MacRumors

Apple today seeded a new version of 10.9.3 to employees, reports 9to5Mac, but more importantly, the company also launched a new iTunes 11.1.6 beta, which includes an important syncing feature that has been missing since the launch of Mavericks.

According to the release notes, iTunes 11.1.6 "restores the ability to sync contacts and calendar information to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from your Mac running OS X 10.9.3."

When iOS 7 and Mavericks were introduced back in September, Apple removed local syncing in favor of cloud syncing, allowing users to sync calendars, contacts, bookmarks, and notes only via iCloud. Many users were unhappy with the feature removal and their inability to sync information to their iOS devices using their Macs.

Apple's Support Communities has a 212 page thread on the issue, and MacRumors has received multiple complaints about the removal of local sync since Mavericks was released. It appears that the next version of Mavericks and iTunes 11.1.6 will restore the feature, once again allowing users to sync locally.

At the current point in time, iTunes 11.16 and the newest version of OS X 10.9.3 are only available to Apple employees, but the betas should be seeded to developers in the near future.

As promised, Google today announced its "Android Wear" project, which is designed to bring Android to wearable devices. To begin with, Android Wear will be focused on watches that will come in a range of styles from several different manufacturers.

Most of us are rarely without our smartphones in hand. These powerful supercomputers keep us connected to the world and the people we love. But we're only at the beginning; we've barely scratched the surface of what's possible with mobile technology. That's why we’re so excited about wearables—they understand the context of the world around you, and you can interact with them simply and efficiently, with just a glance or a spoken word.

Android Wear for watches is designed to offer several functions over basic time telling. The app will provide notifications, messages, and updates from social networking apps and it will include Google Now capabilities allowing users to say "Ok Google" to ask questions, send texts, set alarms, and more. The "Ok, Google" function can also be used to control other devices, pulling up a music playlist on a phone or casting a movie to the TV.

Android Wear is also designed to be health-oriented, providing reminders for exercise goals and fitness summaries. Fitness apps designed to be compatible with Android Wear will be able to give real-time speed, distance, and time information.

Google's Android developer site has gained a new section focused on wearables. Developers can obtain a Developer Preview of the software, designed to allow them to tailor existing app notifications for watches that will be powered by Android Wear.

Google has plans to release additional developer resources and APIs in the near future and has announced partnerships with several different electronics manufacturers including Asus, HTC, LG, Motorola, and Samsung, which could see a range of wearable Android-based devices appearing later this year. LG, for example, will launch a watch next quarter with Android, and Motorola has its own Android Wear watch in the works.

The company is also partnering with chip makers Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, Mediatek, and Qualcomm, plus fashion brands including the Fossil Group to introduce watches powered by Android Wear in 2014.

With today's launch of a new 8 GB iPhone 5c, much discussion has been centered around the observation that the new model is available in only a handful of countries: the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China. In a statement to Re/code, Apple reveals that its strategy is to offer a lower-cost option that is compatible with LTE networks in countries where those networks are seeing rapid growth.

“The mid-tier iPhone segment is growing year-over-year and the 8GB model provides a more affordable option for markets where LTE is becoming more established,” an Apple representative told Re/code. The iPhone 5c, unlike the iPhone 4s, which is also still sold, supports LTE networks.

The report notes that Apple may prefer not to sell the 8 GB iPhone 5c in the United States because of the popularity of subsidized phones, which sees the 16 GB model being offered for $99 or even less on a two-year contract. There are, however, plenty of other countries where subsidies are not common and where Apple has elected not to offer the new 8 GB model. The business model is even changing in the United States, where T-Mobile has led a charge to decouple device pricing from service plans. Under the new models, carriers are offering interest-free payment plans on devices and charging users separately for their service.

After the fourth-generation iPad reappeared on Apple's online storefront earlier today, the company has issued a press release confirming the return of the device to the company's product lineup. The iPad with Retina Display will replace the iPad 2 as the company's entry-level full-sized tablet option.

“Now for $399 customers can get iPad with a stunning 9.7-inch Retina display, fast A6X chip, and 5MP iSight camera, offering a dramatic upgrade in power, performance and value compared to the iPad 2 it replaces,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iPad line sets the gold-standard in mobile computing and all iPads have access to the largest and best ecosystem of more than 500,000 iPad optimized apps from the App Store.”

The 16 GB WiFi-only iPad 4 is available for $399, while the WiFi + Cellular model starts at $529 in the U.S., with both black and white color options available. The iPad with Retina Display will be sold through the Apple Online Store, Apple's retail stores and select Authorized Apple Resellers. Customers looking for additional storage capacity beyond 16 GB must purchase the iPad Air, which is available in 16, 32, 64 and 128 GB options.

In line with earlier rumors, Apple today also started selling a new 8 GB iPhone 5c in select countries. The new 8 GB model with five color options is available in Apple's UK online store for £429 unlocked, making it £40 cheaper than the comparable 16 GB model.

Distribution of the new lower-capacity model is, however, rather limited, with Apple confirming to Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt that the 8 GB model will only be available in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China.

As indicated by multiple reports yesterday, Apple has officially launched an 8 GB version of the iPhone 5c and relaunched a 16 GB version of the previously-discontinued fourth-generation iPad. The 8 GB iPhone 5c is currently being sold in Apple's European Online Stores for £429 unlocked in all of the existing color options, where it is £40 cheaper than the 16 GB model and is expected to become available in the U.S. later today. The 16 GB iPad 4 is available worldwide and retails in Apple's U.S. Online Store for $399, while customers may also purchase a cellular version for $130 more at $529.

The relaunch of the 16 GB iPad 4 has resulted in Apple discontinuing the three-year-old iPad 2, although the company's European stores still currently show the iPhone 4S being sold alongside the new 8 GB iPhone 5c.

Apple's iPhone 5c has seen lower-than-expected sales since its debut last September due to high demand for the flagship iPhone 5s. The move also comes amid a renewed push by Apple to promote the iPhone 5c, as the company has debuted a new set of playful dot-centric for the phone on popular blogging platform Tumblr as well as the front page of Yahoo.com and in recent issues of The New York Times.

Meanwhile, the iPad 4 has been brought back into Apple's lineup after being removed in favor of the iPad Air last October. However, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in February that the company would shift from the iPad 2 to the iPad 4, as the latter sports Apple's A6X chip and 1GB memory compared to the former's A5 processor and 512 MB of memory.

Both devices are available to order from Apple's Online Store or through the company's retail locations.

Apple supplier Pegatron is expected to start production on the iPhone 6 in the second quarter of this year at its new Kunshan, China plant, reports the Commercial Times [Google Translate].

Pegatron is already opening up a new factory space and recruiting workers in China in an effort to meet orders to manufacture the new phone, says Reuters. In early January, it was reported that Pegatron was expected to win a new contract to manufacture half of the iPhone 6's supplies. Previously, Pegatron was responsible for assembling the iPad mini and iPhone 5c, while Apple's main supplier, Foxconn, assembled many of the iPhone 5s units.

While the newspaper reported production would start ramping up in the second quarter, it did not report when the phone could come out, how many units Pegatron would manufacture, or how many workers the company was hiring. However, they do note that fellow Apple supplier Hon Hai would be the other primary manufacturer of the phone.

In 2013 Apple shifted iPhone 5c production to Pegatron in order to improve supply chain risk management, allowing Apple to expand its supply lines and minimize risk of potential supply chain disasters.

The iPhone 6 has been rumored to launch with two different versions of the phone, one with a 4.7-inch display and one with a 5.7-inch display. While there is no rumored release timeframe for the device, Apple typically releases its new iPhone models in the fall.

Microsoft will launch its Office suite on the iPad at a media event on March 27 according to a report from The Verge. The suite -- including Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- has been in the works for years, with recent reports saying the lack of Office on the iPad was costing Microsoft as much as $2.5 billion per year.

The company released a version of Office on the iPhone last year, part of its Office 365 subscription service, and The Verge says the iPad version will also require a 365 subscription.

Microsoft has been working on the software for a number of months now, having first introduced an iOS version of Office for the iPhone in June last year. We understand the iPad variant of Office will be similar to the iPhone version, and will require an Office 365 subscription for editing. We’re told that document creation and editing is fully supported for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps. Overall, the interface and features are expected to be similar to the existing iPhone version.

The site says new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will expand on his "mobile first, cloud first" strategy, something demonstrated by the free launch of the Mac version of OneNote earlier today.

Microsoft is also said to have an update for Office for Mac coming in the Spring of 2014.

Update 4:44PM PDT: Twitter user @rgonzalezagui posted what he says is a screenshot of Office for iPad leaked by a Microsoft employee:

Apple's Mac Pro only supports installations of Windows 8 or later with Boot Camp, according to an updated Apple Support document that lists versions of Windows compatible with the 2013 Mac Pro.

Boot Camp Assistant on the Mac Pro also specifies that it only includes support for Windows 8 or later, as evidenced in a screenshot from Twocanoes Software (via MacWindows) indicating that users are not able to install earlier versions of Windows. The 2013 Mac Pro is the first Mac that does not include support for Windows 7 with Boot Camp 5.

It is unclear why Apple has chosen to drop support for Windows 7 on the Mac Pro, but it could be a sign that the company intends to discontinue support for the operating system in future Macs given its advanced age.

This decision may not sit well with users, as Windows 8, released in 2012, has not been particularly popular. As of this month, Windows 8 and 8.1 only represented 10.68 percent of total worldwide OS market share, while Windows 7 represented 47.31 percent. Combined, Windows is installed on 90.84 percent of the world's computers.

Apple's upcoming iPhone 6 is widely rumored to include a larger display, which could encourage a significant number of users to upgrade in 2014, according to analyst Brian Marshall of ISI Group, who released a note to investors today.

Echoing past iPhone 6 rumors, Marshall suggests Apple will release two versions of the phone, one with a 4.7-inch screen and one with a 5.5-inch screen. The launch of two phones, both of which offer a total redesign of the existing 4-inch iPhone 5s, could spark a massive upgrade cycle.

Apple's current installed base is estimated to be at 260 million users, and ISI Group calculates that half of today's iPhone purchases are made by upgraders, users who are upgrading their iPhones from an existing iPhone to a new version of the product.

ISI indicates that while the upgrade rate (percentage of installed base upgrading devices in a given quarter) was at 10 to 11 percent in 2011–2012, it has now dropped to approximately 9 percent because users have fewer reasons to upgrade with the iPhone 5c and 5s not introducing any significant design changes.

Peak quarters have seen upgrade rates of 12 to 14 percent, and ISI expects a similar upgrade rate during the second half of 2014 when the iPhone 6 is launched, resulting in a higher number of sales. An iPhone 6 with an increased screen size may also lure customers who have switched to Android from the iPhone because of the latter's lack of a large display.

"Large-screen envy" is prevalent among the iPhone installed base and we believe a ~5” form-factor iPhone would spark a massive upgrade cycle as well as many "Android switchers" returning back to the iPhone (we refer to this as the “mother lode” of all Apple upgrade cycles).

Citing both "large-screen envy" and "pent-up demand" ISI Group suggests the new iPhone 6 models could result in an extra $3.00 earnings per share following release in the second half of 2014.

Higher demand for an iPhone during a redesign year is not unreasonable, as it has now been two years since the 2012 introduction of the iPhone 5. While the iPhone 5s included multiple internal improvements and the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, it retained the same 4-inch display and design of the iPhone 5, as did the iPhone 5c, which was just a repackaging of the existing model.

Late last week, shares of InvenSense rose on rumors that the company had won a contract to supply sensors for Apple's upcoming iPhone 6. InvenSense supplies sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes to major phone manufacturers, but the company has yet to publicly land a deal with Apple. The validity of the rumor seems up for debate, however, as a Needham & Company analyst soon released a note saying that he "did not get the impression" from InvenSense's CEO and CFO that such an agreement was in place. Of course, that information would be under a strict non-disclosure agreement with Apple, severely limiting what InvenSense executives could tell the analyst.

Regardless, The Motley Fool speculates on what InvenSense could bring to Apple. While InvenSense could offer drop-in replacements for the current gyroscope and accelerometer sensors in the iPhone, the company also provides Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) technology for mobile phones:

There's one additional socket that InvenSense could win on the iPhone -- an OIS gyroscope. The burgeoning technology is used to improve smartphone camera's by stabilizing the image using a gyroscope. Samsung neglected to use the technology in the Galaxy S5, but Apple may decide to integrate it into the iPhone 6. If it does, InvenSense is a clear choice.

Optical Image Stabilization remains relatively new in the smartphone market, and uses a motion-tracking system to compensate for device shakiness, allowing for sharper photos and video. This video demonstrates the product:

Apple presently offers software-based image stabilization in its iPhone 5s, but has definitely been researching optical image stabilization for the iPhone. Earlier this year, an Apple patent application detailing an OIS system was published. The employee who authored that patent was hired by Apple in 2012 from a company working on the same optical image stabilization technology.

Whether or not Apple is actually planning on incorporating Optical Image Stabilization technology in the next iPhone or not, it's clear the company's engineers are working on it. Historically, Apple has made steady improvements to the iPhone camera with each subsequent generation, and the last several generations have focused on image quality improvements rather than simply increasing megapixel counts.

In line with a report from last week, Microsoft today launched OneNote for the Mac, making several significant changes to the service for both mobile and desktop users. The biggest change is in pricing with OneNote now free across all supported platforms for personal use. The free Mac app also includes 7GB of free OneDrive storage space, which can be expanded by subscribing to Office 365.

The Mac version is very similar to the Windows version with only a few subtle visual differences. Both versions share the same notebook metaphor, ribbon interface and freeform note-taking features.

Along with a Mac version, Microsoft also is releasing a OneNote clipper browser plug-in for Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Mac Safari that allows users to save clippings from webpages. This feature is being extended to third-party apps via a new cloud API that provides developers with the ability to integrate OneNote clipping into their apps.

Other new tools in OneNote include Office Lens, which allows users to take a picture of a document and immediately import it into their OneNote QuickNotes with text recognition. Microsoft also enabled a OneNote email service that provides users with the ability to create new QuickNotes using a unique onenote.com email account.

Microsoft OneNote for the Mac [Direct Link] is available for free from the Mac App Store. While the consumer version is free, Microsoft is still offering a paid business version with premium features like Outlook integration and SharePoint support. New partner apps with support for OneNote include Feedly, IFTTT, News360 and Weave.

The Atlantic Coast Conference and college sports site Campus Insiders have teamed up to launch a new "ACC Sports" channel for the Apple TV today, offering video highlights, features, and other clips related to the conference's 15 member schools. A separate Campus Insiders tab within the app includes a smaller amount of content from other college athletic conferences around the country.

The channel does not currently offer any live video content, although it is certainly possible such offerings could be added in the future.

Campus Insiders has agreements with a number of college conferences to offer live video streaming of certain competitions in a variety of sports through the firm's website, and the launch of an ACC Sports channel for Apple TV could be a prelude to a broader effort by Campus Insiders that would be able to bring streaming of these events directly to Apple's set-top box.

Today's launch is the latest in a long line of new Apple TV channels introduced over the last months as Apple has worked to rapidly expand content available on the set-top box. New Apple TV 6.1 software released last week makes it easier for users to hide unwanted channels from the main Apple TV screen, helping them manage the growing number of available channels. Apple has also been rumored to be on the verge of introducing a revamped version of the Apple TV, perhaps opening it up to third-party developers to support games and other apps.

Apple's rumored "Healthbook" app for iOS 8 may be the company's first big push into the current health and fitness craze that is being fueled by wearable technology, and a new report from 9to5Mac offers a look at what users can expect from the app as well as a few renderings of the app said to be recreated from actual screenshots.

The renderings show a Passbook-inspired user interface with cards for different heath and fitness data points, with the app able to keep track of vitals mentioned in previous rumors such as heart rate, hydration, blood pressure, physical activity and more. Notably missing from the renders are parameters for other topic such as stress and pregnancy tracking, which had been suggested in a separate report from MobiHealthNews last month.

Each category of functionality is a card in the Healthbook. Cards are distinguished by a color, and the tabs can be arranged to fit user preferences. As can be seen in the above images, Healthbook has sections that can track data pertaining to bloodwork, heart rate, hydration, blood pressure, physical activity, nutrition, blood sugar, sleep, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and weight.

A big chunk of the Healtbook app will be dedicated to measurable health parameters such as blood sugar levels, oxygen saturation, bloodwork values and more. The blood sugar tracking would let diabetics enter their daily or weekly glucose levels and track changes over time, while the bloodwork tab would allow users to enter the results of routine bloodwork tests that are used to screen for overall nutrition as well as heart, kidney or liver disease. When combined, these parameters will provide the user and their doctor with a snapshot of the person's overall health at any given time.

Another focus of the app is fitness, with the ability to track activity levels, nutrition, and weight changes over time. Data in these tabs would provide detailed analysis of calories burned, BMI, body fat percentage and more. This section, which also includes sleep tracking and hydration measurement, provides the user with an overview of their fitness and allows them to monitor any changes over time.

The mechanisms by which the app will retrieve this health and fitness data, especially the more difficult to measure vitals such as hydration and blood sugar, are not clear, although it is likely the app will utilize some combination of the iPhone's M7 motion coprocessor, third-party devices, third-party apps and Apple's own wearable devices such as the rumored iWatch.

Thanks to the capabilities of the iPhone 5s’s M7 motion co-processor, Healthbook could technically receive steps, miles walked, and caloric data from the iPhone itself. However, that is where the M7 stops being useful for Healthbook. Blood, hydration, and respiratory rate information would clearly need to come from other sources.

Apple has been hiring health and fitness experts to build out its iWatch team, and is rumored to be using this expertise in the development of its first wearable device. The iWatch is rumored to launch later this year, and Healthbook should debut as part of iOS 8 in a similar timeframe late this year.