OS X 10.9 to Bring Enhancements to Finder, Safari, Multiple Monitor Support, and Multitasking

9to5Mac shares some details on Apple's upcoming OS X 10.9 operating system, noting that the update will focus in large part on "power-user" features while also incorporating a few more concepts from the company's iOS operating system. Among the enhancements said to be included in OS X 10.9, codenamed "Cabernet":

- New tabbed browsing and tags in Finder
- Redesigned backend for Safari to bring "improved page loading, speed, and efficiency"
- Ability to keep a dedicated Space or full-screen app open on a single monitor within a multiple monitor setup


On the user interface side, the report suggests that there will be some changes, but that they "will not be drastic ones". As part of a management shakeup late last year, Apple's hardware design chief Jonathan Ive also took on responsibility for the Human Interface group on the software side, and it seems to be unclear how widely any changes resulting from his vision will show up in OS X 10.9.

Today's report also indicates that Apple has been working on new ideas for multitasking that could be included in OS X 10.9, drawing some inspiration from iOS.

According to one source, Apple has been testing a new multi-tasking system for OS X that is similar to the quick-app-switcher function on iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. The multitasking feature will be functional for applications in the background, according to this person. Additionally, Apple could use app-pausing technologies from iOS to pause background application processes in OS X. This is significant as full performance could be given to foreground apps, which could help optimize battery life on Apple's notebook computers.

Finally, the report draws into question previous claims of Siri integration in OS X 10.9, suggesting that changes to Apple's management structure have led to a complete reexamination of feature plans, and thus it is now unclear to what extent Siri will be integrated into OS X 10.9.

Apple will be showing off its next versions of both OS X and iOS and its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) scheduled for June 10-14 in San Francisco. Last week, tickets for the conference sold out in two minutes.

Original iPhone Will Soon Be 'Obsolete' In Apple Retail Stores

The original iPhone will soon be considered obsolete in Apple Retail Stores according to an internal Apple document shared by 9to5Mac. Products considered 'obsolete' are ineligible for service parts and documentation at retail stores and cannot be repaired at mail-in AppleCare Repair Centers.

Apple typically makes products 'obsolete' or 'vintage' five years after they are discontinued, though there are some exceptions where required by law. The original iPhone went on sale in June 2007 and was discontinued in July 2008 when the iPhone 3G was released.


Other Apple products that will be considered 'vintage' as of June 11, 2013 include the mid-2007 models of the iMac, the late 2006 model Xserve, and the original Mac Pro. 9to5Mac has the list of newly minted vintage and obsolete products, while Apple maintains a list of all products named vintage or obsolete going back to the Apple II.

Apple Talking With Investors About $15-16 Billion Bond Offering

Following up on yesterday's initial filing from Apple addressing the company's efforts to issue a bond offering to raise cash in support of its stock buyback program, the company today filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining its general plans, which include six different chunks of debt with staggered maturities. The Wall Street Journal has more on Apple's prospectus and other details being revealed in one-on-one meetings with potential investors:

The Apple deal comprises six chunks of debt, according to a regulatory filing from the company. Four tranches of fixed-rate debt are being offered in the form of three-, five-, 10- and 30-year paper. Rounding out the deal are two tranches of floating-rate debt, comprised of three- and five-year notes.

The Wall Street Journal indicates that Apple has not yet announced exactly how much money it intends to raise with today's offering, but that Apple is expected to offer "more than $10 billion" worth of bonds. Reuters cites a higher figure of $15-16 billion, which would rank the deal as one of the largest investment-grade bond offerings in history.

While Apple holds approximately $145 billion in cash and investments, roughly two-thirds of that money is currently held in foreign countries and would be subject to significant taxes if it were to be returned to the United States. As a result, Apple has elected to keep that money offshore and instead rely on relatively cheap debt to fund its capital return program, which consists primarily of a major stock buyback program and a quarterly dividend. Apple's current plan involves spending $100 billion to return capital to investors by the end of 2015.

Update: Reuters reports that the order book for Apple's bond offerings has now topped $40 billion, meaning that investors have offered bids for more than twice the amount of debt Apple is expected to issue. The oversubscription gives Apple flexibility in finalizing interest rates and amounts to be raised and indicates very strong interest in Apple's offering.

Apple’s global market share of mobile phones grows 6.6% year-on-year, Samsung up 22.9%

Apple's share of the global mobile phone market grew by just 6.6 percent in the past year, from 35.1m to 37.4m units, according to new data from the IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. This is the first time its growth has been in single digits since 2009.

Apple's worldwide market share is now 8.9%, behind Samsung at 27.5 percent and Nokia at 14.8 percent. Apple is the market leader in the USA, with a 35 percent market share, but worldwide competes with both low-cost smartphones and featurephones. Apple is rumored to be working on its own low-cost iPhone to compete in the sub-premium market.

Interestingly, smartphones overtook featurephones worldwide for the very first time, grabbing 51.6% of the market.

iPhone 5 LCD faces off with Samsung Galaxy S4 OLED, declared a tie by display expert

Photo: Tagscape.com

Detailed tests of the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4 screens by display calibration and testing specialist DisplayMate has declared the result a draw.

The detailed test results cover color gamut and accuracy, brightness, power efficiency and performance in high ambient lighting. DisplayMate compared the S4′s OLED screen to the LCD screen of the iPhone 5, highlighting the strengths & weaknesses of each and overall declaring it a tie.

The iPhone 5 is now more than half way through its product cycle, which is important to keep in mind for our comparison. However, high-end LCDs like the iPhone 5 are a very mature and refined display technology, so other than screen size, resolution, and the Pixels Per Inch not much is likely to change in the next generation, no matter what Apple decides to do. The iPhone 5 is significantly brighter than the Galaxy S4, particularly for screens with mostly peak white backgrounds. Its color calibration is a bit better, although the Galaxy S4 has a more accurate White. The Galaxy S4 has a much bigger screen, higher resolution, higher PPI, much darker blacks, and better screen uniformity than the iPhone 5. They each have their own particular strengths and weaknesses, but if you scan our color coordinated Comparison Table, both displays are quite good and comparable overall – so it's currently a tie.

iMac $125 off sale at Best Buy pushes new iMacs down to $1175 shipped

Find the best deals/buying advice at 9to5Mac.com/products

Best Buy is taking $125 off all of their stock of iMacs for two days only. New iMacs now start at $1174.99 for the 21.5-inch variety and $1674.99 for the 27-inch variety shipped or site-to-store. These iMacs with super-slim profile were released late last year with low inventory and these are the deepest discounts we've seen.

More specials at Best Buy's 2-Day sale.

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Not able to register for WWDC? Apple’s bringing the conference to you with Tech Talks 2013 Fall Tour

WWDC 2013 sold out in a matter of minutes likely cutting out a few developers who wanted to head to San Francisco for the show. For those who who missed out or who can't make the trip to San Francisco, Apple will again be offering Tech Talks this Fall in a number of cities. (Apple will also be offering videos of WWDC session videos as they unfold.)

 In 2011, Apple's Tech Talk hit 9 cities though it is far from certain that Apple will be hitting the same places this time around:

How to Find an iPhone’s Phone Number

Whether you just got a new phone number, changed a number from an old one, or you happened upon someone else's iPhone and want to know the number of who it belongs to, you can easily retrieve an iPhone's associated mobile number. The obvious solution might be to call another phone, but if the device has no service or the service has been disconnected, don't despair. There are two super simple ways to find the number on the device itself – even if the phone no longer has any service and no sim card – but you can also get it from iTunes and sometimes even on the sim card itself.

Finding an iPhone's Number on the iPhone Itself

The easiest way to find an iPhone's number is from Settings where it will be visible at the top of a preference screen:

• Open Settings then choose "Phone"
• Find the number at the top of the screen

If for some reason it's not there, you can also find the devices associated number in Contacts:

• Open "Phone" and then choose the "Contacts" tab
• Pull down from the very top to reveal the iPhone's associated number

If the phone is dead you'll obviously want to charge it before you can retrieve this information, but apparently some mobile carriers actually print the phone number on the SIM card, so that's another place to look if it's a found device.

Find the Phone Number with iTunes

Speaking of charging, if the phone is connected to a Mac or PC through USB, iTunes can also reveal the devices phone number by selecting it and then looking at the primary device screen, it will be visible right alongside the iPhone's serial number:

This even works through wireless syncing if that has been configured, though that obviously won't be the case with a device that has not been associated with iTunes yet.

If you've found someone elses iPhone and can't figure out the owner, just leave the device on and better yet, charge it up so if they're attempting to use Find My iPhone they can track the device down and ping it. If that doesn't happen, keep in mind that the modern dependencies on cell phones usually means that if someone has lost a phone they will typically have it replaced within a week or two, meaning you'll often be able to call the number discovered on the iPhone itself and track down the original owner after some time passes. Another option would be to just start calling the lost owners contacts for obvious relationships, like moms, dads, grandparents, but that may be a bit intrusive. Anyway, if you have found someone elses iPhone, be a good citizen and try to track down the rightful owner, they'll appreciate it!

Got an Older Mac? MLPostFactor Installs OS X 10.8.3 on Old Unsupported Macs

Many older Macs lost out on the ability to run OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3!), but some hard working fellows have created a free third party tool called MLPostFactor that allows for the newest version of OS X to be installed on older, officially unsupported Macs. The process used to be quite complicated, but with MLPostFactor it's easier than ever and can now be done by creating a partition, running the MLPF app, installing OS X as usual, then using the MLPostFactor app again to patch the 'failed' installation. Reboot and automagically OS X Mountain Lion will be running on the older Macs, breathing new life into older hardware.

• Check out the full how-to thread with instructions on MacRumors forums

This makes for an excellent weekend project, and if you're interested in trying this out yourself, review the compatible older Mac list to see if the machine you want to install is supported.

MLPostFactor Compatible Macs

• Mac released from 2006 to 2008 with Core 2 Duo CPU and Lion installed – PPC, Core Duo, and Core Solo chips are not supported
• MacBook late 2006, 2007, and 2008
• MacBook Air, mid 2007
• MacBook Pro late 2007 and mid 2007
• iMac 2006
• Mac Mini 2006
• Mac Pro 2006, 2007
• Xserve 2006, and early 2008

The requirements are basically such that if it supports Lion, it will now support Mountain Lion. Do note that some of the older Mac Pro and Xserve models have specific GPU requirements as well, so be sure to read the full MLPostFactor tutorial before beginning in order to determine if there is anything incompatible with the specific Mac model you are looking to install this on.

If you meet the requirements, you'll need to download the MLPostFactor app (link here), re-download Mountain Lion from the App Store, and, ideally, create a installer drive as if you were going to perform a clean install on a regular compatible Mac.

If your older Mac doesn't fit the compatibility list, don't feel too bad, but try out some tips to speed it up instead to breathe some new life into it. It won't be running a new OS, but at least it'll be a bit quicker.

Thanks to hackerwayne for the tip, and for creating MLPostFactor!

Analysis: That sub-$400 AAPL share dip – what does it really mean?

Predictably, AAPL's brief dip below $400 yesterday is resulting in a lot of excited reporting in the press, but how much does it all really mean?

The 5.5 percent slide yesterday was a combination of two factors. First, yesterday was a bad day for the market as a whole, with broad selling across a range of US stock triggered by the government reporting slower growth in hiring than the market had expected (via The Economic Times) …

For Apple, the effect was worsened by a key chip supplier, Cirrus Logic, blaming a poor revenue forecast on excess inventory. Since Apple is its biggest customer, the market concluded this meant lower than expected demand for the iPhone and iPad. Whether this is true is a matter of conjecture. As Forbes pointed out:

There is an alternative explanation.  It is conceivable that Cirrus sales are no longer a good indicator of iPhone sales because Apple has found other suppliers.  Apple is a highly secretive company and there is no way to know for sure.  However, the stock market so far seems oblivious to this alternate explanation.

AAPL investors have certainly had a roller-coaster ride over the last 12 months, with the stock trading above $700 in September due to high demand for the iPhone 5 before falling to today's level just above $400:

There is some genuine bad news in there. As CNN points out, amidst all the speculation about what might happen in the future, there is one cold, hard fact: Apple's margins – some of the highest in the world – have fallen in the last year.

There are three key reasons: Investors are concerned that the iPhone market has peaked in the western world, supply issues have plagued production of iPhones and iPads, and Apple's profit margins are falling at an alarming rate.

The margins problem grew worse last quarter as many customers opted to buy older iPhones and the cheaper iPad mini — devices that are less profitable to Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500). Overall, the company's gross profit margin fell six percentage points over the year to 38.6%.

But most companies – including any of Apple's competitors – would kill for margins of 38%.

Much of the ride says more about analysts and investors than it does about Apple. With record performance after record performance, analysts started worrying about how long the trends could continue before sales flattened.

Apple had always made pessimistic revenue forecasts, and always beaten them, so it came to be expected that the company's performance would always exceed expectations, resulting in some over-heated projections. When Apple failed to meet the more optimistic of these, the market responded with disappointment. Never mind that Apple was the most valuable company in the world, never mind that it was setting new sales records, never mind the huge cash reserves: what counts in the market is reality versus expectations, however inflated those expectations may have been.

Apple switched to providing realistic revenue forecasts, giving a range of figures representing what it expected to be the upper and lower numbers. Whilst this was an understandable attempt to quash the wilder analyst projections, it carries with it the risk of missing the company's own guidance figures, and the market responding nervously to that.

There is also, of course, the Steve Factor. There is a view that only founder can build value, while managers only maintain it. Apple, perhaps more than any other major company, had one public face: that of Steve Jobs. His successor, Tim Cook, was seen as an excellent ops man rather than an innovator. What has Apple done that's genuinely new and innovative since Cook took over, came the question?

But Apple's innovations have never been annual events. The iPod was launched in 2001. The first iPhone was launched in 2007. The iPad in 2010. It's reasonable to expect something new – be it the long-rumoured HDTV or iWatch or something else altogether – sometime around this year, but it's not reasonable to complain that it hasn't happened yet.

Take out the roller-coaster element of what's happened in the past twelve months, and what we're left with since Cook took over is a flattening of the stock price – something that might be expected when a founder is no longer around and a manager takes over, while the market watches to see what happens next.

If Cook is guilty of anything, it is perhaps failing to understand the need to maintain excitement in the marketplace. Jobs was flamboyant; Cook is understated. While Apple has always been tight-lipped about its plans, with Jobs there was always the sense that something exciting was bubbling away beneath the surface. With Cook, perhaps some of that sense of anticipation has been lost.

And let's put both yesterday and the past year into context:

As the (alternating) most valuable or second most valuable company in the world, Apple isn't doing too badly.

Update Fri 19th April: The dip below $400 is now not so brief. As at 14:48, the stock was trading at $387.

iPad 5 Estimated to Be 15% Thinner, 25% Lighter Than Current iPad

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has on a number of occasions offered accurate information on Apple's product plans, recently published a new research note outlining his expectations for Apple's fifth-generation iPad. Kuo expects mass production and shipments of the new iPad to ramp up in the August-September timeframe, with the device registering roughly 15% thinner and 25% lighter than the current full-size iPad.

We think the tablet will, at 7.5-8.0mm, be 15% thinner than iPad 4. The new device will likely be about 500 grams, or some 25% lighter than iPad 4, run on an A7X processor, and sport cameras with similar specs to the iPad 4's (front HD, rear 5MP). The casing shape and color (silver and black) and narrow bezel design will be similar to the iPad mini's.

The prediction of a 7.5-8.0 mm thickness is in line with previous claims that the next iPad will see a roughly 2 mm reduction from the current 9.5 mm thickness.

Mockup of current iPad, iPad 5, and iPad mini
Kuo predicts that Apple will adopt the same GF2 touch technology used in the iPad mini, enabling Apple to design a thinner display for the new full-size iPad. In addition, more efficient display and chip technologies are expected to bring down the device's overall power consumption, allowing for a smaller and thinner battery.

We therefore think that iPad 5's battery capacity will be 25-30% smaller, at 8,500-9,000mAh, than iPad 4's, and the battery's thickness will be 15-20% smaller, at 7.5-8.0mm, and the number of cells will be reduced to two from three.

As for the chip powering the iPad 5, Kuo believes that Apple will be sticking with Samsung for a new A7X chip that will take advantage of Samsung's 28-nanometer process node. There have been reports that Apple will be shifting its A-series chip production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), but it appears that Kuo believes that transition has a bit further time horizon, in line with rumors that a partnership between Apple and TSMC for 20-nanometer A7 chips will not begin production until early 2014.

Just last week, Kuo issued a report claiming that Apple's iPhone 5S, lower-cost iPhone, and second-generation iPad mini will launch later than currently expected by market watchers, with a variety of technological challenges still needing to be addressed by Apple. While Kuo did not offer specific predictions of when Apple will launch those devices, he did lay out a series of three scenarios addressing the possibility of August/September, September/October, and October/November timeframes.

Leaked document apparently shows AppGratis enticed developers with potential high App Store rankings

Business Insider has obtained a leaked document that seems to show that AppGratis enticed developers with potential high iTunes App Store rankings. According to the document, AppGratis said that if a developer invests $100,000 with them, an app will likely reach the top 5 spots on the App Store top charts.

Of course, reaching the top of the App Store rankings is highly lucrative as hundreds of millions of iOS devices are given a prominent view to the top of the App Store charts.

AppGratis was reportedly originally pulled from the App Store for mimicking Apple's App Store and for sending its users ad-like push notifications. Of course, the aforementioned apparent move by AppGratis to inflate rankings is a serious concern for Apple and it is something that Apple, of course, wants to keep out of its App Store. Interestingly, AppGratis, yesterday, seems to have denied participating in inflating App Store rankings.

Since the App Store algorithm has been based on download velocity only for so long, advertisers know exactly what they are doing.Reaching the the top of any App Store is a simple and logical equation. But we're not in this business.

Apple under fire again from Chinese government – this time it’s a porn investigation

Photo: tabtimes.com

Apple's rather bumpy ride in China continues with the state-run People's Daily including the company's App Store in a list of online stores and websites investigated for 'providing pornographic content' in China.

It's an ironic charge for a company with a well-known opposition to pornography. Apple does not allow pornographic content in its App Store, and has a record of removing apps which are found to be in breach of this term …

Apple had previously come under fire for warranty policies, something which appeared to have been resolved by a statement and apology by Tim Cook.

The latest controversy appears for the moment to be low-key. The Wall Street Journal reports:

The People's Daily article is not featured prominently in Wednesday's paper, nor does it make efforts to emphasize Apple, which is listed next to the names of other app stores singled out in the middle of the second paragraph of the article …

Nonetheless the mention does put Apple in an uncomfortable parallel with Google. Some analysts compared Apple's run-in with state media last month to Google's difficulties with China Central Television, which accused the company of spreading pornography in 2009. The accusations presaged deeper difficulties in China, including hacking attacks that led Google to move its operations to Hong Kong in 2010.

iPhone 5S to reportedly come with 12-megapixel camera, improved low light mode

Image via Gizmag

Tinhte.vn is reporting this afternoon that Apple's next-generation iPhone (assumed to be dubbed the iPhone 5S) will include an all new 12-megapixel camera as well as an improved night shooting mode. Interestingly, MacRumors notes that the report originates from "Wonderful Saigon Electrics in Binh Duong, which specializes in providing camera modules for the iPhone."

This report doesn't necessarily come as a surprise, considering that Apple typically features camera improvements in "S" models of the iPhone and included an improved 8 megapixel camera in its iPhone 4S (the 5 did get an improved sapphire lens and other minor improvements)

Today isn't the first time we've heard that the next-generation iPhone might include an improved camera. iMore's Rene Ritchie speculated last month that the iPhone 5S might contain such a camera. iLounge has also suggested that Apple might include a similar 13-megapixel camera in the next-generation iPhone.

While Tinhte has show to be accurate in the past in regards to prototypes and leaked images, their newest piece is much more speculative, and should be taken with a relative amount of caution.

Consumer Backlash Against Apple Maps Surprised Waze CEO

On Monday, Waze CEO Noam Bardin took the stage at AllThingsD's Dive Into Mobile conference and talked (via Mashable) about how his company didn't think Apple Maps would be "that good" but that it underestimated consumer reaction to Apple's service.

The social turn-by-turn navigation company had assumed that Apple Maps would be good enough for consumers, Bardin said, but this assumption led to the company being surprised by the negative reaction many users had to Apple Maps when they rolled out as part of iOS 6.

That reaction led to an open letter from Apple CEO Tim Cook in which he acknowledged the issues with Apple's Maps app and promised to improve the product while also recommending a number of alternatives, including Waze, while Apple worked to bring its maps to an acceptable standard.

According to Engadget, Bardin said that consumers are rapidly acquiring certain expectations when it comes to services such as maps, expectations that are not necessarily easily met.

Consumers now have a quality bar, and that bar is going up rapidly. Two years ago, Apple's Maps app on iOS 6 would've been a fine product.

Bardin went on to say (via VentureBeat) that with the quality bar continually being raised, companies will have to pour more and more money into mapping to match the quality consumers desire. Unsurprisingly, Bardin notes that Google is the one setting that standard.

"Google is out there creating a standard of quality," Bardin said. "We feel like we're the only real competition. Rumors say it is $1 billion to $2 billion spent by Google a year."

Waze CEO Noam Bardin at Dive Into Mobile (Source: Engadget)
Bardin does feel that Apple Maps is getting better with time, but that Apple is being handicapped by its vendors. TomTom provides much of the data for Apple Maps, and Bardin noted that TomTom cannot put as many resources into its mapping service as Google can.

In early January, it was rumored that Apple was in talks to acquire Waze, but it was later reported that there was no deal in sight. Engadget notes that the CEO dodged questions of potential acquisitions while VentureBeat says that Bardin wouldn't confirm whether Waze supplies Apple with data on improving Apple Maps.

Apple Online Store Now Offering Refurbished 5th Generation iPod Touch

Apple today added the fifth generation iPod touch to the refurbished section of its online store, approximately six months after the device was first released.

A refurbished version of 16GB fourth generation iPod touch, which was released alongside the current iPod touch, is also being offered. The fourth generation iPod touch was originally released in 2010 with storage options of 8/32/64GB but was later updated to feature 16and 32GB of storage.


The 32GB fifth generation iPod touch is available in a range of colors for $249, a 16 percent discount off of the regular $299 price. The 64GB version is priced at $349, a $50 discount from the standard $399 price.

The 16GB fourth generation iPod touch is available in both black and white and is priced at $169, a $30 discount from the $199 price.

Apple's refurbished units come equipped with the same one-year warranty that standard products offer and have been thoroughly tested for reliability. The iPod touches can be purchased directly from the website.

Microsoft Looking to Join the Smart Watch Race

With rumors of an Apple smart watch ramping up over the past few months, a number of other companies have also reportedly been working on their own projects involving watches and other wearable devices. Last month, both Samsung and Google were reported to be working on their own projects, and now The Wall Street Journal indicates that Microsoft is also exploring the possibility of a smart watch.

Earlier this year, Microsoft asked suppliers in Asia to ship components for a potential watch-style device, the executives said. One executive said he met with Microsoft's research and development team at the software company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters. But it's unclear whether Microsoft will opt to move ahead with the watch, they said. [...]

For its potential new watch prototype, Microsoft has requested 1.5-inch displays from component makers, said an executive at a component supplier.

The report notes that this is not Microsoft's first foray into smart watch technology, with the company having launched its Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) platform in 2004 through partnerships with watch companies such as Fossil and Suunto.

Those watches, which received data through Microsoft's MSN Direct FM radio-based service, were discontinued by 2008, but the idea of smart watches is experiencing a rebirth as companies look to make the experience of today's mobile devices even more "personal".

(Image: Suunto's n3 smart watch from 2004, based on Microsoft's SPOT technology)

U.S. Judge Expresses Frustration at Apple's and Google's Use of Litigation as 'Business Strategy'

Bloomberg reports on comments from a U.S. District Court judge in Miami chastising Apple and Google for engaging in patent lawsuits as part of a broader business strategy rather than focusing on resolution of the disputes. The judge is currently overseeing a legal dispute that began with an initial complaint by Motorola Mobility in late 2010 and was expanded in January 2012 with the approval of Google, which had agreed to acquire Motorola several months earlier.

"The parties have no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute; they instead are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end," U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami said in an order dated yesterday. "That is not a proper use of this court."

Scola went on to blast the companies' "obstreperous and cantankerous conduct" in refusing to streamline the 12 patents and over 180 claims currently involved in the lawsuit.

"Without a hint of irony, the parties now ask the court to mop up a mess they made by holding a hearing to reduce the size and complexity of the case," he wrote. "The court declines this invitation."

Scola has given Apple and Google four months in which to streamline the case on their own before he puts the case on hold.

Apple Asking Developers to Localize Apps, Opens Chinese Support Forum [iOS Blog]

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has contacted app developers via its iTunes Connect program to ask them to localize their apps in multiple languages and to market that their apps and books are localized.

In the letter to iTunes Connect members, Apple noted that the App Store and Mac App Store are available in 155 countries with support for 40 languages, saying that "it has never been more important to localize your app and marketing material."

Apple also rolled out a Chinese Support Communities forum, which would give speakers of various Chinese languages the opportunity to help out fellow Apple users in their native tongues.


The move signals how important China has grown to Apple in the past year, as during a quarterly results call in January Apple revealed that revenues in China were up 67 percent. iPhone saw its most significant growth come in the country as well, up more than 100 percent year-over-year.

Apple has recently had to deal with controversy in China over criticism about its iPhone warranty policies in the country. In response, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an open letter and Apple Senior VP of Operations Jeff Williams traveled to China dealing with the public relations fallout.

More reports claim next iPhone to include fingerprint tech, could lead to launch delays

Brian White, Topeka Capital's Apple analyst that previously gave some quite out there predictions for an Apple TV with "iRing", today is saying that his recent checks with suppliers in Asia indicate Apple will include fingerprint sensor tech in the next iPhone. For what it's worth, White says it could be the flagship feature of the 5S like Siri was with iPhone 4S. That's something we predicted earlier in our "S" iPhone piece (via BusinessInsider):

White says, "we believe fingerprint identification technology will be part of the iPhone 5S and this is likely to be the major new feature used to market the iPhone 5S, similar to what Siri was to the iPhone 4S."

I know… It's a rumor that we've heard many times before, but now another analyst that often has accurate information is saying that same fingerprint tech could be the source of delays for the next-gen iPhone.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has changed his previous predictions regarding product launches for iPhone, iPad, iPod citing a number of challenges with suppliers and the development of new features including the implementation of fingerprint technology in iPhone (via MacRumors):

Earlier we estimated that shipments of the new iPhone would begin in July (FDD version) and September (TDD version), while iPad mini 2 would hit the market in August. Currently, market consensus for shipments of iPhone 5S, low-cost iPhone and iPad mini 2 is July, July, and August, respectively. But in light of publicly available information and our knowledge of technological trends, we now think all three products will begin shipments later than our previous expectation and market consensus.

While Kuo, who previously laid out his roadmap for 2013, doesn't provide new estimates for when the devices might ship, he does say that apple is facing challenges with finding the right color coatings that work with the fingerprint sensor rumored to be included in the next iPhone, and "technical challenges" related to the manufacturing of a Retina display for a second generation iPad mini. Needlessly to say we'll be checking back in this summer to see how accurate these analysts reports have been.

Disguised discount on iPhone 4 triple sales in India in less than a week

Four large Apple resellers have reported a trebling of iPhone 4 sales in just five days after Apple introduced a trade-in scheme allowing customers to hand in their existing phone as part-payment on an iPhone 4, reports The Times of India.

Customers are offered a minimum Rs7,000 ($128) trade-in on any handset against the Rs26,500 ($486) cost of an iPhone 4. Retailers pay Rs,2000 of this in return for the right to sell the used handset, while Apple pays the Rs5,000 balance. As there appear to be no restrictions on brand, age or condition of the handset used for the trade-in, the move effectively amounts to a disguised discount.

The move appears to be a further strand in Apple's push to expand its market share in India after last month's news that it was trebling the number of franchisees in the country.

Dropped an iPhone in Water? Here’s How to Save It from Water Damage

Dunking a $650 electronic device into water is a pretty terrible feeling. The standard advice is to dry it off and stuff it into some rice, then cross your fingers and wait. But does that actually work? After accidentally dropping my iPhone for a swim into a pool of water where it was fully submerged, I had the unfortunate opportunity to test out the iPhone-in-a-rice-bag hypothesis, and I have good news; it actually works!

Here is exactly what I did, and what I learned from the process of saving an iPhone from extensive water exposure with the good old rice bag trick. The result is a completely functioning iPhone with zero water damage.

6 Things To-Do Immediately if iPhone has Water Contact

Want to save your iPhone? Drop everything and do this first, before putting it in rice:

1. Remove from water as soon as humanly possible (obvious, right? But seriously, seconds can matter here so move quick)
2. Turn the iPhone off immediately by holding down the power button until it shuts off
3. Remove any case or enclosure right away since they can trap in moisture, screen protectors are fine to leave on unless there's an obvious water bubble
4. Dry out the iPhone as best as you can using cloth (t-shirt, socks, whatever is readably available) or an absorbent material. Wipe down the screen, sides, and back. Pay special attention to the power button, volume buttons, mute switch, speakers and microphones, and the audio output jack, try and get all visible moisture soaked up
5. Use a Q-Tip if possible to try and soak up extra water from the audio output jack and in small crevices. If you're out and about or have no q-tips handy, a little stick or sharp pencil poking through a t-shirt or cotton material can work too
6. Disconnect any headphones, ports, chargers, USB cables, or accessories immediately

Now with all visible water removed, you're ready to stuff the iPhone into a rice bag.

Put the iPhone Into a Sealed Bag Full of Rice

Here are the basic requirements:

• A zip-lock bag or similar that is air tight
• Rice, any generic type, ideally not "enriched" (more on that in a second)
• Patience for at least 36 hours

Fill a zipper locked bag fairly full of rice so that the entire iPhone will be covered like in the picture below, then place the iPhone into the bag and seal it shut with some air in the bag.

Any type of rice works, but try to avoid enriched rice, the reason being that whatever enriches it leaves a lot of white residual powder in the bag and it will also get into the ports and buttons on the iPhone. Enriched rice does still work (it's actually what I learned), but knowing now that it leaves a lot of mystery white powder gunked up in places, I'll probably go buy a bag of normal rice for any potential future water-meets-iPhone encounters. The patience part is the hardest, and generally the longer you wait the better the likely outcome because you want all water inside the device to be completely absorbed by the rice before trying to power it on again. I left my iPhone in the air-tight rice bag for around 36 hours, but there's no harm in leaving it in for 48 hours. Any less may work but it also could be inadequate, so therefore longer is better.

Success! Saved from Water Damage

Once you've waited at least 36 hours, open the rice bag and check out the iPhone. If you suspect the iPhone has any residual moisture left in it at all, do not power it on. If all seems well, go ahead and turn it on as usual. If all goes well, it'll power on as usual, and your iPhone will have survived the water encounter!

Here's my iPhone turned on for the first time after a full submersion in water, it works beautifully just as normal, and is dry as can be:

This should work for almost every instance of severe water contact with an iPhone, though obviously for situations where an iPhone is soaking in water while turned on for 15 minutes or longer your likelihood of recovery is going to diminish dramatically. Likewise, you'll have much better recovery odds with fresh water than you would with salt water, simply because salt water is more corrosive. Soft drinks and sticky beverages will be more challenging as well since they leave more residue around, but as long as it dries out it will probably survive even if you dump a coke or coffee onto an iPhone.

Check the Water Damage / Liquid Contact Sensors

After the iPhone is dried out completely, check out the liquid contact indicators. Each iPhone is equipped with several water damage sensors that turn red if contact with any fluid is made, and if they are triggered than the likelihood of free repair service is fairly slim and your warranty may be toast. You can check these yourself by looking at the following locations, depending on your iPhone model (image via Apple):

Generally if the liquid sensors are triggered it's bad news, but the fine print in the water damage policy suggests that there is some leniency available, so if you're generally pleasant to deal with you may get lucky even if your iPhone spent an afternoon rolling around in ocean waves and now has some damage even after soaking in rice for a few days.

What if water damage occurred and something doesn't work?

If the iPhone has dried out, suffered water damage, and warranty service is fruitless, the four things most likely to go wrong are the following:

• The home button becomes unresponsive – try this trick first, but if it's completely unresponsive you can usually get by with the onscreen home button trick as a fix to deal with a broken home button
• Audio output is dead – no simple user alternative or repair, consider using a USB based dock if you want to listen to audio instead
• Volume buttons, mute buttons, and power button don't work – you can get by without having volume and mute buttons since both of those are available through software, the power button will be a problem though if it's unresponsive so don't let the iPhone run out of battery
• Diminished touch-screen response – depending on the severity this can be tolerable or terrible, sometimes replacing a screen helps, soemtimes it doesn't because the problem can be deeper than just damage to the liquid crystal display

If water damage has occurred, you can always try taking the iPhone into Apple to see if they'll swap it out or repair it for you for free, but without AppleCare+ the odds are fairly slim since the standard warranty does not cover water damage and accidental damage in general. That said, there are always exceptions, and sometimes the repair cost is reasonable anyway, so it's always worth a shot. The cost of repair is almost always cheaper than a new iPhone anyway, so unless you're ripe for a new subsidized contract it may be the best thing to do.

Got any other tips or tricks for saving an iPhone from water damage? Let us know in the comments!

Verizon CEO takes credit for convincing Steve Jobs to make iPhone 5 LTE, says half of wireless traff

At NAB, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam told attendees that half of his network's wireless traffic is used for downloading video. McAdam reportedly added that he expects video to take over 2/3 of the Verizon network by 2017. The CEO thanks the carrier's investments in LTE technology for making this happen.

On the subject of LTE networks, McAdam also shared an interesting tidbit regarding an encounter with Steve Jobs and Apple during the development of the current iPhone, the iPhone 5. One of the latest iPhone's premier new features over its predecessors is support for LTE networks in regions across the globe. McAdam says that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was initially reluctant about including LTE in the iPhone 5, but McAdam's descriptions of LTE's speed capabilities changed Jobs' mind:

Interestingly McAdam also recounted a meeting he had with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who is now deceased. McAdam was trying to convince Jobs to make the iPhone 5 compatible with LTE. "I was really trying to sell him and he sat there without any reaction. Finally, he said, 'Enough. You had me at 10 Mbps. I know you can stream video at 10 Mbps.' And Apple's next phone was LTE," McAdam said.

It is unclear why Jobs was initially against making the iPhone LTE-compatible, but, for several years, the LTE chipsets consumed power that could affect battery life and overall product size. At the CDMA iPhone 4′s debut in early 2011, then Apple COO Tim Cook noted that Apple did not include LTE support in the Verizon-compatible iPhone 4 because it would have forced certain design changes. Apple first entered the LTE device market in March 2012 with the third-generation iPad. The company since expanded its LTE offerings with an iPad and iPad mini that support even more LTE bands around the globe.

Apple's U.S. Mac Shipments Fall 7.5% as Overall PC Market Plunges 14% Year-Over-Year [Updated]

Research firm IDC today released its preliminary calculations of PC shipments for the first quarter of 2013, finding the worst year-over-year performance in the nearly 20-year history of its tracking studies. According to IDC's numbers, the worldwide PC market declined nearly 14% compared to the first quarter of 2012, with the U.S. market declining by nearly 13%.

Despite some mild improvement in the economic environment and some new PC models offering Windows 8, PC shipments were down significantly across all regions compared to a year ago. Fading Mini Notebook shipments have taken a big chunk out of the low-end market while tablets and smartphones continue to divert consumer spending. PC industry efforts to offer touch capabilities and ultraslim systems have been hampered by traditional barriers of price and component supply, as well as a weak reception for Windows 8. The PC industry is struggling to identify innovations that differentiate PCs from other products and inspire consumers to buy, and instead is meeting significant resistance to changes perceived as cumbersome or costly.

While Apple's performance was far from stellar, the company did outperform the market by showing only a 7.5% decline in shipments in the United States. Apple's performance allowed it increase its third-place share of the U.S. market from 9.4% to 10.0% as leaders HP and Dell saw significant declines, but a smaller decline from Toshiba and strong growth from Lenovo placed those vendors close behind Apple.

IDC's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q13 (Thousands of Units)
Apple does not rank on IDC's list of top five vendors on a worldwide basis, with Asus holding down the bottom spot at 5.7% of the market. Lenovo was, however, the only one of the top five worldwide vendors to avoid major declines in PC shipments, managing to hold steady amid the declining market.

Update: Gartner has released its own data showing a similar picture for the PC market as a whole, estimating an 11.2% year-over-year decline for the worldwide market and a 9.6% decline in the United States.

Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q13 (Thousands of Units)
Gartner's numbers for Apple in the United States, however, show a completely different story, with Apple's shipments estimated to have risen by 7.4% compared to IDC's estimate of a 7.5% decline.

Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-1Q13 (Gartner)

AppGratis CEO explains App Store removal, says Apple is destroying value in its ecosystem

After receiving some clarification from Apple last night over the removal of discovery app AppGratis, CEO Simon Dawalt is weighing in today with a statement posted on the AppGratis website explaining that the situation has been "absolutely crazy" to deal with:

And that is pretty much where we stand, still stunned that Apple took the decision to destroy so much value within their own ecosystem, but more than ever convinced that what we're doing is good, and accomplishing a much needed mission in a broken App Discovery world.

While explaining that App Gratis has gone through a number of rejections for breaking App Store guidelines in situations that were later resolved with Apple, Dawalt shed some light on what happened on Apple's side:

Early Monday, R. gave me a follow-up call. He basically couldn't go beyond repeating multiple times that our app had been pulled out due to guideline 2.25 and 5.6.

I asked how he and his team could have possibly changed their minds overnight, pretty much pulling the plug on a 45-person company. He seemed very detached regarding the gravity of the situation, and was unable to let me know on what specifics these decisions had been made.

For us, obviously, it's a hard hit. And as I'm about to push the 'publish' button on this story, I'm still in absolute shock as to what is happening to us.

Dawalt continued by saying the situation with Apple is "far from finished" and urged Apple to contact him to discuss the issue and users to spread the word. He also confirmed that the app's current 12 million users will have nothing to worry about going forward:

Even if our iOS apps are momentarily unavailable, your app recommendation service, AppGratis, is very much up and running. If you're part of the 12 million lucky people to have downloaded our app before last Friday, know that it will keep updating everyday with new free apps and cool discounts. So will our website, and so will our daily newsletter.

Our iOS apps may have been unavailable now for a few days, but at the same time, a few million free apps have been downloaded through AppGratis since last Friday. So for now, it's business as usual in AppGratis's world.

OS X 10.8.4 code confirms new Macs incoming with super-fast 802.11ac Gigabit wireless support

Apple is preparing to soon release new Mac computers that support super-fast 802.11ac Gigabit wireless, according to code-findings inside of Apple's latest OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4 beta seed to developers. The code was located by a tipster inside of the operating system's WiFi-frameworks folder. As you can see in the image directly below, the 802.11ac code is not found in OS X 10.8.3, which is the latest public release of Apple's Mac operating system.

Previous reports have claimed that Apple is working with wireless chipmaker Broadcom to produce 802.11ac chips for future Macs. Now, it appears, Apple's software is ready to support the new wireless technology as well. More details below…

This 5th-generation wireless standard is more robust than the current WiFi technology used in Macs and other Apple products. 802.11ac offers extended range and improved WiFi speeds. Broadcom said as much in a press release from last year announcing the chipsets:

Broadcom's 5G WiFi dramatically improves the wireless range in the home, allowing consumers to watch HD-quality video from more devices, in more places, simultaneously. The increased speed enables consumers to download web content from a mobile device faster and quickly synch large files, such as videos, in a fraction of the time it would take on a similar 802.11n device. Since 5G WiFi transfers the same volume of data at a much faster rate, devices enter low-power mode faster, which results in significant power consumption advantages.

With 802.11ac support seemingly comes to Apple's Mac lines, it is not a stretch to believe that Apple will release compatible AirPort routers and iOS devices in the future.

Intel announces 2014 Thunderbolt update with 4K support; opens door for Retina iMacs?

Retina iMac mockup via MacSpoilers

Today, Intel announced a new version of its Thunderbolt technology that will ship with devices in 2014. The new Thunderbolt technology supports up to 20Gbps throughput, which is up from the 10 Gbps supported by the current version of Thunderbolt.

Notably, the new technology supports 4K resolutions, which could open the door for even higher-resolution Mac displays. Perhaps, this is the technology that Apple needs to work with in order to begin a Retina display rollout for its all-in-one desktop computer, the iMac, or even Mac Pro compatible Thunderbolt displays.

Intel says the technology, which currently goes under the codename Falcon Ridge, will ship next year alongside Intel's next-generation core processors.

Earlier this year, at CES, we profiled a 32-inch Sharp 4K display that we deemed as unreal.

To be honest, the gallery, taken with Canon's new 6G DSLR, doesn't do it justice. Please, Apple: Here is your next iMac Retina and Thunderbolt display. These displays aren't just beautiful. The IGZO technology also uses a fraction of the power required for today's LCDs. While most of the power used is still in the LED backlighting, the IGZO pixels save a great deal of power —as much as 90 percent vs. traditional displays— and can still stay on even after the machine has powered down, something great for photoframe-type functionality.

One of the technical reasons for Apple to not release an iMac with a Retina display yet is that the current Thunderbolt processors available could not support the bandwidth needed to push so many pixels. Given Apple's typical 2x Retina mode scaling, a Retina 27-inch iMac would need to power a resolution of 5120 x 2880 (2 times 2560 x 1440). The new Thunderbolt technology coming in 2014 would essentially double the current tech's capabilities, making a Retina iMac more plausible.