News from category ‘Official’

Today Amazon announced their tablet called Kindle Fire. It has 7" IPS display, custom android OS, weights 413g, has 8Gb of storage, Wifi. Unfortunately it does not have 3G. The price is attractive though - $199. Shipments start November 15.

We are not sure that this device can be a real iPad killer. However it will definitely compete with other Android tablets, like Blackberry Playbook, HP Touchpad and others.

More specs:

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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

Apple has joined the Digital Due Process coalition, which is focused on pressing Congress to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).

ECPA was passed by Congress in 1986, before the World Wide Web was even invented and when cell phones were still a rarity. Yet to this day, ECPA is the primary law governing how and when law enforcement can access personal information and private communications stored by communications providers like Google, Facebook, your cell phone company or your ISP.

The aim of the Digital Due Process group is to "simplify, clarify, and unify the ECPA  standards, providing stronger privacy protections for communications and associated data in response to changes in technology and new services and usage patterns, while preserving the legal tools necessary for government agencies to enforce the laws, respond to emergency circumstances and protect the public." Digital Due Process highlights email, mobile location, cloud computing and social networking as new technologies that need to be included in the law. Other coalition members include Amazon, Intel, AT&T, Google and many more.

Investment research firm UBS conducted a study of 515 iPhone and Android users in order to judge consumer loyalty based on whether they plan to make their next purchase from the same manufacturer as their current handset. 89% of iPhone users report that they will purchase another iPhone. For other vendors such percent is falling rapidly. The second place was taken by HTC with 39% and the third one – by Samsung with 28%. Android phones in general are at 55 percent. 31% of Android users plan to switch to iPhone. Only 33% of current BlackBerry users planning to purchase another BlackBerry, down from 62% a year and a half ago. In overall 50% users of smartphone plan to move to Apple and only 10% of iPhone users prefer to stitch from Apple. The survey may not be terribly accurate due to a small sample size, but it helps understand market trends, demonstrating high loyalty of iPhone users.

Taiwnese company VIA Techologies has reportedly filed a patent lawsuit against Apple. VIA Technology accuses Apple of infregement of patent rights by using processors in Apple’s iOS devices.

Via, a semiconductor maker based in Taipei, seeks a jury trial and an order to prohibit Cupertino, California-based Apple from selling products containing the inventions in the U.S., according to a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.

“The products at issue generally concern microprocessors included in a variety of electronic products such as certain smartphones, tablet computers, portable media players and other computing devices,” Via said in the complaint.

The lawsuit is targeting Apple’s ARM-based A4 and A5 processors used in iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4, iPhone 4 CDMA, iPod touch 4th generation, and Apple TV 2nd generation.

@Chronicwire posts new images of Otterbox case boxes specifically labeled for the "iPhone 4S". Cases have volume buttons on the right side above the SIM-card slot rather than on the left as in the iPhone 4. But, as far as we know the iPhone 4S leaked parts have not revealed such a change, so it is unclear which one is the correct depiction of the forthcoming device. AT&T stores are reported to have refreshed iPhone 4 cases with a change in the back opening for the camera that may be the rumored 8-megapixel camera. But these new cases may be a revision of the existing iPhone 4 cases. Moreover, earlier this month, there appeared information that several Apple stores had received iPhone bumper cases that didn’t fit right. Customers returned cases suggesting that they might be an early batch of modified cases for the new iPhone. Anyway, a clear light will be shed upon the situation only in October, then Apple reportedly plans to release its next-generation iPhone or iPhones (there are lots of controversial rumors claiming that Apple might release several models of the device: the iPhone 4S alongside the iPhone 5).

Keeping to the Apple’s schedule, the company opens six more stores on this weekend. It starts with the Nanjing East store in China opening tomorrow (Friday, September 23) and then the IFC (Hong Kong), Hornsby (Australia), Centro Sicilia (Italy), New Haven (Connecticut) and Metrotownn (Canada) Apple Stores will open on Saturday. The Nanjing East store (shown above) is the third Apple in Shanghai. IFC store is the first store that locates in Hong Kong. ifoApple Store notes that this store features a unique design:

The rear wall of both levels are glass windows looking out towards the city. On the inside, the lower level has two wide stainless steel walls, with a visitor entrance in the middle. The walls include back-lit display cases promoting Apple’s products. The upper level has an all-glass front window visible from the mall hallway.

The Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology, Aolizio Mercadante, has confirmed that the new Apple’s factory is “ready”, and even already making iPads that will begin shipping in Brazil from this December.

At first many doubted, but it will be the first time that the company will produce iPads outside Chinese territory. We are taking a big step for digital inclusion in the country,” he said. Mercadante also said that the federal government will announce in the coming days to invest in a big factory of games in the Manaus Free Zone.

The new Brazilian factory is a result of a joint effort by the Brazilian government and Foxconn, manufacturer of the iPhone and iPad that reportedly invested $12 billion in this new factory. As Apple planed production started in late August / early September. We also reported that in June Foxconn hired 175 engineers for the new factory.

Hewlett-Packard, the ailing computer maker, announced a new iOS app Printer Control with printing and remote control capabilities. Apart from typical set of functions such as automatic printer setup and discovery, troubleshooting cartridge identification, printer status notification this iOS app allows using your iOS device as a scanner and includes scan to Google Docs, scan to email and scan to Facebook capabilities.
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Today Adobe announced that Digital Publishing Suite will support Apple upcoming Newsstand service for iOS 5. Newsstand feature is designed to serve as the organization centre for digital subscriptions in Apple’s iOS 5, allowing users to easily access the recent content downloaded in background mode.

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After amazing lost of the iPhone 5 prototype, Apple seems to start worry about their forthcoming devices, having posted a job listing for two positions that are titled “New Product Security Managers”. Noteworthy to say, that these positions became available just a day after there appeared rumors claiming that Apple had lost the iPhone 5 prototype at a San Francisco bar. That’s probably somewhat of a coincidence, but it is obvious that the company does its best to protect future products and its intellectual property, describing the new jobs as follows:

The candidate will be responsible for overseeing the protection of, and managing risks to, Apple’s unreleased products and related intellectual property. Position will reside in Cupertino, California and will require up to 30% travel (international and domestic). The individual will collaborate with other security managers by contributing to, and managing execution of, strategic initiatives set forth by Director, Global Security.

MacRumors reports that Apple is shipping its new 27-inch Thunderbolt Display to its retail stores and resellers this week. Early online customer orders are expected to begin shipping on September 15. Apple unveiled this 27-inch LED display in July. The display is the first display that can boast about of the new Thunderbolt I/O technology. The display requires a Mac with a Thunderbolt I/O port. Such Thunderbolt compatibility allows the displays to act as a docking station using a single Thunderbolt cable.

“The Apple Thunderbolt Display is the ultimate docking station for your Mac notebook,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said when the display was first unveiled. "With just one cable, users can dock with their new display and connect to high performance peripherals, network connections and audio devices.”

The Thunderbolt Display features a built-in FaceTime HD camera, 2.1 speaker system, three USB ports, one Firewire 800 port, one Gigabit Ethernet port, and a second Thunderbolt port to enable daisy chaining, a 16:9 edge-to-edge glass design with an ultra-wide 178 degree viewing angle.