Edible Apple

It’s hardly a fiasco, but the uproar surrounding Apple’s Maps, overblown though it may have been, was not necessarily good press for Apple. At the same time, it’s not as if it really impacted sales of the iPhone 5 which moved over 5 million units on launch weekend alone.

That said, Tim Cook not too long ago issued an apology to iOS users for Maps not living up to Apple’s typically high standards. He noted that Apple would continuously be improving Maps and that they would “keep working non-stop” until Maps is worthy of being an application Apple could be proud of.

What’s more, Apple’s Map team apparently went into ‘lockdown mode’ on the weekend of the iPhone 5 launch to get the kinks out, and now about two weeks later folks are starting to notice improvements with respect to the apps vaunted Flyover mode.

First, MacRumors pointed out that New York City’s flyover imagery seems to have gotten enhanced, which is to say that it’s now operating as it’s supposed to. Below is a photo of the Statue of Liberty shown as a 3D image in flyover mode from a few days ago and a more recent version of the same photo. The difference really is night and day.

And below is another photo, courtesy of AppleInsider, which shows a photo of the Brooklyn Bridge before and after. Again, the former is Salvador Dali-esque while the one on the right is crisp and clear.

So it’s a good start. It remains to be seen though just how long it takes for Apple to work out all of the other kinks from its Mapping app, problems which include missing landmarks, buildings marked incorrectly, and by and large an insufficient amount of mapping detail compared to Google Maps.

In the meantime, we reported last week that Apple has not only been aggressively trying to recruit former Google Maps employees, but that they’re also looking for Mapping help from their vast army of retail employees.

No one would disagree that MobileMe wasn’t Apple’s finest hour. Hell, Steve Jobs even admitted as much when he introduced iCloud. Thus far, the transition to iCloud has seemingly gone smoothly, and you might remember that as part of the transition, Apple as a gesture of good will gave former MobileMe subscribers an additional 20GB of storage, on top of the free 5GB that comes standard.

That additional storage was supposed to expire at the end of September 2012, but Apple has recently sent out messages to affected users and notifying them that their additional free storage has now been extended to last until September 30, 2013.

In an email obtained by 9to5Mac, Apple writes to former MobileMe users:

When you moved your MobileMe account to iCloud, we provided you with a complimentary storage upgrade beyond the standard 5GB that comes with an iCloud account to help you with the transition. Originally, this storage upgrade was set to expire on September 30, 2012.

As a thank you to our former MobileMe members, we will continue to provide you with this complimentary storage upgrade at no charge, for an additional year, until September 30, 2013. No action is required on your part. For complete details, please read this article.

iCloud Team

Thanks iCloud Team.

The new iPhone 5 is great and everything, but having just returned from a little road trip, the need for a new Lightning to 30-pin adapter was made abundantly clear. Thankfully, MacRumors notes that Apple has begun notifying customers that its proprietary adapter has begun shipping with some folks in Australia already noting that their shipments are in transit.

On the 1-year anniversary of his passing, Apple has put up a new remembrance for Jobs up on its website. Visitors to Apple.com are greeted with a nearly 2-minute video comprised of a photo montage of Jobs from years past and accompanied by some choice Jobs quotes throughout the years including clips of Jobs introducing some of Apple’s most popular devices throughout the years.

The video is then followed by a quote from current Apple CEO Tim Cook which reads:

A message from Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

Steve’s passing one year ago today was a sad and difficult time for all of us. I hope that today everyone will reflect on his extraordinary life and the many ways he made the world a better place.

One of the greatest gifts Steve gave to the world is Apple. No company has ever inspired such creativity or set such high standards for itself. Our values originated from Steve and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. We share the great privilege and responsibility of carrying his legacy into the future.

I’m incredibly proud of the work we are doing, delivering products that our customers love and dreaming up new ones that will delight them down the road. It’s a wonderful tribute to Steve’s memory and everything he stood for.

– Tim

Rumors surrounding the iPad Mini have been making the rounds this week. First off came word that Apple would be sending out invitations to an iPad Mini special event on October 10th, which if true, would likely mean that a full-on launch would happen either in late October or early November.

Following that came a more credible report from the Wall Street Journal claiming that mass production on the iPad Mini had already begun.

That said, there may be some growing pains along the way for suppliers as they try and churn out Apple’s latest iPad in mass quantities.

According to analyst  Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets, he’s heard whispers from suppliers that the specs demanded by Apple for the iPad Mini are rather challenging and that yields may not exactly be where they need to be at first, resulting in tight supply. Indeed, White relays that yields for the device have been “frustrating” and that Apple was actually planning to introduce the iPad Mini in September but had to push everything back by a few weeks as a result.

“Despite continued yield challenges, the supply chain feels the much anticipated iPad Mini is on track to reach acceptable volume levels for a launch over the next month,” White explained in his research note. “That said, we believe that supply constraints will initially hold back the full sales potential during the first month or so of the launch.”

Interestingly, White has a pricepoint of $250-300 for the device, which is just a tad higher than the $199 pricepoint other analysts have suggested. And with the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire available in the $156-$200 range, I don’t think it’s absurd to think that Apple would price the iPad Mini extremely aggressively.

via AppleInsider

On the receiving end of an adverse $1.05 billion judgement at the hands of Apple, Samsung is showing no signs that they’re planning to give up and fork over any money any time soon.

Not only has Samsung recently added the iPhone 5 to their list of products that allegedly infringe upon a number of their patents, but they’re also trying to attain a dismissal of the aforementioned trial verdict that didn’t go in their favor this Summer.

According to Samsung, jury foreman Velvin Hogan was asked during the jury selection process whether or not he had ever been involved in lawsuits before. Samsung claims that Hogan failed to disclose that a) he had previously filed for bankruptcy and that b) he had once been sued by Seagate Technology, his former employer.

What’s more, Samsung points out that the company has a “substantial strategic relationship” with Seagate and, believe it or not, the lawyer who initially filed the complaint against Hogan is married to an attorney who works for the firm that represented Samsung in its trial against Apple, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

In requesting a completely new trial, Samsung writes: “Mr. Hogan’s failure to disclose the Seagate suit raises issues of bias that Samsung should have been allowed to explore.”

Bloomberg adds:

Hogan, in a phone interview yesterday, denied that there was any misconduct, saying the court instructions for potential jurors required disclosure of any litigation they were involved in within the last 10 years — and that the 1993 bankruptcy and related litigation involving Seagate fell well outside that time range.

“Had I been asked an open-ended question with no time constraint, of course I would’ve disclosed that,” Hogan said, referring to the bankruptcy and related litigation. “I’m willing to go in front of the judge to tell her that I had no intention of being on this jury, let alone withholding anything that would’ve allowed me to be excused.”

Hogan said once he was selected as a juror he “took it as an honor” because the suit was related to his job as an electrical engineer, which he’s done for almost 40 years.

Just some more legal maneuvering on the part of Samsung, and Hogan even raised an interesting point – perhaps Samsung played mum all along knowing that they could then leverage Hogan’s past to secure a new trial should the original verdict go their way. It’s a stretch, to be sure, but given how Samsung’s legal team was less then forthcoming at times, and certainly prone to shady legal behavior, who’s to say.

As predicted yesterday by All Things D, Google Street View has now been added as an option on Google’s mobile web app for iOS devices. Apple of course has been criticized for the shortcomings in its own homegrown Maps app, so much so that CEO Tim Cook was prompted to issue an apology letter to iPhone users. Therein he even suggested that iPhone users check out rival mapping applications like MapQuest and that users could add a Google Maps widget to their homescreen via maps.google.com in the interim. The web version of Google Maps however lacked some features present in the native app, so the recent addition of Street View is a welcome change for those who prefer navigation a’la Google.

photo via iPhoneinCanada

RBC Capital‘s chip analyst Doug Freedman had an interesting observation about Apple’s gross margins as it relates to the NAND flash memory chips in the iPhone 5.

We were surprised to see Apple continue to charge $100 for each incremental 16GB of NAND, given that AMZN is charging $50 (Kindle Fire HD 7” and Kindle Fire HD 9” LTE) to $70 (Kindle Fire HD 9” WiFi) for each 16GB of NAND. We estimate that Apple is able to procure NAND flash for ~$0.42 per GB (at market prices or better), while reselling for $6.25 per GB (calculated as $100 for each 16GB of step-up). This implies a favorable 93% gross margin on NAND.

Apple has been upcharging an additional 16GB for $100 for quite some time now. Yep, Apple certainly enjoys its healthy margins.

via Barrons

We’ve previously reported that Apple’s new Lightning cable connector has an authentication chip of sorts that might serve to prevent third party cables and accessories from working unassisted. In light of that, iLounge is reporting today that Apple is, in fact, looking to tighten up its Made for iPad/iPhone/iPod program for third party vendors.

Jason Horwitz, who has an amazing track record with respect to Apple related rumors notes that, going forward, only products manufactured at Apple-approved facilities will be able to develop adapters and accessories for lightning-equipped iOS devices. To date, Horwitz notes, Apple has yet to approve any facilities, something which will make the number of Lightning accessories rather scarce for the time being.

One source notes that Apple is planning an MFi “seminar,” where it will discuss changes to the program and the rules for Lightning accessory development going forward. The seminar will be held in November in China, notes the source, after the point at which third-party Lightning accessories could be manufactured in time for holiday sale.

“Sources,” the report lastly adds, “have further noted that the Lightning connector has proved difficult to copy, reducing the near-term likelihood of unauthorized third-party connector cables.”

via iLounge

In Tim Cook’s apology letter to iPhone users over Maps in iOS 6, the Apple CEO said that Apple will “keep on working non-stop until Maps” lives up to the same high standard Apple employs across the rest of its hardware and software line.

To that end, we’ve seen reports that Apple has already taken to aggressively recruiting mapping experts from Google and now comes an interesting report courtesy of MacRumors which notes that Apple is beginning to rollout a program wherein Apple’s fleet of retail employees will help shore up the holes in Apple’s Mapping application. The report was since verified by a tweet from ifoAppleStore’s Gary Allen who noted that the initiative is voluntary and consists of store employees reporting iOS 6 Map errors in an effort to make Apple’s database that much more accurate.

Details on the initiative remain unclear, but multiple sources have indicated that participating stores will dedicate 40 hours of staff time per week, distributed among a number of employees, to manually examine Apple’s mapping data in their areas and submit corrections and improvements.

It is unknown exactly what procedures will be used to examine the data, whether it simply be side-by-side comparisons with Google Maps data or if more sophisticated efforts such as in-person verification will be used.

Interesting stuff, and we wonder how soon it will take for Apple’s ongoing efforts with Maps to actually bear some fruit. Either way, and despite the fact that Maps is reportedly the second most used feature on smartphones, the iPhone 5 seems to still be selling like hotcakes.

Apple of course has been on the receiving end of a lot of crtiticism over the glaring shortcomings in Maps in iOS 6, and there are certainly no shortage of photos exemplifying those growing pains. It’s worth nothing that Apple’s contract with Google as a mapping partner still had one year remaining, according to reports. Apple however surprised the folks over in Mountain View when it announced at this year’s WWDC that it was releasing an in-house Mapping application to supplant Google. This reportedly caught the search giant off guard and now the company is scrambling to put together a standalone Maps app for iOS as quickly as possible.

This past June, Apple announced the surprising and seemingly abrupt retirement of Bob Mansfield , Apple’s senior vp of Hardware Engineering. At the time, Apple’s press release stated that Mansfield’s old role would be given over to Dan Riccio, then Apple’s vp of iPad Hardware Engineering, over the course of a few months.

But then something funny happened.

About two months later Apple announced that Mansfield wouldn’t be going anywhere and that he would remain at Apple where he would work on “future projects” and report directly to Tim Cook.

So what happened? How did Mansfield, who was seemingly ready to ease into a life of retirement, end up back at 1 Infinite Loop, and so quickly at that?

Well, BusinessWeek recently profiled Apple a year after the passing of Steve Jobs and offered up some interesting information in that regard in the process.

As it turns out, folks in Apple’s hardware engineering team weren’t comfortable reporting to Riccio and expressed concern that he wasn’t equipped to handle the full responsibilities of the job. Indeed, the report claims that Cook was facing an “insurrection.”

According to three people familiar with the sequence of events, several senior engineers on Mansfield’s team vociferously complained to Cook about reporting to his replacement, Dan Riccio, who they felt was unprepared for the magnitude of the role. In response, Cook approached Mansfield and offered him an exorbitant package of cash and stock worth around $2 million a month to stay on at Apple as an adviser and help manage the hardware engineering team.

And so just like that, two months into his retirement, Mansfield was back and $2 million/month richer.

Cook, according to Steve Jobs’ biography, isn’t a product guy, and to that end it’s important that Apple do all it can to keep its key executives happy. That said, it’s hardly a surprise that Eddy Cue, shortly after becoming a Senior VP of Software and Services, was awarded a bonus of 100,000 restricted shares of Apple stock, with half set to vest in August 2013 and the other half set to vest in August of 2015.

And this past November, a whole slew of Apple executives received shiny new stock options. All told, Bruce Sewell, Jeff Williams, Phil Schiller, Peter Oppenheimer, Bob Manfield, and Scott Forstall each received 150,000 shares in Apple stock options.

via BusinessWeek

Late last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an apology to iPhone users over the shortcomings in Apple’s homegrown mapping application. Indeed, the days previous were filled with user complaints and, depending on your vantage point, comical photographic examples of Apple’s Maps app displaying incorrect information.

Cook promised that Apple would work relentlessly to get its own Maps app up to part, but in the meantime, he made a bold move in recommending that users check out competing mapping applications in the interim, even going so far as suggesting users might want to add a maps.google.com URL widget to their iPhone homescreen.

The letter reads in part:

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

In light of the iPhone 5’s mapping shortcomings, and no doubt bolstered by Apple’s own spotlight, AOL’s MapQuest has been the most downloaded navigation app on the iTunes App Store since the iPhone 5 went on sale about 10 days ago.

Speaking to the New York Times, MapQuest representative Jennifer Asbury intimated that there may be other factors behind MapQuest’s sudden success, but did concede that sales have significantly risen in the wake of the iPhone 5 release.

Ms. Asbury said the surge followed a trend the company had been seeing for the entire year, a 35 percent increase in downloads of its mobile maps product across all devices, including the iPhone, from the previous year. The company has 17 million users. The company said its turn-by-turn navigation has been a popular feature of its maps, on that was not available for the iPhone until Apple’s latest release.

Indeed, I’ve been using MapQuest – in conjunction with Google Maps – for many months simply because the former provides turn by turn directions while Google Maps on iOS never did. So perhaps MapQuest has, in fact, been building up momentum over the past few years with the iPhone 5 release providing an even extra boost in visibility and of course downloads.

Looking at the top performing free navigation apps on iTunes right now, MapQuest of course is in the top slot, followed by Waze, HopStop Transit Directions, and GPS by TeleNav.

And out of curiosity I hopped on over to the most popular paid navigation apps, and stumbled across something called MotionX GPS Drive. I haven’t given it a test drive (pardon the pun) just yet, but one of its features seemed particularly interesting – “New active land guidance for complex intersections, highway interchanges and exits.” Might be worth checking out.