Alex Heath - page 40

We already shared a great wallpaper based off Apple’s invite for today’s iPhone 5S/5C event, and now the same designer has created a pack of wallpapers that experiment with the colors in the invite. There are four variations that are available to download for free for all iOS devices. They look great in iOS 7. You can download them at the source link below.

Apple put up banners yesterday at Town Hall, the on-campus venue where the keynote will be held, that feature the same multi-hued dot design seen in the media invite. Keep your browser locked to Cult of Mac, and we’ll have the latest Apple news throughout the day. Today’s keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.

Source: Surenix

The iPhone 5S has already been expected to feature a fingerprint sensor for months, and now The Wall Street Journal has corroborated the rumor less than 24 hours ahead of Apple’s planned unveiling of the device tomorrow.

We’ve already explained why the iPhone 5S will probably feature a redesigned home button with a fingerprint sensor, and now concept designer Martin Hajek has given the idea a proper treatment in Photoshop.

Hajek consistently makes some of the best Apple concepts around, and these are no different. His imagining of the ring around the home button looks great, and while the actual product may not look exactly the same, the concept gives a nice visual representation of what is being rumored.

After years of intentionally keeping its in-house marketing and ad team small, Apple is on a hiring spree and looking to double the department’s head count. According to a new report from AdAge, “the group could grow to 500 or 600 staffers from about 300.”

Under Steve Jobs, Apple would often outsource its marketing needs to firms like TBWA\Chiat\Day, and while it’s still doing that, the move to add more creatives to the payroll signals a shift in strategy.

Apple’s big iPhone extravaganza is tomorrow, and some colorful banners went up outside of the company’s Cupertino headquarters today.

Unlike most product launches, Apple is holding this event at Town Hall, its own auditorium on campus. The last time Town Hall was used was in the fall of 2011 for the iPhone 4S, and this year will reportedly be the unveiling of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C.

The banners match the multi-colored dots in the event invite Apple sent out to the press last week:

Apple’s first major product event of the year is set to take place on Tuesday, September 10th. There was WWDC in June, but this time around will be all about the iPhone, Apple’s crown jewel.

The event will be held in Apple’s Town Hall auditorium at its Cupertino headquarters, which is a venue that was last used for the debut of the iPhone 4S in 2011. The iPhone 5S is expected this year, and like the 4S was to the 4, the device will look nearly identical to the iPhone 5 and focus on internal improvements. For the first time in Apple’s history, the rumor mill is predicting the unveiling of not one, but two new iPhone models at once, with the second being the iPhone 5C.

Here’s everything to expect from Apple’s September 10th iPhone event:

Despite rumors that Apple will announce a new Apple TV at its September 10th iPhone event, no such hardware unveiling is planned, according to AllThingsD. But a big software upgrade will be announced, and it will reportedly add new AirPlay functionality that makes it easier to watch content you purchased from the iTunes Store on a friend’s Apple TV.

The prospect of Apple redesigning the iPhone’s home button has been floating around the rumor mill for years, but until now it never had much weight. But as the launch of the iPhone 5S draws near, it appears that the iconic home button could finally see its first redesign.

Since the 5S is expected to feature a fingerprint sensor, expect the look of the home button to change. Here’s why:

If you were planning on being one of the first in line to buy the upcoming iPhone 5S or 5C, you’ve been beat. Two guys from Apple reseller Sell Your Mac showed up at the iconic Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York City this morning only to find that two other guys were already camped out.

Apple won’t even be announcing its new iPhones until Tuesday, but that hasn’t stopped lines from forming. A lot of companies do this kind of thing for brand promotion and media attention, but waiting in a line for two weeks to get a new iPhone takes commitment either way.

Regardless of their motives, props to the Sell Your Mac guys for getting in line so early. And to the dudes that were already there, your obsession with Apple is unquestioned.

Source: @SYM_Jon

After years of negotiations, Apple is ready to bring the iPhone to the largest carrier on earth, China Mobile. Rumors have said that the two have reached an agreement for this fall, and now The Wall Street Journal is reiterating those claims, adding that Foxconn has been enlisted to start making iPhone 5Cs for the carrier.

The e-book price-fixing saga between the U.S. government and Apple has finally come to an end. After a long and messy trial, presiding judge Denise Cote has given the final ruling against Apple. The injunction isn’t as punitive as expected, but there are still several stipulations that will change the way Apple does business regarding the iBookstore.

In the final months leading up to the next major iOS release, there’s barely enough activity on the jailbreak front to fill a couple of conference rooms. But with the public release of iOS 7 just around the corner, it’s like the calm before the storm as hackers gear up for what may be the toughest system to crack yet.

Developers, hackers, and hardcore fans gathered in late August at JailbreakCon in New York City, an annual summit for the meeting of the minds within the jailbreak community. And while the conference’s founder, Craig Fox, wasn’t “overly pleased” with attendance for the third edition, he still considers the event a success. Why? It fulfilled its mission.

For the past few years, JailbreakCon has played a crucial role in providing face time to code jockeys from different continents who would otherwise only know each other by Twitter handles. Friendships are formed and ideas are shared. This year was no different. And as the release of iOS 7 draws near, jailbreaking’s closely-knit group of hackers and developers is getting back in the game.

The latest from The Wall Street Journal is that Apple is working on bigger screens for the iPhone, with experiments ranging from 4.8 to 6 inches. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such claims; the Journal itself said Apple was testing larger iPhones and iPads in July.

It sounds like Apple is still in the experimentation stage “with screens ranging from 4.8 inches to as high as six inches.” But the Journal says “people familiar with the company’s internal deliberations and plans indicate it [Apple] appears more willing to move ahead than in years past.”

Google’s mobile apps share a common and easily distinguishable design language, for the most part. The iOS app for Google Drive has been in desperate need of a redesign, and a revamped version has been released today in the App Store.

Google Drive now includes the card-like interface seen in other apps, which Google calls “thumbnail view.” You can quickly toggle between viewing thumbnails of files and the traditional list view. There are a number of other additions, including simpler file sharing and the ability to edit in landscape mode.

2K Drive, the highly anticipated racing game from the creators of titles like Project Gotham Racing, has launched as an iOS-exlusive title in the App Store. We’ve been covering the story of 2K Drive for awhile, and Cult of Mac Games Editor Rob LeFebvre got to play it over the weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo.

This morning a report from China Labor Watch accused a factory in Apple’s supply chain for a number of worker abuse violations. Instead of Foxconn or Pegatron, the factory in question was Jabil, a smaller Apple supplier in the Wuxi province. The undercover investigation found that Jabil was enforcing mandatory overtime beyond the legal limit, poor training, and hiring discrimination.

Since the whole Foxconn scandal blew up last year, Apple has been much more public about its commitment to workers’ rights. In response to this most recent allegation against Jabil, Apple has said it is investigating the accusations.

The iPhone is headed to Japan’s largest wireless provider, DoCoMo, this fall, according to a new report from Japanese business publication Nikkei. Apple and DoCoMo recently agreed on the terms of the partnership, and the iPhone will likely be officially announced on DoCoMo the same day as Apple’s September 10th unveiling of the iPhone 5S and 5C. Japan’s other carriers, KDDI and SoftBank, already sell the iPhone.

Today Apple released OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 7 for those already on the beta software. The new preview doesn’t have any notable feature additions, but Apple has included several new wallpapers, one of which is pictured above.

Updates to the Mavericks beta have been pushed out systematically over the summer, and Apple will ship the OS to the public this fall. The September 10th event will focus on iPhones, and a separate media event is expected to take place next month. Apple could release Mavericks at any time this fall, but it’s likely that a release date will be given alongside new iPad/Mac hardware in October.

Every year Apple puts on the iTunes Festival in London, and many of the biggest names in music perform. One headliner and a lesser-known band play every day for the month of September. Tickets are free, but seating is extremely limited. Unless you’re a member of the press or happen to be best friends with a music executive’s daughter who loves Justin Timberlake, your chances of getting into a show are low.

But that’s ok, because over the past couple of years Apple has gotten really good at streaming the entire iTunes Festival for free—that’s right, no ads! For the whole month of September you can stream professionally shot shows in HD on just about any Apple device. It works great, and there are no strings attached. You can stream a show live or watch it over and over later for the rest of the month.

It’s official. Apple sent out invites for its iPhone event on September 10th this morning. The tagline is “this should brighten everyone’s day,” which is a not-so-subtle hint at the Skittles-themed collection of colors expected for this year’s iPhones.

Now that the official unveiling is only a week away, why not get in the mood with a wallpaper version of Apple’s invite? Designer Thientam Bach has posted hi-res versions available for the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad, and iPad mini. Visit the source link below to download.

Source: Dribble

ICU has shared a new video that goes hands-on with the rumored graphite iPhone 5S and second-gen iPad mini rear shell. We first saw part leaks for a graphite-colored 5S earlier this week, and the backing shown in this new video comes by means of the same source, Sonny Dickson.

The graphite iPhone 5S is a relatively new development in the rumor mill, and it suggests that Apple will offer a fourth color for the device beyond white, black, and champagne gold.

Following the release of Parallels Access on the iPad, the ninth version of Parallels for Mac has been announced. The popular Windows virtualization software has been updated with full support for OS X Mavericks and Windows Blue 8.1.

Besides performance upgrades, Parallels 9 features several new features, like integration with Power Nap in OS X. Windows users will rejoice that Parallels has brought back the old Start menu to Windows 8 as well.

Yesterday it was revealed that T-Mobile isn’t letting its employees take vacation time on the weekend of September 20th. Vacation blackouts are usually how carriers get ready for a big iPhone launch, so it should come as no surprise that AT&T has reportedly done the same for the latter half of next month.

BGR says that AT&T won’t “be launching any other high-profile devices” during that time, so the blackout points to new iPhones. Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C at a September 10th event. Judging off past years, preorders will likely happen the weekend of the 13th, with in-store availability kicking off on Friday the 20th.

Now is an excellent time to sell your old iPhone with a service like Gazelle. Best Buy also has a nice trade-in deal going on this weekend.

Source: BGR

Image: CNET

If you’ve been wondering why the TV Shows icon on your Apple TV has suddenly vanished today, you are not alone. We’ve been getting tips for the past several hours from readers who can’t access the TV Shows category of the iTunes Store on their Apple TVs, with some complaints being as old as this morning.

What’s odd is that Apple’s status page for cloud services hasn’t mentioned the outage yet. The TV Shows section of the iTunes Store seems to be working for most on the desktop, so maybe it’s just a bad glitch. We’ll update this post once Apple acknowledges the issue.

Image: Alexander Martinez

Bang With Friends has returned to the App Store after a three-month hiatus. The app has shifted its tone and is now called “Down,” a name which still needs little explanation.

BWF has had problems staying in the App Store since its initial release earlier this year. Apple banned the app shortly after it became available in May, forcing the its creators to rebrand it into something a tad tamer.