Edible Apple

China Daily is reporting today that Foxconn is planning to invest upwards of $210 million towards a new production line for Apple products. The rumored production line will be quite sizeable, measuring in at about 40,000 square meters with the line expected to house about 36,000 employees.

“The annual output value of the plant is expected to reach 6 to 7 billion yuan ($949 million to $1.1 billion), and the import and export value will be $55.8 million”, the report claims.

As for what the new production line will be producing, well, that remains unknown. The factory is sent to begin construction in October, so it’s probably not going to be producing any Apple products anytime soon.

Apple and Samsung have been tangled up in a legal battle that has droned on for over a year now. And while the two companies are still fighting as vigorously as ever,  Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung are scheduled to meet this afternoon for some good ole’ court ordered mediation where the two sides will try and see if they can settle their patent differences outside of the courtroom.

Tim Cook has of course said that he’s not a fan of litigation, but at the same time, warned other companies that they need to develop their own products instead of copying Apple’s. To that end, it remains unclear if the two CEOs will be able to hammer out an agreement but my first inclination is that their dispute will be heading to trial come July.

Samsung seemingly came out of nowhere to become the top Android manufacturer so they don’t have much of an incentive to settle. And Apple, well the iPhone is their cash cow and you can bet that they’re not going to sit idly by while another company, in their estimation, rips them off.

Interestingly enough, Apple approached Samsung in July 2010 to express concerns that its first Galaxy product was a little bit too close for comfort to the design of the iPhone. The two companies engaged in negotiations but no final agreement was reached, and hence, Apple decided to go to sue in April 2011.

Ken Shirriff does the complete breakdown:

Disassembling Apple’s diminutive inch-cube iPhone charger reveals a technologically advanced flyback switching power supply that goes beyond the typical charger. It simply takes AC input (anything between 100 and 240 volts) and produce 5 watts of smooth 5 volt power, but the circuit to do this is surprisingly complex and innovative.

Penn Live reported a few weeks ago:

An 11-year-old boy urinated on several MacBook computers on a cart in the Upper Allen Elementary School Wednesday, damaging them beyond repair, according to Upper Allen Twp. police.

The loss came to more than $36,000, police said.

Police charged the boy with institutional vandalism and criminal mischief and are turning him over to the Cumberland County Juvenile Probation Department.

And the reason the laptops are being written up as a total loss is because Apple won’t even try to fix them. Apparently, AppleCare won’t cover urination – but the absurdity of that statement aside, Apple rightfully looks at urine infested MacBooks as a biohazzard.

The more you know, right?

The rumor mill is growing louder with reports that Apple will launch a revamped MacBook this Summer with a brand spankin’ new Retina Display. But implementing the high-res screen will add a little bit extra to Apple’s BOM.

CNET reports:

The feature, which could cost nearly $100 more than Apple currently spends, would make photos, applications, and text look sharper and clearer on Apple’s computers…

That premium will cost Apple, Shim says. According to his estimates, adding a Retina-quality panel in Apple’s 15-inch MacBook pro would cost Apple about $160 versus the $68 the company spends on its current models. It’s $134 for such a panel on the 13.3-inch model, compared to the $69 Apple pays right now.

It’ll be interesting to see if Apple passes along the added cost to consumers or if it eats up the added cost itself, such as how it did with the iPhone 4 and recently released iPad.

With so many iPhone rumors popping up as of late, here’s an iPad Mini rumor to keep things well rounded. The Taiwan-based Liberty Times is reporting that Apple has certified both LG and AU Optronics to supply the display on the rumored 7.85-inch iPad.

The report, translated via Macotakara, also claims that the iPad Mini will likely be released either during the third or fourth quarter of 2012 with shipments expected to fall in the 6 million range. Other suppliers on board are rumored to include TPK Holding and CHIMEI Innolux who will each supply 4 million and 2 million backlight modules respectively.

Rumors of an iPad Mini have been growing increasingly louder over the past few months, and while Steve Jobs once said that 7-inch tablets would be dead on arrival, the success of the Amazon Kindle Fire has shown that there is a market for smaller tablet devices at cheaper pricepoints. Also, remember that Tim Cook said that Apple noticed a noticeable uptick in sales from various educational institutions and other groups when it lowered the base price of the iPad 2 down to $399.

Price wise, the iPad Mini, according to a few reports, will be priced in the $200-$250 range to compete with devices like the Nook and Kindle Fire. Much like Apple’s strategy with the iPod, it will attempt to prevent the creation of a price umbrella under which competitors can perhaps thrive. And helping to keep the prices low will likely be relatively little storage, say around 8GB, and don’t expect the iPad Mini to sport a Retina Display either.

via Macotakara

Related:

iPad gains marketshare as Kindle Fire sales plummet

A look at the iPad assembly process at Foxconn [Video]

Watch out Ashton Kutcher, there’s another Steve Jobs movie in town, and if history is any indication, it’s a safe bet that this one is gonna be a helluva lot better than yours.

Yesterday, Sony Pictures announced that Aaron Sorkin, the master screenwriter behind A Few Good Men, The Social Network and a whole lot more will be writing a screen adaptation of Walter Isaccson’s wildly popular Steve Jobs biography.

“Steve Jobs’ story is unique: he was one of the most revolutionary and influential men not just of our time but of all time,” Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal explained. “There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself was: captivating, entertaining, and polarizing.”

Indeed, there’s no doubt that Sorkin has the requisite chops. He won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network and his resume is replete with Grade-A quality and critically acclaimed works such as The West Wing and Moneyball. Say what you will about the job Isaccson did on Jobs’ biography, but let there be no doubt that Sorkin is more qualified than any other screenwriter I can think of to capture the complexity and controversial nature of a man like Steve Jobs.

The movie is being produced by Mark Gordon, Scott Rudin and Guymon Casady. Thus far, no actors have been pegged for the role of Steve Jobs, but it’d be nice to see Noah Wyle reprise his role as Jobs once again.

The Wall Street Journal adds an extra layer of credibility to a smattering of reports claiming that Apple’s next-gen iPhone will sport a larger 4-inch screen. The Journal notes that Apple has already begun ordering larger display panels from Asian suppliers.

The new screens measure at least 4 inches diagonally, the people said, compared with 3.5 inches on Apple’s latest model, the iPhone 4S. Production is set to begin next month, the people said. Analysts have predicted that the next iPhone will come out in the fall.

…

The people said Apple is working with several screen makers on the new phone, including South Korea’s LG Display Co., Japan’s Sharp Corp.and Japan Display Inc., which was created last month by three Japanese companies and the government.

Remember that a few weeks ago, the typically accurate iLounge reported that the iPhone 5 (if that’s what it will be called) will sport a larger 4-inch screen which Apple will accomplish by making the device longer, but effectively maintaining the same width as the iPhone 4S.

In doing so, Apple would be changing the aspect ratio of the iPhone for the first time. iLounge also claimed that the next-gen iPhone will sport a metallic back casing and will utilize a smaller dock connector. And last but not least, let’s not forget about 4G LTE support, which just so happens to be the one feature most people can agree on when it comes to iPhone 5 rumors.

Well apparently the ITC does have some teeth. In the first tangible success from Apple’s ongoing battle with a multitude of Android manufacturers, The Verge is reporting that US Customs officials have halted shipments of the spankin’ new HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE pending an investigation into whether or not those products run afoul of Apple’s intellectual property.

We’ve learned today that the One X and Evo 4G LTE are indefinitely delayed at Customs as the agency investigates patent issues with Apple, and sources have further confirmed that some shipments are indeed being held back. The One X is also currently out of stock at AT&T’s online store and at most AT&T retail stores we’ve called — and few had any information on when more units would arrive.

The patent at issue relates back to actionable items rooted in Apple patent #5,946,647. The patent covers, for example, the ability for an OS to detect various data structures in a document, such as a phone number, and enable users to click on that number and make a call. Another example would be an email containing the phrase “next Thursday” would be clickable and give users the option to create a calendar event.

The original ITC ruling was handed down back in December with the ban going into effect on April 19th. And now before HTC imports its new products into the US, Customs agents want to make sure that proper workarounds have been implemented.

HTC has since confirmed the report, noting in a press release:

The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.

Following up on 9to5Mac’s scoop regarding a revamped and Google-less Maps app in iOS 6, All Things D corroborated the report, with one source in particular intimating that the 3D maps functionality in iOS 6 will “blow your head off”.

To this end, MG Siegler was able to confirm with his own sources that Apple is, in fact, planning to ditch Google for its Maps app, but cautioned that the All Things D report was just  a tad hyperbolic.

Specifically, while the 3D functionality is cool, it’s also not something people are going to use regularly. Think of it like Google Street View — cool, but how often do you actually use it when compared to the regular Google Maps product? (Having said that, I still expect Apple’s 3D maps to be cooler than Google Street View.)

Siegler also touches on the implications of Apple abandoning Google Maps to the extent that Apple may remove APIs into Google Maps from its iOS SDK.

But the side effect of such a switch could seriously harm Google Maps as the de-facto mapping service. Again, because of their very nature, maps are most vital for mobile usage. And if Apple not only pulls iOS out, but takes millions of developers with them, Google Maps could suddenly go from behemoth to vulnerable. (Which makes their decision to start charging large customers all the more dumbfounding — this cannot be a huge source of revenue for Google, no matter the scale.)

Siegler also relays a few other interesting nuggets of information:

• Siri for the iPad may be on the way. Word is that the holdup may be rooted in a UI issue and figuring out just how exactly they want Siri to appear in tablet form
• As expected, iCloud will be heavily baked into iOS 6
• Apple may be close to finishing up the rumored revamp of iTunes they’ve been working on after “several false starts and scrapping of projects.” Part of new and improved iTunes may include something along the lines of a Spotify competitor
• iOS 6 is codenamed Sundance

via TechCrunch

Following 9to5Mac’s report that iOS 6 will usher in a new era of iOS mapping, namely that Apple will be replacing Google Maps in favor of an in-house solution with an incredible 3D mapping feature, John Paczkowski of All Things D adds some tantalizing, albeit non specific, details to the story after independently confirming Apple’s plans with its Maps app.

Sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tentpole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, “blow your head off.” I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies. C3 did use missile-targeting technology to develop its gorgeous 3-D models of major cities, so …

Apple of course has made quite a number of interesting Map based acquisitions over the past few years. In addition to the Swedish based C3 Technologies, Apple also acquired Placebase back in 2009 and Poly9 in 2010.

But just what exactly is so mind blowing about 3D models of major cities? Well, take a look at the C3 video demonstrating a 3D overview of Oslo Norway. Suffice it to say, this type of functionality on a handheld device would definitely be worthy of being called mindblowing.

And here’s an equally tantalizing description of what C3 maps can deliver

“Based on declassified missile targeting technology from Swedish aerospace giant Saab, C3 maps can be rotated around because each individual pixel has depth information attached to it. 3D data is calculated directly from high-resolution aerial photography, based on the positions and angles of the cameras to give each pixel its geographical position with very high accuracy. C3 maps also sport interior panoramas of points of interest based on HDR imagery, with room navigation, 3D menus and banners, overview maps and other interactive features. There’s also street-level imagery captured using an advanced multiple camera system with overlapping viewing angles to capture the entire surroundings in stereo.”

via All Things D

Oh Siri, you precocious little whippersnapper, what kind of nonsense are you trying to pull? Are the new iPhone ads, featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel, going to your head? What are we to make of your latest transgression?

The Next Web reports that some users who ask Siri what the best smarthone ever is are being told that it’s none other than the Nokia Lumia 900 4G.

Blasphemy!

Siri’s amusing recommendation is drawing comments from hosts of Nokia and Microsoft fans worldwide (yes, there are still many of them), which in itself is rather amusing. It’s kinda like watching people cheer because the magical mirror told the queen that Snow White is actually the fairest of them all.

Hopefully needless to say, the reason why Siri is making the above recommendation isn’t because Apple thinks the iPhone 4S is subpar (as if).

It’s simply because Siri bases its answer to that particular question on results from Wolfram Alpha, which itself draws from users reviews Web-wide.

Interestingly enough, when I asked Siri what was the best smartphone ever, she simply replied, “Wait, there are other phones?”

via TNW