Edible Apple

Revenue is down, key employees continue to leave, and the stock price successfully continues to challenge all-time lows.

And now comes this.

In the wake of several upper level employee departures, Zynga has taken to the Courts over one in particular, alleging that one former general manager Alan Patmore took some of the company’s “most sensitive and commercially valuable data.”

Patmore stopped working at Zynga back in August, whereupon he left to work for Kixeye, one of Zynga’s rivals.

In the filing, Zynga claims that Patmore amassed 760 documents from his work computer, and backed them up online before his last day. Further, Zynga claims in the complaint that the data is important enough that it could be used to “improve a competitor’s internal understanding and know-how of core game mechanics and monetization techniques, its execution and ultimately its market standing to compete more effectively with Zynga.”

Zynga says Patmore took files that are critically important to the game maker’s business, including revenue projections, monetization plans, more than 10 unreleased game design documents, employee compensation details, strategic road maps, and his entire email box, containing 14 months of confidential communications. ”In short, Patmore copied virtually every email he received or sent while he was a GM at Zynga,” the complaint reads.

Yep, it looks like the Farm is about to go belly up, if you catch my drift. Since going public a few months ago, shares of the company have plummeted by 76%.

All Things D has the full scoop over here

Sure, no mobile platform is impervious from the efforts of determined hackers, but it’s hard to deny that Android is seemingly affected by more potent security threats far more often than Apple’s iOS.

Underscoring this fact, the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center (IC3) recently issued a statement highlighting two new types of malware that have been propagating across the Android ecosystem as of late – Loozfon and FinFisher.

Loozfon is an information-stealing piece of malware. Criminals use different variants to lure the victims. One version is a work-at-home opportunity that promises a profitable payday just for sending out email. A link within these advertisements leads to a website that is designed to push Loozfon on the user’s device. The malicious application steals contact details from the user’s address book and the infected device’s phone number.

FinFisher is a spyware capable of taking over the components of a mobile device. When installed the mobile device can be remotely controlled and monitored no matter where the Target is located. FinFisher can be easily transmitted to a Smartphone when the user visits a specific web link or opens a text message masquerading as a system update.

So all in all, the FBI issued a warning to smartphone users that Android malware is real and that user’s should be cognizant of their browsing habits. Of course, the same advice also applies to iOS users or any Internet user for that matter, but it’s probably not a coincidence that the platform cited in the FBI’s press release was Android.

Apple has undoubtedly received its fair share of flack regarding its app store approval process, but given the safety considerations, it’s hard to argue with Apple’s method.

Remember that back in May 2011, Google removed 21 malware infected apps from the Android marketplace that were able to run executable code on a user’s device from a remote server. And lest you think these are apps most folks ignore, the apps in question were cumulatively downloaded over 50,000 times before Google caught wind of what was going on and took action.

via IC3

Check out The Atlantic’s absolutely stunning photos of the space shuttle Endeavour rolling rather carefully down the streets of Los Angeles. Amazing, amazing shots.

The space shuttle Endeavour is transported to The Forum arena for a stopover and celebration on its way to the California Science Center from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on October 12, 2012 in Inglewood, California. The space shuttle Endeavour is on 12-mile journey from Los Angeles International Airport to the California Science Center to go on permanent public display.

Imagine seeing this rolling down your street.

Are you tired of news about Apple’s new lightning cable? Well, Chipworks isn’t and they recently released their 5th blogpost about it so take heed, folks.

We couldn’t help but notice that there is a lot of speculation and discussion (and frankly, a few wild guesses) concerning the functions of the Apple’s new lightning connectors. We don’t normally give (a total of five blogs!) this much attention to a single electronics teardown, but since we haven’t seen it elsewhere yet, we figured the world needed “just one more thing” on the Apple iPhone 5. We have confirmed that the Lightning cable does have four chips embedded in it, plus some passive devices. Two of these chips are very simple (only a couple of transistors), and the third is an NXP NX20P3. However, the fourth and arguably most interesting of these is the TI chip.

Intrigued? Well check out the full story over here.

Take this one with a grain of salt folks, but the internal inventory of a German retail company purports to show Apple’s iPad Mini pricing matrix.

The screenshot, reportedly taken from German gadget store Media Markt, shows an array of models and varied pricing, and if accurate, puts to rest rumors that the iPad Mini won’t come with a Wi-Fi option.

The screenshot shows that the entry level iPad Mini will have 8GB of storage and will cost 249 euros, the equivalent of about $320. The listing also indicates that Apple will be offering the iPad Mini in a range of configurations, going all the way up to a 64GB model. All told there are 16 variations of the iPad Mini listed and notably, or perhaps suspiciously, the iPad Mini will seemingly come in both black and white color variants.

Apple will reportedly be holding an iPad Mini special event on October 23d. Earlier today we reported on rumors that Apple will also be using the event to showcase a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina Display and a long-awaited update to the Mac Mini.

via Schimanke

Well it’s starting to look like the iPad Mini will have quite a supporting cast at Apple’s special event which is rumored to kick off on Tuesday, October 23.

Earlier today 9to5Mac reported that Apple will use its upcoming event to also introduce a brand new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina Display. And now they’ve since supplemented that claim with the additional news that Apple will be introducing a revamped Mac Mini alongside the highly anticipated iPad Mini.

Alongside the smaller iPad, Apple plans to announce a new version of its Mac mini. Sources say that these Mac minis will come in two standard configurations, with different storage and processor options, and a third model that runs OS X Server.

These new Mac minis are said to begin shipping immediately after announcement.

All in all it’s been quite a while since Apple devoted any attention towards the Mac Mini. It’s last major redsign came in 2010 and the last time the product was revamped with faster processors and the like was all the way back in July 2011.

Another interesting hire over at Apple these days. Kara Swisher is reporting that Apple recently hired William (Bill) Statsior to head up the company’s Siri division.

Statsior previously was in charge of A9 which is Amazon’s search and search advertising unit and has been at the nation’s largest online retailer since 2003. Before working at Amazon, Statsior had stints working at Oracle and AltaVista.

He’s also an MIT PhD grade with an impressive Resume that you can check out here.

While Siri has had a high-profile in the iPhones, Apple has lost some of the talent that created it. Adam Cheyer, who co-founded the voice recognition software company prior to its acquisition by Apple in 2008, left recently. And CEO Dag Kittlaus departed in October of 2011.

What’s more intriguing is what else Stasior might find himself working on — presumably, strengthening Apple’s search and search advertising technology in the wake of its increasing competition with Google.

I suppose we call expect a more well-rounded Siri sometime down the line. And just to give you a flavor for what Statsior has done in the past, he describes the work he did at AltaVista thusly: “Led the engineering team responsible for developing AltaVista’s next generation search technologies. Areas of expertise include information retrieval, machine learning, statistical analysis, natural language processing, and advanced user interfaces.”

The hiring of Statssior is Apple’s second major hiring in as many weeks. Last week it was revealed that Apple was able to snag chip design guru and former AMD executive Jim Mergard from his role at Samsung.

via All Things D

SNL has been mediocre for sometime now, but now that they recently added some Chicago-based improv talent to the mix in the form of Tim Robinson, Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong, I’ve been checking it out a bit more often.

And lo and behold, this weekend I caught a decent skit featuring three tech bloggers complaining about the shortcomings of the iPhone 5. It got off to a slow start but it thankfully picked up and was all and all pretty amusing. Check it out below.

In case you missed it this weekend, daredevil skydiver ‘fearless’ Felix Baumgartner took a helium balloon up until the outer edges of the atmosphere where he then proceeded to jump off at a height of 128,100 feet, or 24 miles above Earth. During the course of his freefall, Baumgartner reached a speed of Mach 1.24, or 833.9 miles per hour, making him the first person to break the speed of sound barrier without an aircraft – notably though Baumgartner said he couldn’t tell on account of his pressurized suit which shielded him from noise, and of course, protected his lungs from exploding.

Below is a video of the event and above you see that Baumgartner brought along a trusty MacBook for the ride. The MacBook photo was taken in the Red Bull Stratos Mission Control before Baumgarnter ascended to the brink of space with a helium balloon that measured in at 5 stories tall.

Upon landing, the Austrian native told reporters, “Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are. When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data. The only thing you want is to come back alive.

The photo above was reportedly taken by Predrag Vuckovic and Limex Images.

via Limex and be sure to check out more photos and videos over at ABC News.

When Apple announced its homegrown Maps app at WWDC this past Summer, the news reportedly took Google by complete surprise – after all, the two companies still had a year left on their contract vis a vis Google Maps on iOS.

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It’s no secret that Apple likes to control as much of the technology that goes into its products as possible. This need for control is further exacerbated when Apple finds itself uncomfortably reliant upon a competitors technology. Most recently, we saw Apple completely remove all Google products from the iOS homescreen when iOS 6 shipped without a YouTube app and without Google Maps.

As it stands now, Apple remains embroiled in a number of legal battles with Samsung in various jurisdictions around the world. And of course, you might remember that Apple this past Summer won a $1.05 billion judgement at trial from the Korean-based electronics giant. But Apple’s relationship with Samsung is tricky due to the fact that the latter supplies Apple with a number of components used in its iOS devices.

That said, Apple is reportedly trying to move away from its reliance on Samsung, a fact highlighted in a recent report from the Korea Times which claims that Apple did use any of Samsung’s technology in the development of the A6 chip found in the iPhone 5, merely using Samsung to manufacturer the microprocessor.

Apple is still relying on the Korean firm to manufacture its chips but has made it clear it will no longer use its rival’s technology, according to a senior Samsung official.

“Samsung’s agreement with Apple is limited to manufacturing the A6 processors. Apple did all the design and we are just producing the chips on a foundry basis,’’ he said on the sidelines of a technology fair at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

This of course represents a fundamental shift in the relationship Apple and Samsung previously had with each other. Remember that Samsung, up until the A6, played an important role in the design of Apple’s fleet of A-based processors.

The Samsung source quoted by the Korea Times went on to point out that “There are three kinds of chip clients. Some want us to handle everything from chip design, architecture and manufacturing. Some want us to just design and manufacture. Some want us to just make the chips. Apple is now the third type.”

Looking ahead, it’s been reported that Apple’s next-gen A7 processor will be manufactured by TSMC.

Of course, it was also reported that the A6 would be manufactured by TSMC, so you might want to take that with a grain of salt. One thing is clear though, Apple is certainly working hard to move away from Samsung as best it can

At Apple’s iPad Mini event, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, October 23, Apple will also take the time to introduce a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina Display according to a new report from 9to5Mac.

This new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina Display is said to pick up the thinner and lighter enclosure of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display that was released in June.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro will be sold in two configurations, with differing processors and storage, and will be available for purchase soon after introduction.

Like with the 15-inch MacBook Pro lines, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display will be sold (at a higher price) in addition to the current non-Retina display model. That computer was updated with faster processers and USB 3.0 in June.

This of course isn’t the first we’ve heard of Apple potentially releasing a new MacBook Pro with a Retina Display. Back in June analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued a report noting Apple’s plans in that regard, while also emphasizing that initial sales may not exactly be through the roof.

We think consumers who initially planned to purchase the 13” MacBook Pro and Air will turn to the 13” Retina MacBook Pro instead because it has an attractive panel, its price is similar to MacBook Pro and it has a better balance between power consumption and form factor. However, as supply is limited due to panel and assembly yield rate issues, shipment of the 13” Retina MacBook Pro won’t be able to satisfy demand. And we think consumers’ budgets will transfer to new iOS products after Apple launches them, which suggests that overall MacBook shipments will not grow meaningfully on the 13” Retina MacBook Pro.