MacRumors

Former Apple employee and human interface developer Bruce Tognazzini published a blog post earlier this week listing his thoughts on the iWatch, a potential Apple product that made headlines late in 2012.

pebblesmartwatch

The Pebble Smartwatch

Tognazzini's post encompasses a wide range of ideas on the design and functionality of the iWatch. He believes that an Apple-branded smart watch would have few standalone operations, instead being used to extend the usefulness of existing Apple devices by enhancing apps and other functions.

One of his more compelling ideas includes the elimination of passcodes. With a passcode, he speculates, the smart watch, which would incorporate a sleek, button-free design, could be used to unlock iPhones and Macs via proximity.

The watch can and should, for most of us, eliminate passcodes altogether on iPhones, and Macs and, if Apple's smart, PCs: As long as my watch is in range, let me in! That, to me, would be the single-most compelling feature a smartwatch could offer: If the watch did nothing but release me from having to enter my passcode/password 10 to 20 times a day, I would buy it.

As with passcodes, the watch could be used in conjunction with Find My iPhone, sounding an alert when a user moves out of range of the device.

Along with facilitating phone calls and incorporating sensors, Tognazzini believes that an Apple iWatch might also include NFC capabilities for making payments and temperature controls, similar to the Nest.

The NFC chip belongs in the iWatch, not in the iPhone! That way we'll know exactly where it is at all times, strapped to the end of an appendage expressly designed to be waved around at things. How handy! Reach. Touch. Done.

Meanwhile, our iPhone, handling any necessary communication, will stay hidden safely away, and, if someone does manage to get ahold of our watch, it will require reauthorization, having been removed from our arm. Net value to the thief: Zilch. Net loss to us: A whole lot less than an iPhone, with word on the street quickly making it clear there's no point in stealing an iWatch.

Of course, not every merchant will accept NFC right away, so the watch, linked to Passport, will also display QR codes, etc.

An iWatch could even potentially serve as a fix for Apple Maps, utilizing pressure data from watches to build an altitude map of the world, which would improve the functionality of Apple's 3D mapping.

Using pressure data from millions of watches, Apple could build a precision altitude map of the world. This map would indicate true altitudes everywhere that iWatch wearers travel. The granularity would be several orders of magnitude greater than ever before attempted for a wide-area map at a cost several orders of magnitude less than Flyover.

Tognazzini believes that via apps and design, Apple would revolutionize the smart watch industry, with its curved glass designs created by Jony Ive, Siri integration, and wireless charging.

Though Tognazzini admits to having no insider information, he points out that his ideas come from a "solid understanding of Apple, its products, the problem, and the opportunity."

His full rundown on the potential Apple iWatch is worth a read, and it can be found on his blog, AskTog.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Information workers in the enterprise sector would like a Microsoft tablet but an Apple phone, according to Forrester Research's annual Mobile Workforce Adoption Trends survey of 10,000 enterprise staff (via AppleInsider).

zdnet-forrester-2013-mobile-workforce-adoption-620x328
For tablets, preferences were 32% Microsoft Surface, 26% iPad and 12% Android tablet. For phones, the figures were 33% iPhone, 22% Android and just 10% Windows Phone.

Notably, 79% of respondents said that they don't currently use a tablet for work purposes, with only 17% saying that they're not interested in using one, suggesting that there remains a substantial market opportunity should companies be willing to support tablets.

The Surface tablet has so far received a generally lukewarm reception, with many taking the view that trying to be both a tablet and a laptop left it compromised in both roles, so Microsoft will undoubtedly be encouraged by this evidence that it may yet succeed in the enterprise sector.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forums: iPad, iPhone

Apple has hired a senior researcher in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology from LG, reports OLED-Info (via BrightWire), potentially signaling renewed interest in the technology.

Apple has hired a new executive into its Display group - Dr. Jueng Jil Lee, a former research fellow at LG Display, who apparently was involved with printing technology research. Dr. Lee's previous employee (before LGD) was Cambridge Display Technology, the P-OLED pioneer (now owned by Sumitomo).

OLED

OLED has a number of advantages over LCD screens, including brighter colors with deeper blacks, wider viewing angles, faster response times and greater power efficiency. The technology is also being used to develop flexible screens, something that Apple has shown interest in, although it is unknown if the company has any concrete plans to bring a product featuring such technology to market.

Apple has been rumored to be looking at OLED technology for many years, but cost issues and other limitations have so far kept the company tied to LCD technology for its products.

As noted by Ars Technica, Adobe late yesterday issued a security bulletin announcing that it was releasing updates to Flash Player in order to address a pair of security vulnerabilities targeting Mac and Windows users.

Adobe is also aware of reports that CVE-2013-0634 is being exploited in the wild in attacks delivered via malicious Flash (SWF) content hosted on websites that target Flash Player in Firefox or Safari on the Macintosh platform, as well as attacks designed to trick Windows users into opening a Microsoft Word document delivered as an email attachment which contains malicious Flash (SWF) content.

Users can manually download the new 11.5.502.149 version of Flash Player from Adobe's site, or those who have specified that Adobe may update Flash Player automatically may simply allow it to do so.

In response to the issue, Apple has updated its Xprotect anti-malware system to enforce new minimum version requirements blocking all previous versions of Flash Player. Apple has used the system several times over the past month to block vulnerable versions of Java.

flash_player_blocked_mac
Apple has also posted a new support document addressing the issue and explaining to users how to update Flash Player when they discover that the plug-in has been blocked.

5-inch_iPhone_mockup_lineup3.5" iPhone, 3.5" iPhone 4, 4" iPhone 5, and (mockup) 5" iPhone by iMore

Brightwire translates a report from the Chinese media which claims that Apple will be launching both an iPhone 5S and a 5" iPhone 6 this year:

- A source told Chinese mobile phone information site Laoyaoba.com that he has seen the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 at Apple's suppliers. Both models may be released in 2013, according to the website's microblog on Thursday evening.
- The source noted that the iPhone 5S resembles the iPhone 5, and the five-inch iPhone 6 is lighter and thinner.

This rumor adds to a chorus of reports that Apple is seriously considering a larger form-factor iPhone in the near future. While early reports had suggested that such a model wouldn't see the light of day in 2013, later reports continue to point to a 4.8"-5.0" device coming soon from Apple.

All these rumors have generated a significant amount of speculation on how such a larger model might make sense in Apple's iPhone lineup, especially when comparing it to Samsung's current offerings.

Due to Apple's use of Chinese manufacturers and the need to prototype their designs, it's possible that all of these sightings could be true, yet Apple may still not launch such a device in 2013. If Apple does begin ramping up production for 2013, we expect we'll see parts of this larger device to also begin to leak out of China.

Related Forum: iPhone

A Mac client for EA's digital distribution platform Origin was launched today, as first noted by AppleInsider. Origin for Mac was originally announced in August 2011 and went into alpha testing in late January. 

Origin is quite similar to Valve's Steam and allows users to download games and demos, chat with friends and continue saved games from most computers.

OriginforMac
The store currently lists 48 Mac games available for download, including games like Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, LEGO Batman, Harry Potter and Star Wars, Tropico 3: Gold Edition and The Sims 3 and its plethora of expansion packs. The new SimCity is supposed to launch a little after the March release of the PC version of the game.

EA Origin Vice President of Production Mike Blank told AppleInsider that EA brought Origin to Mac because of two reasons: growing Mac marketshare and a vocal community of Mac gamers.

"We're seeing increased activity from our Mac gamers," he said. "In the past, we've brought games slower to market for Mac than for PC partly because the audience hasn't been at the same level. The growth of iOS and Mac devices, though, means we're starting to see gamers demand to play their games on devices that are becoming more prominent. I think, across the board, developers have focused on the PC platform, but I think you're going to start seeing some changes there. [Origin] is the first step in a strategy you're going to start seeing coming out of EA."

Origin client for Mac is available as a download for free at EA's Origin website. It requires OS X 10.6.8 or higher and an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor.

The third week of Apple's "Get Stuff Done" Mac App Store promotion began today, dropping prices on a new set of apps. During the first week of the promotion Apple discounted several task management apps, and last week, several organizational apps went on sale.

gtdweek3
This week Apple is highlighting apps that fall into the Mac Utility category, such as login-saving app 1Password and popular calendar app Fantastical. Here's a full list of this week's sale apps along with pricing information:

-1Password: $24.99 down from $49.99 [Direct Link]
-Fantastical: $9.99 down from $19.99 [Direct Link]
-PopClip: $2.99 down from $4.99 [Direct Link]
-Soulver: $12.99 down from $19.99 [Direct Link]
-Snagit: $24.99 down from $49.99 [Direct Link]
-Clarify: $14.99 down from $29.99 [Direct Link]
-mSecure: $9.99 down from $19.99 [Direct Link]
-Dropzone: $1.99 down from $4.99 [Direct Link]
-Yoink: $1.99 down from $2.99 [Direct Link]
-Keycard: $4.99 down from $6.99 [Direct Link]

The sale on these apps will last from February 7 to February 14, which will mark the end of Apple's three week promotion.

152516 apple logoApple has issued a press release reiterating its commitment to return some of its extremely large cash pile to shareholders, saying that Apple management and the Board of Directors are in "active discussions" about how to return cash to shareholders.

This follows letter sent to Apple shareholders this morning by Greenlight Capital [PDF], a major Apple shareholder, arguing that the company "must examine all of its options to unlock the growing value of its balance sheet".

Apple's statement:

By early last year, Apple’s cash balance had built to a point beyond what we needed to run our business and maintain flexibility to take advantage of strategic opportunities, so we announced a plan to return $45 billion to shareholders over three years. As of next week we will have executed $10 billion of that plan.

We find ourselves in the fortunate position of continuing to generate large amounts of cash, including $23 billion in cash flow from operations in the last quarter alone.

Apple’s management team and Board of Directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders. As part of our review, we will thoroughly evaluate Greenlight Capital’s current proposal to issue some form of preferred stock. We welcome Greenlight’s views and the views of all of our shareholders.

Aaplstock
Apple's stock price rose sharply in the minutes following the release.

airport_utility_iconApple has released an updated version of its AirPort Utility wireless network manager, bringing it to version 6.2.

The update contains the usual improvements and bug fixes, but Apple mentions three specific changes:

- The ability to extend the Guest Wi-Fi network on a network that is configured with multiple AirPort Base Stations

- The ability to add a WPS-capable Wi-Fi printer

- Improved international support

The update weighs in at 20.64MB and is available through Apple's software update website.

Update: Apple has also released AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6.3 for updating the units themselves.

Finally, the AirPort Utility app for iOS has also been updated to add the new functionality.

Related Forum: Networking

Mailbox, the highly anticipated email management app from Orchestra, launched today. The app is designed to work with Gmail + iPhone and uses a simple design that incorporates intuitive touch gestures.

mailbox

A quick swipe to the right removes emails from the inbox and archives them, while a longer slide deletes them. A swipe to the left activates a "Snooze" function, which puts emails out of sight and out of mind until later, and drag gestures make reorganization of the inbox a simple task.

Mailbox is a mobile-first email experience that challenges the archaic assumptions about how email should work and reimagines the inbox for a world on the go. It's a new way of looking at your email, but when you use Mailbox for the first time, we believe you'll say "of course."

Because the Mailbox app received an overwhelming amount of interest after it was announced in December, a reservation system was implemented to handle demand and to prevent server overload.


Reservations are currently being filled on a first-come first served basis. Users that have not already signed up to use Mailbox can download the app to reserve a spot in line. Users who did reserve a spot can enter reservation information into the app, and all users can see their place in line in real time. At this time, there are no estimates on how long the wait to use the app might be.

Mailbox is a free app that can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]

The untethered jailbreak tool evasi0n for iOS 6.x which has been downloaded by over four million users has seen a bit more news come out over the past 24 hours, led by an update designed to address a pair of bugs discovered in the initial version.

evasi0n
Users had reported a number of issues with the jailbreak, including slow boot times and the Weather app crashing, and iPodNN notes that both have been fixed in the update. Other issues do, however, remain, including some users being unable to access their App Store 'Purchased apps' history, and thus being prevented from re-downloading any apps lost or removed from the device.

Jailbreak author pod2g has also noted on Twitter that Apple's just-released iOS 6.1.1 beta does not yet address any of the bugs used by evasi0n in the jailbreaking process. This may change in future betas, however, and evasi0n is not currently designed to work on iOS 6.1.1, so users interested in jailbreaking their devices should hold off from updating.

woz_apple_1_boardApple co-founder Steve Wozniak said in an interview yesterday that Apple has fallen somewhat behind in the smartphone field, allowing competitors like Samsung to catch up.

The comment was made as Wozniak spoke about the importance of brand (translated from the original German report by wiwo.de) at the Business Week Best Brand Awards.

I am proud that we have such loyal fans. But this loyalty is not given, the need to have the best products is always there. Currently we are in my opinion somewhat behind with features in the smartphone business. Others have caught up. Samsung is a big competitor. But precisely because they are currently making great products.

The comments were, however, made in the context of his great pride in Apple and its products. Wozniak also explained why he stands in line at Apple stores to buy new products on launch days despite remaining an employee of the company to this day.

The launch of a new Apple product is for me like a big, major concert which you absolutely must attend personally. It's history. Sure, I could order online or call the store manager so that they smuggled me in the back door. But that would be nothing. No, I will have the experience like any normal customer. But one thing is certain. If Apple made lousy products, I would not be in line.

Wozniak has never been shy in speaking about Apple, and while he has only very limited contact with the company today, he still draws significant attention at his appearances at events at Apple product launches. While he remains a fan of Apple and the iPhone, he has long been open to alternatives and has noted several times that he carries a number of iPhones and Android devices with him.

(Thanks, Chris! Photo from woz.org.)

Related Forum: iPhone

With rumors of the fifth-generation iPad taking on a design similar to that of the iPad mini, we've once again commissioned CiccareseDesign to create some fresh renderings offering a very good idea of what the updated iPad will look like.

These images are based on the leaked iPad 5 enclosure, which we have reason to believe is indeed real.

The new iPad shell was shown alongside an iPad mini enclosure, providing CiccareseDesign a frame of reference from which to take measurements and produce these mockups. We believe the relative sizes shown in the following images offer an accurate view of how the upcoming iPad 5 will compare in size.

macrumors-ipad5aiPad 5 next to iPad mini

As has been described in rumors and calculated from the rear shell photos, the fifth-generation iPad appears to be notably smaller than the current model, adopting significantly thinner side bezels in portrait orientation and slightly smaller top and bottom bezels.

In fact, our extrapolated dimensions appear to be almost identical to a December claim from Mac Otakara, which specified that the fifth-generation iPad would be 4 mm shorter and 17 mm narrower than the existing design. That report also claimed that the next iPad will be 2 mm thinner than the current model, making it nearly identical in thickness to the iPad mini.

macrumors-ipad5biPad 5 on top of iPad 4

While some early rumors had suggested that Apple might be looking to update the iPad and iPad mini as soon as March, sources with rather reliable track records are now pointing to a later release in the September-October timeframe, and Apple's just-launched 128 GB iPad models support that notion.

macrumors-ipad5cLeft to Right: iPad 4, iPad 5, iPad mini

The fifth-generation iPad is said to adopt nearly identical styling to the iPad mini, with photos showing a similarly anodized rear shell and reports claiming that it will include the same chamfered edges as on its smaller sibling. The comparison photo above shows the smaller size of the iPad 5 and how it has taken on the design cues of the iPad mini.

macrumors-ipad5dLeft to Right: iPad 5, iPad mini, iPhone 5

The smaller body of the fifth-generation iPad suggests that Apple is making major changes to the device's internals as well. Apple has been rumored to be adopting new display technology that will allow for a thinner display and perhaps a smaller battery, and other components such as the main system-on-a-chip are also likely to see upgrades and rearrangements as part of the significant revamp of its full-size iPad.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

sharevideo
At one point in internet history, desktop instant messaging was likely the fastest growing segment of communication technologies. In 2002, even Apple introduced its own messaging client called iChat that was bundled with OS X. That growth, however, stalled significantly with the adoption of services such as SMS and devices such as the iPhone took hold over the past 5 to 10 years. Apple's own iChat has since evolved into Messages -- primarily, a mobile messaging service.

sharewithToday, a startup company called Rabbit is launching a closed beta of their "video chat and content sharing application". But the best way to describe it is a cool and very modern implementation of instant messaging.

The most compelling feature of the app can be distilled down to this: group video conferencing with the ability to screencast music, movies and applications from your Mac.

This means you can watch a movie from a service such as Netflix with your friends in real time. Or you can crop and share a specific part of your web browser or any other Mac app and broadcast it to your friends.

The app is a native Mac client (other platforms to come later), and offers the ability to video chat with an unlimited number of people. People are grouped into Rooms and presented to you in priority based on your own friends, and within each room, individual groups can participate in their own conversations.

Their promo video is clearly aimed at the teen audience, but starts by stylistically showing a user logging in, joining a room, playing/sharing a song, hovering (listening in) on a public conversation, and then joining that conversation. Later, it shows the sharing of apps and video as well as a debate on the relative strength of vampire-love.


Rabbit is launching in a "closed" Beta today. Interested users can sign up on their website, and beta invites will be sent out shortly. Once you are a beta user, you can then freely invite any of your Facebook friends to also become beta users. The service and download are free and requires OS X 10.7 or higher.

As with last year, Apple again led the PC market in sales if tablets and traditional personal computers are combined, according to research firm Canalys. In the 2011 holiday quarter, Apple sold 15 million iPads and 5 million Macs accounting for some 17% of the total 120 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2011.

For the just-ended fourth quarter of 2012, Canalys estimates that Apple took a greater than 20% share of total shipments, selling 23 million iPads and 4 million Macs. HP and Lenovo were in second and third place, respectively, both selling around 15 million units.

Ipad copy

Apple’s growth in the pad segment was driven by strong demand for the iPad mini. Its overall shipments, however, were hampered by supply issues. Canalys estimates that the mini made up over half of Apple’s total pad shipments, with its attractive price point and compact design leading to significant cannibalization in the iPad range and wider PC market. Despite record shipments, Q4 saw Apple’s pad share dip to 49%, becoming the first quarter it has not controlled over half the market. ‘Apple timed the launch of the iPad mini well,’ said Pin-Chen Tang, Canalys Research Analyst. ‘Its success proves there is a clear demand for pads with smaller screens at a more affordable price. Without the launch, Apple would surely have lost more ground to its competitors.’

Canalys says the tablet segment grew by 75 percent year-over-year to 46.2 million global units on the quarter, while notebook sales were flat.

Whether or not iPads and other tablets should be counted as PCs has become a vigorous debate as observers take differing views on how "personal computers" should be defined. But with Apple making the iPad "PC Free" by eliminating the need to sync to a computer via iTunes and increasing numbers of consumers relying on their iPads for everyday computer functionalities such as browsing, email and music, as well as a broad array of apps, lines between the two types of devices are becoming increasingly blurred.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly said that he believes the tablet market will eventually be bigger than the PC market.

Twitter today updated its iPhone and Android apps and its mobile website, introducing a redesigned Discover tab and a streamlined search experience.

The Discover tab now houses a single stream of Tweets, Trends, and Activities, rather than segregated sections. A dedicated search button has been added to the top of the app next to the tweet button, allowing for easier searches, and the Connect tab has been improved.

twitterupdate
Here’s a full list of the changes:

-Instantly access great content with improvements to search and Discover on iPhone.
-Discover delivers a single stream of Tweets, Trends, Activity and accounts to follow.
-Pull to refresh or keep scrolling to see more content.
-Search now shows the most relevant mix of people, Tweets and photos.
-It’s also easier to use search with one button at the top of the app.
-You can see your five most recent searches and tap them to redo the search, or you can clear your recent search history.
-Links instantly open web pages when you tap URLs in your stream.
-Performance improvements make launch times faster, especially for older iOS devices.
-Connect shows interactions like new followers, retweets and mentions by default. You can switch to “view mentions only” in settings.
-Improved right-to-left language support for Arabic and Hebrew.
-Bug fixes and other improvements.

The newly updated Twitter app is currently available for download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

12d61Apple today seeded build 12D65 of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 to developers, marking the ninth beta iteration of the newest version of Mountain Lion. 10.8.3 was first seeded to developers in November 2012.

Build 12D65 comes exactly one week after build 12D61. As with build 12D61, build 12D65 continues to ask developers to focus on AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari.

Registered developers can download the update on Apple's Developer Page.

Update: According to 9to5Mac, the new build fixes the file bug that recently made headlines.

This post originally referred to Build 12D65 as the tenth developer seed of OS X 10.8.3 when it was actually the ninth seed.

A little over a week after the public release of iOS 6.1, Apple today seeded the first beta version of iOS 6.1.1 to developers. The beta arrives as build 10B311.

ios_6_1_1_beta_1
The new version also arrives just two days after the Evasi0n jailbreak for iOS 6.x devices went live, although it is so far unknown if iOS 6.1.1 patches any of the bugs exploited by the software.

Update: 9toMac has release notes listing major improvements to Maps for Japanese users.

iOS 6.1.1 beta 1 includes the following improvements to Maps for Japan:

- Improved pronunciation of roads during turn-by-turn navigation
- Optimized directions to more strongly prefer highways over narrower roads
- Now indicates upcoming toll roads during turn-by-turn navigation
- Added labels for junctions, interchanges, on-ramps, off-ramps, and intersections
- Added indicators for transit station buildings, subway lines, and traffic lights
- Updated freeway color to green
- Updated icons for some location categories including fire stations, hospitals, and post offices Added 3D buildings including Tokyo Station, Japan Imperial Palace, and Tokyo Tower