News tagged ‘IRC’

Construction crews spent the last few months revamping the 32-foot glass cube, which previously consisted of 90 glass panes. The new cube features 15 larger panes of glass, and it is almost “seemless” without nearly all of the hardware, which previously held glass panes together.

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Digitimes suggests that Apple's next iPad should enter mass production soon with a launch set for March 2012. But this new product won’t be a “real” iPad 3 rather an updated iPad 2. The “real” iPad 3 is expected to be launched no earlier that the third quarter of 2012. Although Digitimes does not provide any distinction as to what qualifies as a "real iPad 3", the site claims that it would be thinner than the iPad 2 and offer longer battery life.

The most obvious difference between the updated iPad 2 and the “real” iPad 3 is an ultra-high resolution Retina display that is rumored to be implemented in the iPad 3. Rumors about Apple’s plans to build in such display in their devices have been circulating for months. But the most recent reports indicate that Apple's suppliers are finding it challenge to produce such high density displays. Anyway Apple could change their plains at any moment.

Rumors about release of the native Gmail application from Google have been circulating for about three years since Apple launched the App Store. Bloger, MG Siegler claims that Google “is on the verge of launching their native Gmail app” and have likely already submitted it to Apple for review. If the company approves the application, it should be released soon.

The native Gmail app will likely bring other key functionality as well: like Priority Inbox and one-click starring of messages. Other possibilities include some of the stuff Google is about to roll out for Gmail proper: like contact icons, better threading, and deep searching functionality. Maybe there will even be some Google+ integration, which Google is also hard at work on for Gmail.

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Nick Bilton at the New York Times is pretty sure that Apple is building a television set. It is believed that the TV set will include Siri voice recognition service. Apple could announce the new set by the end of 2012 with public reliance in 2013. Anonymous sources say that an Apple television is a "guaranteed product for Apple" because "Steve thinks the industry is totally broken."

The rumors about Apple’s television set have been circulating for years, perhaps as far back as 2007, since the launch of the first iPhone. Some days ago we reported that Apple now is making prototypes of the Apple TV.

It’s the stuff of science fiction. You sit on your couch and rather than fumble with several remotes or use hand gestures, you simply talk: “Put on the last episode of Gossip Girl.” “Play the local news headlines.” “Play some Coldplay music videos.” Siri does the rest.

As the line between television programming and Web content continues to erode, a Siri-powered television would become more necessary. You aren’t going to want to flip through file folders or baskets of content, checking off what you want. Telling Siri to “play videos of cute cats falling asleep” would return an endless YouTube stream of adorable napping fur balls.

Bilton also reports that Apple still has “quite a bit of work to do on the project.” But the launch of the new Apple’s television set is just a matter of time.

Rumors of an Apple-branded television have been circulating for years, and now have revived after release of Steve Jobs’ authorized biography, where he claims that he finally “cracked” problem. Some analysts expect that Apple may release a new television set as soon as next year. Among the newly presented evidence is a claim that prototypes of the Apple television set are now "in the works".

- Based on Jan-11 meetings in Asia (not with component suppliers), we believe Apple is investing in manufacturing facilities and securing supply for LCD displays. These displays could range from 3.5" mobile displays to 50" television displays.

- More recently, in Sept-11 we met with a contact close to an Asian component supplier who indicated that prototypes of an Apple television are in the works.

Other evidence is several patents and patent applications filed by Apple that addressing the company's work into television-related technologies.  Our expectations from Apple TV include integration with iCloud that would provide access to iTunes Store video content.  Apple is believed could sell 1.4 million television sets at an average selling price of $1800 in 2012, ramping up to 4.3 million units by 2014 as costs drop to an average selling price of $1400.

9to5Mac suggests that Apple may launch the new MacBook Pros next week.

With supplies only becoming more constrained, and with shipments already touching down in select countries, we think a launch next week is likely (between Tuesday and Thursday). That is, of course, if there are no unforeseen circumstances.

The new laptops are likely to have the same prices as current MacBook Pros. The new machines are said to be only a minor update and would probably take advantage of new Sandy Bridge processors released by Intel late this year. The new processors include Quad Core i7 processors with speeds of 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz and 2.7GHz, as well as a Dual Core i7 at 2.8GHz models. The most expectable candidates among processors that might be used for upgrade are Core i7-2840M, Core i7-2760QM, Core i7-2860QM (the top three in the list below). Apple is unable to use Core i7-2960XM due to problems with heating and is unlikely to use the mobile Celeron processor.

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.

As AUSBT reports, Quantas Airlines is going to launch a six week trial service allowing passengers to watch movies on offered iPad 2. Passengers can use a ‘Q Streaming’ app on iPad 2 to stream movies from in-flight Wi-Fi access points. This six week trial service will be offered only on one Boeing 767-300 that can carry 254 passengers.

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Apple has started promotion of its iBookstore on Twitter by launching a new account in this social network to keep followers informed on special offers, new releases and other changes in the store. Apple has actually created account in June, but the company has just today started sending out Tweets.

"Welcome to the Apple #iBookstore on Twitter. Follow us to discover new releases, exclusive book offers, and more".

The Apple’s second Tweet promotes "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern, which is now actively promoted by the company. Currently Apple is featuring this book on the main page of iBookstore. Starbucks  has also joined the promotion by offering an "extended sample" of this book for free through its program “Pick of the Week” .

Apples created several Twitter accounts to keep users updated on featured and new content on the iTunes Store.

Also Apple is expanded its ties with this social network in other places, having allowed for Facebook and Twitter posting on its online store and added Twitter integration to the upcoming iOS 5.

Despite the fact the Apple is still only planning to build its new corporate campus on Cupertino, California, it seems that the company has already realized that it won’t be enough for 13,000-employees and is likely to begin planning on a third campus, said  Cupertino mayor Gilbert Wong.

And just like a new gadget, the company may not be done upgrading. Wong said Apple executives have told him the company is expanding so fast that it expects to start working on Apple Campus 3 at an unknown location after they finish the second headquarters in 2015. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on plans for a third campus.

Now Apple reportedly requests 13 separate approvals from the city in connection with the second campus. The company hopes to collect all necessary documents by late 2012. That schedule would see construction begin on the new 2.8 million square foot circular main building in 2013, with an opening targeted for 2015. The campus will include 25,000 square foot fitness center, 1,000 seat auditorium, a parking garage, an energy center, research and development buildings.

Mozilla states that web apps will soon provide end users with a comparable to native apps experience and will represent better alternative for developers.

“We are aiming at providing all the necessary APIs to build a basic HTML5 phone experience within the next 3-6 months”

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According to many rumors regarding Apple’s next-generation tablet, the iPad release was planned for later this year, and its first shipment had to be limited. However, as DigiTimes reports, citing Apple’s component suppliers, the company has canceled all orders for this year’s iPad 3 production, which means that iPad 3 won’t be put on sale until 2012.

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We have already heard many rumors about upgrade of Apple’s smartphone line this fall, as well as information about the release of next-generation tablet. Also rumors about launch of iPod touch with 3G modem have been circulating. But we forgot that upgrade of all iPod line is planned on September.

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The City of Cupertino posted some pictures and more information on Apple's "spaceship" campus that was first revealed in June and is expected to be completed in 2015. The project includes the following:

• An Office, Research and Development Building comprising approximately 2.8 million square feet;
• A 1,000 seat Corporate Auditorium;
• A Corporate Fitness Center;
• Research Facilities comprising approximately 300,000 square feet;
• A Central Plant; and
• Associated Parking.

As Steve Jobs described it back in June:

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Google has released an update for its Google+ application for iOS devices, including iPod touch and iPad, which previously were unavailable in this app. Also this update includes improvements in huddle settings, aggregated circle add notifications and usual improvements in performance and stability.

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