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BrightWire summarizes a report [Google translation] from Chinese financial news site yicai.com noting that the city of Shangahi has officially announced Apple will open a new facility including some research and development operations in the city this summer.
While Apple had previously been reported to be developing an R&D; facility in Beijing, the Shanghai plans have reportedly been underway for quite some time. Initial reports of a Chinese R&D; facility emerged following a meeting between Apple CEO Tim Cook and the acting mayor of Beijing just two weeks ago, so it is unknown whether those plans are still in the works.
China is an enormously important market for Apple, with revenues of $7.3 billion in the last quarter alone. Cook described China as Apple's second largest region.
Recent production problems with the 2012 iMac have largely been solved, suggesting that supply constraints may ease, according to a report from China Times, summarized by BrightWire.
Apple CEO Tim Cook noted in last week's analyst call that iMac shipments would remain constrained through Q1, with the company giving this as a large part of the reason for selling 1.1 million fewer Macs in Q4 2012 compared to Q4 2011.
Currently 27-inch iMacs are showing delivery times of 3-4 weeks, with 21.5-inch models showing 2-3 weeks.
A blog entry at Zero Hedge suggests that a deliberate share dump in the final second of trading may have been partly responsible for yet another drop in Apple's share price on Friday.
Zero Hedge cites several Nanex charts as evidence, observing that some 800,000 shares worth $350 million were traded in the final seconds of trading on Friday.
Following today's revelation of code in iOS 6.1 Beta 5 hinting at future 128 GB iOS devices, 9to5Mac reports that four new high-end iPad configurations have appeared in a U.S. retailer's database.
While the exact identity of the devices is not revealed in the stock database, they do appear as "ultimate" configurations of the current full-size iPad models, suggesting that they may represent 128 GB models of the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad in both black and white.
As noted by @iNeal and iDownloadBlog, the new iOS 6.1 Beta 5 released yesterday contains a reference suggesting that Apple may be looking to offer 128 GB iOS devices in upcoming generations.
The reference to a 128 GB capacity comes as part of SystemPartitionPadding key in the build manifest associated with the release and is not found in publicly available versions of iOS.
While the observation does not mean that a 128 GB iOS device is definitely coming later this year, this is not the first time in recent months that Apple has hinted at future 128 GB iOS devices. iTunes 11, released in late November, contains a graphic corresponding to a mobile device with a capacity of 128 GB, although no such device has been released so far.
French site Nowhereelse.fr shares [Google translation] a pair of photos of what the original source claims are speaker enclosures for both the upcoming iPhone 5S and a future iPhone 6. The two parts are similar in appearance both to each other and to the corresponding iPhone 5 part, but do contain several differences.
Photo of claimed iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 speaker enclosures with iPhone 5 part superimposed
It is of course impossible to tell for certain whether the parts are indeed legitimate and whether they are intended for the upcoming iPhone models as claimed. Nowehereelse.fr has published a number of accurate photos in the past, but typically obtains the photos by scouring web postings from Asia and thus the photos typically come from a variety of sources that make it difficult to determine their reliability.
Edge view of claimed iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 speaker enclosures
Last week, MacRumors received word that office supply retailer Staples would soon begin offering Apple products for sale. While the company has offered Apple products in international markets for some time, it had long been unsuccessful in striking a deal for the U.S. market.
We were unable to confirm the claim at the time, but 9to5Mac now reports that Apple products have begun appearing on the Staples website in the United States as part of an Apple Mock Up section. The section includes a number of products, including the Apple TV (listed at a remarkably low price of $49.99) and iPad Smart Covers, all marked with "Test" in the item description.
While the products listed on the test pages are limited to accessories with the exception of the Apple TV, our original source had claimed that Apple's full lineup of Macs, iPads, and at least the iPhone 5 would be coming to Staples in the United States. No specific timeframe for an official launch of Apple's products at Staples beyond "in the coming months" has been shared.
In a relatively rare weekend release, Apple today pushed out the fifth beta of iOS 6.1 to developers. The release comes just two days before the fourth beta, which was seeded on December 17, is scheduled to expire.
No public release timeframe for iOS 6.1 is known yet, but registered developers can download the latest beta via Apple's Developer page.
Following the premiere of Ashton Kutcher's new film Jobs at the Sundance Film Festival, a number of publications have posted reviews of the flick which is scheduled to arrive in theaters nationwide on April 19. The first video clip of the movie was released earlier this week.
Cinema Blend:
TouchArcade notes the appearance of an arcade game called Gridlee in the App Store.
Gridlee is a 1983 arcade game that was never officially released, but the code was later released for free for non-commercial usage in 2001. The App Store app uses MAME 0.139u1 (MAME4iOS) to provide the emulation engine for the game. MAME is a popular arcade machine emulator that will run thousands of arcade games if you have the original ROMs.
When launching the free app, users are greeted with the Gridlee game. TouchArcade readers, however, quickly noticed that additional ROMs could be copied into the App's ROM directory (without jailbreaking), revealing the fully functional MAME emulator.
The story is similar to the iMAME Emulator that was released into the App Store in December, 2011. Apple quickly pulled that app a few days after its release. While a number of individual emulators do exist on the App Store, Apple has been more restrictive about these open emulators, presumably due to potential legal issues.
Gridlee is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]
iPad Mini ship times have dropped to 3-5 days at a number of Apple Online Stores around the world, including the U.S., Canadian, Australia, New Zealand, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japanese outlets. This was first noticed by iPhoneinCanada.ca.
The most notable exception to the shipping time improvement is the European stores, which have a 2 week lead time.
During its first quarter conference call, Apple executives noted that the iPad mini was constrained for the entire holiday quarter. The company believes it can achieve supply/demand balance on the mini by the end of the March quarter.
Apple has quietly added a new notes feature to its curated apps in the iOS App Store. Apps chosen for Editor's Choice and App of the Week now come with App Store Notes, which offer a quick description of the app. For example, here's the new note feature for Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes:
Six of 24 New and Noteworthy apps on the iPhone have notes, while the rest do not. Only two apps, Temple Run 2 and Momonga Pinball, on the What's Hot have notes included.
App Store Notes might be trickling out to all of Apple's selected apps, or may be reserved for those that are the most popular. At this point in time, it is unclear what criteria Apple is using to determine which apps are furnished with notes, or if it is a feature that will roll out to all curated apps. The new app notes are only visible in the iOS App Store, and do not show up in the desktop version of iTunes.
Update: App Store Notes first appeared back in December, for the apps that Apple selected as the best of the year. The feature now appears to be rolling out more broadly to other curated App Store sections.
Best Buy is having a Winter Doorbuster Days sale on Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26, providing discounts on several products. Most notably, the retailer is offering $200 off on select MacBook Airs.
Both the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models are discounted, giving the entry level 11-inch Air with 4GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD a price tag of $799.99. The base model 13-inch MacBook Air, sporting 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD is $999.99.
Additional configurations with more storage space are also available, and the 13-inch MacBook Air with a 256GB SSD is $1299.99, while the 11-inch 128GB model is $899.99.
The sale is available both online and in stores, and while the 11-inch $799.99 variant is sold out online, it is possible that it is still available at retail locations.
Best Buy is also offering 30% off of all OtterBox cases and a free $20 gift card with the purchase of a 16GB iPod nano.
Following up on his report from earlier today about Apple's plans for the full-size iPad and iPhone, iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz has a new article sharing additional information on Apple's mobile device plans. The information comes from a "trusted source" and discloses product code names for the various devices as well as plans for an upgrade to the rear camera system for the iPhone 5S.
The report indicates that the second-generation iPad mini is unlikely to appear until October of this year, roughly the same timeframe as for the next full-size iPad. Sources have scant information on the actual device, but suggest that it is likely to retain essentially the same form factor as the current model and add a Retina display. A move to a Retina display without increasing the physical size of the device would almost certainly necessitate a change in the display technology such as the adoption of new IGZO panels.
Some previous reports had indicated that the iPad and iPad mini could see updates as soon as March as part of an effort to accelerate the product development cycle, but iLounge's claims of an October launch are more in line with a recent report from frequently accurate KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Half-Life, the first person shooter originally released in 1998, skyrocketed developer Valve to fame and influenced an entire generation of first person shooters. Despite its popularity, the game has never been available through Steam for Mac, until today.
As discovered by Cult of Mac, Valve released Half-Life for Mac on Steam this morning, though the company has yet to make an official announcement about the product.
Other Valve games like Half-Life 2 and its episodes have been previously available on the Mac version of Steam, but users can now add the original Half-Life to their collections for $9.99. It has also been bundled into several different value packs.
Half-Life was originally developed for the Mac back when the Windows version was released, but due to disagreements with Apple, the Mac version was scrapped at the time.
The Half-Life page in Steam still indicates that the game is Windows only, but Cult of Mac bought and installed the game on a Mac to confirm that it functions. The game can be purchased via Steam for Mac for $9.99.
Back in August 2011, Apple first passed Exxon Mobil as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. Both companies have risen in value since, but Apple's recent slide has allowed Exxon Mobil to again regain its position at the top of the corporate world.
In the 17 months since Apple passed Exxon Mobil, XOM's stock is up some 27%, while AAPL has risen roughly 18%. Today, however, Apple has set a new 52-week low, while Exxon is matching its 52-week high set last September.
Currently, Apple's stock price is at $441.11 with a market capitalization of $414.28 billion. Exxon Mobil is at $91.43 with a market cap of $416.86 billion.
In Apple's most recent quarter, the company generated $13.08 billion in profit on $54.51 billion in sales, with 72,800 employees. Exxon Mobil generated $9.93 billion in profit on $115.71 billion in revenue with 82,100 employees.
iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz has filed a new report offering a few new details on the fifth-generation iPad, as well as on Apple's work toward future iPhone models.
Most notably, Horwitz says that he has inspected what is said to be a shell designed for the fifth-generation iPad, and that the device will adopt many of the features seen in the iPad mini's design.
Horwitz says that while Apple had originally hoped to push the fifth-generation iPad out in March, it now appears that an October launch is more likely, perhaps due to issues with component yields.
On the topic of the iPhone, Horwitz says that the iPhone 5S will unsurprisingly appear nearly identical to the iPhone 5, although it will have a slightly larger rear flash. The rumored lower-cost iPhone with a plastic shell is indeed said to be in Apple's plans for 2013, with a focus on China Mobile as Apple seeks to lower the cost of entry for the world's largest carrier.
Finally, Horwitz says that the rumored "iPhone Math" is indeed in development, but that it will not be appearing this year, if ever.
Apple is to move its Tokyo HQ from the Shinjuku district to a $2.2 billion development in the more central area of Roppongi Hills, reports Bloomberg.
Apple is said to be planning to take one or two floors of the 54-story building, which is home to Goldman Sachs and Barclays. Roppongi Hills is one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, the complex including a Grand Hyatt hotel, art museum, movie theatre, private club and apartments.
Google yesterday overhauled its news aggregation app Currents for iOS, revamping the design and adding features to make navigation more sleek and simple.
The 10% drop in Apple's share value following the company's earnings release earlier this week was not entirely the fault of Apple, Fortune suggests, but rather that of overheated analyst predictions.
Fortune assessed the accuracy of the predictions made by 68 analysts, and found that revenue figures ranged from $51.7 billion to $65.69 billion against Apple's actual performance of $54.51 billion. It produced a ranking of the analysts by the percentage errors in their predictions for both revenue and earnings per share, as well as overall performance metrics.
The analysts responsible for the sometimes wildly optimistic forecasts were not, said Fortune, doing Apple any favors.
Going forward, Apple has altered the way in which it provides guidance for upcoming quarterly performances. While the company had previously issued single "conservative" guidance estimates for both revenue and earnings that led to the expectation that Apple would always handily beat that number, it is now providing a range of guidance numbers for revenue and other factors.
Apple believes that the range will provide a more realistic idea of where the company expects performance to fall, although it is no longer providing any specific earnings per share guidance and instead allowing analysts to develop their own numbers based on the ranges of revenue, margin, expenses, and tax rate the company expects.
The interaction between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak shown in the first scene to be released from the biopic JOBS, due to appear in theaters April 19, is 'totally wrong' according to an email Wozniak sent to Gizmodo.
Forbes reports that analysts at Detwiler Fenton believe Apple is working on a low-cost iPhone that uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor rather than the Apple-created processors that the company is currently using for the iPhone.
Apple has invested significant amounts of money and people into its own chip design efforts, and the company has typically been willing to user older-generation chips in its lower-priced products as a way to cut costs. Consequently, Apple would seem to be more likely to pursue that route for a low-cost device rather than tapping an all-new partnership for the main chip with Qualcomm.
Apple yesterday released its 2013 Supplier Responsibility Report (PDF), disclosing the results of its audit program for 2012 and revealing that it had fired one of its suppliers after finding evidence of 74 underage workers at one facility.
Apple's report touts a number of other achievements for 2012, including a 72% increase in the number of audits performed compared to 2011, worker empowerment training for 1.3 million employees, and increased compliance with working-hour limitations.
We've previously covered Apple's regular updates on working-hour compliance, noting that the rate had fallen in the September-November period as part of Apple's allowance for voluntary overtime during periods of high demand. Apple's new report reveals that compliance with the standard returned to near its highs in December, with Apple's audits showing 92% compliance for the entire year across more than one million tracked workers.
Apple today began a new 'Get Stuff Done' promotional sale, offering discounts on several popular productivity apps.
The sale, which will take place over three weeks, features three categories: Prioritize, Organize, and Utilize. This week's category is Prioritize, and features list making apps like Clear and Things at a deep discount. Here's a full list along with prices:
-Clear: $6.99 down from $9.99 [Direct Link]
-Things: $24.99 down from $49.99 [Direct Link]
-2Do: $14.99 down from $29.99 [Direct Link]
-Due: $4.99 down from $9.99 [Direct Link]
-Todo: $6.99 down from $14.99 [Direct Link]
-TaskPaper: $11.99 down from $24.99 [Direct Link]
-The Hit List: $24.99 down from $49.99 [Direct Link]
-BreakTime: $2.99 down from $4.99 [Direct Link]
The sale on these apps will last from January 24 to January 31. Next week, Apple will feature a new set of apps for sale.
Origin, Electronic Art's digital distribution platform, is available for Macs as of today via an open alpha testing period. Origin for Mac was initially announced in August of last year, when EA noted that the Mac version of its upcoming SimCity game was expected to launch alongside the PC version.
SimCity will no longer be released simultaneously on the Mac and the PC, but EA will presumably release the final version of Origin for Mac before the game comes out in March.
Like Steam, EA's Origin allows users to purchase and download games, chat with friends, and continue saved games from any Origin-enabled computer.
According to EA, Origin for Mac will function like the PC version, with cloud storage, auto patching, and a friends list. For the alpha, the Origin Store tab is not active, but EA promises that the launch version will include "a great catalog of EA and partner titles."
EA is offering a free copy of PopCap's popular "Bookworm" game with the Origin alpha download, which is limited to a few thousand customers.
The alpha version of Origin is currently able to be downloaded from the Origin website. To download the software, users will need to have a Mac running OS X 10.6.8 or newer plus an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better.
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Apple R&D Center Reportedly Confirmed for Shanghai
Jan 28, 3:54PM
BrightWire summarizes a report [Google translation] from Chinese financial news site yicai.com noting that the city of Shangahi has officially announced Apple will open a new facility including some research and development operations in the city this summer.
- Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce has announced that Apple will open its R&D; center this summer.
- Apple has registered three firms in three buildings in Pudong, Shanghai, and one of them will be dedicated to procurement management and R&D;, according to documents on the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce's website.
While Apple had previously been reported to be developing an R&D; facility in Beijing, the Shanghai plans have reportedly been underway for quite some time. Initial reports of a Chinese R&D; facility emerged following a meeting between Apple CEO Tim Cook and the acting mayor of Beijing just two weeks ago, so it is unknown whether those plans are still in the works.
China is an enormously important market for Apple, with revenues of $7.3 billion in the last quarter alone. Cook described China as Apple's second largest region.
If you look at our total Greater China, which would include our retail stores in China, our revenues were $7.3 billion in the quarter. So this is incredibly high, it's up over 60% year-on-year … It's clear that China is already our second-largest region … and it's clear that there's a lot of potential there.A key challenge for Apple in China is that its products are typically too expensive for workers on an average salary. Apple recently introduced payment plans of up to two years, and the rumored low-cost iPhone is also expected to be offered in the Chinese market.
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Constraints on iMac Shipments Soon to End, Claim Parts Suppliers
Jan 28, 2:38PM
Recent production problems with the 2012 iMac have largely been solved, suggesting that supply constraints may ease, according to a report from China Times, summarized by BrightWire.
- [T]he company's Taiwanese component suppliers noted that the assembling conformity rate for the new iMac has been improved and mass production started in December 2012. Sales of the device may be boosted in 1Q 2013.
- As new products will usually see orders peak within the first four months after they are launched, the shipments of the new iMac are expected to remain stable through 1Q 2013.
Apple CEO Tim Cook noted in last week's analyst call that iMac shipments would remain constrained through Q1, with the company giving this as a large part of the reason for selling 1.1 million fewer Macs in Q4 2012 compared to Q4 2011.
Currently 27-inch iMacs are showing delivery times of 3-4 weeks, with 21.5-inch models showing 2-3 weeks.
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'Premeditated Flash Dump' of Apple Shares Behind Friday's Last-Second Slump, Says Trader [Mac Blog]
Jan 28, 2:32PM
A blog entry at Zero Hedge suggests that a deliberate share dump in the final second of trading may have been partly responsible for yet another drop in Apple's share price on Friday.
Zero Hedge cites several Nanex charts as evidence, observing that some 800,000 shares worth $350 million were traded in the final seconds of trading on Friday.
Unlike traditional flash crashes where the trade is an HFT [high-frequency trading] error, or a few shares traded through the entire bid or offer stack, in this case it looks like a very premeditated unloading of some 800K shares (some $350 million worth) of AAPL in the last second, with the full knowledge it [would] shake the market.The move brought Apple's stock price down by approximately $5 in the waning seconds of the week's trading, where it sat throughout much of the after-hours trading period leading into the reopening of regular trading this morning. Apple's stock is down another $3.50 as trading opens today.
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Apple Preparing to Launch 128 GB Versions of Full-Size iPad?
Jan 28, 3:46AM
Following today's revelation of code in iOS 6.1 Beta 5 hinting at future 128 GB iOS devices, 9to5Mac reports that four new high-end iPad configurations have appeared in a U.S. retailer's database.
While the exact identity of the devices is not revealed in the stock database, they do appear as "ultimate" configurations of the current full-size iPad models, suggesting that they may represent 128 GB models of the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad in both black and white.
While it is certainly plausible that this new iPad model is the 128GB iPad, we are currently not confident enough to outright claim that, but it seems likely based on the evidence. [..]No additional information such as specifications, price, or a launch date for the new configurations have yet been revealed.
The P101 and P103 names are Apple's internal nomenclature for the WiFi-only and Cellular-compatible fourth-generation iPads, respectively. Both of those models comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB configurations. These storage sizes are known as "GOOD," "BETTER," and "BEST," respectively. As you can see in our table above, Apple is preparing to release the additional "ULTIMATE" model. "ULTIMATE" frequently refers to the most premium or highest capacity model available. The "A" points to a black configuration, and "B" stands for the white option.
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iOS 6.1 Beta 5 Code Hints at Upcoming 128 GB Devices
Jan 27, 10:04PM
As noted by @iNeal and iDownloadBlog, the new iOS 6.1 Beta 5 released yesterday contains a reference suggesting that Apple may be looking to offer 128 GB iOS devices in upcoming generations.
The reference to a 128 GB capacity comes as part of SystemPartitionPadding key in the build manifest associated with the release and is not found in publicly available versions of iOS.
While the observation does not mean that a 128 GB iOS device is definitely coming later this year, this is not the first time in recent months that Apple has hinted at future 128 GB iOS devices. iTunes 11, released in late November, contains a graphic corresponding to a mobile device with a capacity of 128 GB, although no such device has been released so far.
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First Alleged Part Photos from iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 Surface
Jan 27, 2:13PM
French site Nowhereelse.fr shares [Google translation] a pair of photos of what the original source claims are speaker enclosures for both the upcoming iPhone 5S and a future iPhone 6. The two parts are similar in appearance both to each other and to the corresponding iPhone 5 part, but do contain several differences.
Photo of claimed iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 speaker enclosures with iPhone 5 part superimposed
It is of course impossible to tell for certain whether the parts are indeed legitimate and whether they are intended for the upcoming iPhone models as claimed. Nowehereelse.fr has published a number of accurate photos in the past, but typically obtains the photos by scouring web postings from Asia and thus the photos typically come from a variety of sources that make it difficult to determine their reliability.
Edge view of claimed iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 speaker enclosures
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Staples Appears Set to Begin Selling Apple Products in U.S.
Jan 27, 1:56PM
Last week, MacRumors received word that office supply retailer Staples would soon begin offering Apple products for sale. While the company has offered Apple products in international markets for some time, it had long been unsuccessful in striking a deal for the U.S. market.
We were unable to confirm the claim at the time, but 9to5Mac now reports that Apple products have begun appearing on the Staples website in the United States as part of an Apple Mock Up section. The section includes a number of products, including the Apple TV (listed at a remarkably low price of $49.99) and iPad Smart Covers, all marked with "Test" in the item description.
While the products listed on the test pages are limited to accessories with the exception of the Apple TV, our original source had claimed that Apple's full lineup of Macs, iPads, and at least the iPhone 5 would be coming to Staples in the United States. No specific timeframe for an official launch of Apple's products at Staples beyond "in the coming months" has been shared.
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Apple Seeds iOS 6.1 Beta 5 to Developers
Jan 27, 2:24AM
In a relatively rare weekend release, Apple today pushed out the fifth beta of iOS 6.1 to developers. The release comes just two days before the fourth beta, which was seeded on December 17, is scheduled to expire.
No public release timeframe for iOS 6.1 is known yet, but registered developers can download the latest beta via Apple's Developer page.
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First Reviews of Ashton Kutcher's 'Jobs': Entertaining But Safe, "Fails to Think Different", Apple Fans Will Be Very Mixed
Jan 26, 9:38PM
Following the premiere of Ashton Kutcher's new film Jobs at the Sundance Film Festival, a number of publications have posted reviews of the flick which is scheduled to arrive in theaters nationwide on April 19. The first video clip of the movie was released earlier this week.
Cinema Blend:
A biopic about a great man that's way too aware of his greatness, jOBS tells us a lot about the genius of Steve Jobs, but doesn't show us much of anything that actually reveals it.The Next Web
But, overall, jOBS works. The lead actors are likable and appear to have put serious effort into getting the spirit of the characters right. The film looks (mostly) good aside from some of what could likely be ascribed to budgetary constraints. And though the director is a tad indulgent here and there, it doesn't take away from the overall feeling of 'decent' that I came away with.The Verge
As expected, there are some liberties taken with Apple's story and even / especially the representation of some characters — but the emotional resonance of Steve Jobs himself is convincing. It's not revisionist history, and it's not some greater parable about the human spirit. Jobs is a point-A-to-point-B story about a uniquely innovative thinker and ruthless businessman — one that had a notable and meaningful impact on the world. It's a good film, but it's also very "safe" — a familiar story that doesn't try for a bigger picture.CNET
Others will write of the things "jOBS" omits, gets wrong, or simply avoids. My primary disappointment was in how shallow the film felt, given the extensive historical record. In the early days Jobs' co-workers had to wrestle with a man who smelled bad, who cried often, who yelled constantly, who missed deadlines, who overspent his budget by millions. He did it in service of products we love and use daily, and yet his obsessions took a toll on those around him. He also inspired others to do the best work of their lives, pushing themselves further than they ever imagined they could go. There is great drama to be found in all that, but it is not to be found in the saccharine "jOBS."Other reviews are available from The Hollywood Reporter, Slashfilm, Indiewire, and the Salt Lake Tribune.
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Fully Functional MAME Emulator Appears in App Store [iOS Blog]
Jan 26, 9:18PM
TouchArcade notes the appearance of an arcade game called Gridlee in the App Store.
Gridlee is a 1983 arcade game that was never officially released, but the code was later released for free for non-commercial usage in 2001. The App Store app uses MAME 0.139u1 (MAME4iOS) to provide the emulation engine for the game. MAME is a popular arcade machine emulator that will run thousands of arcade games if you have the original ROMs.
When launching the free app, users are greeted with the Gridlee game. TouchArcade readers, however, quickly noticed that additional ROMs could be copied into the App's ROM directory (without jailbreaking), revealing the fully functional MAME emulator.
When word of this hit our forums, readers were quick to pull out iExplore and begin digging about the app's directory structure looking for a ROM folder. Well, it's in there, and sure enough, if one copies other MAME ROMs into that folder, the Gridlee app starts up with the standard MAME4iOS ROM listing, allowing for a great many games beyond just Gridlee to be played on the iPhone or iPad in this Universal app.
The story is similar to the iMAME Emulator that was released into the App Store in December, 2011. Apple quickly pulled that app a few days after its release. While a number of individual emulators do exist on the App Store, Apple has been more restrictive about these open emulators, presumably due to potential legal issues.
Gridlee is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]
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iPad Mini Ship Times Drop to 3-5 Days on US, Canada, Australia, China, Hong Kong Apple Online Stores [iOS Blog]
Jan 25, 10:06PM
iPad Mini ship times have dropped to 3-5 days at a number of Apple Online Stores around the world, including the U.S., Canadian, Australia, New Zealand, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japanese outlets. This was first noticed by iPhoneinCanada.ca.
The most notable exception to the shipping time improvement is the European stores, which have a 2 week lead time.
During its first quarter conference call, Apple executives noted that the iPad mini was constrained for the entire holiday quarter. The company believes it can achieve supply/demand balance on the mini by the end of the March quarter.
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Apple Adds 'App Store Notes' to Featured Apps
Jan 25, 9:52PM
Apple has quietly added a new notes feature to its curated apps in the iOS App Store. Apps chosen for Editor's Choice and App of the Week now come with App Store Notes, which offer a quick description of the app. For example, here's the new note feature for Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes:
Clash of Heroes has it all: epic storytelling, a wonderful blend of style and substance, and a spectacular battle system. This strategy-puzzler is genre-defining and an absolute must-play effort from the creators of Sword & Sworcery EP.The App of the Week, Gesundheit, which is currently offered for free in the iPhone App Store, features a similar description. Some other apps, such as those found in the "New and Noteworthy" and "What's Hot" sections of the App Store also have App Store Notes, though not all of the apps in those sections have the new notes.
Six of 24 New and Noteworthy apps on the iPhone have notes, while the rest do not. Only two apps, Temple Run 2 and Momonga Pinball, on the What's Hot have notes included.
App Store Notes might be trickling out to all of Apple's selected apps, or may be reserved for those that are the most popular. At this point in time, it is unclear what criteria Apple is using to determine which apps are furnished with notes, or if it is a feature that will roll out to all curated apps. The new app notes are only visible in the iOS App Store, and do not show up in the desktop version of iTunes.
Update: App Store Notes first appeared back in December, for the apps that Apple selected as the best of the year. The feature now appears to be rolling out more broadly to other curated App Store sections.
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Best Buy Offers $200 off MacBook Airs For 2 Days [Mac Blog]
Jan 25, 7:47PM
Best Buy is having a Winter Doorbuster Days sale on Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26, providing discounts on several products. Most notably, the retailer is offering $200 off on select MacBook Airs. Both the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models are discounted, giving the entry level 11-inch Air with 4GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD a price tag of $799.99. The base model 13-inch MacBook Air, sporting 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD is $999.99.
Additional configurations with more storage space are also available, and the 13-inch MacBook Air with a 256GB SSD is $1299.99, while the 11-inch 128GB model is $899.99.
The sale is available both online and in stores, and while the 11-inch $799.99 variant is sold out online, it is possible that it is still available at retail locations.
Best Buy is also offering 30% off of all OtterBox cases and a free $20 gift card with the purchase of a 16GB iPod nano.
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iPhone 5S Said to Feature Upgraded Rear Camera, iPad Mini Update Targeted for October
Jan 25, 7:14PM
Following up on his report from earlier today about Apple's plans for the full-size iPad and iPhone, iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz has a new article sharing additional information on Apple's mobile device plans. The information comes from a "trusted source" and discloses product code names for the various devices as well as plans for an upgrade to the rear camera system for the iPhone 5S.
The iPhone 5S is still months away from mass production, but our source suspects that the star feature will be an upgraded rear camera—perhaps featuring Sony's 13-Megapixel sensor, plus the aforementioned flash upgrade—along with a processor bump. Current prototypes are codenamed N51 and N53, with July mentioned as the target date.The source indicates that the code name for the fifth-generation iPad is J72, while the second-generation iPad mini has a code name of J85.
The report indicates that the second-generation iPad mini is unlikely to appear until October of this year, roughly the same timeframe as for the next full-size iPad. Sources have scant information on the actual device, but suggest that it is likely to retain essentially the same form factor as the current model and add a Retina display. A move to a Retina display without increasing the physical size of the device would almost certainly necessitate a change in the display technology such as the adoption of new IGZO panels.
Some previous reports had indicated that the iPad and iPad mini could see updates as soon as March as part of an effort to accelerate the product development cycle, but iLounge's claims of an October launch are more in line with a recent report from frequently accurate KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
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Valve's Original Half-Life Now Available on Steam for Mac [Mac Blog]
Jan 25, 6:31PM
Half-Life, the first person shooter originally released in 1998, skyrocketed developer Valve to fame and influenced an entire generation of first person shooters. Despite its popularity, the game has never been available through Steam for Mac, until today.
As discovered by Cult of Mac, Valve released Half-Life for Mac on Steam this morning, though the company has yet to make an official announcement about the product.
Other Valve games like Half-Life 2 and its episodes have been previously available on the Mac version of Steam, but users can now add the original Half-Life to their collections for $9.99. It has also been bundled into several different value packs.
Half-Life was originally developed for the Mac back when the Windows version was released, but due to disagreements with Apple, the Mac version was scrapped at the time.
The Half-Life page in Steam still indicates that the game is Windows only, but Cult of Mac bought and installed the game on a Mac to confirm that it functions. The game can be purchased via Steam for Mac for $9.99.
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Apple Again The Second Most Valuable Publicly Traded Company in the World
Jan 25, 5:30PM
Back in August 2011, Apple first passed Exxon Mobil as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. Both companies have risen in value since, but Apple's recent slide has allowed Exxon Mobil to again regain its position at the top of the corporate world.
In the 17 months since Apple passed Exxon Mobil, XOM's stock is up some 27%, while AAPL has risen roughly 18%. Today, however, Apple has set a new 52-week low, while Exxon is matching its 52-week high set last September.
Currently, Apple's stock price is at $441.11 with a market capitalization of $414.28 billion. Exxon Mobil is at $91.43 with a market cap of $416.86 billion.
In Apple's most recent quarter, the company generated $13.08 billion in profit on $54.51 billion in sales, with 72,800 employees. Exxon Mobil generated $9.93 billion in profit on $115.71 billion in revenue with 82,100 employees.
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iPad 5 Set for October Debut with Design Similar to iPad Mini? iPhone 5S and Lower-Cost iPhone Moving Forward
Jan 25, 4:34PM
iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz has filed a new report offering a few new details on the fifth-generation iPad, as well as on Apple's work toward future iPhone models.
Most notably, Horwitz says that he has inspected what is said to be a shell designed for the fifth-generation iPad, and that the device will adopt many of the features seen in the iPad mini's design.
What does it look like? Well, it's a lot smaller than one would guess was possible: in portrait orientation, picture a 9.7" screen with virtually no left or right bezels, and only enough space above and below the screen to accommodate the mandatory camera and Home Button elements. Beyond that, it's noticeably thinner, as well, which is to say the the fifth-generation iPad will be smaller in every dimension than its predecessors. As it will have the same chamfered edges and curves, calling it a "stretched iPad mini" is very close to entirely accurate.The report notes that the upcoming iPad is so much smaller and thinner than the current design that it seems to require a complete redesign of the interior, likely including a shift in display technology to IGZO panels and smaller chip components.
Horwitz says that while Apple had originally hoped to push the fifth-generation iPad out in March, it now appears that an October launch is more likely, perhaps due to issues with component yields.
On the topic of the iPhone, Horwitz says that the iPhone 5S will unsurprisingly appear nearly identical to the iPhone 5, although it will have a slightly larger rear flash. The rumored lower-cost iPhone with a plastic shell is indeed said to be in Apple's plans for 2013, with a focus on China Mobile as Apple seeks to lower the cost of entry for the world's largest carrier.
Finally, Horwitz says that the rumored "iPhone Math" is indeed in development, but that it will not be appearing this year, if ever.
Addressing the so-called "iPhone Math"—hinted by one source as a mistranslation of "iPhone +"—we've been told that this is another new model and in early prototyping stages, certainly not expected in 2013. It supposedly has a 4.7" screen, at least for the time being. It might never make it to market, and plenty could change before it does. Consider it Apple's "just in case / Plan B" hedge against ever-growing Android phone screen sizes.Horwitz has shared fairly accurate information on Apple's product plans several times in the past, suggesting that he does indeed have reliable sources with access to Apple's supply chain.
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Apple Relocating Tokyo HQ to Roppongi Hills [Mac Blog]
Jan 25, 4:13PM
Apple is to move its Tokyo HQ from the Shinjuku district to a $2.2 billion development in the more central area of Roppongi Hills, reports Bloomberg.
Apple is said to be planning to take one or two floors of the 54-story building, which is home to Goldman Sachs and Barclays. Roppongi Hills is one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, the complex including a Grand Hyatt hotel, art museum, movie theatre, private club and apartments.
"Rents of large office buildings in central Tokyo peaked in the second quarter of 2008 and have fallen 40 percent from the peak," Kayoko Hirao, the head of Japan research at DTZ Research in Tokyo, said in a phone interview today. "It is a good time to consider an office relocation to the central business area and it should be a good chance for Apple. The office rental market will recover this year."Apple is terminating the lease of its current Tokyo Opera City Tower offices as of June, and is said to be moving into its new HQ as early as April.
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Google Overhauls 'Currents' for iOS [iOS Blog]
Jan 25, 3:49PM
Google yesterday overhauled its news aggregation app Currents for iOS, revamping the design and adding features to make navigation more sleek and simple.
What's New in Version 2.0The new design for the Flipboard-like app is just one of many redesigns that Google has done with its iOS apps, including Google Maps, Gmail 2.0 and YouTube. The update and app are free and available on the App Store. [Direct Link]
- Edition sidebar - quickly access your editions within categories such as business, sports, etc.
- Fast scan - Vertical swipe to scan an edition, horizontal swipe advances to next edition
- Breaking stories - ranked by Google News. Links to full length content.
- Saved stories - star for future reference
- New catalog design
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Analysts Share in Blame for Apple's Stock Drop, Says Fortune [Mac Blog]
Jan 25, 3:37PM
The 10% drop in Apple's share value following the company's earnings release earlier this week was not entirely the fault of Apple, Fortune suggests, but rather that of overheated analyst predictions.
Fortune assessed the accuracy of the predictions made by 68 analysts, and found that revenue figures ranged from $51.7 billion to $65.69 billion against Apple's actual performance of $54.51 billion. It produced a ranking of the analysts by the percentage errors in their predictions for both revenue and earnings per share, as well as overall performance metrics.
The analysts responsible for the sometimes wildly optimistic forecasts were not, said Fortune, doing Apple any favors.
The company didn't have a bad quarter. In fact, it posted its best quarter ever … But the stock market is an expectations game and Apple is expected to blow past analysts' estimates, not miss them.The Fortune piece wryly observed that 'another way of looking at it is that Apple's analysts did worse than the company this quarter.'
Going forward, Apple has altered the way in which it provides guidance for upcoming quarterly performances. While the company had previously issued single "conservative" guidance estimates for both revenue and earnings that led to the expectation that Apple would always handily beat that number, it is now providing a range of guidance numbers for revenue and other factors.
Apple believes that the range will provide a more realistic idea of where the company expects performance to fall, although it is no longer providing any specific earnings per share guidance and instead allowing analysts to develop their own numbers based on the ranges of revenue, margin, expenses, and tax rate the company expects.
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'JOBS' Movie Clip 'Totally Wrong', Says Steve Wozniak
Jan 25, 3:16PM
The interaction between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak shown in the first scene to be released from the biopic JOBS, due to appear in theaters April 19, is 'totally wrong' according to an email Wozniak sent to Gizmodo.
Totally wrong. Personalities and where the ideas of computers affecting society did not come from Jobs. They inspired me and were widely spoken at the Homebrew Computer Club. Steve came back from Oregon and came to a club meeting and didn't start talking about this great social impact. His idea was to make a $20 PC board and sell it for $40 to help people at the club build the computer I'd given away … Our relationship was so different than what was portrayed. I'm embarrassed but if the movie is fun and entertaining, all the better. Anyone who reads my book iWoz can get a clearer picture.Wozniak says that 'the lofty talk came much further down the line' after Jobs started to see more about the likely social impact of personal computers.
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Apple to Use Qualcomm Processors for Low-Cost iPhone for Emerging Markets? [iOS Blog]
Jan 25, 3:11PM
Forbes reports that analysts at Detwiler Fenton believe Apple is working on a low-cost iPhone that uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor rather than the Apple-created processors that the company is currently using for the iPhone.
"It is likely that the work with QCOM is being driven by AAPL's concern regarding maintaining gross margins as well as the need to differentiate the product by performance," the research firm (which shuns putting the spotlight on particular analysts) said in a research note. "AAPL would not want a value priced iPhone to offer the same kind of graphics and video support, processing power etc. that its premium priced device would, therefore a less powerful lower-end Snapdragon integrated solution would help segment the product."Detwiler adds that using a Snapdragon processor would allow Apple to integrate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi into the processor, which would allow for a lower-cost single chip rather than three separate chips. Apple has been rumored for years to be looking at creating a low-cost iPhone for emerging markets, but the rumors have accelerated in recent weeks amid suggestions that such a device could launch later this year.
Apple has invested significant amounts of money and people into its own chip design efforts, and the company has typically been willing to user older-generation chips in its lower-priced products as a way to cut costs. Consequently, Apple would seem to be more likely to pursue that route for a low-cost device rather than tapping an all-new partnership for the main chip with Qualcomm.
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Apple Drops Chinese Supplier for Child Labor Violations
Jan 25, 2:46PM
Apple yesterday released its 2013 Supplier Responsibility Report (PDF), disclosing the results of its audit program for 2012 and revealing that it had fired one of its suppliers after finding evidence of 74 underage workers at one facility.
In January 2012, for example, we audited a supplier, Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics Co., Ltd. (PZ) that produces a standard circuit board component used by many other companiesApple's investigation determined that many of PZ's underage workers had been provided by a local labor agency that had conspired with families to forge age verification documents. As a result, Apple reported the agency to authorities, who fined suspended the business license of the agency while requiring PZ to pay the expenses to return the children to their families.
in many industries. Our auditors were dismayed to discover 74 cases of workers under age 16—a core violation of our Code of Conduct. As a result, we terminated our business relationship with PZ.
Apple's report touts a number of other achievements for 2012, including a 72% increase in the number of audits performed compared to 2011, worker empowerment training for 1.3 million employees, and increased compliance with working-hour limitations.
We've previously covered Apple's regular updates on working-hour compliance, noting that the rate had fallen in the September-November period as part of Apple's allowance for voluntary overtime during periods of high demand. Apple's new report reveals that compliance with the standard returned to near its highs in December, with Apple's audits showing 92% compliance for the entire year across more than one million tracked workers.
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Apple Launches 'Get Stuff Done' Promotion for Mac App Store [Mac Blog]
Jan 25, 1:45AM
Apple today began a new 'Get Stuff Done' promotional sale, offering discounts on several popular productivity apps.
The sale, which will take place over three weeks, features three categories: Prioritize, Organize, and Utilize. This week's category is Prioritize, and features list making apps like Clear and Things at a deep discount. Here's a full list along with prices:
-Clear: $6.99 down from $9.99 [Direct Link]
-Things: $24.99 down from $49.99 [Direct Link]
-2Do: $14.99 down from $29.99 [Direct Link]
-Due: $4.99 down from $9.99 [Direct Link]
-Todo: $6.99 down from $14.99 [Direct Link]
-TaskPaper: $11.99 down from $24.99 [Direct Link]
-The Hit List: $24.99 down from $49.99 [Direct Link]
-BreakTime: $2.99 down from $4.99 [Direct Link]
The sale on these apps will last from January 24 to January 31. Next week, Apple will feature a new set of apps for sale.
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EA Announces Origin for Mac Alpha Testing [Mac Blog]
Jan 24, 10:17PM
Origin, Electronic Art's digital distribution platform, is available for Macs as of today via an open alpha testing period. Origin for Mac was initially announced in August of last year, when EA noted that the Mac version of its upcoming SimCity game was expected to launch alongside the PC version.
SimCity will no longer be released simultaneously on the Mac and the PC, but EA will presumably release the final version of Origin for Mac before the game comes out in March.
Like Steam, EA's Origin allows users to purchase and download games, chat with friends, and continue saved games from any Origin-enabled computer.
According to EA, Origin for Mac will function like the PC version, with cloud storage, auto patching, and a friends list. For the alpha, the Origin Store tab is not active, but EA promises that the launch version will include "a great catalog of EA and partner titles."
EA is offering a free copy of PopCap's popular "Bookworm" game with the Origin alpha download, which is limited to a few thousand customers.
The alpha version of Origin is currently able to be downloaded from the Origin website. To download the software, users will need to have a Mac running OS X 10.6.8 or newer plus an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better.
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