At CES today, Otterbox introduced a new series of iPhone cases that are some of OtterBox's most minimalist yet. The one-piece Symmetry case is available in a number of different colors and graphic designs for both the iPhone 5s and 5c.
The cases leave the front of the iPhone completely exposed, but they protect the sides and back of the device -- a very popular style of case. OtterBox also has the Commuter and Reflex series cases, but those use multiple pieces rather than the one-piece design of the Symmetry.
The OtterBox Symmetry Series is the culmination of over a year of design, testing and innovation. This slender, cleanly constructed protective smartphone case is molded into a single piece for ease of installation. A dual-material construction makes Symmetry Series one of the slimmest, most protective cases in its class and a raised beveled edge helps keep the touch screen safe. Internal synthetic rubber with honeycomb coring helps protect the device from drops and shock. A full spectrum of wraparound colors and graphics on the sleek exterior add seamless style that slides easily into and out of pockets.
The OtterBox Symmetry Series will be available for $40 and $45 depending on color. They should be available in early Spring of this year.
Earlier today, Apple released the third beta of iOS 7.1 to developers, which included both bug fixes and a number of visual changes that give several aspects of iOS 7 an entirely new look and feel. For example, the Phone dialer has been revamped with new buttons and several icons have had their color toned down, making iOS 7 less neon.
We've rounded up all of the visual changes that have been found in the iOS 7.1 beta thus far, creating an overview of what iOS 7 might look like in just a few months if the revisions make it into the final public release.
Keyboard: The keyboard in iOS 7 has been slightly revamped, adding a slight boldness to the font and a new design to the delete and shift keys. It also incorporates a somewhat darker, less yellow gray tone. Overall, the keyboard changes have the effect of adding contrast and making the letters easier to see.
iOS 7 keyboard on the left, iOS 7.1 keyboard on the right
Icons: The green color in the Phone, Messages, and FaceTime apps has been toned down and is now darker, especially at the bottom of the icons. This introduces a less neon coloration to iOS 7, cutting down on some of the operating system's brightness.
Darker iOS 7.1 icons on the top, brighter iOS 7 icons on the bottom
Phone: The Phone app has seen the biggest changes, with a renewed focus on simple, circular buttons. The standard incoming call screen with rectangular buttons has been replaced with a black background and two round Accept and Decline icons.
New incoming call buttons
The "Call" and "End" buttons visible on the dialer have also been replaced with circular icons.
iOS 7 dialer on the left, iOS 7.1 dialer on the right
Wallpaper: When selecting a new wallpaper, users can now choose to turn the parallax effect on or off.
Control Center: Control Center's brightness and volume sliders now maintain momentum when they are flicked, a new feature that fits in well with a previous bounce animation added in iOS 7.1 beta 2.
Shut down: The power off screen when shutting down the phone has a new look that does away with the red "slide to power off" and cancel tabs first introduced with iOS 7. The new design includes a power button icon at the top and a cancel icon at the bottom.
Slide to Power Off in iOS 7.1
Accessibility: A New option has been added in the Accessibility's Contrast menu, allowing users to reduce iOS 7's white point. This feature joins both the "Button Shapes" and Darken Colors options that were added in an older iOS 7.1 beta.
Music: The Music app has new shuffle and repeat buttons that are more prominent, and iTunes Radio has a revamped "New" button.
iOS 7 buttons on the left, iOS 7.1 buttons on the right
According to a recent report from BGR, iOS 7.1 may not make it to consumers until March, indicating that the software will see a lengthy beta testing period. Beta 3’s release notes indicated a number of known issues that remain with iOS 7.1, suggesting that the update is not yet ready for the public.
A number of companies introduced new 4K display options at CES this week, and, though some 4K monitors have seen early teething pains with the new Mac Pro, the new displays are expected to be compatible with Apple's new pro machine.
4K displays saw significant price drops in 2013 with a number of models introduced in recent months but these new options are, for the most part, significantly cheaper than currently available 4K monitors.
Lenovo debuted its ThinkVision Pro2840m, a 28" 4K display aimed at professionals with a 3840x2160 resolution. The monitor should be available in April for $800.
Asus also has a 3840x2160 display available, a 28-inch panel called the PB287Q, priced at $800. It will be available in the second quarter of 2014.
Finally, Seiki confirmed to MacRumors that it will announce a new 28" 4K display tomorrow, likely a budget-option as the company currently has a 39-inch 4K television available for just $500, significantly cheaper than similar alternatives.
LG's new ultra-widescreen non-4K displays
LG previously announced a 4K display, the 31-inch 31MU95, that is wider than most other options using a 19:10 ratio widescreen panel at 4096x2160, whereas the most other 4K displays use a 16:9 ratio. LG will also offer 34-inch and 29-inch options with much wider 21:9 screens at lower, non-4K resolutions. Those panels should be announced later this week at CES.
iPort today announced new versions of its All-in-One Charge Case and Stand for both the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina Display. iPort's Charge Case and Stand is designed to combine a case with both a wireless charger and a stand.
The iPad fits into the case portion of the accessory and attaches magnetically to the stand/charger. When attached to the stand, the iPad can be rotated into three different mounting angles and two different orientations (both portrait and landscape), making it extremely versatile.
The case, which is designed to remain on the iPad at all times, is compatible with Apple's Smart Cover, while the dock, which weighs in at over a pound, includes a power supply for charging whenever the iPad is connected.
iLounge reviewed the company's initial Charge Case and Stand for the original iPad mini and gave it high marks for its unique design and features.
In considering the final value of this system, it's important to look at its constituent pieces. A good dock without any charging hardware or cables sells for around $30, and a case of this sort would go for $35. Adding a 12W charger and a Lightning cable will cost you another $40, assuming you go with Apple products. That brings you over the $100 cost before you even consider iPort's wireless charging. Taking the design of the parts and the total value of the bundle into consideration, it's easy to offer the Charge Case and Stand our high recommendation. iPort got so much right here, and little touches such as the removable Lightning plug pushed the solution over the top from very good to great.
The Charge Case and Stand for the iPad Air and the Retina iPad mini will begin shipping in February and will be priced at $119.95 and $99.95, respectively.
Signal today announced a new iOS 7 controller, the RP One, a Bluetooth gamepad with a traditional console-style design. Because it works wirelessly over Bluetooth, the RP One is able to connect to both iPhones and iPads running iOS 7.
The RP One has been designed with serious gaming in mind, offering a "full scale" ergonomic shape to fit a range of hand sizes. The current prototype includes a directional pad, two analog sticks, two triggers, and four action buttons.
Each RP One includes a universal stand for all of Apple's iOS devices, compatible with most covers and cases. The RP One controller offers up to 10 hours of battery life.
The RP One most closely resembles the recently introduced SteelSeries Stratus, though it has a more promising design that mimics the popular Xbox controller. Early controllers from Logitech and MOGA connected via the iPhone's Lightning port, which excluded them from functioning with the iPad.
Apple today released the third beta of iOS 7.1 to registered developers for testing purposes, following the release of the second iOS 7.1 beta in mid-December. The update has a build number of 11d5127c and is available via an over-the-air update or through Apple’s developer center website.
The first and second betas of iOS 7.1 bundled multiple bug fixes along with several new features including a new "Button Shapes" option in Accessibility and a more prominent location for Touch ID and Passcode options. The third beta includes fixes for audiobook playbook and iCloud account setup with iCloud Keychain, but there are undoubtedly other tweaks that have not been documented by Apple.
According to a recent report, iOS 7.1 will see a lengthy testing period with a public release coming in March. Beta 3's release notes indicate that a number of known issues remain with iOS 7.1, which must be fixed before the software can see a general release.
The last version of iOS 7 available to the public, iOS 7.0.4, was released back in November.
Today's update also includes Xcode 5.1 Developer Preview 3 and a new version of the Apple TV beta software.
Update: While the "dark keyboard" option that was added in beta 1 and removed in beta 2 has not returned in beta 3, Apple has tweaked the standard keyboard slightly, most notably with a new look for the delete key.
Beta 3 also includes a new look for the confirmation screen when powering down the device, while the Phone dialer now uses round "call" and "end" buttons rather than large rectangular ones. The incoming call screen also adopts the round buttons as part of a redesign.
The green color of the Phone, FaceTime, Messages app icons has been toned down slightly, while there is an expanded "Increase Contrast" section in the Accessibility settings that now has three separate settings allowing users to reduce transparency, darken colors (added in iOS 7.1 beta 1), and reduce white point (new in iOS 7.1 beta 3).
Belkin has introduced a new Crock-Pot-brand slow cooker integrated with the company's WeMo home automation technology. According to Belkin, this will be the first of a number of WeMo enabled small appliances, including items like space heaters.
The Wi-Fi-enabled cooker looks nearly identical to other similar slow cookers, with controls on the front for toggling warm, low and high settings -- but chefs can use the WeMo iOS app to adjust temperatures and set automated on/off timers.
The "Crock-Pot Smart Slow Cooker enabled with WeMo" will be available for $99.99 this spring.
Belkin also announced new LED light bulbs that work with the WeMo system, similar to Philips' Hue bulbs.
Mophie today added to its existing lineup of Juice Packs and Powerstations, introducing the new Mophie Space Pack. Like the company's Juice Packs, the Space Pack is a 1700 mAh battery case, but it also includes built-in storage, increasing the storage capacity of the iPhone by 16 or 32 GB.
Designed for the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5s, the Space Pack doubles the battery life of the iPhone, connecting via the Lightning port to offer both increased battery and additional storage. The built-in storage can be used for any file type, including photos, videos, and music.
The Space Pack uses an accompanying Space app to organize stored files into Collections that are easily managed. Accessing files does not require a data or Wi-Fi connection and content like music and movies can be played directly from the Space app.
Mophie's Space Packs will be available for pre-order today, priced at $149.95 for the 16 GB version and $179.95 for the 32 GB model. The cases will begin shipping on March 14.
Imagination Technologies yesterday announced a new Series6XT generation of its PowerVR graphics architecture, representing a successor to the Series6 graphics used in Apple's A7 chip for the iPhone 5s, iPad Air, and Retina iPad mini.
Series6XT cores achieve up to a 50% performance increase on the latest industry standard benchmarks compared to equivalent configurations of previous generation cores. And with a significant increase in raw GFLOPS, Series6XT delivers the industry’s best performance in both GFLOPS/mm2 and GFLOPS/mW.
Apple currently uses Imagination's quad-core G6430 graphics in the A7, and the new Series6XT architecture brings a GX6450 model as a direct successor with potential for inclusion in future Apple A-series chips. But as noted by AnandTech, typical lead times on moving from licensing announcement to consumer availability suggest that these new graphics options may not appear in shipping chips until the latter half of 2015.
Series6XT is designed to be a moderate feature upgrade and power/performance optimization pass for Series6, integrating various innovations over the past couple of years to keep Imagination’s designs performance and feature competitive. Series6XT comes 2 years after Series6 licensing was announced at CES 2012, and roughly half a year after the first SoCs implementing Series6 GPUs were released to consumers.
Apple has used versions of PowerVR graphics throughout its history of iOS device chip development, leading all the way back to the original iPhone in 2007. In line with Apple's preference for Imagination's graphics offerings, Apple has been a leading investor in the graphics company for some time, making several purchases that pushed its ownership stake in Imagination to nearly 10% by mid-2009.
Wireless power firm WiTricity today announced the release of a reference design for its new wireless charging system aimed at the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s. Moving beyond existing induction power transfer technologies such as Powermat that require direct contact with a charging pad, WiTricity's system supports power transfer over short distances using magnetic resonance, allowing charging pads to be kept out of sight such as mounted on the bottom surface of a desk.
The WiTricity charging system for the iPhone 5/5s includes a wireless charging hub and a charging sleeve that fits an iPhone 5 or 5s. Similar to other protective covers, the WiTricity sleeve quickly slides onto an iPhone 5/5s and is powered when in proximity to the WiTricity charging hub. Capable of charging two phones concurrently, the charging hub can be placed on top of a table as an upright or flat charging pad, or mounted underneath a table or desk for charging through the surface. By mounting the charging pad under a surface, smartphone users are freed from the tangle of charging cords and cluttered desktops.
We first explored Apple's connection to WiTricity in July 2011 after it was reported that Apple was working on a "new way of charging" the iPhone, and while that way turned out to simply be the Lightning connector introduced in the iPhone 5, Apple does clearly have an interest in wireless charging and WiTricity's technology in particular.
Patent applications from Apple have outlined how the company could use something in line with WiTricity's technology to allow a computer such as an iMac to serve as a wireless charging hub, with accessories and other devices such as keyboard, mice, and iOS devices able to be charged simply by being in close proximity to the iMac. Shortly after the publication of a key Apple patent application on the concept, WiTricity even demoed how such a system would work.
WiTricity's system announced today is a reference design not meant for direct sale to consumers, but it will allow the company to partner with a variety of other firms such as device manufacturers, accessory companies, and furniture makers to explore implementation of the technology.
Apple announced today that App Store sales topped $10 billion in 2013, including a record breaking $1 billion in December alone, where App Store customers downloaded almost three billion apps. Overall, Apple has paid out over $15 billion to App Store developers.
“We’d like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The lineup of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014.”
In its press release, Apple also highlighted a number of popular and emerging apps and developers while drawing special attention to a few larger developers that particularly embraced the new look and features of iOS 7, which was released in September.
Apple announced a year ago that the App Store had passed 40 billion downloads, with half of those coming in 2012. The company also announced that December 2012 brought over two billion downloads, with 500 million user accounts registered.
In May 2013, Apple hit 50 billion worldwide app downloads, which it celebrated with a promotion for a $10,000 gift card for the person who downloaded the 50 billionth app. The App Store also reached one million live apps in December.
ClearView Audio showed off its Clio Bluetooth wireless speaker at CES 2014, which boasts a unique "invisible" design consisting of an ultra-thin, curved acrylic glass transducer. The speaker's design allows for it to output sound in multiple directions, with volume up/down, mute, and Bluetooth buttons on its side.
ClearView Audio is also touting its patented "Edge Motion" audio system in the speaker, which pushes sound through the side of the device instead of the rear like traditional cone speakers:
ClearView Audio’s patented Edge Motion audio systems use a differentiating mechanical principal to generate sound. Instead of pushing from behind, like a traditional cone speaker does, Edge Motion-driven speakers actuate a thin membrane along the side in a manner that creates an extremely efficient, piston-like motion in front. The resultant speaker system is thin and lightweight with the ability to produce a rich, full sound across the audio range.
The Clio is available for pre-order at $349 from Clearview Audio's website, and is expected to ship in late March.
Audio recording company Apogee has announced two new devices, including the MiC 96k professional digital microphone and the JAM 96k guitar interface adapter for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
The MiC 96k combines a microphone, preamp, and an analog-to-digital converter in a compact package, which can output 24-bit/96 KHZ audio recording. The product's body includes a steel-mesh housing with a gain control knob and multicolor LED, and a port on the bottom that is compatible with Apple's Lightning and 30-pin connector or a USB interface. Garageband and Logic are compatible with the MiC 96k out of the box, with iOS apps also supported.
Meanwhile, the JAM 96k is compatible with electric, bass, and acoustic guitars accompanied by pickups, and can also yield 24-bit/96 KHZ audio recording. The device also features upgraded sound quality from Apogee's JAM, including tube amp tone emulation, a built in analog-to-digital converter and instrument preamp. The device comes with connection cables for iOS devices and the Mac, and is compatible with Garageband, Logic, and various iOS apps.
The MiC 96k and JAM 96k retail for $229 and $129 respectively, and will be available soon from Apogee's online store.
Apple today announced its annual Lunar New Year sale, a one day event for Asian countries that is also known as "Red Friday" because of its similarity to November's Black Friday sales.
During the event, which takes place three weeks before the Lunar New Year, Apple will be offering deals on Macs, iPads, iPods, and accessories like the Smart Cover. It is unclear whether Apple will offer traditional price cuts or instead give customers gift cards with purchase as it did in the United States during Black Friday. In previous years, Apple has offered modest cash discounts on products.
Discounted prices will be available in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, on Friday, January 10. Last week, Apple also held its annual "Lucky bag" promotion for Japanese customers.
Some analysts expect Apple to introduce a larger "iPad Pro" later this fall, but Samsung has beaten them to the punch. The Korean firm today announced a pair of 12.2" Galaxy tablets running Android.
Engadget got a hands on with the 12.1-inch Galaxy NotePro, noting that it "simply isn't designed for optimal portability" and that it is awkward to hold for long periods of time. Weighing in at 1.66 lbs with a 2560x1600 pixel display at 247 ppi, the device is significantly larger than the iPad Air.
First, let's discuss the key specs. With a larger Note comes an even larger 9,500mAh battery, an 8MP rear camera paired with a 2MP front camera, "super clear" WQXGA LCD panel, IR support, dual-band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac MIMO, USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 4.0. The LTE model promises support for 800/900/1800/2100/2600+850, while you'll get quad-band HSPA+ (with a max of 21Mbps).
The Note Pro 12.2 runs Android 4.4 KitKat, but the user experience is drastically different than any Note we've played with before. Instead of being graced with a standard Android/TouchWiz home screen panel when pressing the home hardware button, you get whisked away to a new interface lovingly called Magazine UX. This experience consists of three separate customizeable screen panels: one for your office/workspace, another for personal use and a last one that handles your social networks and media.
The Verge also has a hands-on video with the new tablets:
There are two 12.2-inch variants -- the GalaxyNotePro which includes Samsung's S Pen functionality, and the Galaxy TabPro which does not -- though both include custom Samsung software and firmware. It will come in LTE, 3G and Wi-Fi-only variants and is expected to launch later this quarter. Pricing is not yet available.
Along with the 12.2-inch devices, Samsung introduced several other new Galaxy TabPro tablets, in 10.1- and 8.4-inch variations.
A new company called Sen.se has debuted an electronic device called "Mother," which is designed to serve as a hub for a series of Motion Cookie tracking devices. Cookies are multipurpose portable sensors able to track a variety of information, including movement and temperature.
As with your real mother, Mother cares about you and loves you. Yet this Mother is programmable. You decide what aspects of your life you want her to handle and she tunes to your current needs. Unlike other devices that specialize in only one area, this Mother knows how to help you in many areas of your daily life: fitness, health, security, well-being and comfort. You decide how she can help simplify your life, ultimately helping you live better, healthier and happier.
Cookies, which interact with Mother, can be stuck on any object and will capture and analyze movements and factors like ambient temperature or closeness to the Mother base station. A Cookie can be placed on any object to measure its whereabouts and its movements. For example, if a Cookie is placed on a dog's collar, it can track when the dog moves too far away from the base station.
Motion Cookies are the first essential members of the ever growing Mother family.
Small and slick, they can be affixed to almost anything. They have the power to detect and understand the movements of objects and people.
Cookies are endlessly reusable and can be placed on a wide array of objects. They are reprogrammable and are able to handle new functionality at any time. Cookies have a one year battery life and a 10 day memory before needing to resync data with the Mother. 24 cookies can be controlled by a single Mother.
Cookies can send alerts to phones, and Cookies near the Mother will upload collected data to the Internet. A number of apps are designed to work with the system, and Sen.se details several different possible use cases for Cookies and Mother, including fitness tracking, monitoring for intruders, tracking temperature, monitoring medications, and tracking sleep.
Sen.se is comprised of team members that were previously behind a Wi-Fi connected rabbit called Nabaztag, which was a programmable and customizable smart object that could connect to the Internet and display information like weather forecasts and email notifications.
Mother is expected to begin shipping in the spring of 2014 and is priced at $222 for a Mother base unit and four tracking Cookies. Pre-orders will begin in February and additional cookies will be sold in sets of four for $99.
Apple updated its investor relations page today to note that it will announce its earnings for the first fiscal quarter (fourth calendar quarter) of 2014 on Monday, January 27. The earnings release typically occurs just after 4:30 PM Eastern Time following the close of regular stock trading, and the conference call is scheduled to follow at 5:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM Pacific.
MacRumors will provide running coverage of the earnings release and conference call.
The release will provide a look into initial iPad Air and Retina iPad mini sales during their first quarter of availability as well as iPhone 5s and 5c sales throughout the holiday. Apple reported a record number of iPhone/iPad sales during fiscal 2013, at 150 million iPhones and 71 million iPads.
In its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call, Apple guided expected revenue of $55–58 billion and gross margin between 36.5 and 37.5 percent. If the company meets even the low end of that guidance, it will count as the strongest quarter for Apple in history.
Holi yesterday announced that its iPhone and iPad-Controlled smart lamp will be coming to the United States in the near future. Currently, the square 18-LED mood light is available in Europe.
At just over an inch thick and approximately 7.8-inches wide, the Holi light sports a minimalist design that is meant to fit into any room. Much like the Light Strip and the Bloom from Philips’ Hue line of lights, the Holi is designed to be an accent light. With over 500 lumens, it produces more light than a standard 40W bulb. Comparatively, the Philips Hue bulbs come in at 600 lumens, while the Bloom has a 120-lumen bulb.
Users can utilize the Holi app to create various lighting effects, which can be shared with the entire Holi community. Holi is able to sync with music, changing color with tempo, and it also serves as an alarm clock with a built-in dawn simulator.
Holi is able to simulate millions of different colors, and it is also able to combine colors with its individual LED bulbs. Similar light offerings, like the Philips Bloom, are limited to a single color. The Holi app can be used to create lighting scenes from photographs, and it includes pre-programmed effects like rotating colors. Three Holi lamps can be synced and controlled from a single iPhone.
Though U.S. pricing has not yet been released, the lamp retails for €199 in Europe and will likely cost around $200 in the U.S. It is expected to be available beginning in March.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Apple 
