TheVerge's Joshua Topolsky summarizes the iPad 3 casing findings reported earlier today, but also adds his own sources regarding some details of the iPad 3.
As expected, the iPad 3 will reportedly include a 2048x1536 Retina Display, be nearly identical physically, and use the A6 processor. The A6 processor, however, is claimed to have a dual-core chip, not a quad-core one, at least according to his sources:
What is surprising, however, is that our sources say that the A6 will not be a quad-core chip, but will remain dual-core. We've previously had heard that the device would have a quad-core CPU as well as an LTE cell radio on-board, but at least part of that story wasn't accurate.
Previous rumors for the iPad 3 have claimed that the A6 processor would include a Quad-Core processor. iOS 5.1 also showed some early evidence of code-support for quad-core processing.
While a dual-core A6 is certainly possible, Topolsky's iOS device sources haven't had the greatest track record. In early 2011, his sources claimed that the iPad 2 would include a "super high resolution display" as well as an SD card slot, and a "completely redesigned" iPhone 5 to come in summer 2011. Topolsky did backtrack on those predictions, but not until the week before the iPad 2's launch.
Topolsky was also the original source of the the tapered iPhone 5 design and elongated home button. While we do believe that design was based in reality, it's hard to ignore that it never came to be.
TuneCore president Jeff Price today wrote a blog post praising Apple's iTunes Match service for creating money "out of thin air" for copyright holders. iTunes Match launched with all the major record labels on board, but some small labels refused to participate over concerns the service was legitimizing music pirates.
Price disagrees:
A person has a song on her computer hard drive. She clicks on the song and plays it. No one is getting paid. The same person pays iTunes $25 for iMatch. She now clicks on the same song and plays it through her iMatch service. Copyright holders get paid.
Price tells MacRumors that Apple keeps 30% of iTunes Match revenues for itself -- the same percentage the company keeps from the iTunes and App Stores. The remaining 70% is divided, with 88% going to record labels and 12% going to songwriters. The royalties are split amongst artists based on "how many times someone accesses your song" via iTunes Match and it doesn't matter if a song is matched or uploaded -- the royalty is paid either way.
Price and other record industry execs are thrilled with the iTunes Match service, and by extension, Apple. Not only are artists finally getting paid something for pirated music, but for legitimate song purchases they are getting paid twice. If a listener purchases a CD, rips it to their computer, and then uploads it to iTunes Match, the record company books revenue for both the purchase and the small cut they receive from iTunes Match.
Regarding other music services, Price says, Pandora or Spotify customers are "paying a fee to listen to Spotify's music collection." iTunes Match customers are "paying a fee to have access to [their] own music collection."
Last July, Apple discontinued the white MacBook from its consumer lineup, pushing consumers toward the company's popular MacBook Air line or the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company didn't kill off the MacBook entirely though, as it continued to offer it to educational institutions.
Apple has now notified resellers that it has ended that distribution channel as well, classifying the MacBook as "End of Life". It is unclear at what point Apple ceased production on the MacBook, as it is likely that the company's manufacturing partners wound down their work on the machine some time ago, with the company continuing to sell through its final batch to its limited educational institution market since that time.
RepairLabs reports that it has received a photo of what is claimed to the inside of the rear shell of the iPad 3, comparing the part to the corresponding version found on the iPad 2. The iPad 3 version demonstrates a few minor changes compared to the iPad 2, with one of the most notable being an apparently narrower logic board that could make room for an expanded battery.
A. You can see here that the mounts for the logic board are very different, which means the logic board shape will be different allowing for . . . .
B. More battery. The width of where the logic board sits on the iPad 2 appears much larger than that of the iPad 3. We have long heard that the iPad 3 was going to provide longer battery life, and this back housing seems to support that.
The report also points out slight differences to the locations where the iPad's rear camera and LCD display mount to the rear casing. While those changes obviously do not offer any evidence of enhancements for the components themselves, they do suggest that Apple has at least tweaked their designs from the current iPad.
The photo does not show the backside of the rear shell that would be visible on the assembled device, nor does it show an edge view that would allow for a thickness comparison to the iPad 2. The photo's source does claim, however, that there is no apparent difference in thickness between the two rear shells.
Rumors have disagreed on whether the iPad 3 will thicker, thinner, or the same thickness as the iPad 2, with some suggesting that the final result depends on what type of display technology and backlight system Apple has settled on for the device. The iPad 3 is said to be gaining a high-resolution "Retina" display that could require new solutions for powering and lighting the the screen.
Other rumors have claimed that the device will run utilize a quad-core processor on Apple's next-generation "A6" system-on-a-chip and that support for LTE cellular connectivity will be included on some models.
Popular iPhone Twitter client Tweetbot has finally arrived on the iPad, with a user interface instantly familiar to any current Tweetbot user. Designed for the Twitter power-user, Tweetbot packs a lot of punch into an intuitive, slick interface, with unique functionality like Smart Gestures which give quick access to a variety of features through double or triple-taps.
The app is $2.99 and is a separate purchase from the iPhone app, a fact some users may dislike, but Tweetbot co-developer Paul Haddad explained his thoughts behind the pricing strategy to Business Insider:
People complain that it isn't $.99 or free. But we never said we'd make Tweetbot universal. If you look at the other paid universal Twitter clients they are for the most part $5 and I think we have more features than those, so we're comfortable with the pricing and having separate apps.
Also released today was Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone, bringing updated timeline, direct message, and reply views, as well as a number of other smaller changes. It's a solid upgrade that's free for current Tweetbot for iPhone users.
Tweetbot for iPad is available for $2.99 from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone is available for $2.99 from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Last month, we noted that Apple had signed a pair of leases for over 300,000 square feet of space in Sunnyvale, the company's first venture into the city next door to its home in Cupertino, California. The leases were said to be part of a larger effort in which Apple was looking to secure 700,000-800,000 square feet of space in Sunnyvale as it continues to grow and to tide it over until its massive new headquarters campus opens several years from now.
According to a press release (PDF) from the City of Sunnyvale, another piece of that plan has fallen into place with Apple's commitment to lease a new 156,000 square foot building in downtown Sunnyvale. Apple is said to be planning to move 400 employees to the building, which sits directly adjacent to a similar building where Nokia just last year consolidated the majority of its Bay Area operations.
Sunnyvale City Manager Gary Luebbers has announced that Apple will join the ranks of high-tech businesses located in downtown Sunnyvale. Apple will occupy the new 156,000 square-foot Town Center Office building at Mathilda and McKinley avenues.
“This is an important step forward,” said Luebbers. Our entire community will benefit as we see yet another large gain in the Town Center redevelopment project.”
Apple plans to occupy the new building in the third quarter of this year.
Apple's planned "spaceship campus" in Cupertino is set to offer 2.8 million square feet of space, but the structure will not be complete until 2015. In the meantime, Apple has continued to snap up real estate leases wherever it can in Cupertino and the surrounding area to accommodate its rapidly-growing workforce. Apple currently employs roughly 25,000 full-time non-retail employees, the vast majority of which operate out of or near the company's Cupertino headquarters.
Tech in Asia reports on an article [Google translation] from Chinese information technology website DoNews claiming that Apple is preparing to bring support for the Chinese language to Siri on the iPhone 4S next month. According to the report, Apple is also preparing to launch support for Japanese and Russian, but the initial Chinese support will only include Mandarin, with Cantonese and other dialects being left out for the time being.
The Chinese tech site DoNews claims to have heard from an Apple engineer who’s working on the Chinese-language version of Siri, the clever voice assistant on the iPhone 4S. From this source it claims that Siri will launch in Chinese next month, and is already undergoing internal testing this month. [...]
The rumor also contends that the Chinese version will only support the standard Mandarin (aka: putonghua) Chinese, which would leave out Cantonese-speaking people, as well as some Taiwan folk who effectively speak in a different dialect. Plus, it alleges that Japanese and Russian will arrive next month as well.
Siri currently supports only English (United States, United Kingdom and Australia), French, and German but in Apple's Siri FAQ the company promise support for additional languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian, and Spanish, this year.
Chinese support for Siri is likely a high priority for Apple, given the strong growth the company is experiencing in the country. The iPhone 4S launched on partner carrier China Unicom last month and rumors are swirling that it may debut on China Telecom in the very near future.
Japan is another key market for Apple, with the company having enjoyed long-standing popularity with users and where the iPhone 4S debuted as part of the first round of launches in mid-October. Apple has placed less emphasis on Russia, but along with Brazil, India, and China the country is considered to have one of the world's up-and-coming economies where Apple would certainly like gain momentum. The iPhone 4S launched there in mid-December.
Vonage has introduced yet another app to its growing mobile arsenal. The latest, called Vonage Mobile (not to be confused with another app called Vonage Mobile, introduced in 2009) adds a Skype-esque component to the old app's VoIP calling component.
Users with Vonage Mobile installed can make "high-definition" audio calls or SMS-type text messages over Wi-Fi and 3G to other Vonage Mobile users. Users can also make low-cost international calls with credits added via In-App Purchasing.
Calls to landline or wireless numbers in the US, Canada or Puerto Rico, from anywhere in the world, are free for a limited time -- Vonage expects to charge around a penny per minute for those calls eventually. The company believes its higher call-quality and competitive pricing will allow it to stand apart from competing apps like Skype.
Vonage Mobile is available free from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Dow Jones Newswires reports that Apple filed a letter with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) last November pushing for clarification on how standards-essential patents are intended to be licensed. These standards-essential patents are currently required to be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms in order to promote competition in the marketplace, but Apple claims that there is too much confusion in the industry about how such licensing should be handled.
Apple said in its letter--which was dated Nov. 11, but not previously disclosed--that the lack of clarity on what is fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory has led many companies to ask unusually high rates and sue one another claiming they infringed on one another's patents.
"It is apparent that our industry suffers from a lack of consistent adherence to Frand principles in the cellular standards arena," wrote Bruce Watrous, Apple's intellectual property head.
Apple has requested that the ETSI set "appropriate" royalty rates for FRAND patents in the wireless industry in order to help companies compete on a relatively even field with a clearer understanding of the costs involved in competing in the market. The company has also requested that FRAND patents not be used as the basis for requests for injunctions that would remove products from the market, given that those patents are intended to be licensed and that any negotiation roadblocks are related to the details of that licensing.
Apple certainly has a vested interest in seeing simplified FRAND patent licensing terms, given that it was a relatively late entrant into the mobile phone industry where the vast majority of patents covering the basic technologies are owned by other companies. While Apple has primarily relied on claims of design infringement and specific user interface functionalities in its efforts to block smartphone sales by its competitors, it has been the target of lawsuits based on more fundamental inventions.
In one example, Apple briefly pulled all of its 3G-capable iOS devices with the exception of the iPhone 4S from its German online store last week in the wake of a victory by Motorola Mobility in the ongoing patent dispute between the two companies.
That injunction was quickly suspended pending Apple's appeal of the ruling, with Apple arguing that the patents in question are subject to FRAND licensing requirements that are not being met by Motorola. Apple claims that Motorola has "demanded" a royalty rate of 2.5% to license the patent, a figure that would have resulted in Motorola receiving roughly $1 billion from Apple in 2011.
Sprint today became the last of the three major U.S. iPhone carriers to report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011, disclosing that it sold a total of 1.8 million iPhones during the quarter. While well below the 7.6 million activations reported by AT&T and the 4.3 million activations reported by Verizon, Sprint's iPhone surge helped it achieve a new record high subscriber base of 55 million customers.
Notably, 40% of Sprint's iPhone purchasers were new to the carrier, highlighting the device's ability to attract customers from other carriers. That percentage is on par with AT&T's reporting during its early quarters of iPhone availability, although that number has tapered off for AT&T over time as those who wanted to switch made the move and new carriers such as Verizon and now Sprint have leveled the playing field somewhat.
While Sprint was undoubtedly pleased with the impact of the iPhone on subscriber numbers, it did have a short-term impact on Sprint's earnings with margins being eroded by the upfront subsidies the carrier paid to Apple for the devices. Sprint's total subsidy payments increased roughly 40% year-over-year and sequentially, hitting $1.7 billion.
Between the iPhone launch and Sprint's "Network Vision" initiative to consolidate and simplify its network technology as it moves to 4G LTE, the carrier's operating income margin was sliced nearly in half, leading to a net loss of $1.3 billion for the carrier. That performance did, however, beat Wall Street expectations by a small amount, and the carrier views the short-term hit to profitability in attracting iPhone customers to be an investment in the carrier's future. Sprint's strategy in negotiating to land the iPhone did indeed involve an effort to "bet the company" on the iconic device as Sprint struggled to keep up with AT&T and Verizon.
As Intuit's Quicken options for Mac users continue to falter in the wake of a stripped-down Quicken Essentials release and the company's ongoing efforts to make the more fully-functional Quicken 2007 compatible with OS X Lion, other personal finance software firms have attempted to step into the void.
One of the more successful companies has been IGG Software with its iBank software, which is available as both a Mac application and a companion iPhone app. IGG Software has been teasing a few tidbits about its work on an iPad application over the past few months, and as noted in a new blog post today, the company appears to be making significant progress in moving toward the release of iBank Access for iPad. The forthcoming app will serve double duty as either a companion app to iBank for Mac or as a standalone personal finance app.
Among the most significant features of iBank Access is "Direct Access", IGG's new service that will provide users with significantly more options for automatically importing account data from their financial institutions.
After you enter valid credentials to log in to the bank’s website, you are given a list of accounts that you have at that financial institution – with the option of choosing which accounts you actually want in iBank. For example, many folks might have a checking, savings and even credit card all at the same bank and in the last screen you would be given the option to choose which of these you might not want to import. Most users will link all of the accounts. When the accounts are created, iBank imports available historical transactions associated with each account and even does some automatic categorization.
Here is where the beauty of our new aggregation system really begins to shine. Each time you launch the app, it goes out and fetches any new transactions. Unlike iBank for Mac, however, there is no separate window that appears where you have to manually verify which transactions to import. The new transactions just automatically appear conveniently marked.
In an effort to learn more about iBank Access and IGG's broader iBank efforts, MacRumors spoke with IGG's chief architect James Gillespie, a nearly 15-year veteran of Intuit who joined his brother Ian's company in 2008 to oversee iBank and other projects.
With the change to Direct Access for automatic syncing of information from over 5,000 financial institutions, iBank Access represents a paradigm shift for IGG in that it will require a small monthly fee ("in the range of a fancy cup of coffee") in order for users to take advantage of the service. Users who choose to manually import their transactions will not need to pay the monthly fee, but IGG believes that many will find the service worthwhile. Gillespie says:
Internally, people who have used it are very excited and love the experience. We plan on offering some sort of free trial so that everyone who wants to, can try it out. If people like it, then great - they can sign up, if they don't, then that is fine too. This is not something we are pushing for everyone, just for the people that want to import from their banks and not go through the Mac.
The new Direct Access capabilities will also eventually be making their way to iBank for Mac, increasing by tenfold the number of financial institutions able to feed data directly into iBank. For those users who prefer the existing OFX import solution, it will remain available.
Gillespie also notes that IGG is working on iCloud compatibility for its iBank products. MobileMe's iDisk service has been a popular method for iBank users to keep their data in sync, and IGG will continue to support iDisk syncing until Apple discontinues the service at the end of June. The transition to iCloud will be a relatively straightforward coming from iDisk, but will enable IGG to make further enhancements to syncing capabilities down the road.
We also asked Gillespie about the impact of the Mac App Store on iBank sales. iBank has been available in the Apple's marketplace for Mac software essentially from day one, and Gillespie notes that it has become the second-largest distribution channel for iBank, behind the boxed software and ahead of IGG's own download store. But sales have been increasing across the board, suggesting that Mac App Store sales are not cannibalizing other distribution channels and may indeed be helping to bring increased visibility for the company.
Finally, Gillespie shared details on some of IGG's recent hires, which have included two former Intuit employees who were core members of the team that led Mac software development and TurboTax for iPad development during their time there. With IGG providing them with a new home focused solely on Mac and iOS applications, the company believes that it has the right team in place to continue challenging Intuit in the personal finance software market.
iBank Access for iPad is still under development and IGG has not yet promised a release date, but the company is intending for it to launch sometime this summer.
Apple today announced that it will be supporting Paul McCartney's new album release with a special free video stream of a live concert on Thursday, February 9 [iTunes Store]. The concert is not only being streamed via iTunes on Mac and PC, but will also be available directly on users' Apple TVs, signaling new efforts by Apple to increase the utility of its set-top box.
To celebrate the release of Paul McCartney's latest album — available now — we're streaming his exclusive performance at Capitol Studios on February 9 at 7 p.m. (PST). Watch the concert on iTunes on your computer, or stream it on your TV using your Apple TV — just choose iTunes Live from the Internet menu.
The Paul McCartney promotion is not Apple's first foray into live streaming via iTunes, as the company has for the past several years hosted an annual concert festival in London. Apple has gradually ramped up its coverage of those concerts to include live video streaming through iTunes and even through an App Store app for the 2011 series.
While users could redirect the video from that app to an Apple TV via AirPlay, Apple's addition of the iTunes Live experience directly on the Apple TV itself for this Paul McCartney concert demonstrates how the company can deliver exclusive content to users' televisions and perhaps ultimately an Apple-branded television set in an easily-accessible manner.
Apple today released a series of three EFI firmware updates bringing Lion Internet Recovery to the company's Late 2010 MacBook Air, Mid-2010 iMac, and Early 2010 MacBook Pro. Available firmware updates include:
This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Air (Late 2010) models and addresses an issue where the system could restart if the power button is pressed immediately after waking from deep sleep.
This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Pro (Early 2010) models.
Apple introduced Lion Internet Recovery on new MacBook Air and Mac mini models introduced last July alongside OS X Lion itself. The feature adds a minimal bootable install onto a machine's firmware to allow it to connect the Internet and download the full Lion operating system for installation.
OS X Lion by default installs a recovery partition on the machine's hard drive for this purpose, but for users who are installing a blank hard drive or whose recovery partition becomes inaccessible, Internet Recovery provides yet another fallback option for Lion installation.
The company has extended the Lion Internet Recovery feature to a number of older Mac models over time, with the most recent addition coming two weeks ago and adding support for the Mid-2010 versions of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, white MacBook, and Mac mini. One notable exception is the Mac Pro, which has yet to see even the currently-shipping models support Lion Internet Recovery.
Apple didn't run any ads during the Super Bowl, at least not officially -- a fact that puzzled some commentators. But, as investment guru Jim Cramer points out, Apple did have an advertisement of sorts air during the Super Bowl.
After the game was over, Colts hall of famer Raymond Berry carrier the Vince Lombardi Trophy along a long line of New York Giants players. Players took turns touching or kissing the trophy, all the while taking photos and videos of the event. By far the most common device used to record the moment was the iPhone -- an event seen by millions.
And I said to myself, there it is, not some pet dangling a bag of chips or some headlights killing vampires or King Elton getting trapdoored. Nope, there was an ad worthy of Steve Jobs and the company he built.
Of course, it wasn't an ad. It was just a collection of the most cool, most idolized competitors in the world whipping out their favorite device, which they had on the field, ready for action.
[...]
In the end, it didn't matter. To me, the endorsement of Apple by real athletes who were not paid, especially when contrasted with the gift of the GM Corvette that Eli Manning didn't even seem to care about -- "Eli, the keys, the keys, don't forget the keys!" -- said it all.
A 30-second spot during the game cost advertisers $3.5 million. For 1 minute and 20 seconds, Giants players used their iPhones to capture a once-in-a-lifetime moment that tens of millions watched on television. Cramer believes that this, more than any anything else, was the best advertisement of the Super Bowl.
Apple today notified members of its iOS Developer Program of a new requirement that all screenshots being submitted for iPhone and iPod touch apps in the App Store must meet Retina resolution requirements, which come in at 960x640 on those devices. Any updates to existing apps must also include Retina screenshots, if they are not already present, before the updates will be approved by Apple.
Required iPhone & iPod touch Screenshot Upgrade for Retina Display
When you create or update your apps in iTunes Connect, you must upload screenshots that are high-resolution. We require your screenshots as high-resolution images so that your app is optimized for the Retina display.
The requirements for high-resolution images are 960 x 640, 960 x 600, 640 x 960, or 640 x 920 pixels. Images must be at least 72 dpi, in the RGB color space, and the file must be .jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff, or .png. You can update your screenshot files at any time in iTunes Connect.
Apple has long supported the inclusion of Retina screenshots for iPhone and iPod touch apps but has not required them, instead allowing developers to continue using non-Retina 480x320 screenshots that are then scaled up for viewing up on Retina devices. But with Retina displays having been included in the iPhone and iPod touch since 2010, the company clearly feels that developers should have already moved to the higher resolution and will not allow developers to update their apps going forward without making the necessary screenshot changes.
The iPad 3 is expected to appear within the next few months carrying a higher-resolution display that will utilize the same ideas as with the iPhone and iPod touch, doubling the display resolution in each dimension to 2048x1536 to allow for sharper content while easily maintaining compatibility with lower-resolution apps using pixel doubling. Apple is of course not yet soliciting developers for high-resolution versions of their existing iPad app screenshots, but enforcement of higher-resolution iPhone and iPod touch screenshot requirements will also make those App Store images appear sharper on both current and future iPads.
Much has been made of the recent comment by Apple CEO Tim Cook that the Apple board of directors has been "actively discussing" what to do with its enormous cash pile. Some see it as a sign that Apple will soon pay a dividend or initiate a share buyback program -- except Apple's board has been discussing what to do with its cash for nearly 7 years.
MacRumors went through Seeking Alpha's entire Apple earnings call transcript history to find out what Apple has been saying about the likelihood of a dividend. Between July of 2005 and October of 2010, Apple execs had very little to say about what Apple was going to do with its burgeoning cash pile -- a pile that grew from $7.5 billion to $51 billion over that time.
July 2005 was the earliest transcript, and the first time an Apple exec said that the board "from time to time" considered its options for the use of Apple's cash. CFO Peter Oppenheimer on July 13, 2005:
I don’t have a change in our philosophy that I can share with you today. We are maintaining our cash for flexibility to invest in the business and share buyback are considered with the Board from time to time.
Then-COO Tim Cook used the same phrasing on April 20, 2006:
Regarding our use of cash, we are continuing to be conservative with the cash, despite some of the investments we made this quarter. We’re wanting to retain it for flexibility to invest in the business. We do discuss with the board from time to time share buyback, but don't have a change in philosophy to discuss with you today.
Finally, after twelve conference calls during which Apple's cash pile was discussed and the phrase "from time to time" used on six separate occasions, CEO Steve Jobs appeared on October 18, 2010 and laid out a more detailed vision for Apple's investment strategy:
We strongly believe that one or more very strategic opportunities may come along that we're in a unique position to take advantage of because of our strong cash position. And I think we've demonstrated a really strong track record of being very disciplined with the use of our cash. We don't let it burn a hole in our pocket, we don't allow it to motivate us to do stupid acquisitions.
And so I think that we'd like to continue to keep our powder dry because we do feel that there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future. That's the biggest reason. And there are other reasons as well that we could go into. But that's the biggest one.
Newly appointed Apple CEO Tim Cook expanded on Jobs' thoughts a year later, perhaps indicating a more flexible approach to disclosure and Apple's use of cash. October 18, 2011:
I believe what we're doing with cash, the way we're -- this cash that we do spend we're doing an extremely good job of it and we're very frugal about using it and using it in the right places. That said, I'm not religious about holding cash or not holding it. I'm religious about a lot of things but not that one. And so we will continually ask ourselves what's in Apple's best interest and always do what we believe is in Apple's best interest. And so it's a topic for the board on an ongoing basis, and we'll continue to discuss it.
With Apple nearing $100 billion in cash, COO Peter Oppenheimer addressed the issue again on January 24 of this year, during the introductory remarks and the Q&A session when he answered four separate questions about cash:
We have always discussed, internally as a management team and with our board, our cash. We recognize that the cash is growing for all the right reasons and I would characterize our discussions today as active about what makes the most sense to do with the cash balance, but we don't have anything to announce specifically today.
[...]
We're examining all uses of our cash balance, what we might do in the supply chain, what we can do from an acquisition perspective and otherwise. Since I don't have any perspective to share with you today, specifically on dividends or buybacks, other than again, we are actively discussing the cash balance. And in the meantime, we're not letting it burn a hole in our pockets.
Analysts have inquired about Apple's cash plans for more than half a decade, and Apple, as it is wont to do, has said very little of substance. Apple execs have consistently said that they have "nothing to share" and that "it's a topic for the board on an ongoing basis".
This may be changing, however -- a UBS research report noted that the Apple board's ongoing discussions may be progressing slightly. UBS's Bob Faulkner writes "We ... understand that management has been soliciting the opinions of large shareholders on the subject [of paying a dividend]." If this is true, it is a significant shift in direction for the company.
That said, Apple has been growing its sales and profits like no other company in the world. Some may feel that, as the adage goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Perhaps the board's ongoing discussions will finally come to some sort of a conclusion, but no one should be surprised if they don't.
Apple's vice president for iPhone and iPod engineering David Tupman has left the company, according to 9to5Mac. While not a member of the senior executive team, Tupman spent a decade at Apple and has been considered to be one of the key iOS hardware executives reporting to senior vice president Bob Mansfield.
Weeks before the introduction of the first iPod, Apple hired Tupman, and he soon became Apple’s vice president of iPod engineering.
He had a big hand in the development and success of every iPod released to date, and when it was time to build the iPhone, Tupman joined the team behind that product, too. As Apple shifted its engineering resources to its mobile line of products, Tupman was named Vice President of iPod and iPhone Engineering— a major role at Apple. Besides playing a major part in growing Apple’s mobile device business into one of the most successful businesses ever, Tupman has his name on at around 70 Apple technology patents, such as power and battery life management, noise-canceling ear buds, Apple’s tiny iPhone power adapters, and mobile device interaction with accessories.
Tupman's future plans remain unknown, although we understand that he has been taking some personal time following his long term of service at Apple.
Apple is said to be searching internally for Tupman's replacement, but has apparently not yet named a successor.
Ever since the iPad was introduced two years ago, its potential to revolutionize the restaurant industry has been widely touted, with some restaurants already moving to replace their traditional point-of-sale devices with iPads and companies such as Square seeking to fill that need.
And while iPads in restaurants have been catching on here and there, the concept could be ripe for major expansion if a pilot program from restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings proves worthwhile. As detailed by Computerworld, Buffalo Wild Wings is expanding an initial pilot program at one of its Toronto area locations to a new location in Minneapolis, stocking each table with an iPad to allow customers to place their own orders and browse the Internet.
"Ultimately, we are trying to use the technology to enhance the customer experience," [Buffalo Wild Wings director of international business Tim Murphy] said in an interview. "People are familiar with iPads, iPhones and Android tablets, so this would enhance that."
The chain hasn't decided whether to combine purchasing from the device with purely entertainment uses, something it hopes to measure in its tests, Murphy said.
The iPad project has seen Buffalo Wild Wings partner with HubWorks Interactive, which offers several different mobile ordering platforms for the iPad along with a case that offers security and protection, a kickstand, a credit card reader, and extended power capabilities including AC power or up to 16 hours of battery life. The company sells basic iPad packages for $750 apiece.
Rather than bolting or tethering the iPads to the tables, Buffalo Wild Wings has opted to equip each device with an RFID chip to serve as a deterrent to theft.
The report notes that social restaurants such as Buffalo Wild Wings are ideal environments for the iPad, with the restaurants typically catering to larger crowds where at least some members have an interest in staying for extended periods of time and watching sports on the numerous televisions mounted around the dining areas.
In the first test, while men in a group typically watched a football or hockey game, women in the group would pick up the iPad and launch Facebook, Murphy said. "We have a very captive audience with good sales volume in our restaurants, so we view this iPad as a way for customers to stay connected socially and not have to use their own device."
Buffalo Wild Wings continues to explore all options for the iPad in its restaurants, considering integration of mobile advertising to help offset costs and discussing the possibility of using camera-equipped iPad models to allow video chatting at tables.
Popular iPhone Twitter client Tweetbot has finally 
Last month, we 
Sprint today became the last of the three major U.S. iPhone carriers to 
Apple today notified members of its iOS Developer Program of a new requirement that all screenshots being submitted for iPhone and iPod touch apps in the App Store must meet Retina resolution requirements, which come in at 960x640 on those devices. Any updates to existing apps must also include Retina screenshots, if they are not already present, before the updates will be approved by Apple.
Much has been made of the recent comment by Apple CEO Tim Cook that the Apple board of directors has been "actively discussing" what to do with its enormous cash pile. Some see it as a sign that Apple will soon 
Apple's vice president for iPhone and iPod engineering 
Ever since the iPad was introduced two years ago, its potential to revolutionize the restaurant industry has been widely touted, with some restaurants already moving to replace their traditional point-of-sale devices with iPads and companies such as 
