MacRumors

While Steve Jobs famously panned the idea of a stylus for the iPhone at the device's unveiling in January 2007, Apple has continued researching ideas for stylus-based input, if only as part of continued reevaluation of how users interact with their devices and how technology will change those interactions over time. Toward that end, Unwired View highlights a pair of Apple patent applications filed in late 2010 and published today addressing optical and haptic stylus concepts.

Apple's idea for an optical stylus takes advantage of a tiny camera on the tip of the pen that would allow it to track patterns on a device's screen that are invisible to the user's eye. The stylus could also incorporate other sensors such as pressure sensors, accelerometers, and gyroscopes to help determine orientation and movement.

In some embodiments, a stylus is provided with an optical sensor, such as a camera, that is used in determining a location and movement of the stylus relative to a touch screen display of a computing device. It should be appreciated, however, that displays other than touch screens may be implemented in some embodiments. The optical stylus may be configured to transmit the location and movement to the computing device. In some embodiments, the optical stylus may be configured to process and/or filter the location and movement information prior to transmission, whereas in other embodiments, raw data may be transmitted.

Alternatively, Apple suggests that it could incorporate haptic feedback to allow users to gain a tactile feel for the content on a device's screen via a stylus. Apple has researched haptics for quite some time, and the patent application published today describes how a haptic actuator embedded in the stylus could receive signals from a device to help users gain a tactile feel for the context of their onscreen input.

Generally, input devices do not provide haptic feedback to a user in response to interactions with the input device. The user can typically only feel the rigid surface of the touch screen, making it difficult to find icons, hyperlinks, text boxes, or other user-selectable input elements on the display. An input device capable of generating haptic feedback may help a user navigate content displayed on the display screen, and may further serve to enhance the content of various applications by creating a more appealing and realistic user interface. "Haptic feedback" may be any tactile feedback. Examples include forces, vibrations, and/or motions that may be sensed by the user.

There has been essentially no evidence that Apple is seriously looking at incorporating a stylus into its products, but it remains clear that the company is thinking about how such pen-based input could be used in novel ways.

Following a March agreement that saw Foxconn and Sharp entering into a partnership to advance LCD technology, Reuters reports on a new article from Japan's Nikkei business newspaper indicating that the two companies are specifically teaming up on a new plant in Chengdu, China to produce displays for the iPhone.

Japan's Sharp Corp will supply technological know-how to Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co for a plant in China that will produce panels for Apple Inc's iPhone and other consumer electronics products, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday. [...]

The Nikkei said that the new technology handover, for which Sharp will receive tens of billions of yen in fees, is aimed at improving quality management at Hon Hai's planned plant in Chengdu.

Apple has been working hard to continue streamlining its supply chain, and closer partnerships between component suppliers such as Sharp and device assemblers like Foxconn will likely help Apple move more quickly and efficiently to the latest technologies for its products.

Sharp was reportedly behind the main force in development of the third-generation iPad's Retina display technology, but quality control issues led to the company being shut out of the initial batch of devices as it sought to bring its production up to Apple's standards. The company has reportedly begun shipping its displays for the new iPad, joining Samsung and LG in efforts to meet Apple's demand.

Back in November, The Wall Street Journal took a look at how Tim Cook was putting his stamp on Apple just two months after officially being elevated to the position on Chief Executive Officer. But with Cook now having been on the job for nine months, Fortune examines in a lengthy profile how the company and its culture have continued to evolve under his leadership.

A 14-year veteran of the company, Cook is maintaining, by words and actions, most of Apple's unique corporate culture. But shifts of behavior and tone are absolutely apparent; some of them affect the core of Apple's critical product-development process. In general, Apple has become slightly more open and considerably more corporate. In some cases Cook is taking action that Apple sorely needed and employees badly wanted. It's almost as if he is working his way through a to-do list of long-overdue repairs the previous occupant (Jobs) refused to address for no reason other than obstinacy.

Calling Tim Cook "the master of operational efficiency", the report notes that Cook continues to spur Apple to both streamline and innovate with its manufacturing processes, bankrolling purchases of equipment and other infrastructure with its own money to allow its supply chain and assembly partners to improve efficiency and output.

But that operational efficiency has led to the belief that Apple is becoming more traditional and conservative, becoming an "execution engine" driven by business-oriented managers with MBAs and less dependent on its design and technical expertise to lead the way.

It looks like it has become a more conservative execution engine rather than a pushing-the-envelope engineering engine," says Max Paley, a former engineering vice president who worked at Apple for 14 years until late 2011. "I've been told that any meeting of significance is now always populated by project management and global-supply management," he says. "When I was there, engineering decided what we wanted, and it was the job of product management and supply management to go get it. It shows a shift in priority."

The entire profile is an interesting look at how Apple is changing under Tim Cook, also highlighting his own evolution in becoming the face of Apple and how he differs from Steve Jobs, from his quiet nature to his willingness to listen to investors to sitting down to eat with random employees in the Apple cafeteria.

Apple has begun running a pair of new television ads for the iPhone 4S and Siri featuring actor John Malkovich. This comes after a pair of celebrity ads started running last month with Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel.

Malkovich: Life.

Siri: Try and be nice to people. Avoid eating fat. Read a good book every now and then. Get some walking in. And try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.

Malkovich: That's pretty spectacular advice, actually. Thank you. I enjoyed this chat immensely. You are very eloquent.

Siri: That's nice of you to say.

The celebrity ads scored very well with viewers, registering higher scores from advertising tracking firm Ace Metrix than any other iPhone 4S ad released so far this year.

John Malkovich is well known for his unique acting style and his iPhone 4S ad reflects his somewhat peculiar persona. The query that Malkovich posits -- "Life"-- elicits a number of different responses from Siri, including:

"42"

"I Kant answer that. Ha ha!"

"It's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya."

"Life: the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death."

"I don't know. But I think there's an app for that."

"I can't answer that now, but give me some time to write a very long play in which nothing happens."

"I find it odd that you would ask this of an inanimate object."

"That's easy… it's a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general."

"Life: a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings. I guess that includes me."

"A movie."

"I give up."

A second ad is airing as well, showcasing a bit more of Siri's talents:

The North Carolina Utilities Commission today officially approved (PDF) Apple's proposal to construct a 4.8-megawatt fuel cell electric generating facility near its data center in Maiden, North Carolina. The Commission previously approved a plan by Apple to build the first of two 20 megawatt solar farms around its data center.

The Public Staff presented this matter to the Commission at its Regular Staff Conference on May 21, 2012. The Public Staff recommended that the Commission approve the application and issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity.

After careful consideration, the Commission finds good cause to approve the application and issue the attached certificate of public convenience and necessity for the proposed 4.8-MW AC fuel cell electric generating facility located at 5977 Startown Road, Maiden, Catawba County, North Carolina.

Previous filings (PDF) with federal regulators have indicated that Apple plans to have the fuel cell facility installed by July 16, with operation to begin by July 30.

Apple is acquiring the fuel cell boxes from Bloom Energy, based in Sunnyvale, California, near Apple's Cupertino headquarters where Apple already has some Bloom boxes installed. It appears that the fuel cell boxes will be powered by standard natural gas from the grid, while Apple will be purchasing environmentally-friendly biogas from a local provider which will be inserted into the grid at a 1:1 ratio. This will keep the system as "green" as possible.

Apple signaled its intentions to build a data center at the site last October, moving to clear and grade the land as it sought approval for the project. The company publicly unveiled its plans back in February, noting that the facility will be the largest user-owned fuel cell installation in the United States not owned by a utility company.

In the week since Apple's last developer update of OS X Mountain Lion, several new features including hints of automatic app downloads have been discovered in the next-generation operating system. The discoveries are still continuing, with signs of two new features: offline Reading List mode and iOS-like dictation.

Gear Live highlights the offline reading list option, which is an augmentation of the Safari bookmarking feature that debuted in OS X Lion and syncs saved articles across devices. As noticed by Gear Live, a warning screen in Safari on OS X Mountain Lion indicates that articles saved to Reading List are available for viewing even when the user's Mac is not connected to the Internet.

While troubleshooting a home network issue today, I stumbled upon a new feature that Apple is introducing in OS X Mountain Lion. [...]

When you aren't connected to a network and pull up Safari, you get a message that tells you that you aren't connected to the Internet, but that your "Reading List articles are available for viewing while you are offline."

Meanwhile, 9to5Mac reports that a keyboard shortcut listing in the latest build of OS X Mountain Lion suggests that built-in dictation capabilities will be coming to the Mac. Such capabilities debuted as part of Siri on the iPhone 4S, with only the dictation portion making its way into the third-generation iPad released earlier this year.

According to a resources file inside of the latest build of Safari in the newest seed of the upcoming OS X Mountain Lion, Dictation might be making its way to Macs next. Since Macs do not sport virtual keyboards or physical keyboards with a microphone-labled key, users (by default) will apparently need to simultaneously click both command keys to start voice input.

No other evidence of dictation or other Siri-like features has yet been discovered in OS X Mountain Lion, but Apple continues to work on the next-generation operating system and will undoubtedly issue an extensive preview of it at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

BGR reports that Microsoft is planning to launch Office for iOS in November this year, with the source claiming first-hand knowledge of the software running on an iPad. With the app's splash screen referring to it as "Office for iOS", the source also speculates that the app may also be coming to the smaller screens of the iPhone and iPod touch. In addition to its iOS effort, Microsoft is also said to be bringing Office to Android-based tablets in the same timeframe.

Microsoft had indicated soon after the launch of the original iPad that it was investigating the possibility of bringing Office to the platform, but ultimately stated that it had no plans for such an effort. The Daily has since claimed several times that Office for iPad is in fact in the works, reporting in February that it had even had hands-on time with a prototype of the app.

Microsoft denied the claim, but The Daily continues to stand by its report. Suggesting that there may have been a misunderstanding somewhere, Microsoft stated that the situation would become "clear in the coming weeks". No such clarification has yet surfaced, however.

The Palo Alto Online has unearthed plans for a new glass-enclosed retail store going in near the current Stanford mini-store at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, CA.

The store will have three floor-to-ceiling glass walls enclosing the front of the store with a visually free-floating white roof overhead. This is a similar design to the new store being built in Portland, OR, as well as a new store in Aix-en-Provence, France. What makes this store unique, however, is the interior.

In the middle of the store, it appears that Apple's architects have placed a stone wall that separates the store into two distinct areas. A front area enclosed by glass walls, and a rear space that will include the standard Apple Retail Store product tables and counters.

From the Palo Alto Online:

One seasoned industry observer who had viewed the early drawings called the building design exquisite. "It makes an elegant and dramatic statement. It is destined to become Apple's flagship store," he said. The structure features a tall glass cube with an overhang that extends well beyond the building. "It makes the space between the outside and the inside almost indistinguishable," the source said, adding that it will bear some similarity to New York's Apple Store Fifth Avenue, which also has a distinctive glass cube as an entrance.

The new store replaces the Rugby Ralph Lauren and Williams Sonoma Home stores that were previously in the space. IFOAppleStore notes the store, designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, is expected to open by the end of the year. The existing Stanford mini-store will be shuttered once the new location opens.

Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook met with his counterpart from Samsung, Choi Gee-sung, as part of court-mediated talks seeking to find common ground in the ongoing patent battles between the two companies. Unsurprisingly, the talks seems to have been relatively unproductive, with the U.S. case underway in California all but certain to proceed to trial.

Apple has been silent on the talks, but The Korea Times reports on comments from Samsung officials indicating that no agreement was forthcoming.

The two technology giants could find no clear agreement through the talks, according to a Samsung official. Apple Korea declined to comment on the matter.

The patent battle is now headed for trial on June 27, despite both firm’s stated wish to avoid legal proceedings.

According to foreign media outlets, both technology giants held firm on their assertions: Samsung continued to demand Apple pay royalties for using its wireless transmission technology and Apple insisted that Samsung copied its design in various products.

The Korea Herald reports that Samsung's contingent will be returning to Korea on Friday, and with Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee also returning from a three-week business trip to Europe, the company's top executives will almost certainly meet to discuss the talks. It appears, however, that there is little chance of Apple and Samsung budge from their positions sufficiently to prevent a trial from taking place.

BBC reports that Apple's design chief Jonathan Ive was knighted today in Buckingham Palace, with Princess Anne performing the honors. Ive's knighthood was announced in December, but the official ceremony was not held until today.

Ive's knighthood was accompanied by a rare extensive profile and interview with The Telegraph in which he shares details on his background and philosophy.

“All I’ve ever wanted to do is design and make; it’s what I love doing. It’s great if you can find what you love to do. Finding it is one thing but then to be able to practise that and be preoccupied with that is another,” he says. “I’m very aware of an incredible tradition in the UK of designing and making, and so to be recognised in this way is really wonderful.”

The humble Ive, who notably almost always uses "we" rather than "I" in discussion of Apple's design process, emphasizing the team aspect of the industrial design division's work, also discusses the care that Apple takes in designing every single aspect of each product.

“We’re keenly aware that when we develop and make something and bring it to market that it really does speak to a set of values. And what preoccupies us is that sense of care, and what our products will not speak to is a schedule, what our products will not speak to is trying to respond to some corporate or competitive agenda. We’re very genuinely designing the best products that we can for people.”

Asked which of his designs is most important to him and for which he would like to be remembered most, Ive notes that his team's current projects are "the most important and the best work we’ve done" but that he of course can't disclose details on that work.

Studies of "brand value" are always difficult to compare, as widely differing methodologies used by those measuring such data yield markedly different results. But tracking year-to-year movements using a consistent methodology can offer some interesting perspectives, and so Millward's Brown's latest BrandZ study (via The Next Web) makes for a good look at trends in marketing and branding.

In the 2012 brand rankings released today, Apple tops the list for the second year in a row, scoring a brand value of nearly $183 billion as compared to last year's $153 billion figure that saw Apple move into the top position for the first time. Apple's 19% growth was the strongest among the top ten brands.

David Roth for WPP said “Brands help businesses create competitive differentiation, command a price premium and become more resilient to crises or economic turbulence. This year, those businesses that leveraged technology, focused on the customer experience or boosted control of their brands thrived."

Apple continues to innovate and maintain its ‘luxury’ brand status, but faces future competition from Samsung. Now worth more than $14.1 billion, thanks in part to the success of its Galaxy handsets, Samsung is successfully outpacing Apple in a significant number of markets by positioning as a cool, well-priced alternative to the ubiquitous iPhone.”

Still, Samsung's brand value of $14.1 billion for a 55th place ranking paled in comparison to Apple, and the company's 16% growth in brand value was unable to match Apple's performance.

Among other top brands, IBM passed Google to take the second spot in the rankings with a brand value of nearly $116 billion as seven of the top ten spots were held by technology or communications companies. Facebook saw the largest percentage gain among top companies, with its brand value jumping by 74% to $33 billion, a leap of sixteen places to number 19 in the rankings.