MacRumors

Along with an update for its iWork for iCloud apps that brought an iOS 7-style redesign, Apple today released updates for its iWork apps for both Mac and iOS, as well as minor updates for both iMovie for Mac and Podcasts for iOS.

All of Apple's iWork apps, including its iWork for iCloud apps, now have support for more secure document viewing with password-protected sharing capabilities.

In addition to password-protected documents, Keynote for iOS has also gained new transitions and a built-in remote function, which will likely replace the standalone Keynote Remote app, while Numbers for iOS now offers landscape viewing and the ability to edit spreadsheets.

Keynote for Mac has gained new transitions, improved display options, the ability to share password-protected presentations via iCloud, and charts with time, date, and duration values. The update also includes improved compatibility with Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 presentations and support for custom number charts on imported Keynote '09 and PowerPoint presentations.

Pages for Mac has a new vertical ruler, keyboard shortcuts, and alignment guides while Numbers for Mac now offers tools for sorting multiple columns or rows and autocomplete when editing cells. The updates for all of the apps should be available later today, with Slashgear and TechCrunch providing some additional information on the new features.

Apple's iWork update will be a welcome change for Mac users who were disappointed with the upgraded iWork apps that were released in October, as the new apps were missing several features available in older versions of the software. In November, Apple pledged to re-introduce several lost features over the course of the next six months and today's update is the first step in that direction.

The iWork suite of apps for iOS and Mac are available to users who owned previous versions of iWork and to users who have purchased new Mac and iOS devices. Customers who do not fit those criteria can purchase the iWork apps for Mac for $19.99 and the iWork apps for iOS for $9.99.

Pages for Mac - [Mac App Store]
Numbers for Mac - [Mac App Store]
Keynote for Mac [Mac App Store]

Pages for iOS - [App Store]
Numbers for iOS - [App Store]
Keynote for iOS - [App Store]

Update: The updates for iWork for Mac and iOS are all available for download from their respective App Stores.

Update 2: The Keynote Remote app, which was never updated for iOS 7 or even the iPhone 5, has been removed from the App Store and Apple is now recommending that users upgrade to the new Keynote 2.1 for iOS to replace the functionality.

To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the unveiling of the original Macintosh -- tomorrow, January 24, 2014 -- Macworld has published a lengthy interview with three Apple executives to discuss where the Mac has been, and where it is going. Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, and Vice President of Software Technology Bud Tribble -- who was a member of the original Mac development team -- all shared their thoughts and the full article is well worth a read.

Among the more interesting tidbits from the interviews is one particular statement from Federighi, where he notes that while iOS and OS X do share some cross-pollination of features and design, they will not become one operating platform without good reason. He says that the Mac has "been honed for over 30 years to be optimal" for keyboards and mice, while attaching a touchscreen to a PC -- or a keyboard to a tablet -- without a good reason to do so makes for a bad experience.

"We don’t waste time thinking, 'But it should be one [interface!]' 'How do you make these [operating systems] merge together?' What a waste of energy that would be," Schiller said. But he added that the company definitely tries to smooth out bumps in the road that make it difficult for its customers to switch between a Mac and an iOS device. For example, making sure its messaging and calendaring apps have the same name on both OS X and iOS.

"To say [OS X and iOS] should be the same, independent of their purpose? Let’s just converge, for the sake of convergence? [It’s] absolutely a non-goal," Federighi said. "You don’t want to say the Mac became less good at being a Mac because someone tried to turn it into iOS. At the same time, you don’t want to feel like iOS was designed by [one] company and Mac was designed by [a different] company, and they’re different for reasons of lack of common vision. We have a common sense of aesthetics, a common set of principles that drive us, and we’re building the best products we can for their unique purposes. So you’ll see them be the same where that makes sense, and you’ll see them be different in those things that are critical to their essence."

Macworld editor Jason Snell mentions that though he brought an iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air to the interview at Apple's Cupertino campus, he ultimately chose to take notes on the MacBook -- something not lost on the Apple execs.

"You had a bunch of tools," Federighi said, pointing at my bag. And you pulled out the one that felt right for the job that you were doing. It wasn’t because it had more computing power … you pulled it out because it was the most natural device to accomplish a task."

Schiller said Apple believed that the Mac "keeps going forever" because its differences make it really valuable. The current Mac lineup looks very different from what Steve Jobs introduced thirty years ago, but Apple clearly considers it crucial to the future of the company.

Images courtesy Shrine of Apple

While Apple's upcoming iOS in the Car functionality has been gaining significant attention, some automakers have been developing their own systems to allow for greater integration between iPhones and vehicles.

Back in December, Honda announced new HondaLink apps and functionality to allow iOS devices to integrate with the new 2014 Civic and upcoming 2015 Fit, and MacRumors recently sat down with a Honda representative to walk through the system that offers solid integration for several features but unsurprisingly does not yet achieve the vision of iOS in the Car.

The HondaLink experience for iOS arrives in the form of four App Store apps: a Connect app that serves as the hub for passing information such as weather, location searches, and Honda service information from the iPhone to the car, an Aha app that offers an interface to the streaming music service, a Launcher app that will allow approved third-party apps to interface with HondaLink, and a $59.99 Navigation app that offers turn-by-turn GPS navigation powered by Nokia's HERE services.

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Several weeks ago, Apple filed a statement with the SEC advising shareholders to vote against activist investor Carl Icahn's non-binding "advisory" share buyback proposal from early December.

The proposal will be voted on by shareholders at Apple's stockholder's meeting, to be held at Apple's headquarters at some point in the next couple of months. Today, Icahn published a seven-page letter to shareholders advocating for a yes vote on its proposal.

He also announced that he purchased another $500 million in Apple stock today, bringing his cumulative total to $3.6 billion. Just yesterday, Icahn revealed that he had surpassed $3 billion in AAPL ownership. He also stated on CNBC that his criticism was reserved for Apple's board of directors, not its management.

In the letter, Icahn explains his belief that Apple's stock is a "no brainer" to purchase, and that Apple's board should be supportive of a significant increase in Apple's share repurchase program. He argues that Apple's stock -- currently priced at $555 -- would be priced at $840 if its price to earnings ratio was the same as the average P/E across the S&P 500.

We believe, however, that this share repurchase authorization can and should be even larger, and effectuating that for the benefit of all of the company’s shareholders is the sole intention of our proposal. The company has recommended voting against our proposal for various reasons. It seems to us that the basis of its argument against our proposal is that the company believes, because of the “dynamic competitive landscape” and because its “rapid pace of innovation require[s] unprecedented investment, flexibility and access to resources”, it does not currently have enough excess liquidity to increase the size of its repurchase program. Assuming this indeed is the basis for the company’s argument, we find its position overly conservative (almost to the point of being irrational), when we consider that the company had $130 billion of net cash as of September 28, 2013 and that consensus earnings are expected to be almost $40 billion next year. Given this massive net cash position and robust earnings generation, Apple is perhaps the most overcapitalized company in corporate history, from our perspective.

The full letter is available from the SEC and comes ahead of Apple's first quarter earnings report, scheduled for Monday afternoon. The company is expected to report the strongest results for any quarter in its history.

Apple today updated its iWork for iCloud web apps (via 9to5Mac), introducing an iOS 7-style "flat" redesign that includes a revamped look for the document library and template selection screen in Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. In addition to a new look, all three apps have also gained several new features, including the ability to add a password and share password protected documents with other users.

Continuing its efforts to add collaborative features to iWork for iCloud, Apple has also added new options to view files shared by other users within each app.

Each app has also received upgrades to bring the software more in line with Apple’s iWork Mac apps. Pages now supports floating tables, page numbers, page counts, and footnotes, along with keyboard shortcuts for resizing, rotating, and repositioning objects. Keynote offers the same keyboard shortcuts and support for floating tables, and all three apps have gained rich formatting of text in table cells and bug fixes and stability improvements.

Apple likely has plans to introduce additional updates to iWork for iCloud in the near future, bringing the iOS 7-style design to all elements of the apps. iWork for iCloud continues to lack some notable collaborative features, including the ability to track changes and comment on content.

The iWork for iCloud software is available to all users for free and it can be accessed through Apple’s iCloud.com website.

The Apple TV could be getting long-awaited game support in an upcoming software update, according to a report from iLounge. It could include Bluetooth controller support and an Apple TV-based App Store.

iLounge has heard from reliable industry sources that Apple TV will soon be getting proper game support in an update, likely to come in March or earlier. We’ve heard that developers are currently working on Bluetooth controller options, and it’s expected that games could be downloaded directly to the Apple TV rather than relying on another iOS device as an intermediary.

Turning the Apple TV into a game console-type device with an App Store has long been expected, with rumors dating back years suggesting that such a feature was in the works. MG Siegler wrote last year that Apple appeared to be moving closer to leveraging the Apple TV for television gaming.

Steve Jobs himself said an App Store for the Apple TV was a possibility "when the time is right" in an interview in 2010. Apple and third-party hardware makers recently began shipping iOS 7 game controllers for iPhones, but they have been poorly received because of build quality issues and high price tags.

iLounge has shared fairly accurate information on Apple's product plans several times in the past, suggesting it does indeed have reliable sources with access to Apple's supply chain.

The next generation of iPhones, expected to be released this fall, will include new phones with significantly larger screens, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. It's been widely expected that Apple will launch an iPhone with a larger screen, but this is the first solid indication that Apple could be launching phones in multiple screen sizes, including in the larger "phablet" market.

The report says that Apple will not continue the plastic-shelled body of the iPhone 5c, and will instead have two models with metal outer casings similar to the current iPhone 5s. It's possible that Apple will continue offering two "new" lines of phones with the new lineup, offering a flagship phone with the largest screen -- one more than 5-inches diagonally -- and offering a step-down model with a screen size larger than 4.5-inches diagonally.

Facing competition from rivals offering smartphones with bigger screens, Apple Inc. plans larger displays on a pair of iPhones due for release this year, people familiar with the situation said.

The people said Apple plans an iPhone model with a screen larger than 4½ inches measured diagonally, and a second version with a display bigger than 5 inches. Until now, Apple's largest phone has been the 4-inch display on the iPhone 5.

Both new models are expected to feature metal casings similar to what is used on the current iPhone 5S, with Apple expected to scrap the plastic exterior used in the iPhone 5C, these people said.

The report notes that Apple will not be using a curved display in its units -- something that had been previously rumored -- and that the iPhone 5c has seen weaker-than-expected demand. Instead, it appears the iPhone 5s has seen significant demand that analysts had expected to see go to the more inexpensive iPhone 5c.

Several former Foxconn employees have been charged in Taiwan for allegedly accepting kickbacks from partner companies in Foxconn's supply chain, reports The Wall Street Journal. According to the report, a former general manager is being held on bribery charges and three former employees are released on bail. However, Apple and other Foxconn clients are not being investigated as authorities do not believe those companies were involved in the kickback scheme.

The bribery allegations were made public last year when an internal Foxconn audit revealed several employees were accepting kickbacks from supply chain companies. Foxconn then acknowledged the criminal activity and turned the employee(s) over to the Chinese police for investigation.

"We can also confirm that our internal investigation found these violations to be limited to the procurement of consumables and accessory equipment related to a small part of our business," Foxconn said in a statement. "The employees in question are no longer with our company."

The charges come as Foxconn has been under fire multiple times in recent years for labor violations. The company has also been working with Apple to improve conditions for employees in its city-like factories, but it has been a slow process. After agreeing in 2012 to examine worker pay and limit working hours, a recent Fair Labor Association report shows the company now is meeting the FLA's 60-hour work week, but still exceeds China's legal limit for weekly working hours and overtime.

An Apple patent application detailing methods of using and mounting sapphire to mobile devices was published today by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, reports AppleInsider. Entitled "Attachment Techniques", the application describes a system in which sapphire could act a display's cover glass, and also gives insight as to how the material could be used to dissipate heat generated by a device.

The patent application introduces itself by describing the difficulty in attaching sapphire to existing materials, and also notes the current implementation of sapphire as a cover for the rear camera on the iPhone. Apple suggests effective methods for using sapphire as a cover glass would involve creating an aperture within a sapphire substrate, and then using a second material with a lower melting point like metal or plastic to pour into the aperture. The joining of the substrate and the filling of the second material would then act as attachment point for other materials that can be welded, soldered, or secured.

The aperture formed in the substrate may have one or more securing features to help hold the second material within the aperture. For example, the aperture may have one or more tapered sidewalls. Alternatively, or additionally, the aperture may have a notch or step in one or more sidewalls. In still other embodiments, an interior surface of the aperture may be threaded or include a lip or protrusion that serves as a securing feature. It should be appreciated that other securing features may be implemented and, further, that multiple securing features may be used in conjunction.

Apple also describes how sapphire could be used as a heat spreader because of the similarity in the material's thermal conductivity levels to that of metals. Apple further states that sapphire could be attached mechanically and thermally to a processor to dissipate heat.

Presently, Apple uses small pieces of sapphire glass to protect the cameras on the iPhone and on the home button for the Touch ID-equipped iPhone 5s. However, the company has also shown a strong interest in perhaps expanding its use of the material in its products, announcing plans last November to build a sapphire glass manufacturing plant in Arizona. GT Advanced, Apple's manufacturing partner for the plant, also sent out postcards to local residents this week advertising for open positions at the new facility.

A report from June 2013 also stated that Apple experimented with sapphire crystal displays but found them infeasible, with Vertu COO Perry Oosting stating that Apple felt that the material was unsuitable for production in the numbers that Apple required. It was reported last March that future smartphone displays may use sapphire instead of glass, with all major mobile phone said to be considering the use of the material.

The patent application, which was originally filed on July 19, 2012 and published today, lists Dale N. Memering, Matthew D. Hill, Christopher D. Prest, David A. Pakula, Tang Yew Tan, Stephen B. Lynch, and Fletcher Rothkopf as its inventors. As with all of Apple's patents and patent applications, it is unclear when and if the exact technology described will make it into a final product.

Owners of the iPhone 5s, Apple's latest flagship smartphone, are using significantly more data than iPhone 5 owners consumed last year -- twenty percent more, according to a new research report from JDSU (via TechCrunch), in what the writer of the study called an "unprecedented increase" in uplink and downlink data demands.

The report examined data usage in both developed and developing markets, across more than a million mobile device users. iPhone 5s and fourth-generation iPad owners used the most data, with the Android-based HTC Sensation and the Sony Xperia SP coming up closely behind.

Users of the latest iPhone 5s consume more downlink data than any other smartphone users in both markets under study, consuming almost seven times and twenty times as much as the benchmark iPhone 3G users. This is consistent with the trend seen over the past three years where users of the flagship iPhone devices were the most data-hungry smartphone users. As in past years, we are not in a position to directly identify the root causes of this data consumption.

The study also found that iPhone 5c and iPad mini owners used less data than owners of Apple's more expensive devices -- though no easily-determined causal link can be drawn to those findings.

It noted that the top 1 percent of cellular users consume more than half of all downloaded data, with the top 10 percent of users consuming 90 percent of downloaded data. The company notes that this is broadly consistent with trends from the past two years. In addition, LTE data users, unsurprisingly, consume more data than users on slower data networks.

Since iOS 7 was released in September, users have complained of frequent home screen and app crashes, resulting in a soft reboot of the system. According to an Apple representative that spoke to Mashable, a fix for the issue is in the works, with a software update to be released soon.

"We have a fix in an upcoming software update for a bug that can occasionally cause a home screen crash," Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told Mashable.

Random iOS 7 reboots have been occurring for users since September, according to a threads on both the MacRumors forums and Apple's own Support Communities. During these system reboots, the iPhone screen goes black or white (depending on the color of the phone) for a short period of time before reloading. Based on the complaints, all iPhones running iOS 7, regardless of model, appear to be exhibiting problems.

The fix may possibly come bundled as part of iOS 7.1, which is currently in its fourth beta iteration. Developers received the latest seed of the operating system on Monday, but it is unknown when Apple plans to release iOS 7.1 to the public.

According to a report from BGR, a public launch of iOS 7.1 isn't expected until March, which could mean Apple plans to release a smaller iterative iOS 7.0.5 update in the meantime.