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Posts tagged with "apple"

Apple Announces WWDC 2012: Kicks Off June 11

UPDATE: Apple has confirmed that tickets for WWDC 2012 are already sold out.

Apple has announced the official dates for WWDC 2012. The developer event kicks off in San Francisco on June 11 and runs through June 15. Tickets are on sale for $1599, and are limited to one ticket per person or five tickets per organization. This year, app developers under 18 years old (13 - 17) can have their legal guardian purchase a WWDC ticket and approve their attendance at the conference — budding developers do not have to miss out on this year’s events.  Despite being an ever popular event that sells out quickly, WWDC 2012 still takes place at Moscone West.

We have a great WWDC planned this year and can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world.

Registration for the event will take place on June 10th starting at 9:00am. If the event cannot be attended, videos from this year’s sessions will be made available for download. It’s best to go in person so experts can answer your development related questions. This year’s topics will include information about OS X Mountain Lion, which will be made available later this summer, alongside iOS app development sessions.

WWDC 2012 will cover six technical tracks with over 100 sessions and labs. Tracks include:

  • Essentials
  • App Services
  • Developer Tools
  • Graphics, Media, and Games
  • Safari and Web
  • Core OS

Alongside ticket sales, Apple has opened nominations for the 2012 Apple Design Awards. Nominated apps will be considered for an ADA and must be made available on the App Store or Mac App Store by May 1st. Students can also look forward to a great time at WWDC, and earn the chance to attend the conference free of charge on a scholarship.

Activities at Apple’s WWDC 2012 include:
more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers on a wide range of technology-specific topics for developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and OS X technologies;100 hands-on labs staffed by more than 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and OS X technologies in their apps;the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iOS and OS X developers from around the world—last year more than 60 countries were represented;engaging and inspirational lunchtime sessions with leading minds and influencers from the worlds of technology, science and entertainment; andApple Design Awards which recognize iPhone®, iPad® and Mac® apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.

PR after the break!

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Apple Set To Open Second Perth Store Later This Year

Apple is set to open their second retail store in Perth, Australia later this year according to a report by PerthNow. Apple has reportedly begun recruitment for the second store, named in their job advertisement as “South Perth”. PerthNow believes that the store will be located in the suburb of Booragoon, inside the large Garden City shopping centre.

Apple has apparently taken over two of the shops in the centre (Esprit and Sportsgirl) and possibly others that are near Kmart, whilst the centre is also relocating a lift and remodelling stairs nearby. When asked for a comment, the owner of Garden City said that they were currently “remixing the area” but did not specify who the new tenant was.  PerthNow believes the store will open sometime in the second half of this year, possibly even July.

[via PerthNow]

Apple Loses A Few Legal Battles, Wins One And Responds To DOJ Allegations

The last 24 hours has seen a number of developments regarding various legal issues that involve Apple. It’s not the most riveting news, so rather than writing them up as separate posts, we’ve decided to combine them into one, easily digestible post.

Apple Responds to DOJ Allegations

Late yesterday, somewhat belatedly, Apple issued AllThingsD with a statement responding to the DOJ’s allegations of collusion with the big book publishers. It was a similar statement that the other publishers made earlier and conveyed the idea that Apple’s entrance into the e-book market disrupted Amazon’s prior monopoly in the market.

The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. Since then customers have benefited from eBooks that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore.

Apple Permitted To Intervene in Lodsys Case

You may recall that Lodsys filed lawsuits against a number of iOS developers last year for allegedly violating their patents. Apple filed a motion to intervene in the case last year, claiming that the licensing it has attained from Lodsys itself also protects third party developers on the App Store. The court yesterday agreed with Apple and has granted permission to Apple’s motion to intervene. Unfortunately, for many developers this is too little too late, with many settling with Lodsys early on to avoid costly legal fees.

Apple Loses Attempt To Restore Push Email to German iCloud Users

Apple had been forced to suspend email push services for German iCloud users earlier in February this year after Motorola succeeded in bringing an injunction against Apple. Today the Mannheim regional court upheld that decision and Apple will be required to pay damages to Motorola Mobility.

Apple Required to Compensate Tokyo Couple For iPod Nano that Burst Into Flames

In July 2010, a first generation iPod nano spontaneously burst into flames and caused burns to the owner’s hand that took more than a month to heal. Apple was required to pay the owner approximately US$7,400 for medical fees and compensation for the pain and suffering. Apple began a worldwide replacement program of the device last November.

[via, AllThingsD, TUAW, TNW, Cult of Mac]

Apple’s Java for OS X 2012-003 Update Removes Common Flashback Variants

Two days after their initial announcement and on the heels of F-Secure’s removal tool, checking Software Update on your Mac should prompt you for Apple’s latest Java update for OS X. The 2012-003 update removes common variants of the Flashback trojan, as well as disabling automatic execution of Java applets. While you will be able to turn the ability to run Java applets back on through the Java Preferences app, it will automatically be disabled if you don’t consistently access or run applets after a period of time.

For more information, you can read the support article or the supplementary information provided through Software Update.

[Apple Support via The Loop]

Understanding The Agency Model And The DOJ’s Allegations Against Apple And Those Publishers

Yesterday, the US Department of Justice sued Apple and six publishers, alleging that they had conspired to fix prices. It all centres around the switch from a wholesale model of selling e-books from the publishers to retailers (such as Amazon) to using the agency model of selling books that Apple and the publishers agreed to adopt in early 2010. Some of the publishers have already settled with the DOJ, but other publishers and Apple have vowed to fight the allegations.

But what is the agency model and how does it work? I’ve done my best to explain the two systems and some of the details surrounding the model that was adopted by Apple and the publishers that are in hot contention. I’ve also summarised the DOJ’s allegations as well as their timeline of events that the DOJ goes into great detail in their court filing. Finally, if you find yourself fascinated by the topic, at the end of the post is a further reading section to get more details and some opinions on the issue.

Jump the break to view the full article and video explaining the wholesale and agency models.

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Apple’s London Stores Prepare For Olympic Visitors And Journalists

Apple is beginning to  prepare its London retail stores for an onslaught of international visitors and journalists when the city hosts the 2012 Olympics in a few months time. TUAW learnt from a “high level Apple retail employee” in London that the stores will be stocking international replacement MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and MacBook keyboards. It’ll allow the retail stores to quickly repair any damaged laptops with the correct international keyboard, particularly for journalists from overseas, where time is of the essence. Traditionally such replacement keyboards for a non-UK MacBook would have to be ordered in.

As my source told me, “London is going to be overrun by an onslaught of journalists when the games begin. We want to be prepared should they need help with their equipment during the time they are here.”

As TUAW notes, the Olympics will bring in about 325,000 extra visitors to London during the event, as well as over 10,000 print journalists as well as photographers, TV and radio reporters. The source also noted that Apple may potentially also stock new MacBooks that feature American, Asian and other international keyboards - but this is apparently only under consideration at this point.

[via TUAW]

Apple Informs Australian WiFi + 4G iPad Owners Of Refund Offer, Tells Resellers To Update Marketing

Apple today began emailing Australians who had purchased the new iPad WiFi + 4G model, informing them of their option to get a full refund if they had purchased it on the basis of thinking it would work with Australian 4G LTE or WiMAX networks. The offer is available to anyone who purchased the model before March 28th and they can return it for a full refund until the 25th of April.

It follows events from last week when the ACCC alleged Apple of misleading customers over the 4G capabilities of the new iPad and Apple responded by offering refunds and agreeing to clarify its marketing. Users who wish to obtain the refund must return the iPad and accessories to the original point of purchase and inform them that they had purchased the iPad on the “basis that it was compatible with current Australian 4G LTE networks or WiMAX networks”.

As noted by 9to5 Mac, Apple has also begun informing Australian iPad resellers to update their iPad signage to more accurately describe the iPad’s cellular capabilities in Australia. Notably the new signage includes the paragraph that Apple and the ACCC agreed on last week:

This product supports very fast cellular networks. It is not compatible with current Australian 4G LTE networks and WiMAX networks.

Jump the break to view the full email that Apple has sent to Australian consumers who purchased the “WiFi + 4G” model of the new iPad.

Thanks Stuart Hall, reseller information via 9to5 Mac.

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March 2012 In Review

March was the month of the new iPad, an updated Apple TV and the announcement of a dividend and share repurchase program. It was most certainly a ‘big’ month. If a new iPad wasn’t enough, we also got a lot of new apps (alongside all those being updated for the Retina Display) and big app updates - everything from Angry Birds Space (world productivity took a dive that week) to both iA Writer and Byword iPhone apps launching to Camera+ 3.0 and our eyes were in heaven after Instapaper was updated to support the Retina Display with some truly beautiful new fonts. On the story front, Federico tackled the issue of what was the best aspects of our favourite iOS text editors, talked about the ‘Apple Community’, Cody reviewed the new iPad and I expressed sadness and frustration with lies of Mike Daisey.

Jump the break to get a full recap of March 2012. You can also jump back to see what happened in January and February of this year.

The New iPad

On March 7th, Apple held its iPad keynote - announcing the third generation iPad, simply calling it the ‘new iPad’. It featured a Retina Display, improved rear camera, quad-core GPU with the new A5X processor and support for 4G networks. We posted a review roundup, featuring the highlights from various reviews on the internet, as well as our own review by Cody. Apple announced that in its opening weekend it sold 3 million of the new iPads.

The (updated) Apple TV, iOS 5.1,  iPhoto for iOS and more from Apple’s iPad event

Alongside the new iPad, Apple also released an updated Apple TV with support for 1080p content as well as new UI that was also released for the existing Apple TV. Co-inciding with the release of the new iPad was the release of iOS 5.1 which included some bugfixes and new features such as an improved activation method to use the lockscreen camera. Apple also announced the iOS version of iPhoto which was made available for $4.99 a short time later.

More minor announcements included the availability for AppleCare+ for the new iPad, iTunes 10.6 and the release of the “Apple Configurator” app after the event. Apple also bumped the over-the-air download limit from 20 MB to 50 MB to reflect larger app sizes due to Universal apps that included graphics for the Retina iPad and iPhone - as well as larger download caps that exist today. Finally, you saw Apple update a whole bunch of their own apps for the new iPad and Retina Display.

We also posted a complete round-up of the event and a bunch of minor details about the event that you may have missed. You can also watch the recording of the event here.

25 billion apps downloaded

On March 3rd, Apple announced that 25 billion apps had been downloaded from the App Store. To mark the milestone it revealed a new “All-Time Top Apps” section on the App Store. A few days later, Apple revealed that the 25 billionth app downloaded was ‘Where’s My Water? Free’ by Chunli Fu who is from  Qingdao, China - she won a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

Apple announces dividend and share repurchase program

Somewhat out of the blue, Apple announced on a Sunday afternoon that it would be holding a conference call early the next day (Monday) to announce the result of discussions by Apple’s board on what it would do with Apple’s cash balance. As was widely expected, Apple announced it would begin issuing quarterly dividends of $2.65 per share. It also announced a $10 billion share repurchase program to begin in FY2013.

Fair Labor Association releases preliminary report on Foxconn conditions

The Fair Labor Association released a preliminary report on its findings from inspections at Foxconn that were conducted earlier this year. In what now seems like planned positive PR ahead of the report’s release, Tim Cook visited Foxconn a few days before the report was published and photographs were distributed to media of the visit.

Angry Birds Space

Rovio this month released Angry Birds Space, the fourth in the series (after the original, Rio and Seasons). Unsurprisingly, the game did incredibly well and managed to receive over 10 million downloads in less than 3 days. Particularly awesome was this analysis of the physics used by the game, a great follow-up to the original investigation into Angry Birds physics.

Everything Else

 

The Really Big Reviews

Everything Else

March Quick Reviews

Retina & Universal

iPhoto for iOS Review

The Essence of a Name

On Reviewing Apps

Getting Your iPad App Ready for the new iPad

Comparing My Favorite iOS Text Editors

Daisey’s Lies Take Us Two Steps Backwards

iPad (3) Review: You Won’t Believe It Until You See It

The Apple Community, Part II

Regarding Apple’s Edge and the new Apple TV Interface

A Series of Clicks

The (Semi)Skeuomorphism

MacStories Reading Lists

MacStories Reading List: February 26 – March 4

MacStories Reading List: New iPad Special Edition

Loren Brichter Talks About Pull-To-Refresh Patent and Design Process

Circling around on the internet over the last few days has been the news that there is a patent application for the “pull-to-refresh” feature that Loren Brichter pioneered in Tweetie and is now an extremely popular UI gesture used in a lot of iOS, Mac and Android apps. Twitter holds the patent application, not Brichter who recently left Twitter after they acquired him and Tweetie a few years ago. It’s also important to note that the patent has not yet been granted, it is simply a patent application at this point in time.

Featured in the latest One More Thing podcast (a tie-in to the Australian iOS conference we wrote about last week, featuring many of the speakers), Brichter briefly talks about the patent (note that this was actually recorded before the news about the patent spread wildly on the internet) and says:

… I can’t talk about the specifics but Twitter owns the patent, but I don’t think people have anything to worry about.

Brichter also describes the design process that resulted in the “pull-to-refresh” feature being implemented in the episode. He talks about how in Tweetie 1.0 the refresh button would be on top of all your tweets because there wasn’t enough room on the navbar because of a back button and compose tweets button. But for Tweetie 2, Brichter thought he could “make it a little simpler” so that you didn’t have to scroll to the top, lift your finger and tap on the refresh button, instead he asked the question:

…why not just make refreshing part of the scroll gesture itself? So it was kind of an obvious extension of a simple idea.

The whole episode is certainly worth a listen, Brichter offers some great insights on development and his experiences as both an independent developer and a developer working in a large team (like he did for Twitter and Apple).

Thanks to Stuart Hall for the heads up.