Tag Archives: Apple

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Apple releases third beta of 10.5.1 to test iTunes

After announcing and delete accounts Match iTunes developers yesterday, Apple has released a new beta of iTunes 10.5.1 to test the new music service $ 24.99 per year.

The third beta of iTunes 10.5.1 is now available for members of the Apple Developer Program, update that includes a number of significant improvements in stability and performance related to Match iTunes. According to the company, all those who are testing the Match iTunes service, which also remain in beta, should upgrade to the latest version of iTunes 10.5.1 to continue using the subscription music service.

Recall that the last beta was released earlier this month, when he joined the Match iTunes to Apple TV. On the other hand, the first beta of iTunes 10.5.1 was delivered to developers in October, shortly after the public release of iTunes 10.5. The original promise was that Apple’s iTunes would be available publicly Match the end of October, but the service can not be accessed by consumers and the company has no comment.

Finally, it is worth clarifying what it is : supporting collections of up to 25 000 songs for $ 24.99 a year, iTunes Match will allow users to scan your music library, including those songs from music CDs or other locations, and associate them with those available in the Apple online store. Then, subscribers can re-download any of their songs to other Apple devices, including iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPhone. These downloads will be 256Kbps AAC files, even if the original files have a lower quality. As I said Dani months ago, it seems that Apple and its iTunes service will achieve Match put a price on piracy.

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Apple has a thousand engineers improved mobile processors

One of the most important questions that every fan of the apple has right now is, what will happen with Apple now that Steve Jobs is no longer? Nehuen came hours makes a reassuring, no problem because Steve Jobs has left the next four years raised Apple continue to deliver innovative ideas to the technological world. However, the question remains in the air and then? TechCrunch gives details about ensuring that the Cupertino company currently has more than a thousand engineers working in the mobile chips that will use the iDispositivos in the future.

This data has transcended through an anonymous Silicon Valley CEO who had the opportunity to talk with Jobs shortly after he left office in Apple namesake few months ago. Now put that number in context to realize the amazing activity we are talking about. The Californian company has 50,000 employees, of which 30,000 are in the stores and other officials working in offices, departments, non-commercial and development centers. Thus, the number of thousand engineers accounts for 5% of employees not engaged in commercial establishments.

This consideration highlights the importance that Apple granted to processors that will define the future post-PC era started by the iPhone and especially for the iPad. Take note that this field has not reached the end of its travel. The new formats allow mobile processors in each update are reduced response times and fuel consumption of the core while increasing power. And we talk about the most important part of a mobile device, and perhaps the part to which place more importance on Infinite Loop. A couple of facts corroborate this assertion: the purchase of PA Semi and long Intrinsity last year.

In short, in Cupertino are focusing their efforts to evolve the existing range of mobile processors so they do not qualify or the ways and possibilities of the next device that will emerge from the dream factory in which the company has become the apple . Therefore, MG Siegler , editor of TechCrunch, has heard that upcoming products will be even more striking than the present, see if this is true.

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Apple employees charity

It seems that Apple is beginning to understand the benefits of social support, with the help of none other than their own employees. In an internal announcement, Tim Cook, CEO of the company, congratulated his employees to raise in less than two months to $ 1.3 million grant, and matching the same figure , for a total of 2.6 million.

As we have already told , Apple Matching Gifts program, established by Cook in September this year, aims to provide the same amount of money that workers in donations for charity. This was announced in an internal email distributed to all staff.

As of September 15, every time you donate money to a nonprofit 501 (c) (3), Apple will match your gift dollar for dollar, up to $ 10,000 per year. This program includes full-time employees at present only in the U.S., but in future we will extend it elsewhere.

According to the IRS (who controls the taxes in the country), the bodies 501 (c) are non-profit associations. Subsection (3) includes among others: religious groups, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, child protection and aid to animals.

It seems that this new program is Cook’s response to the continuous attacks on Apple and Steve Jobs in particular for their continued lack of interest in charities, unlike many other American billionaires. In particular, was criticized for failing to enroll in the program Giving Pledge , which invites the billionaires of this country to donate at least 50% of his wealth to all types of aid agencies or research. There are currently more than 65 names on the list, among them Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, George Lucas and Bill Gates. Either way, it is impossible to know whether Jobs’ philanthropy had been his wish to remain anonymous.

Anyway, it seems that Apple has begun initiative to bear fruit in terms of philanthropy, which could become a global program. I think they are the first steps of a good practice that should be carried out by solidarity rather than by compulsion, any company that pays dividends.

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Apple experiments with ARM processors

When it is not known for sure what type of processor will integrate the iPhone 5, although most analysts are convinced will be the A5 dual core that uses the current iPhone, there are interesting revelations show that Apple is already working with processors ARM Marvell quad-core , the famous and very good reviews Marvell Armada XP.

The news has been known as a result of analyzing the Clang compiler used by Apple in its application development tool Xcode. Between the lines of code appears architecture supports CPU type and the type armv7k pj4b. This nomenclature points directly to the Cortex A9 processors based on the ARM and four cores that you have mentioned already, the house Marvell.

At ArsTechnica, who have uncovered the issue, noting that this support is only accessible when the Open Source flag is not set, and this suggests that experiments only used in internal company on the block. Obviously the use of chips of this type represents a significant advance compared to the current A5 processor. The question is what are the intentions in Cupertino with this architecture?

There are three possibilities:

Apple is considering XP family Marvell Armada is integrated into the iPad 3. If at least they are already testing solutions based on processors then like themselves as the A6 or A7.

Arise using this type of MacBook Air processor architecture that MRA was talking to a few months ago.

Only used for experimentation, seeing what such systems behave with this processor, and analyzing the capacity of the hardware to increase the overall performance of the block devices.

Although the latter option seems the most probable, it is logical that Infinite Loop are already thinking about the hardware that will mount the next update Cases and iPhones. Knowing that competition is already preparing for the arrival of quad-core processors with Nvidia Tegra 3 next year, hopefully Apple will also need to live up to run mobile applications becoming more powerful.

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Apple announced a TV with Siri in 2012

This is a rumor that has been circulating the net for some time and that somehow combines two stories presented here AppleWeblog in recent days: on the one hand, the possible arrival of Siri to OS X and on the another, the launch of Apple TV . According to reports, the team of Cupertino, Calif., has been working on a HD TV for years but the recent release (and the great public reception) Siri iPhone 4S suggest the following: Apple could incorporate technology wizard voice in its future and new TVs.

According to Nick Bilton from The New York Times, Apple executives know since 2007 that the company has in mind a television with the Apple logo, and that in recent years Steve Jobs has pushed engineers to Cupertino develop a new interface for home television.

One of the goals was to simplify the way Apple that users and viewers interact with the TV and the TV. In other words, its goal was to replace, set aside the awkward and confusing remote control or remote control, replacing it (as we have seen, for example, models of Sony Bravia Internet TV) for wireless keyboards, iPhones, and iPads . However, from this rumor, and this seems to be something of the past. The ultimate solution is to incorporate the voice commands through the dazzling technology of Siri .

Remember, as Dani I recently commented that Jobs hinted at the new user interface in interviews published in the official biography released earlier this month by Walter Isaacson. In other words, Jobs told the writer that they had finally cracked the problem and its solution, which the user interface was simpler than we might imagine.

Finally, note that Apple still has much work ahead. According to the source of the news, the company has much experience in the manufacture of television as it has in the creation of iPhones, iPods, and MacBooks iPads:

“The company also needs to wait for price drops on big screens. Although a 42-inch LCD TV from a reputable brand can cost as little as $ 500 [U.S. prices], the Apple TV include electronic components and other technology that could increase its price so uncompetitive. “

It is expected that Apple announced their TVs by the end of 2012, with a possible final release for users in 2013. Can you imagine what it would be an Apple TV? Would you like to control it with your voice, like Siri and iPhone 4S? What do you think would be integrated with other devices and services like Apple iTunes Store and icloud? Without doubt, this rumor is a major trigger for the dreamers geek.

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Apple TV: Possible upgrade the A5 processor

It may be more than possible that Apple TV technology inherits iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, to include the A5 processor with two cores and increase your RAM.

A dual-core Apple TV can probably mean the 1080P video playback, a restriction of the current model due to the A4 processor. We could also see some 1080P content from iTunes to the output of this latest generation model.

However, the source reminds us that in Apple’s history there are examples of references to products within IOS that never saw the light, like the iPhone 3.2.

This news has shocked the market, we know how much he likes to talk about future releases of Apple. In this sense, Shannon Cross of Cross Research, has imagined an Apple TV with Siri voice to control the device:

An interesting application of Siri would be within the Apple TV (either on the current device or a new version that Apple could launch). We believe this would solve the difficulties of the industry with remote controls … It would be nice to have a TV or a device that could quickly respond to the petition: “I want to see the play of the Yankees / Red Sox”, changing the channel TV without the user guide or use a remote control, or even specify video in HD or standard definition, as you would like HD content when available. Or you can ask the device to record new episodes of a series, without leaving the program you are currently viewing. Finally, since they are in line, Siri enabled TV could see if the iPhone or your computer has received a new message, and allow it to respond accordingly.

As for the Apple TV, it would be illogical to receive an adjustment in both hardware (the technology has already been tested by iPad 2) and in the sale and rental service content, which have very abandoned. It would be an intriguing idea, well, you do not need another thing to answer emails, SMS and update Facebook, among others, to turn on the TV and talk with her.

It seems to me it sounds a bit like science fiction, it is likely that Apple has big plans for Syria and its correlation with all your devices. So why would not understand all its R & D in recent months have been focused on functionality that is not used as a cornerstone thought about user experience for the coming years.

The market is just beginning to understand the potential that Siri has to change forever the way we communicate with the devices. In a couple of years, maybe talking about the last great legacy of Steve Jobs about the semantics and the interaction between man and machine.

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Apple wants to bring Hollywood movies icloud

It is almost a day since iOS 5 and icloud is hiciese available to all and certainly we have been able to experience the enormous advantages of such a system where a particular item is in all our devices. However, I think the most important thing is that icloud yet we have not seen everything, because once opened the door there are a multitude of processes that may come with time. For example, the movies and that is something that Apple intends to fix soon.

As have known Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal , Apple is in talks with major Hollywood production to include movies in icloud. What this mean is similar to what is happening in our music devices. There may come a day when any movie or series that we acquire from the iTunes Store via the iPhone, Mac or iPhone is in turn available on all other devices on the same item purchased, I can confirm that this is already happening with the video clips so that it is not an outlandish idea.

What is not clear is if we talk about local save before viewing or streaming if we talk about pure and simple. Both publications use this term even though there is no streaming in the case of music from iTunes in the cloud. Perhaps in this case, given the storage capacity consumption which would, if Apple wants to offer a remote viewing. As such, I hope that sooner or later also comes streaming music, for convenience and is not eating too much poque memory, something that Spotify does with such success. We look forward to what happens.

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Apple LED backlight

From Asian lands comes a major new rumor that has the iPad as protagonist and we consider remarkable because it focuses on a problem that is caused by the most desired feature in the next tablet apple, high-resolution display technology Retina .

Apparently Apple has long wanted to carry the concentration of pixels of the iPhone 4 and 4S industrial constraints iPad but has so far been an obstacle impossible to overcome. Not so in the next iPad where to order probably see that density of pixels that makes it virtually impossible to distinguish from a normal distance.

However, use of this technology affects other components, one of them is the backlight of the screen, or better called LED backlighting. As you know, the iPad 2 integrates a bar of light behind the LCD screen are the ones that are responsible for providing the necessary brightness to display tablet. But a higher concentration of lighting requires more power. That’s why the manufacturers of these parts are Apple offering two different solutions on the one hand to use double LED chips or the other to double the number of bars of light.

According to Digitimes report Cupertino boys have chosen the second option. It is intended that the next device can accommodate without problems and with excellent visibility 2.048×1.536 screen 1024×768 pixels compared to today. The other undesirable consequence may occur in the life of the battery, as the duplicate of these components is in any case a reduction in the duration of the dead battery. Probably this last point is offset by the usual increase in battery capacity is often caused an upgrade to the next. Anyway, are interesting facts that help us track the next model of the apple phone.

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Apple launches battery replacement program

It seems that substitution programs succeed. Three days ago we told you about the plan to change the adapters on MacBooks and MacBooks Pro old especially the problem of cable sheath, which is separated from the connectors on the ends. Now it has been reported through a web page of the company that Apple started a campaign to replace the original iPod nano battery , which sold between 2005 and 2006.

Apparently a fraction of the units sold between September 2005 and January 2006 had a problem with the battery that was causing in some cases this will overheat to the point of destruction. Although not true in all cases, failures are caused by one of the suppliers, and worsens as time passes. The website leads to a form that we fill with the serial number that appears on the back of the battery, so you can easily determine if our first-generation iPod nano is affected or not this replacement plan.

It concludes a series of news we had been receiving from around the world, like Japan, where he knew extreme cases where this battery fires or damage were caused to its users.

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Apple buys C3 Technologies

In early August was just a rumor but now seems confirmed by 9to5mac . Indeed, Apple bought this year to C3 Technologies, a company specializing in creating 3D maps with an incredible reality, as you see in the accompanying video. In August I commit that there were several signs pointing to the block, on the one hand their growing interest in this field, another Saab AB, owner of a 57’8% of the company until July, acknowledged having sold his part an amount of 150 million dollars for one that transcended the buyer was a major Western company.

Now the mystery is solved, at least externally in the absence of an official statement. Both the CEO of the Swedish Mattias Astrom, as CFO and manager Kjell Cederstrand Ludvig Emgard product from Apple is already doing its job while still in the Scandinavian country under the code name for Sputnikque seems to name the project which they are immersed. And the scope is very clear if we consider the professional field in which they have moved so far, create 3D maps and GPS locations associated with adding a traditional 2D layer. Saab AB (a company of military equipment) used this technology to develop systems to locate and attack targets by next-generation missile, but in Apple’s case the issue is much more peaceful, create a Maps application itself does not rely on Google and go one step further.

Knowing that in Cupertino do not go around with half measures, it is expected that very soon see a dramatic evolution of its geographical positioning system maps, with a three-dimensional look that joined the growing field of augmented reality will be many possibilities. Remember that Apple, with this purchase, it would have made ??three acquisitions related to this particular: Poly9 and Placebase were added to the company in 2010 and 2009 respectively. Although Google has recently introduced a similar technology with its Helicopter View is clear that Apple seeks complete independence from the company’s search engine now only have to wait to see what materializes exactly the idea.