ITC rules Motorola did not violate Apple patents
The U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled a couple of days ago that Motorola's Droid line of smartphones does not violate Apple's patents.
"We are pleased with today's favorable outcome for Motorola Mobility," Scott Offer, senior vice president and general counsel of Motorola Mobility, said in a statement. "Motorola Mobility has worked hard over the years to develop technology and build an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio. We are proud to leverage this broad and deep portfolio to create differentiated innovations that enhance the user experience."
iPad 3 with LTE, Quad-Core Processor and Retina Display Set for March Launch
Bloomberg has confirmed that Apple's manufacturing partners have indeed begun on production of the iPad 3. The report corroborates rumors that the iPad will offer a quad-core processor and sport a high-resolution "Retina" display. The iPad 3 is also said to offer 4G LTE support for faster data connectivity on the go.
Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s next iPad tablet, due in March, will sport a high-definition screen, run a faster processor and work with long-term evolution wireless networks, according to three people familiar with the product. [...]
The tablet will use a quad-core chip, an enhancement that lets users more quickly jump between applications, two of the people said. Apple is bringing LTE to the iPad before the iPhone because the tablet has a bigger battery and can better support the power requirements of the newer technology, said one of the people.
Apple Releases 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report and Supplier List
Yesterday Apple released its annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report for 2012, where the company details efforts to oversee working conditions and environmental responsibility at its suppliers around the world. Apple specially noted that it conducted 229 audits during 2011.
In 2011, we conducted 229 audits throughout our supply chain — an 80 percent increase over 2010 — including more than 100 first-time audits. We continue to expand our program to reach deeper into our supply base, and this year we added more detailed and specialized audits that focus on safety and the environment.
iH8Sn0w Releases Update to iREB for Windows
iH8Sn0w has announced the release of iREB r5, an update to his Windows utility that helps you get past iTunes errors when restoring to a custom firmware.
Release Notes:
● Much smaller file size (390kb).
● Fixed USB 3.0 issues.
● iREB's speed for the iPhone 2G/iPhone 3G/iPod Touch 1G has increased significantly!
● Fixed rare DFU detection issues.
● Updated limera1n/steaks4uce payload to not hook "cmd_go" on 4.x images (nothing severe, but useless here).
You can download iReb version 5 here.
Apple Wants To Increase Its Environmental Friendliness With New Cables Without Halogens
According to The London Evening Standard’s
Target confirms it will open 25 Apple store-within-a-store outlets this year
Last week AppleInsider exclusively reported that Apple would plan to open 25 specialty stores inside Target's largest stores this year. The retailer confirmed those exact details in a presentation in New York on Thursday, according to The New York Times.
The concept is called "The Shops at Target," and the dedicated Apple ministores coming to 25 Target locations will not be alone. The Minneapolis-based retailer has also partnered with Boston's Polka Dog Bakery and Miami's The Webster, among others, for its specialty shops.
Apple Wants To Lease 700,000-800,000 Square Feet Of New Space In Sunnyvale
While Apple is moving forward on plans for its 2.8 million square feet campus in Cupertino, its interim space needs continue to grow, although the company leased 373,000 square feet space in Cupertion half a year ago and soon aftter
Untethered jailbreak for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S will be released in a few days
The 'dream team' of iPhone hackers has made more progress on the A5 jailbreak with planetbeing just announcing that they're out of Apple's sandbox.
And we're out of the sandbox with @saurik's invaluable help! (well, at least there's a PoC) Turning out more complex than X-Gold 618.
pod2g also mentioned progress in twitter:
@planetbeing escaped from the sandbox with the help of @saurik. Thanks to their awesome work, there should be nothing left blocking for the A5 jailbreak. Now it should be a matter of days. Still no precise ETA of course.
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Apple Researching Motion-Sensing Virtual 3D User Interface for iOS Devices
Patently Apple has discovered a newly-published patent application from Apple. The application describes the use of motion sensors to create a virtual three-dimensional interface for iOS devices. Such interface could be a co-called virtual room that could be navigated by changing the orientation of the device. Noteworthy, similar concepts are found in some augmented reality apps.
The invention covers a 3D display environment for mobile device that uses orientation data from one or more onboard sensors to automatically determine and display a perspective projection of the 3D display environment based on the orientation data without the user physically interacting with (e.g., touching) the display.
Morgan Stanley: Apple's next iPhone to be slimmer, may include quad-mode LTE chip
Investment bank Morgan Stanley believes that Apple's next-generation iPhone will be slimmer and could include a quad-mode chip from Qualcomm that would allow for 3G and LTE functionality across all networks.
Morgan Stanley's analyst Katy Huberty suggests that the device will be ready at the end of the second quarter, but the launch will depend on «manufacturing yields,» and the next-generation iPhone is likely to arrive in the third quarter.
Huberty said «it appears that the next-generation iPhone will incorporate Qualcomm's quad-mode chip that would allow it to «run on all 3G and LTE network flavors,» but she said it was «too early to know for sure.»
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Sony Is Making Available Its Music Unlimited Service On iOS Devices
iTunes had for a long time been the only marketplace for iOS-device owners as third-party storefronts was prohibited by Apple’s rules. Giving way to government regulators, Apple last year changed its policy related to third-party stores and allowed subscriptions. This opened the way for music apps from Shazam and Spotify that have recently appeared on the iOS platfrorm. Currently another major music service is going to compete with iTunes.
iTunes had for a long time been the only marketplace for iOS-device owners as third-party storefronts was prohibited by Apple’s rules. Giving way to government regulators, Apple last year changed its policy related to third-party stores and allowed subscriptions. This opened the way for music apps from Shazam and Spotify that have recently appeared on the iOS platfrorm. Currently another major music service is going to compete with iTunes.
iOS Accessories At CES 2012: Wireless HDMI, Multi-docks, iNotebook, Kiosk
There are tons of accessories showed off at CES 2012, many of which were designed for iOS devices. Among the most interesting are multi-docs which offer various ways of charging several iOS devices simultaneously.
Apple awarded 676 patents in 2011
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple was awarded a total of 676 patents in 2011. Now Apple is No. 39 among companies awarded inventions in the U.S., comparing with the last year result, when Apple won 563 patents and was ranked the No. 46 global company in terms of inventions.
The No. 1 inventor in America was IBM, which was awarded 6,180 patents in 2011. The second place belongs to Samsung, which won 4,894 inventions outside of its home country of Korea. The third place took Canon with 2,821 patents. Panasonic came in the fourth place with 2,559, while Toshiba took fifth with 2,483 inventions. Microsoft is in the sixth place, with 2,311 patents, Hewlett-Packard with 1,308 patents in 14th place, Intel with 1,244 patents in 16th place, and AT&T, whose 721 patents put it in 35th.
Apple announces education event in New York City next Thursday, Jan. 19
On Wednesday Apple sent out invitations for a special event set for January 19. The event will be held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, where will be made an announcement related to education.
The invitation, as shown by The Loop, features a chalkboard-style drawing outlining the skyline of New York. Front and center in the skyline is the Apple logo, while the tagline for the event confirms that the event will involve an education-related announcement.
According to the previous rumors, Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue will play a part in the demonstration. The event is highly unlikely to be devoted to a new device like an anticipated third-generation iPad or rumored Apple television.
Strong sales of iPhone 4S a precursor to 'monster' launch of redesigned 'iPhone 5'
The well-known Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster, sent a note to investors on Wednesday where he increased his expectations related to the iPhone sales over the holiday quarter up to 30 million units. But the record sales aren’t the thing that really deserves attention. Instead, Munster 's looking toward the future, with a next-generation redesigned iPhone, which he believes is going to accelerate Apple's growth even further than the current iPhone 4S.
"If Apple sells 30 (million)-plus iPhones in Dec., with no new form factor, up from 17.1m in Sept., it would be evidence supporting our survey work indicating that 94% of iPhone users plan to upgrade to a new iPhone," Munster wrote. "This theme suggests iPhone 5, which we are expecting in Aug. with a new form factor, will be a monster upgrade."