Edible Apple

If there’s one analyst with an exemplary track record when it comes to predicting Apple’s upcoming product roadmap, it’s Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities.

Earlier this week, Kuo reiterated his earlier prediction that Apple this Summer will prepare to launch two distinct iPhone models – a revamped iPhone 5S alongside a more economical iPhone that will be built out of fiberglass and plastic. As one would expect, the more economical iPhone won’t be quite as fast and snazzy as the flagship iPhone 5S will be.

So just what exactly will make the iPhone 5S different from the iPhone 5?

Well like the iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S jump, the iPhone 5S will be markedly faster than its predecessor. What’s more, it will have a decidedly improved optics system, with some other rumors pointing to a 13 megapixel lens from Sony. Kuo adds that the iPhone 5S will also include a “smart flash” which utilizes white or yellow LEDs which results in higher quality photos. Also of note is that the iPhone 5S, according to Kuo, will include a fingerprint authorization sensor utilizing technology Apple acquired when it purchased AuthenTec.

Internally, Kuo writes that the iPhone 5S will sport Apple’s latest and greatest A7 processor.

And just when can we expect the iPhone 5S to ship?

We expect Apple will introduce its new iPhones and iOS7 in June, and start shipping the new iPhones (5S and low-cost model) in the FDD version in July. Both dates are earlier than last year’s roadmap. We attribute this to: (1) an effort to avoid repeating the fatal mistake of last year of the delayed iPhone 5 launch, which gave competitors room to grab market share; and (2) the new iPhones this year are mainly designed on the basis of the current iPhone 5, which suggests development time could be reduced.

Following that, Kuo writes that an iPhone supporting the time-division duplexing (TDD) standard used by China Mobile will ship in September. This is extremely significant given that China Mobile is the largest mobile carrier on the planet and will undoubtedly help fuel Apple’s growth in the far east.

As for the lower cost iPhone, Kuo writes that it will differ form the iPhone 5S to the extent that it will not incorporate fingerprint technology and, again, will be manufactured out of fiberglass and plastic. The iPhone 5S will continue to use an aluminum casing lending itself to an overall lighter device.

Lastly, the iPhone 5S will come in two colors while the still-nameless lower cost iPhone model will reportedly come in 6 colors.

There’s been a whole lot of news surrounding Apple’s rumored iWatch today. Not only have two separate sources relayed that Apple will release such a device by the end of this year, but we’ve also gleaned that Jony Ive is spearheading a team of about 100 employees as part of the effort.

We also learned via a report from Bloomberg that Ive, a watch connoisseur of sorts, actually visited watch factories in the early-mid 2000’s to check out their manufacturing methods and even went so far as to order boxes of Nike sport watches for members of his team.

Following up on that blurb, Business Insider reached out to Scott Wilson who formerly worked as a Creative Director for Nike and was involved in getting said watches over to Jony Ive.

Clarifying things a bit, Wilson noted that Ive didn’t order or buy the watches, but that he gave them to Ive as a “designer bro deal.”

He and others in the design group just requested them and we sent them a ton of Nike Presto Digital Bracelets and the aluminum Oregon Series Alti-Compass watches. Was flattered that they were requesting them. Thought they were only personal requests but their materials guy followed up with many questions on the materials and processes. This meshes up with their research in watch manufacturing during that timeframe which has been documented in previous stories. They definitely drew upon watch industry techniques and manufacturing in their products since the first iPhone. Interesting that it may come full circle to an actual iWatch at some point.

These Nike designs were circa 2002-2004.

As for the designs, you can check them out below. It’s easy to see that Apple is looking for a one size fits all type of design that would certainly lend itself towards a curved piece of glass as has been previously rumored.

Samsung’s lineup of Galaxy S smartphones have proven to be worthy contenders to the iPhone throne. With each successive release, Samsung’s Galaxy S series sells more and more units.

Looking ahead, Samsung later this month will take the wraps off of its Samsung Galaxy S IV, it’s latest take on the modern day smartphone. Last week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Samsung unveiled a new Wallet app that is remarkably similar to what Apple implemented with Passbook.

But one software feature we probably never have to worry about Apple copying is eye-tracking.

Yep, when Samsung rolls out the Galaxy S IV later this month in New York City, the phone will include eye-tracking software which will enable users to read through a webpage without having to use their fingers to gesture through the document.

The phone will track a user’s eyes to determine where to scroll, said a Samsung employee who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. For example, when users read articles and their eyes reach the bottom of the page, the software will automatically scroll down to reveal the next paragraphs of text.

With Samsung’s Galaxy S IV press conference slated for March 14, it remains to be seen if Samsung will actually be demoing this futuristic piece of software or not. While I’d like to reserve judgement until I actually use Samsung’s eye tracking technology, forgive me for being beyond skeptical that anyone will find this software even remotely useful. Besides, the entire premise of the technology is wrought with practical problems; what if I’m a slow reader? What if my eyes want to linger on a photo at the bottom of a page for a second longer?

In any event, the upcoming Galaxy S IV rumored to feature a 13-megapixel camera along with a quad-core processor.

via NYT

After months of shipping delays, it appears that Apple has finally gotten its iMac supply problem under control. If you hop on over to Apple’s website you’ll note that shipping times for its refreshed lineup of iMacs (you know, the ones without optical drives) is now down to just 1-3 business days.

Originally released back in November, Apple has been struggling to keep up with demand for quite some time, with some areas having experienced upwards of 4-6 week delays in shipping. Indeed, the backlog of iMac orders contributed to Apple posting much lower than anticipated Mac sales figures during its most recent quarter.

Always pushing the envelope, Apple’s new iMacs are remarkably thin and utilize a new lamination process to keep the screen as thin as possible. It’s believed that this new process has been the culprit behind the delays.

via Cult of Mac

You may have seen many of user edited spoofs of Taylor Swift’s popular song “I knew you were trouble.” In particular, this one featuring goats is great.

Also great is this one put together by The Verge and featuring none other than Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Apple just can’t seem to do anything right in the eyes of Wall Street these days. Despite record setting profits and tremendous prospects for growth ahead, the company’s share price continues to drop.

As of Monday morning, shares of Apple are down $7.04 for the day, trading at $423.49 per share. Overall, this is the lowest shares of Apple have been in well over a year.

Early on Monday, famed investor Warren Buffet appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box where he addressed Apple’s beleaguered share price.

First, Buffet reiterated advice he gave to Steve Jobs many years ago, namely that if you run a business the right way, and focus on long term gain and profits, eventually the shares will respond.

Delving deeper on that point, Buffet referenced the recent lawsuit (since dropped) from Hedge Fund manager David Einhorn.

“I would ignore him. I would run the business in such a manner as to create the most value over the next five to 10 years. You can’t run a business to push the stock price up on a daily basis. Berkshire has gone down 50% four times in its history. When that happens, if you’ve got money you buy it. You just keep working on building the value.

“I heard from people each time [Berkshire shares went down], saying why don’t you do this or that. Pay a dividend. I think Apple’s done a good job of building value. They may have too much cash. Now one reason they have so much cash is two thirds of it has not yet been taxed.

Further, Buffet said that now may be a good time for Apple to buy back some of its own shares. On that note, Buffet relayed how Steve Jobs once called him up to discuss Apple’s growing cash hoard.

“When Steve called me, I said, Is your stock cheap? He said, yes. I said, Do you have more cash than you need? He said, a little. [laughs] I said, then buy back your stock. He didn’t. Now, when our stock went from $90,000 to $40,000 to $45,000, I wrote about, we wanted to buy the stock. We didn’t quite manage to.

“But if you could buy dollar bills for 80 cents, it’s a very good thing to do.”

Steve Jobs, though, famously ignored Buffet’s advice and reportedly told people that Buffet had privately told him to do nothing with the cash.

Oh Steve.

via Fortune

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple’s rumored iWatch may drop sometime in 2013. This of course comes hot on the heels of a previous Bloomberg report claiming that Apple has over 100 employees, from engineers to marketing managers, working on the product.

What’s particularly interesting are remarks from Citibank analyst Oliver Chen who details who lucrative the watch business may be for Apple. While the overall market for HDTVs is about twice as lucrative than it is for watches, the gross margins on watches is much much higher, coming in at around 60%. And if there’s one thing we know about Apple, it’s that they love their healthy margins.

All told, Chen estimates that if Apple can get a 10% share of the global $60 billion watch market, it can net about $3.6 billion in profit.

As for what this mythical iWatch will be capable, of the report adds:

Features under consideration include letting users make calls, see the identity of incoming callers and check map coordinates, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. It would also house a pedometer for counting steps and sensors for monitoring health-related data, such as heart rates, this person said.

Interesting, but given how personal watches can be – you do have it on your person 24/7 after all – Apple will definitely need to implement some cool and intriguing functionality to really get people excited about it.

Back when Apple released the iPhone, the finished product was eons ahead of what most rumor sites were anticipating. Perhaps the iWatch will be the same.

via Bloomberg

The Japanese language blog Macotakara is reporting that Apple’s rumored plans to release a lower cost iPhone in 2013 have been pushed back to 2014. Specifically, this rumored low cost device will utilize polycarbonate, similar to the material once found on the white MacBooks.

Apple apparently hopes to price its new entry-level iPhone at $330, matching what the company charges for the iPad mini. The entry-level iPhone is also expected to be thicker than the iPhone 5, thanks to the use of a polycarbonate body rather than aluminum and glass. The thicker material will reportedly increase the durability of the device.

But in spite of those changes and cost cutting measures, the cheaper iPhone is said to have a design largely similar to all previous iPhones, including a home button below the LCD display.

More interesting is a report, also from Macotakara that Apple indeed is working on a 4.5 inch iPhone to accompany the lower cost model. But with the lower cost model now reportedly shelved until 2014, it remains to be seen if and when Apple will release this rumored 4.5-inch iPhone.

One thing we do know for sure is that the iPhone 5S will be launching this Summer and, per Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge, will include dual-LED flash and potentially a 13-megapixel camera from Sony.

via AppleInsider

In his Chromebook Pixel review for CNET, Brook Crothers boldly and laughably said the device made his MacBook obsolete.

Why?

Because the Chromebook Pixel has a touch screen and 4G cellular connectivity.

While the vast majority of Chromebook Pixel reviews have been underwhelming, 4G cellular connectivity would be a nice addition to the Macbook lineup.

So what gives? Why isn’t there 4G connectivity now? What’s preventing Apple from going down that route?

Well, John Gruber astutely theorizes that OS X isn’t designed to work efficiently with cellular connectivity as an option to the extent that users “wouldn’t want iTunes to download new episodes of TV episodes or even podcasts in the background.” The unintended use of bandwidth might certainly drive customers crazy.

Following up on that, Marco Ament sheds some more light on the issue and offers up a solution:

To start, Apple could just put cellular-connection detection and responsible-usage logic into iTunes and Software Update. That would be sufficient to launch with new 4G MacBook models at WWDC, then they could have a session on the new API and start enforcing responsible practices in the Mac App Store. Along with maybe working something out with Netflix, they’ll have addressed the biggest accidental bandwidth hogs that most people will face.

If Apple wants to offer 4G in MacBooks, they can start whenever they want. Doing it properly will just take a bit more effort than adding a modem.

Something to definitely be on the lookout for.

Stop the presses! At the Mobile World Congress today in Barcelona, Samsung unveiled a new Wallet app which enables users to store items such as sporting event tickets, boarding passes, and gift cards in one central location.

Sound familiar?

Well it should, because it’s essentially a copy of Apple’s Passbook app first introduced in iOS 6.

Wallet offers time and location-based push notifications (again, just like Passbook) to alert users as to when they are able to use the passes stored in their account, and it provides real-time updates for membership points and boarding pass changes. Third-party developers will be able to integrate with Wallet to easily let users add passes and tickets to the app, but any app integration has to be approved by Samsung.

Notably, and much like Apple’s Passbook, Samsung’s Wallet app implementation doesn’t include any NFC functionality, with the company explaining that retailers thus far have been slow to invest in the infrastructure necessary to support such a feature.

Of course, when Apple unveiled Passbook without NFC, analysts were up in arms.

In any event, Samsung announced that it has signed Wallet partnerships with Major League Baseball, Walgreens, Expedia, Belly, Booking.com, Hotels.com, and Lufthansa.

And oh yes, check out the icon for Samsung Wallet.

Look familiar?

Wallet is currently only available as a developer preview as the app will make its debut on the Samsung app store sometime in the near future.

via The Verge

While one hesitates to say that iPhone growth has plataued, it’s certainly slowing down a bit compared to the growth Apple enjoyed just a few years ago.

That said, Apple is busying itself in other markets, realizing that there is a lot of untapped potential abroad. Specifically, Apple seems to be focusing its efforts in populous countries such as Brazil, India, and of course China.

Highlighting Apple’s recent efforts in India, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is adjusting its typical modus operandi in an attempt to make inroads in India, a country on track to become the world’s third largest smartphone market in 2013, behind China and the US.

Apple is sidestepping wireless carriers to seize greater control over marketing in India and offering no-interest loans to lure lower-income consumers. The company has also boosted staff in India by 30% to 170 employees in the past six months. And it is ramping up the introduction of other products, with the Apple TV video-streaming gadget expected to reach stores in coming weeks, people familiar with the matter say.

The result is that Apple shipped more than 252,000 iPhones to India in the quarter through December, more than triple the number in the previous three months, according to research firm Canalys.

252,000 is hardly an impressive figure, though the 300% jump demonstrates just how far Apple has come in a short time. Still, the iPhone comprises just 5% of total smartphone shipments to India, the Journal notes. And holding a 40% share in the smartphone market in India is, surprise surprise, Samsung.

The South Korean company surged ahead by making India a high-priority market earlier than Apple did and offering a range of phones based on Google’s Android software that start at just over $100. An older generation iPhone sells for around $500 while the latest model starts at nearly $850.

And indicative of Apple’s room for growth in the country, a recent report from Canalys revealed that Apple in 2012 shipped 19.6 million iPhones to China, 1.4 million to Brazil, and a paltry 460,000 units to India.

Put simply, there’s plenty of room for growth in India and with a number of substantive rumors all pointing to Apple working on a more economical iPhone set for release this Summer, Apple is by all accounts poised to make a heavy push into emerging markets and snap up some of the marketshare lower cost models from the likes of Samsung currently occupy.

Chief Executive Tim Cook has blamed India’s messy distribution networks. Unlike in the U.S., wireless carriers generally don’t have their own stores. Mobile devices in the country typically go through several layers—carriers, national and local distributors and mom-and-pop retail shops—before getting to consumers.

“The multilayer distribution there really adds to the cost of getting products to market,” Mr. Cook told analysts last summer.

Apple responded last autumn by overhauling its distribution. Instead of going through wireless carriers, Apple began working directly with two national distributors. The company now tightly controls everything about advertising, the amount of inventory entering the country and which cities are targeted and when, a person familiar with the strategy says.

Still, other practical challenges remain. For instance, despite an abundance of Apple retail stores in the US, you won’t find any in India on account of an Indian law which requires foreign retailers to “purchase 30% of the value of India sales from domestic suppliers.”

But with India seeking to encourage more foreign investment by working more closely with companies such as Apple, perhaps change will be rather fast to come. As it stands now, Apple employees approximately 2,000 mom and pop shops and “65 franchisee-owned “Apple shops in malls and other high-end spots.”

via Wall Street Journal

It’s no secret that Apple has long been a champion of gay rights, which makes it not at all surprising that Apple was one of 60 companies to lend its support to a recent filing on gay marriage that will be presented to the Supreme Court of the United States.

As it stands now, the Court is currently looking into the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 which is intent on defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Back in 2008, Apple donated $100,000 to fight proposition 8.

Arguments before the justices will go down on March 26.

The corporate group, which also includes Facebook and Intel Corp. will argue in its brief that gay-marriage bans in 41 states harm workplace morale and undermine recruiting.

“No matter how welcoming the corporate culture, it cannot overcome the societal stigma institutionalized by Proposition 8 and similar laws,” the companies will argue.

Other companies lending their support to the cause include AIG, Office Depot, Panasonic, and Oracle.

via Bloomberg