News tagged ‘POI’

DigiTimes reports, citing its sources, that Apple has decreased shipments of iPad 2 displays from 16 million panels in the third quarter to 10 million panels in the fourth quarter of 2011 and to 7-8 million panels in the first quarter of this year. This means that by the end of this year the production of Retina displays for iPads 3 with resolution of 2048x1536 pixels will surpass that of panels for iPads 2.

Read the rest of this entry »

Japanese website Macotakara reported today that Apple is planning to hold an earlier-than-expected special event to unveil a so-called "iPad 3" along with iOS 5.1 in early February. Despite a rumored early February introduction, the report claims that the new iPad would still launch in early March, much like the iPad 2 in 2011. Last year, the iPad 2 was unveiled in a media event held on March 2 and was released on March 11. Apple seems to want its customers to wait little bit longer for the next-generation iPad.  The delay might be caused by the fact that Chinese factories will be shut down to celebrate that country's New Year. This year's festival is earlier than usual, and runs from Jan. 23 through 28.

Recent reports have suggested that Foxconn and Pegatron will begin shipping the first "iPad 3" units in early March. Rumors leading up to the anticipated iPad unveiling have generally pointed toward a March launch of the device, but a month long wait time between the unveiling and sale of a new iPad would be a change from Apple's approach in 2011.

Different sources have generally agreed that the next iPad will support a new high-resolution "Retina Display"  and that Apple will continue to sell the current-generation iPad 2 at a reduced price.

OnLive, video game streaming company, has introduced a virtual, streaming Microsoft Windows 7 Desktop app for iPad. The Desktop app, introduced at CES, will finally be available on other platforms including Apple’s Mac. The full-functional versions of Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint will be available to users soon after CloudOn released its Office solution for iPad.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

According to market research firm NPD Group, sales of general purpose smartphones are causing the market for standalone gadgets such as cameras, camcorders and GPS devices to shrink, falling 5.9 percent overall during the holiday season in the US.

Sales of camcorders dropped by 43 percent, digital picture frames by 38 percent, GPS navigation devices by 33 percent and both MP3 players and "point and shoot" cameras were down 21 percent, all apparent casualties of the general purpose smartphone. Sales of electronic devices that don't directly overlap in functionality with the smartphone fared better, with PC and TV sales down just 4 percent. Desktop PCs were down 2 percent overall, while notebook sales were down 5 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple an original iPhone patent for editing lists by using touch gestures. Such technology gives an opportunity for inventions regarding use of the handset as a portable hard drive and a filing for the company's now defunct Bluetooth headset.

The original touchscreen patent, first filed for in June 2007, covers a method for displaying and managing lists on a portable multifunction device, and details a simple computer user interface controlled by finger gestures rather than a sequence of button presses and stylus touches. What the abstract describes is the basic list management system found on current iOS devices.

Included in the patent background is a look at the state of portable devices at the time, which Apple claimed "resorted to adding more pushbuttons, increasing the density of push buttons, overloading the functions of pushbuttons, or using complex menu systems to allow a user to access, store and manipulate data." A far cry from what the company eventually released in the original one-button iPhone.

The company explains that devices which rely on physical pushbuttons are inherently limited in their configurability, and that a conventional user may find it frustrating to operate such an inflexible interface.

Because such devices are designed to read the precise pinpoint contact of the stylus (when a user makes a selection on the touch screen with the stylus), making selections on the touch screen of the device without a stylus, for example, with a user's finger, can prove to be somewhat difficult.

Apple early today updated its investor relations page to officially state that it will report its fiscal first-quarter (fourth calendar quarter of 2011) earnings on Tuesday, Jan. 24, when it will reveal the results of the iPhone 4S launch and holiday shopping season.

Apple’s conference call webcast discussing Q1 - 2012 financial results will begin at 2:00pm PT/5:00pm ET on Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

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.

Current expectations on Wall Street call for Apple to report profits of $9.83 billion on revenue of $38.16 billion. A total of 46 analysts polled skew as high as $10.74 billion and as low as $8.88 billion in their predicted revenue. The company is also predicting all-time record iPhone sales as industry sales estimates have been pointing toward a similar record for Mac sales. iPad sales are also expected to be strong with a record number of sales. As for iPod sales, this quarter remains the company's strongest while iPods remain ones of the most popular gifts.

Yesterday startup CloudOn launched a free iPad app WorkSpace aimed at bringing the Microsoft Office’s functionality to the iPad. This app actually works as an interface for the cloud-based app operated on CloudOn’s servers, so it requires connection to the Internet. The app provides the functional implementation of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word as well as full integration with syncing and file storage through Dropbox.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sources in Apple's supply chain told DigiTimes that Apple has begun reducing orders for the iPad 2 ahead of the unveiling of an anticipated third-generation iPad. While iPad 2 orders are being reduced, orders for the next iPad, reportedly set to launch in March of 2012, remain steady. It's not yet known whether Apple will keep the iPad 2 around at a discounted price. There are some rumors claiming that Apple would remain it available at a discounted price in order to take on Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire. It is known that Apple has gained great success in continuing to sell older iPhone models at discounted prices. The iPhone 3GS is still remaining the number 2 smartphone in the United States.

Various reports have suggested that Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2 at a discounted price after it launches a third-generation iPad. Apple already employs that strategy in offering the iPhone 3GS, first released in 2009, as an entry-level handset, in addition to the iPhone 4, released in 2010, and iPhone 4S, which just launched in October.

There are also lots of rumors suggesting that in 2012 Apple plans to introduce new models of the iPad with different features at a number of price points. Many analysts believe that Apple indeed will launch the next-generation iPad with a high-resolution Retina Display.

Market research company comScore published their latest estimates of market shares taken by the main players on the mobile market. Apple’s share continues to slowly move upward with 11.2 percent of all U.S. Mobile Subscribers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Like the controversial face unlock functionality in Google’s Galaxy Nexus, a new Apple’s patent application points out that the company is developing similar but more sofisticated face detection solution. As PatentlyApple reports, Apple said that these user detection system could be included in a future MacBook, iPad, iPod touch and iPhone.
Read the rest of this entry »

Digitimes now claims that it has obtained new portion of information on the rumored Apple’s television. The main role in manufacturing and assembling of the new TVs is expected to be played by Foxconn, Apple's primary iOS device manufacturing partner.  The company is likely to win the contract for assembly of the television set products.

Following sources' claims that Samsung Electronics and Sharp will manufacture chips and displays, respectively, for the so-called Apple "iTV," others have suggested that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) have the potential to win orders for Apple's smart TV.

Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) likely will obtain assembly orders for the Apple smart TV, according to industry sources.

We have already reported that Apple is going to finalize Apple’s TV design by the end of the second quarter and launch the television sets by the end of the year. Moreover, the analyst Shaw Wu at Sterne Agee has suggested that Apple may be interested in disrupting the television industry on the content side by launching its own television services which, obviously, will be connected with Siri.

"This is obviously much more complicated (than current offerings) from a licensing standpoint," Wu wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday. "And in our view, would change the game for television and give AAPL a big leg-up against the competition."

Hardware and technology are not the issues holding back Apple from releasing a television set, he said. Instead, Apple must negotiate unique content deals that will allow the company to differentiate its product from other televisions on the market.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office published on Tuesday that Apple won a core multitouch patent that describes how touch events are recognized by a touchscreen device. The patent blog Patently Apple also noted that this patent was one of the "200+ Patents for new inventions" Jobs lauded when the iPhone first debuted in 2007.

The newly granted patent focuses on the oscillator signal and circuit of a touchscreen-equipped device, an integral invention directly related to how users interact with their multitouch products.

Apple states in the filing: "In general, multi-touch panels may be able to detect multiple touches (touch events or contact points) that occur at or about the same time, and identify and track their locations."

One way to record multiple touches is to generate an oscillating signal circuit that can power and clock inputs over a substrate as in a capacitive touchscreen display. But it is difficult to create a precise circuit-based oscillator. According to Apple's patent, the solution to capacitive touchscreen problem is to calibration logic circuitry which compares the signal oscillation against a reference signal and tunes the clock frequency accordingly. The invention provides for an accurate capacitive display that can not only sense multiple touches, but also detect hover or near touches which are also recognized as "touch events."

AllThingsD has decided to have a look at how the launch of Apple's Newsstand iOS 5 feature has affected subscription sales. Popular Science magazine was an object for the study that has revealed that the prominent placement of the Newsstand app and easy access to updated content has driven a substantial increase in new subscriptions. In fact, Apple’s Newsstand is a new way for users to keep track of their subscriptions, house them in a dedicated folder.

The chart comes to us courtesy of Mag+, Bonnier’s tablet-publishing software business. And as Mag+ CEO Staffan Ekholm points out, the really promising indicator for Pop Sci isn’t the one-week sales leap of 13 percent — it’s that the the magazine’s growth picked up after that week, with more velocity.

If you look at the graph above, you will find out that Popular Science appears to have been adding new subscribers at a constant rate of about 700 per week during the several months. Noteworthy, the magazine was a leader among digital media even before the debut of iOS 5. But a month after iOS 5 launch, we see a significant bump in Popular Science subscription sales at nearly double the rate seen before the arrival of Newsstand.

The recent rumors claim that Apple may launch a smaller 7.85" iPad sometime in 2012 to compete against the new 7" Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon. Though Apple has never tried to compete spec for spec against their competitors. For example, the iPhone has kept the same basic form factor across 5 different generations.

The supply chain has actually been very specific about the screen size of this rumored iPad. According to Chinese manufacturers, Apple is buying up 7.85" screens for this upcoming mini iPad. So, we asked our friends at CiccareseDesign to put together these mockups of what a 7.85" iPad would look like in comparison to the existing 9.7" iPad.

The 7.85" iPad is actually a lot smaller than the existing iPad. Icons are smaller than the 9.7" iPad, of course, but still bigger than the icons found on the iPhone. The on screen keyboard also seems quite usable at this size.

Read the rest of this entry »