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Posts tagged with "apple"

Intel: Apple Transferring Thunderbolt Trademark To Us

In recent days there has been confusion over who exactly owns the trademark to the Thunderbolt brand – it had been revealed that Apple had sent trademark requests for the Thunderbolt name despite Intel developing most of the I/O technology. Intel had developed what was formally known as Light Peak, a technology that would allow high-speed connectivity of up to 100Gbps using an optical cable. Apple had then suggested to Intel in 2009 to add the capability of 10 Watts of power and construct the cable out of copper instead.

The fact that Intel did not have ownership of the Thunderbolt brand trademark caused confusion amongst many, as a result, Bright Side of the News contacted Intel and asked them about the situation. The Senior Communications Manager at Intel, Dave Salvator responded and said

As part of our collaboration with Apple, they did some of the initial trademark filings.  Intel has full rights to the Thunderbolt trademark now and into the future. The Thunderbolt name will be used going forward on all platforms, irrespective of operating system.

Effectively what this means is that Apple did the original trademark work but will be transferring it back to Intel. But Apple won’t be leaving empty handed, they get in return unrestricted use of the technology. Others, such as Sony, which are planning to implement the Thunderbolt technology into their own upcoming laptops (using a USB-style port) will still have to resolve trademark disputes with Intel. Salvator also provided some clarification on the future of Thunderbolt moving towards the originally planned optical technology. He said that Intel is working now on the design of the optical version and that

The (Thunderbolt optical) cable could carry power in the same cable (running next to optical part of cable), but exact product plans are still to be announced.

[Via Bright Side of the News]

Apple Reaches Deal with Sony Over Cloud Music

As work on the rumored cloud music service nears finalization for an official WWDC announcement, Bloomberg reported last night Apple has reached a deal with Sony Music Entertainment, following reports that the company managed to sign the Warner Music Group and EMI. This leaves Universal, the biggest label of all four in the United States, out of the equation, but according to the rumors Apple’s Eddy Cue is actively focused on closing all the remaining paperwork with music labels by next week.

Apple has reached licensing accords with Sony Corp. (6758)’s music division, EMI Group and Warner Music Group, the people said. Universal Music Group, the largest recording company, is close to a deal, another person said. The company also would need to reach agreements with music publishers, which control different rights than the labels.

Apple’s cloud music service is said to be part of a major MobileMe revamp the company has been working on for the past two years, which will include several new functionalities and a new price point with basic features offered for free. As for the music service, it’s unclear whether Apple will adopt an upload system like Google and Amazon or a subscription-based delivery with songs coming from the iTunes Store, but a patent surfaced yesterday seems to suggest Apple’s implementation will go as far as allowing users to upload their own songs, and stream others they don’t own from a larger “content source” like the iTunes Store.

Dual-Mode Verizon iPhone 4S to be Released With AT&T Version

Verizon has been a leaky faucet lately, with our first real bit of insight into Apple’s strategy coming in April where CFO Fran Shammo spoke about a global iPhone hitting shelves at the same time as their competitors. The idea of a dual-mode phone was “reiterated” again by Shammo at Reteurs’ technology summits: to be clear, the idea that Verizon would launch a dual-mode, GSM/CDMA capable model alongside AT&T would give it equal footing when customers decide on a carrier. Shammo offered further clarity that the iPhone probably won’t be an LTE device, noting, “It’s a bigger issue for Apple than it is for us.” Apple is focused on providing an iPhone that works globally at the moment, rather than focusing on LTE technologies. Verizon themselves aren’t concerned about the lack of LTE on the next iPhone, given that they already have a slew of Android devices that offer their functionality if consumers desire it.

Along with iPhone plans, Shammo also said family plans would get shared data plans after the switch to tiered pricing. An end to unlimited on-device data plans was still on track for the summer, but he said it was sure Verizon would have “mega-plans” where a certain number of devices had a larger pool of data.

If you’re planning on getting an unlimited plan under Verizon, your switch from AT&T to the big red may not matter once Verizon adopts tiered pricing. Likely to be competitive with AT&T who’re currently offering 2GB of data for $25 a month, Verizon may also offer customers buying multiple phones a discount, and that mega-plans may offer incentives such as the ability to ‘borrow’ plans from other 3G devices (read: free tethering).

The next iPhone is rumored to be on track for an improved camera, bigger display, and an A5 processor. Apple should currently be in the process of ramping down iPhone 4 shipments (expecting to ship 2 million less in Q2) as the new batch of next generation iPhones are scheduled to begin production in August. The next iPhone will also likely feature an 8 MP Sony camera, as well as sporting a new design with relocated flash. All of us are going to be incredibly anxious as it’s unlikely Apple will launch a new iPhone in June or July, but I’m guessing September is looking like it’ll be bigger than we expected.

[Reuters via Electronista]

Could Aperture Be Coming to iOS?

This would be a photographers dream come true wouldn’t it? Even if you prefer Adobe’s Lightroom to Apple’s Aperture, I’d love to have the iPad play a larger role in field editing for photographers. The Photos app included on the iPad isn’t exactly prime for professional work (it’s great for displaying and browsing the end result), but Aperture on the iPad would give photographers an intuitive touch interface to edit photos in a library that’s perhaps separate from Photo’s library. Patently Apple reports that Aperture could well be on its way towards touchscreen devices such as the iPad (and maybe that touchscreen iMac we’ve heard about).

It’s the latter that’s interesting in light of Apple’s latest patent revelation that Aperture is coming to touch displays including handhelds like the iPad. It may even come to future desktops and laptops that offer touch displays, according to Apple. An advanced graphics pen would be great for fast photo touch-ups and appreciated by photographers using Aperture on-the-go.

The patent covers various means of interacting with Aperture, from touch input to pen input, and the descriptions of various GUI elements that can provide authors with an easy toolset at the ready for image editing. The authors are intrigued with the idea that Apple may be moving towards various forms of alternate input, such a smart light pen, that could aid future Apple device owners in precision editing.

[via Patently Apple]

Internal AppleCare Document Directs Employees Not To Help With Malware Removal

An internal AppleCare document posted earlier this week reveals that Apple is investigating ‘Mac Defender’ – a recently unleashed malicious application that pretends to be an anti-virus application when users download it. The document, which Apple clearly notes is for internal use only, tells its employees not to confirm or deny whether the application has been installed on a users computer, not to attempt to remove it or escalate the issue.

The bizarre document, which is posted in full after the break, seems to be instructing Apple employees to take no part in resolving malware issues on a users computer.

AppleCare does not provide support for removal of the malware. You should not confirm or deny whether the customer’s Mac is infected or not.

However, the document does tell employees to instruct customers that if the Mac Defender installer pops up on their screen, to cancel the installer and delete the installer immediately. Whilst if the application is already installed they are told to tell the customer to make sure all security updates have been installed with Software Update and then direct them to the “What is Malware?” document. But the document is clear in saying that Apple doesn’t deal with malware – even recommending anti-virus software in the Mac App Store.

Explain that Apple does not make recommendations for specific software to assist in removing malware. The customer can be directed to the Apple Online Store and the Mac App Store for antivirus software options.

[Via ZDNet]

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ForeverSave 2 Review: Universal Auto-Save And Versioning On Your Mac

Everybody dreads it, the moment you realize that the document you had been working on for an hour is lost, all because you hadn’t saved it and there had been a power outage or the program crashed! It seems absurd that, in 2011, so few apps have implemented an auto-save feature that saves your document periodically as you work on it. A few apps do have an auto-save feature, including the Microsoft Office suite (saving me more than a few times) – but the vast majority don’t.

For those applications that don’t feature auto-saving there may be a reasonable solution that requires very little hassle from you. Tool Force bills their recently released version 2 of ForeverSave as enabling “universal auto-save and backup versioning for all documents”. I gave the application a go for the past week so jump the break for a full review and see whether it pans out as a feasible solution.

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Today Marks Ten Years Of Apple Retail Stores

On May 19 2001, Apple opened the first of its many retail Apple Stores; the Tysons Corner and Glendale stores. Ten years on, Apple’s retail ambitions have proven incredibly successful with over 300 stores in more than 10 countries.Along the way there have been some stunning stores, including the Regent street store in London (also the largest), the glass cube Fifth Avenue store in New York, the Paris Carrousel du Louvre Store and Pundong store in Shanghai.

As always, Wikipedia has some in-depth history and facts about the Apple Stores, as does ifoAppleStore which has an awesome list of unique factoids - did you know that the Bondi store has trees inside the store or that the Regent Street store has the longest Genius Bar at 46 feet? There have also been rumors in the past few days that Apple is planning to launch Apple Stores 2.0 - a relaunch of the stores with a shift in focus to ‘Personal Setups’, revamp of the actual stores with larger displays and deployment of iPad 2s for signatures being the key rumored changes.

Jump the break for pictures of these and other stunning stores, as well as a video of Jobs introducing that first Tysons Corner store - and see how much they’ve changed since!

Update: Added some pictures of the Tysons Corner store as it was on launch day (click on them for larger size), the original style of Apple Stores.

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China Mobile Claims It Reached A Consensus With Apple Over A 4G iPhone

In a report on MarketWatch, China Mobile states that it has reached a consensus with Apple regarding the use of 4G technology on future iPhones. The iPhone 4 currently uses 3G technology, 4G is the ‘next-generation’ technology for mobile data which promises even faster speeds.

Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile’s Chairman, didn’t specify many details about the agreement but says that they will be beginning 4G trials in China beginning next year and that discussions with Apple are continuing. Bloomberg today also got some additional details from Jianzhou, but in that report, the consensus with Apple was not mentioned.

The company may also be able to offer Apple Inc. (AAPL)s iPhone with the shift to TD-LTE, Wang said. While Apple has decided not to make a version of the phone for the third-generation TD-SCDMA system that is used only by China Mobile, the Cupertino, California-based company may produce one for the TD-LTE system, he said.

It follows yesterday’s report from DigiTimes that this year’s iPhone was originally meant to have LTE capability (a 4G technology) but was scrapped after it was discovered Qualcomm was having problems producing chips in large enough quantities. In that report it was said that China Mobile was expected to reach a deal with Apple soon to offer the next iPhone on it’s network this year – contradicting the Bloomberg report.

[Via MacRumors]

Survey Reveals 63 Million iOS Gamers Download 5 Million Games Per Day

The National Gamers Survey, compiled by research firms Distimo and Newzoo from March data has revealed that there are roughly 63 million gamers on the iOS ecosystem who (individually) download, on average, 2.5 games per month. Games represent half of all apps downloaded across the iOS and Mac App Stores with more than 5 million games downloaded per day – based on the survey that included the US, UK and five other European countries. A clear majority of 4.6 million are downloaded for the iPhone or iPod Touch whilst just over 400,000 are for the iPad and just a sliver for the Mac with 41,000 per day.

The survey also revealed that in-app purchases within games is becoming an increasingly common feature found in games with revenue from in-app purchases also representing a large proportion of total revenues. 88% of the top 300 games on iOS are free, but across and free and paid games, two fifths of the revenue is now coming from in-app purchases. On the iPhone and iPod touch it represented 40% of gross revenue and 32% for the iPad. These high figures may give reason to why Lodsys has recently started to target developers that implement in-app purchases; it would certainly raise a lot of revenue if they received license fees from even just a portion of developers.

Some more statistical data about the spread of iOS devices was also revealed, noting that across some of the countries surveyed, including the US, UK, France and Germany, between 6% and 7% of the online population have an iPhone. Whilst of those iPhone users, between 50% and 75% play games. As for the iPad, the report claims 15 million Americans actively play games on it, whilst 7 million Europeans do so – exceeding the number of people using Sony’s PSP.

[Via RazorianFly]