Apple inc.

Apple CEO Cook: We will never make a 7-inch tablet

2012-10-29T11:15:00.001-07:00

But seriously, Tim Cook, how do you really feel about smaller tablets?

The Apple CEO let loose on 7-inch tablets during a conference call with investors, insisting that the company would never build one. "We would not make a 7-inch tablet," he said today. "We don't think they're good products."

Cook, of course, is staying true to the late Steve Jobs' proclamation that a tablet that's smaller than the original 9.7-inch iPad was too uncomfortable, and that consumers would have to shave off parts of their fingers to actually use it.

But Cook is splitting hairs a bit here. Yes, the recently unveiled iPad Mini is a smaller tablet, but isn't the 7 inch tablet that Jobs referred to. No, it has a staggeringly larger 7.9 inch display instead.

Cook argues that the extra size gives it a much larger viewing area, and isn't cramped like smaller devices such as the Nexus 7 from Google and Kindle Fire HD from Amazon.

The slightly larger size gives the iPad Mini a 35 percent larger display, and more than 50 to 60 percent when considering the usable area (excluding the tabs and other bits of interface on Android tablets), Apple executives say.

To deflect criticism of the lack of pixels on the iPad Mini relative to its competition, Cook said the number of pixels are the same as the iPad 2. As a result, the iPad Mini can run all 275,000 apps designed for the iPad.

Still, the display does lack the key pixel per inch metric that Apple usually touts for its Retina Display-enabled screens. The iPad Mini offers a 163 ppi display, as opposed to 216 ppi each for the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD.

Regardless, the iPad Mini is "in a whole different league," Cook said about the iPad Mini relative to the competition.

Cook defended the premium price of the iPad Mini, which can be significantly higher than the competition. He added that the iPad Mini is significantly less profitable than other products in its lineup.

Apple, meanwhile, sold 14 million iPads in the fiscal fourth quarter that just ended, although it was below what Wall Street had expected. Apple as a whole reported mixed results, including a slight profit shortfall, disappointing iPad sales and higher costs.

The smaller tablets weren't Cook's only targets during the conference call. Microsoft's Surface got a negative shout-out when he compared it to a car that can both float and fly, saying it was a "compromised product" that probably couldn't do either task that well.

Apple's fiscal 2012 in numbers: 125M iPhones, 58.31M iPads

2012-10-29T11:14:00.003-07:00

With Apple's fourth-quarter earnings in the bag, we now have a full picture of how the company has done during its entire fiscal year.

Though Apple's last quarter was a disappointment on the profit side, and soft on iPad sales, the company surprised with stronger-than-expected iPhone sales.

The company's current quarter, during which Apple expects to bring in $52 billion in sales, kicked off last month.

Here's some of Apple's 2012 by the numbers:

$156.5 billion. Apple's total sales for the year. The biggest chunk of that came during the first quarter, when the company brought in $46.33 billion in sales.

$41.66 billion. Apple's profits for the entire fiscal year. Once again, the company's biggest quarter was its first, buoyed by sales of more than 37 million iPhones.

$121.25 billion. Apple's current cash pile. It was about $81 billion at the end of this quarter last year, and up about 3.4 percent from its previous quarter.

58.31 million iPads sold. Apple let the cat out of the bag on this one at its event earlier this week, noting that it had sold just over 100 million iPads as of the end of its fiscal year, but that it sold more than half that total in 2012. Apple CEO Tim Cook described the tally as "unprecedented," though analysts were expecting the company to sell about 3 million more during its final quarter. Cook and company chalked up the lower-than-expected number to rumors of new models, including the iPad Mini.

125 million iPhones sold. Once again, most of those came in the first half of the year, in the first and second fiscal quarters. Apple sold 37.04 million in its first quarter, and 25.06 in the second quarter. The third and fourth quarters were fairly similar at 26.03 million units and 26.91 million units respectively.

35.16 million iPods sold. And just like the iPhone, most of the sales came during the first half of the year. The number tapered down by the quarter. Most of those devices, Apple said, were iPodTouches.

18.15 million Macs sold. Apple sold more Macs than it ever has before during its first quarter, where the company moved 5.2 million computers. As usual, most of those sold were portables. By comparison, Apple sold 17 million Macs during all of last year.

5.3 million Apple TV set-top boxes sold. This number, announced during today's earnings conference call with investors, is up 3.2 million from Apple's total sold last year.

33 retail stores opened. That's less than last year's 40 new stores. Apple closed out last year with 357 retail stores, and ended this fiscal year with 390 stores.

Patent holder sues Apple over Quick Look file viewer

2012-10-29T11:13:00.003-07:00

WhitServe, which owns intellectual property but doesn't make any real products, is suing Apple over allegations that versions of the Mac OS X operating system infringe on a file viewer patent it holds.

The complaint, filed today in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, claims that Apple's Quick Look violates Patent No. 7,921,139, a system for "sequentially opening and displaying files in a directory."

Introduced in 2007 with Mac OS X Leopard, Apple's Quick Look allows users a convenient way to preview the contents of a document before opening it fully in an application. By selecting a file in the Finder and pressing the spacebar, users can view a window that shows a view of the contents of the file.

"The harm to WhitServe resulting from the infringing acts of Apple is irreparable, continuing, not fully compensable by money damages, and will continue unless enjoined by this Court," the company said in its lawsuit.WhitServe said it is actively licensing the patent, which was granted in 2011, and has suffered as a result of Apple's inclusion of the technology in its operating system.

In addition to damages and court costs, WhitServe is seeking a permanent injunction against Apple's use of the technology.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

Apple Store down ahead of iPad Mini midnight preorders

2012-10-29T11:13:00.001-07:00

With three hours to go before the iPad Mini officially goes on sale, Apple's online store is down.

In what has become standard operating procedure for Apple before a new release, the online marketplace has gone offline, replaced with the familiar message that assures shoppers that the store will "be back" soon.

The message appears in anticipation of the iPad Mini -- 7.9-inch version of the 10-inch iPad tablet -- going on sale at midnight Pacific time. The device, which was unveiled yesterday at an event in San Jose, Calif., is expected to ship to consumers on November 2.

The iPad Mini comes in six pricing configurations. In addition to the 16GB tablet with Wi-Fi at $329, the 32GB tablet with Wi-Fi is $429, and the 64BG version is $529. For devices with Wi-Fi and 4G cellular connections, the 16GB tablet is $459, the 32GB is $559, and the 64GB is $659. These devices are shipping two weeks after their Wi-Fi-only counterparts.

Phil Schiller: Optical drives are 'anchors on where we want to go'

2012-10-29T11:12:00.001-07:00

Fresh off the introduction of its latest products, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller explained his company's abandonment of built-in optical drives in its new Macbooks and iMacs.

"These old technologies are holding us back," he told Time. "They're anchors on where we want to go. We find the things that have outlived their useful purpose. Our competitors are afraid to remove them. We try to find better solutions -- our customers have given us a lot of trust."

Full coverage of Apple's iPad mini and other announcements

The senior vice president of worldwide marketing also noted that the solid state storage used in Apple's products is more reliable than the mechanical devices with rotating drives. Apple does offer a USB $79 optical drive, and of course, points to iTunes and Apple stores as the way to get digital content, such as movies and apps, on demand.

Schiller pointed to the more than 100 million iPads sold as an example of how Apple's value proposition is received by customers. However, in the last quarter the iPad had less than 10 percent growth, compared with 132 percent and 51 percent in the previous two quarters.Time's Harry McCracken asked Schiller about making cheaper Macs. "Customers have come to understand that Apple's products aren't priced high -- they're priced on the value of what we build into them," Schiller said. That said, they are priced with very healthy margins that have allowed Apple to become the most valued public company.

As a company, Apple has probably been the most obsessed with the fit and finish of its products, and the pricing reflects the idea that it can charge a premium. The optical drive was eliminated in the Macbook and new iMac to satisfy Apple's design and engineering craving for thinner and lighter.

The new iPad Mini will be a good test of whether Apple can sustain its premium pricing and margin advantage as it enters more categories and the competition heats up.

At $329, the iPad Mini with 16GB of storage and a 7.9-inch 1,024x768 pixels (163 ppi) display is more expensive and has a lower-resolution screen than its 7-inch competitors. During the iPad Mini launch presentation, Schiller compared it to a Google Nexus 7, criticizing Google's plastic casing and smaller display viewing area. But the Nexus 7 is $249 with 16GB of storage and a 7-inch 1,280x800 HD display (216 ppi). The iPad Mini's claim to the thin and light crown (308 grams, 0.28-inch thick) and more viewing area may be enough to sway customers to pay nearly $80 more than the Nexus 7 (340 grams, 0.41-inch thick) costs.

So far, the iPad Mini is in high demand. Within minutes of Apple accepting online orders, it was backordered for delivery by two weeks. Of course, it's hard to know just how many iPad Minis Apple has ready to go on its official November 2 delivery date.

iPhone 5 said to be coming to more countries on Nov. 2

2012-10-29T11:11:00.001-07:00

The iPhone 5 makes its next big overseas sales debut next Friday, November 2 as local media have begun to report the leaks. (You can find the MacRumors roundup here.)

We've contacted Apple for comment and will update this post when more information becomes available.

The Economic Times of India, citing unnamed sources, reported that next Friday's launch "is certain" with iPhone shipments arriving over the next two or three days.

Similarly, the Bangkok Post reported confirmation of the November 2 date from an unnamed "industry source."

In Greece, the iPhoneHellas blog (translated), reported the same date but did not reveal a source.

Publications from Bulgaria, Malta, and Romania cited wireless carriers as the sources for the launch date. MacRumors also listed Croatia, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico in this round, but did not say cite specific sources.

Amazon pits Kindle Fire HD vs. iPad Mini

2012-10-29T11:06:00.003-07:00

Amazon is understandably partial to its Kindle Fire HD. And it surely wants you to feel the same way, especially given the splashy arrival of a new kid tablet in town.

The e-commerce giant with the tablet business sideline today spruced up its home page with a big, blatant comparison of the Kindle Fire HD against the iPad Mini, unveiled just days ago by Apple. There's no mistaking the conclusion Amazon wants to leave in your mind, what with the supersize typeface proclaiming "Much More for Much Less." That would be the Kindle Fire HD, of course.

In Amazon's estimation, it's pretty much all about the visuals. (Well, and the price tag, too.) The "stunning" display of the Kindle Fire HD has "30% more pixels" than the iPad Mini and its "standard definition, low-resolution" display. The pixel count, Amazon helpfully makes explicit, is 216 per inch for the Kindle Fire HD, 163 per inch for the iPad Mini.

To bring things off the spec sheet and more into your living room, Amazon comes right out to say that its tablet lets you "watch HD movies and TV." The iPad Mini? Not so much, Amazon declares. The Kindle Fire HD also has the advantage in speakers and Wi-Fi, according to its maker.

Amazon provides a link that lets you "shop now" for the $199 Kindle Fire HD, but the e-tailer provides no such service for the $329 iPad Mini. (The prices are shown in large type, lest you miss the big differential.)

For a more complete comparison, and one with less of a vested interest, I would point you to a very thorough rundown done by my colleague Jessica Dolcourt, which also throws Google's Nexus 7 in for good measure: "iPad Mini vs. Google Nexus 7 vs. Amazon Kindle Fire HD."

Just the other day, Amazon, while reporting its rather troubled third-quarter earnings, declared the Kindle Fire HD to be its best-selling product. Meanwhile, the urge to buy the iPad Mini seems to be a strong one, as shipments for some models slipped to 2 weeks within minutes of the Apple device going on sale.

Shipments for all iPad Minis with Wi-Fi pushed back 2 weeks

2012-10-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Consumers ordering an iPad Mini will need to wait a couple more weeks to get their hands on the device.

Apple's store currently lists all iPad Minis with Wi-Fi as shipping in two weeks. Preorders on the tablet kicked off Friday and promised a November 2 shipment. But very quickly, the white iPad Mini showed a two-week delay for new orders. The black models were still available at the time. But now all models are listed as shipping in two weeks.

Meanwhile, the iPad Mini is apparently a costly product to manufacture. At his company's earnings call last week, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said the "iPad Mini's gross margin is significantly below the corporate average." He went on to tell shareholders and analysts that his company is "going to work to get down the cost curves and be more efficient in manufacturing."Apple's iPad Mini comes with a 7.9-inch screen. The Wi-Fi only model, which starts at $329, will launch Friday. Apple plans to ship an iPad Mini with LTE service toward the end of November. It had been rumored that the iPad Mini with LTE would be available two weeks after the Wi-Fi-only model, but reports last week suggested that the launch date might be pushed back.

Apple stores batten down their hatches for Sandy

2012-10-29T11:04:00.001-07:00

Apple is among countless retailers striving to defend their East Coast stores against the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy.

The company has already closed some stores in New York and four other states, as well as in Washington, D.C., and is bracing for potential flooding and other damage, says blog site ifoAppleStore.

At least 35 Apple stores are within the hurricane's landfall zone as predicted by the National Weather Service, ifoAppleStore said, while another 15 are right outside the zone, including those in New York City and areas north of the city.

Apple stores across Manhattan were closed as of Sunday night. But Apple staffers were still busy placing sandbags around the stores to defend against possible flooding. Employees at the city's Fifth Avenue store also wrapped plastic around the display tablets to protect the products from damage.

Apple to open yet another retail store in China

2012-10-29T11:03:00.003-07:00

Apple will open another retail store in China on Saturday.

The company announced on its China Web site today that it will open a new store in the Nanshan District of Shenzhen on Saturday. The store will be open for business at 9 a.m. on Saturday to celebrate its grand opening. From then on, the store will open at 10 a.m. each day.

Just a few weeks before that announcement, Apple opened a store in Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.The Shenzhen location is the latest in a string of Apple stores to come to China. Earlier this month, Apple touted a new Beijing store in the Wangfujing district. At that event, Apple senior vice president of retail John Browett announced plans for the Shenzhen store, and said that his company's goal is to serve "every customer in every city."

China is an integral component in Apple's long-term success. The country is watching its middle class boom in size, giving companies like Apple a larger customer base to capitalize on. In earlier discussions on China, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the country is Apple's second-most-important market.

Apple's revenue from its China operations for the entire fiscal year ending September 30 was $23.8 billion, accounting for more than 15 percent of total sales. Cook said the iPhone 5 will become available in China in December. "I feel great about where we are on the manufacturing ramp," he said. "The supply output is significantly higher than October." The iPhone has been available for purchase in China since late 2009.

What updates to the Mac Mini, iMac will Apple announce at iPad Mini event?

2012-10-29T11:02:00.004-07:00

While the main course of Apple's October 23 press event will presumably be the launch of the long-awaited iPad Mini tablet, there's always dessert on the menu at these gatherings. (In the Steve Jobs era, that would be the "one more thing" part of his address.) There's already talk that a 13.3-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display will be introduced, and there are rumors that Apple will be presenting updated iMacs and Mac Minis on Tuesday as well.

With the upcoming holiday shopping season soon among us, the desktop refresh makes sense, but which forms will it take? It'd be highly likely that the systems would get Intel Ivy Bridge processors options, which would include improved integrated graphics for the base Mac Mini. Speaking of graphics, Apple could ship the new desktops with AMD's latest Radeon 7000 graphics cards -- right now the more expensive Mac Mini configuration and all iMacs ship with Radeon 6000 mobile processors.

Rumormongers, however, have mostly ruled out that the iMacs will get Retina Display updates (for now), though a Chinese website is claiming that they will get a facelift with a thinner design that resembles a water droplet. They supposedly will also have the screen glued to the glass front (at least the 21.5-inch model) to help improve display quality.

Other improvements could be in the way of new connectivity options. While the current Mac desktops sport Thunderbolt inputs, it would be logical that the Lightning connector on the new iPhone 5 (and maybe brand-new iPads) would join it. Mac Minis and iMacs still feature USB 2.0 ports, so moving to USB 3.0 could be another spec improvement. SlashGear says it's being tipped off that the Mac Mini could get 16GB or even 32GB of RAM.

Apple seems to have gotten a little bit lost

2012-10-29T11:02:00.002-07:00

Apple CEO Tim Cook had to apologize for the buggy new Maps app in the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 on Friday, saying that his company "fell short" of making a "world-class product." It was a gracious and humble admission of a major mistake -- a sign that Apple takes its customers seriously and conducts itself with integrity.

"We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused," Cook said in a letter posted on the company's website. "We are doing everything we can to make Maps better." That relentless focus on treating customers right is why Apple has been the undisputed leader of the technology business for the past decade. But while the apology is commendable, the maps mistake was entirely Apple's fault.

Previous versions of the iPhone and iOS used Google Maps, which are the industry standard. No one was complaining about Google Maps. Sure, they're not perfect, but we're all used to their errors and gaps. But Apple broke its contract to use Google Maps a year earlier than expected because of corporate politics. Google is a competitor, and Apple wanted to break ties and control its own maps. That's an extra year in which Apple could have improved its own maps — an extra year which was apparently sorely needed.

Apple Introduces iPad mini

2012-10-29T11:01:00.004-07:00

Apple today introduced iPad mini, a thinner, lighter iPad design that fits in one hand. It features a stunning 7.9-inch Multi-Touch display, FaceTime HD and iSight cameras, ultrafast wireless performance, and 10 hours of battery life. Apple today also announced the fourth-generation iPad featuring a 9.7-inch Retina display, new Apple-designed A6X chip, ultrafast wireless, and the new Lightning connector. iPad mini with Wi-Fi starts at $329 (U.S.), and the fourth-generation iPad with Wi-Fi starts at $499 (U.S.). They’ll be available for pre-order at the Apple Online Store on October 26 and arrive in Apple Retail Stores starting at 8:00 a.m. on November

Apple, Samsung control 106 percent of industry's profits

2012-10-29T11:01:00.002-07:00

Sorry, Nokia Lumia. Apple and Samsung are still generating most profits in the handset industry.

Controlling all of the mobile market's profits doesn't appear to be enough for Apple and Samsung anymore. Now they're actually generating more than 100 percent of the industry's earnings -- 106 percent, to be precise -- according to a report from Canaccord Genuity.

That may seem impossible, but it's largely because rivals -- like Research In Motion, Nokia, and Motorola -- posted operating losses during the September quarter, the firm said.

"With Samsung extending its overall smartphone and Android market share combined with Apple's strength in high-end smartphones, competing smartphone [original equipment manufacturers] continued to struggle to compete with these dominant smartphone OEMs," Canaccord analyst T. Michael Walkley noted today.

It's actually the second quarter in a row that the two companies captured greater than 100 percent of the industry's profits, Walkley added. In the second quarter, Apple and Samsung held 108 percent share.

Walkley estimates that Apple captured 59 percent of the industry's operating profits in the calendar third quarter, with only 6.3 percent of global handset unit sales and 15.4 percent of smartphone unit sales.

Samsung, meanwhile, controlled 47 percent of the profits, up from 37 percent in the second quarter. It held 25.6 percent of the global handset unit market share in the third quarter, up from 25.3 percent in the second quarter, in part because of strong Galaxy S3 sales. Walkley expects Samsung to maintain its leading unit market share position during the fourth quarter and beyond, continuing to supplant longtime leader Nokia.

The two companies' dominance should continue in the current quarter, Walkley said, with Apple likely to take some share from Samsung during the period because of strong global demand for the iPhone 5.

The numbers continue to paint a dismal picture for the handset industry at large, with barely anyone being able to make money aside from Apple and Samsung. The giants continue to dominate and squeeze rivals like Motorola while low-cost handset makers like ZTE are applying pressure on the low end.

Apple wins stay of Korean iPhone, iPad sales ban

2012-10-14T01:16:00.004-07:00

A spokesman for the Seoul Central District Court told Bloomberg that the delay was actually handed down last month, with the court deciding that any sales ban would have to wait until Apple's appeal proceedings conclude.

In the initial Aug. 24 ruling, the South Korean court found both Apple and Samsung guilty of infringing on each others' patents, ultimately banning sales of the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, first-generation iPad and the iPad 2. Samsung was also hit with a number of bans against its smartphones and tablets, however the company chose not to pursue an appeal.

Thursdays' news comes on the heels of a Samsung win in the U.S., as the federal appeals courtoverturned an injunction against the Galaxy Nexus smartphone first handed down in June.

Apple woos chip design guru away from Samsung

2012-10-14T01:16:00.001-07:00

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple's new hire is quite the coup as Mergard, who designed and developed chips at Advanced Micro Devices for 16 years, serving as the company's vice president and chief engineer before leaving for Samsung, was thought to be one of the Korean company's top prospects.

Among the chip designer's more notable accomplshments is his work on a high-profile AMD processor dubbed "Brazos," which was tailored for use in low-end laptops.

Former AMD executive Patrick Moorhead said Mergard is an expert in both PC technology as well as systems on a chip, the latter being the architecture used by Apple in its A-series of mobile processors.

Moorhead contends that Mergard's expertise may possibly spill into Apple's PC sector, perhaps as a first step into desktop and laptop class processors, a proposition long-rumored to be in the cards for Apple.

“He would be very capable of pulling together internal and external resources to do a PC processor for Apple,” Moorhead said.

The Cupertino company has been dabbling with creating their own silicon for years, finally releasing its first consumer-ready chip with the A4, an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU first used in the original iPad.

Most recently, the new iPhone 5's A6 SoC features Apple's first custom-designed core, a major step away from the standard ARM architecture used by other manufacturers. Based on the ARMv7s instruction set, the core's design change allowed Apple to squeeze double the performance out the SoC without sacrificing efficiency.

Apple rumored to be expanding iPhone production to Foxconn subsidiary

2012-10-14T01:15:00.002-07:00

Shares of Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) rose more than ten percent on Friday local China time, after a brokerage report claimed the company may start manufacturing an iteration of Apple's iPhone within the next few months, reports Reuters.

According to findings from Daiwa Capital Markets, FIH is likely to get iPhone orders "soon," despite not having any previous or current business dealings with Apple. The Foxconn Technology subsidiary is the world's largest contract maker of mobile phones, and builds products for Nokia, Huawei and ZTE, however the manufacturer has never been tapped to assemble Apple devices.

"Our industry research indicates that FIH is likely to start producing iPhones in late 2012 or early 2013," Daiwa's report said.

The news comes on the heels of a report claiming quality control issues have hamperedFoxconn's ability to produce enough iPhone 5 units to keep up with expectedly massive demand.

It was said that Apple's decision to return to a metal back casing, instead of the "glass sandwich" design seen with the iPhone 4 and 4S, has caused issues with nicks and scratches appearing on brand new out-of-the-box units. Dubbed "scuffgate," the blemishes reportedly prompted Apple to instruct Foxconn to employ stricter quality control methods, which subsequently lower production yield rates.

It is unclear whether Friday's reported expansion to another iPhone producer stems from the purported manufacturing problems, though it is well known that stock of Apple's newest smartphone has been constrained since the product launched in September.

iOS 6 Maps, Lightning connector have no effect on iPhone 5 demand, survey finds

2012-10-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

The poll of 4,270 primarily North American consumers was conducted in September, and found that 19 percent of consumers considered themselves "very likeLy" to buy an iPhone 5, while 13 percent said they were "somewhat likely."

The numbers show a significant increase in demand for the iPhone 5 over the iPhone 4S from a year ago. Last year, 10 percent of consumers said they were "very likely" to buy an iPhone 4S, while another 11.5 percent considered themselves "somewhat likely."

The stats show that consumers who indicated they are "very likely" to buy the iPhone 5 has nearly doubled from that of the iPhone 4S. Until now, Apple's iPhone 4S has been the most successful smartphone in history, but the iPhone 5 is expected to surpass it.

"Despite the media attention surrounding both the Apple Maps issue and the Apple Lightning port issue, neither has had an impact on the massive numbers of buyers queuing up to buy the iPhone 5," said Dr. Paul Carton, ChangeWave's vice president of Research. "Rather, the survey results show both issues hardly rank as bumps in the road."

ChangeWave also asked respondents running iOS 6 if they had experienced problems with Apple Maps, and the survey found that the new mapping software has not been a major issue for users. Among those polled, 90 percent reported "no problem at all," while 3 percent said iOS 6 Maps are a "very big problem," while 6 percent said the issue is "somewhat of a problem."

The data shows that any perceived issues with iOS 6 Maps are less of a concern than the "antenna-gate" controversy with the iPhone 4. In 2010, ChangeWave's polling found 7 percent of new iPhone 4 owners characterized the reception issue as a "very big problem," while another 14 percent said it was "somewhat of a problem." Nearly two thirds reported they "hadn't experienced any problem."

As for the new, smaller Lightning port on the iPhone 5, customers likely to buy Apple's latest handset were asked for their thoughts on the change that makes it more difficult, and in some cases impossible, to use legacy accessories. Nearly a third — 31 percent — said the change to the Lightning port is "not much of a problem," while 26 percent said it's "no problem at all.

However, 6 percent characterized the Lightning port switch as a "very big problem," and 31 percent said they felt it was "somewhat of a problem."

Even though more than two-thirds of respondents expressed some level of concern over the Lightning port, the survey found it will not stop consumers from buying the iPhone 5. Among those who said they are unlikely to buy the iPhone 5, 0 percent said their decision was made because of the Lightning adapter.

The iPhone 5 had the strongest launch yet of any iPhone, as Apple announced the device sold 5 million units in its first three days of availability. It's believed that Apple could have sold many more handsets over the launch window, but sales are believed to have been held back by limited supply.

Apple reaches license agreement for Swiss rail clock design

2012-10-14T01:13:00.003-07:00

Apple and the Swiss Federal Railways SBB have already agreed to and signed the deal, the railway announced in a press release. Both parties agreed to keep the licensing fee associated with the deal secret.

The iconic design of the railway station clock was built in 1944 by engineer and designer Hans Hilfiker. A nearly identical design to the SBB clock is featured in the iPad version of Apple's iOS 6 mobile operating system.

The railway announced last month that it would meet with Apple to discuss a deal over the use of its clock design. The design appeared in the "Clock" application of iOS 6 without a proper licensing deal.

The SBB publicly said that it was "proud" Apple chose to use its iconic clock design in iOS 6. The company said it was flattering to have a "brand as important as Apple" use their design.

"There are a lot of brands that use the SBB logo, though nothing like Apple," a company spokeswoman said in September. "It's not just about exchanging money, rather drawing up a contract stating where the logo can be used, under what conditions and for how long."

TSMC to build quad-core 20nm chips for Apple by late 2013

2012-10-14T01:13:00.001-07:00

The details come from research fellow J.T. Hsu of Citigroup Global Markets, who was quoted in a report published on Friday by Taiwan Economic News (via MacRumors). Hsu claimed that the 20-nanometer quad-core chips are most likely to show up in a future iPad, the rumored Apple television, or even a MacBook computer.

However, Hsu indicated that future iPhones are expected to continue to feature dual-core processors, due to power consumption issues.

"Apple began verifying TSMC's 20nm process in August this year and may begin risk production in November with the process," the report said. "Volume production is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2013, raising the possibility that TSMC will hike capital expenditure to US$11-12 billion in 2013 and 2014."

Reports have linked Apple to TSMC for over a year now, but the company still relies on Samsung as its sole supplier of custom chips found in the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV. As such, a move to TSMC as Apple's sole supplier for a future chip would represent a major shakeup in Apple's supply chain.

Friday's report claimed that TSMC has "unmatched" technological advancements in the 20-nanometer mobile chip space. As a result, Apple is said to have chosen TSMC's 20-nanometer process for its future products, presumably starting with a fifth-generation iPad in early 2014 based on Apple's current product release schedule.

The first indication came earlier this year that TSMC apparently hoped to land orders for 20-nanometer chips from Apple as soon as 2014. But Friday's report suggests those orders could come even earlier, by the end of next year.

One rumor that surfaced in August claimed that Apple made an offer for around $1 billion that would have made TSMC a dedicated chip producer to Apple alone. The offer was allegedly rejected by TSMC, as the company was said to be interested in staying involved in the booming broader smartphone market.

The new iPhone 5 features an A6 processor built by Apple that is a dual-core design. The chip also features two graphics processing unit cores and a full gigabyte of RAM.

Friday's latest rumor comes on the heels of news this week that Apple has hired a noted engineerof both desktop and mobile processors away from rival Samsung. Apple began designing its own mobile chips starting with the A4 in the first-generation iPad in 2010.

Apple sued over alleged misuse of photo in MacBook Pro promotion

2012-10-14T01:12:00.002-07:00

The claim asserted by Sabine Liewald says that Apple purchased rights to use the image, titled "Eye Closeup," for "layout purposes only," but went on to display the photograph in a number of commercial applications.

As noted by CNET, Apple used the photograph to show off the company's 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display when the product was announced in June.

According to the claim, Apple obtained a high-resolution file of "Eye Closeup" for what is known as "comping," or layout, purposes. Usually, comping images are provided at low-resolution and are watermarked to dissuade their use in ads or marketing without receiving permission to do so from content owners.

Although the photograph is not considered a "United States work" by the Copyright Act, Liewald says the image is covered by copyright law and is also "protected as under the Byrne Convention as a non-United States work."

Liewald asserts that by "commercially exploiting" the image, Apple caused statutory damages while "obtaining significant economic gains," suggesting the photograph is to be credited for at least some part of the MacBook Pro's success.

The suit was filed on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and asks for damages of each infringing use of the "Eye Closeup" photograph, profits associated with its use and incurred legal fees.

iPhone 5 web usage surges past Samsung Galaxy S III

2012-10-14T01:11:00.003-07:00

Ad network Chitika's research arm, Chitika Insights, analyzed the web usage rates of the two competing devices between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9, and found that Apple's iPhone 5 accounted for more traffic than Samsung's Galaxy S III, a device which has been on the U.S. market for nearly four months.

The quick rise in iPhone 5 ad impressions across Chitika's network is largely thanks to the device's high adoption rate, which caused stockouts mere hours after preorders went live in September. In comparison to the iPhone 4S launch, preorders for Apple's newest handset came in at above two million units, more than doubling the legacy model's sales numbers from last year. Overall, Apple sold a record-breaking five million iPhone 5s over its first weekend of availability.

The report goes on to speculate that the sixth-generation iPhone's 4G LTE connectivity helped to bring more users online, as the fast data speeds allow for a more enjoyable web browsing experience.

Chitika Insights writes:

While optimizing online content for both devices is still the smart move for businesses targeting mobile consumers, this comparison emphasizes iPhone users still being the most active – and hence marketable – users of the mobile Web.

In its study, Chitika sampled millions of mobile ad impressions, focusing only on the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III to get a direct comparison between the two smartphones.

Review: iPod nano (2012)

2012-10-14T01:11:00.000-07:00

Since the iPod nano first appeared in 2005 as the replacement for the hard drive based iPod mini, Apple has frequently experimented with its design, trying to pin down how to best target the market for a device more sophisticated than the screen-free iPod shuffle, yet sufficiently differentiated from the high end flagship iPod: a compact, simple device with a functional display.

The first iPod nano was incredibly thin due to its use of flash memory, and delivered a (1.5 inch, 176x132) color screen the mini lacked. The second introduced an aluminum case in a range of colors. The third experimented with a smaller form factor with a nearly square shape that more closely associated it with the design of the classic iPod. However, it was not well received, despite delivering new video playback on its significantly larger and sharper (2 inch, 320×240) screen.

Apple replaced the "fat nano" with a taller fourth generation iPod nano that put the same display in portrait orientation, automatically flipping to landscape when playing video. The company subsequently enhanced it with an even taller display (2.2 inch, 240×376) paired with an FM tuner, VGA video recording camera, and built-in pedometer support for Nike+ workouts on the fifth generation iPod nano.

In 2010, Apple again experimented with the direction of the iPod nano, releasing a smaller (1.54 inch, 240×240), square touchscreen display that got rid of the physical click wheel and ditched not just the camera (and mic and speaker) but video playback as well.

This sixth nano resembled an iPod shuffle with a screen instead of a click wheel. Icons on the touchscreen appeared to be iOS apps, although the nano continued to use specialized software that was unable to run App Store titles. The company positioned the new device to be wearable as a watch when outfitted with a wristband, and last year offered a series of custom watch faces for it.

The new iPod nano 7

This year, the wearable iPod nano is gone, replaced with the largest, widest screen an iPod nano has ever had (2.5 inch, 240x432) and restored video playback

It retains a touchscreen, pairing it with an iPhone-like Home button that makes it look like a tiny iPhone (or iPod touch-nano). It even has a Lightning connector (so don't expect to use it with existing Docks without an adapter) as well as new Bluetooth 4.0 for pairing it to wireless speakers or headphones and 'hands free' car integration systems.

This repositioning makes sense because for years Apple has reported that half of the iPods it sells are the iPod touch. It now has what appears to be a new, very small iPod touch to offer at $149/16GB, priced just below last year's 16GB iPod touch and half the price of the cheapest $299/32GB new fifth generation iPod touch.

Apple is still selling out the remaining inventory of previous square iPod nanos, but will not continue to sell these like the 4G iPod touch. Inventory checks in San Francisco indicate that Apple has virtually sold out its entire 6th generation iPod namos, and has very constrained supplies of the new models in most colors. Other retailers still have some supplies of last year's models, and few had any of the new models yet.

Rumor: Pictures show alleged 16.7 watt-hour 'iPad mini' battery

2012-10-14T01:10:00.001-07:00

AppleInsider cannot confirm the image's pedigree and offers the following information for purposes of discussion only.

The photos acquired by MacRumors claim to be a final or near-final version of the battery set to be used in the so-called "iPad mini," with the purported unit bearing a product number of A1445 and APN, or Apple product number, of 616-0641. In comparison, the third-generation iPad's battery is identified as part number A1389, and carries an APN of 616-0593.

Further investigation of the supposed iPad mini battery reveals the unit is a 3.72-volt, 16.7 watt-hour cell that holds a charge of 4,490 mAh. This is compared to the third-generation iPad's huge 43 watt-hour, 11,560 mAh battery, the iPad 2's 24.8 watt-hour cell, and the iPhone 5's 5.45 watt-hour unit.

The alleged battery's markings are incomplete and have placeholders for certain regulatory text, numbers and government regulation insignias, suggesting the part is not a production model. However, the general shape of the unit is consistent with previously "leaked" components, including the rear shell, front display assembly and LCD.

If legitimate, the 16.7 watt-hour cell could mean the smaller iPad's battery life will be comparable to the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD, which employ a 16 watt-hour and 16.43 watt-hour unit, respectively. Weighing heavily into the runtime calculation of any device is the processor, which in some cases can diminish performance by hours.

It remains to be seen what processor Apple will choose to run the alleged iPad mini, though the company's most recent A-series system on chips are either on par or more efficient than competing silicon. A report in early October claimed that an unknown iPad, thought to be the iPad mini, appeared in an app developer's access logs, with the device operating an A6-series chip much like the component found in the iPhone 5.

iMac models from 2009 now covered under hard drive replacement program

2012-10-14T01:09:00.000-07:00

News of the extension, first reported by MacRumors, was posted to Apple's Support webpagesometime on Friday, which noted email notifications were being sent to affected iMac owners who took the time to register their products. Users can also check the program's webpage to confirm eligibility.

From the announcement:

Apple has determined that certain Seagate 1TB hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail. These systems were sold between October 2009 and July 2011.

iMac owners who were affected by the Seagate-specific failure can have their hard drives replaced for free from Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or those who have already paid for repair or replacement can contact Apple for a possible refund.

First initiated in July 2011, the recall originally ran through July 23, 2012 and covered iMacs sold between May 2011 and July 2011. The program was subsequently extended for an additional year. With Friday's announcement, the replacement plan has been broadened again, and now covers affected iMacs for three years after the first retail sale of the unit or until April 12, 2013, whichever provides longer coverage.

Seagate's storage components were at the center of another fiasco in 2007, when Appleacknowledged that a number of MacBook and MacBook Pros shipped with faulty hard drives. An apparent manufacturing flaw caused the drive head of some units to permanently fail, scratching the disk patter and causing permanent data loss.