Jony Ive on How Product Naming Influences Design Philosophy [Mac Blog]

Just a couple days after a clip of Jony Ive's appearance on BBC's Blue Peter was revealed, journalist Tom Davenport (via CNET) says he's found an insightful portion of the clip that was cut out. In the new segment, Ive talks about how product naming philosophy can affect the design process.

If we're thinking of lunchbox, we'd be really careful about not having the word 'box' already give you  bunch of ideas that could be quite narrow. You think of a box being a square, and like a cube. And so we're quite careful with the words we use, because those can determine the path that you go down.

As mentioned previously, Ive was a fan of Blue Peter while he was growing up and talks about a design he saw on the show that's stuck with him over the years. This is just another look at Ive's design process, which he's started talking about more and more over the years as Apple's profile has risen and as Ive and his team have received more accolades, which includes his knighting last May.


Last October, Ive was promoted to head of the Human Interface team and is playing the Steve Jobs role at the company. Former Apple employee Loren Brichter, who went on to create iOS game Letterpress, had said he was excited about Ive's new role because of how he could possibly apply his design philosophy to iOS.

iOS 6.1.2 Released with Fix for Battery Life Bug [IPSW Direct Download Links]

iOS 6.1.2 has been released by Apple. The minor update to iOS includes a resolution for a battery drain bug that impacted users of Exchange servers which also caused excessive data usage, and presumably also fixes the passcode bypass bug that exists in prior iOS 6 versions, though that has yet to be confirmed. The brief release notes mention only this for the 6.1.2 update:

Fixes an Exchange calendar bug that could result in increased network activity and reduced battery life.

Users of Microsoft Exchange who experienced the excessive data use and battery life problems should be the first to update, but anyone troubled by the potential of someone bypassing the lock screen should also update soon. If neither of these apply to you, it's still good maintenance policy to stay current with OS updates.

iOS 6.1.2 is available for iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad 2, iPad Mini, and iPod touch 4th and 5th generations.

Download iOS 6.1.2

As usual, the simplest and fastest way to get an iOS update is using Over-The-Air updates. As an OTA delta update, iOS 6.1.2 weighs in around 12.8MB, and with a reasonable broadband connection your device will be updated in just a few minutes. Using Over the Air updates is simple:

• Open Settings, tap General, then go to "Software Update"
• Choose "Download and Install", be sure to have at least 50% of battery life remaining on the iOS device before attempting OTA

Installing this update through OTA brings up a new Terms & Conditions agreement that surely nobody will read, tap "Agree" and be on your way. Using OTA is the simplest way to update iOS, but you can also update devices by connecting them to iTunes and letting it automatically update, or for more advanced users, using the firmware files outlined below.

iOS 6.1.2 IPSW Direct Download Links

For those who would rather have access to firmware files, the IPSW links below are hosted by Apple. Right-click and choose "Save As", ensuring the file extension is .ipsw in order for it to work properly. Though updating with IPSW isn't too complicated, it is not considered a necessary procedure to know how to do, and most users should stick with the easier OTA or iTunes update methods.

• iPhone 5 GSM
• iPhone 5 CDMA
• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4 GSM
• iPhone 4 CDMA
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad Mini GSM
• ipad Mini CDMA
• iPad Mini Wi-Fi
• iPad 4 GSM
• iPad 4 CDMA
• iPad 4 Wi-Fi
• iPad 3 GSM
• iPad 3 CDMA
• iPad 3 Wi-Fi
• iPad 2 GSM
• iPad 2 CDMA
• iPad 2,1 Wi-Fi
• iPad 2,4
• iPad 2,5
• iPad 2,6
• iPad 2,7
• iPod touch 4th gen
• iPod touch 5th gen

IPSW files are quite large and may take a while to download.

Users concerned about maintaining the possibility of jailbreaking their devices should avoid the update for now until a specific update for the Evasion tool is released to handle the newer iOS version.

Mac Pro Now Unavailable for Purchase from European Apple Online Stores

As noted by Mr.Source Code, the Mac Pro is no longer available for purchase from Apple's European Online Stores.

In late January, Apple informed its European distributors that sales of the Mac Pro would cease as of March 1st due to new regulatory requirements that go into effect on that date. At the time, Apple told resellers that it would accept orders up until February 18, a deadline that appears to apply to general consumers as well.


The Mac Pro is no longer able to be sold in Europe because it is not compliant with Amendment 1 of regulation IEC 60950–1. According to information from Apple, the issue has to do with the Mac Pro's unprotected fan blades. Compliance with the new regulation would require fan guards and increased protection of the ports on the electrical system.

Apple's Mac Pro is now unavailable in European Union countries, EU candidate countries, and the European Free Trade Association countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Though the Mac Pro has been discontinued in Europe, resellers are still able to sell remaining product after the March 1st deadline. Apple plans to continue to support existing Mac Pro machines and will supply replacement parts.

Apple has also announced plans to offer a redesigned Mac Pro in 2013, following a minor update in 2012.