Apple received significant criticism when it replaced Google Maps in iOS 6 with its own custom mapping solution. Google has since been said to be working on releasing its own standalone version to be released in the iOS App Store.
App Map [iTunes Link] developer Ben Guild has posted some early details and partial screenshots from Google's upcoming Maps application for iOS.
According to Guild, the standalone version of Google Maps for iOS is presently in alpha testing, but has some promising improvements over the old Google Maps. Guild reports that the new Google Maps is vector-based, has two-finger rotation to any angle, is "super fast" and supports the taller iPhone 5 screen.
The released partial screenshots aren't particularly revealing, but do seem to show that work is actively being done on the product. An early report claimed that Google may be targeting release by Christmas of this year. Meanwhile, Apple has been making improvements to its own Maps over time.
As was rumored last week, Japanese carrier Softbank is purchasing 70% of Sprint for $20 billion. The deal is expected to be announced tomorrow morning, but the boards of both companies have agreed to the transaction. Softbank will buy $8 billion in shares directly from Sprint, and another $12 billion from existing stockholders at $7.30 per share, a 27% premium from Friday's close.
The purchase is a huge one for Softbank, which is essentially making a $20 billion gamble that it success in developing LTE wireless services in its home market of Japan can be translated to the U.S. Sprint, while the third largest wireless provider in the U.S., significantly trails the two market leaders, Verizon and AT&T.
Softbank's hope, say people familiar with its strategy, is to build on Sprint's spectrum position, while hoping the company can further consolidate the wireless industry through acquisitions of more spectrum and other operators. The deal is expected to close in roughly six months.
This puts another major carrier in the United States in foreign hands. Verizon is 45% owned by UK carrier Vodafone, T-Mobile is owned by German-firm Deutsche Telekom, and Sprint will now be majority owned by Softbank. There are no details regarding Sprint's branding in the US, or if Softbank will begin promoting itself within the country.
Sprint became the third of the four major U.S. carriers to offer the iPhone upon the release of the iPhone 4S in October 2011, with company executives moving to "bet the company" on the iPhone in committing to purchase more than 30 million iPhones worth $20 billion over the first four years of the partnership. The move has impacted Sprint's financials over the short-term, but the carrier believes that the long-term effects of having the iPhone will be positive.
A forum thread [Google translation] posted to Chinese site WeiPhone.com earlier this month claims that Apple is planning to introduce its next iMac at a press conference either this month or next month, with the new iMac offering a redesigned body with a thinner profile. The report includes a photo of what is said to be the logic board and other internal components of the new iMac.
Click for larger
The authenticity of the photo can not be confirmed, but iFixit's Kyle Wiens tells us that it does appear to be plausible based on some similarities to current iMac components. One example is the silver disc located behind the main layer of components. This disc has been found in Apple's iMac models over the past several years, and it houses the Wi-Fi antenna directly behind the Apple logo on the rear of the iMac's body. The Apple logo is the only plastic portion of the iMac's otherwise aluminum rear shell, thus providing the best location for optimizing signal reception.
Other items of interest pointed out in the photo include the Bluetooth antenna (top edge), fans, and hard drive.
The redesigned iMac is said to be considerably thinner than the current form factor, with the machine's thickness almost impossible to gauge when viewed from the side. The curved rear shell is also said to appear more like a water droplet than the squared-off design seen in the current model.
The report also claims that the new iMac's screen is glued to the front glass of the machine, in line with previous rumors stating that Apple is moving to fully laminate the two components together for improved display quality.
Also in line with previous rumors, the report suggests that Apple may first update the 21.5-inch model with the new design, which is said to maintain the existing "chin" below the display even as the body is tweaked with a thinner profile. The updated 27-inch model could then follow somewhat later, as has been suggested due to the challenges of laminating the larger display and glass with acceptable yields. The new iMacs are also said to be more expensive than the current models, but it is unclear how significant any pricing changes would be.
Finally, the report claims that Apple is indeed working toward a release of a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. The notebook is said to already be in assembly in "Mexico and other places", with Chinese production coming later this month. The new 13-inch model is said to carry a code name of "D1", which fits with the "D2" code name that turned out to be the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro.
The report also seems to suggest that Apple will be tweaking the 15-inch model to address a few technical issues such as heat dissipation, but these changes will apparently be made behind the scenes and not be presented to consumers as an updated model.
Apple is reportedly set to hold a media event on October 23 to introduce the iPad mini, but it has been unclear if the company plans to introduce its new Mac products at the same event. If Apple does decide that its updated Macs are significant enough to warrant a presentation for the media, it will likely show them at the iPad mini event rather than trying to squeeze in yet another separate event.
MacRumors has received a pair of photos showing what is claimed to be the battery from Apple's forthcoming "iPad mini". The photos show a battery carrying a model number of A1445 and an Apple part number of 616-0641. The battery runs at 3.72 volts, offering 16.7 Whr of energy on 4490 mAh of charge.
While we can not confirm the authenticity of the part, the markings are consistent with those seen on batteries from other Apple products. The battery's proportions also seem to fit fairly well with what is expected for the iPad mini, although the exact dimensions of the part are unknown.
The 16.7 watt-hour capacity for the iPad mini battery unsurprisingly places the device between the iPhone 5 at 5.45 watt-hours and the third-generation full-size iPad at 42.5 watt-hours. Given that the iPad mini has been said to be based more on the iPad 2 and lack a Retina display, the iPad mini's battery may be more appropriately compared to the 25 watt-hour battery of the iPad 2.
The battery is clearly not yet an official part ready for shipping, as it contains placeholders for several portions of regulatory text and blank rectangular placeholders for a number of regulatory logos. It seems likely, however, that this is the final design simply awaiting final certification.
Apple is expected to introduce the iPad mini at a media event all but confirmed to be scheduled for October 23.
Apple yesterday expanded its iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program, significantly increasing the number of machines eligible under the program to include iMacs sold between October 2009 and July 2011 with 1 TB Seagate hard drives.
Apple has determined that certain Seagate 1TB hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail. These systems were sold between October 2009 and July 2011.
Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) will replace affected hard drives free of charge.
Apple launched the program in July 2011, but at that time it covered only those machines sold between May 2011 and July 2011. Apple has apparently now determined that the issue extends further back in time than previously thought, and has now included machines sold as far back as October 2009.
The original program was originally valid for one year, scheduled to expire July 23, 2012, but as that deadline passed the company extended the program for an additional year. With the program now covering a number of other machines, some of which were sold as much as three years ago, Apple has again updated the coverage terms.
The program covers affected iMacs for three years after the first retail sale of the unit or until April 12, 2013, whichever provides longer coverage for you. Apple will continue to evaluate service data and will provide further updates to this program as needed.
This is not the first time Apple has had issues with Seagate hard drives in its products, as the first several generations of the MacBook had the potential to experience data loss when the read/write heads on the Seagate drives failed prematurely, gouging the hard drive platter. Apple acknowledged the issue soon after it was first reported in late 2007, but waited over two years to launch a repair program to address the problem.
The Next Webis reporting that the rumored iPad Mini event scheduled for October 23rd will have a heavy focus on iBooks. The iPad Mini will be aimed at smaller tablets like the Kindle Fire, that are generally used to consume content including books and movies.
In what will likely be completely unsurprising news to many, we’ve now heard from multiple sources that Apple’s as-yet-unannounced iPad mini event will have a strong focus on iBooks. Since an iPad mini would likely be squarely aimed at those who wish to partake of media on their tablets, that would make a lot of sense.
Apple executive Eddy Cue said in an email released during the Apple v. Samsung trial that he "found email, books, Facebook and video very compelling" on a 7-inch Samsung Galaxy tablet. It seems likely that Apple will focus on similar uses for the iPad Mini.
With millions of units shipped, and demand significantly outstripping supply, the initial launch of the iPhone 5 can probably be described as successful. Ad tracking firm has released some data comparing iPhone 5 mobile ad impressions to those from the Galaxy S III, a popular Android phone released by Samsung.
According to the firm, the three-week old iPhone 5 saw significantly more web traffic than the Galaxy S III, a phone that has been out for months.
Following the release of Apple’s iPhone 5 on September 21st, Chitika Insights was interested in comparing the Web usage rates of the newest phones from both manufacturers. To quantify our latest study, we conducted a user agent analysis on millions of mobile ad impressions, spanning a 7-day time frame from October 3rd through October 9th, 2012. Looking solely at impressions coming from the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III, we were able to observe the difference in Web traffic volume between the two devices, depicted in the figure below:
Another study, this time from 451 Research/ChangeWave Research, found that one third of North American consumers were "somewhat" or "very" likely to purchase the iPhone 5, a number that is some 10% higher than the consumers who were planning to buy the iPhone 4S.
The firm also found that 9 in 10 users hadn't experienced any significant problems with Apple's new mapping software, something that has received a great deal of attention in the press recently.
China Economic News Service reports on a research note from Citigroup analyst J.T. Hsu claiming that Apple is working with Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC as its sole supplier for future quad-core chips based on more efficient 20-nanometer processes. The timeline shared by Hsu suggests that the quad-core chips could make their way into products such as the iPad in 2014.
Citigroup Global Markets’ market research fellow, J.T. Hsu, pointed out that Apple began verifying TSMC’s 20nm process in August this year and may begin risk production in November with the process. Volume production is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2013, raising the possibility that TSMC will hike capital expenditure to US$11-12 billion in 2013 and 2014.
Hsu estimated Apple to design quad-core processors into iPad, iTV and even Macbook. iPhones will be still powered by duo-core processors to highlight its low power consumption merit.
TSMC is in the early stages of developing its 20-nanometer processes, but the company promises significant improvements with the technology.
TSMC's 20nm process technology can provide 30 percent higher speed, 1.9 times the density, or 25 percent less power than its 28nm technology. TSMC 20nm technology is the manufacturing process behind a wide array of applications that run the gamut from tablets and smartphones to desktops and servers.
Apple currently uses Samsung as the manufacturer of its A-series chips for its iOS devices, testing out a 32-nanometer process with a revised A5 chip launched in the tweaked iPad 2 and the third-generation Apple TV earlier this year. Apple moved full-bore into the 32-nanometer process for the new A6 chip used in the iPhone 5.
Apple had been rumored several times over the past 18 months to be switching its ARM-based chip production to TSMC, but the company has so far stuck with Samsung. A late August report indicated that Apple and Qualcomm had each attempted to purchase exclusive access to TSMC's chip production, but TSMC ultimately rejected both bids. TSMC has, however, indicated that it remains open to dedicating individual factories to single customers, and it appears that Apple may be interested in pursuing that route in order to take advantage of TSMC's technical and manufacturing expertise.
Last month, we noted that the Swiss Federal Railways service was objecting to Apple's use of its iconic clock design for the new iPad clock app in iOS 6.
For the use of the SBB station clock on devices like iPad and iPhone, the Swiss Federal Railways SBB and Apple have agreed and signed a license agreement.
Apple's iPad clock app (left) and Swiss Federal Railways clock (right)
Terms of the licensing agreement, including payment and term length details, were not disclosed.
AllThingsD reports that Apple appears to be planning to hold a media event on Tuesday, October 23 to introduce the "iPad mini", Apple's smaller tablet device said to be carrying a display measuring 7.85 inches diagonally.
As AllThingsD reported in August, Apple will hold a special event this month at which it will showcase a new, smaller iPad. People familiar with Apple’s plans tell us that the company will unveil the so-called “iPad mini” on October 23 at an invitation-only event.
That’s a Tuesday, not a Wednesday, so this is a bit of a break with recent tradition. It also happens to be just three days prior to the street date for Microsoft’s new Surface tablet.
Physical mockup of rumored iPad mini design
The location of the event is unconfirmed, but the report suggests that it is likely to be held at the company's Town Hall auditorium at its corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California.
AllThingsD has an excellent track record regarding Apple media event rumors, giving this claim a high probability of proving true. Given past history, Apple would be expected to send out invitations early next week if the event is to be held on October 23.
Update: The Loop's Jim Dalrymple weighs in, confirming the date with a "Yep."
The Wall Street Journal reports that former AMD chip designer and executive Jim Mergard has now moved to Apple after a brief stint at Samsung, marking a significant talent win for Apple in its efforts to build its own chips.
The gadget maker has hired Jim Mergard, a 16-year veteran of Advanced Micro Devices who was a vice president and chief engineer there before he left for Samsung. He is known for playing a leading role in the development of a high-profile AMD chip that carried the code name Brazos and was designed for low-end portable computers. [...]
It is not clear whether Mergard will work at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters or remain in Austin, where he worked for AMD and Samsung. Apple has long operated a customer support center in the Texas capitol, but the company has had a local presence in chip design as well since its 2010 purchase of the startup Intrinsity.
The report quotes former AMD executive Patrick Moorhead as saying that Mergard has expertise in both PC chip design and system-on-a-chip design such as that used for Apple's iOS devices. The company uses ARM-based designs for its A-series chips that power its iOS devices, and the new A6 chip found in the iPhone 5 appears to be Apple's first custom design.
Apple and Samsung of course have a complicated relationship, with the two rivals competing fiercely in the marketplace and the courtroom even as Samsung is one of Apple's primary suppliers. Apple's ARM-based chips are key components that are currently manufactured by Samsung.
Peter from Double Helix Cables has made a guest post on Gizmodo showing his work to tear down Apple's new Lightning to 30-pin Adapter that began shipping earlier this week. Apple has come under a fair amount of criticism for charging $29 for the basic adapter and $39 for one with a short cable, but Peter notes that based on the electronics inside and the durability of the adapter, the company may have good reason for its pricing.
Apple's Lightning connector uses a controller chip to dynamically assign functionalities to the eight pins found in the connector, enabling it to adapt to different situations. The Lightning to 30-pin Adapter is no exception, containing several chips required to allow that flexible functionality to be passed through to devices using the old dock connector design.
The chips look unfamiliar, but with the same metal finish and some have lasered text. They all appear to be custom and trying to figure out what does what is fruitless. I really took this apart for the DIY community to ascertain if the DAC [digital-to-analog converter] in this thing is actually good, but it's quite unclear. It's probably some integrated audio circuitry in a larger processing chip, that's how these things tend to be done now. One of the chips reads Apple on it with a very long serial number. Another reads 8533 23AP CAB.
Peter notes that underneath the plastic shell of the adapter is a significant amount of metal and glue holding the device together and providing strength and durability. The construction makes the adapter extremely difficult to crack open and does not bode well for those seeking to modify the adapter to add functionality.
I really had high hopes that I could get into this thing and attach an audio output cable, but I should have known better. This thing is even more fearsomely reinforced than the Lightning USB cord, by a factor of 10, surely to thwart those that want to hack it, and also so that it cannot break easily. Nobody should balk at paying $29 for this after they see what is inside, though.
Despite the complexity of the adapter evidenced its $29 price tag, integrated electronics, and sturdy construction, the device has also been receiving criticism for incompatibility with a number of accessories. Users have been reporting mixed results in using the adapter with their 30-pin accessories, and users hoping to plug in the adapter with a case on their iPhone 5 may find that the adapter's bulk prevents it from working with all but the thinnest cases or cases with nearly fully open bottom edges. As a result users with cases on their iPhones may prefer to opt for the more expensive cable-equipped adapter that uses a standard-sized Lightning connector assembly rather than embedding the connector directly into the bulky adapter.
Prior to Apple's patent trial win over Samsung, the company was awarded an injunction by Judge Lucy Koh barring U.S. sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone. As noted by The Next Web, a federal appeals court today reversed the ban on the grounds that Apple would not be sufficiently harmed by the alleged infringement.
The appeals court found that the feature was indeed not integral to the success of the Galaxy Nexus, ruling that the lower court "abused its discretion" in issuing the original injunction. The Next Web notes:
The preliminary injunction on the Samsung smartphone had been granted as of June 30th by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who eventually conducted the Apple v. Samsung patent trial. The ruling was based primarily on the 8086604 patent, which is defined as a “universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system.” The full patent appears to relate to a unified search tool that can be used to find a variety of different items via one indexed database. This could also refer to a unified spoken word interface like Siri, or Google’s voice search.
At the time, Koh said that “Apple has articulated a plausible theory of irreparable harm” due to a “long-term loss of market share” and “losses of downstream sales.”
The appeals court, however, disagreed with Koh's ruling that Apple had shown adequate threat of irreparable harm.
Samsung and Google developed a software workaround or the patent in question and deployed it shortly after the injunction went into effect. With the ban now lifted, the workaround appears to no longer be necessary. The full order [PDF] is available from the U.S. Courts website.
Update 11:51 AM: Our initial report seems to have generated some confusion over the exact rationale for the appeals court's decision to overturn the injunction. The appeals court ruled that Apple did not sufficiently show that sales of the Galaxy Nexus benefited from the inclusion of the unified search feature that is the subject of the patent. Given that view, the lower court was ruled to have overstepped its bounds in issuing the injunction on the belief that Apple would be caused irreparable harm by allowing sales of the Galaxy Nexus to continue.
In other words, it may very well be that the accused product would sell almost as well without incorporating the patented feature. And in that case, even if the competitive injury that results from selling the accused device is substantial, the harm that flows from the alleged infringement (the only harm that should count) is not.
The appeals court's decision was not based upon Samsung's earlier argument that sales of the Galaxy Nexus had been so "minuscule" as to not be a threat to Apple. We have also removed a quote from The Next Web's report that when taken out of context suggests that this was at least a partial reason for the overturning of the injunction.
The teardown reveals few surprises, but offers a good look at how Apple has been able to pack all of the components into a body that has 20% less volume than the iPhone 5. With a lack of cellular communications technology, the iPod touch carries fewer components and consolidates them into just a handful of parts. Most notably the logic board and battery are smaller than seen in the iPhone 5 and carry a top-and-bottom layout as opposed to the side-by-side layout seen in the iPhone.
One aspect of the teardown that did catch our eye is the Lightning connector and headphone jack assembly, which contains a long ribbon cable extending from those ports at the bottom of the device up to the logic board at the top. This part was seen several times back in August and was at the time claimed to be for the "iPad mini".
Those claims led to confusion over whether the iPad mini's headphone jack would be located at the bottom as on the iPhone 5 and the iPod touch or on the top as in the full-size iPad and as seen in mockups and cases reportedly based on leaked iPad mini design specs. With the appearance of this part in the iPod touch, the discrepancy has now been resolved and signs are pointing to the iPad mini's headphone jack being along the top edge of the device.
Other aspects of the device are fairly standard, with the logic board revealing Apple's A5 system-on-a-chip, flash storage from Toshiba, and the usual assortment of chips for handling Wi-Fi, touchscreen functions, gyroscope, and more.
Overall, iFixit found the new iPod touch to be difficult to repair, with many components soldered together and the device held together with adhesives and clips that make it difficult to open. The revelation is not a surprise, as Apple does not intend its mobile products to be user-serviceable and the company's efforts to push the limits of design and size reduction have led it to sacrifice accessibility.
The Verge reports on an article from Japanese business newspaper Nikkei claiming that the country's third largest carrier, SoftBank, is close to acquiring U.S. carrier and iPhone partner Sprint Nextel. The report indicates that SoftBank is looking to acquire at least a two-thirds share of Sprint in a deal that would exceed ¥1.5 trillion ($19.2 billion).
The Wall Street Journal follows up with its own claims along the same lines, although it pegs the purchase price at over ¥1 trillion ($12.81 billion).
Sprint executives have said they want to participate in the industry's consolidation. The approach from Softbank comes as Sprint is making progress stitching together its various network technologies and stemming declines in its revenue and subscriber base following a 2005 merger with Nextel.
The deal would mark a massive gamble by Softbank, the country's third-largest carrier by subscribers, to expand its business outside of Japan. Softbank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son has made big bets in the past, including acquiring the Japanese arm of Vodafone Group in 2006. It paid for the deal through a leveraged buyout, which vaulted the company in the mobile-phone business.
The U.S. mobile carrier industry has been looking at significant consolidation in recent years, particularly at the top of the market as Verizon and AT&T have jockeyed for the top spot and Sprint and T-Mobile USA have sought to gain ground on the two leaders. Following the failed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile last year, T-Mobile just last week announced that it would merge with MetroPCS, the country's fifth-largest carrier, although Sprint was rumored to also be considering making a bid.
Sprint became the third of the four major U.S. carriers to offer the iPhone upon the release of the iPhone 4S in October 2011, with company executives moving to "bet the company" on the iPhone in committing to purchase more than 30 million iPhones worth $20 billion over the first four years of the partnership. The move has impacted Sprint's financials over the short-term, but the carrier believes that the long-term effects of having the iPhone will be positive.
NimbleBit has updated its game Pocket Planes [App Store] with iPhone 5 support, as well as launching a brand new Mac app [App Store] for the game that will fully sync with the iPhone and iPad apps.
Pocket Planes -- which has seen 2.5 million downloads to date from the App Store -- is a free-to-play tycoon-style game with premium currency, but it is easy to play and to advance without purchasing any currency. NimbleBit's Tiny Tower [App Store] works similarly, and is a perfect game for the taller screen on the iPhone 5.
The Mac version is a near-identical port from the iOS version, complete with massive interface elements, though some parts -- like the flight map -- have been optimized for the larger screen on the Mac. The iCloud syncing between the iOS and Mac versions should make it easy for gamers to continue playing no matter which platform they're using.
With the new iPods shipping, Apple has posted their television ad for the new iPod touch, nano and shuffle.
The ad premiered during the media event introducing the new iPods. The iPod touch now carries the taller 4" screen and comes in several different colors. The new iPod nano is radically redesigned with a 2.5" multi-touch screen and front home button. Finally the iPod Shuffle was upgraded with new color choices.
Research firm Gartner today released its preliminary personal computer shipment data for the third quarter of 2012, providing a picture of just how weak market performance was during the quarter. While Apple actually experienced a year-over-year unit decline of 6.1% in the United States, other top vendors with the exception of Lenovo posted even steeper declines, giving the overall U.S. market a 13.8% decrease in shipments.
Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q12 (Thousands of Units)
Apple's share of the U.S. market rose to 13.6% for the third quarter on the strength of the back-to-school market, which is typically drives Apple's best performing quarter. The figure allowed Apple to maintain its comfortable hold on the third position in the U.S. market behind HP and Dell and marks Apple's best performance in recent years in beating out the company's 12.5% share in the third quarter of 2011.
Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-3Q12 (Gartner)
As usual, Gartner did not cover Apple's worldwide market share for the quarter, as the company does not rank among the top five vendors on a worldwide basis. PC shipments experienced an 8.3% year-over-year decline on a worldwide basis, with Lenovo's 9.8% growth enabling it to take the shipment title away from HP.
Update 2:04 PM: IDC has also released its estimates for the quarter, pegging Apple's share of the U.S. market at 12.5% on a shipment decline of 7%. According to IDC, the overall U.S. market shrank by 12.4%
On a worldwide basis, IDC estimates that HP was narrowly able to hold off Lenovo for the top spot.
The Next Web 
