News from category ‘Other’

Maggie Koerth-Baker at Boing Boing has compared the actual Andromeda Galaxy (which is 2.5 million years away from Earth), and the Andromeda Galaxy representation that ships as the default wallpaper in OS X Lion. One of the site readers, David Kaplan, assistant professor of physics at the University of Milwaukee, has noticed that Apple’s Andromeda Galaxy is missing a few stars. Of course, Apple’s representation has been photoshopped and the company removed some stars and galaxies. For example, the professor found out that one of Andromeda’s big satellites (M110 for those keeping track) is completely missing.

Apple has once again altered the Universe according to their whim. They moved/removed many stars, and got rid of a whole galaxy. This is M110, which is one of M31′s [Andromeda's] satellites. The other big satellite, M32, is still there.

Last month we saw a leaked design specifications for the iPhone 5. Of course, Chinese case manufacturers immediately started producing cases. MacRumors commissioned CiccareseDesign to create high quality renderings made as closely as possible to the original leaked case designs and then 3D models that show how the rumored iPhone 5 may look.

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Several interesting patent applications filed by Apple have been summarized today by Patently Apple. Among many new applications recently published by the US Patent & Trademark Office the most interesting concern a new finger oil resistant coating, antenna clip for iPhone and usage of solar energy as a power source for portable devices.

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By the end of September Apple will have opened over 30 new retail stores, so the total number of stores will be over 360. On this Saturday Apple apparently set to open at least five new stores: two U.S. stores and three international locations covering Australia, Canada, and Italy.

• Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall (Anchorage, Alaska): The new store will be Apple's first location in Alaska.
• Fashion Place (Murray, Utah): Apple's second store in Utah.
• Southland (Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia): The new store is Apple's third location in the Melbourne area and its twelfth overall for Australia.
• Conestoga: (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada): Apple's 20th retail store in Canada, the new location is also notable for its placement in the hometown of smartphone competitor Research in Motion.
• I Gigli: (Florence, Italy): The new store is Apple's sixth location in Italy and first in the Florence area, filling a gap between the company's store in Rome and a series of stores in northern Italy across the Turin, Milan, and Bergamo.

According to Bloomberg’s report, Nintendo’s investors are urging the company to produce titles for iOS devices. Alternatively, Tokyo-based Stats Investment Management Co considers that Nintendo should try to either develop something absolutely new or buy its way into smartphone market. Bloomberg wrote:

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According to Japanese site Kodawarisan, the specific date for Apple’s September media event is Wednesday, September 7th. Kodawarisan stated that the specific date is not alleged, but came from a reliable source.

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A couple of new patent application from Apple published today is gaining some attention. The first application describes in detail how the company could integrate tiny projectors into iPads, iPhones and MacBooks. The application even suggests that cameras will be capable of detecting “shadows and/or silhouettes” gestures shown on the projected display.

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Since the release of iPhone 4 numerous reports have revealed its major success among consumers. Taking that into consideration it is easy to assume that many people will soon be selling their smartphones to save money on iPhone 5. According to GigaOm, many resellers are aware of that fact and has already started to prepare for the release of the next-gen Apple’s smartphone.

The same thing happened last year, shortly after the iPhone 4 release. For instance, one of Apple resellers Gazelle announced that it had over 10 000 old iPhones to sell.

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A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Apple and 5 of the 6 major book publishers: Hachette, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Penguin, and Simon & Shuster. The lawsuit claims that they "colluded to increase prices for popular e-book titles to boost profits and force e-book rival Amazon to abandon its pro-consumer discount pricing."

From the lawsuit:

In November 2007, Amazon revolutionized the book publishing industry by releasing the Kindle, a handheld digital reader for electronic books or “eBooks.” A major economic advantage to eBook technology is its potential to massively reduce distribution costs historically associated with brick-and-mortar publishing. But publishers quickly realized that if market forces were allowed to prevail too quickly, these efficiency enhancing characteristics would rapidly lead to lower consumer prices, improved consumer welfare, and threaten the current business model and available surplus (profit margins). So, faced with disruptive eBook technology that threatened their inefficient and antiquated business model, several major book publishers, working with Apple Inc. (“Apple”), decided free market competition should not be allowed to work – together they coordinated their activities to fight back in an effort to restrain trade and retard innovation. The largest book publishers and Apple were successful.

This lawsuit alleges that as a "direct result of this anticompetitive conduct as intended by the conspiracy, the price of eBooks has soared" and "bring claims under federal and state antitrust laws to enjoin the illegal conduct and to obtain damages."

After a district court in Dusseldorf, Germany, granted a preliminary injunction, Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been barred from distribution in the European Union (except for the Netherlands, because a separate lawsuit in the Netherlands is already underway). Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet confirmed the injunction to Bloomberg:  ”It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

Apple alleged that the Galaxy Tab imitates the iPad and infringes on various intellectual property rights owned by Apple. Apple asked the Landgericht (district court) of Düsseldorf, Germany, to order an injunction under which Samsung is threatened with fines of up to EUR 250,000 (US$ 350,000) for each violation or imprisonment of Samsung’s management for up to two years in the event of continued infringement. Those are standard sanctions under German tort law for contempt of a preliminary injunction.

Last week, Samsung had to delay the launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia in response to Apple's request for a preliminary injunction in that country.

In June Apple began upgrading the plaza and glass cube at its iconic flagship retail store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The company plans to invest in upgrading about $6.6 million.  Customers still have access to the store through a covered passageway. Apple plans to remove the glass cube and work on drainage, pavers, and bollards on the plaza. The company is going to completely replace the cube’s glass panels with new and larger panels.  As Apple says, the appearance of the renovated Fifth Avenue Store will be much cleaner, and visually more seamless. Detailing the upgrades in an informational notice, Apple shows off past and present examples of the Fifth Avenue retail store, showing a reduction in glass panels from 90 to just 15 large strips (three vertical panes on each side and three on top).

We're simplifying the Fifth Avenue cube. By using larger, seamless pieces of glass, we're using just 15 panes instead of 90.

As CNet reports, rumored iTunes Replay service from Apple is delayed. According to the sources of the publication, Apple has still not reached the agreements for movies with at least four of the main six film studios. Reportedly, Apple began negotiations over these agreements earlier this year, but sources note that this process "could drag on for months".

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Bloomberg, pointing to RBC Daily’s report, wrote that iPhone 5 will be put on Russian market this November, “almost immediately” after it will launch in the US. The report in Russian newspaper is based on information from unnamed device retailers.

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Currently Three in Sweden offers a fire sale of iPhone 3GS. The offer includes free iPhone 3GS and a plan of 99 Kroners per month ($15.42), amounting to about $370 for the full contract, which does not takes into account minutes and the unlimited Internet traffic that is throttled after 1GB.

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As reported various retailers reducing the price of iPhone 4 expecting the release of the iPhone 5. Rumors suggest that the next-generation smartphone  vary quite substantially from an August release to a September release, and AllThingsD expects a late October launch. So the US retailers Radio Shack and Target have both cut the price on the iPhone 4 models. Radio Shack is currently offering the 16GB model for $169.99 and the 32GB for $269.99. Meanwhile Target is now offering the 16GB iPhone 4 for $149.99 and the 32GB model for $249.99. These discounted iPhone 4’s still come with a two-year contract. The standard prices for the iPhone 4 in Radio Shack were $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model.