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Could WiTricity Be The Technology Behind A “New Way Of Charging” iPhones?

MacRumors decided to do some digging after a report in the Wall Street Journal last week claimed that Apple was experimenting with “a new way of charging” for the 2012 iPhone and found something interesting. Initially, many had suggested that the WSJ report could refer to something as obvious as induction charging, which was featured in the Palm Pre. Whilst induction charging is ‘new’ in that it doesn’t require a cable, it still requires the device to be placed on a charging mat.

However, after a bit of research, MacRumors found WiTricity – a company developing a far more ambitious form of wireless charging. Founded in 2007 and based on the research done at MIT, it is undertaking work to enable power to be transferred over fairly significant distances compared to induction charging (at this stage they have reached a few meters).

The magnetic fields of two properly designed devices with closely matched resonant frequencies can couple into a single continuous magnetic field. Prof. Soljačić’s team showed how to use this phenomenon to enable the transfer of power from one device to the other at high efficiency and over a distance range that is useful for real-world applications

MacRumors uncovered WiTricity because Apple has an international patent application (Wireless power utilization in a local computing environment) that makes specific mention of the technology and research done by the MIT researchers in their original paper:

Apple describes a scenario where your iMac could be the source of this resonance power to provide a virtual charging area in front of your computer. Keyboards, mice and even mobile electronic devices like the iPhone or iPad could be charged simply by being in a 1 meter proximity to your computer

It should be made clear that Apple (and other technology companies) apply for hundreds of patents and whilst this is an interesting discovery when coupled with the WSJ report, it does not confirm the implementation of the WiTricity technology in a future iPhone. That said, jump the break for an interesting TED talk by WiTricity CEO, which includes a demo using a (slightly hacked) iPhone and some other devices being powered by WiTricity technology.

[Via MacRumors]

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If you don’t have an iPhone, you don’t have AirPlay or FaceTime.

Apple doesn’t just make a handsome phone — the iPhone has plenty of unique features that separate it from the competition. A pair of new iPhone commercials are taking the stage tonight, putting AirPlay and FaceTime in the spotlight. The commercials, both featuring the same catchy background jingle we’ve become familiar in the “If you don’t have an iPhone” series, show off just how easy it is to use the iPhone for sharing photos, videos, and conversations across the Apple TV, Mac, and iPad. While the commercials do come off a bit bumptious as usual in this series, the AirPlay commercial does a great job of showing off just how easy it is to stream media to your television or play music wirelessly through your home stereo system. AirPlay is something I’ve come to love in iOS 4 on my iPad and iPod touch, and I’m glad to see it getting its own air time in Apple’s latest set of commercials. Past the break we’ve posted both videos for your viewing enjoyment.

[via Apple]

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The App Store Turns Three After A Number Of Recent Milestones

Today marks the third anniversary of the launch of the (iPhone) App Store which launched on July 10, 2008. It launched simultaneously with what was then called the iPhone OS 2.0 software (now dubbed iOS 2.0) and was subsequently followed by the release of the iPhone 3G the next day, which came with iOS 2.0 and thus the App Store pre-installed.

The availability of third-party applications and an ‘App Store’ on the iPhone was certainly one of the most demanded features of the iPhone after it was revealed and launched in 2007. Whilst it hasn’t been revealed when exactly Apple decided to open up the iPhone to third-party apps (or if they had always planned for it), Steve Jobs was quoted in the New York Times shortly after revealing the iPhone in January 2007, as saying:

We define everything that is on the phone. You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.

Since the launch of App Store, it has become one of the defining successes for the iPhone and Apple more broadly – becoming a cornerstone feature being used in a number of advertising campaigns. Most notable is the ‘There’s an App for that’ ad campaign which highlighted the wide array of apps available to consumers (jump the break to relive the first of those).

Over the past few months, the App Store has hit a number of milestones that reveals how successful it has been over the past three years. Just in the past week, Apple revealed that there had been 15 billion apps downloaded from the App Store. Recently it was also revealed that there are now over 500,000 apps available in the App Store (100,000 of which are iPad apps) – virtually a hundred-fold increase from the 500 apps that were available at the launch of the App Store in July of 2008. Apple has also been very keen to note at their WWDC conferences that they are paying out significant amounts of money to developers; at last count it was over $2.5 billion. The question is, where will the App Store be in a year from now, let-alone another three years? The pace at which it has grown is truly mind-boggling.

[Sources: New York Times, TechCrunch, Engadget, Wikipedia]

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1080p HD+ Movies Could Hit iTunes Alongside Updated Apple TV

The iTunes Store and the current generation Apple TV can currently playback 720p video without issue. 1080p video, however, is the apple in every blu-ray owner’s mind. If Apple doesn’t want to provide customers with high-definition video, then why bother streaming video from Apple to the big screen? Movie-goers may want to hold onto the cash in their pocket before they spring for an alternative just a little while longer. AppleInsider was advised that 1080p video could become the norm beginning this fall with the availability of higher definition content and an updated Apple TV.

A higher resolution format for video, dubbed HD+ for 1080p content, is rumored to be an option alongside SD and HD video. 20th Century Fox as well as other large movie studios are said to be submitting films encoded with with an average bitrate of 10,000 kbps at 1920 x 1080p resolution. An updated Apple TV with an A5 processor would have no problems in playing back high definition content — the rumor would also coincide with an updated iPad 2.

If Apple is going to be attacking the media front with 1080p video this fall, a higher resolution iPad to play that 1080p content on makes some sense. While it’s not a confirmation, Apple could roll out an updated Apple TV alongside an iPad 2 HD to play back HD+ video. The iPad 2 HD would be rumored to have a resolution of 2048 x 1536, well beyond the requirement to playback 1080p at full resolution. With the A5 processor already in place, the iPad 2 HD would need nothing more than a display adjustment in coordination with a new content launch.

[via AppleInsider]

Male-to-Male Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Cables To Be Taken Off Shelves

Manufacturers may have to recall their line of Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables as this type of connection is unlicensed. TechRadar has confirmed with HDMI Org that straight through MiniDisplay Port to HDMI male-to-male connectors (which you can find on Monoprice for example) are affected.

“The HDMI specification defines an HDMI cable as having only HDMI connectors on the ends. Anything else is not a licensed use of the specification and therefore, not allowed.”

It also noted: “All HDMI products undergo compliance testing as defined by the Compliance Testing Specification. “The CTS clearly defines necessary tests for all products defined in the HDMI Specification. Since this new cable product is undefined in the Specification, there are no tests associated with this product. It cannot be tested against the Specification.”

There is an exception, however, in that Mini DisplayPort to HDMI female adapters (such as Moshi’s cable that Apple recommends with the purchase of a MacBook) are acceptable. MacBook Pro and iMac owners who need to connect to the big screen have viable workaround — you’ll have to use two cables instead of one while the current batch of unlicensed cables are yanked off the shelves. Apple sells Moshi’s Mini DP to HDMI adapter for $34.95 and an Apple HDMI cable for $19.99 in their online store.

[via TechRadar]

Image via Cables.com

Rogue Amoeba Launches Airfoil Touch 2

Instead of connecting to your iPhone or iPod touch from your Mac, what if you had the convenience of setting it up as a receiver right from your pocket? That’s the quick summary of Airfoil Touch 2, which is now available on the App Store for free. If you happen to have a setup consisting of multiple Airfoil enabled machines, or you don’t want to bounce between multiple rooms to make music streaming happen, Airfoil Touch 2 has a convenient setup where you can now “reverse connect” by selecting the appropriate input node on your Wi-Fi network.

Artwork and metadata are now transferred to your iOS device when streaming music, and an improved equalizer can be customized to fit your mood. Most importantly, however, is the built in remote controls for changing tracks and pausing music right from your pocket. You can’t browse your library, but you can skip over a poor playlist choice when streaming on the network. If you’re listening to music from your pocket, the music controls on your dangling white earbuds can also control playback. When you want to browse the web or play a game, Airfoil Touch 2 works in the background and in conjunction with the multitasking tray for easy media control.

Rogue Amoeba have been making steady improvements to their Airfoil apps, and if you haven’t check it out, there’s been some recent updates to the parent app for the Mac (that’s just reached version 4.5) that’s worth checking out.

[via Under the Microscope: Rogue Amoeba Blog]

Simplify: A Spotify Music Controller and Artwork Widget for Mac

Spotify, the European music streaming service that has attracted millions of paying subscribers in the past two years, is finally launching in the United States, with some saying the big opening could happen as early as next week. For those not familiar with Spotify, the concept is very simple: instead of owning music, you stream it from the company’s servers that host a huge catalogue of songs from both major and less-known labels. You can build playlists, mark items as favorite, and pay to get unlimited access, higher quality bitrates, mobile apps and caching options for offline access. Whereas Apple’s upcoming iTunes Match service will scan songs you already own to mirror them online, Spotify lets you create your own online library of songs you don’t own (though a “buy” option has been recently introduced), but that you can stream at any time. It’s similar to other services like Rdio and MOG, but the company never managed to close a deal with US music labels and get the green light for launching its service until last week.

I’ve been a Spotify user for two years, and it’s completely revolutionized the way I listen to music. I still enjoy buying some music from iTunes, but Spotify’s biggest advantage over traditional marketplaces is that I can pay a monthly fee (or buy yearly access altogether with a gift card) to listen to just about anything I want, from any device. Spotify has a beautiful Mac client and an iPhone app that’s continually updated with new features; however, the company still hasn’t revealed its plans about an iPad app that would be much welcome one year after the iPad came out. Read more

Fantastical Adds BusyCal Support

Fantastical is a calendar utility by Flexibits which we’ve reviewed back in May and have been using since then as a companion to Apple’s built-in calendar application for the Mac. Fantastical, in fact, isn’t a full-featured calendar app – rather, it’s a “calendar assistant” that enables users to quickly add a new entry to all kinds of supported calendar protocols (including Google Calendar and Entourage) with a natural language input system. Instead of interacting with menus and checkboxes to set up a new meeting at a specific location, Fantastical lets you write down things like “Lunch with Cody tomorrow at Cafeteria from 1 PM to 3 PM” and have a new event created in your default calendar. And because Fantastical has direct access to these calendars, you can forget about leaving iCal open and just use Fantastical’s (beautiful) window from the menubar.

A new version of Fantastical was released today and, alongside improvements to event creation, parsing engine and date handling, it sports brand new BusyCal integration to create events directly into the popular third-party calendar for OS X. BusyCal is a calendar and to-do list manager for Mac geared towards power users with features such as Bonjour and LAN sync, multi-user editing, list view and various security features. With Fantastical 1.0.2, events can do directly into BusyCal without going through iCal first (though the devs note calendars still must be added to iCal). Version 1.0.2 also brings a new shortcut to bring an invitee pop-up for contacts recognized in your Address Book, and arrow keys integration to switch between calendar weeks.

Fantastical is simple and powerful at the same time, with a gorgeous user interface design that makes it very intuitive to add events to your calendars (and calendar apps) with a few keystrokes. You can download Fantastical at $19.99 on the App Store.