MacRumors

Siri may be able to search through and tag user photos in the future, according to a new Apple patent application published today by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (via AppleInsider). Entitled "Voice-based Image Tagging and Searching," the application describes a system allowing digital images to be tagged with various identifiers like the name of a person, a location, or an activity in a photograph, which can then be searched for via voice commands given to a "voice-based digital assistant," aka Siri.

A user could, for example, take a photograph and then speak a description of what is in the photograph. Saying a phrase like “this is me at the beach” would automatically tag a photo with the appropriate information, which could later be recalled with a simple voice-based search. Apple specifies that beyond spoken information, additional tags could be added such as a user name and location.

Moreover, because the natural-language processing is capable of inferring additional information, the tags may include additional information that the user did not explicitly say (such as the name of the person to which "me" refers), and which creates a more complete and useful tag.

Once a photograph is tagged using the disclosed tagging techniques, other photographs that are similar may be automatically tagged with the same or similar information, thus obviating the need to tag every similar photograph individually. And when a user wishes to search among his photographs, he may simply speak a request: "show me photos of me at the beach."

According to Apple, the ever increasing number of digital photographs stored on electronic devices like the iPhone have created a need for "systematic cataloging" to facilitate improved organization and simpler image searches. Current approaches to photo tagging, Apple says, are "non-intuitive, arduous, and time-consuming," with voice-based photo tagging representing a dramatic increase in both the speed and convenience of photo tagging.

Beyond recording information based on spoken text strings, Apple also suggests that its system could automatically tag photographs based on previously captured user images and data, recognizing faces, buildings, and landscapes. Based on the stored photographic data, users could then conduct voice searches via Siri, quickly locating all relevant images.

Apple first began improving its photo organizational systems with iOS 7, revamping the Photos app with information on when and where photos were taken. Images within the app can be organized into "Moments" using this information, which already provides a solid basis for the addition of photo searches to Siri in the future.

The patent application, which was originally filed on March 13, 2013 and published today, lists former Apple employee Jan Erik Solem and Thijs Willem Stalenhoef as inventors. As with all of Apple's patents and patent applications, it is unclear when and if the technology will make it into a final product.

Ahead of Christmas, the evad3rs released the evasi0n jailbreak for iOS 7, allowing Apple users with newer devices like the iPhone 5s, 5c, and Retina iPad mini to jailbreak their devices for the first time to access tweaks and apps outside of the App Store.

Shortly after the jailbreak was released to the public, controversy surfaced with Cydia administrator Jay Freeman noting that evasi0n did not include an official version of Cydia, an iOS application that allows users to install software on jailbroken devices. Freeman also revealed that the jailbreak inexplicably included a third party app store called “Taig” for Chinese users.

The Taig app store was quickly found to include pirated apps, prompting the evad3rs to explain their position via an open letter claiming no knowledge of the piracy and pledging to further investigate the issue.

Now the evad3rs have published a second open letter to the jailbreak community, announcing the removal of the Taig app store from the evasi0n jailbreak.

However, after investigation and after notification from the community, we found examples, including pirated tweaks, Apple App Store apps, and even pod2g's PodDJ app. We dropped the ball on this. While we at first did not believe Taig purposefully violated our agreement, the depth of the transgression against the software developers and the jailbreak community cannot be overlooked and we could not move forward after that even if it were fixed.

We terminated our relationship with them. We are very disappointed that they have decided to put up a cracked version of the jailbreak on their site that installs Taig. We did not give them any permission or source code.

Following the controversy, there were rumors that the evad3rs had accepted money from Taig for the deal, which the evad3rs now deny. "We have received no money from any group, including Taig," reads the letter. "Our donations are being given to Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure to help protect jailbreaking as your legal right."

The evad3rs team also clarifies that no user data was obtained by Taig, and that exposure was limited to users who had their computer's language set to Chinese.

The evasi0n jailbreak, which no longer includes Taig, can be downloaded directly from the evasi0n website. Evasi0n does not include an official version of Cydia, and according to the evad3rs, they are "working hard to fix the problems with the jailbreak."

During the new year in Japan, retailers often offer a Fukubukuro, or “mystery bag,“ which is a grab bag filled with a random assortment of products sold at a steep discount.

Apple has participated in this tradition for quite some time, and will once again be offering its "Lucky Bag" in several different Apple Retail Stores across Japan on January 2.

Lucky Bags, which Apple will sell this year for 36,000 yen, or $345, usually contain items like iPods, headphones, and t-shirts. A few fortunate folks, however, have received big-ticket items in past years, like iPads or MacBook Airs, which have made Lucky Bags ultra popular in Japan.

Apple's grab bags are sold as is, and returns are not accepted unless a product is defective. Still, the bags have been quick sellers on previous occasions, with many people lining up the night before to get their hands on a bag.

As with past years, Apple's Lucky Bag promotion is limited to Japanese customers, though other countries, like China, may see the same traditional Apple Store sales during the new year.

Yesterday, Apple began shipping its Mac Pros to waiting customers, with many shipments carrying an estimated delivery date of December 30. As it turns out, Mac Pros are shipping early and are already making it into the hands of customers, with one MacRumors forum user receiving his Mac Pro today.

The 6-core stock Mac Pro was ordered on the West Coast with Next Day Shipping and had a listed delivery date of December 26, but it was delivered early, just ahead of tomorrow's Christmas holiday.

With Mac Pros already reaching customers just a few days after orders initially began, Apple has successfully met its promised December release date for the professional desktop computer.

It appears that all Mac Pros shipped thus far have been the stock configurations, as customized Mac Pros ordered on the computer's release date carried a non-specific "January" shipping estimate.

According to Apple, demand for the new Mac Pro has been "great" and the company expects that "it will take time before supply catches up with demand." Mac Pros ordered today, both stock and custom, have an estimated ship date of February.

Apple's Mac Pro starts at $2,999 for the low-end model, but can be customized with a wide variety of upgrades including additional memory, flash storage, enhanced graphics, and an improved CPU.

A fully loaded 12-core Mac Pro with 64GB of RAM, dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs and 1TB of PCI-e based flash storage retails for $9599 in the United States.

(Thanks, Tom!)

As noted by a number of MacRumors forum members and Twitter users, Apple has begun preparing a number of stock Mac Pro configurations for delivery starting on December 30. In addition, many other users are seeing their credit cards charged and order statuses changed to "Preparing for Shipment". The new status indicates that orders cannot be canceled or changed and are in the final stage before the new Mac Pros are handed off to delivery companies.

Although the majority of users' reported dates appears to be December 30, a small number of users are also reporting that their deliver dates are December 27. Both dates would squeeze the new Mac Pros into Apple's self-imposed December release date for the new professional desktop computer.

It appears that the first shipments of the Mac Pros are all stock configurations, as it has thus far been unclear if custom configurations have been shipping out to users. Since online ordering has been available, the shipping estimates have slipped into February 2014, with demand outstripping supply.

Before shutting its doors in August of 2013 following an acquisition by Apple that was revealed this morning, Catch operated a web-based note taking service and iOS and Android apps known as Catch Notes. Ahead of the company's acquisition, Catch Notes was well-known as a high-quality productivity app and had been featured by Apple as a new and noteworthy app when it was first released in 2010 and as part of the Apple's "Why You'll Love an iPhone" advertising campaign.

Designed for note taking, Catch Notes allowed users to capture and share ideas, writing notes in text, saving images, and recording voice notes. It functioned similarly to Evernote, organizing notes into different categories that could be easily shared with others. Deep organization was one of the key features of Catch Notes, which organized notes into "Spaces" or folders that included tags for labeling. Spaces could be manipulated with simple touch gestures, giving Catch Notes an easy-to-use interface. The app also organized notes into "Streams,"

In addition to bundling a variety of note formats into a single note-taking app, Catch Notes also included task-oriented functionality like checklists and reminders, along with a lot of collaborative features. With Catch Notes, for instance, users could create a task list or note that was shared and synced between multiple people. Collaborative content was organized into "Streams," which aggregated a collection of notes that could be used to allow multiple users to contribute to and build upon a single idea, even functioning as an ongoing conversation.

Shortly before Catch shut down its services, the company also launched Catch Team, designed to make team collaboration both easier and more secure through the implementation of "team leader" functionality allowing an admin to manage individual users.

It is impossible to predict how Catch and its Evernote-style note-taking capabilities might be incorporated into Apple’s OS X and iOS operating systems, but there are multiple possible use cases for the technology, across Notes, Reminders, Siri, and Maps.

Notes and Reminders

Catch's base functionality, which included note taking that incorporated both images and audio clips, is an easy to imagine expansion for Apple’s own Notes and Reminders apps. Currently, Notes and Reminders are limited to text functionality, though voice dictation can be used to transcribe text. With design elements taken from Catch Notes, notes, reminders, and checklists could be created from and include both audio clips and photos or other images directly within a note or reminder.

Catch Notes used a tag-based system for organizing notes, much like Finder in OS X. While Reminders incorporates colored tags as well, a more unified tagging system across Reminders and Notes apps for both iOS and OS X could make Apple’s productivity apps far more functional by facilitating quicker searches for relevant content.

The collaborative features within Catch Notes could also be useful within the Reminders and Notes apps, allowing users to easily share content over iCloud. With collaboration, deeper functionality, and better organization for the Notes app, Apple’s built-in productivity software could edge closer to competing with more robust solutions like Evernote, which was formerly one of Catch's competitors.

Catch also had an innovative click-wheel style menu system that was simple to use for the creation of new content, along with visual notifications, and it is possible that some of these design elements could make it into Apple's apps in the future.

Siri and iCloud

An expanded Evernote-like note and reminder functionality bundled into Apple's own Notes and Reminders apps could also be extended to Siri, allowing the service to potentially capture voice-based notes to be remembered later.

Catch's robust syncing capabilities, which allowed content to be synced to multiple iOS devices and multiple user accounts, is also technology that Apple could look into incorporating into future versions of iOS and iCloud.

Maps

Along with its Catch Note app, Catch also operated an Android App called Compass, which was a location-based app that allowed users to make location-based notes about individual places, similar to how Foursquare allows users to leave tips on each location within the app.

New to Compass? Compass is our location-based app that allows you to always know where North is, save your favorite locations, navigate back to them (with Google Maps), and take notes about a location.

It is possible that Apple could use this location-based note-taking technology in order to expand its mapping capabilities, as it has worked hard in recent months to beef up its Maps app through the acquisition of several Mapping apps including Embark, Locationary, and HopStop. Aggregating location-based notes could be a way for Apple to introduce location discovery and additional points of interest to Maps.

Catch was shut down in August of 2013 and according to recent reports, was acquired by Apple during the same month. It remains unknown when or how Apple will incorporate the purchase into its own products, but at this time, several former Catch employees are now working at Apple on iOS-related software.

After a weekend of testing, Engadget and The Verge have posted longer pieces on their Mac Pro review units, with mixed results.

As The Verge repeatedly notes, the new Mac Pro really only shines when used with software specifically optimized for its dual-GPU setup. At the moment, Final Cut Pro X is the best demonstration of the Mac Pro's prowess -- when using other software, the Mac Pro is only modestly faster than a new-vintage iMac, though, as Engadget points out, that should change soon.

Without belaboring the point, this brings me to one of my few concerns about the Mac Pro, which is that right now, at least, most programs won't fully harness its graphics capabilities. One of the reasons I spent so much time in Final Cut Pro is that it's one of the few programs designed specifically to run well on a new Mac Pro. It reminds me a bit of how Retina display MacBook Pros were initially short on compatible software. If that analogy holds true, we should see more apps retooled to play nice with the Mac Pro's dual-GPU setup. Just be prepared for some slim pickings if you buy one this week.

When the Mac Pro is running optimized software, however, performance is impressive. Engadget found similar results to those from Friday, reporting that 4K clips could render and display more than a dozen filters in real-time, and that the machine can play back as many as 16 4K streams simultaneously. File transfers are incredibly fast, and most apps launch immediately.

Perhaps the most immediately noticeable change is to the Mac Pro's design. The Verge noted that the location of the Pro's ports -- on the back of the device -- can make connecting and disconnecting plugs a pain, while also grumbling about the lack of an SD card slot. Engadget wasn't perturbed by the lack of a card slot, noting that the professionals that will likely purchase the device use a wide variety of storage cards so including a slot for just one of those formats would be rather arbitrary.

Engadget notes that the Mac Pro can get a bit warm -- unsurprising given the amount of horsepower under the hood -- but it doesn't get particularly hot.

For lack of a better word, you'd have to provoke the machine to really be bothered by the heat: The warmest area is at the top of the chassis, and even then, you'd have to be sticking your hand near the vents to feel it. Otherwise, the chassis does get a tad warm -- and can take a while to cool down -- but it's much cooler than the air blowing out of the top. Avoid sticking your fist into the opening at the top and you'll be fine. As for noise, I tried hard to get the fans spinning, but they stayed quiet. Actually, if you put your ear up to the opening at the top, you will hear a faint purring, but again, you'd have to be the sort of wise guy willing to put your ear next to the hottest part of the machine (not recommended).

While Engadget is largely impressed with the new device, The Verge uses Adobe Premiere for its video editing and found very slight performance improvements because Adobe has not yet updated its software to take advantage of the Mac Pro's dual-GPUs. In fact, Premiere puts most of its processing on the Mac Pro's CPUs, the tower's weakest performance datapoint.

When Adobe -- and other performance-focused applications -- are inevitably upgraded to take advantage of the Pro, it's likely the performance improvements will shine like they do with Final Cut Pro X. Until then, however, the Mac Pro is mostly an incredibly well-designed, and fast, Mac. With new Mac Pro orders currently delayed until at least February, perhaps it will give developers time to upgrade their software.

OpenEmu 1.0, an open source project designed to bring game emulation to OS X, has officially launched following a lengthy beta testing period. Though there are other emulator options for OS X, OpenEmu has been designed from the ground up for OS X.

For the first time, the ‘It just works’ philosophy now extends to open source video game emulation on the Mac. With OpenEmu, it is extremely easy to add, browse, organize and with a compatible gamepad, play those favorite games (ROMs) you already own.

OpenEmu is able to emulate the hardware of several different consoles, including several 16-bit systems like the Game Boy, GameBoy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, NeoGeo Pocket, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo, among others.

The emulator features a native OS X interface with a design that mirrors iTunes, offering up ROMs in a unified card-style menu organized by system. OpenEmu includes full save state support, allowing multiple ROMs to be played at once, and it also provides OpenGL scaling, multithreaded playback, and gamepad support.

Multiple controllers are supported, including console controllers from Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation, along with gamepads from Gravis, Logitech, and more.

OpenEmu can currently be downloaded from the OpenEmu website for free. [Direct Download Link] [Experimental Download, Extra Beta Consoles]

Apple reportedly acquired mapping firm BroadMap and Evernote competitor Catch in 2013, reports 9to5Mac, citing data acquired from "evidence and chatter from sources," including LinkedIn profiles.

Several former BroadMap employees are now listed as working at Apple on LinkedIn, including the company's former Director of Program Management who now works in "Maps Data Validation" at Apple. BroadMap CEO Daniel Perrone's LinkedIn profile suggests the company was purchased by a "Fortune 5" company for "supporting their digital mapping efforts."

We have specifically heard from a source directly familiar with Apple's mergers and acquisitions process that Apple acquired BroadMap. The source says that the acquisition was mostly centered around talent, not solely BroadMap's technology. In addition to the information from our source, there is evidence online that Apple made the acquisition.

BroadMap is a company that provides Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services, designed to analyze and manage geographical data. The company provides GIS tools along with Digital Mapping Data Products, Location Intelligence, and Web and Mobile Application Development.

Catch, which suspended its service in August, was reportedly acquired in the same month according to the former LinkedIn profile of the company's Vice President of Business Development. While it remains uncertain whether Apple officially acquired the company, multiple former employees are now working at Apple, including the company's co-founder.

While Catch being acquired following promotion from Apple does not exactly indicate that Apple is the buyer, we have heard from multiple sources that the majority of Catch employees are now working for Apple. The sources say that the former list of Catch employees, which even includes co-founder Andreas Schobel, are working on iOS-related software.

Catch, a popular notetaking and archiving service, was behind the Catch Notes app, which originally launched in 2010. The app, designed to allow users to create text, photo, and voice notes, earned multiple awards and was previously featured on Apple's "New and Noteworthy" list of apps. It is unknown how Apple could utilize Catch's technology, but possible use cases include integration with Siri, Reminders, or Notes.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the company made a total of 15 acquisitions during fiscal 2013, which has also included companies like AlgoTrim, Cue, Passif Semiconductor, and Matcha.tv. The company has also made several mapping-related acquisitions, including Embark, HopStop, WifiSLAM, and Locationary.

While eight of Apple's fiscal 2013 acquisitions have been confirmed, several others remain unknown.

Update: AllThingsD reports that both Catch and BroadMap were indeed acquired by Apple earlier in 2013. Apple confirmed the rumors with its standard acquisition statement: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

Update 2: Despite reports confirming the acquisition, BroadMap has stated on Twitter that the company was not purchased by Apple.

Update 3: According to series of Tweets from Spacially Adjusted's James Fee, BroadMap continues to exist as an independent company, but Apple acquired the majority of staff and intellectual property, licensing select assets back to BroadMap so that it could continue supporting its existing customers.

Apple has seeded a new build of iOS 7.1 to its "testing partners" or carriers, reports BGR, with a public release of the software set to come in March. A March launch of iOS 7.1 would mark more than four months of testing, as the first iOS 7.1 beta was seeded to developers in mid-November. iOS 7.1 beta 2, the version currently available to developers, was released in mid-December.

Lengthy development periods are not unheard of – before Mavericks, OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion was tested over a period of three months, from June to September.

The current version of iOS, iOS 7.0.4, was released on November 14. If an iOS 7.1 release is not planned until March, it is likely that Apple will release iOS 7.0.5 in the interim, though MacRumors has seen no sign of the software in recent logs. iOS updates frequently, though not always, show up in our site analytics.

As the first major update to iOS 7 since its launch, iOS 7.1 is expected to include multiple bug fixes along with new accessibility options in the form of "Button Shapes" and potential support for iOS in the Car. Given the minor updates bundled into iOS 7.1, it is unclear why such a lengthy testing period is necessary. Last year, Apple released its iOS 6.1 update in January, though its iOS 5.1 update also came in March in 2012.

Apple has begun seeding a new build of iOS 7.1 to testing partners, we have learned from a trusted source. iOS 7.1 beta 3 is said to bring several important bug fixes in addition to some new features, though our source was uncomfortable detailing these for us at this time.

While BGR has made accurate predictions on iOS 7 launch dates ahead of the software's final release, the site also made a few erroneous predictions.

Following a report last month stating that Apple supplier Quanta Computer had landed the contract to mass-produce a larger-sized iPad for late 2014, Digitimes is reporting that the 12.9-inch tablet will be released in October 2014 and will target North America's educational market. Apple is also said to be examining the possibility of replacing the 11-inch MacBook Air with the larger iPad.

Apple's large-size tablet will be manufactured by Quanta Computer, and was originally expected to adopt either 12.9- or 13.3-inch panels, with recent rumors indicating that 12.9-inch has a better chance to be picked, the sources noted.

The report also states that Apple is planning to release a larger size iPhone in May 2014, using a 20nm processor manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Reports of a next-generation iPhone featuring a larger screen have surfaced occasionally throughout the past year, while the claim of an A8 processor made by TSMC is follows a report in June stating that the company had struck a three-year deal with Apple to produce A-series chips starting in 2014.

However, a May 2014 release date for the next iPhone would be somewhat of a surprising move by Apple, considering that the most recent reports have stated that the larger-screened iPhone will debut in late 2014. A release then would be in line with the October 2011 launch of the iPhone 4s, the September 2012 launch of the iPhone 5, and the September 2013 launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c.

A report last month from The Korea Times indicated that production of a 12.9-inch Retina Display to be used in a next-generation iPad was already underway at an Apple supplier in Korea, with a target date of early 2014. The larger tablet is also said to carry an improved display nearing ultra high-definition (UHD) quality, which would be significantly bigger and contain more pixels than Apple's current 9.7-inch iPad Air.

In an email sent to employees today, Apple CEO Tim Cook reflected on the company's accomplishments throughout the past year, discussing a wide variety of subjects including product releases, humanitarian efforts, and corporate initiatives. Cook also made statements looking toward the next year, stating that Apple has “big plans“ for 2014. The full email has been posted by 9to5Mac.

Team,

This holiday season, tens of millions of people around the world, from all walks of life, are experiencing Apple products for the first time. Those moments of surprise and delight are magical, and they’re all made possible by your hard work. As many of us prepare to celebrate the holidays with our loved ones, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve achieved together over the past year.

First and foremost, we introduced industry-leading products in each of our major categories in 2013, showing the breadth and depth of innovation at Apple. We extended our lead in the smartphone market with iPhone 5s; launched iOS 7, an extraordinarily ambitious project; released OS X Mavericks for free to our customers; introduced the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display; and this week began shipping the Mac Pro from a manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. We also marked our 50 billionth download on the App Store – a milestone no one could have predicted we would reach so quickly.

Together we’ve shown the world that innovation at Apple goes beyond our products to the way we do business and how we give back to our community. This year, Apple raised and donated tens of millions of dollars for important charities and relief efforts like Red Cross aid to typhoon victims in the Philippines, and we continue to be the largest contributor to (PRODUCT)RED, supporting the Global Fund in its fight against the spread of AIDS in Africa. Just a few weeks ago, Jony Ive led an unprecedented effort that brought money and awareness to eliminating the transmission of AIDS from mother to child.

And finally, Apple is standing up for what we believe is right. We know that equality and diversity make our company and our society stronger, so we’ve urged the U.S. Congress to support workplace protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We are also laser focused on our contribution to several environmental initiatives and we will increase our efforts even more in this area in the future.

We have a lot to look forward to in 2014, including some big plans that we think customers are going to love. I am extremely proud to stand alongside you as we put innovation to work serving humankind’s deepest values and highest aspirations. I consider myself the luckiest person in the world for the opportunity to work at this amazing company with all of you.

Happy Holidays,

Tim

Apple is said to be working on a variety of new products for 2014, including both updates to existing products and new product categories. Most notably, the company is rumored to release an iPhone 6 with a larger display that is curved and a 12.9-inch iPad with an ultra high definition screen. Also rumored is an "iWatch" smart watch containing biometrics and iOS device integration, as well the release of a ultra-high definition television set. In terms of software, Apple is also expected to launch OS X 10.10 and iOS 8 in the fall, with updates to programs such as Aperture also possible.