MacRumors

Vietnamese site Tinhte.vn has been spending some more time with the 3rd Generation iPad in their possession.

They took some screenshots of the native apps that come bundled with the new iPad that support its new Retina screen. This is a screenshot from iPhoto (click for full size):

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The sizes of these Retina-enabled apps appear to be about 2.5-3x the size of their original counterparts.

These applications are developed by Apple has been upgraded to support the Retina screen, for example with Keynote (iWork software sets), this application previously only 115MB capacity but its latest version is 327MB. Numbers from 109MB or 283MB up to, from 95MB to 269MB Pages, iMovie from 70MB to 404MB.

Existing iPad apps are automatically pixel-doubled to take up the full screen on the new iPad, but appear noticeably less sharp than native Retina graphics.

In a separate post, they took a number of sample photos using the new iPad's 5-megapixel camera. This represents a significant upgrade from the iPad 2's 1-megapixel camera. One sample shot is included here (click for full size):

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The 3rd Generation iPad is officially launching on March 16th at retail stores. The bulk of the pre-orders should also be arriving in customers hands on that day.

f1logoFormula One's official timing apps have launched just ahead of the first race of the 2012 season, taking place this weekend in Australia.

The full-priced app, F1 2012 Timing App CP, written by Formula One partner Soft Pauer, offers live timing, tire data, race control messages, track positioning and more in real-time for the entire Grand Prix weekend, across Practice, Qualifying and the race itself.

The app is $28.99 in the US, £19.99 in the UK. It does not include any live audio or video race feeds.

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The free "lite" version skips the live timing and other real-time features in favor of news feeds from Formula One.com, session results, a race calendar, and event countdowns and notifications when a session or race begins.

The lite version of the F1 2012 Timing App is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

The live timing-equipped F1 2012 Timing App CP is available for $28.99. [Direct Link]

googlelogoBloomberg reports that antitrust investigators with the Federal Trade Commission have issued a subpoena to Apple requesting information on the company's deal to make Google the default search engine on iOS. Google has been reported to have paid Apple $1 billion last year in the iOS search deal, and the subpoena is part of an ongoing antitrust investigation of Google over its actions to lock up search engine traffic.

The agency’s request for documents includes the agreements that made Google the preferred search engine on Apple’s mobile devices, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly and declined to be identified. Google rivals such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) have criticized these agreements as anticompetitive.

The subpoena indicates the FTC is intensifying its scrutiny of Google’s business practices. Details of the Apple-Google relationship may show whether Google is abusing its dominance of Internet search to boost revenue in the mobile phone advertising market, said Allen Grunes, an antitrust lawyer at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP in Washington.

The investigation is also looking more broadly at how Google's advertising rates and search results may be being manipulated to give Google an unfair advantage in the marketplace.

With Android and iOS now together holding the vast majority of smartphone market share, Google's search engine possesses a dominating position in the rapidly-growing mobile search space. With mobile search expected to pass desktop search within the next few years, Google's dominance and its tie-ins to its own advertising services are garnering significant attention from regulators.

nvidia logoFollowing reports from late last year indicating that Apple would be switching back to NVIDIA for graphics chips in its next MacBook Pro update, SemiAccurate now reports that NVIDIA's issues with GPU production are apparently leading Apple to rely more heavily on Intel's integrated graphics.

Apple has reportedly been ordering beefed-up integrated graphics from Intel on its Ivy Bridge platform, a development the report claims would be pointless if the chipsets were to be paired with discrete graphics chips from NVIDIA.

Apple upped their SKUs from parts bearing awful Intel GPUs to variants with more of those awful shaders. Since those Ivy Bridge CPUs are going in to laptops that have a GPU, upping the shader count from 6 to 16 should be a waste, they will never be turned on.

If they are going to be turned on, that would mean that the discrete GPU in those machines is either going to be much higher spec’d, or it won’t be there.

With NVIDIA struggling to produce even lower-end Kepler graphics chips, the report suggests that the latter option is more likely and expects that Apple may be bumping integrated-only graphics into the mid-range of its notebook lines. Integrated-only graphics have typically been reserved for Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro form factor, which lacks the space necessary to also house a dedicated graphics chip.

Our analysis indicates that the lower end MacBooks will simply do without a GPU, the higher end parts will remain unchanged, and the middle ground will have some models with and some without a GPU instead of almost all with a discrete Nvidia GPU. Those without will make a much larger portion of the mix than they would have at this time last month, if there were any at all.

One other factor that may also be at play is rumors of a significant redesign of the MacBook Pro to yield a form factor more in line with that of the popular MacBook Air. A slimming down of the chassis may see Apple seeking to reduce size and power consumption in certain areas, requirements that may result in the company bringing lower-powered CPU and graphics options to its mid-range machines than might have otherwise been seen.

Cabinet Ministers in the United Arab Emirates have been issued iPads as part of an e-briefcase initiative to streamline cabinet communications and operations. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister of the UAE, tweeted this photograph of three ministers using iPads at a cabinet meeting.

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We also launched the “Minister e-briefcase” for cabinet members. We want to automate all cabinet processes and operations. The goal is to achieve speed and flexibility in decision making. Ministers were given iPad devices. I received one too.

The iPads should allow ministers to maintain better communication with their federal ministries, and reduce the amount of paper they must carry.

Via Obama Pacman

camerapluslogoCamera+, the top-selling non-game app for the iPhone, has received a major update adding a number of new features.

The app, which has sold more than 7 million copies, is a full-featured replacement for the standard Camera app that comes with the iPhone. It includes a plethora of options for editing and sharing pictures, as well as a variety of different shooting modes. Amongst the new features:

- Dramatically improved sharing

There are two main improvements here… The first is that you can now share to multiple services, or even multiple accounts on the same service, all at the same time. The second big thing that you’ll notice with sharing is the increase in speed. It’s now faster than ever to share your photos online.

- Workflows

Sometimes you want to shoot a bunch of pics in a row without having to think about things like editing and sharing. And sometimes you want to do just the opposite and edit and share each pic you take, right after you take it. Workflows easily provide you with the flexibility to do it either way.

- Focus & exposure locks

Now you can lock the focus and exposure of the camera, independently of each other. Photographers looking for the utmost flexibility in shooting will love this new feature because it enables all kinds of creative ways of taking awesome shots.

- APIs

We’ve created a few comprehensive APIs for Camera+. These APIs enable people to integrate Camera+ into other apps and to create web services that make use of the many, many photos that have been shared by Camera+ users.

Several prominent developers have already integrated Camera+ into their apps via these new APIs. Check-out the WordPress, Tweetbot, Twitterrific, Foodspotting, and Twittelator Neue apps in the App Store to see these APIs in action.

And to get all the details on how the APIs work, visit api.camerapl.us

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The update is free for current Camera+ owners or it is currently on sale for $0.99. [Direct Link]

In a report from The Korea Times (via SlashGear), an anonymous Samsung executive reveals that Apple has committed to purchase at least $9.7 billion worth of components from the company this year, with Apple's expenditures potentially reaching $11 billion depending on demand. According to the executive, growth will be driven in part by the new iPad, as well as more MacBook Air units utilizing Samsung solid-state drives and a smaller iPad.

''The contract is expected to rise to $11 billion by the end of this year as Apple is planning to release a smaller iPad, probably with a 7.85-inch screen, and to sell more of its MacBook Air PCs using Samsung's faster solid state drive (SSD) storage,'' the official said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook agreed with Samsung Electronics Chief Operating Officer (COO) Lee Jay-yong to use the Korean firm's components until the end of 2014 during Lee's visit to his office in Cupertino, Calif., late last year.

Apple reportedly contracted for $7.8 billion in components from Samsung in 2011, with the numbers for this year revealing yet another substantial increase as Apple's device shipments continue to rise.


The report also quotes a source who claims that Samsung will be providing new PLS-based LCDs for the smaller iPad, while Apple has also expressed interest in OLED technology. The source claims that Apple would like to use OLED and that Samsung is committed to bringing the technology to iOS devices, but that Apple does not currently see a way for Samsung to produce the required screens at necessary levels.

Reports of a 7.85-inch "iPad mini" have been circulating for some time, and it seems reasonable to conclude that Apple has at least been toying with the concept. There has yet to be any firm evidence, however, that the company is seeking to move forward toward a public release.

Related Roundup: iPad mini
Buyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

Bloomberg reports on comments from IHS iSuppli analyst Vinita Jakhanwal claiming that Samsung is currently serving as the sole supplier of the ultra-high resolution Retina display in the new iPad. Previous reports had indicated the Sharp and LG would also be supplying displays for the device.

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will supply the touch screen for Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s new iPad after LG Display Co. (034220) and Sharp Corp. (6753) didn’t meet the U.S. company’s quality requirements, according to an analyst with iSuppli.

Samsung, the world’s top flat-panel maker, currently is the sole vendor of the display for the 9.7-inch device, said Vinita Jakhanwal, a senior manager at iSuppli, a unit of Englewood, Colorado-based IHS Inc.

Sharp's role in the new Retina iPad display has been particularly murky, with some sources claiming that the company was responsible for a new design intended for the display and that it would be a key manufacturing partner for Apple. Rumors of Sharp failing to meet Apple's quality control standards surfaced in January, although a photo of a leaked display from Sharp surfaced a few weeks later. Another report from last month similarly suggested that Sharp was not a part of Apple's supply chain for the new iPad display, despite having designed the component.

apple samsung logos
Apple and Samsung have a complicated relationship given the fact that Samsung provides a substantial number of components for Apple's iOS devices even as it competes with Apple through its own Android-based hardware. Apple has reportedly been seeking to reduce its reliance on Samsung in light of the competition between the two companies, but market forces and technical considerations clearly trump that desire, and Apple is continuing to use Samsung when it is Apple's best option for a particular component.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

ipad 3 boxResearch firm IDC today released its data on tablet shipments for the fourth quarter of 2011, pegging Apple at 54.7% of the market. Apple's share is down from 61.5% in the previous quarter, with the decline due in large part to a relatively strong debut for Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire tablet, which garnered 16.8% of the market.

"Amazon's widely-reported entry into the media tablet market with a $199, 7-inch product seemed to raise consumers' awareness of the category worldwide despite the fact that the Fire shipped almost exclusively in the U.S. in the fourth quarter," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices. "As a result, products across the pricing spectrum sold well, including everything from Apple's premium-priced iPads (which start at $499) to Pandigital's line of Android-based, entry-level tablets (which start at $120). The success of market leader Apple was particularly noteworthy, as the company's shipment total for the quarter represents an increase of 110.5% from 4Q10."

On the strength of the Kindle Fire, Android has seen its share of the tablet market rise from 32.3% to 44.6%, giving iOS and Android 99.3% of the market. Research in Motion's BlackBerry operating system holds the remaining 0.7% of the market, while HP's webOS has disappeared from the market following the company's discontinuation of its TouchPad.

IDC predicts that Android as a whole will overtake iOS in market share by 2015, but Apple's single-vendor strategy will see the company maintain its dominance in revenue through the end of the 2016 forecast period and beyond.

IDC's data measures shipments into the sales channel and not sales to end users, meaning that its data includes units sitting on store shelves that are not being purchased by customers. Given that Apple has repeatedly noted that it is selling every iPad it can make and other vendors have had difficulty moving their products off of store shelves, Apple has generally been regarded as having a higher end-user market share than suggested by IDC's numbers. But with the apparent success of the Kindle Fire, that disparity in shipments versus sales may be shrinking somewhat.

Related Roundup: iPad
Tag: IDC
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

With the launch of iPhoto for iOS last Wednesday, it was quickly noted that the app was not using Google Maps for much of its mapping data, and it was soon revealed that Apple was using data from OpenStreetMap and other sources in the application.

Google Maps has had a prominent presence on the iPhone since its initial launch in 2007, but strained relationships between Google and Apple have seen Apple expressing interest in developing its own mapping solutions. Toward that end, Apple has acquired several mapping companies in recent years in order to beef up its expertise in the area.

ipad retina side by side
Side-by-side comparisons of iPad displays using iBooks, iPhoto, and Mail

AppleInsider now points to an interesting omission on Apple's promotional pages for the new iPad, with a set of images comparing the device's Retina display with the display of the iPad 2 having specifically omitted a comparison of Google Maps even though the comparison images are posted on Apple's servers.

Viewing the file names of the "Retina Gallery" images shows that they are identified with numbers. AppleInsider reader Pierre-Arnaud pointed out on Tuesday that the iBooks images are labeled as "1" and screenshots of "Photos" are "2," but the images of the Mail application are saved with the "retina_gallery_4" filename.

That means the JPG files labeled "3" were originally planned as part of the imagery, but were eventually left out of the promotional material on the finalized website.

Those "3" files are present on Apple's servers and depict a Google Maps route in Paris.

ipad retina google maps
Google Maps photo present on Apple's servers but not used in side-by-side display comparison

Google Maps is not featured in any of Apple's promotional materials for the new iPad, suggesting that Apple is indeed trying to play down the role of Google Maps on the device. But whether this is indicative of a transition to Apple's own mapping services in the relatively near future remains unknown.

Update: As noted in the forum thread, the Google Maps comparison is present on Apple's promotional page in Hong Kong.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

Yesterday, we noted that Apple's grand opening of its new Highland Village retail store scheduled for 8:00 AM on Friday hinted that the company was likely to planning to launch the new iPad at that time rather than in a late afternoon launch as was seen with the iPad 2.

We received word soon after that visual merchandising staff at Apple's retail stores were scheduled for an overnight shift on Thursday night into Friday morning in order to prepare the store for a morning launch, and now 9to5Mac posts a photo from a retail store source showing some of the new signage going up this week confirming an 8:00 AM launch for the device on Friday.

ipad 3 launch 8am
Apple's product launches have historically been scheduled by local time, so customers in any of the iPad launch countries with Apple retail stores should expect those stores to open at 8:00 AM in their local time zones. With Apple having sold out of its initial batch of online pre-orders for Friday delivery, those still looking to secure an iPad on launch day will need to wait in line at an Apple retail store or other launch retailer in hopes of obtaining one.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

AT&T today officially announced that it will offer all Wi-Fi + 4G models of the new iPad through its sales channels beginning this Friday, March 16, in line with Apple's official launch. The announcement is of course no surprise given past history and an information page that has been available on the carrier's site since soon after the device's introduction, but the carrier has now made official its plans to make the device available through all sales channels including online and in-store.

AT&T today announced it will offer the new iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G in the United States on Friday, March 16. AT&T will offer all models of iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G with a range of attractive data plans that will allow customers to connect to the AT&T 4G LTE network with speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G. [...]

Customers can buy the new iPad through all AT&T sales channels beginning Friday, March 16. For complete details on pricing and availability please visit www.att.com/ipad.

The carrier offers three monthly data plans for the iPad, a 250 MB plan for $14.99, a 3 GB plan for $30, and a $5 GB plan for $50. All plans are commitment-free and include access to over 29,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots around the United States.

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AT&T has not yet made any announcements on whether it plans to support the personal hotspot functionality of the new iPad, but as things currently stand the feature is not included in AT&T's data plans. Verizon, which will presumably be announcing similar launch plans for Friday, will be offering personal hotspot connectivity as part of its data plans at no additional charge.

Electronics retailer RadioShack has also announced plans to launch the new iPad on Friday, taking pre-order deposits in the form of $50 gift cards that can be applied to the device purchase.

Update: Verizon has also published its press release announcing availability of all Wi-Fi + 4G models beginning on Friday. The carrier is also touting its support for the new iPad's personal hotspot functionality.

Verizon Wireless today announced it will offer the new iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G nationwide on Friday, March 16. Verizon Wireless will offer all models of iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G with a range of attractive data plans that will allow customers to connect to the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network with speeds up to 10 times faster than previously available on 3G. Additionally, Verizon Wireless is supporting the Personal Hotspot feature of the new iPad so users can share their fast network connection with up to 5 other devices using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB.

Related Roundup: iPad
Tags: AT&T, Verizon
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

Last month, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who has long been a proponent of an Apple television set, reported that Apple was investigating components for just such a product, contacting suppliers to learn about the capabilities of their various offerings.

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As shared by Business Insider, a new report from Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek claims that things have now moved a step further, with his recent visit to Asia yielding reports of "small quantities" of various components being shipped to Apple's television display panel partners. Misek expects that commercial production of an Apple television set will begin in May or June, with a launch coming sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.

Evidence of commercial iTV production is starting: we believe specialty components have begun to ship to Apple's Asia panel suppliers with polarized films, filters, and IGZO components starting to move in small quantities. We expect commercial production in May/ June with 2M to 5M builds likely. We still expect a CQ4 launch.

Despite resistance from content providers, Apple has also been rumored to be pressing ahead to develop a subscription TV service for launch by the end of the year, in line with predictions for the launch of the television set itself.

In his report today, Misek has also raised his price target for Apple's stock from $599 to $699, boosting his iPhone sales prediction for the current quarter by over 5 million to 33.2 million units.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

In addition to the just-surfaced unboxing video of the new iPad, Tinhte.vn also posts Geekbench benchmarks of the device, revealing that the device's A5X system-on-a-chip contains a 1 GHz application processor and 1 GB of RAM.

ipad 3 geekbench
The new iPad received a total Geekbench score of 756, essentially identical to that of the iPad 2, although Geekbench only tests processor and memory performance and does not address graphics capabilities that are the focus of improvements in the A5X. The A5X offers the same 1 GHz CPU found in the A5, and bumps the RAM from 512 MB to 1 GB as had been predicted and suggested in leaked screenshots of a debug tool for the device.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

iPad 2012 1
While the official launch of the 3rd Generation iPad isn't until March 16th, Vietnamese site Tinhte.vn has managed to get their hands on one of the new iPads and shot an unboxing video.

The video, of course, is in Vietnamese, but you can follow along pretty easily.


There are no new revelations, but you can see the unboxing and also the LTE toggle in the settings:

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Additional photos can be seen in the Tinhte forum thread.

The 3rd Generation iPad launches officially on March 16th. Many readers have already received shipping notices for their pre-orders. While some may slip through the cracks and be delivered early, Apple typically requests shipments to be delayed until launch day.

One of the promises of Intel's Thunderbolt technology was the possibility for fiber optic cables, offering greater cable lengths and setting the stage for faster connectivity once the standard matures. But Thunderbolt launched using only traditional copper wire cables, and there has been some dispute about just how soon fiber optic cables will become available.

light peak thunderbolt optical neon
IDG News now reports that Intel as issued a statement indicating that it will be launching fiber optic Thunderbolt cables "later this year".

Intel has said copper cables are adequate for data transfers over short distances of up to six meters. Optical cables will be good for data transfers over longer distances of tens of meters.

The upside to optical is that it allows for longer cable runs, and as the technology develops, more bandwidth, [Intel spokesman Dave] Salvator said in email.

The downside to fiber optic cables, however, is that devices connected using the longer fiber optic cables will require separate power cables, as running power over the cables at those distances is not currently practical. Fiber optic cables are also likely to be significantly more expensive than their copper counterparts, although Intel has not offered any guidance on pricing.

For those who already own a Thunderbolt-enabled Mac, Intel notes that the existing Thunderbolt ports will be compatible with both copper and fiber optic cables, ensuring cross-compatibility once the new cables arrive.

Just last week, Intel announced that it was working on moving Thunderbolt to the PCI Express 3.0 standard, a move that could see the company double the effective bandwidth for data transfers. The company has not, however, provided a projected timeframe for a public launch of the enhanced Thunderbolt speeds.

Last year, Apple, Microsoft, EMC, RIM, Sony, and others banded together to win a $4.5 billion bid for more than 6,000 patents from bankrupt network equipment maker Nortel. The group, called "Rockstar Consortium" says it has received final approval from the US Department of Justice for the acquisition of the patents.

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Among others, antitrust regulators from the Federal Trade Commission, Canadian authorities, and Nortel's bankruptcy court have previously signed off on the purchase. Just after the purchase last year, it was rumored that Apple had contributed more than half of the total purchase -- $2.6 billion -- and received outright ownership of a number of the key patents in Nortel's portfolio, with the other companies in the consortium receiving licensed rights to the patents.

Now that the legal hurdles are out of the way, Rockstar says it will "implement its plans to pursue licensing agreements with companies that are harnessing its intellectual property.” In other words, expect more patent-related lawsuits.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is the target of a new lawsuit from an iPhone 4S customer who claims that the company engaged in "misleading and deceptive" advertising in promoting its Siri personal assistant feature for the device. The plaintiff, Frank Fazio, alleges that Apple's depictions of Siri in its advertising suggest an ease of use that he claims is not present in real-world usage.

Fazio claims Siri is far less responsive in real life. When he asked for directions to a certain place, or to locate a store, “Siri either did not understand what Plaintiff was asking, or, after a very long wait time, responded with the wrong answer.”

The class action lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Apple and a court order preventing Apple from engaging in any further misleading advertising related to the feature.

Apple has not responded publicly to the lawsuit, but the company has repeatedly noted on its website and elsewhere that Siri is a beta feature. While Apple rarely releases beta products to the public, it did so in the case of Siri in order to help build the library of voice input it needs to improve Siri's voice recognition capabilities. The beta label has also not stopped Apple from extensively promoting Siri, making it a key part of its iPhone 4S marketing from the iPhone 4S launch event to its website to its television advertising.

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Earlier this month, Apple and Vodafone won a case in the United Kingdom in which a member of the public complained that Apple's iPhone 4S advertising in the country was misleading for its depictions of location-based services that are only available in the United States at the present time. The Advertising Standards Authority ruled in Apple's favor when it determined that Apple's UK ads did not depict Siri integration with the Maps application (a U.S.-only feature for the time being) and that Siri's ability to access a user's local weather in the UK was sufficient to satisfy Apple's claims that it can use location information to provide personal assistance.