD and AMOLED units. The listing was first noticed by 9to5Mac.
The listing, for a Senior Optical Engineer, asks for someone with experience in the design, development and technical investigation of display technologies, along with a Ph.D or M.S. in physics, optics, material science or electrical engineering.
Recent rumors have suggested Apple is looking at curved glass displays for products like the iWatch, where a flexible display could make sense -- though Apple has applied for patents relating to curved glass screens on the iPhone as well. The presence of a job listing is no indication of future products, however, and Apple's research and development labs are always investigating future products.
Corning, which makes the Gorilla Glass that is used as the front glass for the iPhone suggests flexible 'Willow Glass' displays are unlikely to appear for at least three years.
Update: The job listing seeking a Senior Optical Engineer has been removed by Apple.
ZDNet has shared a roadmap it received from a source who claims it is the timetable for Microsoft's plans for both the Mac and iOS versions of Office.
The map says a new version of Office for Mac will arrive in April 2014, while the long rumored Microsoft Office for iOS and Android will arrive next Autumn, in October 2014.
I do not know how old this purported roadmap is, but my contact indicated it was likely current as of the start of 2013. I asked Microsoft Office officials for comment on the alleged roadmap, but they declined to do so.
The most recent report, from this past December, suggested that Apple and Microsoft were in negotiations over revenue share as part of Microsoft's Office 365 subscription service that launched in January. Apple wants the standard 70/30 split in revenue that is part of its developer license agreement for every developer.
Microsoft itself has leaked references to Office Mobile for iPhone, Excel for iPad, and PowerPoint for iPad, making clear that Microsoft does have iOS versions in the works.
Foursquare has been updated to version 6.0, which includes a significant redesign that brings the Explore section to the forefront of the app. Previously Explore’s search capabilities were hidden away, requiring a tap to access the search menu.
With the new Foursquare 6.0, we've crunched our billions of check-ins to instantly show you the most interesting things nearby. They're insights that only Foursquare can deliver, the moment you open up the app. We also put search front-and-center, so you can find whatever you're craving fast.
The updated app provides a text search bar at the top of the home screen and a robust autocomplete engine provides quicker location suggestions and search results.
The overall look of the app has changed, with Foursquare combining previously separated sections into one major feed that lists friend check-ins, restaurant recommendations, and trending locations. Checking in, the cornerstone of the app, can now be accomplished with by tapping a prominent button on the home screen.
Foursquare is a free iPhone app that can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]
The new SimCity will ship for the Mac on June 11, EA reported today. Gamers will be able to purchase SimCity for Mac as a $60 digital download via Origin, EA's Steam-like digital store that launched earlier this year, as well as other digital retailers. Owners of the PC version of SimCity will receive the Mac version for free, and vice versa.
EA is emphasizing that this is not simply a Mac "port" of the Windows version, but instead is a native version of the game designed specifically for the Mac. The software renderer has been rewritten for OpenGL, but the Mac version will use the same servers as the PC edition so gamers can play together regardless of what platform they are using.
"SimCity is coming to Mac on June 11 and one purchase will give you both the Mac and PC versions. You only need to buy SimCity once to play together across the same servers, regardless of which version you’re playing," said Lucy Bradshaw, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA’s Maxis Label. "We didn’t want to make any compromises when it came to the Mac so we created a native version that is optimized for the hardware and OSX."
SimCity's launch was more than a little rocky, largely because the game can only be played online. EA requires that the game be connected to its servers at all times to facilitate region play where multiple cities are connected to share utilities and citizenry.
At launch, SimCity's servers were overwhelmed with traffic and the gameplay experience was extremely poor. Today, EA seems to have ironed out the bugs and users are playing the game as intended. The company recently turned the 'Cheetah' speed mode back on after disabling it to reduce load on the servers after SimCity's initial release.
EA originally said SimCity would come to the Mac in February of this year, but pushed that ship date back.
As noted by Mac Otakara, Japanese firm ACCESS today announced [Google translation] that Apple has agreed to license a set of patents related to Palm's smartphone technology. ACCESS acquired the patents when it purchased PalmSource in 2005.
ACCESS notes that the portfolio of patents, which was licensed to Samsung in 2011, includes intellectual property from Palm, PalmSource, Bell Communications Research, and Geoworks.
The press release from ACCESS indicates that it will record roughly 1 billion yen ($10 million) in revenue for the quarter as part of the deal, which closed on March 31. ACCESS will evaluate the impact of the deal on the following quarter and full fiscal year and will revise its earnings forecast appropriately.
Less than a week after a report from Bloomberg Businessweek outlined how Steve Jobs' strict requirements for "fit and finish" at the company's upcoming Norman Foster-designed Apple Campus 2 in Cupertino have seen the cost of the massive project balloon to $5 billion, Marketing reports [via Pocket-lint] that Foster's firm has been tapped to work on retail store projects for Apple.
Sources close to the project said Foster + Partners, which has designed buildings including the McLaren Technology Centre and Hearst Tower in New York, is helping Apple on the retail store design brief. [...]
A Foster + Partners spokeswoman said: "Any project for Apple is confidential and therefore we are unable to comment."
Apple has long worked with design firm 8 Inc on its retail stores, dating back to store-within-a-store concepts that preceded Apple's own retail locations. The retail partnership between 8 Inc and Apple built upon a previous arrangement that saw 8 Inc assisting with the design of Apple's displays at Macworld trade shows.
While 8 Inc has long served as Apple's design partner for the company's retail stores, architectural expertise for many of Apple's high-profile locations has been provided by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.
It currently remains unclear how extensive the relationship between Apple and Foster + Partners will be for retail stores, including whether 8 Inc and/or Bohlin Cywinski Jackson are being entirely replaced.
The Korea Times reports that Samsung has been excluded from Apple's plans for its next-generation A7 system-on-a-chip expected to be released next year to power upcoming iOS devices. According to the report, Apple is moving forward with plans to shift production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
"Apple is sharing confidential data for its next A7 system-on-chip (SoC) with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). TSMC has begun ordering its contractors to supply equipment to produce Apple's next processors using a finer 20-nanometer level processing technology," said an executive at one of Samsung's local partners in Korea by telephone, Wednesday.
Other sources report that Samsung is hoping its own handsets can fill the gap to be left by Apple, as the firm has made significant investments in its processor production facilities, but that some lines may have to be shut down. Samsung is also seeking to increase its work producing graphics chips for NVIDIA.
The report follows similar claims from Taiwanese media last week, which indicated that Apple and TSMC were pushing forward on a 20-nm A7 design for launch early next year. Last month it was reported that Apple and TSMC had taped out a design for the A7, although considerable work remains before the chip will enter production.
With Apple's 20-nm A7 not expected until next year, it appears that the company's 2013 iOS device lineup will have to make use of other alternatives such as a die shrink of the current A6 chip from 32-nm to 28-nm or a more substantially reworked A6 chip. Apple could conceivably also have a new "A7" chip ready to go at 28-nm ahead of the move to the smaller and more efficient 20-nm process node next year.
For the past several days, we've been following the story of Apple's removal of AppGratis from the App Store. AppGratis offers a popular app discovery service with the main feature being a hand-picked app offered free each day.
Apple acknowledged that it had pulled the app for violating two App Store rules related to offering apps in a manner which might be "similar to or confusing with the App Store" and using push notifications to send out promotions. AppGratis CEO Simon Dawlat responded yesterday to note that Apple had approved the app a number of times, including an iPad version just a week ago, before a new reviewer stepped in and quickly pulled the app after being unable to contact Dawlat, who was on an airplane at the time.
AllThingsD now reports that Apple's removal of AppGratis is just the first step in a broader crackdown on such apps, with more app discovery services soon to be pulled as well.
I’m told Apple feels these apps threaten the legitimacy of the App Store charts by providing a way for developers to spend their way to a high ranking. Apple did something similar in 2011, when it rejected a number of applications running incentivized app installs within their apps.
The company also worries that such apps undermine the integrity of the App Store by cluttering it with alternative storefronts. As one source described it to me, some of these discovery apps create a scenario that’s similar to walking into Nordstrom and seeing a Walmart inside.
AppGratis notes that it is "far from finished" and that its 12 million existing users will be able to continue to use the app while the company explores its alternatives, but AllThingsD makes clear that the removal of AppGratis was not simply an error on the part of a reviewer and that AppGratis is "almost certainly finished as an iOS app — in its current incarnation, anyway".
French site Noweherelse.fr has discovered [Google translation] a pair of photos of what is said to be the front bezel of the fifth-generation iPad. In line with rumors and earlier leaks of cases and a rear shell, the new photos reveal a design inspired by the iPad mini, with narrower side bezels rather than the uniform size seen on the current iPad.
Sources appear to be split on when the fifth-generation iPad will make its debut, with some having suggested that Apple could hold an event as early as this month if the device is ready, while others have claimed that Apple is shooting for an October release. Just yesterday, Digitimes claimed that Apple is planning to ramp up production for the new iPad in the July/August timeframe.
Panic, the developers behind several popular apps such as Coda and Transmit, have released a new productivity app that allows users to easily view a variety of data relevant to their lives in a single screen.
The app, called Status Board, was accidentally released in December but was quickly pulled. It allows users to use the app's built-in panels to display information like calendar dates, tweets, email, weather, news and more. In addition, there are two "Pro Panels" that allow business users to use their own customized data sources.
Status Board offers a lot in a tiny package:
- Six Instant Panels Clock — Analog or digital, anywhere in the world. Weather — Temperature and four-day forecast. Calendar — Pick a calendar and see your appointments at a glance. Mail — Get messages counts, or see the latest Subject lines. Twitter — See the latest Tweets or the volume of tweets. Feeds — The latest headlines from your favorite sites.
- Three Pro Panels Graph — You provide the JSON or CSV data source, we make it beautiful. Table — Toss us some HTML or CSV data and we'll make a nice looking table. Do-It-Yourself — Design your own panels using HTML.
- Unbelievable Customization Resize panels. Easily change your layout. Portrait or Landscape. Select data sources to display, configure how they're presented. The power is yours.
- Easy Board Sharing Easily e-mail a Status Board configuration to colleagues or corporations and get everyone on the exact same page.
- Full-Screen External Display via HDMI or AirPlay — In-App Purchase. LAUNCH SPECIAL!* Put your data on a big, beautiful screen, formatted specifically for HDTV's. No letterboxing!
Ahead of Friday's launch of the iPhone on T-Mobile USA, the carrier has announced details on its trade-in program designed to entice current iPhone 4 and 4S users to switch carriers. The trade-in program reduces the down payment on a 16 GB iPhone 5 from $99.99 to $0, with additional credit of up $120 depending on the value of the device being traded.
“Our message to iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 customers is simple: bring in your device and trade up to iPhone 5 on T-Mobile,” said Mike Sievert, chief marketing officer for T-Mobile. “We’re making it incredibly attractive to buy an iPhone 5 by pairing an un-beatable upfront price and trade-in offer with Simple Choice, the most hassle-free and affordable rate plan in wireless.”
The offer is valid through June 16, with the additional credit applicable to monthly service fees, an outstanding balance, accessories, or another device.
T-Mobile's new "Uncarrier" service plans unbundle device costs from service plans, allowing users to finance the full cost of their devices over 24 months while signing up for contract-free service starting at $50/month.
Last night, a number of employees of longtime Mac developer Ambrosia Software tweeted that they had been let go from their jobs and that the company was shutting down.
Fierce Wireless 
ZDNet has 
