Apple Hires Key Chip Designer from Samsung

The Wall Street Journal reports that former AMD chip designer and executive Jim Mergard has now moved to Apple after a brief stint at Samsung, marking a significant talent win for Apple in its efforts to build its own chips.

The gadget maker has hired Jim Mergard, a 16-year veteran of Advanced Micro Devices who was a vice president and chief engineer there before he left for Samsung. He is known for playing a leading role in the development of a high-profile AMD chip that carried the code name Brazos and was designed for low-end portable computers. [...] 

It is not clear whether Mergard will work at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters or remain in Austin, where he worked for AMD and Samsung. Apple has long operated a customer support center in the Texas capitol, but the company has had a local presence in chip design as well since its 2010 purchase of the startup Intrinsity.

The report quotes former AMD executive Patrick Moorhead as saying that Mergard has expertise in both PC chip design and system-on-a-chip design such as that used for Apple's iOS devices. The company uses ARM-based designs for its A-series chips that power its iOS devices, and the new A6 chip found in the iPhone 5 appears to be Apple's first custom design. 

Apple and Samsung of course have a complicated relationship, with the two rivals competing fiercely in the marketplace and the courtroom even as Samsung is one of Apple's primary suppliers. Apple's ARM-based chips are key components that are currently manufactured by Samsung.

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple offers targeted ad opt-out

Targeted ads present you with advertising keyed to your interests and history. If you're an Amazon customer, you've likely received emails related to your recent browsing choices. Gmail ads are based on your Google account contents. Apple is no different. iAds tracks you and offers ads that best match your profile.

Apple offers an opt-out choice if you'd rather be served random ads from their iAds service. To use it, first visit http://oo.apple.com from your device. Then set the switch from ON to OFF. You'll be asked to confirm. Tap the red "Opt Out"button.

When disabled, you'll still see iAds. However, these will not be tied to you or your specific interests in any way.

If at some time you feel the need to return to the previous state of things, you can always revisit the Opt Out page and update your settings.

[Source: TUAW]

Apple files patent application for fingerprint sensor that can be transparent or opaque

While Apple has flirted with biometric-based patents before, we've yet to see them implemented in real-world technology. That hasn't stopped it from filing yet another one though, as the latest application reveals a fingerprint sensor apparently embedded into the iPhone itself. The patent describes a hardware "window" that can become selectively "transparent or opaque." When transparent, it would reveal a component comprised of an "image capture device, a strobe flash, a biometric sensor, a light sensor, a proximity sensor, or a solar panel, or a combination thereof" as a method of unlocking the phone. According to the filing, the biometric sensor in question might indeed be a fingerprint reader. The document goes on to describe an alternative method using face or eye recognition technology that can be used not just for security purposes, but for possible e-commerce solutions like completing an online transaction. Of course, take any of these patent applications with a generous pinch of salt -- we haven't seen an Apple stylus yet, for example -- but perhaps this is the reason Apple bought fingerprint sensor maker AuthenTec back in July.

[Source: Engadget]

Fifth-gen iPod touch and nano now in stores and in the mail

If you've been waiting impatiently to get your hands on the latest cellular radio-less iOS device, we've got good news. The fifth gen iPod touch with its elongated screen and colorful backplate is available today in Apple stores across the country. And, if you preordered the slinky aluminum and glass media player, it should already be in the mail. The latest edition of the nano, which is becoming more and more like its larger sibling the touch every day, is also popping up on shelves. The seventh generation of the tiny player, complete with multi touch screen and 16GB of storage, is cropping in Apple stores for $149 starting today. Let us know in the comments if you decided to pick up either device.

[Source: Engadget]

Taiwan wants Apple to hide new radar defense system in iOS 6 maps

Two weeks ago, we brought you news that Apple (and in some cases Nokia) has high-quality imagery in its Maps application of military sites obscured in Google Maps. Today, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry has issued a statement to PhysOrg saying that it will request that Apple blurs satellite photos (or uses low-resolution images) of a new first warning radar system at its Hsinchu Air Base. A spokesperson said that although there was nothing illegal about what Apple is doing, the ministry will ask Apple to lower the resolution of images of some "confidential military establishments," adding that the same has been asked of Google in the past.

A quick glance at satellite images of Hsinchu Air Base shows a clearer image through Google Maps than via Apple Maps, but we're not entirely sure where the first warning radar system is located, nor do we know what it looks like. Regardless, this is the first case we've heard of a government department formally requesting that Apple obscure a military site, but as we suggested a fortnight ago, it likely won't be the last.

[Source: The Verge]

Wait times for App Store approvals reportedly rising

A developer training firm named Shiny Development has been tracking waiting times for the App Store review process as closely as it can, and it has bad news for would-be app developers: The waiting times for the Mac App Store are growing longer. In the last six months or so, the waiting time for getting a Mac App published has gone from under seven days to almost as high as a month, according to Shiny's data. Apple's process is largely closed off -- there is a little bit of information for developers on the main dev website, but otherwise Shiny has mostly gathered this information from the various developers it tracks and corresponds with online. If indeed the times for the Mac App Store have gotten this bad, it could mean that big apps are getting delayed longer and longer, and that could be trouble for the platform in general.

The good news is that the iOS App Stores' waiting times appear to be going down over nearly the same time period, from 10 days a few months ago, down to right around a week now. Apple has hired lots of app reviewers in the past year or so, and that's likely the reason for dropping times: As it has more people to check incoming apps, it can get approvals through the system quicker. Hopefully there's a bigger horde of Mac App reviewers on the way, so these apps can get out to the public in a relatively timely fashion.

[Source: TUAW]

Apple's 3D Maps and Imagery See Incremental Improvements

Following last week's open letter from Tim Cook in which he promised that Apple "will keep working non-stop" until the iOS 6 Maps app meets customers' standards for quality, Apple has indeed been making improvements to the service. While there is certainly a ways to go, it is clear that the company is indeed moving quickly to address issues and improve coverage for the flagship 3D mapping and imagery features in the app. 

While improvements have been ongoing, MacRumors forum members yesterday began noticing what appears to be a larger set of additions to the 3D content in the Maps app, including both the satellite/aerial imagery and the standard maps. One region that was among the first to be noticed was the New York City area, with a number of improvements including new 3D imagery of the Statue of Liberty being seen.

We've also heard from users who have experienced new Flyover imagery showing up in Honolulu, Hawaii and in the San Fernando Valley in the Los Angeles area. The changes are also affecting the standard vector-based maps as well, with users reporting new 3D buildings showing up in New York City and London. 

Interestingly, not all users are seeing the new imagery, with some even doing side-by-side comparisons between devices with different results. The difference is presumably due to aggressive caching of maps and imagery, and users who are not yet seeing the new imagery should see updates in the relatively near future.

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple begins shipping its Lightning to 30-pin adapter at the speed of... freight

iPhone users with a flotilla of 30-pin devices, desperate to restore connectivity with their newest handset's natty connector, can rest easy. Cupertino has contacted several Australians who pre-ordered the 30-pin to Lightning adapter to tell them they can expect the first units to arrive tomorrow. The Stateside store is still promising a generic "October" launch, but it can't be too far away if the Antipodeans are getting theirs.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple acknowledges anniversary of Jobs's death with video tribute

Apple replaced both its main page and storefront with a moving tribute to Steve Jobs that remembers his passing one year ago today. The short video clip highlights Jobs's achievements and includes pictures and quotes from the Apple founder. The tribute ends with a brief letter from Tim Cook, who asks us all to "reflect on his [Jobs's] extraordinary life and the many ways he made the world a better place."

[Source: TUAW]

Apple retail employees encouraged to report Maps issues

With many thousands of staffers in the US alone, Apple's retail team has numbers on its side. It also has geographic diversity, with stores in 45 of the 50 states. Lots of people in lots of places who presumably carry lots of iOS devices -- just what you need if, perchance, you're looking to clean up some facepalm-worthy glitches in a shiny new mapping dataset.

Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore tweeted early this morning that store managers are asking employees to report Maps errors that they see in iOS 6 while they are out and about while working, on the clock. We've independently confirmed that a communication to that effect did go out to retail staff members (at least in the US and Canada), although we don't know precisely what it said.

MacRumors suggests that the map quest will be fairly formal and well-organized, with teams of employees dedicating up to 40 hours per week, cumulatively, to the wayfinding fixes; submitted data would go through a dedicated Apple portal rather than being bundled with general user feedback. Allen's initial report suggested the effort would be voluntary.

Of course, calling for fixes to map errors isn't purely the province of those who are being paid out of Cupertino's hoard of dragon gold: you too can help the cause by reporting errors and missing features in iOS 6's Maps app. Tapping the page curl on the lower right corner of the map reveals several controls including the "Report a Problem" button, which in turn gives you all the necessary feedback options.

[Source: TUAW]

Does Apple have a Scott Forstall problem?

FORTUNE -- There's no shortage of embarrassing instances where Apple (AAPL) Maps "fell short" -- as Tim Cook's public apologyput it -- but on Friday Canadian reader John Garner pointed me to a particularly striking one.

Jason Matheson, a fellow Canadian with a knack for Mac programming, ran a quick Xcode script that compared the iPhone 5's map of Ontario with an official list of the province's cities and towns. Of 2,028 place names, Matheson reports, 400 were correct on Apple's Maps app, 389 were pretty close, 551 were clearly incorrect and 688 weren't on the map at all.

"There's no excuse," Garner writes. "Quality control on Apple Maps had to have been terrible to not get this right. Bluntly, Scott Forstall should be fired over this mess."

Garner is not alone in pointing the finger at Forstall, the senior vice president for iOS software and the Apple executive -- after Cook -- most often described as an heir apparent to Steve Jobs.

[Source: CNN Money - Read more there]

Fare thee well, Ping: 2010-2012

With an exit far more quiet than its heralded beginnings, Ping officially closed two years and a month after it was launched on Sept. 1, 2010. If you happened to have your iTunes still open from yesterday, see Ping in the menu, and click on it, you'll get the message seen above. Hit OK, and Ping disappears from your iTunes forever.

Ping has been succeeded by Facebook and Twitter integration in iTunes.

[Source: TUAW]