MacRumors

Electronista reports that Apple has lost a court case in Mexico over the rights to the "iPhone" name in that country, with the court ruling that the name is too phonetically similar to that of telecommunications company iFone, which registered its trade name in 2003.

The decision stems from a legal action that Apple initially filed in 2009 requesting that the company cease using the iFone brand in order to head off the possibility of consumer confusion.

El Universal reports that the iFone trade name was registered in Mexico in 2003, some four years before Apple did so. Nonetheless, Apple sought unsuccessfully to gain sole control over the brand in the year after the iPhone first launched in Mexico.

Spanish news agency Efe has a bit more on the situation, quoting a lawyer for iFone as saying that this is the third time Apple has lost in this case.

It is unclear exactly what the next steps are for Apple and iFone, including whether additional appeals are possible. Apple is not likely to simply abandon the iPhone name in Mexico, and would thus almost certainly attempt to reach a settlement with iFone that would enable it to continue using the iPhone trade name in the country.

Update 1:21 PM: The Verge clarifies some of the confusion about the situation, noting that the court ruling has no impact on Apple's ability to sell the iPhone in Mexico and relates strictly to one trademark class.

As you'd expect, companies like Apple file to protect ultra valuable trademarks like "iPhone" in every class they can come up with an argument for, since it protects against infringement and brand dilution. That's where iFone comes in — it has a single Mexican trademark on the word "iFone" in Class 38, which covers telecommunication services. Apple runs a few of those, like iMessage and FaceTime, and indeed, it has a Class 38 US trademark on "iPhone."

Apple already owns two iPhone trademarks in Mexico in Class 9 and Class 28, which covers electronic game devices. But in 2009, Apple's lawyers decided iFone's Mexican Class 38 mark wasn't being actively used, and they filed a lawsuit to try and get it canceled so they could register their own pending Class 38 mark on "iPhone." iFone obviously disagreed and convinced the Mexican courts that they were still using the mark in commerce, which is where today's ruling comes from — Apple lost another round of appeals trying to cancel the iFone mark in Class 38.

The report goes on to note that reports of an injunction or fines against Apple are incorrect and are in fact related to what iFone is seeking in a countersuit, a suit that has yet to proceed to trial.

Yesterday, we reported that Apple had been ordered a UK court to alter its published statement on its website acknowledging that the Samsung Galaxy Tab does not infringe upon the protected design of the iPad. The statement was required by an earlier court order, but Apple's version of the included additional content, playfully quoting statements from the judge's ruling saying that the Samsung Galaxy Tab was "not as cool" as the iPad and noting that it had won cases against Samsung in other jurisdictions.

The judges were clearly unhappy with Apple's version of the notice and ordered the company to alter it within 48 hours, while Apple argued that it would take up to two weeks to revise and post the notice. As noted by TechCrunch, Apple has already removed its version of the notice from its UK website, but has yet to publish a revised version satisfying the court's demands.

The Next Web also reports that the first of Apple's newspaper advertisements similarly required by the court has appeared in The Guardian today.

In this morning’s Guardian, Apple has taken out a small advertisement, including the same statement that it ran on its website, but minus the additional commentary that originally got the company into trouble. It also appears to have been printed in 14-pt Arial font, as required in the original ruling.

Apple's iOS devices have long carried at least partial support for emoji, picture characters popular for text messaging in Japan but also gaining interest in countries around the world. Initially the feature was unlocked only for Japanese customers, but over time the company has broadened access to emoji and now supports several hundred emoji characters for all users once they enable the special emoji keyboard.

With iOS 6 bringing expanded emoji support, it appears that Apple is beginning to address the significant number of emoji apps in the App Store, sending out notices to developers informing them that their apps have been removed from the store because they are no longer useful given the built-in emoji support now available. MacRumors has heard from several developers who received such notices, and a number of other developers have mentioned them on Twitter, so it does appear to be a concerted effort by Apple.

Hello XXXX,

We are writing to let you know your app, XXXX, has been removed from the App Store because it is no longer needed to unlock Emoji.

Since iOS 6 now provides Emoji support to all users, your app is no longer in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines <https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html>

2.12 Apps that are not very useful, are simply web sites bundled as apps, or do not provide any lasting entertainment value may be rejected

If you have questions about the removal of your application, please contact App Review at appreview@apple.com. Please include the App ID and the name of your application in your email.

Thank you and best regards,

App Review

While Apple's notices state that the apps have been removed from the App Store, they do in fact seem to still be available, so it is unclear exactly what Apple's timeline for taking the apps down may be.

A number of the developers have noted that Apple seems to be targeting any app listing emoji among its features, not just those that are designed solely to enable emoji characters. Consequently, these developers argue that their apps are indeed useful and provide functionality beyond that offered in iOS 6 itself.

As is always the case with new iOS device launches, some early purchasers are interested in putting the products through drop tests and other experiments in order to test their durability. The iPad mini is no exception, and several drop and dunk test videos have already been posted.

Android Authority has a comparison between the iPad mini and Nexus 7 tablets, putting each device through a series of three drops from approximately chest high.

While the iPad mini did suffer a fair amount of damage, including a cracked screen, it did outperform the Nexus 7 in that it continued to function after being dropped.

Warranty company SquareTrade has also performed its own drop and dunk tests comparing the iPad mini to the Nexus 7 and the third-generation iPad. In the drop tests using a dedicated rig, the iPad mini held up well in a corner drop, but the screen did shatter on a face-down drop. In the dunk test, which involved placing each device in a tub of water for ten seconds, the iPad mini continued to function normally, while the iPad appeared to develop a sluggish home button and the Nexus 7 reset itself and became non-responsive.

Reuters reports that the early lines for Apple's new iPad mini seem to be shorter than for previous product launches. They note that about 50 people waited at the Apple Store in Sydney, Australia and about 100 or more outside Apple Stores in Tokyo and Seoul. Reuters notes that in the past, the line at the Sydney store "stretched for several blocks" for iPhone launches.

Lines were certainly forming in several locations such as Amsterdam (above), as well as Munich and Florida, though the Covent Garden Apple Store reportedly attracted very few customers this morning. The line to Apple's flagship 5th Avenue store also started forming quite late, though launch enthusiasm in New York was certainly tempered due to the devastating effect of Hurricane Sandy on the city earlier this week.

The iPad Mini was available for pre-order starting last week and persisted in availability throughout last weekend. Apple is also launching the 4th Generation iPad today. Both products should be available at retail stores starting at 8am this morning. Of note, the LTE / Cellular enabled version of the iPad Mini will not be available until Mid-November. Only the Wi-Fi version is available today.

Close on the heels of its iPad mini teardown, iFixit has performed a similar procedure on the fourth-generation iPad. The new iPad is extremely similar to the previous model, with the main exceptions being the move to a more powerful A6X chip and a change to Apple's new Lightning connector.

Of most significant interest is of course the A6X chip, which would be an enhanced version of the A6 chip that debuted in the iPhone 5, with improved graphics to help drive the iPad's large Retina display. A date code on the A6X reveals that it was manufactured in the 37th week of 2012, which corresponds to mid-September, but a more detailed analysis of the A6X will need to wait for chip teardown experts such as those at Chipworks to get their hands on the part.

Other interesting discoveries include:

- The display is manufactured by LG, as opposed to the Samsung display found in the third-generation iPad torn down by iFixit. Apple does, however, source many of its components from multiple vendors, so it is unclear whether Apple has excluded Samsung from display production on the fourth-generation iPad.

- The logic board remains the same size as in the previous model, but Apple has tweaked the layout of some of the chips.

- The new Lightning port is housed in a frame that is equal in size to that of the 30-pin dock connector in the previous generation, meaning that Apple has not saved any interior space with the move to the Lightning connector. Apple will, however, almost certainly take advantage of the reduction in space needed for the Lightning connector in a more significant redesign for a future generation.

- The improved front-facing camera is slightly thicker than in the previous model, but fits into the same space within the device's body.

- The battery carries the same A1389 part number as in the third-generation iPad.

- Just like in the third-generation iPad, the fourth-generation model contains 1 GB of RAM housed in two Elpida chips separate from the A6X package.

Update: Chipworks has examined the A6X, finding that it is indeed a significant reworking of the A6 found in the iPhone 5, unsurprisingly focused on graphics capabilities.

This is not just an A6 with a couple minor tweaks. The A6 is 94mm2 while the A6X is 123mm2 – a full 30% larger.So where did that extra area go? Well, firstly, it did not go to the CPU core. The A6X uses the identical CPU to the A6. Same size, same layout. This is not surprising given that the prior CPU used custom layout techniques, and therefore it would be a huge amount of work to redesign so soon. Much of the extra area has gone to the GPU cores which are up from 3 to 4. More notable is that each of these GPU cores is much larger.On the A6X each GPU core is 8.7mm2 while the A6 GPU cores are only 5.4mm2. The overall area occupied by the A6X GPU cores is more than double that of the A6!

While a number of customers have been able to get their hands on the iPad mini prematurely either through early deliveries or retailers who began selling the devices before the appointed time, sales have now officially started in New Zealand where it is now the morning of November 2.

Twitter user @jgriffinz notes that he was one of the first customers to officially purchase the iPad mini in New Zealand, and notes that he was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal about the distinction. He has also confirmed that his iPad mini arrived with the New Zealand version of the 5-watt power adapter rather than the higher-powered 12-watt adapter that is arriving with the full-size iPad.

AMA Creative also shared a few photos with MacRumors showing the iPad mini going on sale at New Zealand retailer YOOBEE.

Apple's own stores are opening at 8:00 AM local time on Friday to begin sales of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad. A number of third-party retailers will also be carrying the devices, and their opening times and stock levels may vary.

While iFixit was busy tearing down the iPad mini earlier today, Chipworks was taking a closer look at the chips included in the device. The item of most interest is of course the A5 system-on-a-chip, and Chipworks has unsurprisingly confirmed that the iPad mini uses a chip manufactured by Samsung on a 32-nanometer process.

The A5 originally appeared based on a 45-nanometer process, but Apple quietly shifted to a smaller and more efficient 32-nanometer process earlier this year with the launch of the revised iPad 2 and the third-generation Apple TV back in April. The same chip made its way into the fifth-generation iPod touch last month, so it should not be a surprise that the A5 used in the iPad mini is the same part.

Remember the past, when Apple launched the Apple A5X to great fanfare? When the A5X launched, Apple also snuck in a change to the process generation in their A5 chip by putting a new 32 nm version inside the iPad2 and Apple TV3. Apple (likely) plays it this way because they don’t want people evaluating their products based on “commodity” technical specifications, but based on the overall experience with the device.

Because of this past behavior, there has been some speculation on the web as to whether they would do the same thing with the latest generation of Apple A5 processor. A new process for a new product. Maybe even a new foundry partner?

The answer is no.

Cross-sections of the A5 chip from the iPad mini appear identical to those from other recent A5 chips, indicating that Samsung is indeed still the supplier for the main chip used in Apple's iOS devices. Apple's has been rumored to be trying to move chip production to TSMC, but the process has been a slow one as Apple seeks to strike a deal and ensure that technical considerations will not hinder the shift.

Apple today released the first beta of iOS 6.1 to developers. The beta has a build number of 10B5095f, versus 10A523 (10A525 for the iPhone 5) for the just-released iOS 6.0.1.

Apple mentions a number of changes and known issues, including several related to how developers can integrate Apple's new mapping service in their apps, as well as an improvement to how boarding passes are handled in Passbook, and a few minor changes to Safari.

Registered developers can download the beta via Apple's Developer page.

Since the announcement of the iPad mini last week, there has been some discussion about whether Apple would include the smaller 5-watt power adapter typically bundled with iPhone models or the larger 12-watt adapter intended for the latest full-size iPad models.

One report from just after Apple's media event indicated that Apple would be shipping the larger 12-watt adapter with the iPad mini, but iPhoneinCanada.ca noticed soon after that the Apple Store iOS app was showing a photo of the smaller 5-watt adapter as part of the iPad mini package contents.

One MacRumors reader was able to purchase an iPad mini from his local Walmart yesterday and confirmed that it does indeed ship with the smaller 5-watt adapter.

The 12-watt charger (or its 10-watt predecessor) could charge the iPad mini more quickly than the 5-watt adapter, provided that the iPad mini itself would allow more than 5 watts to be drawn from the charger. Any of the adapters can be used with any iOS device, but both the adapter and the devices themselves specify how much power can be drawn. For example, an iPhone will only draw 5 watts regardless of which adapter it is plugged into, while an iPad will draw the full wattage on any of the adapters, with the lower-wattage adapters obviously charging the device more slowly than higher-wattage ones.

With the iPad mini's battery having three times the capacity of the iPhone 5's battery, charging the iPad mini through the included 5-watt power adapter would take considerably longer than charging an iPhone. If, however, the iPad mini is capable of drawing higher wattage, users may prefer to charge the device through a larger 10-watt or 12-watt adapter intended for the full-size iPad.

One day before the launch of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad, Apple has just released iOS 6.0.1. The update had been reported to be in carrier testing two weeks ago.

This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:

- Fixes a bug that prevents iPhone 5 from installing software updates wirelessly over the air
- Fixes a bug where horizontal lines may be displayed across the keyboard
- Fixes an issue that could cause camera flash to not go off
- Improves reliability of iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation) when connected to encrypted WPA2 Wi-Fi networks
- Resolves an issue that prevents iPhone from using the cellular network in some instances
- Consolidated the Use Cellular Data switch for iTunes Match
- Fixes a Passcode Lock bug which sometimes allowed access to Passbook pass details from lock screen
- Fixes a bug affecting Exchange meetings

iPhone 5 users updating from their devices are required to first install an "updater" application to fix a bug that would otherwise prevent over-the-air updates. Once the updater has been applied users can download iOS 6.0.1 from their devices.

AllThingsD offers a look at the back-and-forth situation with Apple executive Bob Mansfield, who announced his retirement as hardware chief in late June only to rescind the move two months later in order to work on special projects under CEO Tim Cook. With this week's management changes, Mansfield is now heading up a new "Technologies" division and has committed to remaining at the company for at least two more years.

AllThingsD notes that Mansfield was indeed serious about retiring earlier this year and was enticed to stay on in an advisory capacity to ease the transition. But his all-in commitment to head the new Technologies division was reportedly influenced in no small part by the impending departure of iOS chief Scott Forstall.

As one source close to the company told AllThingsD, “The timing of Bob’s return is not coincidental.”

To begin, Mansfield was not a fan of Forstall’s confrontational management style, and sources said he generally tried to avoid the iOS exec. Indeed, Bloomberg last year reported that Mansfield would meet with Forstall only if Cook was present to mediate. I’ve heard many similar stories.

“It wasn’t a him-or-me situation,” one source said of Mansfield’s return and Forstall’s ouster. “But, put it this way, I think Bob was much more willing to commit to two more years once he knew Scott was on his way out.”

Mansfield is just one of several senior Apple executives taking on new roles in the restructuring, with design guru Jony Ive adding software design to his existing hardware design responsibilities, Eddy Cue picking up Siri and Maps, and Craig Federighi adding iOS to his OS X responsibilities.