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Archive for September 27th, 2011
Apple Confirms: Media Event on October 4th
Apple has reportedly sent out invitations for a media event set for October 4th. As far as we know the event will take place at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. If you look at the invitation posted above, it becomes clear that this media event will obviously focus on the next-generation iPhone - the tagline for the banner is “Let’s talk iPhone”. The invitation also includes four Apple’s applications: Calendar, Clock, Maps, and Phone. We suggest that all applications may be connected with the new system of voice recognition that Apple is focusing on now – Assistant that is waited to appear on the iPhone 5.
Apple is expected to unveil two iPhone's during this media event. The next iPhone 5 is rumored to feature the company’s A5 processor, 1 GB of RAM and a 8-megapixel camera, iOS 5 with iCloud integration. The iPhone 4S is expected to be a low-price smartphone.
The event will begin October 4th at 10:00 am PT.
Leave a commentSkype Released Updates For Its Native iPad, iPhone and iPod touch Apps
Today Skype updated its app for as well as for iPhone and iPod touch. Now the Skype app for iPad has Bluetooth connectivity on iPad 2 and a bugfix for security problems. Also the app can operate both on iPad and iPad 2. The program for iPhone/iPod touch also supports Bluetooth on the fourth-gen iPod touch, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4.
Intel: Existing Macs With Thunderbolt Will Support Fiber Optical Cables
Dave Salvator, Intel’s representative, said to that current Macs with Thunderbolt interface will be capable to work with fiber optic cables which will be released next year. This will make possible backwards compatibility of these cables with existing Thunderbolt I/O ports that is designed for work with electrical cables. Slavator said:
Apple has been denied trademark for Multi-Touch
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has denied an Apple’s application for a trademark on the term Multi-Touch, applied by the company on January 9, 2007, the day the iPhone was introduced. Receiving deny, Apple appealed to the Appeal Board. The board also refused to grant the trademark, noting that the term "multitouch" has taken on generic meaning, being used by a wide variety of publications to describe the touchscreen technology on Android phones, tablets, and notebooks.
Thus, from the foregoing, we find that “multi-touch” not only identifies the technology, but also describes how a user of the goods operates the device. Based on the evidence discussed above, as well as other evidence in the record, we agree with the examining attorney that MULTI-TOUCH indeed is highly descriptive of a feature of the identified goods. We now consider whether applicant has submitted sufficient evidence to establish acquired distinctiveness of this highly descriptive term.
Apple Updates Anti-Malware Tools to Address New Trojan Threat
Blurred screenshot of PDF file deployed by OSX/Revir.A
Late last week, a new trojan threat has targeted Mac users. It consists of two parts, with the first being a trojan downloader known as "OSX/Revir.A" that downloads and opens a PDF document containing "offensive political statements" written in Chinese, and installs a a backdoor known as OSX/Imuler.A that allows to get access to the user's machine.
When the backdoor is installed, it will set up a launch agent on the system that is used to continually keep the malware active on the system. It will then connect to a remote server and send the system's current username and MAC address to the server, after which the server will instruct it to either archive files and upload them, or take screenshots and upload them to the server.
Apple has quickly responded having updated its malware definitions for Snow Leopard and Lion systems so that they can recognize the trojan.
CNET has also reported that another trojan horse, known as OSX/flashback.A, has been discovered. The new trojan masquerades as a Flash Player installer to trick users into installing the package.
Apple Announces Q4 2011 Conference Call For October 18
The fourth fiscal quarter ends on this Saturday, September 24th, and as usual Apple will hold its conference call webcast to announce results, this year on October 18th.
Apple’s conference call webcast discussing Q4 – 2011 financial results will begin at 2:00pm PT/5:00pm ET on Tuesday, October 18, 2011.
Please note that comments made during this call may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. For more information on the factors that could influence results, please refer to Apple’s SEC filings.
In Q3 2011, Apple managed to earn $28.57 billion of revenue with net profit of $7.31 billion, sold 20.34 million iPhones, 9.25 million iPads, and 3.95 million Macs. The previous quarter was record for Apple, especially comparing with the results of the year-ago quarter, when Apple posted revenue of $20.34 billion with 3.89 million Macs, 14.1 million iPhones and 4.19 million iPads sold during the quarter.
Analysts Dispute Supply Chain Conclusions of iPad Production Cuts
JPMorgan analysts have recently predicted that Apple slashed its fourth quarter iPad production plans by 25%, suggesting significant price cut. But The Wall Street Journal believes that such argument is insufficient to make these predictions. Other analysts not that Apple appears to have actually accelerated production ahead of the holiday shopping season. Sources also indicate that Apple plans to begin production of the iPad 3 at the end of the fourth quarter or early in 2012, so accelerating production now, the company tries to ease that transition.
We believe chatter regarding iPad production cuts are misleading – we have seen pull-ins, not cuts. We have noted recent comments by competitors discussing iPad production cuts for 4Q. Our recently published AAPL supply-chain checks noted a sequential decline in 4Q iPad builds from 17 mln-19 mln units in 3Q to 11 mln-13 mln units in 4Q. However, the 4Q sequential decline was accompanied by an increase in 3Q builds, leading us to conclude that production was likely pulled-in from 4Q to 3Q.
Some analysts suggest that the fourth quarter production cuts may be connected with shifting some production to Brazil by the end of the year.
Apple Plans To Produce Devices With Curved Glass In Early 2012
Sources close to Apple’s supply and manufacturing chain ( DigiTimes) say that Apple and other companies from “non-Apple camp” are preparing to manufacture devices with curved glass, mainly touchscreens, in the beginning of 2012.
iPhone 5 To Include New iOS 5 “Assistant” Voice Feature
9to5Mac reveals features of the "Assistant" voice-powered personal application that will appear on the next-generation iPhone. The site claims that Assistant allows users to handle scheduling, reminder, and messaging tasks by voice. The system will be also capable to ask user questions to clarify what is being said.
The system will actually speak back and forth with the user to gain the most information in order to provide the best results. The user essentially can hold a conversation with their iPhone like it is another human being. For example, if a user is making a meeting with me, they will say “setup meeting with Mark” and the first “bubble” of the conversation thread will say that. After that, the system will speak back: “which e-mail address should Mark be notified at, work or personal?” This question will both be spoken out loud by the iPhone Assistant and shown as a new “bubble” in the conversation thread. The user will then respond with the email address they want to notify me at, and the appointment will be made. The iPhone will even show a quick glance at a calendar view to confirm the appointment. If the Assistant was sending an SMS, as another example, a mini SMS view would appear so the user has a quick glance at the SMS thread.
Assistant will also integrate with WolframAlpha that will help users receive answers to factual, and "Find My Friends" service and speech-to-text transcription from Nuance. Of course, such power-consuming application will require more powerful hardware, suggesting that Apple will integrate A5 chip and RAM to 1 GB to support the heavy workload into the new iPhone.