iOS 6.1, which was released two weeks ago, brought with it a handful of serious bugs. The first bug, which affected 3G performance on the iPhone 4S was fixed yesterday, following Apple's release of 6.1.1 for the iPhone 4S.
The second bug involved an error that caused iOS devices running 6.1 to continuously loop when synchronizing a recurring calendar meeting invitation on Microsoft Exchange. This error, which causes excessive memory consumption, was not fixed with yesterday's 6.1.1 update.
Microsoft offers up several fixes, including the recommendation not to process Calendar items like meeting requests on iOS 6.1 devices. The company also recommends immediately restarting the devices and renewing the device partnership to halt the continuous looping access.
Devices using iOS 6.1 should be blocked or throttled, says Microsoft, in order to reduce the effect on server resources.
While none of these options are true fixes, Microsoft mentions that it is working with Apple to investigate the issue and suggests customers open an Enterprise Support case with Apple, via Enterprise agreement or a pay-per-incident case report.
At this morning's Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke about a number of topics including Apple's Retail division. Cook said that the company's stores are "the face of Apple" and that Apple will continue to invest in them, including the first Apple Retail location in Turkey.
There's no better place to discover, explore, and learn about our products than in retail. Our team members there are the most amazing, awesome, incredible people on earth. It's the best retail experience. It's a retail experience where you walk in and you instantly realize the store is not here for the purpose of selling, it's here for the purpose of serving.
And so the Genius Bar helps you not only with an issue, but it helps you get more out of your Apple products over the life of them. The store acts as a gathering place. It's a place that has an important role in the community. And so if you look at an agenda on an Apple Store for any given day, you might find that there's a youth program going on where the kids from a local elementary school are coming in the store as a part of their field trip. You might find that there's a local musician that's entertaining people in that store on that night. It's incredibly exciting what these stores do.
I'm not even sure "store" is the right word anymore. They've taken on a role much broader than that. They are the face of Apple for almost all of our customers.
Retail accounted for $6.4 billion of Apple's revenue in the holiday quarter, despite the fact that retail has been without a leader since October when John Browett departed the company.
Cook's feelings about the quality of his lieutenants may be part of the reason retail has been without an executive for nearly four months. He said Apple may need to spend a significant amount of time to find a new retail head that matches up to the current executive suite -- particularly after the issues Apple had with Browett's management decisions.
Apple spent some 7 months looking for a replacement for Ron Johnson and Tim Cook had high praise for Browett after he was hired, calling him "the best by far". Some seven months after his hiring, Browett was out. The new retail head will need to oversee Apple's continued aggressive international expansion, including stores in a number of new countries including Turkey, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Apple today released MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.7, addressing an issue related to batteries with more than 1000 charge cycles. The update applies to Mid 2010 and Early 2011 models of the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro and is a complement to earlier updates addressing the same issue for other machines.
About MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.7
This update addresses a rare issue on some Apple notebooks where a battery that has accumulated more than 1000 charge cycles may unexpectedly shut down or stop functioning.
The update is a 1 MB download and requires OS X 10.6.8, 10.7.5, or 10.8.2.
At today's AllThingsD Dive Into Media Conference, HBO's Eric Kessler announced that from this moment forward, HBO subscribers will be able to use AirPlay with the HBO Go app.
"Our longterm goal for Go is to be on all devices all platforms," said Kessler. HBO Go is HBO's streaming service that allows subscribers to watch HBO content on PCs, tablets, and consoles.
At this time, HBO Go is not available on the Apple TV, but an app is available for the iPad and the iPhone. With today's changes, iDevices are able to stream HBO Go content to the Apple TV using AirPlay, but the two companies are planning to bring a native HBO Go app to the Apple TV.
"We will get on Apple TV as we've said all along," Kessler said.
Currently, the Apple TV only supports streaming content from subscription apps like Netflix and Hulu Plus, but Apple has been making efforts to expand its content offerings.
Huggers noted that Intel has put together a team of people hired from Apple, Netflix, and Google to work in a new Intel Media group devoted to developing an Internet television platform.
Rumors of an Intel set-top box and TV service began circulating in late December. The setup was said to be similar to what Apple offers with its Apple TV, but with access to cable networks and and a la carte content. Huggers confirmed today that Intel will be offering cable content, but not in a piece meal format as expected.
For the first time we will deliver a new consumer electronics product under a new brand. We'll offer consumers a box and they'll buy this directly from us. It'll be an Intel-powered device with fantastic industrial design. But it's not just a device. We're working with the entire industry to figure out how we get live TV to consumers over the Internet.
Intel is planning its service as an all-in-one solution that will incorporate live TV, catch-up TV, and on-demand TV. "We're shooting for a service that incorporates literally everything. … But Rome wasn't built in a day. It'll take time," Huggers said.
Like Intel, Apple has been rumored to be working on a similar set up for its users, speaking with cable services like Comcast and Time Warner Cable, but Apple has struggled to secure content deals.
It is likely that Intel has had similar problems gaining entry into the cable TV market as content providers have been hesitant to offer television channels piece meal. Though earlier rumors suggested Intel would serve up individual channels a la carte, Huggers says that the company is taking a different approach.
Intel will provide the same bundled content that cable services offer, but over the internet, and he does not expect it to be less expensive.
Intel's proposal is similar to traditional cable offerings, and not the piece meal cable revolution that was expected when the project was originally announced. "We believe that there is value in bundles, if bundles are done right," he said, as noted by TechCrunch.
Though Intel is beginning with a more traditional cable model, the company remains interested in changing the way that cable is delivered in the future.
According to Huggers, the unnamed project will launch later this year.
Apple has been awarded a patent (via AppleInsider) for 'microslot antenna' technology, which could enable 'invisible' radio antennas to be embedded into the housing of a Mac, iPhone or iPad to save space inside and allow for more compact devices.
Notebook computer with integrated wireless antenna (20) on device housing
The antennas would use microscopic slots in the housing, with widths of just a few microns, making them almost invisible to the naked eye. The patent shows a variety of possible locations for the antennas on a laptop, though the same approach would likely be taken with iPhones and iPads also.
Top view of microslot antenna design supporting multiple frequencies
Current devices may contain antennas for GSM, 3G/LTE, GPS, wifi and Bluetooth, though some of these may be combined. The iPhone 5, for example, uses just two antennas for the five functions, using rapid frequency switching to enable one antenna to do two jobs. Eliminating the need for internal antenna space altogether would, though, allow for slimmer and smaller devices.
As TechCrunch observes, this could also create the possibility of an all-aluminum case. Apple has previously had to have a small area of glass or plastic to provide radio windows for the internal antennas. Microslot antennas would eliminate this need, perhaps leading to more Mac-like iPhones and iPads in future.
Apple's interest in the possibility of implementing microslot antennas dates back to at least 2007 when the patent was filed, meaning that the concept may be requiring significant refinement before arriving in a shipping product or may have been scrapped entirely by this point. Still, it is clear that Apple is continuing to look for ways to handle the increasing complexity of wireless communications while maintaining its design goals for size and aesthetics.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is now speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, participating in a Q&A session with analyst Bill Shope. Apple is streaming live audio of the session on its investor site, and we'll be sharing some of the highlights here in this post.
Question about Apple's cash usage strategy...do you have a Depression-era mentality?
What a way to start! We're making significant investments in a number of areas: supply chain, retail stores, corporate acquisitions, etc. Now, we do have a significant amount of cash, and we're fortunate to have that. We're returning some of it to investors and will continue to have discussions on that.
Thoughts on Greenlight's proposal about unlocking more capital for shareholders?
We welcome input from our shareholders and are discussing a broad array of options.
How about Greenlight's lawsuit regarding your proxy statement?
There are some misconceptions over what this is about. It's not about turning money back to shareholders. It's about corporate governance. So we've decided to eliminate the ability to issue "blank check" shares ourselves. We could still do it, but would have to go to shareholders for approval. So frankly, this seems bizarre to me that we're being sued over something that's good for shareholders.
We wish people involved in this lawsuit would take this money and donate it to a good cause. This is a waste of money for all involved...a silly sideshow. But you're not going to see us sending out a mailing or campaigning for our proposal. It's the right thing to do, and I'm going to vote for it. You're not going to see a "Yes on 2" sign in my front yard.
Question on acquisitions...most of them are small. Is there something in your culture against large acquisitions?
We do a fair number of acquisitions...one every other month. Most of them are for talented people working on smaller projects that we absorb and then move them to our own projects. PA Semi is an example...talented chip folks working on PowerPC and we moved them to iOS device work. We'll do more deals like this.
As for large companies, we have and will continue to look at them. But so far they haven't passed smell test for us. We could do it, but we're disciplined. Not interested in just growing revenue, but if there was a large acquisition that fit our needs, we would do it.
Microsoft yesterday released a new 14.3.1 update for Office for Mac 2011 to fix a bug in the licensing alerts, which caused Office applications to claim they were unlicensed. The problem was seemingly introduced during a previous bug-fix update.
Stability is improved This update fixes an issue that may cause Office 2011 applications to report a problem with Licensing even though the applications continue to run unaffected.
The update is non-critical, as all Office applications continue to work despite the spurious alerts.
The the new 14.3.1 update comes roughly two weeks after Microsoft released Service Pack 3 (14.3.0) for Office 2011, delivering a number of other bug fixes.
Microsoft also launched its Office 365 subscription packages late last month alongside Office 2013 for Windows, but Office 365 subscribers needing Mac versions remain on Office 2011 as Microsoft's Mac versions typically lag their Windows counterparts by 12-18 months.
An analysis by Asymco of Apple's newly-introduced revenue breakdowns claims that Apple made more money from iTunes and accessories sales alone than all other companies except Samsung made from phone sales during the most recent quarter.
As noted in its latest earnings release for the first fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple's total revenues from iTunes and accessories amounted to over $5.5 billion - ahead of the total phone revenues of each of Nokia, Motorola, Sony, LG, RIM (now rebranded as BlackBerry) and HTC.
Analysis author Horace Dediu also notes that iTunes may be worth more to Apple than its Mac business within the current year.
iTunes+Accessories combined is a bigger business in terms of revenues than any of the other phone vendors except Samsung. iTunes is now Apple’s fourth largest business, having overtaken the iPod in revenues two years ago. iTunes growth relative to the Mac means that it could become the third largest business during this year.
The figures also make iTunes bigger than Microsoft's combined Xbox and Windows Phone divisions.
Meantime, Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt (via Business Insider) suggests that Apple receives around a billion dollars a year from Google in return for making Google the default search on iOS devices, up roughly tenfold from just three years ago. It had previously been believed that Apple had a revenue-sharing deal with Google, but Devitt believes Apple would have gone for the neater and less risky option of a flat fee per device sold.
The steep rise in value for the search deal is said to have been driven in part by Microsoft which has been becoming increasingly aggressive about making such deals for its Bing search engine but has yet to secure a partnership with Apple for iOS to make the switch.
Apple has released iOS 6.1.1 for iPhone 4S devices, presumably fixing the 3G issues that carriers warned their customers about with the iOS 6.1 update. The update, which is specific to the iPhone 4S, comes with a build number of 10B145. It weighs in at a relatively paltry 23MB.
A beta of iOS 6.1.1 was released in the middle of last week carrying a build number of 10B311 -- it's likely the upgrade released today was an urgent bug fix and the prior iOS 6.1.1 beta sent to developers will become iOS 6.1.2.
About iOS 6.1.1 Software Update
This update fixes an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability for iPhone 4S.
With Apple's interest in a smart watch gaining renewed attention, there has been a considerable amount of speculation about what the company might try to do with such a device. Some of the speculation has pointed out that a watch could provide a good alternative to traditional passcodes by using watch proximity to grant a user access to systems and apps.
Apple is apparently looking at other alternatives for traditional password security as well, as highlighted in a patent application published late last week and spotted by Patently Apple.
The patent application describes a system that would display one or more photos stored on a device and ask the owner to identify them. The document mentions voice entry as one method of identification, using the example of a photo from the owner's Contacts database.
For example, after displaying an image that depicts a face of the user's sister Jane, the user may speak aloud, "Jane" … Alternatively, step 120 might also include displaying … a set of names. Then, as part of step 130, the user selects one of the displayed names that the user believes identifies the object.
The patent application suggests that the user would be able to choose the number of photos required to access the device, in the same way they already choose between simple and complex passcodes on an iPhone or iPad.
Apple previously filed for a patent on an approach similar to Android's Face Unlock feature, where the phone unlocks when it recognizes the face of the owner through the front-facing camera, though it was discovered soon after it debuted that the system could be easily fooled by using a photo of the owner displayed on another handset. Additional innovations such as a "Liveness Check" requiring that the user blink for Face Unlock to function have, however, been developed to increase security.
In a report outlining the well-examined "frenemies" relationship between Apple and Samsung, Reuters notes that Apple CEO Tim Cook was opposed to suing Samsung for allegedly copying iOS, iPhone and iPad patents in the creation of its own line of tablets and smartphones. Cook's thoughts illustrate the differences between him and predecessor Steve Jobs, who said he was willing to wage "thermonuclear war" on companies that "stole" from Apple.
Tim Cook, Jobs' successor as Apple chief executive, was opposed to suing Samsung in the first place, according to people with knowledge of the matter, largely because of that company's critical role as a supplier of components for the iPhone and the iPad. Apple bought some $8 billion worth of parts from Samsung last year, analysts estimate. [...]
Cook, worried about the critical supplier relationship, was opposed to suing Samsung. But Jobs had run out of patience, suspecting that Samsung was counting on the supplier relationship to shield it from retribution.
Cook's operational expertise no doubt influenced his perspective in worrying about impacts on the supply chain side of the equation, but he was overruled by Jobs. Since the dispute with Samsung broke out into the legal arena, Apple has been working to reduce its reliance on Samsung, but the two remain closely linked.
During Apple's Q2 2012 conference call, Cook said he has always "hated litigation", noting that he would prefer to settle rather than battle it out in the courts, although he emphasized that Apple does not want to become the "developer for the world". Apple has settled with other companies that it has had patent issues with, including HTC, but last November Samsung publicly said that it was not interested in settling with Apple.
As noted by The Next Web, Apple has updated its investor page to announce that it will offer a live audio stream of a presentation by CEO Tim Cook tomorrow at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference. Cook has spoken at the annual event several times in the past, including last year in his first visit as Apple's CEO.
Cook is unlikely to make any product announcements during the session, but he should offer some insight into Apple and its business. As a result, Apple is providing a live stream of the session to provide public disclosure of any statements he might make that could influence trading in the company's stock.
The session begins at 10:15 AM Eastern / 7:15 AM Pacific tomorrow.
Apple is one of three high-profile companies being required to explain to an Australian government inquiry why its product pricing in Australia is significantly higher than in the United States, reports Kotaku Australia. The issue is not a new one for Australian officials, but legislators are stepping up their investigations into prices being paid by Australians.
The action comes after Apple, Microsoft and Adobe had all refused to send representatives to public hearings held by the IT Pricing Inquiry. The government has now issued summonses to all three companies, requiring them to attend and Parliament member Ed Husic warning that legal consequences will follow if they fail to comply.
These firms should have cooperated and been prepared to be more open and transparent about their pricing approaches. [...]
Adobe, Apple and Microsoft are just a few firms that have continually defied the public’s call for answers and refused to appear before the IT Pricing Inquiry.
Apple's pricing does vary significantly by country, although comparisons often do not take into account taxes that are included in the base price in many countries but not in the United States. Different products also vary in their pricing comparisons across countries.
For example, the base 27-inch iMac is priced at $1799 in the United States, A$1999 (US$2054) in Australia and £1499 (US$2352) in the United Kingdom. But when subtracting included taxes from the international pricing, the iMac comes in at A$1817 (US$1867) in Australia and £1249 (US$1960) in the UK, for price premiums of 3.8% and 8.9% respectively.
For the 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad, the difference is even smaller once taxes have been accounted for, with the device priced at $499 in the United States, A$490 (US$503.38) in Australia and £332.50 (US$521.66) in the UK for price premiums of 0.9% in Australia and 4.5% in the UK.
iTunes Music Store pricing shows a much greater disparity for Australian customers, with tracks that sell for $1.29 in the United States being priced at $1.99 before tax in Australia.
Apple has traditionally priced its products somewhat higher internationally even when accounting for taxes, due in part to increased cost of business in many countries relative to the United States and as a buffer against fluctuating currencies. Customers and government officials in many of these countries feel, however, that pricing is still too high, particularly for digital content such as downloadable music and software that does not incur many of the overhead costs associated with physical goods.
The Australian Financial Review reports that Apple had testified in private on the matter, but had refused to do so at the public hearings. It cited IBRS analyst James Turner as commenting that this was part of Apple's long-established approach to secrecy:
It’s a carry-over from the cult of personality that Steve Jobs built up around himself. People can call it arrogant, but that’s only because Apple’s way is different and they keep getting away with it. I also think that the refusal to engage will be what ultimately undermines Apple.
Last week, a forum user at Chinese site sjbbs.zol.com.cnposted several photos (via The Times of India) of what was alleged to be the iPhone 5S in production. Despite the fact that the device is clearly an iPhone 5 clone, the photos have been widely circulating today.
The photos show a device with an outward appearance very similar to the iPhone 5, but the internals show essentially no resemblance to an Apple-designed device. Examples of just a few of the inconsistencies include:
- A battery capacity of just 1130 mAh compared to 1440 mAh for the iPhone 5 - An apparent SD card slot - Loose red and black wires connecting components - A green PCB for the connector bearing no resemblance to Apple's Lightning connector
Apple has been reported to be moving forward on an iPhone 5S model that will unsurprisingly appear very similar to the iPhone 5, although the iPhone 5S is said to feature upgrades to the rear camera. Other improvements such as upgraded internals are also certain to make their way into the new model. Reports have suggested that the device could launch as soon as June or July of this year.
Steve Hemmerstoffer of French site Nowhereelse.fr tweeted a photo three days ago showing some of the obviously fake characteristics of the device:
Nick Bilton reports for The New York Times that Apple is "experimenting" with smart watches made of curved glass, "according to people familiar with the company's explorations". The article notes that Corning -- the company behind the iPhone's Gorilla Glass -- has developed a bendable glass called Willow Glass that could potentially be used in a wristwatch type device that curves with the wearer's wrist.
Smart watches have been a topic of conversation in recent weeks, with the Pebble watch shipping last month, and a number of rumors regarding Apple working on a smart watch for possible launch later in 2013.
In its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like devices made of curved glass, according to people familiar with the company’s explorations, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they are not allowed to publicly discuss unreleased products. Such a watch would operate Apple’s iOS platform, two people said, and stand apart from competitors based on the company’s understanding of how such glass can curve around the human body.
In court filings between Apple and Samsung, we learned that Apple wanted to use curved glass designs in the original iPhone but the technology available at the time wasn't sufficiently advanced. With the recent advances at Corning however, it appears that Apple's curved glass ambitions could soon be coming to fruition.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is a Nike board member and spoke about his Nike FuelBand at the D10 Conference last year, but demurred about Apple's plans. He did say that wearable devices were "an interesting area", though "the book hasn't been written on that yet."
Epic Games' Infinity Blade: Dungeons was first announced in March of 2012, as a demo game on the third generation iPad. The game was designed by Epic but handed over to Impossible Studios, a new division housing ex-employees of Big Huge Games.
Hints of trouble first appeared in October of last year, when the game was delayed until 2013. As of today, Infinity Blade: Dungeons has been put on hold indefinitely, as Epic Games has decided to shut down Impossible Studios. Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney announced the news this afternoon:
We're closing Impossible Studios.
When former members of Big Huge Games approached Epic last year, we saw the opportunity to help a great group of people while putting them to work on a project that needed a team. It was a bold initiative and the Impossible folks made a gallant effort, but ultimately it wasn't working out for Epic.
This means that Infinity Blade: Dungeons is now on hold as we figure out the future of the project.
Epic Games is planning to give each Impossible Studios employee three months of severance pay and is offering the option to form a new company with the Impossible Studios name.
DrawQuest, a new iPad app from 4chan founder Chris Poole (also known as moot), aims to combine art creation with social interaction via daily drawing challenges.
Building on his experience with Canvas, an HTML 5 application designed to allow users to share and remix media, Poole designed the app to help people express themselves through art.
DrawQuest is about relearning to express yourself creatively and sticking with it. Everything about DrawQuest — from our simple drawing tools to the ability to star and play back drawings — was designed to foster a community of budding creators.
DrawQuest is billed as a free drawing community designed exclusively for the iPad. The app, which requires users to sign up, presents a drawing challenge each day. With included tools, users are asked to complete quests, which include enhancing a base image.
A new image template is added daily, and after finishing a challenge, users can view the work of other artists, watching playback, sharing an image on social networks, and starring favorites. Drawings are entirely public - there's no option for private sharing.
In an interview with The Verge, Poole reveals that his inspiration for DrawQuest came from Canvas users who were too intimidated to use the image creation tools. With prompts, Poole believes he can inspire creativity with constraints.
"One of the scariest things you can place in front of an adult is a blank sheet of paper and a pencil," Poole says. "It's like you’re pointing a gun at them. 'Sorry, I don’t draw, I don't write, I don't origami,' they’ll say."
iOS 6.1, which was released two weeks ago, brought with it a handful of serious bugs. The first bug, which affected 3G performance on the iPhone 4S was fixed yesterday, following Apple's release of 6.1.1 for the iPhone 4S.
Apple today released 
At today's AllThingsD 
Apple CEO Tim Cook is now 
Microsoft yesterday released 
In a report outlining the well-examined "frenemies" relationship between Apple and Samsung, 
