MacRumors

Earlier this month, Apple filed plans for a relocated flagship retail store in San Francisco, proposing to close its existing store at 1 Stockton Street in favor of the new store three blocks north directly on Union Square. The filing was accompanied by a press release from city officials touting the project:

“Apple’s new store is quite simply incredible,” said Mayor Lee. “San Francisco is the Innovation Capital of the World, and I can think of no better location for the world’s most stunning Apple Store than right here in Union Square. I want to thank Apple for their investment in this City and continued commitment to growing jobs in San Francisco.”

“I’m excited that the company that revolutionized consumer technologies is moving to the heart of Union Square,” said President Chiu. “The new Apple store will highlight technology and design innovation as well as build community at the center of our City’s retail district.”

The proposed store's typical clean lines and heavy use of metal and glass immediately drew some criticism from observers, and San Francisco Chronicle urban design critic John King has now published a critique of Apple's plans highlighting some of the design considerations and the impact the construction will apparently have on an adjacent public plaza and sculptural fountain.

What's baffling is that a company renowned for design innovation has hired one of the world's most acclaimed architecture firms, only to unload a box that would look at home in Anymall, U.S.A.

Worse, it's a box that would displace one of downtown's friendliest works of public art, a bronze fountain by Ruth Asawa that - unlike the proposed polished Apple - could exist nowhere else but here.

King confirms that the architect on the proposed project is Foster + Partners, which has reportedly been taking on a greater role in Apple's retail projects since its involvement with Apple's upcoming new headquarters campus in Cupertino.

In his critique, King takes issue with the all-glass storefront on Post Street that will see direct sun exposure for much of the day, as well as the Stockton Street frontage that will simply be an 80 foot-long windowless wall. Apple's plans also call for a narrow stairway leading up to public plaza behind the store, a plaza that will be reduced from its current size and apparently see the removal of the popular fountain sculpture that has been in place for 40 years.

The fountain was also designed as the centerpiece of the existing triangular plaza along Stockton Street, wrapped in the upward ripple of brick steps. Passersby stop, look, take photographs and smile.

Apple, apparently, has different ideas. A study of the plans shows no sign of the fountain. The broad, inviting steps are gone.

King is not optimistic that the San Francisco Planning Department will require a significant redesign of the proposed project, considering the praise already heaped upon Apple's plans by city officials, but he does hope that some tweaks can be made that at the very least would improve the pedestrian experience along Stockton Street and the public plaza.

As announced late last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook will sit down today for an opening session interview at the D11: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The session will kick off at 6:00 PM Pacific Time / 9:00 PM Eastern Time tonight, and MacRumors will be covering his interview as it happens.

Cook participated in the event for the first time last year with a 100-minute interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Cook's predecessor, Steve Jobs, also participated in the D conferences on a number of occasions.

Cook is not expected to make any major announcements during his interview, but he is likely to provide some insight into Apple's business and the markets in which the company participates. Tidbits from his appearance last year included discussion of how Apple was going to "double down" on product secrecy in order to fight leaks, a brief mention of Apple's interest in TV, and hints at the Facebook integration that arrived in iOS 6 and improvements to Siri.

Research firm IDC today released new projections showing that the firm expects tablet shipments to surpass shipments of notebook computers in 2013, marking a significant shift in how consumers approach portable devices. IDC projects that the strong growth of tablets will continue into the future, allowing tablets to overtake the entire PC market in 2015.

"What started as a sign of tough economic times has quickly shifted to a change in the global computing paradigm with mobile being the primary benefactor," said Ryan Reith, Program Manager for IDC's Mobility Trackers. "Tablets surpassing portables in 2013, and total PCs in 2015, marks a significant change in consumer attitudes about compute devices and the applications and ecosystems that power them. IDC continues to believe that PCs will have an important role in this new era of computing, especially among business users. But for many consumers, a tablet is a simple and elegant solution for core use cases that were previously addressed by the PC."

While Apple has remade the tablet market with the iPad, IDC notes that a proliferation of low-cost Android tablets is driving overall growth at this point. Apple's efforts have also shown that tablets are viable tools for the education market, opening up significant possibilities for sales growth.

"Apple's success in the education market has proven that tablets can be used as more than just a content consumption or gaming device," said Jitesh Ubrani, Research Analyst for the Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. "These devices are learning companions, and as tablet prices continue to drop, the dream of having a PC for every child gets replaced with the reality that we can actually provide a tablet for every child."

The success of tablets is undoubtedly coming as no surprise to Apple, as its executives have said a number of times over the past several years that they expect the tablet market to exceed that of PCs.

Chinese site WeiPhone.com reports [Google translation, via Unwired View] that Apple will make a significant change to the display of the iPhone 5S, doubling the number of pixels to roughly 1.5 million. The device will reportedly also see a narrower bezel, although it is unclear exactly how that would be achieved.

According to sources, iPhone 5S (or iPhone 6) or to have a more narrow screen frame, is now preparing, will ship in September. In addition, the product also has a screen 1.5 million pixels, compared to nearly 730,000 iPhone 5 the number of pixels, if not the screen size continues to increase, the resolution will be greatly improved.

The report does not specify how Apple would achieve a doubling of pixels in the iPhone 5S display, and any potential solutions would appear to have significant drawbacks.

One possible method would be to increase the iPhone 5's pixel density by a factor of 1.5 in each dimension, yielding a 1704 x 960 display which would include 1.6 million pixels at a density of approximately 489 pixels per inch (PPI). Scaling existing content to the higher-density display would, however, be imperfect given the fractional multiplier.

One major argument against the possibility of a resolution increase for the iPhone 5S is the fact that Apple just underwent a resolution change last year with the iPhone 5 and fifth-generation iPod touch. That shift has required app developers to tweak their apps to support the taller display, a burden that Apple would surely prefer not to repeat just a year later. The previous change for the iPhone display was the move to a Retina display for the iPhone 4, yielding an interval of a little over two years between that change and the taller display of the iPhone 5.

The claim of a higher-density display for the iPhone 5S also conflicts with a number of other rumors regarding the device, which have indicated the device will use the same display found in the iPhone 5. WeiPhone's claim of a narrower bezel for the iPhone also seems to conflict with Apple's existing pattern of maintaining a body design for two generations before making significant changes. Rumors have so far indicated that Apple will be continuing that pattern this year with an "iPhone 5S" focused on internal upgrades rather than an all-new "iPhone 6", regardless of what the device is ultimately called.

WeiPhone's forums are a fairly frequent source of Apple rumors, although the site itself does not frequently report rumors, making it difficult to determine a track record. But while some have believed that Apple needs to make further improvements to its displays while competitors such as Samsung's Galaxy S4 with its 1920 x 1080 display at 441 PPI have made their own advancements, there has been little sign that Apple is making such plans for its next-generation iPhone.

Earlier this month, we noted that Apple's primary manufacturing partner Foxconn/Hon Hai has been seeking to diversify its business, an effort in large part intended to offset slowing growth for Apple's products. One aspect of that effort has been a focus on televisions, with some suggesting that the work could bring benefits for Apple's rumored television set.

The Wall Street Journal now follows up with more on Foxconn's expansion plans, reporting that the company is looking at a software push into mobile applications and cloud services to complement its existing expertise in hardware. Foxconn is reportedly also moving to enter the accessory business, recognizing the relatively high profit margins available for such products. That accessory business will reportedly include officially licensed Apple accessories sold under Foxconn's own brand.

Hon Hai is also reviewing plans to make accessories such as data transmission cables, headphones and keyboards under the Foxconn brand, said executives who have direct knowledge of the plan.

"Chairman (Terry Gou) has ordered all business units to produce peripheral accessories of electronics products as it is more profitable than assembly services. We also plan to license Apple's technology to make some own-brand accessories that are compatible with iPhones and iPads," said one of the executives.

The market for third-party Apple accessories is of course already well established and offers a wide array of products, but some may hope that Foxconn's existing partnership with Apple for manufacturing of the company's flagship products could lead to innovative new accessories that could come to market more quickly than those from competitors.

The New York Times reports that a working Apple 1 computer has sold at auction in Germany for a record $671,400, breaking the previous mark of $640,000 set last November at the same auction house. That November record has eclipsed an earlier record of $375,000 set less than six months earlier.

The high prices paid for the machines seem to be explained by the combination of scarcity, a fascination with the early history of the computer age, and the mystique of Apple and its founders, Steven P. Jobs and Stephen G. Wozniak. And some irrational exuberance in the prices, for a machine that can do very little and originally sold for $666 (about $2,700 in current dollars).

“This really confirms the value of Apple-1’s,” Uwe Breker, the German auctioneer, said in an interview on Saturday.

The buyer, Mr. Breker said, was a wealthy entrepreneur from the Far East, who wishes to remain anonymous.

The Apple 1, one of only a handful working units remaining in existence, carries the signature of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and was originally owned by Major League Baseball player Fred Hatfield. The auction included a letter from Steve Jobs to Hatfield offering a trade-in deal on an Apple II board, an offer Hatfield declined for unknown reasons. The identity of the owner who put the item up for auction has not been disclosed.

Update: The New York Times now notes that the Fred Hatfield who was the original owner of the machine was not the former Major League Baseball player and instead was a New Orleans resident who sold the machine in non-working condition to a private buyer for $40,000 earlier this year. The buyer repaired the machine and flew to California to have it signed by Wozniak before placing it up for auction.

It appears that Apple has begun quietly phasing out its trailer download options from the trailers.apple.com website, effectively eliminating 1080p trailer availability.

Previously, the site gave users the ability to stream trailers in 480p or 720p, along with providing download options for 480p, 720p, and 1080p. Trailers uploaded to the site after an approximate date of May 22 no longer have any download options and can only be streamed in-browser at 480p or 720p.

While trailers uploaded before May 22 can still be downloaded, Apple appears to be removing the option from movies with multiple trailers that have a trailer uploaded after that date. For example, Disney Pixar's Monsters University has trailers that were uploaded on the following dates: 6/20/12, 3/08/13, 5/20/13, and 5/22/13. None of these trailers have download options.

Disney’s Planes, on the other hand, has trailers that were uploaded on the following dates: 3/15/13, 04/04/13, and 5/17/13. Each of these trailers can still be downloaded at all resolutions, including 1080p.

So, while older trailers can still be downloaded from the site, Apple appears to be removing downloads from older trailers as newer trailers are added, slowly phasing out the availability of trailer downloads altogether.

It is not clear at this point why Apple has begun phasing out movie trailer downloads, but we have contacted the company for more information.

(Thanks Eduardo and Theo!)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent a letter to BioSense Technologies over its iPhone uChek urinalysis system, asking why its medical app hasn't been cleared by the agency. The app is one of the first that turns the iPhone into a medical device, designed to read urinalysis test strips that are normally examined by users and compared to a color-coded chart.

With the uChek system, patients can take a picture of the strip with the iPhone's camera and then receive an automated readout of parameters like glucose, urobilinogen, pH, ketone and more. The app also stores results which then can be analyzed over time.

Though medical device makers have adopted the iPhone for some measurements like blood glucose monitoring for diabetics, large scale use of smartphones and tablets as a replacement for existing medical devices has yet to take off -- likely due in large part to government regulation of medical devices.

From Bloomberg:

Biosense Technologies Private Ltd.’s uChek system isn’t cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and the agency said it wants to know why not, in a first-of-its-kind letter to a maker of a mobile-device application. The app relies on users, such as diabetics checking their glucose, to dip test strips in urine and use the smartphone’s camera to allow the system to processes and generate automated results.

UChek works with test strips made by Siemens AG (SIE) and Bayer AG (BAYN), which are only approved for visual reading and require new clearance for automated analysis, the FDA said in the letter. The agency has said it wants stricter rules for apps that directly diagnose or treat conditions, proposing in 2011 to apply similar quality standards as for heart stents, ultrasound machines and other medical devices.

The uChek kit can be purchased in the US and India for $40, while the uCheck iPhone app is a free download [Direct Link] from the App Store -- though the app can also manually read urine strips from other companies.

Apple today significantly reduced prices on refurbished models of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad, with all models now carrying approximately 15% discounts relative to brand-new units.

iPad mini

- 16 GB Wi-Fi: $279, down from $299 previously and $329 brand-new
- 32 GB Wi-Fi: $359, down from $389 previously and $429 brand-new
- 64 GB Wi-Fi: $439, down from $489 previously and $529 brand-new

- 16 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $389, down from $429 previously and $459 brand-new
- 32 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $469, down from $519 previously and $559 brand-new
- 64 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $549, down from $619 previously and $659 brand-new

Fourth-generation iPad

- 16 GB Wi-Fi: $419, down from $449 previously and $499 brand-new
- 32 GB Wi-Fi: $499, down from $549 previously and $599 brand-new
- 64 GB Wi-Fi: $579, down from $649 previously and $699 brand-new

- 16 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $529, down from $579 previously and $629 brand-new
- 32 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $609, down from $679 previously and $729 brand-new
- 64 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $689, down from $779 previously and $829 brand-new

Introduced last October, the iPad mini and fourth-generation arrived in Apple's online store for refurbished products in mid-March at modest discounts. The company's 128 GB fourth-generation iPad models introduced in early February have yet to appear in the refurbished store.

Rumors have indicated that Apple is unlikely to launch its next versions of the iPad and iPad mini until late this year, but the company has apparently still decided to reduce pricing on refurbished units of the current generation in order to attract more buyers as its supply of refurbished units has undoubtedly grown over the past several months.

Update: Apple has also knocked $30 off of the price of its refurbished Thunderbolt and LED Cinema Displays, bringing the prices down to $799 compared to $999 brand-new.