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Apple to Introduce iPad 3 in First Week of March
Citing unnamed sources, AllThingsD reported on Thursday that Apple's so-called "iPad 3" will debut at a special event to be held the first week in March in San Francisco.
Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to debut the successor to the iPad 2, and will do so at one of its trademark special events. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple’s preferred location for big announcements like these. No word yet on a street date for the iPad 3 (assuming that’s what it’s called), though my guess is retail availability will follow roughly the same schedule as that of the iPad 2: Available for purchase a week or so after the event.
Leave a commentFoxconn's Servers Hacked, Exposing Vendor Usernames and Passwords
Swagg Security hacking group announced this week that they managed to hack Foxconn servers that expose usernames and passwords for clients and employees. Such information could be used to place fraudulent orders for companies like Apple and Microsoft.
Swagg Security alleged that it had bypassed Foxconn's firewall "almost flawlessly." Using several hacking techniques and a couple of days time, the hackers reportedly dumped "most of everything of significance," including usernames and passwords. According to the group, the leaked passwords "could allow individuals to make fraudulent orders under big companies like Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Intel, and Dell."
Photo of iPad 3 Rear Shell Suggests Minor Physical Changes, Larger Battery
RepairLabs reports that it has managed to obtain a photo of what is claimed to be the rear shell of the iPad 3 and compared the part with the corresponding version of the iPad 2. Based on the photo, the site concluded that the iPad 3 version demonstrates a few minor changes with a narrower logic board that could make room for an expanded battery.
In a side-by-side comparison of the new component with the iPad 2 back panel, the repair site found four key differences:
- The alleged third-generation iPad back panel has "very different" mounts for the logic board, implying that the shape of the logic board in the next iPad will also be a major change.
- This would allow for a larger battery within the iPad 3, because the width of where the logic board sits is much smaller on the new component.
- The component also reveals that the camera on the new iPad will be "different," though any changes from the current iPad 2 cannot be deciphered from the panel.
- Finally, the site also declared that the LCD display will also be "different" than the current iPad 2, based on different mounting in the new back panel. Apple is rumored to utilize a new, high-resolution Retina Display for its next iPad.
The photo does not show the backside of the rear shell that would be visible on the assembled device, nor does it show an edge view that would allow for a thickness comparison to the iPad 2.
Siri Support for Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Russian Languages Coming Next Month
Tech in Asia reports that Apple is preparing to bring support for Chinese, Japanese and Russian to Siri on the iPhone 4S next month. Chinese support will only include Mandarin, with Cantonese and other dialects being left out for the time being.
The Chinese tech site DoNews claims to have heard from an Apple engineer who’s working on the Chinese-language version of Siri, the clever voice assistant on the iPhone 4S. From this source it claims that Siri will launch in Chinese next month, and is already undergoing internal testing this month. [...]
Rogers and BCE Already Have the Apple iTV in Their Labs, Controlled with Voice and Hand Gestures
An anonymous source disclosed to The Globe and Mail that Canadian telecoms Rogers and Bell Canada have an early version of a much-rumored Apple television set in their labs. Another source familiar with the negotiations said Apple is in negotiations with the telecommunication giants to enter into a partnership for the device.
“They’re not closed to doing it with one [company] or doing it with two,” the source said. “They’re looking for a partner. They’re looking for someone with wireless and broadband capabilities.”
All of the companies mentioned in the report declined to comment. Both Rogers and Bell already have an existing agreement with Apple to offer its iPhone device on their wireless networks.
Apple intern's thesis leaks secret project to port Mac OS X to ARM processors
In 2010, Tristan Schaap, who now serves as a Core OS engineer at Apple, published a Bachelor thesis on his 12-week stint as an intern with Apple's Platform Technologies Group, a subdivision of the Core OS department. The thesis revealed that the former Apple intern had been working on the secret project to port Mac OS X Snow Leopard to the ARM architecture.
According to the paper, Schaap worked with the group to get Darwin, the "lower half" of Apple's Mac OS X operating system, to boot onto an ARM processor from Marvell. During the course of the project, he achieved his goal of "booting into a multi-user prompt," though some issues still remained due to a "poor implementation on the debug hardware."
Best Buy customer survey details 42-inch Apple HDTV with iOS
Best Buy has decided to carry out a survey related to the rumored Apple’s HDTV powered by iOS that, noteworthy to say, has not been released yet. The questionnaire notes that the 42-inch Apple HDTV "finally reinvents what a TV can do," with a 1080p LED flat panel display, connectivity with iCloud, and the ability to use an iPhone or an iPad as a remote control, and "iSight" camera. Such details, however, look like speculations on the part of Best Buy. Since introducing FaceTime video chat, Apple has referred to its forward-facing cameras as FaceTime cameras, not iSight.
The full details from the survey follow:
Apple iPhone 4S A5 chip incorporates Audience EarSmart noise reduction tech for Siri
Apple's A5 System on a Chip incorporates noise reduction technology by Audience, Inc., which optimizes the performance of Siri voice recognition on iPhone 4S.
Audience explains that by "imitating the complex processing that occurs from the inner ear to the brain, Audience's intelligent earSmart technology distinguishes and interprets sounds as people do naturally. In a mobile device, the earSmart processor effectively isolates and enhances the primary voice signal and suppresses surrounding noise--for both transmit and receive--to enable clear conversations nearly anywhere."
The company notes that "far-field uses are more vulnerable to background noise interference and poor voice quality given the speaker's distance from the device," an issue that has previously been noted in regard to rumors that Apple might deploy TV systems incorporating Siri voice technology.
ARM-Based MacBook Air Unlikely Based on Analyst Talk with Tim Cook
Last year we reported some interesting rumors concerning Apple’s plans on the ARM (A5) based MacBook Air. The ARM processor is the same one that is used in the iPhone and iPad. An ARM-based MacBook Air, however, would raise a number of questions about what kind of device it might actually be. The use of ARM processor would allow reducing power requirements, but with a corresponding drop in computing power.
Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner who was able to meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer on Thursday reports:
First Apple TV prototypes "in the works"
Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster told that he had recently spoken to a "major TV component supplier" about Apple's rumored plans to release its Apple TV and received the following answer that Apple had contacted at least with one supplier "regarding various capabilities of their television display components."
In January 2011 Apple reportedly held a meeting in Asia that suggested Apple was investing in manufacturing facilities for LCD displays as large as 50 inches and in September 2011 the company held another meeting with a "contact close to an Asian supplier" who claimed prototypes of an Apple set are in the works. Now Piper Jaffray believes that Apple will likely release its television at the end of 2012, though, as usual, the timeline could be changed at any moment.
Analyst Expects iPhone 5 to Launch at WWDC 2012 in June
Last week we reported that Foxconn was gearing up for production of the rumoured iPhone 5 with the likely launch set for summer. Today, the Commercial Times citing the report from Daiwa Securities analysts has reported that the iPhone 5 is expected to launch at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) to be held in June 2012. The official dates for the 2012 conference have not yet been announced, but a previously leaked guide suggested June 10th-15th as the likely dates. Now they are blocked off for a "Corporate Meeting" which typically acts as a placeholder for WWDC.
Daiwa Securities also claims that the next-generation smartphone will continue utilizing "glass to glass" touch panel technology.
The iPhone 5 will continue to utilize glass to glass (G/G) touch panel technology, which will benefit current touch panel suppliers TPK Holding and Wintek, the paper quoted the securities house as saying.
The summer launch claim is not new and has been echoed in previous reports. So this may be just another one rumor. Apple broke from tradition with the iPhone 4S by launching it in October of 2011. A significant change from the previous four generations of iPhone, which were released at or around WWDC in June.
iPad 3 Event in March, An 'Unusual' Apple Event in February
Japanese site Macotakara has issued a new report where it clarified earlier claims of an Apple event in February with the cryptic details that Apple will hold a "Strange" event in February to unveil the so-called "iPad 3" and iOS 5.1 with deeper Facebook integration and a Special Event to launch the third-generation iPad in early March.
Citing both an Asian supplier and a source in the U.S., blogger Danbo has now corrected the original claim telling that Apple will indeed hold an event in February, but it will be a "Strange" event rather than a full product launch.
One possibility is that the rumored February event could contain industry-related announcements similar to how last month's education event in New York City to mark the release of iBooks 2 and iBooks Author without showing off new hardware. "Special Event for new products will be hold in early March and will release products during March as usual," Danbo continued.
Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Tab 10.1N escape German injunctions
Samsung's modified Galaxy Tab 10.1N seen on the left compared to the original model
A German Munich Regional Court judge has recently made a decision against granting Apple injunctions on two Samsung products. The judge also noted that at least one of the patent mentioned in the action was likely to be revoked at trial.
The two products, Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone and its revised "10.1N" version of the Galaxy Tab (redesigned by Samsung to escape the original injunction on sales Apple won last September) will be available for sale in Germany while the case against them continues.
As for the Galaxy Nexus, Apple argued for an injunction on sales based on a "patent granted last year protecting some technology related to touch screens."
Apple climbs two spots to become world's third-largest mobile phone maker
Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales in 2011 in Millions of Units
Research firm IDC has recently released its estimates of global mobile phone sales for the fourth quarter of and full-year 2011. The results show that Apple passed LG and became the third world largest mobile phone vendor for the first time. Apple was closing to LG by the middle of 2010, but during the third quarter ZTE pushed the company back on the fifth place. However, thanks to the iPhone 4S launch, Apple moved up in the year’s final quarter and passed LG in full-year numbers as well.
According to the estimates, Apple was neck-and-neck with Samsung for the crown of top smartphone manufacturer, Nokia and Samsung firmly hold down the top two spots in the overall mobile phone rankings on the volume of their lower-end feature phones.
iPad Drives Apple to Perch Atop List of Top-Selling PC Manufacturers
Research firm Canalys predicted last year that Apple might become the world's largest PC manufacturer during the fourth quarter of 2011, but with one exception, if tablets were counted alongside more traditional computers. Now Canalys may confirm its suggestions that Apple has indeed taken the lead on the strength of the iPad.
Canalys today announced that Apple, after reporting stellar results, became the leading worldwide client PC vendor in Q4 2011. Apple shipped over 15 million iPads and five million Macs, representing 17% of the total 120 million client PCs shipped globally in Q4. Overall, the total client PC market, including desktops, netbooks, notebooks, and pads grew 16% year-on-year. Excluding pads, the client PC market declined 0.4%. The report notes that tablets such as the iPad accounted for 22% of PC sales during the quarter, with the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook also contributing to the strong tablet performance.
Canalys predicts that the iPad would have been able to top the list even without the help of the Mac. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, while the non-tablet market leader HP's shipments were between 14.7 and 15.3 million units.