Apple suppliers had a very tough February

February is usually not a great month for the companies that supply Apple with its iOS and Mac device parts (Chinese New Year usually falls right in that month, and production in China always take a big downturn as people celebrate there). But this particular past February was especially bad, according to reports: Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White says that the suppliers for Apple that he tracks saw their sales data fall 31 percent over the past month, as compared to the usual 8 percent drop in past years. That makes for the worst February on record for Apple's suppliers, which may or may not soon have an impact on Apple.

Now, with Apple's suppliers showing low sales data, that could mean more opportunity for Apple to step in with its big pile of cash and make sure that it has more components than ever to build new devices with, so it's not entirely clear that this will be a bad thing for the company from Cupertino. But of course Apple depends on these suppliers, and if they suffer increased economic pressure for any reason, Apple could experience consequences for its own business.

[Source: TUAW]

Apple’s eBay store offers significantly better deals on Apple.com refurbs

9to5Mac first broke the news that Apple sold refurbished merchandise through its own eBay store last year, equipped with the same price tags, full warranties, and approved inspections, and now the company has dropped prices on many of those items below what it offers at store.apple.com.

9to5Toys and eventually Dealnews recently noticed a $100 price cut for Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz i5 and 128GB of storage (now over). It costs $100 more at store.apple.com for the same refurbished unit.

An even better eBay deal has emerged today: Apple’s 11.6-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz, 4GB SDRAM and 256GB SSD is only $949. It’s certified refurbished unite, while the same refurb model goes for $1,059 on Apple.com, and the 256GB MacBook Airs start at $1,299 new. All items come with free standard shipping, and eBay adds sales tax for only a few states at purchase and allows folks to pay with PayPal and BillMeLater.

[Source: 9to5Mac - Click here to read the full story]

Latest Apple TV reveals smaller A5 chip, adds to rumors of split with Samsung

Quiet, mid-cycle component upgrades are a thing with Apple, and they're sometimes worth watching out for. The iPad 2 got a chip update last year, for example, which significantly extended its battery life by using a 32nm A5 SoC instead of a 45nm one. Well, much as expected, a very similar processor update has just come to the Apple TV. MacRumors popped open the latest version, known as "AppleTV3,2", and found good evidence of a further die shrink: the central block of silicon is just 6 mm x 6 mm, which is even smaller than the 8 mm x 8 mm chip in the newest iPad 2. This inevitably leads to speculation that Apple has shifted to a 28nm fabrication process, possibly snubbing Samsung's 32nm foundries, but we'd need a proper silicon-level analysis to be certain. In the meantime, though, we'd guess that this update may not be worth hunting down to the degree that the new iPad 2 was -- the level of shrinkage here doesn't seem enough to have a huge impact on power draw, and in any case that's less of an issue for a device that's fed from the wall.

[Source: Engadget]

Philips Releases Open APIs and SDK for iOS Controlled Hue Lighting System

TechCrunch reports that Philips has created an official developer program for its Wi-Fi connected Hue home lighting system, which includes an SDK for iOS and APIs to allow hardware and software developers to integrate Hue into their products. 


Hue, which is exclusive to iOS, allows users to control LED lightbulbs via the iPhone and an accompanying bridge that uses the ZigBee communication protocol. 

"We're now at a point where there are already about 10 applications that have been shared and built from the unofficial developer community for new applications around Hue," explained George Yianni, Hue System Architect in an interview. "Now what we want to do as Philips is we actually want to help and grow and encourage this community, and give them tools and proper documentation. Also, we want to give them commitment that this is the API and we’re going to support it and it won’t change overnight."

Though Hue-integr additional ated third party apps such as last week’s Ambify have been released, these solutions do not use official APIs. According to Yianni, the unavailability of official APIs is the main reason that the Hue has yet to be integrated into apps and connected home devices. 

The new Hue tools are freely available for all developers interested in creating a product or an app that connects to the system

Philips plans to add additional functionality to the Hue in the future, focusing on geofencing, scheduling, and other sensor capabilities. The company is also working on expanding the Hue line with new lightbulb types.

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple Lawsuit Over Siri With Samsung to Move Forward

A California judge has ordered that Apple’s case against Samsung over search patents used in the Siri voice assistant can move forward.

Judge Lucy Koh is once again presiding over a lawsuit between Apple and Samsung. This is the same judge who has been presiding over the case where Apple won a billion dollar settlement, but it’s doubtful she is happy to see the two companies in her courtroom yet again as in Dec. of last year she told them she was not “joking” and it was time for “peace” between the two firms.

The latest case is a separate matter from the other trial and deal with Apple suing Samsung over violation of patents in regards to search functionality in Siri. According to Reuters, Judge Koh tried to convince the two companies to delay the case until the appeal in the other one is settled, but neither was interested in that course of action. Koh has now ruled the case can move forward with a March 2014 trial date, but she has asked both companies to cut down on the number of issues and expert witnesses both want to address in an attempt to ”significantly” streamline the case. If that sounds familiar, it’s because she asked them to do the same in the other case in Feb.

It is doubtful either company is going to want to cut the case very much, but this is the same Judge that last year told Apple’s lawyers that they were “smoking crack,” so we’re pretty sure she will be telling them again how she expects this to move forward.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

iBooks 3.1 brings paid content to iBookstore in Japan

Version 3.1 of iBooks is out today and while it might not bring much in the way of new features for Western users, it's a pretty big deal for book lovers located in Japan. That's because the latest update introduces paid content on the order of hundred of thousands of books -- encompassing novels, manga and more -- something that the country's iBookstore has been without up until this point. Before now, iOS users in Japan have needed to be content with public domain e-books.

In addition to the paid content rollout, the 3.1 update also introduces some improvements when reading Asian language books.

[Source: TUAW]

iPhone 5S Due in Summer, New iPads in April

There are a bevy of fresh Apple rumors this morning. One of them suggests that Apple will add a fingerprint scanner to its next generation iPhone and that the new device will be introduced alongside a budget iPhone this June or July. A second rumor, also published on Tuesday, suggests that Apple will instead launch the device in August and will refresh its iPads in April.

“We expect Apple will introduce its new iPhones and iOS7 in June, and start shipping the new iPhones (5S and low-cost model) in the FDD version in July,” KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo said in an investor note. “Both dates are earlier than last year’s roadmap. We attribute this to: (1) an effort to avoid repeating the fatal mistake of last year of the delayed iPhone 5 launch, which gave competitors room to grab market share; and (2) the new iPhones this year are mainly designed on the basis of the current iPhone 5, which suggests development time could be reduced.”

Kuo said he believes the iPhone 5S will run on a faster A7 processor and will offer a new “smart flash” technology for better photos. There will also allegedly be a fingerprint scanner built into the home button to increase security. He also argues that Apple’s highly rumored low-cost iPhone, which other rumors have suggested was delayed until next year, will be crafted out of fiberglass and plastic and will be sold in several different colors at the same time as the iPhone 5S.

Rene Ritchie from iMore is in agreement that the iPhone 5S be thinner and will pack a more powerful processor and better optics than the iPhone 5, but said that it will launch in August instead of June/July. Ritchie also said Apple is gearing up to launch its iPad Mini 2 and an iPad 5 sometime in April.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Jony Ive Ordered Boxes Full of Nike Watches in the Mid-2000s

Bloomberg today published a story on the much rumored Apple smart watch, offering information on potential functionality and profitability. The article also hinted at possible design cues for the iWatch, highlighting Apple designer Jony Ive's intense interest in watches, specifically those manufactured by Nike in the mid-2000s. 

Apple design chief Jony Ive has long had an interest in watches. Besides owning many high-end models himself, he had his team visit watch factories and ordered boxes of a sports watch made by Nike Inc. in the mid-2000s, said Wilson, who was then Nike's creative director.

New information from Business Insider reveals that Scott Wilson sent Jony Ive the Nike Presto Digital Bracelets and the Oregon Series Alti-Compass watches, which were manufactured in 2002–2004. 

Both of these watches feature clean, simple designs. The Presto Digital Bracelet is a cuff-style wraparound watch with a translucent plastic body, while the Oregon Series Alti-Compass has an aluminum face.

Well, he didn't buy them. We just gave them to them as designer bro deals. He and others in the design group just requested them and we sent them a ton of Nike Presto Digital Bracelets and the aluminum Oregon Series Alti-Compass watches. Was flattered that they were requesting them.

Wilson goes on to say that after receiving the watches, Apple asked questions about materials and processes.

This meshes up with their research in watch manufacturing during that timeframe which has been documented in previous stories. They definitely drew upon watch industry techniques and manufacturing in their products since the first iPhone. Interesting that it may come full circle to an actual iWatch at some point.

A patent application found last week suggested that Apple might be looking at a watch with a wraparound design, a touchscreen, and a flexible glass display, but it remains unclear what the actual watch might look like. 

Apple is said to have a team of 100 product designers working on the watch. The watch isrumored to run the full version of iOS and though a release date remains unclear,Bloomberg has suggested that it could launch as early as 2013.

[Source: MacRumors]

WSJ: Apple's App Store climbs towards $25 billion in sales

The Wall Street Journal has posted an article covering the meteoric rise of the App Store, from its inception just a few years ago to its current state of almost $25 billion in annual sales. But while the App Store is growing like crazy, it's also presenting more problems for developers as well: Finding a significant crowd of customers is getting tougher and tougher, and just making a name for yourself in such a huge market isn't always easy.

And it doesn't help that customers are flying through apps extremely quickly. Mobile analytics firm Flurry tells the WSJ that while users do now spend about two hours a day on apps, the apps they use don't stick around for very long. About 63% of the apps in use today weren't used daily a year ago, and most customers focus on about eight apps at a time, according to the research. That makes sense: In such a huge market, with so many apps to try, why focus on just a few?

But it also means that the app market is going to have to mature. The WSJ cites ESPN for shuttering one of its apps while focusing on the more popular Scorecenter utility, and they also mention Shazam, an app that has found all sorts of functionality (and more revenue streams) as it has matured in the App Store. Apple's App Store marketplace has gone from zero to billions in just the past few years, and no one's got an exact road map for where it's headed next.

[Source: TUAW]

iOS 6.1 Evasi0n Jailbreak Now Installed on More Than 14M Devices

The iOS 6.1 evasi0n jailbreak that was launched exactly a month ago is already installed on more than 14 million devices, a member of the team that created the tool said recently. The jailbreak works on the iPad, iPod touch and the iPhone and works on both iOS 6 and iOS 6.1 devices, so not every one of the 14 million devices is an iPhone, but it’s stunning just how quickly iOS users wanted to use the tool.

Jailbreaking serves a number of purposes, but one of the most sought after experiences is the Cydia app store that has thousands of unique applications that aren’t available from iTunes. You can install apps that make it easier to control your settings panel with an easy swipe, for example, and other tools provide more control over the look and feel of iOS than Apple offers.

Jailbreaking also makes it possible to install cracked versions without paying for them. Perhaps this is a sign that Apple needs to provide more control over iOS devices from the get-go, however. Clearly the people have spoken.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Apple: More Than 8 Million iPads Sold to Educational Institutions

Apple announced last week that there have been more than 1 billion iTunes U downloads across 1,200 universities and 1,200 K-12 schools. The company also confirmed to TechCrunch in a separate statement that it has sold more than 8 million iPads to schools and other educational facilities around the globe. According to AllThingsD, more than half of those sales, 4.5 million units, were sold to schools in the United States.

We already knew schools were purchasing iPads, a district purchased 26,000 back in June, but we’re surprised by the sheer number of schools that are now employing iPads and iTunes U, likely in replacement of outdated textbooks, to students as a learning tool.

The U.S. government has helped fund some school districts by providing cash to make sure that schools are currently using the best technology available to help students learn.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Apple Now Shipping Slimmer iMac Models in Just 1-3 Days

Apple’s newest iMac models, which were redesigned late last year, are now shipping in just 1-3 days, according to the company’s own online store. The slimmer all-in-one previously shipped in 2-3 weeks for the 21.5-inch model, and up to a month for configurations of the larger 27-inch iMac. As 9to5Mac notes, Apple has endured a drought of iMac supplies since launch, which Time Cook admitted affected overall Q1 sales.

On the upside, any constraints seem to be behind Apple, so we’ll see how sales pan out over the next few months. If you’re looking to hop into OS X, the 21.5-inch, 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 model starts at $1,299.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]