Edible Apple

Following in the footsteps of Twitter, it appears that Apple is planning to deeply integrate Facebook into the upcoming iOS 6.

MG Siegler reports:

But Facebook integration will be very important for iOS — tons of apps use Facebook for sign-ups and authentication (many use Facebook as the only way to do this, to the dismay of some). Apple was undoubtedly watching this activity and realized that it was time to formally bring Facebook on board.

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One thing still being hammered out according to our sources is exactly how sharing will work. Sharing is the other big part of the iOS/Twitter integration, and will be important for iOS/Facebook integration as well. But Facebook is significantly more complicated than Twitter in that there are all kinds of permissions for what you can post where and who can see what. And Open Graph adds another layer of complexity to all of this.

Given Tim Cook’s penchant as an efficient operations wizard, the following piece of information is as unsurprising as it is impressive. According to a recent research report from Gartner, Apple has been ranked #1 when it comes to supply chain management. Specifically, Apple, which all told sells hundreds of millions pieces of hardware annually turns over its inventory every 5 days. Talk about not keeping things on the shelf!

BusinessInsider reports:

The only company on Gartner’s list of 25 companies that turns over its product faster is McDonald’s, which is not exactly in the electronics business. Dell and Samsung rank two and three in Apple’s category, turning over their inventory roughly once every 10 and 21 days respectively.

Indeed, one of the first things Tim Cook did when he came to Apple was completely restructure its supply chaim management scheme to avoid excessive inventory at all costs.

This according to the always reliable Jim Darlymple who indicated as much during a 5by5 podcast last week with Dan Benjamin. When asked if Apple is going to get rid of the Mac Pro, Jim said he was confident that there’s no chance Apple was going to do anything of the sort.

Dan: Is there any chance that Apple’s going to can the Mac Pro?
Jim: No.

[4 seconds of silence]

Dan: OK… you’re pretty confident, you feel good about that?
Jim: [laughs… laughs…]
Dan: Good! Good! That’s what we want to hear! [changes the subject]

via Marco

9to5Mac reports:

Earlier today, we posted the first image of the back plate for the next-generation iPhone, and now we have received several more images that are very high-resolution. These new shots showcase a comparison between the black and white versions of the next-generation iPhone back. The black and white coloring is, of course, a trim, and a large portion of the back – as you can see – is made out of metal. We are unsure at this point what purpose this metal serves (or if it is just a stylistic addition), but the metal is definitely present in all of our photos of the device’s back.

From a production standpoint, it appears that the metal antenna band is molded into the metal backplates. We assume this is Apple’s way of creating a unibody enclosure for mobile devices. Apple introduced unibody notebooks in late 2008, and the purpose of the unibody is to allow Apple to produce thinner and lighter, yet stronger, devices. Now that most of the phone’s external elements are one piece, Apple is likely able to squeeze more into the iPhone internally. Apple needs all the space they can get with their plans of producing LTE smartphones with proper battery life.

Other tidbits include the headphone jack being moved to the bottom of the phone and the FaceTime camera being centered.

BGR reports that Apple is planning to introduce a new UI for the Apple TV at the upcoming WWDC. What’s more, this rumored new interface, said to be more feature complete than the current version, will reportedly be the same one Apple plans on using on its much discussed HDTV.

We’ve heard Apple is actively trying to court manufacturers to use a new “control out” API in order for third-party manufacturers to make accessories that are compatible with the new Apple TV OS and the upcoming “iTV.” It’s said that by using the API, it will be possible to control any connected components all from the Apple remote (and the Apple remote iOS app as well, we’re assuming).

This would be a huge change in the home theater landscape, which has until this point relied on a mess of thousands of infrared codes and physical cables in order for devices to be interoperable, or Wi-Fi-controlled apps for each component and piece of hardware.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison reflected a bit on Steve Jobs during an All Things D sit down this week.

Ellison noted that “in addition to his genius, he had a single mindedness and attention to detail,” describing Jobs as “a bit of a control freak,” and saying “he wanted to engineer every aspect ” of not only the user interface of devices, but also how you paid for it in the store, how it looks in the box, the experience of opening it, how you bought apps and so forth.

“Steve was a god of perspiration, how he applied that horsepower until the problem was solved,” Ellison said. “There are a lot of good ideas, but translating that into a great product is unbelievably hard,” he observed, particularly noting the fiction that Jobs simply copied the Macintosh from Xerox PARC.
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Ellison added that despite not being a programmer, Jobs “had enough knowledge and understanding of the complete system to work with engineers as a great editor,” adding that Jobs had “Picasso’s aesthetic and Edison’s inventiveness.”

Asked how others could copy Jobs’ secrets of success, both agreed that “if you’re copying the surface your copying the wrong things,” with Ellison noting that “Apple became one of the most valuable companies on earth and it wasn’t even one of his goals!”

Jobs was obsessed with making great, beautiful products, and was always talking about products, the next big thing. Both also described Jobs’ “brilliance of not being a follower,” with a “contrarian nature. If everyone is doing this, what if they’re wrong?” Ellison said.

via AppleInsider

Parsimony Investment Research makes the case:

It’s clear that Apple has the potential to become one of the greatest dividend growth stocks ever. While we don’t necessarily think that this is the current mission for Apple execs, the stock should become a core holding in your DIY Dividend Portfolio in the coming months.

Apple recently filed a motion seeking an injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and interestingly enough, Samsung is arguing that an injunction shouldn’t be granted because the Galaxy Tab isn’t really in competition with the iPad.

Why not, you ask?

Well, because the Samsung Galaxy Tab is 4G and the iPad 2 is not.

Florian Mueller writes:

In this situation, Samsung makes an argument that is not without merit (and, as always, phrased very persuasively) but, in my personal opinion, too weak to avoid a preliminary injunction. It may be just strong enough to cause a delay, but anything more than that would surprise me.

Samsung argues that Apple doesn’t make any 4G version of the iPad 2, while Samsung doesn’t sell the Wi-Fi version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 anymore. Therefore, Samsung argues that the two products don’t compete directly.

A spurious argument if we’ve ever seen one.

Apple has already begun manufacturing its rumored HDTV on a trial basis, according to a recent report from China Business News.

Insider sources told China Business News that a Foxconn factory in Shenzhen has received orders for an Apple “smart TV” and is producing them on a trial basis.

Gene Munster, an analyst at investment bank Piper Jaffray, predicted recently that Apple will publicize its smart TV products in December and that the products will hit the market early next year. They will be sold at sizes ranging from 42″ to 55″ and will cost US$1,500-US$2,000, said Munster.

via WantChinaTimes

BGR has posted somewhat blurry photos which purport to be from Apple’s rumored Maps app in iOS 6 which will reportedly do away with Google Maps while also incorporating a nifty 3D viewing option based on technology it acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies.

Apple has been working on an in-house mapping solution for a few years, and it appears as if the company is finally ready to release a new Maps app for iOS, sidestepping Google’s mapping data for its own. BGR has obtained exclusive information and photos of parts of Apple’s new Maps app from a trusted source, and the app features a refreshed user interface including a brand new navigation bar. This bar, we’re told, is silver instead of blue. Since the current Maps app follows the standard blue iOS color scheme, we think it’s possible Apple might shift toward a silver color theme in iOS 6 like on the iPad.

via BGR

The New York Times with an interesting scoop:

Employees of Facebook and several engineers who have been sought out by recruiters there, as well as people briefed on Facebook’s plans, say the company hopes to release its own smartphone by next year. These people spoke only on the condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their employment or relationships with Facebook.

The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said.

The iPhone 5 rumors continue to rage on. 9to5Mac is reporting today that Apple is currently in the midst of testing two iPhone 5 prototypes, and perhaps more. Given that Apple’s complete series of iPhones have all featured a 3.5-inch display, the addition of an iPhone with a larger screen would certainly mark a notable shift in design.

Right now we know of a few next-generation iPhone candidates in testing. These prototype phones are floating around Apple HQ in thick, locked shells in order to disguise the exterior design to “undisclosed” employees. We know of two next-generation iPhones in testing with a larger display: the iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2. These phones are in the PreEVT stage of development and are codenamed N41AP (5,1) and N42AP (5,2). Because Apple reserves certain models for internal-only usage (such as the N96 phone we previously reported on), we’re not sure which of the two devices will make its way into the world later this year.

Notably, the report notes that both of the aforementioned iPhone prototypes are equipped with a 3.95-inch diagonal screen and a resolution of 640×1136. Also noteworthy is that Apple will be adding new pixels to the display – 176 to be exact. And Apple is reportedly exploring ways to utilize those extra pixels, with one cited example being a new homescreen with five rows of icons instead of four.

In terms of hardware other than the new display, we’ve heard that both of these prototypes definitely include a home button and the previously-rumored smaller dock connector. Apple will be bringing these dock connectors to all of their iOS devices over time, and it is not exactly a “pill-shape” as rumored. It’s basically a much narrower version of the current squared off (on the corners) dock connector. It is between the size of a Micro-USB and Mini-USB connector.

And when you throw in 4G LTE support into the mix, the iPhone 5 is shaping up to be quite an upgrade.

via 9to5Mac