MacRumors

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Today, 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.

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.

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.

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

Apple today announced that the iTunes Store has reached a new milestone, passing 25 billion songs downloaded. Interestingly, Apple also announced that it has awarded a €10,000 iTunes Gift Card to the user who downloaded the milestone song even though the company did not run a high-profile promotion for the contest as it has for past music and app milestones.

The 25 billionth song, “Monkey Drums” (Goksel Vancin Remix) by Chase Buch, was purchased by Phillip Lüpke from Germany. As the downloader of the 25 billionth song, Phillip will receive a €10,000 iTunes® Gift Card.

“We are grateful to our users whose passion for music over the past 10 years has made iTunes the number one music retailer in the world,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Averaging over 15,000 songs downloaded per minute, the iTunes Store connects music fans with their favorite artists, including global sensations like Adele and Coldplay and new artists like The Lumineers, on a scale we never imagined possible.”

Apple notes that the iTunes Store now offers over 26 million songs and is available in 119 countries after December's expansion to 56 new countries.

French Apple Reseller France Systems sent out a newsletter to its customers on the news that Apple will be halting sales of the Mac Pro on March 1st, 2013 due to new EU regulatory requirements.

As noted by both Mac4Ever and MacGeneration, the reseller also reports in that newsletter that they have heard from Apple that a new Mac Pro will be arriving in Spring of 2013. Translation:

However, we believe that the judgment of the Mac Pro is temporary, Apple informs us that new Mac Pro will be released in spring 2013.

While Apple typically doesn't leak such information, even to resellers, they have been strangely candid about a 2013 Mac Pro revision. In June, after a disappointing revision to the Mac Pro, an Apple spokesperson confirmed that Apple was working on a new Mac Pro for release in 2013.

Update: Apple declined to comment to Ars Technica about the reseller's claims, merely pointing back to earlier comments by Tim Cook about a new Mac Pro coming "later" in 2013.

The reviews for Microsoft's fully featured Windows 8 tablet/laptop combo are out. The Surface Pro firmly slots in between tablets like Apple's iPad and ultra-portable laptops like the MacBook Air, and some have wanted a similar Mac/tablet hybrid.

The overall consensus is that while the Surface Pro does have some good features, it's ultimately brought down by trying to be both a tablet and laptop at the same time.

Here is a collection of some of the early reviews:

The Verge

- "There's something really weird about running Windows on a tablet, though. I never think about getting a virus on my iPad, or making sure to comply with constant system updates."
- The Surface Pro comes with a Wacom-made pressure-sensitive and capacitive stylus that attaches to the device and is a "useful companion to the device."
- "It's too big, too fat, and too reliant on its power cable to be a competitive tablet, and it's too immutable to do everything a laptop needs to do."

AllThingsD

- In battery tests, it lasted under four hours - less than half the stamina of the iPad and three hours less than Surface RT.
- "Of the 64 GB of solid-state storage on the entry-level $899 model, only 30 GB of that is free for the user, according to Microsoft. On the $999 model, 90 GB of the 128 GB total is available for the user."
- "As with the original Surface, the Pro is solidly built, with the same innovative metal kickstand that keeps it upright on a desk or table."

Gizmodo

- "Its Ivy Bridge i5 processor, the same you'll find in most ultrabooks, launches apps almost instantly (another big upgrade from Surface RT)."
- "Its screen is too good. Which is to say, its 1080p resolution is so dense on the 10.6-inch screen that desktop programs seem too small, too cramped."

TechCrunch

- "As a laptop it is excellent. I was able to do nearly everything I needed to do including the editing of large documents, photo management, blogging, some minor gaming, and plenty of email and web browsing."
- The physical $129 Type Cover and the capacitive $119 Touch Cover are "essential to the Surface Pro experience."
- "There are obviously trade-offs, but the simplicity of form, the excellent design, and the promising OS make the Surface Pro a real treat – and threat to other manufacturers."

Engadget

- "That keyboard slowed us down and its trackpad continued to frustrate."
- "Photos [from two 720p cameras] are incredibly full of noise and the sensor seems to be completely unable to manage contrast, resulting in images that are either totally washed out or far too dark."
-  "If you're the type who likes to quickly pop on your tablet to check for new email or Facebook messages every few minutes, you may find yourself forced out of that habit here."

The Microsoft Surface Pro releases on February 9 and comes in a 64GB version for $899 and a 128GB version for $999, with the Type Cover an additional $129 and a Touch Cover an additional $119.

MacRumors has been seeing builds of OS X 10.9 in site logs since November, which is also when hints of Siri integration for Macs began appearing.

A recent Apple job posting (via TechCrunch / AppleInsider) reinforces the rumor that Siri might be bundled with the next version of OS X. In its listing for a Siri UI Engineer, Apple specifies that candidates should possess "Familiarity with Unix, especially Mac OS X" and a "Passion for the Macintosh platform and writing simple, elegant software that is easy and fun to use."

The listing, which does not include a specification for experience with iOS aside from knowledge of Apple's development APIs, states that the engineer will be in charge of implementing the content that appears within Siri's conversational view. The position will also require collaboration with other Siri teams.

This is a broad-ranging task - we take every application that Siri interacts with, distill it down to fundamentals, and implement that application's UI in a theme fitting with Siri. Consider it an entire miniature OS within the OS, and you get a good idea of the scope!

Of course, each of these little "snippets" corresponds to an individual application, so you will have extensive cross-functional work with many other teams. You'll need to work with them to enable access to their data and behaviors, and wire them up to your implementations. As a result, strong API design is needed to keep communications ideal.

As of mid-January, OS X 10.9 activity has increased considerably on MacRumors, suggesting the new operating system, with Siri included, may be imminent.

Job postings for Apple’s iLife/iWork team also surfaced this week. iWork's last major update was in 2009, while iLife was last updated in 2010. An overhaul of the apps could potentially include Siri integration, allowing for voice commands for simple tasks such as photo and music editing.

Hits from systems running OS X 10.9 on MacRumors.com

Apple has been upgrading OS X on a yearly basis. 10.8 Mountain Lion was released in July of 2012, a year after 10.7 Lion was released in July of 2011. The first developer preview of OS X 10.8 appeared in February, and OS X 10.9 could follow a similar timeline.

For years, Apple Public Relations has issued press releases for major product announcements, handed out exclusives and loaner units to a few select reporters and columnists, and occasionally signed off on an interview with one of the senior executives when it suited their marketing message. That strategy gave the company millions of dollars in free marketing with news outlets writing about every bit of information they can find.

These days, according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple's public relations department is a little more proactive. Last week, Apple issued a press release to announce iOS 6.1, a comparatively minor software release.

At the same time, Apple communications staff have recently sent reporters more favorable third-party reports about the company, including a study predicting that by 2014, Apple will be as accepted in the enterprise as Microsoft is today. Apple, and indeed virtually all its competitors, send reporters favorable studies from time to time. But the five reports Apple has sent since the start of the year, mostly related to mobile market share, represent more than recent months.

The Journal says the PR efforts "represent a recognition that competition is heating up", according to a WSJ source, with a caveat that it wasn't a big shift in protocol.

Of course, even when Apple PR is more forthcoming, it can still rely on the press to cover every move it makes.