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Apple Opening A New Data Center in Silicon Valley
Apple is planning to open a new data center in Silicon Valley in the third quarter of 2011 to provide “additional IT capacity” to Apple’s rumored new cloud services that include music, video, storage, and more. The new space is located in Santa Clara, California, and it’s smaller than the massive data center Apple has been building in Maiden, North Carolina, throughout 2010 and 2011.
Apple is expanding its Internet infrastructure with a new data center in Silicon Valley, as it prepares to bring additional server and storage capacity online later this year. The new server space, housed in a third-party facility, will be smaller than the huge iDataCenter that Apple has built in North Carolina.
Leave a commentApple Temporarily Freezing In-App Purchase Approvals
A number of iOS developers have been unable for over a week now to get their in-app purchase content approved by Apple, as the company requires in the iTunes Connect developer portal to test IAP with a test user account, but this account has been offline with no explanation from Apple.
As a matter of policy, Apple requires developers to test in-app purchases (IAP) with a test user account before the application in question can be approved. Unfortunately, this test account has been offline for a week now with no word as to why. If you are a developer, you can see the relevant thread on Apple’s own developer forums here.
OmniVision Introduces 5 MP Sensor With 1080p Video Recording
DigiTimes claimed that the new iPhone 4S would contain an 8 MP camera from OmniVision Technologies, and to some degree it makes sense. Sony’s CEO in April made a fleeting comment suggesting that it would be supplying Apple with an 8MP camera for the next iPhone.
OmniVision introduced a new 5MP image sensor, the OV5690, that was developed to produce the “best-in-class image quality” whilst being an effective solution for slimmer mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers by reducing the size of the camera module. With contradicting reports on whether the next iPhone will contain a 5 MP camera or an 8 MP camera, this new product certainly lends weight to the suggestion that it could have a 5 MP camera.
iPhone 4S To Go Into Production In August, Apple Reducing iPhone 4 Shipments
DigiTimes reports that the next generation iPhone, which they call the iPhone 4S, won’t have LTE capability and will go into production in August. LTE capability will likely make its way into the following (sixth generation) iPhone in 2012. A number of carriers, including three top Chinese telecommunication companies will be disappointed after expressing interest in selling an LTE capable iPhone.
With plans to begin production of the iPhone 4S in August, and nearly 2 million iPhone 4s in inventory according to sources, Apple has reportedly lowered its expected shipment volumes for the iPhone 4 (for Q2 2011) to 17.5-18 million units, a reduction of about 2 million units. Around 2 million are expected to be the CDMA version whilst around 16 million 3G models. Apple is however expecting shipments of iPad 2s to increase substantially from 7-8 million units to 10-10.5 million units in Q2, 2011.
iPhone and iPad Win “Display of the Year” Awards
Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPad have been awarded the Display of the Year prizes by the The Society for Information Display. Apple devices were mainly awarded for the usage of In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology, which provides greater viewing angles and brightness quality than other displays found on phones and tablets. The iPhone 4′s Retina Display, packing four times the pixels in the same old iPhone screen, was also mentioned for setting a new benchmark in mobile display solutions, as well as new standards in power consumption and image quality.
Apple Proposes Standard To Make SIM Cards Smaller
According to Reuters, an executive of Orange has confirmed the French carrier is backing Apple’s plans for a new standard to make SIM cards smaller in order to use them in future thinner mobile devices. The proposed standard aims at reducing the size of SIM cards, which are currently implemented as “micro” models in the iPhone 4 and iPad.
We were quite happy to see last week that Apple has submitted a new requirement to (European telecoms standards body) ETSI for a smaller SIM form factor — smaller than the one that goes in iPhone 4 and iPad,” said Anne Bouverot, Orange’s head of mobile services.
Large Pharmaceutical Companies Subscribing iPads to Sales Reps
Pharmaceutical sales reps are trying to find better ways to engage and sale their products during all their sales calls. Doctors and physicians typically only give these sales reps 30 seconds of their time as well. That’s not very much time so every second is important, and so is presentation.
Eric Newmark, an analyst at IDC Health Insights, says that sales reps “still struggle with their ability to differentiate themselves through clear, concise, and interactive messaging.” So the pharmaceutical industry may have a solution to the problem: Purchase many Apple iPads to give the sale reps “a quicker, lighter and more attractive way of displaying drug-related information,” Newmark wrote.
Survey Reveals How Consumers Use Their iPad
Business Insider conducted an extensive survey having asked more than 850 people questions that surround the iPad and how it is used. Their survey revealed that for about 70% of respondents, there was only 1 iPad in their household and only about 23% has 2 in the one household – less than 7% had 3 or more iPads in their household. Nearly 40% had downloaded between 20 and 50 apps, whilst 30% had downloaded more than 50 apps – with few paying for more than 20 of those apps and only 6% paying for none. Below are some of the other more interesting results:
iPhone 5 Parts Confirm New Camera Flash Position
Yesterday we posted some portion of information about a case design for the “iPhone 5G” that seemed to suggest the next-generation device would relocate the rear-facing camera flash to opposite side of the lens, 9to5mac points to leaked iPhone 5 parts posted by well-sourced website Apple.Pro which indeed show a rear camera lens with no Flash attached. The alleged parts, posted alongside old iPhone 4 camera components, show a redesigned internal front-facing lens, as well as a different rear-facing module lacking the flash part found on the iPhone 4. While it’s impossible to tell any improvements on the cameras from these photos alone, Apple.pro does seem to confirm today’s “crystal case” for the iPhone 5 with a relocated camera flash on the back panel.
“iPhone 5G” Case Suggests Thinner Bezel, New Camera Flash Placement
Alibaba.com started selling a new case for co-called “iPhone 5G” that suggests a new camera flash placement for the next generation iPhone, as well as a thinner bezel with an horizontal edge-to-edge display design. The case has a slot for the camera flash on the opposite side of the lens, which is rumored to receive an upgrade for the iPhone Apple will likely unveil in September. As far as theories about the larger display go, in April rumors claimed that Apple was working on a completely redesigned iPhone, a larger display, a new Home button, and worldphone capabilities.
Several rumors in the past months suggested Apple could release a redesigned iPhone 5 with a larger screen, NFC compatibility and a tweaked Home button design, but recently multiple sources and analysts close to “people familiar with Apple’s plans” seem to believe the next-generation iPhone will launch in September with a design similar to the iPhone 4, and upgrades to the CPU, RAM, and rear-facing camera lens.
Guinness World Records Awarded To The iPhone 4, App Store and iOS Games
The iPhone 4, the iOS App Store and a number of iOS games have been honored with Guiness World Record awards. The iPhone 4 was named the fastest-selling portable gaming system following a first day sales figure of 1.5 million units when it was released on June 24 last year.
“The release of the iPhone has not just changed the mobile industry, but the video game world too,”Gaz Deaves, Guinness World Records’ gaming editor, said in a statement. “With the never-ending App Store selection and an intuitive device, Apple has created a gigantic new space for itself in the casual games genre that literally brings entertainment to users wherever they may be.”
iPhone 4S Coming with HSPA+, Minor Design Changes
Jefferies analyst Peter Misek claiming that the next-generation iPhone will be called “iPhone 4S” and it will come with a dual-core A5 processor, and better cameras. Misek also seems to believe the iPhone 4S will indeed feature minor “cosmetic changes” and support for HSPA+ networks.
Because the 4G chips weren’t ready, Apple is going with the minor update to the iPhone 4. Misek also revealed the next version of the phone will work with Sprint, T-Mobile, and China Mobile.
Misek believes the iPhone 5 — which was rumored to have NFC, a bigger screen, 4G connectivity, or a thinner form factor, among other things — will look like an iPhone 4, only faster on the inside.
Samsung Announces 2560 x 1600 Display for Tablets
During SID Display Week 2011 International Symposium between May 17-19, Samsung will officially unveil and demonstrate the first 10.1-inch display with 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution specifically meant for tablets. The industry-first display will offer a “ultra-high resolution” using standard LCD technology. According to Samsung’s press release, the display also relies on the PenTile technology, which allows for 40% less power consumption and two-thirds number of subpixels.
iPad Cannibalization Of PC Market Slows
The iPad’s cannibalization of the PC market may have slowed. New purchasers of the iPad are less likely to have foregone purchasing a PC. It found that of those who had purchased the iPad over the holiday season, 12% would have decided against a PC purchase when they bought an iPad. This is a 2% drop from the 14% of those decided against a PC amongst those who had owned their iPad for 6 months or more. Netbooks were saved the most, with iPad cannibalization falling by 50%, which actually led the netbook market to grow by 21% between September 2010 and March 2011. The report contradicts what analysts were calling the “iPad effect” in the first quarter of 2011 when US PC sales fell 10.7%.
New iMacs Can Only Use Apple’s Hard Drives
The new 2011 iMacs — the ones with Thunderbolt, Sandy Bridge processors and better graphics — don’t allow you to use any other hard drive but Apple’s custom ones, which are running a custom firmware to provide temperature monitoring through a new 7-pin SATA connector.
For the main 3.5″ SATA hard drive bay in the new 2011 machines, Apple has altered the SATA power connector itself from a standard 4-pin power configuration to a 7-pin configuration. Hard drive temperature control is regulated by a combination of this cable and Apple proprietary firmware on the hard drive itself. From our testing, we’ve found that removing this drive from the system, or even from that bay itself, causes the machine’s hard drive fans to spin at maximum speed and replacing the drive with any non-Apple original drive will result in the iMac failing the Apple Hardware Test (AHT).