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News tagged ‘eBooks’
Apple said to be considering a 14-inch MacBook Air for Asian markets
A new rumor suggests that Apple could develop a new 14-inch MacBook Air model specifically for the Asian PC market. DigiTimes reported that mass production of the 14-inch thin-and-light notebook may begin soon. Apple is said to be considering the 14-inch screen size for the notebook because it is a popular form factor unique to the region.
Apple currently sells MacBook Air in screen sizes of 11.6 inches and 13.3 inches. But in the Asia market 14-inch notebooks account for as much as 40 percent of sales that is why Apple is said to be considering a screen size specifically for that region.
Leave a commentThinner MacBook Pro Models in 13-Inch and 15-Inch Sizes Coming in April
Sources in Apple's upstream supply chain indicated to DigiTimes that new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros with a thinner and lighter design are expected to launch in April "at the soonest," with an initial shipment of just under a million units. A redesigned version of the 17-inch MacBook Pro is apparently not expected at launch.
Apple's upgraded MacBook Pro lineup along with new MacBook Airs and the forthcoming OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Mac operating system upgrade are expected in the industry to pose a "significant threat" to notebooks. Moreover, earlier this week Intel indicated that the company's next-generation Ivy Bridge chips are expected to debut eight to 10 weeks later than previously planned.
Suppliers gearing up for Apple's launch of new MacBook Air models
MacBook Air lineup was last updated in July of 2011, when Apple added high-speed Thunderbolt ports and backlit keyboards to both the 11.6- and 13.3-inch models, and now sources from Apple's supply chain are waiting for the refreshed notebooks.
The anticipated MacBook Air update was mentioned on Tuesday by DigiTimes, which said that assembler Quanta Computer is expected to see its revenues grow thanks to the new product launch. It was said that Apple is "set to launch a new MacBook Air model," but a specific timeline for its release was not given.
Apple Forces Pegatron Into Ceasing Production of ASUS Zenbooks
Digitimes, one of the major Apple’s manufacturing partners Pegatron has ceased production of ASUS’ over pressure from Apple. Digitimes notes that Apple is displeased with similarities in design between MacBook Air and Zenbooks and asked Pegatron to stop production of these notebooks or it will lose orders for manufacturing of iOS devices.
MacBook Pros Will Adopt MacBook Air Form Factor This Year?
Mockup of MacBook Air design covering full range of notebook sizes
Last year it was reported that Apple is working on a redesigned ultra-thin 15-inch Mac notebook which was expected to launch by the end of 2011. But the company apparently elected to delay its release and wait for the launch of Intel’s Ivy Bridge platform in 2012 to include it in its new models.
AppleInsider now citing people familiar with Apple’s plans that the company is preparing to release revamped MacBook Pro lineup sometimes this year. The full range of MacBook Pros will adopt the design aesthetic of increasingly popular MacBook Airs. According to the report, the existing MacBook Pro designs will be phased out over the course of 2012. However it is unclear yet whether the new notebooks will market as a next-generation MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.
Apple Offers Stripped-Down 13" MacBook Air Package To Educational Institutions
Apple has begun to offer a cheaper 13-inch MacBook Air to educational institutions buying in bulk, replacing the two-year offering of white plastic MacBooks, which was recently discontinued. The sales of white MacBook were discontinued by the company back in July of 2011.
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.
Foxconn To Build Up To Five Factories In Brazil
Today Julio Semeghini, the Secretary of Planning and Development of the State of Sao Paulo revealed that Apple’s major contract manufacturer Foxconn will construct up to five plants in Brazil with 1,000 employees each.
According to local website , Foxconn of Taiwan will leverage the additional factories to manufacture PCs and notebooks, electronic components, precision machine elements, batteries and connectors. According to the secretary, the factories should be located in Jundiai, Sao Paolo and negotiations will continue after the Chinese New Year ends.
Wisconsin uses Microsoft settlement funds to buy iPads for schools
Wisconsin State Journal has reported that Wisconsin is buying 600 iPads this spring and plans to buy another 800 this fall. The state will pay for the tablets using the funds of the state's settlement with Microsoft related to consumer lawsuits claiming the company overcharged customers for its software. The Journal also presented rather strong argument that the tablets are simply cheaper, more portable and easier to use than conventional computers.
The new iPads will enable students to wirelessly share their work and enable schools to replace textbooks with digital apps or ebooks, referring to Apple's recent announcement related to iBooks 2, iBooks Author and digital textbooks as a "significant development."
District deputy superintendent Sue Abplanalp noted that Madison administrators had been impressed by the results of an iPad trial by Chicago Public Schools, which found the tablets were successful in keeping students more engaged in the classroom.
27 German Publishers Will Launch Their Own Open Textbook Platform
Following Apple’s move into education sphere with the introduction of the new “iBooks Author” and “iBooks 2.0” platform, new reports say that 27 textbook publishers in Germany will join together to combat Apple with their own digital textbook platform. The platform will be released in time for the beginning of the next school year.
Apple Became The World's Top Semiconductor Consumer In 2011
Given the increasing popularity of Apple’s mobile devices and growing demand for smartphones, it is no surprise that Apple is raising its expenses on chips. The research firm Gartner that Apple is now the largest buyer of semiconductors in the world as measured on the basis of Design TAM, or total silicon content in all devices designed by Apple and its rivals. In 2011, Apple spent $17 billion on silicon parts, which accounts for 5.7% of total silicon buying.
Apple to Launch 'Garageband for e-books' on Thursday
This week, on Thursday, January 19, Apple plans to hold its education-related media event. Last week Apple sent out invitations for the event with a tagline stated that the company would make an "education announcement in the Big Apple." The multiple reports are claiming that the company could announce an initiative to help textbook makers produce interactive ebooks for the iPad, with some sources calling the initiative "Garageband for e-books."
ArsTechnica reported on Monday that its sources are claiming that Apple will release a simple app that makes e-book publishing as easy as recording a song in GarageBand. Inkling CEO Matt MacInnis, who worked on education projects at Apple before leaving to focus on interactive e-books, also confirms the rumors, because he dosn't believe that Apple would start releasing content to replace, for example, textbooks, the company is likely to provide content production tools, similar to its own Logic or Final Cut Pro software.
IDG: 91% Of IT And Business Professionals Use Their iPads At Work
Research firm IDG published a new survey showing that iPad is very popular tool among business and IT professionals. According to the global survey, which is available for , 91% of respondents "always" or "sometimes" use the iPad at work. Consumers and professionals both use the iPad for media consumption, and in the case of pros is chiefly work-related and text-based.
Apple sold 1.2M MacBook Airs over holidays, new models with Ivy Bridge loom
According to DigiTimes sources, Apple sold 1.2 million of its thin-and-light MacBook Air over the holiday buying season. These numbers are 200,000 more than Apple achieved in the September quarter. Thanks to MacBook Air sales, Apple became the only vendor that managed to maintain its total notebook shipments from the third quarter to the fourth of calendar 2011.
DigiTimes also claims that another strong performance for the MacBook Air comes as Apple is expected to refresh the ultraportable notebook line in the coming months with Intel's next-generation Ivy Bridge processors. Apple PC competitors are doing their best to replicate MacBook Air success, and going to launch their own notebooks based on the "Ultrabook" specification from Intel. Lenovo, Acer and Toshiba reportedly plan to price comparable models $50 to $100 below Apple's MacBook Air pricing.
Apple Has Agreed To Pay $5 million To Settle Multi-Touch Patent Dispute With Elan
According to Reuter’s , Taiwan-based company Elan Microelectronics has announced a settlement of a patent dispute with Apple related to multi-touch technology. Elan states that Apple has agreed to cross-license some patents and pay $5 million to avoid future disputes regarding said intellectual property.