Edible Apple

Aside from all of the hoopla surrounding Apple’s new Maps app, the iPhone 5 launch has essentially gone off without a hitch. If anything, sales for Apple’s new smartphone remain so strong that Apple is reportedly still struggling to keep supply on par with demand.

That said, Bloomberg reports that increased quality control regarding scratching and scuffing on the iPhone 5 may to be blame. You might recall that some users complained that their new devices came with scratches right out of the box (for the record, the iPhone 5 in the photo above was scratched deliberately). Addressing the issue a few weeks ago, Apple executive Phil Schiller emailed a worried user and explained, “any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color. That is normal.”

Nevertheless, Apple has enacted stricter quality control standards at its Foxconn factory which is lowering the total output of iPhone 5s.

The scrapes, which sparked complaints with the iPhone’s debut last month, are due to Apple’s decision to use a type of aluminum that helps make the smartphone thinner and lighter. Senior Apple managers told executives at Foxconn near the end of September to tighten production standards, said the person, who asked not to be named because the matter was private.

Stricter benchmarks have hampered production of the iPhone 5’s anodized aluminum housings, forcing Foxconn’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. to idle factories, the person said. The slowdown is heightening supply concerns that have cost Apple about $60 billion in market value since the iPhone debut — a shortcoming of the drive to imbue products with qualities that make them alluring yet more difficult to manufacture.

Compounding matters, according to workers at Foxconn Bloomberg spoke to, is that each step in the manufacturing process provides an opportunity for the back shell to get scratched up. And so with the number of scratch-based complaints from users rising, Apple executives took to Foxconn and explained that they weren’t happy.

As Foxconn Technology Co. tightened quality standards, fewer metal housings passed muster. That’s meant a shortage of parts in the warehouses of Hon Hai, which assembles the device and had to halt production for a day at one of its factories in Shenzhen on Oct. 6, according to the person with knowledge of the situation.

At the end of the day, there are tradeoffs to be made in any manufacturing process. The anodized aluminum used on the iPhone 5 is less prone to cracking than the glass used on the back of the iPhone 4 and 4S. The tradeoff, however, is that it tends to scratch up much more quickly. Me personally, I’d rather have a functional iPhone with a scratch or two than a blemish free iPhone with a shattered glass casing.

In any case, Bloomberg relays that the stricter quality control measures have increased pressure on workers and ultimately resulted in 4,000 employees walking “off the job in protest.” Foxconn, meanwhile, maintains that no such thing occurred that iPhone 5 production was never suspended.

A report from the Guardian today claims that Apple will have more than an iPad Mini to show off at its rumored  iPad-themed special event which will likely take place sometime in mid-October. Specifically, the report notes that Apple this month will also be unveiling a revamped iPad that will be 4G compatible in the UK.

What’s more, the report claims that the iPad Mini will only come in a Wi-Fi version. This is an interesting rumor because part of the impetus behind Apple’s decision to develop a smaller iPad is that competitors have been able to chip away at the iPad’s market share armor with smaller tablet devices at lower pricepoints.

Industry sources indicated to the Guardian that they do not expect to see 3G-capable versions of the iPad mini. That would allow Apple to produce it comparatively cheaply and to limit the top price of the product, while retaining mobile broadband connectivity for its pricier iPad line.

To that end, Apple will undoubtedly be pricing the iPad Mini rather aggressively and will consequently have to make some design compromises. For example, don’t bet on the the iPad Mini coming with a Retina Display. In that same vein, perhaps Apple is looking to provide users looking for LTE service a reason to pay a little bit more for a full-fledged iPad. Further, folks who are more price conscious will likely care more about a cheap buy-in point than they will about LTE connectivity which would require a month to month plan anyhow.

Apple surprised pundits and analysts everywhere when it revealed pricing on the original iPad. While many thought Apple would sell the device for upwards of $800, Apple shocked everyone when they announced a $499 buy-in point. Similarly, while some analysts are expecting a pricepoint of $250 for the iPad Mini, don’t be surprised if Apple shocks everyone once again and prices it at a measly $199, putting it on the same playing field as the Google Nexus 7 and just slightly more expensive than the Amazon Kindle Fire.

Lastly, this isn’t the first we’ve heard of Apple potentially releasing a revamped iPad this fall. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said as much this past Summer, noting Apple’s plans to release a modified iPad before the end of the year. Further, a revamped iPad might help explain a new iPad designation of “iPad3,6” which one developer recently noticed making an appearance in his analytics log.

Despite Tim Cook’s promise that Apple was going to “double down on secrecy” when it comes to their upcoming products, we effectively knew everything there was to know about the iPhone 5 weeks before it was released. Similarly, there have been no shortage of photos of alleged iPad Mini parts floating around along with purportedly accurate physical mockups and cases for Apple’s iPad Mini, which to be clear still doesn’t officially exist.

All that said, Macotakara – which has a pretty solid track record when it comes to Apple rumors – is reporting that a case manufacturer has apparently halted production on its iPad Mini cases due to what may be a last-minute change in the form factor of the device.

Large OEM mobile accessory maker has stopped their iPad mini case production, because the form of iPad mini seems to be changed.

Source told me the round shape seems changed, then case designed based on leaked iPad mini may be dropped.

So it may very well be the case that all of those leaked iPad Mini parts, casings and mockups that have been popping up sporadically throughout the blogosphere may not be representative of what the final product will look like.

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Shortly after the iPhone 5 was released, some users began noticing a purple flare or halo on their photos when the camera is pointed at a bright light source. As tends to be the case, the issue only appears to be affecting some users and it certainly hasn’t attracted as much attention as the issues associated with Apple’s Maps app.

A forum thread over at Anandtech dives pretty deep into how the purple halo effect comes about and how one might avoid it. And the video below gives you a general idea as to what people are complaining about.

All that said, Apple this weekend issued a public support document addressing the issue following up on an email Apple’s support team sent to Gizmodo wherein they described the behavior as normal.

Symptoms

A purplish or other colored flare, haze, or spot is imaged from out-of-scene bright light sources during still image or video capture.

Resolution

Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame when capturing an image with out-of-scene light sources. This can happen when a light source is positioned at an angle (usually just outside the field of view) so that it causes a reflection off the surfaces inside the camera module and onto the camera sensor. Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect.

And so it appears that Apple’s fifth-generation iPod Touch has begun shipping, which isn’t all that surprising given that earlier today Apple posted a User Guide for its latest and greatest iPod to iBooks.

When Apple first unveiled their new iPod Touch and iPod Nano models at its special event back in September, the company remained mum on release details, merely mentioning that they would launch sometime in October.

And now MacRumors is reporting that both products have begun shipping with some stores in Japan already carrying the products in stock. Sporting a dual core A5 processor, the iPod Touch is blazin’, with initial benchmarking reports finding that it’s up to speed with the iPhone 4S.

Notably, the new Apple EarPods that come with the iPod Touch lack the integrated controls and microphone that come with the EarPods on the iPhone 5. One can, however, use the iPhone 5 EarPods on the iPod Touch and use the microphone.

Hit the break to check out unboxing videos for Apple’s new iPod Touch and iPod Nano.

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This past Friday marked the 1-year anniversary of Steve Jobs’ passing. As expected, the blogosphere was filled with various retrospectives meant to capture the impact Jobs had on the world at large and illustrate the challenges the tech world may face moving forward in his absence.

While reading a few of these pieces, one paragraph in particular struck a chord. It came from Om Malik over at Gigaom who wrote:

A long time ago, a wise old man once told me that money doesn’t solve all the problems. Money doesn’t invent the future. Money doesn’t create art. People do. People solve the problems. People invent the future. People create beauty and art. It is a simple lesson that has stayed with me. It is also the yardstick I use when I meet other people and how I gauge people. And that’s perhaps why I always admired Steve Jobs.

Indeed, in the world of technology it’s easy to get caught up in money; startups trying to raise money, companies and Wall Street analysts alike focusing on revenue and profits and earnings. Undoubtedly, money does make the world go round, but as opposed to some who simply want to cash out as soon as possible, money for Jobs was simply a means to an end, a means to create products that he and the masses simply adored.

Jobs said time and time again that Apple’s goal isn’t to create products in order to stack piles of cash to the ceiling. On the contrary, Apple’s ultimate goal is to push the boundaries of technology via innovation and ingenuity and money is simply the factor that helps them do that.

The history of the iPhone, for example, shows that Apple spared no expense in using the finest of materials, even when consumers might not be able to tell the difference between a second-rate alternative. When Jobs introduced the blue and white Power Mac G3, he famously boasted that the inside of the machine looked better than the outside of competitor’s machines. It’s why Apple goes the extra mile in procuring materials for its line of Apple retail stores – you might recall during the recent iPhone 5 unveiling that Tim Cook, when mentioning a new Apple retail store in Barcelona, Spain that Apple spent 2.5 years working every detail of the store, to get everything exactly right, even going so far as to use limestone from a local quarry to restore it and modernize it. “No one would have done this but Apple”, Cook boasted. And he’s right.

As Malik said, people create beauty and art and that was really Jobs’ ultimate goal. By focusing on design and the user experience, by looking at the design process as an art form, Jobs and Apple were able to really push the technological envelope and create products that have gone on to define generations and provide the blueprint for success for companies the world over.

Of course, this isn’t to say that Jobs and Apple weren’t money conscious. After all, you don’t amass over $100 billion in the bank if you’re not paying attention to your finances. But again, the money for Apple was simply the gas that fueled their creative drive. Apple starts off with the question – How can we make an amazing product with all of this money? Unfortunately, many other companies in the tech world begin by asking themselves – What products can we develop that will make us a lot of money?

It’s a slight difference, perhaps, but a rather significant one that cuts to the core of corporate culture and ultimately affects what type of products a company releases.

I think Apple has it right. And lest you think that Apple is the only company with this type of vision, I think Google is right there with Apple as well.

Last Friday, Facebook announced an incredible achievement, noting that over 1 billion people activeuly use the popular social networking site daily.

Take that Google+.

Touting the statistic in a press release, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained, “Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life. I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too.”

Later that day, Zuckerberg sat down NBC’s Matt Lauer to discuss Facebook’s monumental achievement with NBC’s Matt Lauer last week,. There, Zuckerberg touched briefly on former Apple CEO Steve Jobs and the impact both Jobs and Apple have had on Facebook’s culture.

Specifically, Zuckerberg noted that both companies share an obsession with the user experience.

“[Jobs] was just so focused,” Zuckerberg said. “For him, the user experience was the only thing that mattered.”

Interestingly enough, Zuckerberg was also asked about the iPhone 5 whereupon he revealed that Apple CEO Tim Cook had one sent to him personally. While the recipient of the gift might surprise some, the “act of giving”, so to speak, isn’t at all new to Apple. You might remember that Steve Jobs gave Barak Obama an iPad 2 “a little bit early” and that he also gave musician John Mayer an original iPhone before the iconic device even went on sale back in June 2007.

Also interesting is that Zuckerberg artfully danced around a question about which smartphone he uses as his main device, merely quipping that while the iPhone is a great platform, “there are more people who use Facebook on Android.”

Lastly, it’s worth noting that the respect Zuckerberg had for Jobs was mutual.

Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson once recounted how he once asked Jobs who he admired most in Silicon Valley. “Mark’s was the first name on his lips,” Isaacson explained.

Jobs admired Zuckerberg for his “intuitive feel” for what Facebook needed next, for his passion and willingness to “do stuff that allows him to be on shifting sands—his willing to cannibalize old things. He felt an odd kinship to Mark,” Isaacson said.

You can check out a video of the interview below.

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Despite getting a lot of flack over the mapping inconsistencies and irregularities in its homegrown Mapping application, Apple’s new Maps are vector based as opposed raster-based and as a result enable iOS users to still browse Maps in surprising detail even when there’s no data connection, assuming of course that a user has visited the area of interest previously so that the mapping imagery has been cached.

The use of vector maps, which are resolution independent rather than static photos of map tiles, employees upwards of 80% less bandwidth than its predecessor and thereby allows the app to store much more map data on the device for future use.

AppleInsider writes:

For example, while iOS 5 Maps would load Google’s map tiles of the immediate area being browsed at a couple zoom levels for offline browsing (generally less than a 10 mile radius), Apple’s new vector maps, once loaded in San Francisco, allowed us to browse an entire continent of high level maps (state outlines) while offline, north from Anchorage, Alaska to Lima, Peru and from Honolulu, Hawaii to Montréal, Canada.

Even more impressively, AI found that they could effectively navigate all of California’s highway system and even close up views of areas never previously visited before such as Salt Lake City, Utah. TUAW did their own test and came away equally impressed.

What I found was that I was able to peruse maps at street level of accuracy offline, provided that I had previously looked at those locations while online to load the data. For example, the images in the gallery below show my home location, a state-level map of the Western US, most of South America, street maps of Ushuaia, Argentina and a satellite view of a neighborhood in Auburn, Wash., that I lived in as an child.

All told, offline maps are extremely helpful if you find yourself stranded in an area with little to no reception, or even as a means to cut back on cellular data costs.

Remember that Apple’s Maps app is still a baby, and going up against Google Maps, with years of solid experience under its belt, is no easy task. Growing pains are to be expected, but dare we say that the framework is in place for Apple to deliver a mapping experience that does, in the words of Tim Cook, live up to Apple’s high standards.

The original Angry Birds was released by Rovio back in December 2009, and from there, one might say an Angry Birds revolution began to take shape. Permanently planted at the top of the most popular iTunes app, Angry Birds soon began taking on many forms. Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Bird Rio, and most recently Angry Birds Space.

And in the midst of all that were incredible marketing deals that saw the release of an Angry Birds movie, Angry Birds merchandise and any type of endorsement/marketing deal you could think of. But once you do Angry Birds Space, is there really anywhere else for the franchise to go? After all, with Angry Birds Space netting over 50 million downloads in the first 35 days after it launched, well, that’s just an insanely high bar.

Indeed, one might have assumed the good folks at Rovio were plum out of ideas when word emerged last month that they’d be releasing a game called Bad Piggies that focuses on the Pigs in Angry Birds with nary a sight of our delightful feathered friends.

But fear not, Angry Birds fans. On November 8, Rovio will be introducing the latest installment of the Angy Birds franchise – Angry Birds Star Wars.

You can bet this is going to be huge. After all, would George Lucas have gotten on board if it wasn’t? Check out details on Angry Birds Star Wars and its Hasbro Toys tie-in here.

Apple’s never been a company to lack confidence, and if the latest reports surrounding the iPad Mini are accurage, Apple is expecting its rumored – though officially non-existent – product to be a blockbuster hit.

According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, component suppliers in Apple’s supply chain in Asia are noting that orders for the rumored mini tablet have already come in and that they’re large enough to manufacture upwards of 10 million devices for the fourth quarter of 2012. By way of contrast, that’s about double the orders for Kindle Fire devices placed by Amazon for the same three-month period.

Although Apple is still the biggest tablet maker in the world, its share of the market has been slipping following the launch of Android-based products.

According to market research firm iSuppli, Apple’s share of the worldwide tablet market was 69.6% in the second quarter, down from nearly 84% in 2010. The second-largest player was Samsung Electronics with 9.2% of the market in the second quarter.

So while Apple still has a healthy lead in the tablet market, competitors have been able to chip away at Apple’s lead with smaller devices at cheaper pricepoints, like the Google Nexus 7 and the aforementioned Kindle Fire. The iPad Mini will likely be positioned to eliminate any price umbrella Apple’s tablet competitors currently enjoy. Some early rumblings have pointed to a price in the $199-$250 range. With a 332GB iPod Touch now starting at $299, it’ll be interesting to see how Apple prices the iPad Mini and how much capacity it’s going to come with.

Lastly, a report from analyst Brian White last week claimed that yields on the upcoming iPad Mini are more challenging than expected and that initial supply of the device may be tight during the first month of availability.

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via WSJ

Somewhat strangely, MacRumors was contacted recently by a developer who noticed an “iPad3,6” data string show up in the analytics log of one for one of his applications. What’s more, the device in question reportedly “targets the new ARMv7s architecture that supports the custom A6 system-on-a-chip found in the iPhone 5.”

So what we have here is a seemingly new iPad model running on Apple’s new A6 processor, or a variation thereof. But given Apple’s naming scheme for its products, the appearance of an “iPad 3,6” is rather perplexing.

Major iPad updates see an increase in the first digit of a data string. As an example, the first iteration of the iPad was 1,1 while the iPad 2 was labeled as 2,1. A minor software upgrade or hardware tweak to the iPad, for example, might result in the data string “2,2”.

So the latest iPad is certainly the “iPad3,1”, and we have “iPad3,2” and “iPad3,3” designations to account for the number of wi-fi and cellular variations Apple has put out, but what in the world is the iPad3,6?

MacRumors also isn’t quite sure as to what the newly discovered data string might represent:

Alternatively, this new iPad3,6 could represent Apple’s 2013 iPad model, which is expected to run some flavor of the A6 chip. We would, however, have expected that device to carry an “iPad4,x” designation.

This new iPad3,6 does not appear to represent the “iPad mini” reportedly scheduled for launch later this month, as that device is said to be a derivative of the iPad 2 running Apple’s cheaper A5 chip and seems to have already been seen in logs carrying “iPad2,5” and “iPad2,6” designations.

Interestingly, it has been speculated that Apple will release a revamped third-generation iPad in conjunction with the impending release of the rumored iPad Mini. Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst from KGI Securities with a rather remarkably accurate track record when it comes to Apple rumors, noted as much back in early August when he said a modified iPad was on track for launch later this Fall.

In early October, a report surfaced claiming that Apple was planning on sending out invitations to a special iPad-themed media event on October 10th.  That’s this Wednesday, and assuming that that rumor holds true, that would point to an actual event date about 10 days later and a launch window that spans from late October to the beginning of November.

I guess we might be finding out soon enough just what kinda tricks Apple has up its sleeve.

Lost amid the hoopla surrounding the iPhone 5 was Apple’s most important iPod refresh in recent memory. Not only did the iPod Nano get a completely new redesign while also being graced with video once again, but Apple’s iPod Touch was given a larger screen, a thinner form factor, new colors, and a much improved camera.

The iPhone may be Apple’s main source of revenue, and while iPod revenue has been on the decline, the iPod isn’t dead just yet. Something tells me that the iPod will have a resurrection of sorts this holiday shopping season now that Apple has given folks a reason to upgrade for the first time in a few refresh cycles.

If you want to pick up a new iPod Touch now, however, you’ll be gravely disappointed. Visitors to Apple’s online store might notice if you try and purchase an iPod Touch it simply says “Available to ship: October”. And of course you won’t find it in Apple’s retail stores yet either. All I was able to glean from Apple after contacting a retail store representative today was that it’s scheduled to release sometime this month, albeit without an exact date just yet.

This past Friday, though, MacRumors noted that some of its forum members are noticing some changes in their order statuses.

As of earlier today, some of those early pre-order customers have begun reporting that their order statuses have shifted to “Preparing for Shipment”, the final stage before being passed off to delivery companies. At least one customer has reported that his credit card has also been charged.

Meanwhile, Macotakara is reporting that both the iPod Touch and iPod Nano will be dropping in Japan tomorrow. Perhaps a US launch won’t be far behind.

When introducing the iPod Touch, Apple’s Greg Joswiak called it the “best iPod we’ve ever done.” And as a quick refresh, it’s the lightest iPod Touch ever produced, weighing in at 3.1 ounces. Also, it has the same exact display as the iPhone 5 and comes with an A5 dual core processor.

Note that the iPod Touch 5th generation only comes in 2 capacities –  32GB for $299 and 64 for $399.