Apple blog iMore has "heard" from unnamed sources that Apple is looking to replace the venerable 30-pin iPhone, iPad and iPod dock connector with a smaller, space-saving successor that will possibly make a debut in the company's next generation iPhone.
An updated “micro dock” could make room for bigger batteries, 4G radios, and other components far more important to the iPhone and iPad in a PC free world. As iMore points out, the current dock connector isn't huge, but as devices continue to get smaller and thinner, every little bit counts.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple and its suppliers are working on a smaller iPad that would carry a 8-inch display.
Officials at some of Apple's suppliers, who declined to be named, said the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has shown them screen designs for a new device with a screen size of around 8-inches, and said it is qualifying suppliers for it. Apple's latest tablet, the iPad 2, comes with a 9.7-inch screen. It was launched late last year.
RepairLabs reports that it has managed to obtain a photo of what is claimed to be the rear shell of the iPad 3 and compared the part with the corresponding version of the iPad 2. Based on the photo, the site concluded that the iPad 3 version demonstrates a few minor changes with a narrower logic board that could make room for an expanded battery.
In a side-by-side comparison of the new component with the iPad 2 back panel, the repair site found four key differences:
The alleged third-generation iPad back panel has "very different" mounts for the logic board, implying that the shape of the logic board in the next iPad will also be a major change.
This would allow for a larger battery within the iPad 3, because the width of where the logic board sits is much smaller on the new component.
The component also reveals that the camera on the new iPad will be "different," though any changes from the current iPad 2 cannot be deciphered from the panel.
Finally, the site also declared that the LCD display will also be "different" than the current iPad 2, based on different mounting in the new back panel. Apple is rumored to utilize a new, high-resolution Retina Display for its next iPad.
The photo does not show the backside of the rear shell that would be visible on the assembled device, nor does it show an edge view that would allow for a thickness comparison to the iPad 2.
Tech in Asia reports that Apple is preparing to bring support for Chinese, Japanese and Russian to Siri on the iPhone 4S next month. Chinese support will only include Mandarin, with Cantonese and other dialects being left out for the time being.
The Chinese tech site DoNews claims to have heard from an Apple engineer who’s working on the Chinese-language version of Siri, the clever voice assistant on the iPhone 4S. From this source it claims that Siri will launch in Chinese next month, and is already undergoing internal testing this month. [...]
Apple today announced that it would support Paul McCartney's new album release. The company plans to steam a special free video of the live concert on Thursday, February 9 via iTunes on Mac and PC. The video will also be available directly on users' Apple TVs, signalling new efforts by Apple to increase the utility of its set-top box.
To celebrate the release of Paul McCartney's latest album — available now — we're streaming his exclusive performance at Capitol Studios on February 9 at 7 p.m. (PST). Watch the concert on iTunes on your computer, or stream it on your TV using your Apple TV — just choose iTunes Live from the Internet menu.
TechCrunch reports that Apple removed from the App Store a number of copycat applications such as Temple Run, Tiny Wings and Words with Friends that closely mimicked the titles of successful games after they provoked a public outcry from developers over the issue. The fraudulent apps were largely the work of developer Anton Sinelnikov.
Sinelnikov, however, is not alone in his efforts, as dozens of other applications from other developers have attempted to dishonestly capitalize on the successes of others. Numerous developers and users asked Apple to take down the offending apps. Keith Shepherd, the creator of Temple Run, noted on his account that an app like Temple Jump "taints the integrity of the App Store." After Apple pulled the app, Shepherd posted on Twitter that he was "thankful."
John Browett will become Apple’s new Senior Vice President of Retail after leaving his current position as CEO of Dixons Retail, one of the largest consumer retailers in Europe with over 40,000 employees.
Apple today announced that John Browett will join the company as senior vice president of Retail, reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Browett comes to Apple from European technology retailer Dixons Retail, where he has been CEO since 2007. Beginning in April, he will be responsible for Apple’s retail strategy and the continued expansion of Apple retail stores around the world.
AppleInsider claims that Apple is expected to adopt and start supporting the new faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi specification into products this year.
The new 802.11ac standard achieves much faster wireless networking speeds than the existing 802.11n specification (in use on the latest Mac, AirPort and iOS devices) by using 2 to 4 times the frequency bandwidth (from 80 to 160MHz), more efficient data transfers through sophisticated modulation, and more antennas (up to 8; existing standards support up to 4, while Apple's Macs currently use up to 3).
This "Gigabit WiFi" offers speeds 3 times as fast as existing 802.11n wireless networks can with speeds of over 1 Gigabit per second.
Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced the results of its "HMC Fuse: Algebra I" pilot program at Ameila Earhart Middle School in California's Riverside Unified School District. Algebra I digital textbook is the world's first full-curriculum algebra application developed exclusively for Apple's iPad. The program helped more than 78 percent of students score "Proficient" or "Advanced" on the spring 2011 California Standards Test. That was significantly higher than the 59 percent of peers who used traditional textbooks.
"By engineering a comprehensive platform that combines the best learning material with technology that embraces students' strengths and addresses their weaknesses, we've gone far beyond the capabilities of an e-book to turn a one-way math lesson into an engaging, interactive, supportive learning experience," said Bethlam Forsa, executive vice president of Global Content and Product Development at HMH. "With HMH Fuse, teachers can assess student progress in real time and tailor instruction as needed.”
Analyst Ben A. Reitzes with Barclays Capital said in a note to investors on Wednesday that Apple's growth in China now extends beyond the iPhone and iPad, with Mac sales there also continuing to outpace the U.S. Reitzes believes that Apple's total global sales will be up 22 percent year over year, thanks largely to rapid expansion in China.
"We believe Mac sales remain relatively strong even as the economy weakens, benefitting from new stores in China and strong sales of the MacBook Air," he said. "Even though the economy and HDD shortages are concerns that could limit upside, we remain comfortable with our estimate for 22% (year over year) Mac unit growth for (the fourth quarter of calendar 2011) given overseas momentum -- especially in China where growth is much higher."
Pod2g has revealed that the new iPhone 4S and iPad 2 jailbreak tool developed by the Chronic Dev Team is called Absinthe.
A tool named Absinthe and developed by the Chronic Dev Team will install the untether on your device. Also the iPhone Dev Team will release a CLI (command line) tool to help diagnose issues and repair things if it goes wrong.
This is a little scary I know, but the chance you break something is really small, since we made lots of tests to verify the process on different devices. But it is the first time we use the backup / restore functions of iTunes to install software, and there are maybe things we are not aware of.
For more detailed information ahead of the jailbreak please read the information from iPhone Dev-Team.
The iPhone 4S and iPad 2 jailbreak utilities are undergoing testing and polishing before the public release. According to 'Dream Team' member planetbeing:
We're testing & fixing problems with the jb app (that @pimskeks finished the majority of at incredible speed). Still needs to be polished.
P0sixninja also tweeted it should not be much longer before the jailbreak gets released.
Today in the second part of its education-focused media event Apple turned attention to iTunes U, free podcast section of the iTunes Store. Eddy Cue announced that more than 1,000 universities are using iTunes U, and its content was downloaded over 700 million times to date.
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.
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.