MacRumors

Over the weekend, several photos surfaced reportedly showing details on manufacturing molds for the iPhone 6. While the manufacturing mold photos left it unclear as to the size of the device body it would yield, a new photo shared by Nowhereelse.fr [Google Translate] shows a nearly identical mold with an iPhone 4s placed next to it for comparison. Calculations based on the comparison suggest that the mold could in fact yield a device with a display of roughly 4.7 inches, in line with the rumored size for the smaller of the two iPhone 6 models.

One source of uncertainty lies in the shape of the mold, which is tapered. But Nowhereelse.fr believes that there are additional pieces yet to be attached to the bottom of the mold, pieces which would result in the iPhone's body being formed at the wider portion of the mold depression.

Some of the holes that were drilled into the block in fact serve to fix the inserts which will form a crude which is then machined housing (finishes) using a CNC milling machine. Thus, and assuming that my theory is correct, the dimensions of the box will be determined by the widest part and not the bottom of the mold.

In this assumption, I started to resize the photo to scale against me in reference to the size of the iPhone 4s. I then measured the dimensions of the widest part of the mold which is approximately 138mm long by 64mm wide.

By superimposing and resizing an iPhone 5s image into the mold and aligning it with the wider portion of the depression, Nowhereelse.fr determines that the device's screen would be roughly 12 centimeters or 4.7 inches diagonally.

Apple is negotiating with wireless carriers to raise the price of the iPhone 6 by $100, claims Jefferies analyst Peter Misek (Via StreetInsider). Carriers initially are refusing to negotiate on the iPhone's $199 base price, but they may not be able to resist as the iPhone 6 is shaping up to be 2014's blockbuster handset.

"The possibility may at first seem far-fetched in light of investor concerns regarding possible carrier subsidy and handset price cuts due to smartphone saturation and lack of differentiation," Misek comments. "But we think this general lack of differentiation could be the reason why Apple may be able to get a price increase. Carriers realize that the iPhone 6 will likely be the only headline-worthy high-end phone launched this year and that they will lose subs if they do not offer it."

Apple is expected to ship the iPhone 6 later this year, with rumors suggesting the phone will be available with a 4.7-inch touchscreen display at first. A larger 5.5-inch version may follow at the end of this year or early next year.

Along with a larger display, the next-generation iPhone may include a thinner design, Apple's new A8 processor, a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, 1GB of RAM, and an improved camera with optical image stabilization. The iPhone 6 is expected to run iOS 8, which may feature a new Healthbook app, improved Maps and a possible Siri API.

Car electronics manufacturer Alpine will begin selling a standalone aftermarket console that will support Apple's CarPlay vehicle integration feature, reports Japanese business newspaper Nikkei. Alpine's offering, which will likely be the first aftermarket device to support CarPlay, is said to hit the United States and Europe this year with a cost of around $500 to $700.

While CarPlay will be found in a number of announced and upcoming vehicles from manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, BMW, Ford, GM, and Honda, the integration of the system into older vehicles has been a topic of much discussion in recent months. Pioneer Electronics expressed interest in implementing CarPlay compatibility with its existing and future products, only to back away from its comments soon after. Other companies, such as Kenwood, have indicated to MacRumors that CarPlay is only being looked at for integration and that adoption is not currently imminent.

Recently, automotive peripheral company Clarion also hinted at the possibility of bringing CarPlay its aftermarket in-dash systems. In an email to MacRumors, the firm noted that it has been working with Apple "from the start" and that it would be further developing its Smart Access in-car infotainment system and CarPlay for different purposes. Ultimately, the company stated that it will support CarPlay in both its aftermarket and OEM products at some point in the future.

Apple announced its CarPlay iOS vehicle integration feature last month at the Geneva International Motor Show. The feature allows an iPhone to take over the in-dash display of a car, providing Siri voice controlled access to aspects such as navigation, phone functions, messages, and music. The feature was included in Apple's iOS 7.1 update and works with Lighting-enabled iPhones including the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, and iPhone 5.

NDS4iOS, a Nintendo DS emulator that runs on both non-jailbroken and jailbroken iOS devices, is now available to install through an over-the air download, reports TouchArcade.

Similar to the first version of the popular GBA4iOS Game Boy emulator, NDS4iOS requires a device's date to be set back to a prior date, specifically February 8, 2014. The emulator allows users to play Nintendo DS ROMs directly on their iPads and iPhones, and is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 5.1.1 and above. NDS4iOS also includes features such as Dropbox integration and iOS 7 controller support, as well as a settings menu that contains options for control pad style and position.

The initial release of NDS4iOS follows a major update to GBA4iOS in February, which added controller skins for Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color games as well as iOS 7 controller support, Dropbox integration, and a in-app web browser that can be used to download games from any ROM website. The emulator also temporarily allowed non-jailbroken users to install GBA4iOS without a date change via an Apple Enterprise certificate, however that was revoked soon afterwards.

NDS4iOS is available to install now through the emulator’s official website.

A new set of leaks showing alleged manufacturing molds and chassis sketches of the iPhone 6 have surfaced on Chinese microblogging site Weibo [Google Translate, via GforGames].

The photos are said to come from a factory belonging to Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn, as the first set of images show very detailed drawings of the chassis for a smartphone-type device, while the second set images are said to be of the manufacturing die used for Apple’s next-generation iPhone.

While the validity of the images cannot be confirmed, the leak follows a number of others in the past few months. Last month, another set of images posted on Weibo depicted an alleged iPhone 6 model under development at Foxconn, while Japanese magazine MacFan published alleged design drawings of what appeared to be 4.7-inch and 5.7-inch iPhone 6 models. This was followed by a photo reportedly showing cases designed for the larger next-generation iPhone that were consistent with the design drawings.

Apple is expected to ship the iPhone 6 later this year, which has been heavily rumored to come in two different sizes: 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches. Recent reports have noted that the smaller 4.7 inch version will ship in the third quarter of 2014, while the larger version may ship later this year or early next year due to production challenges.

Along with a larger screen, both models of the next-generation iPhone are said to include a thinner design, new A8 processor, Touch ID fingerprint sensor, 1GB of RAM, and an improved camera with optical image stabilization.

Amazon is gearing up to release its long-rumored smartphone later this year to directly compete with offerings from Apple and Samsung, reports The Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the company has been showing off prototypes of its handsets to developers in San Francisco and Seattle in recent weeks, with Amazon likely announcing the phone by the end of June and launching it by the end of September.

The people said Amazon hopes to distinguish its phone in a crowded market with a screen capable of displaying seemingly three-dimensional images without special glasses, these people said. They said the phone would employ retina-tracking technology embedded in four front-facing cameras, or sensors, to make some images appear to be 3-D, similar to a hologram, the people said.

Rumors of the phone first surfaced in July of 2012, where it was reported that the company was working with Foxconn on the device. Last May, another report noted that the smartphone would join other products to complement Amazon’s popular line of Kindle tablets and E-readers.

The news comes as Apple is expected to ship its next-generation iPhone later this year, which may come in two different sizes: 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches. Recent reports have noted that the 4.7 inch version will ship in the third quarter of 2014, while the larger version may ship later due to production issues.

Along with a larger screen, both models of the iPhone 6 are expected to include a faster A8 processor, Touch ID fingerprint sensor, 1GB of RAM, and camera improvements in the form of optical image stabilization.

London-based streaming-music service Bloom.fm says it has been blocked from advertising on Apple's iAd network because it is a threat to the Cupertino company's iTunes radio, reports CNET. Similar to iTunes Radio, Bloom.fm offers genre and artist-based streaming radio stations with a library of over 22 million tracks.

"We were surprised at Apple's decision to ban us from their iAd network as their iTunes Radio service isn't even available in the UK," the spokesman told CNET. "Bloom.fm gives you 22 million tracks for £1 a month -- the price of a single download on iTunes -- so I can see why they'd want to protect their business."

Apple may be blocking Bloom.fm as it prepares to launch its iTunes Radio service in the U.K. The service debuted in the U.S. alongside the release of iOS 7 last fall and was recently extended to Australia. It is expected to debut in the U.K. sometime in early 2014.

Over the past several months, some iPhone owners in the U.K. have reported intermittent connections to the iTunes Radio service, suggesting Apple is in the final stages of preparing the product for an imminent launch. Bringing iTunes Radio to countries worldwide is a top priority for Apple, says senior vice president of Internet software and services Eddy Cue, who confirmed the company plans to offer the service "in more than 100 countries."

Don Melton has a long history with Steve Jobs and Apple, working at NeXT and then moving to Apple where he is known for his work on Safari and WebKit. To commemorate Steve Jobs' birthday earlier this year, Melton recounted his memorable encounters with Jobs in a post he recently published on his blog.

Melton was not a confidant of Jobs, just an employee who had the opportunity to be around the Apple co-founder on occasion. Jobs likely thought of Melton as the “Safari Guy” and knew Melton's real name, which was considered an honor.

Melton recounts the first time he met Steve Jobs at a NeXT presentation in the late 80s that unfortunately was scheduled during everyone's lunch break. Like many encounters with Jobs, Melton remembered Jobs' demeanor, but not a word of what he said.

Obviously he wanted us to quiet down. You could tell because he paused several times for us to hush ourselves. And out of respect, awe, and probably some fear, we all tried our best to do so. But, dammit, the room was now packed and that many people just swallowing food makes a lot of noise. Sitting so close, I felt especially self-conscious.

Who the hell scheduled him to speak at that time? Knucklehead. It’s entirely possible that person was taken out later and shot.

Anyway, I do remember Steve’s seriousness and apparent impatience that day. But not a thing he said.

Melton paints Jobs not as a "mercurial ogre or cartoon autocrat," but as a very busy CEO with little time for “yes men,” timid employees or those who didn't know what they were doing.

Steve expected excellence. Which is why he so often got it.

He knew when something was right, but he didn’t always tell you what he wanted when it wasn’t. And he was very clear when he didn’t like it. Some misinterpreted this behavior as being overly critical, but it was actually time-saving clarity, albeit uncomfortable on occasion.

Melton has several interesting tidbits about his work on Safari, including Jobs' distaste for the stand-alone bookmarks window in the web browser and the decision to add a page load indication into Safari's address bar, a design decision that eventually hurt Safari's reputation because the "in-your-face progress bar made it seem slower to the user."

Beyond his work persona, Melton also shares some stories about the personal side of Jobs, the real man who has children and, at one point, a cranky new puppy. Melton ends his story with his somber memories of Steve in his final years, dealing with a disease that "had ravaged him." Melton's piece is long, but worth a read for his insight into a corporate leader who was intense, but also real.

A photo reportedly showing cases designed for the larger iPhone 6 has been posted by Mobile Fun (via Nowhereelse.fr [Google Translate]. While exact sizes are not apparent from the photo and no comparison with existing iPhone cases sizes is shown, the cases are said to be for 4.7-inch and 5.7-inch iPhone 6 models, consistent with design drawings published by Japanese magazine MacFan late last month.

Most sources have been reporting that the larger iPhone 6 will carry a 5.5-inch display, although the MacFan drawings and a few other sources have continued to point to a 5.7-inch display.

It is not entirely clear whether these cases are based on the same design drawings or come from another source, but they do appear to be very consistent with the drawings. Like the drawings and our renderings based on them, the cases include a hole for a button on the left side of the top edge of the device. This has been presumed to be the power button for the iPhone 6, which would be a change from its current location on the right side of the top edge.

Apple today released a statement to Re/code confirming that iOS, OS X and "key web services" were unaffected by the widely publicized security flaw known as Heartbleed which was disclosed earlier this week.

“Apple takes security very seriously. iOS and OS X never incorporated the vulnerable software and key web-based services were not affected,” an Apple spokesperson told Re/code.

Heartbleed was a security flaw in the popular open-source software OpenSSL which helps provide secure connections between clients and servers. Due the ubiquity of OpenSSL, Heartbleed is believed to have affected approximately 66% of the internet.

Security blogger Bruce Schneier describes the issue as "catastrophic" and on "the scale of 1 to 10, this is an 11." The flaw allowed servers to leak server memory to a malicious attacker, allowing hackers to extract login/password and other private data from a server. Users are recommended to change their passwords on all services that may have been affected. Mashable provides a list of services where you should change your password. Fortunately, MacRumors Forums were unaffected by the security flaw.

Earlier this week, a report suggested Apple was planning a "dramatic overhaul" of its iTunes Music store to combat declining music downloads, which could include an on-demand streaming music service and an Android version of iTunes.

Apple may also be planning to add high resolution audio downloads to iTunes as part of the revamp, allowing users to download lossless 24-bit audio files. According to music blogger Robert Hutton, who cites an unspecified source, Apple is going to roll out hi-res iTunes music downloads in early June, possibly at WWDC.

For several years, Apple have been insisting that labels provide files for iTunes in 24 bit format - preferably 96k or 192k sampling rate. So they have undeniably the biggest catalog of hi-res audio in the world.

And the Led Zeppelin remasters in high resolution will be the kick off event - to coincide with Led Zep in hi-res, Apple will flip the switch and launch their hi-res store via iTunes - and apparently, it will be priced a buck above the typical current file prices.

That's right - Apple will launch hi-res iTunes in two months.

Apple has been working on offering music in a 24-bit format for several years, with a 2011 report suggesting the company was in talks with record labels to increase the quality of iTunes Music. Currently, Apple sells audio files on iTunes in 16-bit lossy AAC format encoded at 256 kbps to minimize file size.

High-definition 24-bit downloads are said to offer better detail, greater depth, and a deeper bass response compared to traditional 16-bit music downloads, but the file sizes are much larger.

Though Apple only offers 16-bit audio files at present, the company does encourage artists to submit music in a 24-bit 96kHz resolution, which it uses to "create more accurate encodes." Apple accepts the audio files as part of its Mastered for iTunes program, an initiative that has produced higher quality music for the iTunes Store. Because Apple has already accepted 24-bit files for years, it does, presumably, have a large catalog of high quality audio files that could be offered for sale, reportedly at a premium of $1 over traditional iTunes tracks.

Hi-res audio has been gaining popularity in recent years, with music sites such as HDtracks securing deals with multiple major record labels. Recently, musician and song writer Neil Young launched a Kickstarter project for the PonoPlayer, a $399 digital music player designed to play high resolution audio files.

Thus far, the project has earned over $5.7 million, suggesting there is indeed a sizable demand for hi-res audio. Should Apple choose to begin selling 24-bit audio tracks, it could quickly dominate competing sites given its existing user base and boost its digital downloads by appealing to audiophiles unhappy with the current quality of iTunes tracks.

Thanks Phil

iPhone 6 rumors have thus far pointed towards a device that includes a larger screen and a thinner chassis than the existing iPhone 5s. Supporting those rumors, French site Nowhereelse.fr [Google Translation] has shared a case maker's iPhone 6 model from Chinese case manufacturer Elam, which shows an ultra thin form factor very similar to that found in recent schematics.

The iPhone case model appears to have rounded corners and a single unified volume switch, which is different from the separate volume buttons in the iPhone 5s. It's also a slight deviation from earlier design drawings, which showed separate rectangular volume buttons, suggesting this model may come from a different source.

Though not depicted on the case model, separate rumors have pointed towards a relocated power button, either on the top left edge of the device or on the side of the device, to improve one-handed use on a larger device. Currently, the power button is located on the top right edge of the iPhone. Bezels are also not visible, but rumors have indicated they could be 10 to 20 percent thinner than the bezels of the iPhone 5s and the phone itself may be 6.5mm to 7mm thick.

Earlier this week, MacRumors published a set of renderings based on the schematics that share similarities with the case model, depicting what the finished iPhone 6 might look like.

Reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested the 4.7-inch iPhone will have a 1334x750 Retina display with 326 pixels per inch, while the 5.5-inch version will have a 1920x1080 screen with 401 pixels per inch.

Along with a larger screen, both versions of the iPhone 6 are expected to include an upgraded A8 processor, Touch ID, 1GB of RAM, and camera improvements in the form of optical image stabilization.