Earlier this week, we pointed to a couple of claims suggesting that Apple is planning to launch the "iPad mini" on Friday, November 2, also making the case that the date is the most reasonable one given Apple's past history and the media event scheduled for October 23.
Reports are continuing to pile on that November 2 date today, with TechCrunch reporting that it has received information from its own sources pointing to the same date.
November 2 is the ship date we’ve heard today from a source close to Apple’s supply chain, echoing an earlier report by Geeky Gadgets that that’s the day the iPad mini will go on sale. [...]
Our own source has also previously proven reliable with unreleased Apple info.
German site iFun.de is also weighing in with its own report claiming that Apple has informed a major shipping logistics partner that it should be preparing for a significant boost leading up to that date.
9to5Mac reports that it has begun to receive pricing information on the upcoming 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. According to the information, the entry-level model should be priced in the neighborhood of $1699, a $500 premium over the corresponding non-Retina model.
We’ve now received pricing information on the base model and the “better” model. Based on wholesale prices we’ve received, we believe the entry model 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro will cost roughly $1699 at launch while the higher specc’ed model will cost $300 more making the $2000 price point likely.
Current pricing on non-Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro
Interestingly, the estimated $500 price premium for the Retina version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro compares to a $400 premium on the entry-level 15-inch Retina versus non-Retina models. The higher-level 15-inch configuration carries a $600 price premium over its non-Retina counterpart due to the significantly more expensive 512 GB flash storage included with the machine.
The Oregonian reports (via Wired) that Apple has begun construction on the $68 million first phase of its data center project in Prineville, Oregon. The first phase will see the construction of one of two 338,000 square foot buildings planned for the site, but that building will apparently only be partially fitted out for the time being.
The price tag covers the cost of one building and two "data halls" inside. Plans filed with the city and Crook County last summer call for adding a second building and, eventually, 14 more data halls.
There's additional space on the property for more buildings, identified in planning documents in two sections marked "Future Development Area."
Soon after purchasing the data center site in February of this year, Apple opened a 10,000 square foot modular data center to establish a presence there, but with permanent construction now underway Apple's longer-term vision is starting to play out.
Apple has been rapidly expanding its data center capacity at sites around the United States, expanding beyond the company's long-standing sites at its corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California and nearby Newark with a massive new facility in Maiden, North Carolina and now starting to bring its Prineville site online. The company has also announced plans for a data center outside of Reno, Nevada.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is on the verge of a significant expansion of its iPhone sales effort in India, bringing on two large distribution companies to help bring the device to more points of sale. The iPhone has so far been available almost exclusively through mobile phone carriers in the country, but with the iPhone 5 reportedly launching next week, the company appears to be significantly expanding its operations.
A person who has knowledge of the plans says Apple will begin selling the iPhone through specialized distribution companies in an attempt to reach a wider audience, especially Indians who live in thousands of smaller towns.
The Cupertino, Calif. company has recently tied up the local operations of Ingram Micro Inc., a large U.S.-based distributor of technology, and Redington (India) Ltd., a local distributor with 12,000 smaller partners across the country, the person said.
Apple has existing relationships with the two distribution companies, using them to offer products such as the iPad but reportedly having held the iPhone back from them for fear of eating into profit margins.
But with Apple's share of the mobile phone market in India falling by half year-over-year to 1.2% in the second quarter, the company may now be willing to sacrifice some profits in an effort to bolster its position in the country. Still, analysts believe that Apple's market share will remain low there given the premium pricing and the fact that over 70% of phones sold in the country are priced at under $100.
While Apple has been most heavily focused on China among emerging markets, there have been signs that the company is looking at the possibility of expanding its presence in India. Earlier this year it was reported that Apple was looking at opening retail stores in the country, but requirements for domestic sourcing of materials appear to be hindering those plans. In the absence of Apple-owned retail stores, the company earlier this year was also hiring staff for an effort to expand its reseller network in the country.
GOG.com is probably not a name familiar to many Mac users, but it's been around for years selling classic and out-of-date games on Windows. The Loop has more:
GOG.com, originally Good Old Games, has been around for the last four years, and originally made a name for itself offering Windows users a way to buy and download vintage games that have long since gone out of circulation, relying on emulation and other similar technology to work. The company licenses titles from a variety of publishers and is zeroing in on 500 titles in their catalog.
Sim City 2000, as an example, runs in an self-contained emulated DOS environment with seemingly no hiccups. The company says the original 50 games are just the beginning, promising to bring more games to the Mac in the future.
After several months in public and then private alpha and beta testing, Tweetbot for Mac has been released for $20 [App Store].
The app includes support for the Retina MacBook Pro, iCloud syncing with the iOS versions of Tweetbot, and more. There are also a number of excellent reviews out today to help users decide if the app is worth $20, including from The Verge, The Next Web, and MacStories.
Perhaps the biggest question from potential customers is regarding Tweetbot's $20 price. Mark Jardine, one of the developers behind Tweetbot, wrote this in a blog post announcing the release:
Why is Tweetbot for Mac $20?
If you think about it, it’s not that expensive. Twenty dollars for a quality piece of software that you use every day? That has been the price point for quality utility apps on the Mac for years. However, it’s not just the development time and attention we put into the app that commands the higher price.
Because of Twitter’s recent enforcement of token limits, we only have a limited number of tokens available for Tweetbot for Mac. These tokens dictate how many users Tweetbot for Mac can have. The app’s limit is separate from, but much smaller than, the limit for Tweetbot for iOS. Once we use up the tokens granted to us by Twitter, we will no longer be able to sell the app to new users. Tapbots will continue to support Tweetbot for Mac for existing customers at that time.
This limit and our desire to continue to support the app once we sell out is why we’ve priced Tweetbot for Mac a little higher than we’d like. It’s the best thing we can do for the long term viability of the product. We know some will not be happy about Tweetbot for Mac’s pricing, but the bottom line is Twitter needs to provide us with more tokens for us to be able to sell at a lower the price. We spent a year developing this app and it’s the only way for us to be able to make our money back and continue supporting it with updates in the future. Feel free to let Twitter know how you feel about it.
Regardless, Tweetbot for Mac is available on the Mac App Store for $19.99 [Direct Link]
Earlier this week, we noted that Apple's Retina MacBook Pro and newest MacBook Air models had been among a number of ultrathin notebooks whose eligibility for inclusion on the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registry had been verified. The approval came with some clarifications of the EPEAT standards that were criticized by some, including iFixit's Kyle Wiens, as watering down the requirements for inclusion.
EPEAT has now posted a defense of its actions, noting that its review committee was simply following the guidelines as they are written. The group acknowledges some of the concerns, but notes that those issues should be raised in the forthcoming update to the standards and not as criticism of the application of the standards as they are currently written.
Regarding upgrade capability, the criteria specifically state that products may be upgraded or extended “by a high performance serial bus (IEEE Std 1394™ [B4]) or Universal Serial Bus (USB)”. Regardless of opinions about whether or not that is appropriate or acceptable language, the hard fact is that EPEAT has no authority to ‘flunk’ products if they meet the explicit terms of the standard.
Regarding disassembly: The criteria under discussion are located in the section of the standard that addresses Design for End of Life – that is, design for effective recycling. The criteria investigated are not in any way aimed at refurbishment or repair. Again, people may think that there should be more in the standard about disassembly for repair and refurbishment – and we welcome their views – but these criteria do not apply to that topic.
The group goes on to note that EPEAT standards are developed through an open process that involves stakeholders from a number of sides, although Wiens had previously noted that the voting group for the last standards update was heavily weighted toward computer industry companies. EPEAT also notes that at the time of the registry's implementation, no products qualified for the Gold standard, indicating that the registry's overall purpose in defining reachable goals has been a success.
The EPEAT system was structured to encourage continual improvement by providing progressive ratings and by regularly updating the environmental performance criteria products must meet. It took a year for any products to meet the Gold rating requirements after the registry launched, because it was extremely challenging to do so. Over time, the EPEAT PC/Display criteria have become more familiar and companies have designed them into their products and supply chain requirements. That’s a good thing. In fact the whole point of the EPEAT system is to drive change… Our goal is to create a new bottom line for environmental innovation that affects the whole global industry for the better.
EPEAT is moving forward with its next update to its PC/Display standards, hoping draw upon recently-updated standards for imaging equipment and televisions in certain aspects. Consequently, it seems that the time for those interested in tightening the criteria for such aspects as upgradeability and recyclability and to add criteria for repairability is approaching.
Late yesterday, The Next Web reported that Apple was finalizing a deal to acquire Color Labs, the video streaming service and app founded by Lala Media veteran Bill Nguyen. The report came at the end of a confusing day in which an internal memo indicated that the company was being shut down, only to have the company deny those claims.
AllThingsD now provides significantly more clarity to situation, revealing that Apple is only acquiring Color's 20-member engineering team for a relatively small sum.
What’s really happening is that Color’s engineering team — about 20 people, comprising almost the entire company — is being “acqhired” by Apple at what’s being called a “nominal” price of something like $2 million to $5 million, according to multiple sources familiar with both sides of the situation. To repeat, there are no “double-digit” millions involved, according to many people familiar with the deal.
Apple is not buying Color’s technology, intellectual property, domain names or liabilities. Those are being left with the company, which still has considerable cash in the bank — something like $25 million — and is going to be wound down.
Apple is reportedly bringing Color's engineers on board to work on cloud-related projects.
The report notes that there is a significant amount of bad blood between the various parties involved at Color and even Apple, contributing to the mass confusion yesterday about what exactly is happening with Color. Apple and Color have yet to comment on the deal.
9to5Mac reports that prices for Apple's new iMac and Mac mini coming next week will be in line with current pricing, almost certainly confirming that the new iMac models will not carry more-expensive Retina displays.
The three Mac mini models will likely be priced at the same $599, $799, and $999 for the two standard models and single server model, respectively.
The new iMacs will also feature similar or same pricing as the current iMacs, but the top 27-inch and 21.5-inch models may feature slightly cheaper pricing in some countries. The current iMacs come in at $1199, $1499, $1699, and $1999 U.S. price points.
The news conflicts with a report from earlier this month claiming that the iMac would be seeing a price increase alongside a thinner form factor.
In a separate post, 9to5Mac also reports that Apple will for the first time offer 8 GB RAM module options for the iMac and Mac mini. While third-party RAM vendors have long offered 8 GB modules for Apple's machines, Apple itself has sold only 4 GB modules and thus only listed official support for 16 GB of RAM in the iMac and 8 GB in the Mac mini.
The higher-density modules will allow users to configure Mac mini orders with up to a total 16 GB of RAM in the machine's two RAM slots. The iMac could potentially see up to 32 GB of RAM, although that assumes the machine will continue to offer four slots as on the current models. Considering rumors of a thinner profile, this may or may not be the case.
Apple is preparing to open its third retail store in Beijing this weekend, with the massive new Wangfujung store representing yet another high-profile entry for the company.
The Next Web was on hand for the media preview today, gaining an early look at the new store and hearing from Apple retail chief John Browett, who also acknowledged that Apple is working to open a new store in Shenzhen, China.
Browett went so far as to say that, in his opinion, the new location is the best store Apple has built in Asia so far. That would presumably take the unofficial title from the IFC Hong Kong store, which was Apple’s most expensive store to date when it opened last year. [...]
Apple Store aficionados (hey, I’m sure some of you are out there) should take note that the Wangfujing location has one of Apple’s three triple-height glass staircases, the first in Asia. Also a first in Asia, the location has two 360-degree Genius Bars, allowing customers to stand next to their technicians rather than across from them.
M.I.C. gadget shares more photos from the new store, noting that the ground floor is dedicated to product displays while the second floor offers support functions such as the Genius Bars and training tables and the basement houses additional training tables, a kids' table, and the largest range of accessories available at any store.
Back in early July, a UK court ruled that Samsung had not infringed upon the design of the iPad with its own Galaxy Tab device, with judge Colin Birss ruling that the Galaxy Tab was simply "not as cool" as the iPad. Roughly a week later, Birss ruled that Apple must publish advertisements on its website and in newspapers acknowledging that Samsung did not copy the iPad's design.
Apple quickly appealed the ruling and was granted a stay until that appeal could be heard.
BBC News now reports that Apple has lost its appeal and is now required to follow through on publishing its acknowledgments.
The US firm had previously been ordered to place a notice to that effect - with a link to the original judgement - on its website and place other adverts in the Daily Mail, Financial Times, T3 Magazine and other publications to "correct the damaging impression" that Samsung was a copycat.
The appeal judges decided not to overturn the decision on the basis that a related Apple design-rights battle in the German courts risked causing confusion in consumers' minds.
"The acknowledgment must come from the horse's mouth," they said. "Nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely."
The appeals judges ruled that Apple could satisfy the posting requirement for its own website by including a small link entitled "Samsung/Apple judgement" on the site for a period of one month.
Apple can still appeal to the UK Supreme Court in an effort to have the publishing requirement overturned, but Reuters notes that Apple has given no indication of planning such an appeal.
Verizon today became the first major U.S. iPhone carrier to report earnings for the third quarter of 2012, giving some insight into iPhone sales one week before Apple reports its numbers.
In a conference call following the earnings release, Verizon revealed that it activated 3.1 million iPhones during the quarter, representing approximately 46% of its total smartphone activations of 6.8 million. The iPhone activation number was up from 2.7 million in the previous quarter that saw Apple garnering a similar 45% share of Verizon's smartphone activations.
Addressing the iPhone 5, Verizon noted that 21% of its iPhone activations were for devices running on the carrier's LTE network, translating to about 650,000 iPhone 5 activations in the last few days of the quarter.
AT&T and Sprint will also be reporting their financial results next week, ahead of Apple's announcement and conference call following the close of trading on Thursday, October 25.
Just after the revelation that Apple has acquired Web app startup Particle, The Next Web reports that Apple is also in the process of acquiring Color Labs. Color, which raised a substantial $41 million round of financing even before launching last year, arrived as a photo sharing service that has since morphed into a streaming video service.
We’ve heard through trusted sources that the startup was nabbed for a price that is in the ‘high double digits’, as in millions, and that the deal is ‘done’, though papers have yet to be signed.
VentureBeatreported earlier today on an email sent to at least one employee of the company stating that the company leaders had "voted to wind down the company", but Color quickly issued a brief statement claiming that it was not in the process of shutting down.
Color was founded by Bill Nguyen, who was also behind Lala Media, the streaming music service that was acquired by Apple in late 2009. The Next Web speculates on why Apple may also have been interested in Color:
As to why they’d want Color Labs? We would look to Color’s patents, which may include ones for a file format that they were working on to record HD video. Or it’s software engineering team, if Apple was impressed by their work.
Apple and Color have not yet responded to requests for comment on the situation.
MacHeist has launched their fourth application bundle, combining fifteen apps with a retail value of $539 (if certain sales targets are reached), for $29. MacHeist typically assembles these bundles with a wide variety of apps, including both games and productivity programs.
The last three apps will be unlocked once certain sales targets are reached. Further, 25% of each purchase goes to one of 10 charities that the purchaser can choose from.
Next month, Apple will meet with accessory makers in Shenzhen, China to discuss integration of the new Lightning connector in third party products, according to a report from TechCrunch. The MFi Program allows manufacturers to obtain the hardware components necessary to connect iPhones, iPods and iPads to third party docks, cars, and other such devices.
However, in a change from the previous dock connector, TechCrunch says Apple will be keeping very tight control of the new Lightning connector:
One of those new rules, according to one of our sources close to the program, is that Apple’s Lightning pin supply is controlled by the company itself, and it supplies approved MFI partners with production quantities of the pin once their product is determined to have met its standards and specifications. It sells them in volume, and our source says the pricing is actually very fair when you consider the advanced technology involved in the connector’s construction.
An earlier teardown of the Lightning connector showed some specialized hardware inside the connector itself, including chips that could be used for security.
That said, Chinese companies are said to have cracked the security protocols already, and are in the process of ramping up Lightning component production. The meeting, reportedly scheduled for November 7 and 8, is a first step towards development of new Lightning-compatible products.
Apple did say during the iPhone 5 launch event that some companies including Bose, JBL, B&W and B&O were already working on devices compatible with the new connector. However, we haven't heard any concrete availability dates for new Lightning-compatible devices.
Epic Games demonstrated Infinity Blade Dungeons -- the next release in the best-selling series -- at the launch of the new iPad this past March. The company called it "an amazing new project" and said the game was designed for the iPad's new Retina display.
However, it now appears that the game won't be released until 2013 according to AllThingsD. At this rate, the game may well be optimized for the fourth generation iPad.
“Ever since the talented team at Impossible Studios got their hands on “Infinity Blade: Dungeons,” they’ve been busy adding their great ideas to the game,” spokesman Wes Phillips told AllThingsD. “There was also the matter of getting the Impossible Studios team up and running with desks, chairs, staplers and computers. The logistics of a new studio and implementing all these great ideas required a little extra time, so Infinity Blade: Dungeons will hit iOS in 2013.”
The classic ultraviolent racing game Carmageddon [App Store] has been resurrected on the iPhone and iPad following a tremendously successful Kickstarter campaign.
Stainless Games, the original developer of Carmageddon, is still in business and recently bought back all the rights to the game -- with the help of a Kickstarter campaign that raised $625,000, the game is back. The firm plans to bring it to Windows, Mac and Linux in the coming months, as well.
Carmageddon features real-world environments that have been turned into killing fields, where the locals stay out on the streets at their peril. As well as using your car as a weapon, every level is sprinkled generously with power-ups that have a vast variety of mad effects, adding a whole extra level of craziness to the proceedings. In every event you have the option to “play it your way”… Waste all your opponents, kill every pedestrian, or (perish the thought) complete all the laps. Oh and watch out – the cops in their super-tough armoured patrol vehicles are lurking, and if they catch you being bad they’ll be down on you like several tons of cold pork!
The game is absurdly violent, but in an animated, slightly ridiculous way. For today only, Carmageddon is offered free as a thank you to the game's Kickstarter backers.
CNET reports that Apple has acquired Particle, a small San Francisco-based startup firm specializing in HTML5 Web and Web app work. The acquisition is said to have been for the company's talent rather than any specific project it was working on.
The company has done HTML5 work for Google, Motorola, Amazon, Yahoo, Sony, and Apple. The group has also created some "labs" projects including Intervue.me, an asynchronous video interviewing project. [...]
The deal went through late last month, though not all its less than a dozen employees stayed on to work at Apple. Those who did are listed as "creative technologists" as well as one "user interface engineer," according to their public LinkedIn profiles.
The report speculates that Particle's Web expertise makes it likely that the new Apple employees will be working on such projects as Apple's website, iAd, and iCloud.com. Particle's About page outlines some of its work with Apple prior to the acquisition:
Particle brings positive and energetic relationships with Google and the Chrome team specifically, as well as great Apple relationships and execution experience around iAds, iTunes Extras, and Apple.com. We have participated in and piloted much of the technology which will display the next generation of advertising and deliver media content for the next decade.
TechCrunch has documented five of Particle's former employees who are now listing Apple as their employer on LinkedIn, with all of the transitions listed as having taken place in September.
Earlier this week, we pointed to a couple of claims suggesting that Apple is planning to launch the "iPad mini" on Friday, November 2, also making the case that the date is the most reasonable one given Apple's past history and the media event scheduled for October 23.
GOG.com -- short for Good Old Games -- has 
Earlier this week, we 
Late yesterday, The Next Web reported that Apple was finalizing a deal to 
Verizon today became the first major U.S. iPhone carrier to 
