Today is the one-year anniversary of Steve Jobs' death, and Apple has posted on their website a simple letter of remembrance from Tim Cook below the standard site navigation bar  and presented a nearly two-minute photo slideshow of Jobs paired with some of his famous audio clips.

A message from Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

Steve’s passing one year ago today was a sad and difficult time for all of us. I hope that today everyone will reflect on his extraordinary life and the many ways he made the world a better place.

Read the rest of this entry »

Martin Hajek has created some nice renders of the expected 7.85-inch iPad mini for Gizmodo. Take a look:

Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published Apple's patent application which was filed in March 2011. The patent, titled "Detachable wireless listening device,” demonstrates a unique set of headphones, designed to withstand the rigors of athletic activity by eliminating the need for cumbersome cords.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today iPhoneinCanads.ca reported that Google added its Street View to the Google Maps web app that is available to users of mobile devices. With Apple’s shift to its own Maps app in the new iOS 6, users who still want to use Google Maps service have been able to do so via the maps.google.com web-based app, but that app has been missing several features compared with iOS app that was available on Apple’s mobile devices. The report said:

Read the rest of this entry »

Bloomberg has recently provided an interesting glimpse of Steve Jobs' role in Apple's mapping effort. The project has been a number of years in the making but which only now has made its way into the public's hands. The report claims Apple's mapping effort was Jobs' idea. He wished Apple to move away from using Google’ Maps on iOS devices.

Read the rest of this entry »

While AuthenTec's board of directors is expected to approve Apple’s acquisition of the fingerprint sensor company for $356 million, a new report claims that Apple also plans to draw on expertise of other company to assist with creating its mobile payment service. The Australian reports that Apple has reached a deal with Australian firm Microlatch to work together on integration of similar fingerprint recognition technology with mobile payments via NFC (near filed communications).

Read the rest of this entry »

According to Japanese blog Macotakara, Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn has begun to assembly forthcoming "iPad mini" at its Brazil-based facilities. The report said:

“According to my source, iPad mini was started production in Brazilian factory. I don't have information if it has been produced in Chinese factory, yet”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last night many users of iOS device reported about the issue preventing them from making new purchases or redownloading previous purchases from App Store. When users attempted to make a purchase they were repeatedly asked to agree to App Store’s new Terms & Conditions. The issue, which is not rare when large number of users attempt to activate the updated Terms & Conditions at once, is currently fixed.

Read the rest of this entry »

This month The Wall Street Journal reported about Apple's plans to create its own streaming radio service to compete with Pandora. Reportedly Apple was in negotiations with record labels, but the company was months away from releasing the service.

The New York Post reported today that that licensing negotiations between music publisher Sony/ATV and Apple hit a snag over the licensing fee Apple would have to pay for each song streamed through the service. The report said:

Read the rest of this entry »

MacGameStore.com has launched a new Mac app to ease organization and purchase of game titles from the store. Unlike Steam, the app specifically focuses on downloads of digital games for the Mac and offers many major game titles from famous studios like Aspyr and EA.

Read the rest of this entry »

Digitimes reports that Apple is working with suppliers to develop a new process that will allow to shave 0.15 mm from the thickness of the light guide used to distribute lighting for the company's illuminated keyboard in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

Apple will reduce the thickness of light guide plates for the illuminated keyboards in its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models from 0.4mm currently to 0.25mm in 2013, according to sources in Apple's supply chain.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today energy efficiency company Opower published a study estimating the annual cost for charging the new iPhone 5 at $0.41. While a user’s actual cost varies based on electricity rates in their regions and on use, the company's estimate assumes that a user charges the device once per day at 11.8 cents per kWh (U.S. average).

Although an individual iPhone 5 consumes a tiny amount of energy, the great popularity of Apple’s smartphones results in considerable energy demand in total. The company notes:

Read the rest of this entry »

iPhone 5 that was intentionally scratched

According the report from 9to5Mac, one of its readers emailed Apple’s chief of marketing Phil Schiller, regarding scratching of the new iPhone. Scratches on the iPhone’s body are most visible on the black models because they reveal the silver color of the aluminum underneath the anodized slate color. Schiller said that scratching is “normal” when the device is in use.

Read the rest of this entry »

DisplayMate published a comprehensive analysis of the iPhone 5 display and also provided detailed comparisons between Samsung Galaxy S III and the iPhone 4. The company concluded that the iPhone 5 has the best smartphone display they have ever tested.

Read the rest of this entry »

According to Korean website etnews.com, fingerprint sensor company AuthenTec has notified many of its customers, including Dell, Lenovo, HP, Fujiitsu and Samsung, that it will stop offering its technology to them as of next year. In July Apple agreed to buy AuthenTec, and it is expected that AuthenTec's board will approve the acquisition in October.

Read the rest of this entry »