Alex Heath - page 68

Phil Schiller just unveiled what the company is calling the “4th gen iPad.” This is essentially an updated version of the third-gen Retina iPad, but for some reason Apple is choosing to give it a new generation name.

The device looks exactly the same, but the internals have been upgraded across the board. Apple has added the A6X chip, more LTE support internationally, and the new Lightning connector. Pricing stays the same. The current Retina iPad will be phased out, and interestingly Apple is keeping the iPad 2 around for a little while longer.

Right after explaining the 4th gen iPad, Apple turned the device around onscreen to reveal the rumored iPad mini. The audience went nuts.

Apple just unveiled the all-new iMac with a gorgeous edge-to-edge display and crazy thin design. Using a new display that’s 5 millimeters thinner and laminated to the glass, the new iMac is 80% thinner than its predecessor. The display is also 75% less reflective, which is excellent news.

It’s hard to explain how thin this iMac is in words—it almost looks like an optical illusion. But don’t let the thinness fool you, the new iMac is a powerhouse. It comes with USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and up to 3TB of internal storage and Intel’s quad-core Ivy Bridge Core i5 or i7 processors.

After touting the success of the Mac by calling it the number one desktop and laptop platform in the United States, Tim Cook brought Apple’s Phil Schiller onstage to talk MacBook. Schiller then unveiled the rumored 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The new laptop is 20% thinner and a pound lighter than the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro leaked several days ago via a Chinese forum. The machine features a HDMI port, USB 3.0, and SD card slot like the 15-inch Retina. It’s awesome, but it will cost you.

Tim Cook just dropped the bomb on iOS 6 numbers: 200 million iOS devices are running Apple’s latest mobile OS. That staggering figure means that iOS 6 has the fastest upgrade rate of any software in history. Here are some of the latest numbers from the mouth of Cook himself:

Apple isn’t expected to make the iPad mini available for sale until Friday, November 2nd, but that hasn’t stopped case manufacturers like HardCandy from already promoting their new cases for the rumored tablet. The HardCandy ShockDrop iPad mini case is set to ship on October 25th, which is more than a week before Apple is even expected to sell the tablet itself.

HardCandy also released an iPhone “5” case last year before Apple released the iPhone 4S, and the case didn’t fit the device at all. Here’s to hoping the leaked dimensions for the iPad mini prove to be reliable this time around.

Apple will hold a media event at 10AM PT/1PM ET today, October 23rd at the California Theatre in San Jose. Select members of the press will gather to see the “little more” Apple has up its sleeve for the holiday season. The rumored iPad mini is expected to be announced as well as new Mac hardware and iTunes 11.

Wondering what all Apple will announce this time around? Here’s what you can expect to see at tomorrow’s event:

Apple released iOS 6 to the masses on September 19th, and it was reported that 15% of all iOS devices had been updated to the new operating system within the first 24 hours of availability. Chitika Insights has been tracking iOS web traffic since the release of iOS 6 last month, and new numbers today confirm a particularly aggressive adoption rate.

Apple’s upcoming iPad mini media event will be held at an unusual location, the California Theatre in San Jose, California. Instead of typical locations like the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco or Apple’s own Town Hall, the company is branching out and presenting in a venue it hasn’t used in 7 years.

As usual, the venue was decorated for Tuesday’s event over the weekend. Here are some pictures of Apple’s swanky signage:

Many of the writers here at Cult of Mac use Flipboard to read news, and we know many of you do too. That’s why we’re proud to unveil our new and improved Flipboard page!

We’ve been working closely with Flipboard for the past several months on a special design that fits our style here at Cult of Mac. Our Flipboard page has been tweaked and optimized to mesh with our site layout, and now Flipboard is an even better way to read Cult of Mac on the iPhone and iPad.

We told you earlier this week that Apple is gearing up to open a new retail store in the famous Wangfujing shopping district. Not only will the new store be the largest of the 5 other Apple stores in China, but it will also be the largest Apple Store in all of Asia. 300 local employees will work at the flagship Wangfujing store and serve customers with two 360-degree Genius Bars and plenty of floor space.

Apple’s Wangfujing store opens at 9 A.M local time Saturday, October 20th. Lots of people have already gathered in the freezing Beijing weather for the grand opening.

We’re huge fans of TwelveSouth’s BookBook cases here at Cult of Mac. Like everyone else, we’ve been anticipating a BookBook for the iPhone 5. Today we got word that TwelveSouth has an updated BookBook for Apple’s newest iPhone in the pipeline, and the case will be available next month!

BookBook is unique because it doubles as wallet, making it easy to carry your cards and ID with your iPhone. Not only will BookBook for iPhone 5 come in two colors, but TwelveSouth has redesigned the case to include… drum roll please… a hole for the rear-facing camera!

Apple released a small Java update for OS X users this Wednesday. The update effectively removed the Java applet plug-in that typically comes pre-installed in all web browsers on the Mac. Why? Well, Apple has been trying to distance itself from Java for quite some time, mainly due to the fact that most malware spreads via Java vulnerabilities.

Take the recent Flashback trojan, for example. Millions of Macs were comprised because hackers were able to exploit a security vulnerability in Java on the browser. You could visit a bad site with a corrupt Java applet and get infected. After this week’s update, Java is no longer included in browsers like Safari.

There are few jailbreak hackers in the world regarded as highly as Nicholas Allegra, also known as “comex.” In the earlier days of iOS, Allegra released JailbreakMe, the first and only web-based jailbreak of its kind. He has worked on numerous jailbreaks throughout the years, but recently he’s been working off the radar.

Allegra has been in hiding for the last year because of Apple. The 20-year-old Brown student’s expertise in iOS security was noticed by the all-seeing eye of Cupertino last August, and for the past year Allegra has been working as an intern at Apple, presumably helping patch the vulnerabilities he so adeptly reverse engineered. As of today, Allegra no longer works at Apple, and there’s no telling what he’ll do next.

By now you’ve heard about the many problems with Apple’s new Maps app in iOS 6. It can be unreliable and just flat out wrong pretty often, and many well-known locations are either missing or severely misplaced. Maps will get better over time, but Apple has a lot of work to do.

David Bonnefoy upgraded to iOS 6 on his iPhone and noticed many of the same issues that have been reported on for weeks. There were also several points of interest that were misplaced due to overlapping streets.

You know how some ideas sound really good conceptually but end up not panning out in reality? Color was such an idea. The iPhone app received a ton of hype originally with its $41 million in venture capital funding. The premise was to create a location-based, crowd-sourced photo stream from people’s smartphone cameras that was shared publicly for everyone to see. After that idea failed, Color tried to reinvent itself into a photo sharing service by partnering with Facebook. Now the app is positioned as an internet broadcasting tool.

With recent rumors that Color Labs was considering closing its doors, a surprising report today claims that Apple is in the process of acquiring the startup.

I have a problem keeping track of suggestions from friends and loved ones. Someone will recommend me an artist or TV show to check out, and I’ll forget to actually check it out shortly after. Apple’s wish list feature in iTunes is nice on the desktop, but you can’t manage or view it in iOS. I use an app called TodoMovies to track films I want to watch on the iPhone, but I’ve been longing for something more robust.

When I heard about Recall, I was intrigued. “Never forget a great recommendation again.” Ok. Sign me up. After giving it a test run, I was pleasantly surprised.

Modern cameras include GPS data in photos, and software like iPhoto and Aperture uses this data to provide location info for features like Places. Not only are many people unaware that GPS data is included in the pics they’re taking, but uploading these pics online means that the world knows exactly when and where they were taken.

Apple’s professional photo Mac software, Aperture, is supposed to let you strip location data from your pics before you share them from the app. The problem is that the feature doesn’t exactly work in the current version of Aperture.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office just granted Apple its trademark for Passbook that was originally filed in June. After several months of internal processing on the USPTO’s end, Apple now owns the rights to Passbook and can leverage its trademark against infringing companies.

Passbook was first announced by Apple at WWDC 2012 in June and was touted as the company’s digital wallet technology. After being included in the iOS 6 betas, Passbook launched to the public with the release of iOS 6 on September 19th, 2012.

While its initial launch left much to be desired, Passbook is starting to gain traction with big franchises like Starbucks signing on. Apple has experimented with NFC-related patents, and there’s a good chance Passbook will eventually mature to be Apple’s one-stop mobile payment solution.

Source: Patently Apple

Apple rarely buys other companies, so when the Cupertino giant makes an acquisition, it’s worth noting. CNET is reporting that Apple has recently purchased Particle, a small creative consulting company based in San Francisco that specializes in HTML5 development. Particle is a relatively small firm, but it has done some big projects for companies like Google, Sony and even Apple.

What does the acquisition mean? While the reason behind the deal remains unknown, Apple likely wants the web talent from Particle.

Just Mobile is one of my favorite third-party accessory makers for Apple products. They make beautifully minimal stands, chargers, styluses, and other random accessories for iPhone, iPad and Mac. What makes Just Mobile’s stuff great is that most of their products look like they were designed by Apple itself, and that’s no exaggeration—just take a look at their catalog. It’s all great.

A couple of the newest products to be announced by Just Mobile include the AluBase and AluRack MacBook mounts.

We just got tipped an email from a reader who emailed Apple VP of Mac Software Engineering Craig Federighi. Cult of Mac reader Stephen Gilbert emailed Federighi about not being able to use fullscreen Mac apps on multiple displays. When you make an app enter fullscreen mode in Lion or Mountain Lion, it will fill one display and blackout your secondary monitor.

For some reason Apple doesn’t allow you to use an app in fullscreen mode while viewing content on another display, and it’s annoying. For instance, entering fullscreen mode for an iTunes movie will make it impossible to use your second display while the video is playing. Not exactly an optimal experience for those who fancy lots of screen real estate.

iFixit called the the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display the “least repairable” laptop ever made, and for good reason. Apple’s super-strong glue, soldering, and proprietary screws make it impossible to replace the battery, upgrade RAM, swap the circuit boards, etc. That’s why Apple originally withdrew its products from EPEAT, the American standard for eco-friendly consumer electronics. After plenty of public outcry, Apple issued an apology and re-added its products to the EPEAT’s registry, despite the fact that laptops like the Retina MacBook Pro aren’t exactly “green.”

Last week EPEAT said that Apple’s products, including new laptops like the Retina MacBook Pro, meet its eligibility requirement for registry approval. Now EPEAT is giving the Retina MacBook Pro its highest “Gold” approval rating.

You may not know Loren Brichter by name, but you know what he has made. After leaving Apple, Brichter originally became famous for Tweetie, an innovative Twitter client for the iPhone. Tweetie was such a success on both iOS and OS X that Twitter ended up hiring Brichter and making Tweetie its own official app. After leading the development for Twitter for iPhone, iPad and Mac, Brichter left Twitter last year. He’s been keeping himself out of the spotlight, but now it looks like he’s coming back into the iOS scene with a new game.

Brichter’s company, atebits, hit the 2.0 stage today. Expect the new game to go live in the App Store any moment now.

Last week I argued that Apple’s ingredients for an ‘iTV’ experience could be simpler than you think. Quoting Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes, I suggested that the iPad could be the remote control hub for Apple’s desired TV interface. Imagine swiping through your favorite channel icons on the iPad and having them play live on your living room flatscreen. A TV guide menu designed by Jony Ive would be a dream come true. There’s so much untapped potential.

Cult of Mac reader and user interface designer Adrian Maciburko sent me some great concept designs of how iTV could work with the iPad. Check them out and let everyone know what you think!

Apple has tapped Amazon executive William Stasior to run Siri, the Cupertino company’s digital assistant. Stasior has been responsible for running Amazon’s A9 search/advertising unit, and his impressive CV has attracted Apple’s eye.

Siri co-founders Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer were hired by Apple when Siri was purchased back in 2010. Since then, both Kittlaus and Cheyer have left Apple with a Siri-sized hole for someone to fill. Stasior looks like the man for the job.