MacRumors

Apple has won the number one slot in Fortune's annual "World's Most Admired Companies" list for the sixth year in a row.

fortuneThe ranking is based on a large-scale poll of corporate executives, directors, and industry analysts who were asked to rank companies by nine key attributes: Innovation, People management, Use of corporate assets, Social responsibility, Quality of management, Financial soundness, Long-term investment, Quality of products/services and Global competitiveness. Apple scored #1 in all nine categories.

Apple has had a rough time lately with its stock price in a free fall and the widely publicized failure of its Maps feature. However, it remains a financial juggernaut, posting $13 billion in net income last quarter, making it the most profitable company in the world during that period. The company has its fanatical customer base, and it still refuses to compete on price, making the iconic iPhone and iPad products that are still widely seen as prestige devices. Competition may be stiff, but so far it remains behind: In Q4 2012, the iPhone 5 was the world's best selling smartphone, followed in second place by the iPhone 4S.

The announcement is a bit of an embarrassment for Brad Chase, founding partner of Capitol Media Partners, who wrote a Forbes guest post earlier this week predicting that "bumbling" Apple would lose its number one slot and arguing that Fortune would have to "defy logic" to place Apple at the top once again. Confusion between Fortune and Forbes led to Chase's opinion piece being misreported by several media outlets earlier this week as Apple having actually lost its slot in a Forbes ranking.

A UK judge who was involved in a case in which Apple was ordered to publish a notice on its website saying that Samsung's Galaxy Tab did not copy the registered design for the iPad has been hired by Samsung as a patent expert in a separate legal battle with Ericsson, reports software patent blog FOSS Patents.

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Sir Robin Jacob served on a panel of appeals court judges reviewing the case after Apple complied with the initial court order but in a rather playful manner, quoting judge Colin Birss's earlier comment that the Galaxy Tab was "not as cool" as the iPad. Sir Robin was unamused, and ordered Apple to change the notice, accusing the company of acting with a "lack of integrity".

FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller discovered that Sir Robin is now acting as a patent expert for Samsung from a mention in a letter from Samsung's legal counsel concerning the ITC investigation of a patent infringement complaint filed by Ericsson against Samsung. The blog points out that there is nothing illegal in the maneuver and expresses no doubt that the judge has acted properly at all times, but notes that the impression given is not necessarily a favorable one.

I ... have no doubt that at the time of the ruling Sir Robin Jacob was not being paid, or improperly promised to be paid, by Samsung, and he won't have had any contact with Samsung or Samsung's counsel that would have been against the rules and barred him from adjudicating the Samsung v. Apple case.

Furthermore, Sir Robin Jacob is truly an expert in patent law and there is no question that Samsung will benefit from his knowledge. That said, this just doesn't feel right. It gives the impression that a judge who deals Samsung's number one rival a huge PR blow, in a way that I found very extreme and unjustified, will be generously rewarded.

Mueller himself has found himself embroiled in a somewhat similar situation, having served as consultant to Oracle (as well as Microsoft) while also writing about the patent battle between Oracle and Google.

Apple's System Status page is showing multiple iCloud services with 'issues':

cloudServices listed as being affected are Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud and Backup. The services have been having problems for nearly five hours already, and Apple has not yet provided a timeframe for a fix.

(Thanks, Guillermo.)

Update 8:28 AM: The issues are persisting some seven hours after Apple first acknowledged them, but the company has now updated its status page to note that less than 1% of users are currently being affected.

itunes_u_iconApple today announced that its iTunes U service has hit one billion downloads, less than six years after its official debut.

“It’s inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “With the incredible content offered on iTunes U, students can learn like never before―there are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn.”

Apple notes that over 1,200 colleges and universities and over 1,200 K-12 schools are using iTunes U, offering thousands of public and private courses through the service. Over 60% of iTunes U downloads are coming from outside of the United States.

Apple also touts the sheer size of some of iTunes U's offerings, with several universities offering courses seeing enrollments of over 100,000 and Stanford University and The Open University each having topped 60 million downloads of their content.

iTunes U debuted as a partnership with Stanford University in October 2005 before launching in an expanded form in mid-2007. A year ago, Apple launched its dedicated iTunes U app as part of an education-focused event leveraging the iPad as the learning platform for the future.

Controversial freemium game Real Racing 3 was released in the U.S. App Store tonight, after being tested in several international App Stores. Real Racing 3 is the highly anticipated followup to Real Racing 2, with real cars, photorealistic tracks, and online time shifted multiplayer gameplay.

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Unlike earlier games in the series, Real Racing 3 is free to play, with time-based freemium mechanics. Wait times have been implemented for repairs, upgrades, and additional vehicle unlocks, which can be sped up with the purchase of gold coins.

Our sister site TouchArcade has published a review of the game, explaining both the upsides and the downsides of the freemium gameplay.

Real Racing 3 is a weird game to review. On one hand, it's free, and is the absolute best looking game available on the App Store right now. You need to experience the sights and sounds of the game as it is downright jaw-dropping to see what Firemonkeys has accomplished on a technical level. On the other, it feels incredibly strange to take a genre that's typically very hardcore and wrapping it in free to play trimmings with hard timer-based stopping points. The juxtaposition between awesome adrenalin-fueled racing and the "Sorry bro, insert coin or come back later" is very, very odd.

TouchArcade has also released a guide on how to spend conservatively in the game, recommending specific cars, damage mitigation, and strategic repairs.


Real Racing 3 is currently available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Yelp today updated its Yelp app for iOS to version 6.5.0, offering improved social search search results and a redesigned iPad business page. Yelp on the iPad is now streamlined, with easier access to hours, menu items, and phone numbers.

"Explore the Menu" and Yelp Deals, which have both been offered on the iPhone for some time, are now available on the iPad. Search results on both the iPhone and the iPad have been enhanced with information on friends who have checked into businesses, and the Yelp app now offers clearer notifications on restaurant hours. The update also includes several bug fixes and performance enhancements.

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We gave our iPad business page a whole lot of love. It's now more streamline and clear, with more emphasis on business photos. In addition, we're now showing Yelp Deals and our new "Explore the Menu" feature.

Yelp search just got more social: Now you can see which friends are checked in to businesses directly from your search results.

Getting to a restaurant just after closing is a major bummer. Now we'll indicate if a business will be closing soon or is just about to open.

We also got in a TON of bug fixes and enhancements: showing your review first in the reviews list, supporting updated reviews on iPad, swipe-able photos on the business page, and huge speed improvements on iPhone5!

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

Pandora will begin limiting mobile listeners to 40 hours of free listening per month, the company revealed in a blog post today. The change was made in response to a rise in the royalty rates that the company must pay to record companies.

Users who wish to listen to more than 40 hours per month can subscribe to the Pandora One service and get unlimited listening, as well as no advertising -- or pay a one-time $0.99 fee to listen as long as they like for the rest of the month. Desktop users can continue to listen to unlimited music.

Pandora

Most of you reading this will never hit the limit. In fact, it will affect less than 4% of our total monthly active listeners. For perspective, the average listener spends approximately 20 hours listening to Pandora across all devices in any given month.

That said, limiting listening is a very unusual thing to do, and very contrary to our mission so we wanted to share a quick explanation. Pandora's per-track royalty rates have increased more than 25% over the last 3 years, including 9% in 2013 alone and are scheduled to increase an additional 16% over the next two years. After a close look at our overall listening, a 40-hour-per-month mobile listening limit allows us to manage these escalating costs with minimal listener disruption.

Pandora may come under increasing pressure from competitors over the next year -- Google and Apple are both rumored to be working on subscription-based music services, and Spotify is reportedly working to bring its free product to mobile devices.

Six months after it started carrying the iPhone, U.S. regional prepaid carrier Cricket reports that it will only purchase half of its first-year commitment of iPhones by June 2013, reports BGR.

Back in June 2012, Cricket started carrying the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S after committing to buy at least $900 million worth of iPhones from Apple over the life of its deal with Apple. It got the iPhone 5 a week after it launched on the major U.S. carriers.

cricket logo

The carrier revealed that it is on pace to purchase only half of its first-year commitment from Apple through June 2013. The information in the filing contradicts earlier statements made by the company’s chief financial officers Jerry Elliot. The executive previously said that “sales of Apple devices were pretty good in the fourth quarter” and the carrier wasn’t concerned about meeting its commitment with Apple.

Cricket is generally considered one of roughly half a dozen "super-regional" carriers in the United States, with more than 5 million customers. The carrier offers a nationwide network through roaming agreements and its prepaid model offers simple pricing with no activation fees or overage charges.

152516 apple logoApple's annual shareholder's meeting took place at the company's Cupertino campus this morning. The meeting is held to allow shareholders to address corporate officers and to handle certain corporate business like reelecting the board of directors and voting on certain proposals.

According to CNBC's Jon Fortt, preliminary results show all directors reelected, Apple's accounting firm was approved, a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation passed, a proposal to require executives to hold 33% of their stock awards until retirement was defeated, as was a proposal to create a Human Rights board committee. The full text of the proposals are available in Apple's proxy statement. Tim Cook received 99.1% investor approval.

The run up to this year's meeting was more contentious than most. A judge blocked the vote on one of Apple's proposed changes following a lawsuit by a major Apple shareholder. He ruled that three separate proposals had been bundled together, when they should be voted on individually.

During the Q&A portion, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he knows shareholders are "disappointed" by its share price, and that focus should be on the long term, with revenue and profits following. Additionally, Cook said that Apple is working on "new categories" but wouldn't comment on anything specifically.

Cook confirmed that the plans for Apple's new "spaceship" campus are slightly delayed, with a move-in date around 2016, as was previously reported. He reiterated that Apple is "seriously considering" the issue of returning more cash to shareholders.

Last year's meeting did not result in any significant changes for the company. Apple's stock price jumped yesterday on a rumor that Apple would announce a stock split today, but that did not come to fruition.

South Carolina-based accessory maker Twelve South has released a new version of its BookBook case, this time for the 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The case matches those available for the iPad and iPhone, as well as existing ones for the 11" and 13" MacBook Air models. The 13" MacBook Pro with Retina fits into the existing case designed for the 13" MacBook Air.

Twelvesouth bookbook 15retina openhero hires

Designed exclusively for MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina display, BookBook is a totally unique case for the thinnest of MacBooks. Weighing as little as 13.5 ounces with an ultra-thin profile, this handmade, genuine leather case offers heavy duty protection. Two hardback covers, reinforced corners and a cushioned spine offer solid impact protection. The inside of the case is lined with a velvety soft, chocolate brown, padded interior for added protection.

BookBook cases for the 11" and 13" MacBook Air models and the 13" and 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display are available for $80 from Twelve South's website.

Apple has released its Cloud Player app for the iPad, some six months after it came out for the iPhone and iPod touch.

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Your music. Everywhere. Listen to your music collection from the cloud on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad anywhere you are. You can download or stream your library from the cloud – or play the music you already have on your device.

Amazon has made several moves to expand its cloud music platform in recent months. It has optimized its music store for mobile Safari, made free digital copies of all CDs ever purchased on Amazon.com, and introduced a new "scan and match" service similar to iTunes Match.

Amazon Cloud Player is available free for iPhone or iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Rovio's highly regarded Bad Piggies game has received a major update today, bringing 30 new levels, six new "Road Hogs" time trial levels, and new sandbox and achievement features. The 30 new "Flight in the Night" levels include Angry Birds who will attempt to shoot down the piggies' contraptions if disturbed.

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In this massive update to IGN's 2012 game of the year, the Bad Piggies are on the move, and they've managed to hang on to the eggs so far! But watch out - you need to sneak past the napping Angry Birds, and they're sleeping with one eye open! Navigate through 30 new Flight in the Night Levels but don't make too much noise, or you'll wake up some seriously furious birds! Also make sure to check out the new "Road Hogs" time trials: can you beat the clock (and your friends) with your crazy contraption?

Conquer 30 all new Flight in the Night levels!

Race against the clock in 6 Road Hogs levels!

Show off your creativity in a brand new sandbox!

Six all new achievements -- can you get them all?

It's you vs. the world in all new global leaderboards for Road Hogs! Do you have what it takes to be the world champion?


Bad Piggies is available for iPhone and iPad, with each platform offering paid and ad-supported versions.

- Bad Piggies [Direct Link]
- Bad Piggies Free [Direct Link]
- Bad Piggies HD [Direct Link]
- Bad Piggies HD Free [Direct Link]

kindle_app_iconAmazon yesterday released a minor 3.6.1 update to its Kindle app for iOS, but as noted by TUAW, the company is now warning users in the app description not to install the update.

What's New in Version 3.6.1

Note: There is a known issue with this update. If you are an existing Kindle for iOS user, we recommend you do not install this update at this time.

According to reports, the update is causing users' entire book libraries to be deleted from their devices. There is no word yet on when a fix can be expected to arrive in the App Store, but Amazon is undoubtedly rushing to fix the issue and Apple is likely to provide an expedited review in order to minimize the number of affected users.

Update 7:29 AM: AllThingsD reports that Amazon has issued a statement indicating that it has submitted a fix for the issue to Apple and is working to expedite its release.

Update 9:36 AM: Kindle for iOS has been updated to version 3.6.2, presumably addressing the issue with version 3.6.1. The new release notes do not, however, mention the issue.

Apple has added movie support to its iTunes in the Cloud service in 11 new European countries today, enabling customers in those countries to re-download content previously purchased from the iTunes store. The new countries include Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

As noted by French site iGen [Google translation], France has also seen iTunes in the Cloud support go live for TV shows.

itunes_cloud_films
iTunes in the Cloud was first launched for music in June 2011 in the United States, with Apple adding movie and TV show support for U.S. users in March 2012. Movie coverage has been gradually expanded since that time, with today's additions bringing the total to nearly 100 countries.

iTunes in the Cloud support for TV shows remains much more limited, with France becoming just the fifth country to see the feature, joining Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

GigaOM reports that Major League Baseball is expanding support for Apple's Passbook app, announcing that the digital tickets will be accepted at 13 stadiums this season, up from just four last season.

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MLB was one of Apple's launch partners for Passbook in September, with mobile tickets accepted by the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals. They are being joined this season by the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland A’s, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs. Three further teams are due to join, but have not yet been named.

Tickets can be purchased using the free AtBat app and then stored in Passbook.

samsungwallet
Not to be outdone, Samsung today announced Samsung Wallet, an Android app which mirrors Passbook's functionality, right down to time- and location-based push notifications. The app is currently a developer-only beta, with the public version launching soon. The Verge reports that Samsung has also signed a deal with MLB, as well as Walgreens, Belly, Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com and Lufthansa for the app's launch.

The company showed off a few features of the new app during its developer keynote, and it's quite clear that Samsung took its design inspiration for Wallet from Apple's Passbook (even down to the icon that Samsung used).


Interestingly, the app will not support near field communications (NFC) payment technology for the time being, despite Samsung's existing partnership with Visa's PayWave service. Samsung says that retailers have so far been reluctant to invest in the additional infrastructure to support NFC payments, making NFC support for Wallet a lower-priority feature.

Related Forum: iPhone

DOD-logo-vector-RGBThe U.S. Department of Defense today announced (via Bloomberg) a "commercial mobile device implementation plan" that would allow iOS and Android devices to be used on its secure classified and protected unclassified communication networks beginning in February 2014.

The implementation plan establishes a framework to equip the department’s 600,000 mobile-device users with secure classified and protected unclassified mobile solutions that leverage commercial off-the-shelf products, promote the development and use of mobile applications to improve functionality, decrease costs, and enable increased personal productivity.  The plan orchestrates a series of operational pilots from across the DoD components that will incorporate lessons learned, ensure interoperability, refine technical requirements, influence commercial standards, and create operational efficiencies for DoD mobile users.

As Bloomberg notes, BlackBerry is currently the dominant device at the Pentagon with almost 450,000 devices being used by its employees. Over the past several years, BlackBerry has seen its enterprise dominance chipped away by Apple devices, as corporations and other government agencies have been trading in their BlackBerry devices for iOS and Android ones.

This would mark the first time that commercial products like iPhones and iPads would be allowed on the department's classified networks. The department also plans to create a military mobile applications store and hire a contractor that would build a network system capable of handling as many as 8 million devices.

Teri Takai, the DoD's chief information officer, said that the move is about "keeping the department's workforce relevant" in a time where information accessibility and cybersecurity are crucial to "mission success." The department currently uses older BlackBerry devices, but the company is set to launch its new BlackBerry Z10 phone, based on the company's revamped operating system, next month.

Adobe today announced the release of its Photoshop Touch application for the iPhone. Photoshop Touch is the mobile version of Adobe's well-known Photoshop software, designed to bring core Photoshop capabilities to iOS. Previously, the app was only available for the iPad.

Rather than making the iPad app universal, Adobe is offering Photoshop Touch for the iPhone for $4.99. It includes the same features found in the iPad version of the app, including layers, selection tools, adjustments, and filters. The app also comes bundled with access to Adobe Creative Cloud and 2GB of free storage.

photoshoptouchiphone

-Use popular Photoshop features, such as layers, selection tools, adjustments, and filters, to create mind-blowing images.

-Improve your photos using classic Photoshop features to bring out the best in your photography. Apply precise tone and color adjustments to your entire composition, a particular layer, or a select area.

-Create something other-worldly using painting effects, filter brushes, and so much more. With Photoshop Touch, the creative possibilities are endless.

-Make your images pop with graphical text. Apply strokes, add drop shadows and fades, and more.

-Take advantage of your device's camera to fill an area on a layer with the unique Camera Fill feature.

-Quickly combine images together. Select part of an image to extract just by scribbling with the Scribble Selection tool. With the Refine Edge feature, use your fingertip to easily capture hard-to-select image elements, like hair.

-Start a project on your iPhone or iPod Touch and finish it on your iPad* or back in Photoshop* at your desk using a free membership to Adobe Creative Cloud™.** Your projects are automatically synced between your devices.

-Free membership to Creative Cloud provides 2GB of cloud storage.

-Work on high-resolution images while maintaining the highest image quality. Images up to 12 megapixels are supported.

Adobe Photoshop Touch for the iPhone can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]

Critically acclaimed strategy game "XCOM: Enemy Unknown" is headed to the Mac in a few months, Feral Interactive announced today. The popular strategy game is coming in a special "Elite Edition", which includes previously released add-on content.

xcomenemyunknown

The Mac release of "XCOM: Enemy Unknown" is the "Elite Edition", and contains all previously released add-on content and updates. "XCOM: Enemy UnknownElite Edition" includes the Slingshot and Elite Soldier Pack add-on content, as well as the Second Wave update, which includes a series of gameplay modifiers that add further depth and flexibility to the campaign.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a re-imagining of 1994's classic strategy game "X-COM: UFO Defense", was developed by Firaxis and published by 2K Games for PC and consoles.

In the game, players lead secret government organization XCOM to defend the world against aliens. Players oversee base management in addition to combat strategies while maintaining relationships with countries to fund their organization and save the world.


Although there are no pricing, system requirements or multiplayer details at the moment, Feral says that they will be revealed as the release date draws closer.