Apple has made the iWork for iCloud in-browser versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers available to registered developers as a beta release. The browser based version of iWork was announced at Monday's WWDC Keynote address.
The browser-based versions of iWork are meant to be a competitor to Google Docs and other cloud-based office productivity platforms -- they work on both a Mac or PC in Safari, Google Chrome and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
iWork for iCloud is expected to be released to the public later this year. For now, registered developers can log in with their developer credentials at beta.icloud.com.
Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president in charge of internet software and services, took the stand today in the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Apple over the price of e-books following the launch of the iBooks Store in 2010.
Cue is Apple's chief negotiator and was in charge of all discussions with the major book publishing houses. The DoJ is alleging that Apple illegally worked with publishers to artificially increase e-book prices, a violation of U.S. antitrust laws.
In testimony today, Cue admitted that the prices of some e-books -- including many of those appearing on the New York Times best sellers list -- did rise after the iBooks Store was opened, but it was more the result of publishers being unhappy with Amazon's pricing of $9.99/book than anything untoward that Apple did.
Instead, Cue said that prices rose because publishers "expressed to us that they wanted higher prices". Apple's pricing model for e-books is the same agency model that it uses on the App Store -- publishers set book prices and Apple takes 30% of the revenue while returning 70% to the publishers.
He also said that he didn't know if publishers were working together on the negotiations with Apple and Amazon, but because all the publishers had issues with different parts of Apple's proposed contract Cue said that "if they talked together, I assumed it would be easier to get the deals done." Cue also said that he "wasn't trying to negotiate" for the entire e-book market and he wasn't attempting to fix issues the publishers had with Amazon.
Apple's "rubber banding" patent (U.S. No. 7,469,381) has been under heavy scrutiny in recent months, with a number of claims found invalid in two different rulings.
The patent, which pertains to the ability for content displayed on iOS devices to "bounce back" when a user scrolls to the top or the bottom of a page, is significant because it is one that was successfully used by Apple against Samsung in the ongoing legal dispute that saw Apple awarded with more than a billion dollars.
According to FOSS Patents, Apple has scored a major victory in regards to the '381 patent, having just received notice that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will issue a reexamination certificate that confirms the formerly invalidated claim 19, which was the portion of the patent used against Samsung. In April, three other claims were also confirmed.
As a result of this new reexamination certificate, claim 19 will enjoy an enhanced presumption of validity against the invalidity theories the patent office evaluated. Instead of invalidation in mid–2017 or later, this patent has now been confirmed in mid–2013.
Apple would presumably have liked to salvage even more claims than the seven claims the patent office is now going to confirm, but claim 19 is the one that matters in the dispute with Samsung, and it’s now stronger than ever.
Samsung has, at multiple points in time, attempted to have the rubber banding patent declared invalid and has also attempted to use the question of the patent’s validity as a reason to delay the November trial that will redetermine a portion of the damages that Samsung must pay to Apple after the original $1 billion ruling was partially thrown out due to jury error.
With the new reexamination certificate, it is unlikely that Samsung will be able to delay or avoid the November trial that will levy additional damages against the company.
The first reviews of the 2013 MacBook Air models are beginning to come out and, aside from new CPUs and a new SSD architecture, the biggest new feature is a dramatic increase in claimed battery life.
Apple has increased the battery capacity of the 13" MacBook Air from a 7.3V 6700mAh unit to a 7.6V 7150mAh battery. As a result, the claimed battery life of the 13" model has increased from 7 to 12 hours. In its review, Engadget found the 13" MBA achieved 12 hours and 51 minutes on a charge under their standard battery test.
If that didn't impress you enough, there's one area where the performance has really gone off the charts, and that's battery life. Apple rates the 2013 edition of the MacBook Air for up to 10 hours of battery life playing video or 12 hours of wireless web surfing. Our standard rundown test, as it happens, also entails playing video and last year's machine managed just over six and a half hours before expiring. We were, then, skeptical that this new edition could manage nearly twice that longevity -- but it actually did better. This year's Air survived 12 hours and 51 minutes on a charge. That's a stunning number from a laptop this thin, achieved with WiFi enabled and without any external batteries.
Laptop Magazine's test unit achieved 10 hours and 53 minutes on a home Wi-Fi connection suggesting that, while mileage may vary, Apple's claims appear to be largely legitimate.
A review from Forbes found that the battery life would be somewhere between 8 and 9 hours under more strenuous use conditions. Competing 13" notebooks don't come close to reaching 12 hours of battery life without external batteries.
Apple says OS X Mavericks, when its released this fall, will include a number of battery-saving software features which could push the battery life of the new Air even further.
Other notes from the review confirm previous reports of significant increases in flash storage read/write. Engadget reported similar numbers for reads and writes to the new PCIe-based SSDs, while also saying boot time has decreased to 12 seconds from 18 seconds on the 2012 models.
Reviews also indicated substantial increases in both CPU and graphics performance on both benchmarks and real world tests. Laptop Magazinefound the 13" MacBook Air returned 44.6 fps in a World of Warcraft test on 'good' settings, comparing favorably to similar Windows machines that returned between 30 and 33 fps in a similar setup.
Back in March, an MIT report suggested that Apple and other smartphone manufacturers could potentially switch to sapphire crystal displays rather than the standard Gorilla Glass displays currently in use.
As it turns out, Apple has already experimented with sapphire screens. In an interview with Swiss news site Tages-Anzeiger [Google Translation], Vertu COO Perry Oosting revealed that Apple investigated the possibility of a sapphire display, recruiting an unspecified number of Vertu employees to work on the project.
Vertu is a British company that produces luxury cell phones, some with sapphire displays, and at least two former Vertu employees appear to have joined Apple in the last year.
According to Oosting, Apple ultimately shelved the sapphire project because the material is unsuitable for production in the numbers that Apple requires at the current point in time. Corning, the company that manufacturers Gorilla Glass 3 for Apple's displays, has also stated that sapphire is an inferior option for mobile displays.
The company believes that Gorilla Glass offers greater strength, lower weight, less energy cost in production, and lower pricing; all important features for mass manufactured products.
Though Apple may not have current plans to utilize sapphire displays, it has incorporated sapphire crystal into the iPhone, as a cover for the rear camera on the fifth generation iPhone. Rumors have suggested that sapphire may also be used as part of the home button in the iPhone 5S.
Last December, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple would be bringing some Mac production back to the United States. He offered more details on the effort last month, and earlier this week the company announced that its radically redesigned Mac Pro coming later this year will be the product line assembled in the U.S.
Apple had been presumed to be working with current manufacturing partner Foxconn on the U.S. production, but KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told Taiwan's Economic Daily News [Google translation, via Mac Otakara] that Apple will actually be partnering with Flextronics for the new Mac Pro.
Last week, we received an unconfirmed tip making a similar claim about Flextronics' role in the "Made in the USA" Mac, with the source alleging that Flextronics will be assembling the product at its new facility in Texas. That claim is line with Tim Cook's disclosure during a Senate hearing on Apple's tax practices last month that the product would be assembled in the state.
Flextronics' new Texas facilities are housed in a 450,000 square foot building in Fort Worth formerly used by Nokia. Flextronics will be using the site for production of Motorola's Moto X smartphone, but our source indicated that Apple's production will also take place there.
Apple's new Mac Pro will be launching later this year, but Apple has yet to reveal pricing or a more specific launch timeframe following Monday's "sneak peek" at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.
Reuters reports that Apple is looking closely at larger screens for upcoming iPhone models, indicating that the company is specifically testing display sizes of 4.7 inches and 5.7 inches for iPhone models that could launch next year. The iPhone 5 carries a 4-inch display, up from the 3.5-inch displays found in prior models.
Apple is looking at introducing at least two bigger iPhones next year - one with a 4.7-inch screen and one with a 5.7-inch screen - said the sources, including those in the supply chain in Asia. They said suppliers have been approached with plans for the larger screens, but noted it is still unclear whether Apple will actually launch its flagship product in the larger sizes.
"They constantly change product specifications almost to the final moment, so you're not really sure whether this is the final prototype," said one person with direct knowledge of the matter.
The report also addresses Apple's plans for this year, claiming that the company is expected to deliver both an iPhone 5S with fingerprint sensor technology and a lower-cost iPhone in multiple colors in the September timeframe.
For this year, Apple is expected to launch two new models, widely referred to as the iPhone 5S, with new fingerprint technology, and a cheaper version in plastic casing, supply chain sources have said. Apple plans to dress up the cheaper phone in a range of 5-6 colors to differentiate it from the more expensive model that has traditionally come only in black and white.
The U.S. firm has discussed a price of $99 for the cheaper phone, the timing of which could slip to next year, one of the people said. It's not yet clear what the final price would be.
Rendering of color options for lower-cost iPhone
A separate report from Mac Otakara today claims that the cheaper iPhone will adopt colors from Apple's line of iPhone 4 bumpers, while the iPhone 5S will add a gold model in addition to the traditional black and white models.
Now I got an information from reliable source what the color set of low-cost iPhone seems to be same as iPhone 4 Bumper color.
Black, white, pink, orange and blue will be set. Green seems to be removed from it according to that information.
That source did not say if (PRODUCT) red-model is planed or not.
And, iPhone 5S, which will be shipped in August, has new color model. It is Gold, which color is reported by BGR with showing SIM-tray photos.
Finally, Reuters corroborates an April report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, claiming that trial production of the lower-cost iPhone had been planned to occur this month but that issues with color coatings have slowed that progress.
Rumors of a fingerprint-sensing iPhone 5S and lower-cost plastic iPhone have been ramping up for some time, and there have also been sporadic rumors of larger-screen iPhone models as competitors have increasingly embraced displays in the range of 5 inches or more.
Several state and city law enforcement officials are teaming up to launch an investigation on why smartphone manufacturers including Apple have not done more to combat device thefts, reports the Huffington Post.
The investigation will be conducted by attorneys general in six different states along with district attorneys and police officials from eight additional cities. Included in the group are New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman who previously called for a summit with several smartphone manufacturers to discuss device theft and San Francisco district attorney George Gascón, who has been pushing for a "kill switch" that would permanently disable stolen iOS devices
The group intends to probe why Apple and other smartphone makers have failed to create a so-called “kill switch” that would render their devices inoperable if stolen – a feature that could undercut the value of stolen gadgets now trading on a global black market. The officials also plan to investigate whether smartphone manufacturers have not adopted effective anti-theft measures out of simple financial interest – a stolen phone generates new business as crime victims buy replacements.
On Monday, Apple announced anti-theft plans for an "Activation Lock" feature in iOS 7, which is designed to require an Apple ID and a password to disable Find My iPhone or to reactivate a phone if it is wiped.
Though the implementation of the Activation Lock will likely cut down on thefts, Schneiderman and Gascón believe that it is ultimately inadequate as a kill switch because it requires customers to utilize both iCloud and the Find My iPhone app.
Gascón and Schneiderman will be meeting with representatives from Apple, Samsung, Google, and Microsoft on Thursday to discuss a possible solution, as part of the aforementioned summit. If the companies fail to come to a suitable agreement with officials, a source close to Schneiderman believes that a lawsuit may be considered in the future.
Thus far in the ongoing e-book price fixing case, Apple has maintained that it was indifferent to what business model book publishers adopted with Amazon. However, an email from Steve Jobs to Eddy Cue submitted today by the U.S. Department of Justice appeared to undermine Apple's argument, according to Fortune:
“I can live with this as long as they move Amazon to the agent model too for new releases for the first year. If not, I’m not sure we can be competitive …”
Apple's chief counsel quickly noted that the email was never sent, and AllThingsD now reports that Jobs later sent a longer, more detailed email with his complete thoughts on the negotiations with book publishers.
“I can live with this, as long as they also agree to the other thing you told me you can get: The retail price they will set for any book will be the LOWER of the applicable “iTunes” price below OR the lowest wholesale price they offer the book at to anyone else, with our wholesale price being 70% of such price. For example, normally our retail price for a $26 book will be $12.99 and we will pay 70% of that, or $9.10. However, if they offer the same book to Amazon for a wholesale price of, say $12.50, then our retail price for the same book shall be set at $12.50 and we will pay 70% of that price for the book.”
The emails provide some insight into Jobs' thought process during the negotiations. The draft and final versions of the email show that Jobs initially appeared to have strong feelings on how Amazon's pricing would have to be affected, but then according to the emails' timestamps he reconsidered his position within two hours to offer a different angle and concern about the negotiations.
The testimony portion of the case is now in the second week, with Cue set to take the stand tomorrow.
In iOS 7, Apple has included a new Notification Center feature called Today, which the company says is designed to provide users with the day's events at a glance, including information like birthdays, weather details, and traffic reports.
We've unearthed additional details about how Today works, including how Apple gathers information to provide traffic details on frequently traveled routes. In the location settings section of iOS 7, there’s a new feature called "Frequent Locations," which Apple says "suggests locations of interest based on historical location usage."
Frequent Locations stores information about locations that have been visited multiple times and it appears to pair with another "Traffic" setting to provide commute details on locations a user visits on a regular basis, as seen in the screenshot below. It is unclear, however, if these traffic notifications appear based on the time of day. For example, they could appear only during a morning or evening commute to work.
Users have found other interesting items in the 'Today' panel, including a suggestion of an early bedtime for an upcoming busy day.
It appears that location settings in iOS 7 have a wide range of capabilities, which could see the Notification Center including even more detailed information as iOS 7 evolves. In a report earlier today, The Next Web estimated that iOS 7 would see a number of design changes before being released this fall. We have additional details on iOS 7, including major changes, small updates, and new APIs.
The MagCozy, like the KeyBit, is an innovative solution that is designed to help Mac owners keep track of their MagSafe to MagSafe 2 Converters.
Apple's MagSafe 2, which was introduced with the 2012 MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro, is incompatible with original MagSafe Power Adapter, necessitating the use of a small converter to charge MagSafe 2 devices with MagSafe adapters.
Currently featured on Kickstarter, the MagCozy leashes the converter to the cord of a power adapter, preventing the accessory from being lost or misplaced.
The MagCozy was inspired by a rubber band that attached the converter to the adapter, and the idea evolved into a simple but sleek sleeve that encompasses the converter and attaches to the adapter via a small loop. While the KeyBit was ideal for keeping a MagSafe to MagSafe 2 converter on hand while traveling, the MagCozy is ideal for home use.
Kickstarter backers can get a MagCozy in white, red, black, or blue for a pledge of $8. The designer, Ben Martinek, is also offering a limited edition MagCozy in an undetermined color and t-shirts for an additional fee.
The Next Web has given us a peek behind the scenes at the development of the new and controversial user interface in iOS 7.
One of the more revealing points in the piece is that Jony Ive, recently put in charge of software as well as hardware design, tapped Apple's marketing and communications team -- MarCom -- to design the look and feel of the icons. Then, with those as a guide, the iOS design teams went to work.
First of all, many of the new icons were primarily designed by members of Apple’s marketing and communications department, not the app design teams. From what we’ve heard, SVP of Design Jony Ive (also now Apple’s head of Human Interaction) brought the print and web marketing design team in to set the look and color palette of the stock app icons. They then handed those off to the app design teams who did their own work on the ‘interiors’, with those palettes as a guide.
The site goes on to note that the design is "firmly a 'work in progress'", and that the look and feel of the icons and other new UI bits are likely to change significantly as the iOS 7 beta proceeds.
Angry Birds creator Rovio has a new game in the works, which is teased on a newly released website that features a bird dashing down a pathway. "Something NEW is coming!" reads the site, and in a blog post, Rovio says the game is unlike its standard Angry Birds titles.
Those birds and piggies are getting ready for their most thrilling and action-packed game yet! All your favorite characters are returning for a brand new title that will bring you closer to Piggy Island than ever before. It's Angry Birds, but not as you know it!
Our sister site TouchArcadespeculates that the game might be an Angry Birds themed runner or racing game, which makes sense given the teaser. Rovio didn't reveal when the game might be released, but did say that additional updates will be released over the summer.
The video looks at how Apple customers are using its technology and third-party apps to make a difference in communities around the world. The first example features an interview with Okari Denzil, a community health nurse in Lwala, Kenya.
I've never considered myself a visitor to this community. I'm a son of this community, I work here, this is my home. I have the opportunity as a community health nurse to ensure that there is health care available to this very rural setting. This is my goal.
I try to see 5-6 clients a day. Talking about those mothers who need prenatal care, mothers who are ready to deliver, mothers who have young babies at home.
We sit down with them and talk about how to ensure that we give the babies the best start in life. I also have an opportunity to ensure that the wellbeing of the entire family is taken care of.
We use Skyscape to diagnose and prevent any complications from setting in. The iPad is a resourceful tool. It's a doctor, it's a nurse, it's a public health officer in my bag.
During Monday's WWDC keynote, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, mentioned that iOS 7 would add 1,500 new APIs to Apple's SDK, including iBeacons, MFi game controllers, and new multitasking options.
These APIs reveal promising new features that developers will be able to incorporate into future app and hardware releases, offering new gaming technology, new location tracking options, and more. Here's a closer look at a few of the most notable APIs:
iBeacons - According to MacWorld, iBeacons are designed to use the Bluetooth Low Energy profile for microlocation, allowing iOS devices to use Bluetooth 4.0 devices to access location data.
AirDrop from Activity Sheet - Apps will be able to incorporate AirDrop support, giving users the ability to share photos, documents and more with friends from within an app.
Apple Maps - iOS 7 will let developers include additional mapping features in apps, including 3D viewing experiences, direction related route information and map-based images.
MFi Game Controllers - iOS 7 includes support for MFi "Made for iPhone" Apple Certified hardware game controllers, which will allow manufacturers to create dedicated iOS gaming controllers, turning the iPhone and the iPad into gaming machines on par with handheld gaming systems. Apps will be able to be designed around the Game Controller framework, allowing for seamless connectivity. Our sister site TouchArcadehas shared an image from Apple's developer library detailing a reference design of both a standalone controller and an iPhone enclosure.
Sprite Kit - The Sprite Kit framework is designed to allow developers to create high-performing 2D games, controlling sprite attributes like position, size, rotation, gravity, and mass. It includes built-in support for physics to make animations look realistic and it also includes particle systems for additional game effects.
Game Center - iOS 7 adds new turn-based gaming modes (including simultaneous turns, chats, and trades) along with new methods for player authentication and secure game score transmission. This feature is likely designed to cut down on hacked Game Center scores from jailbroken devices.
Multitasking and Background Downloads - Apple's new multitasking APIs are designed to allow apps to update and download content in the background at intelligently scheduled times. For example, a Twitter app might incorporate this functionality, downloading new content in the background while the phone is not otherwise in use, staying up to date without unnecessarily draining battery. Push notifications can also initiate content downloads.
Inter-App Audio - With Inter-App Audio, apps are able to share audio streams with other apps, an API that will make it even easier to use Apple's iDevices to create music.
60-fps Video Capture - iOS 7 will allow apps to capture video at up to 60 frames per second.
Peer-to-Peer Connectivity - This data transmission API is designed to allow users to discover nearby devices and initiate direct communication without Internet connectivity.
Apple has a slew of other APIs available for developers, which should bring a lot of changes to apps when iOS 7 is released. For additional information on iOS 7, we detailed many of the upcoming features and we also explored some of the hidden tidbits.
The plaintiffs have also sued President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, NSA Director Keith Alexander, the NSA itself, the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as Facebook, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, Skype, AOL, Yahoo, PalTalk, AT&T and Sprint -- and all the CEO's of those companies personally.
As one of the largest companies in the world, Apple is routinely sued over a wide variety of issues. The company has a large legal teams to handle these lawsuits, though the sheer number of defendants in this case could make for interesting court filings.
This and the Verizon class action will serve to unify all political and social persuasions in our great nation to wage a second American revolution, one that is peaceful and legal – but pursued with great resolve and force. Government dishonesty and tyranny against the people have reached historic proportions during the last three administrations in particular, and the time has come for We the People to rise up and reclaim control of our nation. If not, the government will control us and this will mark the end of individual liberties. The American people can thus use these class actions to 'man the barricades of freedom' against the establishment government despots and their corporate enablers who seek to enslave them through coercive abuses of their privacy. This Orwellian power grab can only be intended to blackmail the masses into submission in order that these modern day greedy tyrants achieve their corrupt ends.
This isn't the only class action lawsuit filed or planned over the PRISM disclosures. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has said he will file a lawsuit against the Obama administration over what he says are "unconstitutional" surveillance programs. Paul wants to get the customers of all the offending companies to join a class action suit and take it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The American Civil Liberties Union has also filed a lawsuit, though it is focusing on the Government itself rather than the alleged corporate partners. The suit alleges that the Government's tracking of phone records violates Section 215 of the Patriot Act.
It's important to note that both Rand Paul and the ACLU are, at least to this point, primarily speaking out about Verizon Business Network Services giving call logs to the NSA for millions of calls both within the United States and abroad. However, both the Verizon/NSA issue and the Apple-related PRISM allegations were revealed on the same day last week and are largely seen as connected in the eyes of most critics.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the comment thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All MacRumors forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Monday evening following Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, Pixar's Michael Johnson hosted a fundraising event for the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, where he serves as a board member.
As noted by The Mac Observer, one particularly interesting part of the event was a display of Steve Jobs' personal NeXTcube, loaned for the event by Pixar.
Speakers this year included Wil Shipley, Andrew Stone, and Dr. "Wave" Johnson, and James Dempsey performed two songs from his catalogue of catchily-written, Objective C-focused tunes.
There was also some NeXT gear on display, and this year that included the NeXT Cube used by Steve Jobs mentioned above. While the folks on hand - many of whom knew and worked closely with Mr. Jobs - might have considered such an artifact old hat, I thought it was very cool and figured many of you would, too.
The NeXT cube arrived as the NeXT Computer in 1988, with the machine quickly gaining the informal "cube" name due to its design based on a one-foot magnesium cube. The Cube name became official in 1990 with the release of an updated version named NeXTcube.
Publishers Weekly reports (via paidContent) that testimony from Apple executive Keith Moerer in the ongoing e-book price fixing trial has revealed that Apple holds approximately 20% of the e-book market in the United States, roughly double many of the previous estimates made by third parties.
The government also focused on the relative success of the iBookstore asking Moerer what marketshare the store held in the months after launch (about 20% Moerer said) and what its marketshare was after several years of operation and adding Random House in 2011 (also about 20%).
Beyond the market share claim, Moerer pointed to strong growth of the iBookstore in vigorously challenging the U.S. government's assertion that Apple's e-book effort has been a failure.
The government called the iBookstore “a failure,” and charged that “Apple pricing was unfair to consumers,” and that “Apple sold fewer books because of the higher price caps.” Moerer challenged that characterization, “I disagree. E-book sales grew 100% last year at the iBookstore and it had over 100 million customers.” The government countered that “when you drop prices you sell more books,” and Moerer said, “sometimes, yes.”
But the government bluntly said, “Apple forgot to focus on customers that’s why the iBookstore is a failure.” Moerer: “that’s not true.”
Testimony in the case is now in its second week, with Apple senior vice president for Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue scheduled to take the stand tomorrow.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president in charge of internet software and services, 
Back in March, an MIT 
Several state and city law enforcement officials are teaming up to launch an investigation on why smartphone manufacturers including Apple have not done more to combat device thefts, 
Thus far in the 
The Next Web has given us a peek 
Apple, and Tim Cook personally, have been 
