MacRumors

Taiwan's Commercial Times reports [Google translation] on a new research note from Barclays analyst Kirk Yang claiming that Apple is indeed preparing both an iPhone 5S and a lower-cost iPhone for launch in the August/September timeframe.

Yang notes that each of the devices will be available in two models: one supporting the standard frequency-division duplexing (FDD) technology used in most of the world and one supporting the time-division duplexing (TDD) used by China Mobile, the world's largest carrier. The report claims that Pegatron has received orders for the FDD version of the lower-cost iPhone, while Foxconn will be building the remaining three models.

The report claims that Apple is still weighing production volume for the new phones, working to estimate how much the lower-cost iPhone will cut into iPhone 5S sales and still gauging appropriate volumes for an expansion to China Mobile. Regardless, Apple does expect total iPhone shipments to be higher than last year's levels.

Yang's report conflicts with a report yesterday from Mac Otakara, which claimed that Apple's lower-cost iPhone is not likely to appear until 2014. It is, however, more in line with a roadmap outlined in January by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a strong track record in predicting Apple's plans.

Just over a month ago, iLounge shared some details on Apple's lower-cost iPhone, noting that it appears something like a hybrid of the iPhone 5 and iPod touch, with rear edge curves reminiscent of the iPod classic. The report claimed that the device will be half a millimeter taller and wider and one millimeter thicker than the iPhone 5 in order to account for the thicker plastic casing.

A five-year-old boy in the UK accidentally made £1700 ($2550) of in-app purchases in a freemium game in just 15 minutes after asking his father to type in the password for a free download, reports the BBC (via Gizmodo).

The Zombies vs Ninja game was a free download, but with £70 ($105) in-app purchases for game keys and weapons packs. Neither the 5-year-old, Danny Kitchen, nor his parents were aware of the charges being racked up as the child played. His mother Sharon Kitchen said:

He was very upset when he realised what he had done. His brothers and sisters were telling him off, but of course he didn't know what he did - he's only five.

Apple refunded the charges, but the incident does highlight the dangers of freemium games aimed at young children. As for Danny:

I was worried and I felt sad. I’m banned from the iPad now.

The publicity comes just days after Apple settled a U.S. lawsuit over the same issue, offering affected customers iTunes credits of at least $5, with cash payments available to customers with claims over $30.

It is not entirely clear how Danny Kitchen was able to purchase in-app content if his father had only entered the account password to download an app, as Apple separated app and in-app purchases with iOS 4.3 two years ago. The Kitchen's password should have been required a second time before in-app purchase could be downloaded.

Apple also provides a variety of parental controls and restriction tools to help minimize the possibility of such issues, allowing parents to restrict what types of content may be used on the device, turn off app downloads or in-app purchases, and require the account password for every app or in-app transaction.

Apple has changed its corporate bylaws [PDF] to require executives officers to hold three times their annual base salary in stock, with Non-Employee Directors holding five times their annual retainer and Tim Cook required to hold ten times his annual base salary in stock.

The requirement for executives went into effect February 6th, while the requirement for Cook and the Directors went into effect back in November.

From The Wall Street Journal:

Calpers discussed the new executive-ownership requirement with the Apple board before the meeting, according to Anne Simpson, head of corporate governance for Calpers, who declined to elaborate. The fund has long regarded executive stock ownership "as standard good practice," she said. "It's part of our conversation with all companies we engage." Ms. Simpson said in an interview Wednesday that "there are other changes in the works related to executive pay."

Proposal No. 5, an item that was voted on at the recent Apple Shareholder's Meeting, would have required executives to hold 33 percent of their equity pay until retirement. Apple felt this requirement was too onerous and instead adopted stockholding requirements relating to base yearly salary.

The base salaries of most senior executives will be $875,000 for 2013, while Tim Cook's salary will be $1.4 million this year. Non-employee board members receive a $50,000 yearly retainer.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara reports (via AppleInsider) that Apple's plans for a lower-cost iPhone have now been pushed back to 2014, with the company reportedly planning to use a polycarbonate body similar to that seen on the discontinued white plastic MacBook. Apple is said to be targeting a price of $330 for unsubsidized models, significantly lowering the cost of entry in markets where carrier subsidies are uncommon.

The lower-cost iPhone is also said to include a 4.5-inch display, larger than the 4-inch display that debuted last September with the iPhone 5. Apple has been rumored to be developing both larger and cheaper iPhone models, although most observers have expected the lower-cost iPhone to adopt a screen size in line with either the iPhone 4S or perhaps the iPhone 5 in order to help Apple save on costs. Digitimes last month was the first source to claim that the lower-cost iPhone would carry a larger screen with a launch later this year, but it later backtracked from those claims in noting that a larger iPhone would not launch this year.

Mac Otakara suggests that the plastic iPhone will measure somewhat thicker than the iPhone 5 given the thicker material being used for the casing, but that the device will otherwise be very similar to the current design.

Finally, the report claims that the iPhone 5S to be launched later this year will adopt a dual-LED flash system for the rear camera. iLounge had previously claimed that the iPhone 5S will include an improved flash, along with an enhanced rear camera sensor and a processor bump.

Mac Otakara has offered accurate information on Apple's plans in the past, including details on the iPod nano and iPod touch redesigns launched last year, but it has had some misses including a rumor that the iPod nano would add Wi-Fi capabilities to support iTunes in the Cloud.

Sales of the iPad mini are cannibalizing sales of the iPad, according to a report from NPD DisplaySearch. January shipments of tablet panels between 7 and 9 inches eclipsed shipments of larger panels, indicating an unexpected shift in consumer preference for a smaller form factor tablet.

Shipments of 9.7-inch panels (the iPad) fell from 7.4 million in December to 1.3 million in January, while shipments of 7.9-inch panels (the iPad mini) rose to over 5 million. Smaller tablet panels, including those used for the iPad mini, the Kindle Fire, and the Google Nexus, saw total shipments of 14 million.

In December, NPD estimated that Apple would sell 40 million iPads minis and 60 million iPads during 2013, but the January sales numbers suggest that the mini will outsell the iPad.

As we noted in December, Apple had planned to sell 40M iPad minis (7.9”) and 60M iPads (9.7”) in 2013. However, the reality seems to be the reverse, as the iPad mini has been more popular than the iPad. We now understand that Apple may be planning to sell 55M iPad minis (7.9”) and 33M iPads (9.7”) in 2013.

For much of December and January, the iPad mini was in short supply due to low yield rates of the mini's display panels, with shipping times up to a week. Apple finally reached supply-demand balance earlier this month, which will facilitate even greater sales of the smaller tablet.

During Apple's January earnings call, Apple executives addressed cannibalization fears, indicating that the company is not worried about iPad mini sales overtaking iPad sales.

Cannibilization is a huge opportunity for us. We never fear it because if we do, someone else will do it. iPhone has cannibalized iPod, that doesn't worry us. iPad has on the Mac, and that doesn't concern us.

Currently, the full-sized iPad is an attractive choice because of its Retina display, but Apple is rumored to be releasing a second generation iPad mini with Retina later this year.

While The New York Times reported earlier this month that Apple is working on a curved glass smart watch that could potentially make use of Corning's recently-announced bendable Willow Glass, Bloomberg now reports that Corning sees a wait of at least three years before devices using Willow Glass displays will be able to hit the market.

“People are not accustomed to glass you roll up,” [Corning Glass president James] Clappin said after an event marking the opening an $800 million factory for liquid-crystal-display glass. “The ability of people to take it and use it to make a product is limited.”

The Corning, New York-based company is producing the glass and making “a lot of effort” to teach “very big name” customers how to handle the spools, Clappin said, declining to elaborate. The introduction of the glass comes as companies including Google Inc. consider making wearable computing devices.

Clappin noted that Willow Glass may find its way into some simple products as soon as later this year, but that more complex applications such as flexible displays will require substantially more work before they can be brought to market. He also declined to comment on whether Corning had been in discussions with Apple about its rumored smart watch project.

Apple is already a customer of Corning, using the glassmaker's durable Gorilla Glass in its mobile devices. Corning announced its latest Gorilla Glass 3 product last month, offering three times greater scratch resistance and improved strength, and Apple is assumed to be incorporating the new glass into upcoming products.

Apple has won the number one slot in Fortune's annual "World's Most Admired Companies" list for the sixth year in a row.

The ranking is based on a large-scale poll of corporate executives, directors, and industry analysts who were asked to rank companies by nine key attributes: Innovation, People management, Use of corporate assets, Social responsibility, Quality of management, Financial soundness, Long-term investment, Quality of products/services and Global competitiveness. Apple scored #1 in all nine categories.

Apple has had a rough time lately with its stock price in a free fall and the widely publicized failure of its Maps feature. However, it remains a financial juggernaut, posting $13 billion in net income last quarter, making it the most profitable company in the world during that period. The company has its fanatical customer base, and it still refuses to compete on price, making the iconic iPhone and iPad products that are still widely seen as prestige devices. Competition may be stiff, but so far it remains behind: In Q4 2012, the iPhone 5 was the world's best selling smartphone, followed in second place by the iPhone 4S.

The announcement is a bit of an embarrassment for Brad Chase, founding partner of Capitol Media Partners, who wrote a Forbes guest post earlier this week predicting that "bumbling" Apple would lose its number one slot and arguing that Fortune would have to "defy logic" to place Apple at the top once again. Confusion between Fortune and Forbes led to Chase's opinion piece being misreported by several media outlets earlier this week as Apple having actually lost its slot in a Forbes ranking.

A UK judge who was involved in a case in which Apple was ordered to publish a notice on its website saying that Samsung's Galaxy Tab did not copy the registered design for the iPad has been hired by Samsung as a patent expert in a separate legal battle with Ericsson, reports software patent blog FOSS Patents.

Sir Robin Jacob served on a panel of appeals court judges reviewing the case after Apple complied with the initial court order but in a rather playful manner, quoting judge Colin Birss's earlier comment that the Galaxy Tab was "not as cool" as the iPad. Sir Robin was unamused, and ordered Apple to change the notice, accusing the company of acting with a "lack of integrity".

FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller discovered that Sir Robin is now acting as a patent expert for Samsung from a mention in a letter from Samsung's legal counsel concerning the ITC investigation of a patent infringement complaint filed by Ericsson against Samsung. The blog points out that there is nothing illegal in the maneuver and expresses no doubt that the judge has acted properly at all times, but notes that the impression given is not necessarily a favorable one.

I ... have no doubt that at the time of the ruling Sir Robin Jacob was not being paid, or improperly promised to be paid, by Samsung, and he won't have had any contact with Samsung or Samsung's counsel that would have been against the rules and barred him from adjudicating the Samsung v. Apple case.

Furthermore, Sir Robin Jacob is truly an expert in patent law and there is no question that Samsung will benefit from his knowledge. That said, this just doesn't feel right. It gives the impression that a judge who deals Samsung's number one rival a huge PR blow, in a way that I found very extreme and unjustified, will be generously rewarded.

Mueller himself has found himself embroiled in a somewhat similar situation, having served as consultant to Oracle (as well as Microsoft) while also writing about the patent battle between Oracle and Google.