MacRumors points us to a Korean forum where a user reportedly posted a picture of the iPad 3’s Retina display. As you can see in the image above, both the iPad 3 (bottom) and iPad 2 (top) displays are compared. Both look to measure 9.7-inches, but they have different cable arrangements.
iFixit provided a teardown of the iPad 2’s display for comparison purposes. The purported Retina iPad 3 display pictured above has three brown connectors, instead of the iPad 2’s two connectors, to presumably power the 2048×1536 resolution of the new display.
As the iPad 3 ramps to launch sometime this spring, more parts and rumors for the tablet have leaked. Last week we showed you the reported dock connector and ribbon cable for the iPad 3, along with the home button sources provided.
Apple saw record-setting sales this holiday season, according to Localytics. So well, that 12.5 times more iOS devices were activated over Christmas than past weekends. For comparison sake: there were 21 times more iPods compared to 14 times more iPhones. The iPods were most likely gifted to younger children who do not yet have a cell phone. At any rate… there were many people enjoying iOS devices on Christmas Day.
Apple is said to have another record setting quarter after a very successful fiscal Q4 for the company. The last earnings report said Apple claimed $28.27 billion in revenue and saw record-setting Mac and iPhone sales. The holiday quarter is expected to be even better.
Apple is set to have its best year ever in its App Store with approximately 10 billion downloads in 2011, along with a record-setting holiday season. That estimate doubles collective downloads from the three years prior, according to research firm Flurry. The report noted the Android Market hit 10 billion cumulative downloads in December, up from 3 billion total downloads in May 2011.
Flurry also backs up Localytics claim and said Christmas Day 2011s activations crushed Christmas Day 2010s by almost 2.5 times. This year saw 6.8 million iOS and Android device activations, and last year saw 2.8 million device activations. That’s a 140 percent growth. We are looking forward to hearing what Apple has to say in late January.
People Daily reported that Apple received the certification it needs by the China Compulsory Certification to launch the iPhone 4S in mainland China. The certification was awarded on Dec. 22, shortly after Apple also received certification from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China. With the necessary certifications, Apple has now met all of its requirements to launch the iPhone 4S in China. People Daily said the iPhone 4S-model number A1431- will hit in early January.
To model how well the iPhone 4S could potentially do in China, in this year’s June quarter earnings, Apple’s sales in China topped $3.8 billion. Thus, obviously, the launch of the iPhone 4S in China would boost sales.
China Unicom is the third-largest carrier in China, and it remains the sole carrier for the iPhone. While Apple is able to reach a large market, only being available on one carrier leaves about 1.33 billion people in the market untapped. If Apple were to also sell the iPhone 4S on China Mobile, sales could grow substantially. At any rate, the iPhone 4S is at least on its way to China Unicom by January.
A new and free iOS app called Action Movie FX lets users create Hollywood special effects on top of a video by using their iPhone’s camera. Action Movie FX is pretty simple in that you record a target and then the app will do the rest. Besides a visual effect, the app also adds realistic sound that gives a very real sense to what you are seeing. As you can see above, the car explosion looks very real.
Once Action Movie FX processes the video, you can share it with your Facebook friends, send it by email, or save it to your camera roll. There are two special effects available for free called “missile attack” and “car smash.” Other effects can be purchased for 99-cents in-app.
Unlike similar applications on the App Store, Action Movie FX works very well. The app quickly processes the effect, and even lets you select a certain point in the video where you want it added. Since it is available for free, we definitely suggest you try Action Movie FX.
Check out a few more screenshots and video after the break:
Mercury News reported that Apple is set to begin construction “any day now” on a new prototype retail store in downtown Palo Alto, according to a building permit issued by the city. The new Store will be located on 340 University Ave, about a block from the already thriving downtown store. It is a place where Steve Jobs made many appearances. Apple’s new store will reportedly see structural changes that will allow natural light to brighten the store completely, and the rest of the store will be mostly made of stone and steel.
Plans filed with the city call for a glass roof and facade that will allow natural light to flood much of the 15,030-square-foot store. Stone and steel also factor heavily into the design. A basement and rear mezzanine will provide office space and storage, according to the plans.
Before construction begins, crews have already completed a pedestrian bypass. Apple is spending$3.15 million on the new prototype Store, according to documents filed with the city. Palo Alto’s planning manager made comment to The Daily Beast:
Apple released OS X 10.7.3 build 11D36 to developers this evening, and it is available on the Developer Center. Apple asked developers to focus on iCloud Document Storage, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Spotlight, and Safari. The delta update of this build tops out at 986 MB and the combo update weighs in at 1.25 GB. The OS X 10.7.3 should roll out to Lion users in the coming weeks, so sit tight.
Siri has seen many cool hacks, from using it to control watching videos on Plex to starting a car. Today, another clever mind shows Siri controlling a piano to play tracks on an iPhone. Yamaha specifically develops the hack for the Disklavier piano, and it uses a special MIDI version of the music file to stream to an AirPort Express. The hack even uses the foot pedals and the piano’s keys.
The iPhone 4S is one of the first devices to support Bluetooth 4.0. Today, the first accessory to take advantage of the new technology is a new Kickstarter project called Find My Car Smart.
Find My Car Smart uses a Bluetooth 4.0 powered dongle to transmit the location of a car that can then be picked up by an iOS app, letting a user find a car in a busy parking lot on a map. Due to it being a Kickstarter project, it will need to get enough backers to see the light of day. It’s pretty cool, nonetheless. So, if you’re interested make sure you pledge.
Microsoft is also getting in the Bluetooth accessory game with the release of a new tablet keyboard. The Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 is portable and it will hook up with an iPad, Android tablet or any other device that supports Bluetooth.
A new hack by a Chinese manufacturer will allow a user to make an iPhone 4/4S’s Apple logo glow. Much like the MacBook’s, the logo will glow once you turn the device on.
K.O. Gadget, the maker of this mod, said it can be done at home in less than five minutes. For $42, K.O. Gadget will send you the kit to perform this hack, but it would void an iPhone’s warranty.
The mod is easy because all you’re doing is replacing the back panel on the iPhone. The backpanel has a transparent Apple logo that allows light to pass through, but the key is the “light strip” that is added in. You can see the addition in the video below.
The light strip and custom backing doesn’t add any thickness to the device, because it uses the same glass material that Apple uses. K.O. Gadget also said there isn’t any over heating issues or battery life issues.
If you’re the adventurous type, this is something definitely worth checking out. Check out the install process below:
Digitimes has published an interesting report this evening, saying Apple will begin the production of a 7.85-inch iPad in Q2 2012. Apple will reportedly begin selling the smaller iPads prior to Q4 2012, but will also sell another iPad in Q1 2012 — presumably the iPad 3.
Apple is likely to launch a 7.85-inch iPad prior to the fourth quarter of 2012 in addition to a new iPad scheduled to be released at the end of the first quarter, according to sources in the supply chain.
In order to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire — which has been selling very well — Digitimes says their sources say Apple has been persuaded to manufacture the 7.85-inch tablet to compete.
However, in order to cope with increasing market competition including the 7-inch Kindle Fire from Amazon and the launch of large-size smartphones from handset vendors, Apple has been persuaded into the development of 7.85-inch iPads, the sources indicated.
LG Display and AU Optronics will reportedly be the manufacturers for the 7.85-inch panels, and will hit the supply streams in Q2 2012.
As the rumored early 2012 iPad 3 release draws closer, Cydia Blogdiscovered a part for the iPad 3 on TVC Mall’s website. What you see above is apparently a replacement part for the microphone on the iPad 3, and shows some pretty major changes compared to the iPad 2’s microphone — namely the shape. The apparent dock connector and ribbon cable for the iPad 3 also leaked this summer. Cydia Blog reports:
The new part, when compared with iPad 2, shows a different arrangement in internal circuitry, hinting a major re-design. The tail end of the part makes a “U-turn”, whereas the iPad 2′s Microphone Mic Flex Cable makes almost 90-degree turn both ways. Except for few details, the leaked part so far doesn’t offer a tantalizing tease.
The iPad 3 is rumored to launch early 2012 — maybe February — with a rumored higher res display and thicker form-factor. Other specs are rumored to be a dual-mode wireless chip for both CDMA and GSM, Apple’s A6 processor, and more RAM. Citi’s analyst Richard Gardner says he’s heard from sources that a February launch is coming, but some have pointed to mid-summer. The updated mic form-factor above could point to pretty major internal changes. It should be worth noting, however, that manufacturer replacement parts aren’t always in the final version. (via MacRumors)
Apple has just released an update for the 2nd generation Apple TV, version 4.4.4 (9A406a). As of now we know the update brings bug fixes, but we’re checking for more. Hit up your Apple TV to download the new firmware or hit up the direct link.
Update: Apple has also released a small update to the iPhone 4S, bringing it to version iOS 5.0.1 (9A406). Hit up the the direct link.
Update X2: Apple has dropped a note saying that this update fixes SIM card issues on the iPhone 4S.
Rockstar games has just released Grand Theft Auto 3 for both the iPhone and iPad late this evening. This release marks the 10th anniversary of the game, which was originally released for the PS2. Grand Theft Auto 3 is available for $4.99 on the iTunes App Store.
Rockstar Games celebrates the 10th anniversary of one of the most influential games of all time. The critically acclaimed blockbuster Grand Theft Auto III comes to mobile devices, bringing to life the dark and seedy underworld of Liberty City. With a massive and diverse open world, a wild cast of characters from every walk of life and the freedom to explore at will, Grand Theft Auto III puts the dark, intriguing and ruthless world of crime at your fingertips.
On April Foolsday in 1976 Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne signed the founding contract for Apple Computer. Eleven days later, Ron Wayne decided to sell his 10% of the company for $800, which is now worth $3.9 billion. The founding contract that made history was originally expected to sell for $150,000, but today sold for a cool $1.6 million to Eduardo Cisneros, chief executive officer of Cisneros Corp, at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, reportsBloomberg. The Cisneros family is the second wealthiest in South America according to a 2006 Forbes listing.
The story goes that apparently the consigner bought the legal papers back in the mid-1990s “from a manuscript dealer” who is thought to had acquired them from Wayne. We’ve posted the bidding after the break.
Update: we’ve confirmed the documents have sold for $1,594,500, but the $1.3 million that Fortune reported doesn’t include the buyers tax the auction house tags on. Thanks Dewitt!
Apple this afternoon revised holiday ordering and shipping deadlines for this year, as spotted by The Loop. For those looking to order customized Macs, you have until tomorrow, December 14, to place an order for your customized all-in-one system if you want to receive it by December 24, with free 2-3 day shipping. With custom engraved iPods you have until December 19 to receive it by the December 24 deadline.
And lastly, for off the shelf Macs and other Apple products you have until December 21 to receive them by Christmas Eve. Sadly, it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to get an iPhone 4S online before the holidays. Find all of the dates after the break:
We’re getting several reports this evening from our great readers in Latin America that the iTunes Store is beginning to roll out all over. The countries that we’ve heard about so far include Peru, Dominican Republic, Chile, Panama, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, and more. It also sounds like Brazil is getting their first taste of iTunes Match.
Cheers to everyone who sent this in!
Update: Apple has just pushed a Press Release saying as much:
The Wall Street Journalreported this evening that Apple isn’t seeing the success they’d like with their iAd platform. The company has deployed iAd as an advertising platform throughout their iOS devices in the summer of 2010 and is now making changes in the hope of attracting both more developers and ad spending. First off, Apple is reportedly lowering the entry-level cost for marketers to $400,000 – down from $500,000 and even lower from the original $1 million when the platform was launched. Apple is also reportedly putting new caps on what it charges for clicks on ads, letting advertisers pay $10 each time an advert is viewed every 1,000 times (CPM) and $2 every time it’s specifically tapped on.
So why is Apple making these changes? Apple had tied for the lead in ad market share last year, but has reportedly fallen back to the third place in 2011 advertising market share, behind Millennial Media (#2) Google (#1), per IDC. Hoping to re-gain lost share, Apple is also launching a training program to bring in more advertisers onto the network, partnering with its media buying agency OMD, part of Omnicom Group Inc. to educate new advertisers on iAd, a standard practice providers of digital advertising platforms such as Google and Yahoo! have been exercising from the onset. In the recent weeks, executives from Pepsi, Clorox and JC Penny have reportedly visited Apple’s campus to talk about iAd. OMD also hopes to lure more advertisers in February 2012.
Apple has just begun seeding iOS 5.1 beta 2 on the Developer Center, and weighs in at 801MB. While 5.1 beta 2 brings bug fixes, the update also now allows users to remove images from their iCloud Photo Stream –
Photos taken using iOS 5.1 can be deleted from Photo Stream on your device and will be removed automatically from Photo Stream on your other iOS 5.1 devices. Older photos can be manually deleted from your iOS 5.1 devices.
– which was a huge complaint that Apple has now addressed. Along with the iPhone and iPad, the Apple TV and Xcode have also seen an update. Let us know if you find anything interesting down below or at tips@9to5mac.com.
RadioShack is offering a $30 discount on all of their AT&T high end smartphones which obviously includes the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, starting Sunday and running until December 17th. The sale will bring the iPhone 4S 16GB down to $170 0n contract and the iPhone 4 16GB to $70 on contract. Also, if you use Radioshack’s trade-in program you can get the phones for free and even have some extra credit left over. Head over to your local store to take advantage of this sale.
Jawbone’s CEO Hosain Rahman has published a blog post stating his deepest regrets for some of the issues the Jawbone Up has been having. Users have experienced the band not holding a charge or bricking completely. To make up for the problems, Jawbone is launching a return program December 9th that will allow users to get a refund for the product and even keep it — no questions asked. That’s right, you’re getting the Jawbone Up for free if you’ve already purchased it. The refund program will be located here. Jawbone has also decided to halt sales of the band.
Last week, we reviewed the Jawbone Up — the fitness band we leaked the details for in September — and gave it a pretty positive score, since ours hadn’t broken. The band gave us great results when it came to tracking our daily steps and sleep patterns. But for the customers who bought the band and saw that it was breaking, it was far from worth the $99. Luckily, Jawbone was exchanging defective bands.
CEO Rahman cites the issues with the band were specific capacitors in the power system that wouldn’t let the Up hold a charge for long at all. Here’s to version 2.0!
Conventional wisdom once was that as Apple expanded its retail footprint, Apple resellers would fall by the wayside. And that has happened to a certain extent, plus stores like CompUSA and Circuit City have folded.
Fortunately, other retailers have been able to succeed alongside Apple by offering differentiated services.
One of our favorite Apple resellers, MacMall, is expanding their retail stores to Huntington Beach, California this Saturday and Chicago, Illinois in the coming months. Currently, the retailer has a booming online store coupled with two retail stores in Santa Monica and Torrance that are also seeing success, the company said in a press release sent out today. The Huntington Beach store opens this Saturday, December 10th with some pretty killer deals (seen after the break). MacMall’s Chicago store, located 321 West Grand Avenue, will be seeing a later January/February opening.
We hear that MacMall is even shopping for some space in Manhattan, alongside one of our other favorite resellers, Tekserve.
MacMall, naturally can offer more to customers than Apple Stores with their unscheduled technical support, broader range of accessories (even a few PCs and Android tablets), and most importantly “online prices in a retail store”. We often tip you guys on MacMall’s awesome deals, so we’re certainly familiar with some of the deals they carry. As you can see below, they offer so many more accessories than an Apple Store (iPhone Alarm Clocks, standalone GPS, Photoframes, Cameras, etc, etc).
MacMall says Apple has encouraged them to keep expanding to more stores and with over $100 million in Apple product sales this year, that isn’t hard to believe.
At the Huntington Beach store’s grand-opening on Saturday, the first 300 people to visit the store will be entered to win free Apple TVs, MacBook Airs, iPod touchs, and iPod Nanos. Early shoppers will have a 1 in 22 chance of taking home some free holiday gifts.
The Apple Store offers discounts on previous-generation, factory-refurbished 3-lb. MacBook Air notebooks, as listed below. Plus, each system, released less than a year ago, qualifies for free shipping and Lion up to Date. At up to $300 off, each model is at the lowest total price we’ve seen. Sales tax is added where applicable. Each item carries a 1-year Apple warranty, the same as new units. Items are removed from The Apple Store when sold out. The laptops (each model listed below features 2GB RAM):
Microsoft has released a new iOS app called My Xbox Live that lets users manage their Xbox Live accounts while on mobile. The app doesn’t have gaming of any sort, but lets users edit their bio, check messages, see what friends are online, and change their avatar. Xbox’s Major Nelsonoutlined the new features:
Read and send messages to friends Manage your friends list, invite new friends Read and Edit your full LIVE profile (name, bio, motto) Change your avatar features/items with the avatar closet View and compare your achievement progress with friends
Microsoft has made My Xbox Live available for free, on both iPhone and iPad. We’ve uploaded a few more photos of the app after the break.
Apple is nearing a decision whether or not to purchase land in Oregon to build a massive new data center, reportsOregon Live. The piece of land is 160-acres in Prineville, Oregon, and a 1/4 mile from one of Facebook’s data centers (pictured above). Apple has until the end of the month to make a decision on whether or not they want to buy the land — which will be the setting to build a new 31-megawatt data center.
The world’s largest tech company is nearing a decision on whether to build a large data center in Prineville, a quarter mile south of the Facebook server farm that opened earlier this year, according to two people with direct knowledge of Apple’s plans.
Apple also recently opened their new data center in North Carolina. The NC location reportedly cost the company $1 billion to build, and powers iCloud. Apple is also looking to expand that area with a new 174 acre solar farm and the possibility of adding even more. As Apple begins their push to more cloud services, the need for more data centers is necessary and so is the talent. Last month, a report surfaced that Apple is looking for new senior-executives to take charge of their work in the cloud.
