Apple’s board of directors has decided to award dividend equivalent payments to employees holding Restricted Stock Units (RSU)s.

Apple had announced a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share in March 2012, to commence in July. RSUs are typically issued to employees to encourage them to stay with the company. They are awarded in a similar way to stock options, but convert directly into shares of stock upon vesting.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was awarded 1 million RSUs upon his promotion to CEO last year to entice him to stay with the company for the foreseeable future. Half of the shares vest in 5 years, and the other half in 10. Cook has specifically declined the dividend equivalents, turning down more than $75 million in dividend payments over the life of the RSUs.

From Apple’s SEC Filing:

On May 24, 2012, the Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors of Apple Inc. (the “Company”) approved amendments to each outstanding and unvested restricted stock unit award granted by the Company to its employees (other than Timothy D. Cook, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer). The amendments provide that if the Company pays an ordinary cash dividend on its common stock, each award will be credited with an amount equal to the per-share cash dividend paid by the Company, multiplied by the total number of restricted stock units subject to the award that are outstanding immediately prior to the record date for such dividend. The amounts that are credited to each award are referred to as “dividend equivalents.” Any dividend equivalents credited to an award will be subject to the same vesting, payment and other terms and conditions as the unvested restricted stock units to which the dividend equivalents relate. Depending on the domicile of the employee, accumulated dividend equivalents will either be paid in cash or used to offset employee taxes due upon vesting of the restricted stock units.

The Committee determined these amendments were appropriate in light of the Company’s announcement on March 19, 2012 that it intends to commence paying ordinary cash dividends of $2.65 per share to its shareholders on a quarterly basis sometime during the fourth quarter of its 2012 fiscal year. As restricted stock units are not outstanding shares of common stock and thus would not otherwise be entitled to participate in such dividends, the crediting of dividend equivalents is intended to preserve the equity-based incentives intended by the Company when the awards were granted and to treat the award holders consistently with shareholders.

At Mr. Cook’s request, none of his restricted stock units will participate in dividend equivalents. Assuming a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share over the vesting periods of his 1.125 million outstanding restricted stock units, Mr. Cook will forego approximately $75 million in dividend equivalent value.

What are your thoughts about the growth of Apple in near future? Share with us.

Source: Mac Rumors

Apple Paying Dividends To Employees is a post from: The Apple Bites

Now, you can have some action in your business. PDF Connoisseur is here and it is the one and only PDF app you will ever need on your iPad.

PDF Connoisseur can your iPad into a powerful mobile work station for accomplishing various business tasks.

PDF Connoisseur is not Chuck Norris and it may not do everything for you. But is can certainly do many things which other apps may not do.

The important things among diverse functions of PDF Connoisseur are Save to PDF, Text-to-Speech (TTS), PDF form filling, contract signing, file transfer, annotation, file scanning, and fast rendering speed. With PDF Connoisseur, your slim and compact iPad can become a wonderful replacement for your bulky briefcase.

PDF Connoisseur has been created by Taiwan-based Kdan Mobile.

Spending a lot of time in reading documents is not only time-consuming, but also harmful to your eyes. That is why, PDF Connoisseur takes care of this problem by introducing the TTS feature:

1. PDF Connoisseur has built-in voice engine reads out loudly and clearly your selected text in the language of your choice.

2. This feature would let your ears do the listening (so that there would be no need for reading) and deal with multiple tasks at the same time.

3. The app has natural sounding voice.

4. This app has the ability to adjust the TTS voice speed.

5. PDF Connoisseur supports six languages – English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

6. PDF Connoisseur has two reading modes – Read selected text or read a PDF page.

7. If you are student or a researcher, PDF Connoisseur is your exclusive language self-study tool.

8. PDF Connoisseur will take your mobile reading experience to the next level. It literally reads for you!

PDF Connoisseur is your mobile file converter. With its “Save to PDF” feature, you can easily convert Word, Excel, Pages and other mainstream documents into PDF within few seconds. You can also annotate all kinds of documents.

With PDF Connoisseur, you can easily grab files from your computer, other applications in your device, and from a massive collection of cloud storage providers. PDF Connoisseur grants you the authentic mobile file management experience.

Following are the features regarding file management:

1. With PDF Connoisseur, you can sync files and online backup with iCloud.

2. Wireless transfer of files via Wi-Fi is possible with this app.

3. PDF Connoisseur would enable you to download files from any website.

4. You can upload or download files through iDisk, Dropbox, GoogleDocs, Box.net, and SugarSync.

5. FTP client support is available with this app.

6. With WebDAV client and server support available, you can work with your team.

Following are the features of PDF Connoisseur regarding the marking of document:

1. You can fill PDF forms, sign contracts or documents.

2. With PDF Connoisseur, you can send filled forms via email.

3. This app will enable you to sign documents with the freehand writing feature.

4. You can easily highlight, underline, and strikeout text.

5. With this app, you can add sticky notes to quickly jot down comments, questions, or feedback.

6. In PDF Connoisseur, you can type on PDFs as if you are typing a word comment or text file document because Typewriter text boxes are supported in this app.

7. You can keep annotations as a reference for later use.

8. You can download forms, contracts, and important documents through the built-in browser.

After describing TTS and marking features, following are some other helpful features of PDF Connoisseur:

1. PDF Connoisseur has Passcode protection. This guarantees security for all your files.

2. PDF Connoisseur has support for all mainstream file formats.

3. With the amazing rendering speed, you can scroll through pages with no lags even when you are viewing larger files.

4. You can view PDFs under the pure text mode.

5. You can extract text directly from PDFs.

6. It is easy to bookmark, outline, and create thumbnails for information you wish to have instant access to as per your requirement.

7. It is easy to copy, paste, move and rename files.

8. You can easily search through full text.

9. You can look up selected text in the built-in dictionary. Or you can also search it on Google and Wikipedia.

10. Zip and RAR file formats are also supported in this app.

11. The online editing of GoogleDocs is possible.

In the new Version 1.2 of PDF Connoisseur following are some new features in PDF Connoisseur:

1. New iPad Compatibility:
The new version of PDF Connoisseur is compatible with the retina display of New iPad and has augmented rendering speed. It has enhanced stability of file viewing performances.

2. Updated PDF Annotation tools:
The new version has annotation display and you can easily adjust the size and shape of freehand-hand drawings. Black tray has been added in color palette.

3. More Intuitive File Viewer and Manager:
You can easily open, view and close your files and the update version will perform all tasks swiftly. The new version supports various PDF formats and you can print even encrypted PDF documents.

4. You can retrieve the password of your private folder via Email.

5. You have the option to download required TTS languages.

6. Lastly, Wi-Fi connection issue has been fixed with the new update.

This review has been written after obtaining PDF Connoisseur for app store via gift-card and the app has been used on an iPad.

What would you like to say about using PDF Connoisseur? Do you find it useful? What is your feedback? Share it with us.

Fill PDF Forms And Do Many More Things Easily With PDF Connoisseur® For iPad is a post from: The Apple Bites

Recently, we reported that Apple and Kaspersky were joining hands to fight malware targeting Apple. Now it seems that the beginning of their new partnership may have a rough start.

Security tycoon Eugene Kaspersky is not happy with Apple. Why? Because Apple is not allowing his eponymous antivirus firm develop antivirus software for iOS devices. Speaking to The Register, Kaspersky said that “That will mean disaster for Apple,” since malware targeting the mobile operating system will “inevitably” strike iOS at some point in time.

Kaspersky admitted that iOS was “by design … more secure” than other operating systems. His infection vector of choice is to place the malware into the source code of legal software that has to be downloaded from the App Store, as it is “almost impossible to develop malware which does not use vulnerabilities.”

Kaspersky went on to say that an infection of this sort will “be the worst-case scenario because there will be no protection. The Apple SDK won’t let us do it.” That will, in his opinion, would result in a loss of market share for Apple and a huge boost for Android – an operating system he is happy with since it is less secure and he can develop security software for.

Kaspersky is so sure of the demise of iOS because of malware that he has made bets with friends stating that Android will have an 80% market share by 2015.

Source: TUAW

Kaspersky Cannot Sell AV Software On iOS is a post from: The Apple Bites

Sharing the picture above, the iPhone owner Katy McCaffrey posted on her Facebook:

“This is Nelson. Nelson has my stolen iPhone.”

McCaffrey took her iPhone on a Disney Cruise back in April, where the phone was either misplaced or stolen. The iPhone has been found now. Photo Stream was still running, and pictures from the iPhone have started appearing on it of Nelson and his friends and coworkers on the boat.

After investigating the situation, Disney announced that the phone has been recovered and will be returned to its owner when the boat that it’s on is back in port. The employee in question is on “administrative leave,” and his fate will presumably be determined when the current cruise is finished.

Disney is doing its best to save their face. Nleson should have returned the phone to the owner straightway had he found it lost.

Source: TUAW

Image Source

Stolen iPhone Photos Posted By Disney Cruise Ship Employee is a post from: The Apple Bites

Since Apple’s last developer update of OS X Mountain Lion, several new features including hints of automatic app downloads have been discovered in the next-generation operating system.

The discoveries are still coming up, with signs of two new features: offline Reading List mode and iOS-like dictation.

Gear Live has highlighted the offline reading list option. This is an augmentation of the Safari bookmarking feature that debuted in OS X Lion and syncs saved articles across devices. Gear Live noticed that a warning screen in Safari on OS X Mountain Lion indicates that articles saved to Reading List are available for viewing even when the user’s Mac is not connected to the Internet.

While troubleshooting a home network issue today, I stumbled upon a new feature that Apple is introducing in OS X Mountain Lion. [...]

When you aren’t connected to a network and pull up Safari, you get a message that tells you that you aren’t connected to the Internet, but that your “Reading List articles are available for viewing while you are offline.”

Meanwhile, 9to5Mac has reported that a keyboard shortcut listing in the latest build of OS X Mountain Lion suggests that built-in dictation capabilities will also come to the Mac. Such capabilities debuted as part of Siri on the iPhone 4S, with only the dictation portion making its way into the third-generation iPad released earlier this year.

According to a resources file inside of the latest build of Safari in the newest seed of the upcoming OS X Mountain Lion, Dictation might be making its way to Macs next. Since Macs do not sport virtual keyboards or physical keyboards with a microphone-labled key, users (by default) will apparently need to simultaneously click both command keys to start voice input.

No other evidence of dictation or other Siri-like features has yet been discovered in OS X Mountain Lion. However, Apple continues to work on the next-generation operating system.It will issue an extensive preview of it at next month’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Source: Mac Rumors

Image Source

OS X Mountain Lion Adding Offline Safari Reading List Mode And Dictation To Mac is a post from: The Apple Bites

After getting Samuel L Jackson endorse iPhone 4S, Apple has recently aired two new television commercials promoting the iPhone 4S.

This time popular actor John Malkovich, who starred in hit movies such as “Of Mice and Men”, is shown using the iPhone 4S.

The two commercials have followed the trend of previously aired iPhone 4S commercials, all of which show off the highlight of the device: Siri. The first commercial titled “Joke” highlights Siri finding the weather, getting calendar information, searching restaurants nearby, and last but not least, telling a joke (hence the title). The advertisement can be seen below:

Upon the release of the iPhone 4S, Apple’s focus on promoting Siri has witnessed positive results. The sales have reflected the success of the current iPhone and Siri has proven to be a big hit among consumers since its debut.

What is your feedback on the iPhone 4S advertisements featuring John Malkovich? Share with us.

You can also share your feedback on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Apple Bites is giving away free iTunes Gift-cards for exciting games and interesting apps. All you need to do is to participate in the discussions The Apple Bites starts. No offensive words allowed. No spamming! The winners would be contacted and the gift cards would be given to them.

Source: Modmyi

Two New iPhone 4S Commercials Featuring John Malkovich is a post from: The Apple Bites

Earlier this week, we reported that the untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 was expected to release sometime this week. Now we are confirming that it is coming today. At the time of this news report being written, there are few hours remaining for the jailbreak to release.

Organizers of the Hack in the Box Security Conference have announced 1-day passes for 25 May for the HitBSecConf 2012, currently being held at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam. It has been announced that pod2g and the Chronic Dev Team will be releasing Absinthe 2.0, the untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 at the event.

This was confirmed with the following tweet by the organizers of the HitBSecConf 2012:

SPECIAL @chronicdevteam 1-day passes for #HITB2012AMS @ EUR699! Come see @pod2g @p0sixninja @planetbeing @nikias JAILBREAK LIVE

For those of you who were unaware about it, the HitBSecConf series will take place in Amsterdam, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia. It is an important event that is attended by security professionals from all around the world.

Members of the jailbreak “dream team” such as pod2g, MuscleNerd, planetbeing, p0sixninja, and nikias were supposed to be attending the event. The iOS hacker, pod2g, previously said that the release of the iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Apple TV was almost ready and set to release in just “a matter of days.” It seems that he has tested and confirmed that his iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak works with most devices except for the Apple TV 3G.

pod2g may also give a live demonstration of the Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak during his presentation, followed by the release. The whole ordeal does not come as much of a surprise overall as the Chronic Dev Team alluded towards some jailbreak goodness during the event previously.

According to the agenda on the HitBSecConf website, the dream team’s jailbreak session is not scheduled to start until 11:30am CET (5:30am EST) in which the team will discuss the Corona jailbreak, followed by the session on the Absinthe jailbreak at 1:30am CET (7:30am EST). As of right now, the agenda has not been updated so it still says jailbreak for iOS 5.0.1 rather than iOS 5.1.1.

Are you excited about the new version of Absinthe? Post your comments.

Source: Modmyi

iOS 5.1.1 Untethered Jailbreak Absinthe 2.0 Releasing Today is a post from: The Apple Bites

Courts ordered Apple and Samsung to hold talks and reduce the number of lawsuits the two tech giants had filed against each other. The CEOs of two companies also met.

But the talks resulted in nothing.

Apple and Samsung were forced into an involuntary meeting and discussions to try to scale back their patent infringement war.

In April, Judge Lucy Koh ordered the companies to “comment on their availability for an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) effort.” Both sides were cooperative. However, the meetings did not prove to be constructive.

Yesterday, on 23 May 2012, some reports were published in the Korea Times. These reports indicate that no deal was reached.

The two technology giants could find no clear agreement through the talks, according to a Samsung official. Apple Korea declined to comment on the matter.

Apple and Samsung “held firm” on their assertions. Samsung wants Apple to pay royalties for using its wireless transmission technology. Apple maintains that Samsung ripped off Apple technology and intellectual property on a number of products including Galaxy Tab which is banned in many countries as it violates the patents of Apple’s iPad.

Thus, the patent dispute is still going on and there is no conclusion in sight.

Source: Modmyi

Talks Between Apple And Samsung Fail is a post from: The Apple Bites

What happens to your conversations with Siri? Your queries are sent over the internet to Apple’s servers for processing. But what happens after that?

Does Apple store these conversations? Does anyone have access to them?

These questions have been raised by IBM’s CIO Jeanette Horan. Horan recently told MIT’s Technology Review that her company banned Siri from their network over fears that the assistant could be logging sensitive information.

Wired pointed out Horan’s reasons to worry:

“How long does Apple store all of this stuff, and who gets a look at it? Well, the company doesn’t actually say. Again, from the user agreement: “By using Siri or Dictation, you agree and consent to Apple’s and its subsidiaries’ and agents’ transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of this information, including your voice input and USer Data, to provide and improve Siri, Dictation, and other Apple products and services.”

It’s fairly common knowledge that Apple uses Siri data to improve the service. Any issues regarding the security of that data could be applied to internet companies like Facebook, Google, Bing, etc. that process information.

Perhaps, in the coming days, companies like Google, Apple will eventually be forced to anonymize the queries.

Considering the types of conversations you have had with Siri, are you worried that someone might be reading them? Share your thoughts and concerns.

Source: iDownload Blog

IBM Bans Siri Use On Its Network Over Data Privacy Fears is a post from: The Apple Bites

Recently, there have been various news reports about the growing popularity and sales of iPhone in China. With over a billion cell phone users, and still growing, China is a crucial market for Apple in its quest to sell more smartphones.

iPhone has been in Chinese market for a few months.

But it appears to be on the right track. According to a report from Woori Investment and Securities, Apple sold over 6 million handsets in China between January 2012 and March 2012, pushing its smartphone market share in the country up to 19%.

This should be remarkable as Apple enjoyed a mere 8% of China’s smartphone market. But there is still has a lot of work to do if Apple wants to catch up to Samsung, which sells a staggering 28% of the smartphones in China.

The dramatic rise can be attributed to the recent launch of the iPhone 4S on two of China’s larger cell phone carriers. China Unicom started offering the handset in January 2012. China Telecom followed suit just a few months later.

Apple has yet to partner up with the country’s leading carrier, China Mobile. There are rumors that the two companies are negotiating a deal. It seems that incompatible network technology is still a major roadblock.

However, all these things may change with Apple’s next smartphone. Apple is rumored to be using a new Qualcomm chip in the handset that will be compatible with China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA network and give it access to more than 600 million wireless customers.

Apple is concentrating on China, very seriously, hoping to sell 35 million iPhone handsets in China, next year.

Source: iDownload Blog

Apple’s Smartphone Market Share In China Now Up To 19% is a post from: The Apple Bites

We recently reported about a new app released by Facebook called Facebook Pages Manager. This app is for iOS.

It allows Pages admins to administer their Facebook Page account from the comfort of their iPhone. At the time of its release, Facebook Pages Manager was available only in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

Now the app is available in USA and Great Britain.

According to the app store listing, the 1.0 release allows the admin to perform following functions:

*Post new updates and photos as your Page
*Get notified about new activity on your Page when it happens, no matter where you are
*Respond, post and comment as your Page while you’re on-the-go
*Manage all your Facebook Pages from one app
*View your latest Page Insights

Facebook Pages Manager is a free download. Currently this app is only designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, it can run on the iPad in 2x mode.

Source: TUAW

Facebook Pages Manager Available In USA is a post from: The Apple Bites

Do you use digital camera from Apple? Here is an important and relevant news for you.

Your experience of photography is set to become interesting.

Apple has released Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.10, bringing RAW image support to Aperture and iPhoto for a number of new cameras.

Following is the description of new update:

This update adds RAW image compatibility for the following cameras to Aperture 3 and iPhoto ’11:

- Canon EOS-1D X
- Nikon D800E?
- Nikon D3200
- Olympus OM-D E-M5
- Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF5
- Sony Alpha SLT-A57

Full details on RAW support have been included in an Apple support document.

The size of Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.13 is 8 MB. It requires Mac OS X 10.6.8 or OS X 10.7 or later version.

Source: Mac Rumors

Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.13 Released is a post from: The Apple Bites

This past Tuesday, Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune Magazine has filed a report about how 100 iPads where used to reduce the debt of Greece by $140 billion.

Bob Apfel runs Bondholder Communications Group and was assigned the task to manage the restructuring of Greece’ debt by about 100,000 bondholders.

He decided to buy 100 iPads and develop a custom app to help bondholders make their decisions.

Spfel said:

“It was the largest financial transaction in the history of the world. And we couldn’t have done it without the iPad.”

Never thought iPad could be used to restructure debts. What are your comments on this issue?

Source: i4U

Hundred iPads Used To Cut Greece Debts is a post from: The Apple Bites

For past few weeks there have a lot of reports that Apple will be finally increasing the screen size of its next-generation iPhone. Now, 9to5Mac has also joined the chorus in the regard.

This website has just published a report that, if true, confirms a number of existing theories regarding Apple’s next handset including display size and resolution. It also talks about the rumored smaller charging port.

According to the report, Apple is currently testing multiple new iPhone prototypes.

“Right now we know of a few next-generation iPhone candidates in testing. These prototype phones are floating around Apple HQ in thick, locked shells in order to disguise the exterior design to “undisclosed” employees. We know of two next-generation iPhones in testing with a larger display: the iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2.”

The website is not quite sure which model will make it to retail shelves. However, it says that both of the devices include new displays that measure 3.95-inches diagonally with resolutions of 1136 x 640. This matches up with the recurring 4-inch iPhone theory, which says that the display will get a bit taller but stay the same width, that has been floating around for the past month.

The report also mentioned that both of the prototypes feature all-new, smaller dock connectors.

“Apple will be bringing these dock connectors to all of their iOS devices over time, and it is note exactly a “pill-shape” as rumored. It’s basically a much narrower version of the current squared off (on the corners) dock connector. It is between the size of a Micro-USB and Mini-USB connector.”

What are your speculations about iPhone 5? Share with us.

Source: iDownload Blog

Apple Testing New iPhones With 3.95-inch And 1136 x 640 Displays is a post from: The Apple Bites

Legends never die. So legendary figures. They remain alive in the memory of people and this makes them immortal. Posthumous honors keep them in the memories of people.

Apple’s late co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs was honored by a number of celebrities and political figureheads, including US President Barack Obama, during the 16th annual Webby Awards, this past Tuesday on 22 May 2012.

The touching video tribute for Steve Jobs was introduced by actors Justin Long and John Hodgman, known for their roles in the popular “I’m a Mac” TV spots, and came about midway through the award show. This is the video clip:

Apart from Barack Obama, other political figures appear in the video including Former US President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore. Celebrities in the tribute include TV star Jimmy Fallon, and U2 leader Bono.

This is a classy homage to a person who certainly left his mark on technology. Even if you are not a Mac user, you cannot deny the tremendous impact that Jobs had on both desktop and mobile computing.

What is your opinion about the Steve Jobs tribute? Post your comments.

Source: iDownload Blog

Image Source

Steve Jobs Honored At Webby Awards is a post from: The Apple Bites

Last month, Apple put the tickets for its highly anticipated World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) event up for sale. Tickets sold rapidly and within two hours, the event was sold out. Hundreds of developers were left out to dry. Luckily, there is another option now.

If you are going to San Francisco area around 11-14 June 2012, you might want to check out Indiedevlab. Saurik and many others will be attending this event to share their knowledge.

Indiedevlab has just announced an impressive list of guest speakers for its iOS developers conference, starting with Jay Freeman, a.k.a Saurik. Freeman founded the jailbreak app store Cydia, and is always around to lend a hand to hackers and developers when needed.

Nate True is also set to speak at the event. Nate has Tap Tap Revenge, one of the most popular iOS games of its time to his credit. Other speakers include developers Ben Zadik of Babble-on and Dan Grover of Etude.

Aside from the guest speakers, Indiedevlab will also be hosting a series of iOS-focused workshops, and a 4-day hack-a-thon that will see developers use their skills to turn a bare bones iOS game into the next “Angry Birds.” There will also be plenty of time for work, play, and mingling.

If you are interested in attending, you can purchase your tickets from the official conference website. Be sure to follow @indiedevlab on Twitter for the latest information regarding the event.

Are you going to Indiedevlab event? Share your thoughts.

You can also share your thoughts on out Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Apple Bites is giving away free iTunes Gift-cards for exciting games and interesting apps. All you need to do is to participate in the discussions The Apple Bites starts. No offensive words allowed. No spamming! The winners would be contacted and the gift cards would be given to them.

Source: iDownload Blog

Image Source

WWDC Alternative Indiedevlab To Feature Saurik is a post from: The Apple Bites

With all of the recent talk regarding the next-generation iPhone’s display, the LTE rumors had faded sometime back. Maybe it is because many people assumed that, after the third-gen iPad, the feature would be a lock for Apple’s next smartphone.

The rumors are back now.

Gene Munster, PiperJaffray’s senior Apple analyst told investors that even though there has been some speculation that a Qualcomm chip shortage could affect Apple’s upcoming handset, the next iPhone will still have LTE compatibility.

AppleInsider reported:

“The bottom line is that we remain comfortable with an October iPhone 5 launch despite the reported 28nm chip shortage at Qualcomm,” analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note to investors obtained by AppleInsider on Monday.

Munster suggests that Apple’s size could help it achieve “favored inventory status” that would lessen the blow from any production woes that Qualcomm is experiencing. The firm also pointed to Apple’s “past experience in dealing with potentially limited components at launch” as reason to believe that the company will remain relatively impervious to the shortage.”

Apple is widely expected to use Qualcomm’s MDM9615 28nm chip in its new iPhone, which is not only smaller than the model sitting in the new iPad, but would also make the handset compatible with several new 4G networks.

Munster finished the note by saying that, in addition to LTE, his firm believed that the next iPhone will feature a redesigned case, a faster processor, upgraded memory and a higher megapixel camera.

Source: iDownload Blog

Next iPhone Will Feature LTE is a post from: The Apple Bites

Apple has a new feather in its cap. In Brandz Top 100 2012 report by Millard Brown, it is on Number One position.

Brandz Top 100 is an annual study that calculates the brand value of the most popular companies in the world by combining their financial valuations with consumer loyalty and appeal.

According to this report, Apple is at the top with a brand value of $183 billion. Apple defeated IBM, Google, McDonalds and Microsoft, who finished in second, third, fourth and fifth spots respectively.

Tech brands seem to be all the rage these days, as 7 out of the top 10 companies on the Brandz report are in the tech industry. Other notable firms that made the list are AT&T, which came in 8th place, and China Mobile, which came in 10th.

Apple position here should not be seen as a surprise. Apple witnessed a 19% increase over its 2011 brand value (which also gave it first place). Apple’s popularity can be attributed to a number of factors, including high-volume handset and tablet sales over the past 12 months, high-ranking customer satisfaction scores, and increasing TV/movie product placement.

Businessweek recently ran a piece on Apple’s increasing presence in TV shows and feature films. It found that the Cupertino, California-based company’s products made their way into more than 40% of last year’s top-grossing films and were discussed or shown on TV nearly 900 times.

What is your opinion about Brandz Top 100 2012 report. Voice your opinions through comments.

Source: iDownload Blog

Apple Ranked Number One Brand In The World is a post from: The Apple Bites

Recently, I went to a concert and got a chance to click pictures with one of my favorite superstars of music. I had to wait until I got home to share it with friends because I could access my computer from home.

If I had an iPhone with Tracks app installed in it, I would have shared the pictures instantly.

Tracks is a useful app that not helps you share pictures and videos on social network, it also helps you elect with whom do you want to share the pictures and videos with.

If you want to prevent your boss from seeing the pictures of your wild night and share it with friends, you can select friends with whom you want to share. If you want share the pictures of an intimate dinner with only your fiancé/fiancee, you can choose that option and only he/she would see pictures posted by you. If you want some family pics to be seen only by family members, you can do that.

Tracks app has been made by Tracks Media.

‘Tracks’ will capture your experiences and interests with friends, family, school buddies, colleagues and new people you meet!

You can Track the wild party, the family barbeque, favorite outfits, the weekend getaway, or anything else with this app.

You can invite friends to add photos and videos to the Track.

Tracks app is not Chuck Norris. But it works even when you have no network connection.

Following are the features of Tracks:

1. There are ten custom designed live photo and video filters in this app.

2. As mentioned earlier, Tracks has private group photo and video sharing.

3. Tracks has super slick and seamless animations.

4. There is a newer, faster, and better custom camera.

5. You can take multi-shot while shooting video and take multiple pics, all at the same time.

6. You can multi-select more than 20 pictures from camera roll.

7. You can manually adjust focus and exposure.

8. This app features Interactive Track map.

9. You can add Facebook and Twitter friends to your Tracks.

10. Geotagging of pics from camera roll is possible.

11. Visual newsfeed across all your Tracks is possible.

12. It is easy to search your Tracks when wish to view a particular picture or video.

In the new version 1.9.5, there are some new features:

1. As mentioned earlier, you can keep your pictures private and give their access to limited friends.

2. The features many live filters including Sienna, The Magic Hour, Sherlock, Pencil, Scarlet, Cartoon, Gatsby, Chaplin and more. You can filter both your photos as well as videos.

3. You can easily invite your friends via personal e-mail or text message.

4. The updated version of Tracks has better camera.

Compatibility:
Tracks app is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. It requires iOS 5.0 or later version.

This review has been written after obtaining Tracks app from app store and the app has been used on an iPod.

So what are your comments after using this app? Share with us.

Share Your Pictures And Videos Easily With Tracks [REVIEW] is a post from: The Apple Bites

Proview’s legal battle against Apple over the use of the “iPad” trademark continues to drag on because Proview would not rest until it extorts a huge amount of money from Apple.

However, things have not quite gone to plan for the Chinese company. A Hong Kong court has sided with Apple and agreed that some of Proview’s evidence should be excluded from the case after it failed to comply with the court’s instructions. Proview is yet to decide whether it will appeal against the decision. With debts of around $400 million, you can bet the company will continue to push for every penny it can get.

The dispute, which began back in 2011, is over Apple’s use of the “iPad” name. The Cupertino company purchased the trademark from Proview’s Taiwanese subsidiary for around $55,000, but its Shenzhen-based arm later agued that it did not formally transfer the trademarks. Ironically, officials from Shenzhen branch were in the meeting in which the rights were sold. Apple then sued Proview for conspiring to breach the deal in an effort to secure compensation.

A jingoist judge of a Chinese court has already ruled against Apple, out of his false sense of nationalism and deemed its earlier deal with Proview as invalid. The Cupertino, California-based company reportedly offered to pay 100 million yuans (approx. $16 million) earlier this month, but with $400 million in debts to clear, it just was not enough for Proview and Apple’s offer was declined. It is said that beggars cannot be choosers but this legal dispute shows that Chinese beggars and extortionists can certainly be choosers.

Even the Chinese government is supporting Proview despite all the lies that Proview has spoken to rob Apple.

Source: Cult Of Mac

Hong Kong Court Sides With Apple Against Proview is a post from: The Apple Bites

Many Cupertino residents may have received an unsolicited package from Apple this week. It is not a new iPad, or an early look at the iPhone 5.

Instead, people close to Apple (from a physical perspective) opened the glossy mailing to reveal a detailed look at Apple Campus 2, which will consist of 176 acres currently occupied by “aging buildings” and trees. As we already know, the campus will feature one main circular four-story building with 2.8 million square feet of office and common space.

It will also feature an additional 300,000 square feet set aside for dedicated (secure) research buildings. There will be a restaurant, fitness center and other facilities aimed to “reduce automobile trips” because Apple has planned to take initiatives to protect the environment.

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer has appealed to neighbors in a single-page letter, offering additional information upon receipt of a pre-stamped response card, which also prompts neighbors to add their name to a list of supporters, attend a public meeting or write a letter to show their support for the new Apple complex.

Following is the full text of Oppenheimer’s letter:

Dear Neighbor,

We’d like to update you on our plans for Apple Campus 2, a new, state-of-the-art research campus in Cupertino.

The new campus site is bound to the west by Wolfe Road, to the north by Homestead Road, to the east by North Tantau Avenue, and to the south by Interstate 280. Today there are 26 aging buildings totaling approximately 2.65 million square feet on this 176-acre site. We plan to replace them with a single ring-shaped, four-story building of approximately 2.8 million square feet. We also plan to replace nearly 300,000 square feet of existing buildings east of North Tantau Avenue with 300,000 square feet of new research buildings.

The new main building and research facilities are intended to accommodate approximately 13,000 employees, over 3,000 more than the existing site. Finally, we are including in our overall plan an additional 300,000 square feet of expansion space for future growth. A segment of Pruneridge Avenue will be closed and integrated into the campus to create a unified and secure environment.

Respect for our neighbors was a priority as we designed Apple Campus 2. The main building will be set back from the street. By keeping the majority of existing trees along the perimeter — and planting additional perimeter trees and thousands of new ones throughout the interior — the building will fade into the landscape. What’s currently a sea of asphalt will be transformed into nearly 120 acres of green space.

We are also committed to protecting the environment. Apple Campus 2 will attain LEED certification, and we are confident it will exceed the City of Cupertino’s standards for environmental sustainability. The campus will be clean, with no manufacturing or heavy industrial activity onsite.

Apple Campus 2 will also include a restaurant, a fitness center, and other amenities to serve Apple employees and reduce automobile trips. As with the current site, Apple Campus 2 will not be open to the public. Infinite Loop will remain our corporate headquarters, and we will continue to occupy many of our existing buildings in Cupertino.

Here is our current schedule:
- Later this year, the City of Cupertino expects to consider the campus plans, which were submitted in August 2011.
- Apple plans to break ground immediately after city approval and begin occupying the campus in 2015.

If you have questions or comments, or would like more information about Apple Campus 2, please fill out and return the postage-paid response card included in this mailing. You may also visit the City of Cupertino website at www.cupertino.org.

Sincerely,

Peter Oppenheimer
SVP and Chief Financial Officer
Apple

Have you received any letter like this? What is your opinion about it? Share with us.

Source: Engadget

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Apple Details Neighbors On Campus 2 Plans is a post from: The Apple Bites

Aiming to extort money from Apple by suing iPhone-maker and save itself for bankruptcy, Kodak is now left with an egg on its face at the US International Trade Commission(ITC).

CNET has reported that administrative Judge Thomas Pender reaffirmed a decision from last year which stated that neither Apple or Research In Motion (RIM) were infringing Kodak patents.

“I hereby reaffirm on remand that no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, has been found in the importation into the United States, the sale for importation, or the sale within the United States after importation of certain mobile telephones and wireless communication devices featuring digital cameras, and components thereof, in connection with claim 15 of U.S. Patent No. 6,292,218.”

The judge noted that actually, both Apple as well as RIM were infringing on a patent held by Kodak, but the claim was invalid because the technology Kodak claims was protected was “obvious”.

Kodak brought the action in 2010, claiming that both Apple and RIM image preview functions were infringing on Kodak intellectual property.

The ruling needs to be approved by the full ITC panel. Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2012, and has been active in trying to sell off its patents in hopes of raising some money. Apple also tried to face Kodak with a counter-lawsuit, without caring about its bankruptcy but the a court stopped Apple from doing so.

Apple fans may remember that back in 1994, Apple and Kodak were partners in the production of the first consumer digital camera, the Apple QuickTake 100. Time Magazine noted that the camera was ‘the first consumer digital camera’ and ranked it among its ’100 greatest and most influential gadgets from 1923 to the present’.

Source: TUAW

ITC Rules Against Kodak is a post from: The Apple Bites

AT&T’s cellular network is vulnerable to malicious hackers. Due to vulnerabilities hackers can ultimately hijack your data, along with 47 other cell phone carriers.

Some researchers from the University of Michigan have discovered that hackers can also intercept information such as calls, text messages, and cellular data.

The vulnerability affects all AT&T smartphones, tablets, and computers using cellular connect cards, including Android devices and the iPhone. The vulnerability is a problem because once the data is intercepted, a malicious hacker can inject malicious data into the traffic that would pass between devices and ultimately leaves the user unknowingly affected.

This kind of hijacking gives the malicious hacker the ability to redirect phone users to duplicitous Web sites, which attempt to mimic those of legitimate ones to steal user login credentials and scam people out of their money.

Ars Tecnhica has reported that the vulnerability is caused by a firewall system that AT&T (and other carriers) implemented to attempt to keep hackers out of the cellular data. With that being said, the security measure ironically turns out to be the cellular carrier’s Achilles’ heel:

Originally Posted by Ars Technica

“The TCP sequence number inference attack opens up a whole new set of attack venues,” the researchers from the University of Michigan’s Computer Science and Engineering Department wrote in a research paper scheduled to be presented at this week’s IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. “It breaks the common assumption that communication is relatively safe on encrypted/protected WiFi or cellular networks that encrypt the wireless traffic. In fact, since our attack does not rely on sniffing traffic, it works regardless of the access technology as long as no application-layer protection is enabled.”

Since the attack is performed by intercepting data, the information the user sends out never actually reaches the server it is supposed to. In fact, in the instance of being hijacked, the information the user sends out goes right to the hacker and is then sent back to the user with the hacker’s malicious spice mixed into the data. For example, a user trying to send information to a banking server would, in reality, be sending information to the hacker and receiving non-legitimate feedback. The cellular firewall system acts as a go-between for the user and the hacker.

The hijacking vulnerability is just another reason for users to not should not rely on an open, public network to do their banking, personal Facebooking, and other things that can cause detrimental damage to them. Cellular networks are as public as unsecured Wi-Fi networks. Banking and Facebooking should be saved for your personal computer on wired or secured Wi-Fi networks such as that in your home as this will be a way of guarding yourself from this cellular hijacking.

Source: Modmyi

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Your iPhone Can Be Hijacked is a post from: The Apple Bites

With all the hype that it is getting, it would not be wrong to expect something extraordinary from OS X Mountain Lion. It seems that Mountain Lion will be indeed extraordinary.

According to an online report, the latest developer build of OS X Mountain Lion released last week will be bringing iOS-like automatic app downloads to Mac App Store purchases.

Like on the iPhone and iPad, when you buy and install an app on one of your Macs, all of your other Macs logged into the same App Store account will automatically install the app too.

Unfortunately, the feature does not seem to be working completely. While the App Store will still offer to enable automatic downloads (as seen above), it does not actually install anything when you purchase apps from another computer.

Apple has been issuing regular updates of OS X Mountain Lion to its Mac developer community. At this point, Apple is expected to offer many more details on the next-generation operating system at next month’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.

Currently, OS X Mountain Lion is scheduled to see a public launch in “late summer” of this year. It will bring a number of enhancements including several features drawn from iOS such as Notification Center, Game Center, Messages, and Reminders.

What is your opinion about automatic app downloads coming with OS X Mountain Lion and what are your expectations with Mountain Lion? Share with us.

You can also share your opinions on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Apple Bites is giving away free iTunes Gift-cards for exciting games and interesting apps. All you need to do is to participate in the discussions The Apple Bites starts. No offensive words allowed. No spamming! The winners would be contacted and the gift cards would be given to them.

Source: Mac Rumors

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OS X Mountain Lion Will Bring Automatic App Downloads To Mac is a post from: The Apple Bites

We reported earlier that Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung will meet on 21-22 May 2012 to discuss patent issues, in a bid to settle them.

At the time of this news report being written the meeting has started and the updates are awaited.

Meeting of two CEOs will be held at San Francisco. The talks will be mediated by a federal judge.

Before his departure to the United States for the talks, Samsung mobile division chief JK Shin said that while significant differences between Apple and Samsung still exist, a number of “negotiation options” remain on the table.

“There is still a big gap in the patent war with Apple,” JK Shin said, before departing for the United States for the mediation talks. “But we still have several negotiation options.”

Court documents show the two companies have had at least one mediation session, although it is not clear if Cook and Choi were involved.

Legal experts are not optimistic that the two companies will reach a settlement. However, with courts increasingly pushing companies to seek alternative dispute resolution processes in hopes of staving off drawn-out court battles, Apple and Samsung have agreed to participate in the talks.

Source: Mac Rumors

CEOs Of Apple And Samsung Meeting To Discuss Patent Issues is a post from: The Apple Bites

Usually, big news from the jailbreak community come out on the weekends, and this weekend is no exception.

This Sunday, Chronic Dev Team hacker pod2g confirmed that the upcoming untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 is only a “matter of days” away from dropping. Hopes for the arrival of jailbreak have been there for months, but it looks like things are finally coming together for a public release.

Coincidentally, a hacking convention called “Hack in the Box” will be taking place this week. The Chronic Dev Team will be there in full force. There are speculations that the new jailbreak tool will likely be announced at the conference.

The name of the new jailbreak will be “Absinthe 2.0,” following the previous version of Absinthe that jailbroke the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 for the first time.

Pod2g has confirmed that his untethered jailbreak will work on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4 CDMA, iPhone 4S, iPad 1, iPad 2 Wifi, iPad 2 GSM, iPad 2 CDMA, iPad 3 Wifi, iPad 3 CDMA, iPod 3G and iPod 4G.

It looks like the third-gen Apple TV will be the only iOS device not compatible with the jailbreak. When a jailbreak is untethered, it means that you would not have to re-jailbreak an iOS device every time it reboots. Once you jailbreak, it sticks until you update your iOS firmware.

Like past jailbreaks, we can expect the Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak tool to be released for OS X first, then Windows and possible Linux. The iPhone Dev Team’s RedSn0w tool will also be updated with the new 5.1.1 jailbreak alongside Absinthe 2.0. The new update will give users a couple options for jailbreaking.

The previous release of Absinthe was a huge success. It was downloaded millions of times in only a few days, proving that there is still healthy demand for jailbreaking post-iOS 5.

After many months of waiting, we should finally be getting our hands on a new jailbreak in only few days. Apple released iOS 5.1.1 on 7 May 2012 with several bug fixes and improvements. Developers are expected to get their hands on a preview of iOS 6 at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June.

Source: iDownload Blog

iOS 5.1.1 Untethered Jailbreak ‘Absinthe 2.0’ Coming This Week is a post from: The Apple Bites

iOS 5.1.1 was released with some bug fixes. If you are worried about maintaining your untethered jailbreak, then better stay away from this update.

On the other hand, if you have a device that is currently jailbreakable on iOS 5.1, you can use the latest version of RedSn0w to perform a tethered jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 with a few easy steps.

Following video would guide you to the process to jailbreak your device and we will explain the steps also:

Now we move ahead with explaining the procedure for those who are not able to watch the video:

To jailbreak your iDevice, you will need your 5.1 firmware in it. This is because currently RedSn0w does not recognize iOS 5.1.1. This is for A4 devices only. This procedure has been tried and tested. But even then, you are doing this at your own risk and The Apple Bites would not be responsible if anything goes wrong with your iDevice. This procedure has been tested with RedSn0w 0.9.11b, not with RedSn0w 0.9.11b1. Thus, you are free to make your decision on whether you really want to do it or not.

STEP 1 - Download the latest version of RedSn0w.

STEP 2 - Connect your device to your Mac. Place your device into Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) mode, and run RedSn0w.

STEP 3 - Go to Extras > Select IPSW > and point to your iOS 5.1 firmware for this device.

STEP 4 - Once RedSn0w successfully identifies the 5.1 firmware, go back to the main page of RedSn0w and click Jailbreak.

STEP 5 - Once it identifies the build, click Next button where it asks you to install Cydia.

STEP 6 - Cydia will be installed, and your device will reboot. Upon reboot, place the device back into DFU mode.

STEP 7 - Now you can perform a tethered boot via RedSn0w by going back to the Extras page and clicking Just Boot.

STEP 8 - Your device will reboot, and you will have a usable Cydia icon on your Home screen.

We want to remind our readers that this is a tethered iOS 5.1.1 jailbreak. Once RedSn0w is updated for iOS 5.1.1 you will no longer have to follow Step 3. You should also remember that this procedure is only for iOS 5.1 jailbreakable devices. It would NOT work with the iPad 2, the iPhone 4S, or the new iPad.

Did you find this procedure helpful? Post your comments.

Source: iDownload Blog

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Image Source: iDownload Blog

Jailbreaking iOS 5.1.1 With RedSn0w [TUTORIAL] is a post from: The Apple Bites

A new report has asserted that Hon Hai Precision Industry, also know as Foxconn, is investing $210 million in an upcoming plant in Huai’an city which is meant to help satisfy the ever-growing demand for Apple products around the world.

Though this facility would not be as big as Foxconn’s other plants in Shenzen where an estimated 200,000 workers churn out millions of devices each month, it will employ 35,8000 workers.

The China Daily based the report on the official confirmation by the office of Taiwan Affairs of Huai’an.

Foxconn Technology Group will invest $210 million to build an Apple production line in October in east China’s Jiangsu province, local authorities announced Monday.

The plant housing the production line, to be located in Huai’an city, will produce components for American multinational corporation, Apple Inc, said the office of Taiwan Affairs of Huai’an city.

The new facility is said to stretch 40,000 square meters. It is expected to be capable of producing up to $1.1 billion worth of products.

Foxconn will begin construction of the plant in October 2012. It was not known at press time which products will be assembled at the new facility.

As Apple’s products are gaining more and more popularity, the manufacturing scale also needs to grow.

To meet this demand, Foxconn, Apple’s favorite contract manufacturer, has opened new plants in Brazil that currently produce iPhones.

Apple is also said to be looking to produce iPads in Brazil.

CEO Tim Cook recently visited Foxconn’s new manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou, during his China tour.

Some more rumors say that Apple is looking to make a massive $9.76 billion investment in Foxconn, ahead of a rumored television set launch that Foxconn representatives recently hinted at. They were quick to deny their comments later.

Apple is also reportedly investing some of its $110+ billion in cash reserves toward improving labor conditions in Foxconn plants.

Foxconn is opening new plants and making strategic acquisitions such as buying a stake in Sharp coincides with Tim Cook’s CEO tenure.

Source: iDownload Blog

Foxconn Building High-Tech $210 Million Apple Plant is a post from: The Apple Bites

Recently, Apple won an appeal from the federal court that would have certainly boosted its morale. Now, Apple has filed a motion for injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 which could see the tablet pulled from US shelves as soon as early as June.

The motion which was filed last weekend. It was based on a US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruling that found Apple’s iPad-related design patent was likely valid. It overturned previous findings from a California court which originally barred the Apple from seeking a preliminary injunction against the Samsung tablet.

According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, Apple’s second injunction attempt is likely to succeed, given that at least one circuit court judge feels such a relief is justified and went as far as to issue a dissenting opinion, stating that merely vacating the California ruling was not enough.

Mueller wrote:

“Circuit Judge Kathleen O’Malley argued that the CAFC should have reversed the decision in order to provided Apple with immediate injunctive relief in light of the irreparable harm it is suffering. But the majority of the judges saw ‘no reason to believe that there will necessarily be delay, or if there is delay that it will be unjustifiable.”

The Cupertino, California-based company is asking Judge Lucy Koh, who denied the first injunction as well as two others regarding smartphone patents, to rule on the matter without a hearing. The request is seen as being a reasonable one as the court already heard arguments over the issue in October. Judge Koh is unlikely to grant the motion for preliminary injunction during the settlement talks scheduled for 21-22 May 2012. Thus Apple has given Samsung until 25 May 2012 to respond.

It is unlikely Samsung will ask for a hearing on the Galaxy Tab injunction if and when the talks fail. In the above scenario, Judge Koh may schedule it on the same 7 June 2012 date as a separate injunction case involving the Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

Although an injunction may not be a devastating blow to the Korean electronics giant, it would signify a publicity win for Apple. It will also force Samsung to redesign the tablet as it did in Germany with the Galaxy Tab 10.1N. Ultimately, the disputes between the two tech giants continue and at the moment, it seems that there is no end.

Source: Modmyi

Apple Files For Another Galaxy Tab Injunction is a post from: The Apple Bites

Come September 2012, and Apple is bringing its iTunes Festival to London, once again. Apple is inviting more than 60 artists to perform for 30 consecutive nights of incredible music.

The event will run from 1 September 2012 to 30 September 2012 and it will feature performances from Usher, Jack White, Norah Jones, Emeli Sandé, One Direction, and more.

The festival will take place at The Roundhouse on Chalk Farm Road, which has previously hosted the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. Like previous years, every ticket to the iTunes Festival is going to be free. All you need to do is apply online to win your ticket.

If you fail to get tickets, you can watch every gig live — or on-demand for a limited time — on iTunes, or if your iOS device uses the free iTunes Festival app. This app is also AirPlay compatible. Thus, it would allow you to stream the event to your Apple TV to watch on the big screen.

You can apply for tickets through the iTunes Festival website. Entrants must be 14 or above.

Do you live in London? Which Superstar do you wish to see performing in iTunes Festival? Share with us.

You can also share your comments on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Apple Bites is giving away free iTunes Gift-cards for exciting games and interesting apps. All you need to do is to participate in the discussions The Apple Bites starts. No offensive words allowed. No spamming! The winners would be contacted and the gift cards would be given to them.

Source: Cult Of Mac

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iTunes Festival Returns To London In September is a post from: The Apple Bites

An iPhone is very expensive. Losing an iPhone is the ultimate worst thing that can happen to an Apple fanboy.

That is why, if a good samaritan gets in touch to to tell you that she has found your phone, the appropriate response from you would be gratitude and you would be thankful.

One woman in Virginia would tell you that this is not always the case. DCist recently reported that last weekend, while shopping at her local Fredericksburg 7-Eleven, the woman, 53, picked up an iPhone that had fallen on the floor. She proceeded to contact the phone’s owners (a man and a woman) and arranged to meet them at a neutral location to make the exchange.

Everyone showed up as planned, and the transaction was completed without a hitch. They even gave her a monetary reward.

However, the owners of iPhone rushed the woman from behind, while she was walking away, throw her to the ground, kick her, and reclaimed their cash.

This looks like a scam, except they stole back their own cash. Strange bizarre things revolving around iPhone happen but this incident was uniquely strange.

Source: Gizmodo

Woman Rewarded With A Brutal Beating For Returning A Lost iPhone is a post from: The Apple Bites

Apple is involved in a new lawsuit. However, this time, no patent infringement claims are being made.

Apple has been sued by Danyelle Comer, who filed suit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Comer is going after Apple because of massive inconveniences and setbacks born of the tech giant’s iCloud service going down when its services are most needed. The suit blasts Apple for failing to usher in a smooth transition between the paid MobileMe service and what we now know as iCloud.

Comer said:

“Throughout the migration, Apple failed to adequately ensure that features MobileMe users were paying for would be accessible, including access to their e-mail accounts for which customers pay additional fees. As a result, numerous MobileMe users suffered damage from the inability to access their individual accounts.”

The court document reads:

“Unfortunately for many users it doesn’t ‘just work’ and has resulted in a series of headaches due to lack of syncing ability, lack of email functionality and other complications and losses and corruption of data. In fact a number of users have been forced to hire outside technical assistance at significant cost, just to migrate to the iCloud platform or get around it to obtain minimal functionality of emails and other systems.”

The damages being sought were unspecified.

Source: Modmyi

New Lawsuit Over iCloud Service And MobileMe is a post from: The Apple Bites

Last weekend, makers of the Ashton Kutcher Steve Jobs biopic “jOBS” made an announcement that can be seen as a tribute to Late Steve Jobs. Makers said that they would begin the principal photography in the original garage that would later become the birthplace of Apple.

According to a press release, Five Star Feature Films, the production company behind the made for TV movie, is attempting to be as authentic as possible by shooting early scenes of the film in Jobs’ old Los Altos home and garage where Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the first Apple computer.

Five Star claims that the production of “jOBS” began immediately after Jobs’ retirement in 2011. The research supposedly included extensive research, which included interviews with friends, co-workers and mentors. The press release claimed that the producers wanted to create an accurate and enthralling of what they refer to as the “30 most defining years” of Steve Jobs’ life.

Executive Producer Mark Hulme said he hoped the movie, described in the press release as “dark, honest, and uncompromising,” will be completed in time for the fourth quarter of 2012. So far Kutcher, director Joshua Michale Stern (Swing Vote) and Oscar-winning cinematographer Russel Carpenter (Titanic) are attached to the project which will focus on Jobs’ life from 1971 to 2000, leading up to the release of the iPod.

Source: Modmyi

Steve Jobs Biopic Starring Ashton Kutcher To Be Shot In Old Garage Of Jobs is a post from: The Apple Bites

Speculations apart, if Apple were to launch actually launch a branded television set, it could cause total average annual US household spending on Apple products to double to $888 by 2015 according to a new projection.

Analyst Katy Huberty with Morgan Stanley explained in a note to investors this week that the spending by Apple’s US household doubled following the launch of the original iPhone, from $150 per year in 2007 to $295 in 2010. Now, she is expecting that the iPad will double the spending again to an average of $635 per household per year by 2013.

Huberty said:

“Given a 97% TV household penetration and a 61% broadband household penetration in the US along with an expected high price (and value) point, an Apple TV is likely to generate a similar increase in average household spend, with some help from iPad and iPhone growth.”

Huberty projections call for the average US household with at least $10,000 in disposable income to spend about $888 on Apple products by the year 2015, which would be double the $444 average spent per year in 2011.

Imagining that Apple were to take a 10% share of global spending on televisions, including hardware, subscriptions, and advertising, that would represent $60 billion per year, or an incremental increase of $64 per household per year globally. Furthermore, it is expected that the initial impact of an Apple television set on average household spending would likely be seen mostly in the US. According to Huberty, the real growth potential remains outside of the US.

To reach this goal, she believes Apple needs to forge deals with more carrier partners internationally before release. As of right now, 77% of carriers in Asia, 78% in Eastern Europe, and 88% in Africa have no access to an iPhone. Regardless, it seems like there is so much hype behind the unannounced Apple HDTV television set that people are willing to pay premium without even knowing what features the product will have.

Source: Modmyi

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Apple Television Set May Double US Household Spending On Apple Products is a post from: The Apple Bites

Recently, Apple introduced the system of Developer ID to enhance the security of Mac. Now Apple is enforcing the new system of sandboxing to make Mac security, stronger.

Apple has started sending out emails to registered developers reminding them of the enforcement of the new sandboxing system rules. The new rules will implemented on 1 June 2012. The email is seen as confirmation that the sandboxing effort will go into effect after Apple pushed back the original November 2011 deadline to Marc, which was subsequently extended yet again to June.

The email reads the following:

As a reminder, the deadline for sandboxing your apps on the Mac App Store is June 1.

If you have an existing app on the Mac App Store that is not sandboxed, you may still submit bug fix updates after June 1. If you have technical issues that prevent you from sandboxing your app by June 1, let us know.

It is not clear why Apple decided to delay the security feature. However, a report from November pointed out a vulnerability that allowed programs to exercise restricted functions in certain default sandbox profiles. The sandboxing initiative looks to make Apple’s OS X a more secure environment for users by restricting what operation an app can execute. This was first seen in OS X Leopard. Here, the feature was designed to limit an app’s actions to program-essential functions in order to prevent damage from malware attacks.

Although sandboxing only covers programs installed through the Mac App Store, Apple will be implementing a system-wide solution called Gatekeeper in its next-gen operating system called OS X Mountain Lion. On the surface, it appears to be a traditional anti-virus program. As Apple described it, Gatekeeper will go much deeper and at its most secure setting. It will only download and install verified code that carries digital signatures obtained through Apple’s Developer ID program. Such a move will hopefully provide the extra security that is much needed as malware continues to threaten more Mac users as of late.

Source: Modmyi

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Apple Reminds Developers About The Sandbox Deadline For Apps is a post from: The Apple Bites

The rumors of HDTV set from Apple are going strong. So it is time for rumors about a car from Apple to join in.

It may seem absurd or a joke but there are some vestiges of truth behind the assertion that Apple could produce a company-branded automobile dubbed the “iCar.” It turns out that Steve Jobs actually spoke of such a creation.

Shortly before his sad demise in October 2011, the iconic co-founder of Apple began dramatically expanding – at least on the drawing board – the potential reach of Apple’s product line. In addition to laying the groundwork for a forthcoming connected HDTV offering, Jobs envisioned something much more unorthodox.

J. Crew CEO and Apple board member Mickey Drexler said in a new interview:

“Look at the car industry, it’s a tragedy in America. Who’s designing the cars? Steve’s dream before he died was to design an iCar and I think it would’ve been probably 50% of the market. He never did design it.”

He also did not deny that such a vehicle could still manifest. If the Google “smart car” continues to make progress, there is a chance Apple may attempt to bring Jobs’ vision for the iCar to life. For the present time, however, Drexler says Apple’s next venture is the living room. This means that that the iTV (if Apple is really making it) will be here much sooner than the iCar.

Source: Modmyi

Steve Jobs Wanted To Make An Apple Branded Automobile is a post from: The Apple Bites

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has been brought in as a “tutor” to coach Sony Pictures on its adaptation of the biography of the late Steve Jobs. The movie to be made by Sony Pictures would be based on the biography written by Walter Isaacson.

Aaron Sorkin spoke to the press about his approach to the project. According to an online report, Wozniak was to consult on technology for the film along with providing insight on Jobs’ character.

Wozniak served as the technical mind behind Jobs’ sharp business sense in the early days of Apple. Wozniak said:

“We were very much alike in that time frame. Steve [Jobs] was an incredible leader and a manager, he went through an awful lot of things in life that got him to that point.”

Sorkin also revealed that the film would not just be a biopic as he feels it would be difficult to structure. He said that he wanted to write about Jobs in a similar style to his previous work, “The Social Network”. The film centered around the lawsuit between Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his early partners. Describing the film, Sorkin said:

“Drama is tension versus obstacle. Someone wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it. They want the money, they want the girl, they want to get to Philadelphia – doesn’t matter … And I need to find that event and I will. I just don’t know what it is.”

Sony Pictures worked out the deal for the movie rights to the biography within days of the late executive’s death. At the time, Sorkin was Sony’s top choice for a scriptwriter and not surprisingly their first choice worked out. We want to remind our readers that this film is not to be confused with the independent production company looking to make its own film about Jobs as well. Ashton Kutcher has been cast as the lead role in that project. This movie is said to cover events from the year 1971 to 2000.

Source: Modmyi

Steve Wozniak Hired As Tutor For Sony’s Film On Steve Jobs is a post from: The Apple Bites

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple will introduce a new iPhone with a larger screen and an overhaul design that Steve Jobs “worked closely on” before passing away.

People familiar with Apple’s plans are speculating that Apple has ordered screens from suppliers that are “bigger than the 3.5-inch size” that the iPhone has been sporting since its debut in 2007.” The report noted that “Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had worked closely on the redesigned phone before his death in October”. Another source claimed that Jobs had played a “key role in developing” Apple’s next-generation iPhone.

If Apple was to perform a major redesign of the iPhone, it would be the device’s first re-design since the arrival of iPhone 4 in mid-2010. The previous design found incorporated into the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, was also kept for two years before the current form factor was introduced. With three mainstream media outlets reporting similar claims in the same week, the likelihood of Apple expanding the screen on its best-selling handset certainly appear to be high.

Previous reports indicated that LG Display, Sharp, and Japan Display are readying production lines for 4-inch displays bound for Apple’s next-generation iPhone. Furthermore, reports from Reuters claim that the production of the new screens could begin as soon as next month, ahead of full production of the next-generation iPhone in August.

Analysts have suggested that Apple’s interest in a larger-screen iPhone is coming in response to pressure from increasing screen sizes offering by competing Android handsets. The next-generation iPhone is widely expected to hit the market in the fall, roughly one year after the sale of the iPhone 4S. Let us see how much truth there is to the information when the next generation iPhone comes.

Source: Modmyi

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Apple Preparing iPhones With Bigger Screens? is a post from: The Apple Bites

After releasing the Mountain Lion Developer Preview update, Apple has released a new seed of Mountain Lion Server. Unlike some Mount Lion preview updates, which showed up in Software Update on Macs running the previous developer previews, Apple chose to make this update visible in the Apple Developer Center website.

Members of Apple’s developer program can login at developer website and get a redemption code for the update. That redemption code then offers up the new preview in the Mac App Store.

The difference in approach is most likely to be related to Apple’s repositioning of OS X Server. Beginning with Lion’s release last summer, Apple stopped shipping OS X Server as a separate product. Instead it began offering it as an add-on that could be downloaded and installed on any Mac running Lion.

That install cost $49.99 and installed the Server app onto a Mac. Server app can then be used to download and install most Lion Server components. It can also be used to administer a remote server. Lion Server’s advanced admin tools are a separate free download from Apple’s support site. The codebase for OS X and OS X Server has been largely identical since the first OS X release over a decade ago.

Apple seems to be following that strategy with Mountain Lion, which would account for the company delivering this developer preview as a separate Mac App Store product. It seems a foregone the conclusion that the redemption code will work only on Macs running the most recent developer preview of Mountain Lion as a result.

There have been various reports about Apple beginning to shift away OS X Server away from its enterprise roots and repositioning it as small business solution. Mountain Lion Server is almost certain to follow in Lion Server’s lead. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that Apple will beef up some of the small business features.

What is your opinion about new Mountain Lion Server Build for Developers? Share with us.

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The Apple Bites is giving away free iTunes Gift-cards for exciting games and interesting apps. All you need to do is to participate in the discussions The Apple Bites starts. No offensive words allowed. No spamming! The winners would be contacted and the gift cards would be given to them.

Source: Cult Of Mac

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Apple Drops New Mountain Lion Server Build For Developers is a post from: The Apple Bites

We recently reported that Apple was trying to gain the ownership of a domain called iphone5.com. Now Apple has successfully gained it.

You heard it right. Apple has successfully claimed the ownership of the iPhone5.com domain name after filing a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to have the domain transferred from its existing owner.

According to WIPO’s website, the case has now been terminated.

The iPhone5.com domain name now belongs to the brand protection agency Corporation Service Company, which was believed to be working on behalf of Apple to secure the domain. The domain in question was first registered back in 2008.

The now former owner of the domain argued that their website was “not endorsed, sponsored, nor otherwise affiliated with Apple,” and that it was “for the sole purpose of entertainment and knowledge.” But it seemed inevitable that the complaint would rule in Apple’s favor.

The Cupertino, Califronia-based company has successfully claimed ownership of all sorts of domains that have included its trademarks in previous years, including iPhone4.com and iPhone4S.com.

Secure the iPhone5.com domain does not guarantee that Apple’s next-generation iPhone will be named the iPhone 5. After the company abandoned its numbering system for the third-generation iPad back in March, it is expected to do the same again with its smartphone. The next iPhone maybe named simply “the new iPhone.”

Source: Cult Of Mac

Apple Gets Ownership Of iPhone5.com Domain is a post from: The Apple Bites