MacRumors

Apple today posted a new job listing for a Manufacturing Design Engineer with a focus on Advanced Plastic Tooling and Process. According to the job description, Apple is looking to expand and improve its current plastics division.

Identify, develop and launch new tooling and process capabilities in support of new Apple product developments. Areas of focus will be "non-traditional" Apple plastic processing such as thermoforming, foam molding, blow molding, etc., and their application to new Apple products. The successful candidate will have demonstrated history of bringing new process and tooling technologies through a full development cycle and launch into high volume production.

Though Apple has focused heavily on aluminum for the iPad, the iPhone, and the MacBook line for the past few years, the Cupertino-based company has continued to prominently use plastics in such products as the Apple TV, the AirPort Extreme, keyboards, and other accessories.

Recent rumors have suggested that Apple is working on a low cost iPhone that will be constructed primarily of plastic. The iPhone is said to be a hybrid of the iPhone 5 and the iPod touch, with a plastic enclosure.

A new hire specializing in plastics is unlikely to be involved in the design of the low cost iPhone, given that it is rumored to be released later this year, but the open position does support reports that Apple is focusing on novel uses of plastics for upcoming products.

An Apple spokesperson spoke to The Next Web about the new Apple TV model disclosed in FCC filings yesterday.

The company explained that the changes are strictly internal, and there won't be any new features or other changes. The Next Web is also reporting that the new Apple TV will use Apple's A5X processor from the third-generation iPad, and an upgraded Broadcom BCM4334 wireless chip, as was reported last night. The external size of the device will also remain the same.

“We sometimes make component changes which require an updated model number for regulatory approval,” an Apple spokesperson told TNW. “The component changes we made don’t affect product features and Apple TV customers will continue to have the same great user experience.”

The new Apple TV will not be marketed as a new version, and it appears the only way to distinguish the old from the new is via the model number.

Research in Motion today announced its next-generation smartphone, the Z10. RIM also announced a corporate rebranding, officially changing the name of the company to BlackBerry.

All four U.S. carriers are expected to carry the Z10, shipping in March and starting at $199 with a two-year contract. Walt Mossberg, reviewing the Z10 for the Wall Street Journal, notes that a physical keyboard-equipped Q10 model is due in April as well. He notes that in "moderate to heavy use", the battery didn't last as long as a charge on an iPhone 5 in similar usage, but he did have some praise for the device.

BlackBerry has always leaned heavily on its physical keyboard, and, according to Mossberg, the virtual keyboard on the Z10 shines as well:

The Z10 keyboard is the best and fastest out-of-the-box virtual keyboard I’ve used. Master BlackBerry thumb typists might not find it as fast as the traditional physical keyboard, but, for a one-finger typist like me, it was faster and more accurate than either the native keyboards on the iPhone or Android. This is partly because it features predictive typing. It displays words that are likely to come next right above the rows of letters, and lets you flick these words upward into the text you’re composing. It learns what mistakes you typically make in hitting letters, and adjusts. And it learns words and abbreviations you frequently use, even proper names.

The company promises 70,000 apps at launch, including staples like Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds, MLB, and more. Many notable apps are missing however, including Pandora, Spotify and Netflix.

The Z10 comes with a 4.2" 1280x768 display, giving it a higher pixel density than the iPhone 5; an 8 megapixel rear camera; 16GB capacity only, but includes a card slot for storage upgrades; available in white or black; a removable battery; and LTE support, though Mossberg got extremely poor data speeds on AT&T and RIM couldn't explain why.

Apple has dropped out of the Top 20 list in world's largest survey of consumer trust. Apple's 21st ranking in the Ponemon Institute's Most Trusted Companies for Privacy Study is its lowest ranking in three years. The survey asks consumers to name and rate organizations they believe are most committed to protecting the privacy of their personal information.

Apple fell from 8th place in 2009 to 12th in 2010, 14th in 2011 and 21st in 2012. Apple was not the only major company to find itself having been knocked out of a top-20 place, being joined by both Google and Facebook.

The Ponemon Institute is careful to point out that the survey reflects consumer perceptions of privacy, rather than actual privacy practices. Apple Insider notes that Apple has tightened its privacy controls in a number of ways following revelations that the Path app was uploading users' address books without permission. Apple now requires apps to obtain explicit permission from users before contact information can be accessed. Apps also seek permission before using accessing location data.

Both Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market were criticised by the FTC in December for failing to disclose to parents ways in which data might be shared from children's apps.

AnandTech has found that new Apple TV will use the same WLAN+Bluetooth antenna/chip combo that the iPhone 5 uses as well as an A5X processor rather than the A5.

The unreleased Apple TV revision was first suggested by an iOS 6.1 firmware release for a previously unseen AppleTV3,2 model. Then, a new FCC application revealed that the new Apple TV would have slightly smaller dimensions than the currently shipping model.

AnandTech writes:

Instead of the A5R2 SoC (S5L8942) inside the Apple TV 3,1, this new device contains an A5X SoC (S5L8947) as shown in the screenshots I've taken of the Restore.plist file, though there are numerous others. It's entirely possible that Apple is again using different bins of the A5X, it's not possible to tell whether CPU or GPU cores are fused off at this point from my digging through the IPSW.

The A5X chip (with Quad-Core graphics) was originally introduced to power the new Retina Display screen of the iPad 3.

It was in the current Apple TV that Apple first used the 32-nm (die shrunk) A5 chip. It was believed at the time that Apple had used the Apple TV has a test platform to start ramping up that new 32-nm A5 processor before they started using it more broadly to power the still-for-sale iPad 2.

It seems likely that Apple will follow the same pattern with this new A5X -- first ramp up production in the Apple TV, and later extend its use to the new iPad mini. The next iPad mini is believed to include a Retina display. Apple will need to upgrade the iPad mini's CPU/GPU in order to be able to accommodate the extra pixels of such a display.

The FCC has published paperwork, discovered by Engadget, that Apple filed late last week on what appears to be a new model of the Apple TV. This follows on yesterday's revelation that iOS 6.1 included support for an as yet unrevealed AppleTV3,2 model.

Engadget writes:

While the diagram pictured above doesn't suggest any major changes to the device's appearance, it does list some slightly smaller measurements: 93.78mm square compared to the 98mm of the current model. That's certainly not the biggest of differences, but the measurements in previous Apple FCC filing have been spot on. The model number, A1469, is also one that we haven't seen before, but the documents unfortunately don't offer much else in the way of details (only confirmation of the same WiFi capabilities as the current-gen Apple TV).

In the middle of this month, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo -- who has been accurate in the past -- posted his expectations for Apple's various product launches this year. He expected a new Apple TV model late in the first calendar quarter, which lines up with the filing.

Verizon and AT&T have confirmed to MacRumors that they will both carry the 128GB iPad's cellular variant when it launches on February 5th. Earlier, Sprint confirmed to iMore that it will also be carrying the new device.

AT&T is particularly noteworthy because the carrier is offering $100 off tablets purchased with a 2-year data contract through February 14th.

Apple added support for a number of new LTE carriers in the iOS 6.1 update that was released yesterday, and presumably all those carriers -- as well as normal iPad sales channels -- will carry the new 128GB iPad on launch day.

Microsoft today announced the launch of its latest Office software suite, updating its applications for Windows machines to new 2013 versions and launching a new Office 365 subscription option.

While the $99-per-year Office 365 option allows for installation on up to five computers, Mac users will continue to receive Office 2011 applications until an updated version of Office for Mac becomes available. Office for Mac versions typically follow about 12-18 months behind their Windows counterparts.

Office 365 Home Premium is available in 162 markets in 21 languages and includes the following:

- The latest and most complete set of Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access

- One license for the entire household to use Office on up to five devices, including Windows tablets, PCs or Macs, and Office on Demand available from any Internet-connected PC

- An additional 20 GB of SkyDrive cloud storage, nearly three times the amount available with a free SkyDrive account

- 60 free Skype world calling minutes per month to call mobile phones, landlines or PCs around the world

- Future upgrades, so you always use the latest time-saving technology

Office 365 Home Premium is priced at $9.99 per month or $99 per year, while college and university students, faculty, and staff are eligible for Office 365 University priced at $79.99 for a four-year subscription.

Aside from the Office 365 subscription plans, Windows users are also offered the option of standalone Office 2013 packages including Office Home & Student ($139.99), Office Home & Business ($219.99), and Office Professional ($399.99). There are no ongoing costs with the standalone installations, and a version of Office typically remains current for three years.

Office for Mac 2011 also remains available as a standalone purchase, and users who purchase Office 2011 for Mac between October 19, 2012 and April 30, 2013 can shift over to a one-year Office 365 subscription free of charge.