Edible Apple

Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley isn’t the only one with news of Apple’s plans to kick off iPhone 5S production this Summer. We also have a report from Nikkan which notes that displays for Apple’s next-gen iPhone will be manufactured by a trifecta of Sharp, LG, and Japan Display.

Sharp also begin in June the mass production of the next model for the liquid crystal panel of the (multi-function mobile phone) smartphone that Apple is planning on. Appears to have embarked on production readiness of consecutive holidays from May Kameyama Plant No. 1 of Apple smartphones LCD dedicated plagued by sluggish occupancy rate since the beginning of the year in (Kameyama, Mie Prefecture).

So the orders for the iPhone 5S are in, apparently, and now we play the waiting game.

Remember, though, that it was originally anticipated that iPhone 5S production would get going in March, all in time for a Summer release. Technical difficulties involving the iPhone 5S’s rumored fingerprint authorization sensor, however, apparently delayed that by quite a bit.

After returning from a trip abroad in Asia, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty recently wrote in a note to investors that Apple is planning to kick off production on multiple new iPhone models sometime in June or July. If this timeline is, in fact, accurate, that lends more credence to reports that Apple’s next-gen iPhone, and perhaps a low-cost iPhone, will hit store shelves sometime this Fall.

In addition to the anticipated iPhone 5 successor, Apple is also rumored to be working on a new low-end iPhone that would be targeted at customers who are not interested in carrier contract subsidies. Huberty’s note provided to AppleInsider on Wednesday suggested that Apple could achieve strong sales of a low-end iPhone in China, even if the device were sold for above the market “sweet spot” of about $160 U.S.

via AppleInsider

Oh Bill, you are a funny one.

Electronista reports that Apple this Summer may not just release one low-cost iPhone model, but may in fact release a number of low-cost iPhone models. As has been reported previously, the devices will be geared for emerging markets where folks simply can’t afford the iPhone as is.

To save costs on its rumored low-cost devices, Apple will reportedly use cheaper plastic instead of metal to adorn the devices.

While the source provided no timetable for release, the rationale provided for Apple capitulating to the lower end of the market was said to be to buy time for the company while it works on the next revamp of the iPhone, which might presumably be called the “iPhone 6” and would not be expected for more than a year. Apple is said to be particularly concerned with the Android platform’s success in the low end in countries with large prepaid customer bases, but has always steered budget-minded customers to its lower-cost-contract offerings such as the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. The company has seen demand for those older models increase substantially, particularly with the addition of some monthly-payment or “trade in” options in countries such as India.

via Electronista

Great answer from Quora:

Three reasons.  They look scary because they’re unfamiliar; they look scary because they’re not accurate reconstructions; and they look scary because they were, in fact, scary.

The third part is pretty simple.  A multi-ton carnivore is a scary thing, and it would be scary if it was wearing big clown shoes and a red rubber beepy nose.  Although there were lots of small dinosaurs, there really were a lot of huge ones, and things that are that much bigger than us are dangerous.

The first point is also fairly clear, I think. Dinosaurs used different solutions to many problems than the animals we’re used to seeing, especially big animals, and we are jolted by those differences.

Finally, the reconstructions we see tend to be biased toward scariness. Dinosaur reconstructions tend to be done conservatively, meaning that muscle mass is minimized and the skin is stretched tightly over that mass.  Surface adornments and colors are not known, so they’re not added.

Check out the photos to boot over here. Interesting stuff.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities is at it again, this time with news regarding Apple’s upcoming iPad Mini. Only thing is, it may not be upcoming for a while.

It’s long been assumed that the iPad Mini will get the Retina Display treatment, but now comes word that poor yields during the manufacturing process will delay the iPad Mini 2 rollout until October of this year. Indeed, remember that during Apple’s earnings conference call that Apple CEO Tim Cook siad that Apple had a lot of exciting new products in the pipeline for Fall 2013 and into 2014.

AppleInsider notes:

Because of those rumored production issues, Kuo suggested that Apple might introduce a more affordable iPad mini in the interim to help boost sales and fend off low-priced tablet competitors. He sees a low-cost iPad mini being priced between $199 and $249.

In his eyes, Apple could take a number of approaches to reducing the cost of building an iPad mini. His proposed options include removing the rear camera, reducing internal storage to 8 gigabytes, simplifying production of the metal casing, or using a more advanced process to build the A5 processor.

As for the full-size 9.7-inch iPad, Kuo still expects that Apple will launch a fifth-generation model with a redesigned frame akin to the iPad mini this fall. But he doesn’t expect that sales of the full-size iPad will increase dramatically, because the device does not offer a different user experience from the iPad mini.

9to5Mac reports that Apple is aggressively looking to get its iOS products integrated into cars in a serious way.

Apple plans to move aggressively into the in-car integration space later this year, according to multiple people familiar with the initiative. Apple is working with car makers to deeply embed iOS’s Maps and Siri services into cars, according to these people. While companies sell accessories to place iPhone and other iOS devices on car dashboards for easy access to Apple Maps’ turn-by-turn navigation, Apple wants to break into the space with its own solutions…

According to people familiar with the plans, Apple is working with car makers on updated versions of car center consoles that could attach to iOS devices like the iPhone. Specifically, an iPhone could be plugged into a car and an optimized, redesigned version of Apple Maps will appear on the car’s built-in display instead of a proprietary GPS system found in many cars.

WWDC this year will largely focus on software, though Apple my have a few hardware surprises up its sleeve. No, don’t expect an iPhone announcement, but there may be a slew of Macbook upgrades on the horizon.

The typically reliable Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities  writes that Apple this June may revamp its entire Macbook line to include Intel’s latest and greatest Haswell processors.

Contrary to our previous projection, we now think Apple will continue to make the MacBook Pro alongside the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro because the 13” MacBook Pro remains the most popular product in the MacBook line. Also, there is still demand in emerging markets, where Internet penetration isn’t advanced, for optical disk drives.

via Mac Rumors

With all the attention on iOS 7 these days, you may have forgotten that Apple is still working on the next iteration of OS X. We haven’t heard much regarding the details of OS X 10.9, until now.

9to5Mac writes that the update is internally codenamed “Cabernet” and will have a number of integrated power-user features:

The new operating system includes major enhancements to the Finder application such as tags and tabbed browsing modes. Those additions are notable as many pro-users have relied on third-party solutions and hacks to enable these features. Additionally, the new operating system will include a new Safari web browser with a redesigned backend for improved page loading, speed, and efficiency…

It’s worth noting that while initial reports indicated that the next version of OS X would include support for Siri, that may not be the case.

Last year, we reported that early builds of OS X 10.9 included Siri functionality. It is unclear if full Siri-support is still in the cards for OS X 10.9 or if the functionality will be glued to future hardware updates (for instance, iPhone 4 versus iPhone 4S). The shake-up at the top of Apple’s overall software group shifted around multiple iOS and OS X projects, so anything on the roadmap prior to this shakeup could have been altered, according to a person familiar with the situation.

As for when OS X 10.9 may hit the streets, 9to5Mac indicates a Summer release may be in the cards. But remember, there have also been reports that Apple has shifted engineering resources away from OS X towards iOS 7 to ensure that the latter is ready to go for WWDC later this Summer.

The Verge reports:

After a promo video let the cat out of the bag last month, Google is making it official: with an update to the Google Search application, Google Now is available on iOS. Compatible with both the iPhone and iPad, the update brings almost all of Google’s information cards across from Android. The look and feel of the app is virtually identical on both platforms, a testament to Google’s newfound ability to make well-designed apps on iOS. The main differences between Android and iOS are few, mainly in that iOS can display fewer different kinds of cards. “The types of Google Now cards available are largely the same on both platforms,” says Baris Gultekin, Director of Product Management for Google Now.

The Verge has a nice retrospective worth checking out:

Ten years ago this month, a music sector ravaged by Napster and largely ignorant of digital distribution found a savior of sorts in what was then called the iTunes Music Store. With its 99-cent unbundled songs, the service quickly became the only significant source for acquiring music legally online.

With iTunes, Apple had drawn the blueprint for distributing music, movies, books, and apps over the web. By supplying and tying together a music player, online store, and song-mangement software, Apple drastically simplified the entire music experience, defying the odds to build a music-retailing dynasty even as file sharing skyrocketed. A decade ago, Apple started to answer what would become an all-important question: how do you get consumers to pay for content again?

The Onion is up to its old tricks again, this time with a headline titled, “Weeping Tim Cook spotted screaming for help at Steve Jobs’ Tombstone.”

The blurb reads:

PALO ALTO, CA—Eighteen months after the death of his mentor, Apple CEO Tim Cook was seen Wednesday pounding the tombstone of company founder Steve Jobs and begging for guidance in his leadership of what was once the largest corporation in the history of the world. “What the hell do I do?!” a hysterical Cook reportedly shrieked, clawing alternately at the grave marker and his own face. “You left no instructions, damn it. I need another game-changing breakthrough product that millions can’t live without. Just give me one idea. One idea, for the love of God! Why are you torturing me like this?” At press time, sources confirmed that Cook had composed himself and decided to develop an iPhone 6.

Funny headline, mediocre blurb.