MacRumors

iphone 5 black whiteAccording to new information from the China Times translated by BrightWire, Apple is planning to release the iPhone 5S alongside a larger phone, deemed the "iPhone Math" by the report.

Because the iPhone Math name is highly unusual and does not fit in with Apple's traditional naming scheme, it is not clear if it is a code name or a potential mistranslation, although the actual "iPhone Math" terms appears in English in the China Times report.

China Times says that the larger phone will come equipped with a 4.8-inch screen and an 8-megapixel camera. It is said that it will launch in June alongside an updated iPhone 5, which will also feature an 8-megapixel camera. An additional iPhone update is said to be coming during the holiday season, with a 12-megapixel camera.

Though the report contains detailed information on suppliers, manufacturers, and production times, it is difficult to believe that Apple will produce a bigger iPhone and that the company will release two iPhones in a six month time frame.

The shipments for components, including touchscreens and cameras, will start rising significantly in March, and iPhone manufacturers will begin production in late April. Hence, Apple's suppliers will see major growth in 2Q 2013.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. will undertake 90% of the manufacturing orders, and Largan has received orders for 8 million camera lenses. Fujikura, Flexium and Zhen Ding will share production orders for printed circuit boards.

Foxconn Technology and Coxon will provide molding parts for Apple's new models; Foxlink will continue to offer connectors; Hon Hai Precision's Microelectronics Technology will start designing 4G network solutions for Apple.

This is not the first rumor that has featured a larger iPhone. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek first reported in December that Apple was working on an iPhone with a 4.8-inch display, but just last week noted that he has seen no further signs of the device. Digitimes also reported in early January that Apple was working on a bigger, more affordable iPhone that was targeted towards emerging markets, and analyst Brian White suggested that Apple might be considering launching its next iPhone in multiple sizes.

While rumors from the The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg support the introduction of an additional iPhone at a lower cost, the device is said to be smaller, not larger.

As we noted the first time the 4.8-inch iPhone rumors emerged, Apple has just increased the size of the iPhone with the iPhone 5, and may be reluctant to face the same resolution and pixel density obstacles attempting to create an even larger iPhone.

Related Forum: iPhone

Aubrey Johnson, a former Color employee, shares two stories behind the scenes at Apple's acquisitions of both Color and Lala -- both firms were founded by Bill Nguyen before being acquired by Apple for two very different reasons.

Like Pandora, Lala's music was streamed from the internet rather than stored locally. This allowed users to listen to a catalog of over 7 million songs for free as a stream over the web -- much like Pandora or Spotify today. Songs could also be purchased and downloaded, typically for a lower price than iTunes was offering.

Lalacolorlogos
Johnson writes that Lala's biggest strength was that it was at or near the top for many Google searches of particular songs, thanks to a search placement deal with Google. As a result, the firm was siphoning sales away from iTunes. As well, Google and Lala had partnered on Google's Music service. Both Nokia and Google made lowball offers for the firm, and Nguyen headed to Apple to see if they'd be interested in buying his company.

In late November [2009], Nguyen was seated at the dinner table in Steve Job’s home on Waverly St in Palo Alto. Also present were Eddy Cue and Tim Cook and other Apple executives. Steve led the conversation while eating a beet salad:

“I’m going to give you a number, Bill, and if you like it, let’s do it and just be done with this whole thing. Okay?” Bill agreed.

Jobs passed a piece of paper to Nguyen and Bill nodded. The deal was done.

After the acquisition, a number of Lala employees left the company with Nguyen, leaving millions in options on the table. Later, Apple apparently bought back some of those same engineers when the company purchased the remnants of Color, getting more experienced personnel for a significant savings.

Update: Johnson's post has been removed.

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been ordered by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to give a deposition in a lawsuit claiming that Apple and five other companies entered deals not to recruit each other's employees.

Koh told lawyers yesterday that Apple founder Steve Jobs was copied on e-mails at issue in the case, and that she found it “hard to believe” that Cook, as Apple’s chief operating officer at the time in question, wouldn’t have been consulted about such agreements.

The judge said she was disappointed that senior executives at the companies involved hadn’t been deposed before yesterday’s hearing over whether she should certify the case as a group lawsuit.

usdc
The case goes back to 2005 and alleges that Apple, Adobe, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Google, Intel and Intuit had agreements not to poach employees from the companies that were privy to the agreements. Employees were free to apply at jobs at any of the companies on their own volition, however.

The agreements were investigated in 2010 by the Justice Department and the claims were eventually settled, with the companies agreeing not to enter employee-poaching bans for five years.

The current lawsuit is a class-action civil suit by employees who say they were harmed by the anti-competitive actions of the companies within the agreement.

Reuters reports that Sharp, one of Apple's primary display panel partners for its mobile devices, has slashed production of iPad displays at one of its plants. Sources did not indicate the reasons for the dramatic cut, but it appears to be a combination of a shift in consumer interest to the smaller iPad mini and a natural seasonal slowdown coming out of the holiday quarter.

Sharp Corp has nearly halted production of 9.7-inch screens for Apple Inc's iPad, two sources said, as demand shifts to its smaller iPad mini.

Sharp's iPad screen production line at its Kameyama plant in central Japan has fallen to the minimal level to keep the line running this month after a gradual slowdown began at the end of 2012 as Apple manages its inventory, the industry sources with knowledge of Sharp's production plans told Reuters.

ipad 3 hand1
Apple also obtains iPad display panels from Samsung and LG Display, with a source at Samsung indicating that there has been no production cut there and a source at LG suggesting that any production cuts there were in line with typical seasonality.

Reports of cutbacks in iPad component production come close on the heels of reports that Apple has slashed orders for iPhone 5 parts, although there have been significant questions about the figures cited in those reports and whether the decline actually represents a weakening of demand.

Related Roundups: iPad, iPad mini
Tag: Sharp
Related Forum: iPad

siri iconMIT Technology Review has dug up a job ad posted by Apple on LinkedIn appealing to writers to help make Siri more conversational.

“[S]omeone who combines a love for language, wordplay, and conversation with demonstrated experience in bringing creative content to life within an intense technical environment.”

The ad notes that writers who apply will also need "experience in writing character-driven dialog", a good vocabulary and, ideally, knowledge of more than one language. The goal of the hirings would be to "evolve and enrich Siri."

Siri has been known for her wit and personality, with Apple attempting to allow Siri to build emotional ties with users.

Apple focused on keeping Siri's personality "friendly and humble -- but also with an edge". According to their source, they were thinking "How would we want a person to respond?" while developing the software.

After scaling back Siri's original feature set for its initial launch through Apple, the company has been working to expand compatibility to new devices such as the iPad as well as new languages. Apple has also improved Siri in iOS 6 with new movie, sports and restaurant features, and is set to introduce movie ticket purchases through Fandango with the upcoming iOS 6.1.

NewImageBlack Pixel today released its first major in-house app, Kaleidoscope 2. The app that helps coders, writers and others to compare the differences in folders, images, text, and more. The app was released as a beta back in November.

At the time, The Next Web spoke with former Apple employee Michael Jurewitz and the rest of the Black Pixel team about Kaleidoscope 2:

Kaleidoscope 2 is a lovely comparison app that allows you to take two or more files, folders or images and compare them to one another. The applications are broad, with benefits that swing from developers on one end to those simply looking to compare two images side-by-side. It has full integration with Git, Subversion, Mercurial, and Bazaar. The app can be used as the default conflict resolver for code with its command line integration or simply to check the changed passages in a collaborative word document. It’s beautifully designed, fast and wonderful to use. It’s become an essential part of my toolkit already.

Kaleidoscope
Black Pixel acquired Kaleidoscope and Versions last year, as well as the popular RSS reader NetNewsWire. Version 2 of Kaleidoscope is the first major bit of software that Black Pixel has put its own name on -- previously, the company focused on developing apps for outside clients.

Kaleidoscope 2 is currently available on the Mac App Store [Direct Link], directly from Black Pixel or as a 15-day trial. It's available for $35 through January 30th, after which it will be $70.

Apple and Rovio have paired up to give away Angry Birds Rio for the iPhone and iPad for free this week, as part of Apple's 'Free App of the Week' promotion.

The game is normally $0.99 for the iPhone and $2.99 on the iPad.

Carnival

Angry Birds Rio brought more of the same bird-flinging action that we all are quite familiar with by now, but also threw a couple of new very welcome twists into the formula. First and foremost are the boss fights, which were a first for the Angry Birds series and have you squaring off against the main antagonists from the Rio movie. The game also utilized more advanced graphics and recently was updated with tons of new power-ups and support for the widescreen of the iPhone 5.


Angry Birds Rio is free for a limited time on the iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct link: iPhone/iPad]

Apple has rolled out a new feature for Newsstand, allowing select publishers to be featured in a new Read Them Here First section, reports TechCrunch.

Hearst is the first publisher to be featured, and its entire catalog is available to subscribers several days before the print editions hit newsstands, and before its magazines hit other platforms like Amazon's Kindle Fire.

Readthemherefirst

The exclusive arrangement varies by individual publication in terms of how far in advance you’ll be able to get the various Hearst titles compared to in print and from other online storefronts like Amazon’s Kindle marketplace, but each will be available at least a few days in advance, I’m told. Existing subscribers will get early access, as well as those signing up for the first time.

The exclusive publishing window is a nice perk for potential subscribers and iPad owners, though it seems unlikely that getting a magazine a few days early would, on its own, sway potential tablet purchasers to the iPad.

Apple today added the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro to the refurbished section of its online store, giving prospective customers the opportunity to save 15% compared to brand-new machine. Currently available models include:

- 2.5 GHz Core i5 with 128 GB storage: $1439, compared to $1699 new

- 2.5 GHz Core i5 with 256 GB storage: $1699, compared to $1999 new

- 2.9 GHz Core i7 with 512 GB storage: $2289, compared to $2689 new

refurb 13 macbook pro retina
All three models are listed as shipping in 1-3 business days.

As with all of Apple's refurbished products, the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro units have been thoroughly tested and reconditioned and carry a one-year warranty equal to that offered on brand-new machines.

The addition of the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro to Apple's refurbished store comes roughly two weeks after the appearance of 15-inch models. But with the 13-inch models having just been introduced in October, some four months after the launch of the 15-inch models, the smaller Retina MacBook Pro has made the transition to the refurbished store much more quickly than its larger sibling.

(Thanks, Alan!)

Related Forum: MacBook Pro

finalfantasyThough Square Enix has released quite a few ports of its older titles, like Final Fantasy and The World Ends With You on iOS, Final Fantasy All The Bravest marks its first Final Fantasy app that was designed specifically for Apple's devices.

Square Enix calls All The Bravest a "pick-up-and-go RPG," an accurate description for the game, which incorporates the Final Fantasy series' Active Time Battle mechanic. The system has been greatly simplified, and battling consists of tapping party members to attack with little to no strategy involved. The game also does away with typical time consuming RPG activities like exploration, dungeon crawling, and dialogue.

finalfantasy2
Our sister site TouchArcade went hands-on with the game, and has this to say about the gameplay:

In the game, you can control up to 30 different classical Final Fantasy heroes across series of fights against classical villains. To attack, you tap on a character or, as we've discovered, just swipe up and down on the screen to activate all of them. After each attack, characters are smacked with a cool down timer, which keeps them from being able to attack for a few seconds.

Every enemy kills with one hit, regardless if it's just a basic Final Fantasy goblin or one of the horseman of the apocalypse. In addition to being flimsy, heroes are one note: they attack, that's it. You can’t activate special skills, you can’t target enemies, and they can't buff each other.

If you haven't caught on, this definitely isn't the Final Fantasy you know, but there’s a lot of the series' touches present. The presentation is old-school Final Fantasy. The enemies and heroes are, too. The simple "save the world" narrative hooks are all present and accounted for, as well as the late title card.

Final Fantasy All The Bravest comes with a much lower price tag than Square Enix's other offerings, which have cost as much as $17.99. Unfortunately, the initial purchase price is supplemented by a heavy focus on in-app purchases. 35 "premium" characters are unlocked at $0.99 each, and resurrecting a fallen party requires purchasable currency as well.

Final Fantasy All The Bravest can be downloaded from the App Store for $3.99. [Direct Link]

Patently Apple highlights an interesting Apple patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today. The application describes a removable clip for a mobile device such as an iPod, with the clip integrating tactile or trackpad like controls to be used either while attached to the device or as a remote control.

In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a body having a bend and a user interface area, a connector adapted to couple to a corresponding connector on an electronic device, and a plurality of conductive elements. The bend enables the user interface area to wrap around a portion of the electronic device when the connector is coupled to the corresponding connector on the electronic device. In another embodiment, a portable electronic system includes a removable user interface and an electronic computing device having a display surface, where the removable user interface is couplable to the electronic computing device such that the removable user interface is disposed over at least a part of the display surface.

device clip patent embodiments
Various embodiments of Apple's removable clip with tactile controls

Despite the patent application having been filed in July 2011, the diagrams in some cases depict a classic iPod with a relatively small screen and a click wheel on the front of the device. Various embodiments of the invention show the touch portion of the clip being used on the front of the device, either with on-screen content shrinking to fit below the clip or with content being displayed behind the transparent clip to provide a dynamic interface for the clip's tactile buttons. Alternatively, the clip could be mounted in reverse to place buttons on the rear of the device, or removed entirely and clipped onto a connector on a headphone cord to serve as a remote control for the device.

As with many of Apple's patent applications, the removable clip may never make an appearance in an Apple product, but the document provides an interesting glimpse at some of the areas of interest for Apple, and certain aspects of the technology could eventually appear in a different form.

Tag: Patent

Engadget reports that Sprint will finally begin offering its Total Equipment Protection (TEP) plan for the iPhone beginning January 25. The TEP plan offers coverage not only for device failures that occur outside of Apple's standard warranty but also loss, theft, and damage.

sprint tep iphone
The TEP plan consists of two parts, an $11 monthly fee for the service and then a significant $150-$200 deductible for cases where the phone requires replacement due to loss, theft, or physical damage. Consumers have 30 days from the date of purchase of their device in which to enroll in the program.

AT&T offers a similar program, although it costs $6.99 per month with a $199 deductible for all iPhone, iPad, and iPad mini models. Verizon's Total Equipment Coverage carries a special higher rate for iPhone compared to other devices, with the monthly fee set at $9.99 and deductibles ranging from $169-$199 depending on model.

Related Forum: iPhone

amazonmp3 iphone optimizedAmazon today announced that it has optimized its MP3 music store for Safari on iOS devices, marking yet another step in the company's effort to eat into the iTunes Store's dominant position in the digital music market.

“Since the launch of the Amazon Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch, a top request from customers has been the ability to buy music from Amazon right from their devices. For the first time ever, iOS users have a way do that – now they can access Amazon’s huge catalog of music, features like personalized recommendations, deals like albums for $5, songs for $0.69, and they can buy their music once and use it everywhere,” said Steve Boom, Vice President of Amazon Music.

Features of the Amazon MP3 store on the mobile web browser include:

- The Amazon MP3 mobile website for iPhone and iPod touches is built on HTML5, which means customers can make purchases directly from the Amazon MP3 mobile website at www.amazon.com/mp3 on their iPhones and iPod touches
- Selection of over 22 million songs and over two million albums at everyday low prices
- Access to everyday deals like $5 albums, $0.69 songs, and free songs from artists on the rise
- Individualized recommendations based on purchase history
- Immediate availability and seamless playback of purchases in the Amazon Cloud Player app
- Free storage of all Amazon MP3 purchases in Amazon Cloud Player

Amazon's move to optimize its MP3 store for iOS devices comes over five years after the store debuted, but seems to be part of a renewed effort by Amazon to challenge the iTunes Store. The company has invested significantly in its Cloud Player services as a competitor to iTunes Match, and Amazon has just launched its new AutoRip feature to provide free digital versions of tracks purchased on CD, including for many orders dating as far back as 1998.

templerun2Imangi Studios' iconic endless runner Temple Run proved to be a huge success, having been downloaded more than 170 million times since it launched in mid–2011, and today, a surprise sequel to the original game hit the App Store.

Temple Run 2 features the same danger-filled action-packed experience found in the first Temple Run game, but it includes new power ups, a mine cart, zip lines, and an even bigger monkey, according to the App Store description. The game is also set in a new environment and it features enhanced graphics.

Our sister site TouchArcade got an early look at the game and had this to say:

Right from first boot up you'll get a sense of deja vu as the camera sweeps in on the cursed idol that has been the cause of so much running over the past year and a half. You're still being chased by freaky monkey creatures – well, just one giant creature, actually – and you’re still using a combination of swipes and tilts to jump or slide past obstacles and collect coins. This is totally Temple Run.

However, just because the key components remain the same doesn't mean there isn't a ton of new stuff in Temple Run 2. Quite the opposite. The game takes place during the "golden hour" that’s just before sunset in a new temple floating high up in the sky. This sequel has received a big upgrade in terms of visuals and animation over its predecessor, and it makes a difference. It’s a beautiful game for sure.


Temple Run 2 is currently available as a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple Store Sanlitun, Beijing, ChinaApple today added installment payment plans to its online store in China, giving Chinese buyers the option to purchase iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks via credit.

Consumers can choose to pay in installments on merchandise that costs between 300 yuan ($48) and 30,000 yuan ($4,800), through a plan from China Merchants Bank Co.

As Bloomberg notes, the credit option puts expensive devices like the iPad and the iPhone into the reach of Chinese workers, who often cannot afford to purchase Apple's devices.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, is trying to make its products more affordable in China after being surpassed by local suppliers such as ZTE Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd. in the smartphone market. The iPhone 5, released in China last month, is priced at 5,288 yuan on Apple's local site, equal to about six weeks' pay for the average urban worker.

"There is an enormous mid-range consumer market that they are not tapping into," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Marbridge Consulting Ltd., a Beijing-based market research firm. "They're trying to figure out how to make products more accessible to that market segment. This is a good step in that direction."

In the Foxconn factories where Apple's mobile devices are assembled, junior level workers make approximately 1,800 yuan per month, which means the iPad and the iPhone are nearly unattainable without an installment option

Apple is currently offering payment plans over three, six, 12, 18, and 24 months. A promotion that lasts through January 23 makes payment plans lasting a year or less interest free. Payment plans with 18 installments incur a fee of 6.5 percent of the selling price, and 24 installment plans have a fee of 8.5 percent.

Earlier this month, Facebook updated its Messenger iOS app with beta support for making VoIP calls between Facebook accounts. That feature was initially limited to Canadian iOS accounts but is now being opened to all U.S. accounts, reports The Verge.

To access voice calling, open the Facebook Messenger app, open a chat with someone, and click the 'i' button in the top right corner. If the feature has been activated -- and the other user also has Facebook Messenger for iOS installed -- there should be a "Free Call" button. If it's greyed out, try tapping it anyway. Facebook is rolling out the feature to all users over the next several days.

Ericslivkaisfamousontheinternet

What this means is that if you live in the US, you can now call other Facebook users for free over Wi-Fi or using your phone's data connection while you're on the go. When you call someone, a push notification appears on their screen that says "Ellis Hamburger is calling," for example. The feature is especially critical for people with bad cell service at work or at home, and for those who want to conserve cell phone minutes. It's also a huge step for Facebook — which with a single feature emerges as one of the largest communities of VoIP users in the world. Yes, competitors Viber, Vonage, and Skype have had the feature for some time, but all have much smaller user bases.

Facebook's efforts create a calling system that can potentially reach its more than 1 billion users, providing a massive competition to other VoIP services like Skype, as well as allowing teenagers using iPod touch devices to make phone calls to friends using Facebook's app.

Facebook Messenger for the iPhone is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

build12d54
Apple today seeded build 12D54 of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 to developers, marking the sixth beta iteration of the newest version of Mountain Lion. 10.8.3 was first seeded to developers in November.

Build 12D54 comes just eight days after build 12D50, and like the previous build, contains no known issues or features. Build 12D50 brought only minor changes, and asked developers to focus on testing AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari.

9to5Mac notes that the new build contains significant changes to WiFi, but additional changes are unknown. Registered developers can download the update on Apple’s Developer Page.

This post originally referred to Build 12D54 as the seventh developer seed of OS X 10.8.3 when it was actually the sixth seed.

AT&T has again expanded access to the FaceTime Over Cellular feature to customers on all tiered data plans with a compatible FaceTime device. Previously, only users with an LTE device -- the iPad 3 and 4, as well as the iPhone 5 and iPad mini -- could use FaceTime over cellular. The only users who still can't use the feature are users with a grandfathered unlimited data plan.

NewImage

When FaceTime over Cellular launched in September 2012, we explained that we wanted to roll it out gradually to ensure the service had minimal impact on the mobile experience for all of our customers.

As a result of ongoing testing, we’re announcing AT&T will enable FaceTime over Cellular at no extra charge for customers with any tiered data plan using a compatible iOS device.

This means iPhone 4S customers with tiered plans will be able to make FaceTime calls over the AT&T cellular network. AT&T previously made FaceTime over Cellular available to customers with a Mobile Share plan and those with an LTE device on tiered plans.

AT&T says the update should be automatically applied over the next few months, and eligible users won't need to do anything special to begin using FaceTime over cellular.

The upshot is that any AT&T customer with a supported device -- the iPhone 4S and newer, the third generation iPad and newer, and the iPad mini -- will soon be able to use FaceTime over cellular.