MacRumors

Adobe is offering customers a 20% spring discount on some of its editing software (via AppleInsider), dropping the price of Lightroom 4, Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11 by $30.

Lightroom 4, originally priced at $149, is designed for photographers, offering up an array of powerful image adjustment tools. Though Adobe recently launched a beta version of Lightroom 5, the updated software will not be released until later this year.

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Adobe's Photoshop Elements 11 provides several tools from the more robust Photoshop CS6 at a lower cost, and Premiere Elements 11 is designed for video editing. Both Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements are priced at $99, though a bundle of the two is also available for $149. The $30 discount applies to the bundle as well as the individual titles.

The discounted software can be purchased directly from Adobe using the code "SPRING30," until May 11 when the promotion ends.

In mid–2012 rumors surfaced that Boost Mobile might begin offering the iPhone late in the year. Those rumors didn't come to fruition, but a new tweet from @evleaks (via 9to5Mac) suggests that the Sprint subsidiary might gain the iPhone during the third quarter of 2013.

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If the rumor is true, Boost Mobile would become the fourth major prepaid carrier to offer the iPhone after Cricket Wireless, Virgin Mobile, and Walmart brand Straight Talk.

Boost Mobile is known for its $50 per month plan, which includes unlimited talk time, unlimited texting, and unlimited data. With Shrinkage, a reward for paying bills in a timely manner, Boost Mobile unlimited plans can go as low as $35. It is not known, however, if the carrier's current plans will apply to the iPhone.

The original iPhone will soon be considered obsolete in Apple Retail Stores according to an internal Apple document shared by 9to5Mac. Products considered 'obsolete' are ineligible for service parts and documentation at retail stores and cannot be repaired at mail-in AppleCare Repair Centers.

Apple typically makes products 'obsolete' or 'vintage' five years after they are discontinued, though there are some exceptions where required by law. The original iPhone went on sale in June 2007 and was discontinued in July 2008 when the iPhone 3G was released.

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Other Apple products that will be considered 'vintage' as of June 11, 2013 include the mid-2007 models of the iMac, the late 2006 model Xserve, and the original Mac Pro. 9to5Mac has the list of newly minted vintage and obsolete products, while Apple maintains a list of all products named vintage or obsolete going back to the Apple II.

Related Forum: iPhone

GdtTwo brothers, Patrick and Daniel Klug, recently released their first game called 'Game Dev Tycoon'. In it, players start a small game development company in the 1980's and attempt to build it up to a development powerhouse over the next 30 years.

In a bit of an experiment, the Klugs released a cracked version of their game and uploaded it themselves to a torrent site. However, in the pirated version, the in-game developers begin to run into crippling piracy that eventually drives them into bankruptcy. In-game CEO's receive this message:

Boss, it seems that while many players play our new game, they steal it by downloading a cracked version rather than buying it legally.

If players don’t buy the games they like, we will sooner or later go bankrupt.

Players who downloaded the game illegally then began posting questions in the game's support forums asking how to better fight the pirates.

After the first weekend, the company had 3100 gamers playing the cracked version, with 214 playing the genuine edition.

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The game itself would be enjoyed by any fans of the tycoon series of games -- as CEO of the game company, players can research new technologies and game types, while hiring new employees and making bigger and bigger video games.

Fictional versions of major game platforms like NES, Sony PlayStation and the Xbox are all used in the game, with some clever thinking required to figure out what types of games will be bestsellers.

Game Dev Tycoon for Mac is $7.99 straight from the developers, with access to Windows and Linux versions also included in the purchase price.

jonathan_iveEchoing recent reports about a redesigned 'flatter' user interface in iOS 7, 9to5Mac says the next version of the operating system will lose "all signs of gloss, shine and skeuomorphism".

Jony Ive took charge of all Apple's user interface teams last October following a management shakeup.

While the look of the updated system may be surprising to some, iOS 7 is reportedly not more difficult to use than earlier versions of software platform. There is apparently no new learning curve in the same way there was no learning curve when the iPods went color. While iOS 7 does look different, its core apps and system fundamentals (like the Lock and Home screens) mostly operate in a similar fashion to how they do today.

iOS 7 is codenamed “Innsbruck,” according to three people familiar with the OS. The interface changes include an all-new icon set for Apple’s native apps in addition to newly designed tool bars, tab bars, and other fundamental interface features across the system.

9to5Mac says Apple's engineers are looking to add more at-a-glance information to iOS, while keeping the system easy to use for less tech-savvy customers. The article notes that Apple has looked at ideas to implement new panels with swipes from the left and the right of the screen, much like how the Notification Center currently drops from above.

Apple's industrial design is the face of the company for many customers and with Ive heading up both the software and hardware teams, there could be a closer connection between the devices themselves and what users actually see on the screen going forward.

Tag: 9to5Mac
Related Forum: iOS 7

stockbuybackAhead of last week's earnings release, Apple announced that it would more than double its capital return program from $45 billion to $100 billion, with a 15 percent increase in dividend payments and a massive stock buyback initiative.

To facilitate the expanded capital return program, which will amount to a share repurchase of $60 billion, Apple must take on debt, a process that the company initiated today. According to Reuters, Apple has begun investor calls, led by both Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, and it has filed the necessary SEC paperwork for a debt offering.

The only major tech company without a penny of debt on its books, Apple stunned the markets last week by announcing it could sell debt for the first time to help fund a $100 billion capital return program for shareholders.

Any bond offer from the makers of the iconic iPhone and iPad would be highly sought after by investors, and it is believed the company could raise funds at a cheaper rate than even Triple A rated Microsoft.

Apple has a long history with both Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. According to Bloomberg, the former advised Apple on its takeover of Next Computer, while the latter has been advising Apple on a cash plan. It is unknown if one of the two banks will lead the upcoming bond offering.

Though Apple has a cash pile that exceeds $145 billion, only a portion of that is available in the United States, leaving the company unable to fully fund its stock buyback. Borrowing money will allow Apple to avoid the taxes that it would incur moving money from overseas.

nokiaMicrosoft has introduced a new commercial (via The Verge) that plays on the ongoing conflict between Samsung and Apple. In the spot, iPhone and Samsung enthusiasts interrupt a wedding with a heated argument over which phone is better.

"Would you mind moving your enormous phone?" an iPhone owner asks a Galaxy user, who goes on to call it "enormously awesome." This kicks off an all out brawl, where insults like "iSheep" and "Copybox" are traded back and forth.

Two Nokia Lumia 920 owners stand by the sidelines, where one asks "You think if they knew about the Nokia Lumia they'd stop fighting all the time?" "I don't know," the other replies. "I think they kind of like fighting." The commercial, which strays away from mentioning specific phone features, positions the Windows Phone as a clear alternative to the iPhone and the Galaxy line, ending with the line "Don't fight. Switch."


The Lumia line, which first debuted in late 2011, sports Microsoft's Windows and marked Nokia's shift away from Symbian. The company's flagship phone, the Nokia Lumia 920, comes in a range of bright colors and sports a 4.5-inch screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and 1GB of RAM.

A recently conducted survey shows that Microsoft has a lot of work to do to convince smartphone users to choose its phones over those offered by Samsung and Apple. Microsoft is predicted to show a small amount of growth over the next few years, but is expected to remain dwarfed by iOS and Android phone sales well into the future.

SquareCredit card processing company Square has updated its Register app with a number of new features to make it easier to use in restaurants, as well as speeding up checkout in other types of retail businesses.

For the iPad edition, restaurants can attach a customer's name to their order, as well as customize orders with modifiers like "no pickles" -- and the app also has gained the ability to connect to Bluetooth barcode scanners for retail outlets.

What's new

New on iPhone:

- Item library: Add items to a sale with a tap. Build your item library to simplify and speed up checkout. Customize items with photos, names, and prices.
- Smarter payment pad: Add multiple custom amounts to a sale, add notes to each amount, and view or edit all amounts in one place before charging.
- Custom Tipping: Allow customers to enter custom tip amounts.
- New look: Ring up customers and edit settings more easily than ever with an all-new design.

New on iPad:

- Easy order modifiers: Customize orders at the counter and send them to your kitchen while your line keeps moving.
- Customizable kitchen tickets: Include a custom name or number on each kitchen ticket.
- Barcode scanning: Sync your Bluetooth barcode scanner with Square Register to speed up your checkout.


Square can be used by a variety of businesses to take credit card payments on the go or at fixed locations.

Square Register is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Last month, Google briefly leaked a video showing that its information aggregation tool Google Now would be coming to iOS. Several weeks later, Google chairman Eric Schmidt was asked about Google Now for iOS, and he noted that "you'll need to discuss that with Apple", although it was later confirmed that Google had not submitted a version of Google Now to the iOS App Store.

Roughly a month later, Google Now has now appeared in the App Store as part of a revamped version 3.0 of the company's Google Search app.

Get just the right information at just the right time with Google Now.

- weather and traffic conditions before you start your day
- updates on your favorite sports teams and breaking news stories as they happen

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The Verge has a brief preview of what users can expect from Google Now on iOS:

The look and feel of the app is virtually identical on both platforms, a testament to Google's newfound ability to make well-designed apps on iOS. The main differences between Android and iOS are few, mainly in that iOS can display fewer different kinds of cards. "The types of Google Now cards available are largely the same on both platforms," says Baris Gultekin, Director of Product Management for Google Now.

On iOS, the Google Search app can't be launched with a system-wide shortcut (unless you are a jailbreaker) and it can't do the same kind of background sync that Now can do on Android. However, Google tells us that it will support the iOS background location feature, so that at least it won't need to spend as long hunting for your position when you open up the Search app.


Google reports that 22 of the 29 card types found on the Android version of Google Now are making their way to the iOS version, with airline boarding passes, Fandango, and local events being among those not making the transition.

Google Search with Google Now functionality is available now in the App Store. [Direct Link]

9to5Mac shares some details on Apple's upcoming OS X 10.9 operating system, noting that the update will focus in large part on "power-user" features while also incorporating a few more concepts from the company's iOS operating system. Among the enhancements said to be included in OS X 10.9, codenamed "Cabernet":

- New tabbed browsing and tags in Finder
- Redesigned backend for Safari to bring "improved page loading, speed, and efficiency"
- Ability to keep a dedicated Space or full-screen app open on a single monitor within a multiple monitor setup

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On the user interface side, the report suggests that there will be some changes, but that they "will not be drastic ones". As part of a management shakeup late last year, Apple's hardware design chief Jonathan Ive also took on responsibility for the Human Interface group on the software side, and it seems to be unclear how widely any changes resulting from his vision will show up in OS X 10.9.

Today's report also indicates that Apple has been working on new ideas for multitasking that could be included in OS X 10.9, drawing some inspiration from iOS.

According to one source, Apple has been testing a new multi-tasking system for OS X that is similar to the quick-app-switcher function on iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. The multitasking feature will be functional for applications in the background, according to this person. Additionally, Apple could use app-pausing technologies from iOS to pause background application processes in OS X. This is significant as full performance could be given to foreground apps, which could help optimize battery life on Apple’s notebook computers.

Finally, the report draws into question previous claims of Siri integration in OS X 10.9, suggesting that changes to Apple's management structure have led to a complete reexamination of feature plans, and thus it is now unclear to what extent Siri will be integrated into OS X 10.9.

Apple will be showing off its next versions of both OS X and iOS and its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) scheduled for June 10-14 in San Francisco. Last week, tickets for the conference sold out in two minutes.

Tag: 9to5Mac

iphone5frontback.jpgAs a part of The Huffington Post's "iTheft" series of articles detailing the black market for stolen iPhones, the website has posted a new feature that takes an inside look at how the San Francisco Police Department handles its stolen iPhone sting operations.

The man in the hoodie is indeed a policeman: Officer Tom Lee is playing the role of decoy in a sting operation targeting buyers of stolen iPhones. Beneath his sweatshirt, he wears a small recording device taped to his chest. Lee approaches a heavy-set man standing outside the red awning of a Carl's Jr. burger restaurant. The man wears glasses and a black pinstripe suit. He inspects the iPhone and offers $100.

Lee takes the cash, hands over the phone and gives the signal. Four officers swoop in and place the man in handcuffs, notching another arrest in the intensifying cat-and-mouse game playing out here and in other major American cities between law enforcement and criminals looking to profit from the burgeoning trade in stolen mobile devices.

The sting operation was one of many set up to try to poison the iPhone black market in San Francisco with "fear and distrust" so that would-be buyers and sellers would be wary of engaging in any illegal transactions.

To facilitate the arrests, the SFPD solicited help from Apple. The company loaned a number of iPhones to the department, which plain clothes officers "sold" while undercover. Officer Lee himself is an Apple "expert," having been employed at an Apple retail store before joining the SFPD.

As noted by The Huffington Post, the program has a number of critics that question both its efficiency and its legality, equating it to little more than entrapment.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, nearly half of the robberies in the city have involved smartphones, which lines up with what a New York police officer said in 2011 when a similar sting operation led to 141 arrests.

The popularity of the iPhone and the iPad has also led to additional crimes such as counterfeiting, which Apple has fought in the past through lawsuits.

Along with his recent research note addressing Apple's notebook launch plans, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also published a note examining Apple's iPad prospects.

In particular, Kuo looks to the iPad mini as the future of the company's iPad portfolio, but with Apple's efforts to bring a Retina display to the device said to be pushing a launch back to the fourth quarter of this year, he suggests that Apple may be looking at a lower-priced iPad mini.

Prior to iPad mini 2 launch, Apple might roll out a more affordable iPad mini to compete with Android products. To cut costs, Apple might push for lower component prices, use a more advanced process to produce the A5 processor, simplify metal casing production, remove the rear camera, cut storage to 8GB and find more component suppliers to lower costs. We think this cheaper iPad mini retail for US$199~249.

Kuo does not believe that such a device would offer a significant boost to Apple's overall iPad sales, but it could help stave off erosion at the low end of the market at the hands of cheaper Android-based tablets.

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The $199-$249 price range is one that many potential customers had hoped Apple would be able to hit with the original iPad mini, but the company surprised many by introducing the iPad mini starting at $329. Even at that pricing, Apple has noted a number of times that the iPad mini's profit margins are below the company average.

Apple is said to be pursuing a similar strategy for the iPhone, working on a lower-cost iPhone with a polycarbonate shell rumored for launch later this year.

Overall, Kuo sees relatively small sales growth for the iPad in 2013, with the full-size iPad being cannibalized by the popular iPad mini and the upgraded iPad mini with Retina display not debuting until late in the year.

With Android tablets also beginning to gain footholds in some markets and driving Apple's estimated share of the tablet market below 50% in recent quarters, Kuo expects that Apple will remain competitive but see relatively slow growth until the launch of the Retina iPad mini.

Related Roundup: iPad mini
Buyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a new report forecasting that the product highlight of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which kicks off on June 10, will be the introduction of new models of the company's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lines based on Intel's latest Haswell processors. The projection is in line with previous reports from Kuo and other sources, as well as recent claims that Apple will begin ramping up production of the new models in mid-May.

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On the MacBook Pro side, Kuo is reversing his earlier predictions suggesting that 2013 would see Apple discontinue the non-Retina MacBook Pro lineup and shift consumers to the slimmer and more expensive Retina line introduced at last year's WWDC. Kuo believes that continued strength of non-Retina MacBook Pro models, particularly the 13-inch line, have led Apple to continue producing the non-Retina lineup for the time being.

Contrary to our previous projection, we now think Apple will continue to make the MacBook Pro alongside the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro because the 13” MacBook Pro remains the most popular product in the MacBook line. Also, there is still demand in emerging markets, where Internet penetration isn’t advanced, for optical disk drives.

Kuo believes that the updated versions of the non-Retina MacBook Pro could begin shipping very soon after WWDC, but that the new Retina MacBook Pro models will begin shipping somewhat later due to production bottlenecks on the displays.

For the MacBook Air, Kuo also believes that the new models will be introduced at WWDC and ship very soon after, but he indicates that Apple is unlikely to include Retina displays in the updated lineup. He believes that cost, thickness, and production concerns will continue to keep Retina displays out of Apple's lowest-cost and thinnest notebook line for the time being.

Related Roundups: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air
Related Forums: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air

wwdcApple today announced on its developer news website that it will be "hitting the road" with individual Tech Talk sessions for developers this fall (via The Next Web). The news comes a day after tickets for the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) sold out in two minutes.

Enthusiasm for WWDC 2013 has been incredible, with tickets selling out in record time. For those who can’t join us in San Francisco, you can still take advantage of great WWDC content, as we’ll be posting videos of all our sessions during the conference. We’ll also be hitting the road this fall with Tech Talks in a city near you. Hope to see you there.

With the quick sellout, even some developers who thought they were purchasing their tickets in time experienced difficulties with the checkout process, and Apple contacted some of those affected developers yesterday to offer them a second chance at purchasing tickets. For those who missed out on WWDC tickets but would still like to take advantage of some the excitement and opportunities surrounding the event, a free alternative to WWDC called AltWWDC has also been announced.

Still, demand for access to Apple engineers remains high, and the company has apparently seen fit to revive its Tech Talks tour in order to make contact with additional developers who are unable to attend WWDC.

Apple has not yet announced which cities the Tech Talks will take place in, but the company may share more details around WWDC, which takes place June 10-14 at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco. Apple last held its Tech Talks tour to support the launch of iOS 5 in late 2011 and early 2012, taking its show to 9 cities around the world.

Earlier this week, Apple filed another revised plan for its "Campus 2" project in Cupertino, a new headquarters for the company focused on a massive ring-shaped building and designed to house 13,000 employees.

In line with that revised plan, Apple has once again solicited residents of Cupertino for feedback on the project now that additional details on environmental sustainability and neighborhood enhancements have been fleshed out. Apple made a similar mailing last May when the project was in an earlier stage of conceptualization.

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Click for larger

This week's mailing includes a new letter from Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer outlining some of the highlights of the project for neighbors:

At Apple, the environment is a top priority, and we've designed Apple Campus 2 with cutting-edge features to make it energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable. Several of these green technologies are highlighted in this update.

As at our existing campus on Infinite Loop, we are committed to 100% renewable energy to power Apple Campus 2. This will include onsite generation from photovoltaics and fuel cells. As part of this effort, approximately 8 megawatts of photovoltaics will be installed, creating one the largest installations of its kind on a corporate campus anywhere in the world.

Apple started in Cupertino, and we are excited to continue to grow here. As we build the new campus, we also plan to invest in new roadways and intersection improvements, add new sidewalks and better bike lanes, and plant new trees in newly created medians in the surrounding neighborhood.

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Click for larger

As with the previous mailing, Apple includes a postage-paid response card allowing neighbors to provide feedback on the project and invites neighbors to view additional project details on the City of Cupertino's website.

(Thanks, Ian!)

luca_maestriFormer Xerox CFO Luca Maestri officially joined Apple as Corporate Controller in late February and a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published earlier today reveals that he received 38,091 restricted stock units (RSUs) in March of this year.

As with most RSUs handed out by Apple, these carry staggered vesting dates with 1/8 of the total number of units converting to actual shares every six months over a four year period.

Apple's restricted stock grants are often issued as incentives to stay with the company because the shares vest over time and require employees to remain employed through each vesting date.

At Apple's current stock price, Maestri's RSUs are worth approximately $15 million, but that total will shift depending on the stock price at the time that the shares vest.

In his role as Corporate Controller, Maestri works directly under Apple senior vice president and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer. Before serving as CFO at Xerox, Maestri formerly worked at Nokia Siemens Networks and GM.

As noted by The Verge, a strange iMessage bug is causing the final word of certain phrases sent via Messages to an iPhone to be invisible to both the message sender and the recipient.

When the following two phrases are sent using iMessage, the last word is not displayed on the iPhone:

- I could be the next Obama (with a space after Obama)
- The best prize is a surprise

imessagebug
Both messages look complete when they are being composed, and the full text shows up in notifications, but within the Messages app itself, the words Obama and surprise are both invisible. Copying and pasting the message displays the original text.

Many Twitter users have been able to confirm the problem, which only appears to affect the iPhone.

The bug was first noticed back in December and posted on the Apple Support forums. It appears that additional phrases trigger the truncation as well, though it is unclear what is causing the issue.

Update: As noted on the MacRumors forums, the issue appears to be related to character width. From Arian19:

You can test it out, and even if you change “I could be the next Odama ” as the phrase it still gets deleted.

The problem is that the message app, thinks the phrase will fit in a one line bubble, but it actually puts the last word on a hidden second line.

It works with these two phrases because they are the exact width needed, and it is not based on character count, but character width. For example, "l" is skinner than a "w".

Apple's market share of the worldwide smartphone market may have slipped, but a new Yankee Group survey (via AllThingsD) shows some promising data points for the company.

In a survey of 16,000 U.S. smartphone users, the company found 91 percent of iPhone owners plan to purchase another iPhone when it's time to upgrade, while for Android the number is just 76 percent. And, three quarters of those looking to switch from Android plan to buy an iPhone.

Yankee Group believes the incredible customer loyalty that Apple holds will drive market share gains well into the future. The firm predicts that, if these loyalty numbers hold, Apple will surpass Android in U.S. market share by 2015.

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Think of the Apple and Android ecosystems as two buckets of water. New smartphone buyers — mostly upgrading feature phone owners — fall like rain into the two big buckets about equally, with a smaller number falling into Windows Phone and BlackBerry buckets. However, the Android bucket leaks badly, losing about one in five of all the owners put into it. The Apple bucket leaks only about 7 percent of its contents, so it retains more of the customers that fall into it. The Apple bucket will fill up faster and higher than the Android one, regardless of the fact that the Apple bucket may have had fewer owners in it to begin with.

The iPhone has traditionally demonstrated strong platform loyalty, and Tim Cook has played up both Apple's ecosystem of interconnected devices and apps, and the iPhone's "halo effect" as significant strengths for the company in recent earnings calls.