There's been quite a few attempts at creating a physical game controller for the iPhone. The most successful of which has probably been the ThinkGeek iCade.
Despite a few other promising starts, it seems the main hurdle has been Apple allowing unfettered access between said game controllers and the iOS devices themselves. As a result, most game controllers have relied on emulating a Bluetooth keyboard to interface with the iPhone or iPad. While it works well enough for digital controls such as the iCade, full analog stick control has remained elusive.
A company called 60beat is now offering their solution which does offer dual analog sticks as well as a number of other standard directional controls and buttons. The 60beat GamePad connects through the headphone jack of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to accomplish this task:
Games have to be programmed to support the new device, of course. At present only 2 games support the 60beat GamePad, but a "full collection" of supported games are said to be added in February 2012. The GamePad is priced at $49.99 with supported games sold separately.
There have been an increasing number of rumors about the next generation iPad which is expected to launch sometime in early 2012. Digitimes is the source for many of these reports, but some of the claims are becoming increasingly questionable.
The latest report from the publication now claims that Apple will unveil its next generation iPad at the Macworld|iWorld conference on January 26th, 2012.
Aside from a surprise Apple return to Macworld|iWorld, Digitimes also reports that the new iPads will keep 9.7" screens, carry 1536x2048 Retina Displays, A6 processors, 5-megapixel and 8-megapixel cameras, and over double the battery capacity (6500mAH -> 14,000mAH) for the higher end model.
The two new models are described as targetting the mid-range and high-end segments.
Digitimes has a bit of mixed record on Apple rumors with our internal tracking putting their accuracy at 55%. Examining the rumor more closely, this isn't the first time that a high end or "HD" iPad has been suggested. ThisIsMyNext suggested this possibility back in July. At the time, this "iPad HD" was described as a "pro" device aimed at video and photo professionals. While Apple is widely expected to introduce an Retina-display iPad at some point in 2012, the most recent prevailing rumors have not been suggesting that Apple would split the iPad line into mid and high range models.
High end iPad questions aside, the other even harder-to-believe claim from Digitimes is the launch of any new device at the Macworld|iWorld conference. Apple officially withdrew from Macworld in December 2008, and Apple's last official presence at the show was in January 2009. Apple had said at the time that trade shows were becoming a very minor part of Apple's overall strategy. They company has been able to successfully launch products on their own timetable by simply holding their own media events with a single week's notice.
Macworld has continued on with Apple's absence, but with a smaller presence than before. This year, the conference was rebranded to Macworld|iWorld, reflecting the increasing importance of the iOS ecosystem.
Bloomberg takes a look at the ongoing patent battle between Apple and a number of manufacturers of Android-based mobile hardware, suggesting that continued offensive action seeking to block competitors from using Apple's intellectual property may prove riskier for shareholders than licensing the technology.
“A scorched-earth strategy is bad news because it doesn’t optimize the value of their patents -- because people will get around them,” said [intellectual property advisor Kevin] Rivette, whose clients include Android licensees. “It’s like a dam. Using their patents to keep rivals out of the market is like putting rocks in a stream. The stream is going to find a way around. Wouldn’t it be better to direct where the water goes?”
Rivette suggests that Apple could probably extract about $10 in licensing fees for each Android handset sold, but with Apple having a war chest of over $80 billion already, the company could use its intellectual property as leverage in other ways if it opted to settle with its opponents.
The company could offer to drop its more than two dozen patent claims against Samsung in exchange for an agreement to hold off using Apple technology for six months or a year, he said. Cook could also try to get price breaks or guarantees that would give it greater access to Samsung parts, Rivette said.
Other industry experts take something of an opposing view, noting that Apple has yet to face any significant threat from its competitors on the intellectual property front, and in the meantime those competitors are being slowed by Apple's aggressive legal actions.
“Apple has the patents, the money and the expertise to go to war,” [MDB Capital Group chairman Christopher] Marlett said. “I just don’t see why Apple would seek détente, since they’re the clear leader. Until they’re hit with an injunction by Google or Samsung, they don’t need to get serious about licensing.”
But even those who believe that Apple's strategy remains viable for now suggest that at some point the company will need to shift course and reach settlements. With innovation obviously still continuing in the industry and an increasing number of players participating in it, it seems likely that Apple will at some point find itself on the losing end of a significant intellectual property suit.
Once competitors begin to land victories over Apple, as Samsung has been attempting with lawsuits over 3G-related patents, Apple may find it beneficial to settle the ongoing lawsuits to bring some stability back to the market.
Following up on yesterday's report claiming that Apple's supply chain is set to begin gearing up for the introduction of 32-inch and 37-inch television sets in 2012, Digitimes now claims to have received more information about companies likely to play roles in supplying components for the products. Among the highest-profile companies involved in the rumors is Apple's primary iOS device manufacturing partner, Foxconn, which is said to also be likely to win the contract for assembly of the television set products.
Following sources' claims that Samsung Electronics and Sharp will manufacture chips and displays, respectively, for the so-called Apple "iTV," others have suggested that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) have the potential to win orders for Apple's smart TV.
Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) likely will obtain assembly orders for the Apple smart TV, according to industry sources.
The report goes on to note that Apple is expected to finalize the device design by the end of the second quarter and launch the television sets by the end of the year, claims which are slightly at odds with yesterday's report citing a launch targeted for the second or third quarter.
Separately, AppleInsider and Forbes report on a new research note from Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, who suggests that Apple may be interested in disrupting the television industry on the content side by launching its own à la carte live television programming services.
"This is obviously much more complicated (than current offerings) from a licensing standpoint," Wu wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday. "And in our view, would change the game for television and give AAPL a big leg-up against the competition."
Hardware and technology are not the issues holding back Apple from releasing a television set, he said. Instead, Apple must negotiate unique content deals that will allow the company to differentiate its product from other televisions on the market.
Apple has been said to have developed "new technology" for delivering video content to televisions, and had previously been rumored to be expressing interest in shaking up television with "best of television" subscription packages through iTunes. Resistance from content providers had, however, forced Apple to put those plans on hold.
Earlier this month, leaked information suggested that Intel's next-generation mobile Ivy Bridge processors would debut in May, with a few models perhaps becoming available in April. The mobile Ivy Bridge processors are expected to be used in Apple's MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini lines.
A new report from Digitimes indicates, however, that the first Ivy Bridge processors may launch as early as April 8th, with both the mobile processors and desktop processors such as those used in the iMac debuting around the same timeframe.
Desktop CPUs to be unveiled include quad-core Core i7-3770K, 3770, 3770S, 3770T, and Core i5-3570, 3550 and 3450, with prices ranging from US$184-332. Additionally, the Core i5-3470T will be available in May priced at US$184. [...]
Notebook CPUs Core i7-3920Qm, 3820QM and 3720QM will be released in April priced at US$1,096, US$568 and US$378, respectively. Other models including Core i5-3520M, 3360M, 3320M and ultrabook CPUs Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U will be unveiled later.
While the report also appears to confuse chipsets being released at the same time with the processors themselves, information on specific processor models does help offer some picture of what Apple might be able to accomplish in terms of updated machines.
The 3820QM and 3720QM processors in particular appear to be the natural successors to Apple's current processor options in the high-end 15" and 17" MacBook Pro models. Apple's upgrade route in many other cases is less clear given the company's propensity to use custom-produced chips and a limited first wave of Ivy Bridge processors. The Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U processors appear to be the only processors in the initial wave of Ivy Bridge processors to meet the thermal design requirements for the MacBook Air, with those processors apparently set for the later May debut.
Apple has been rumored to be launching a new 15" MacBook Pro with "Retina" display technology in the second quarter of 2012, matching the Ivy Bridge launch timeline. A new 15" MacBook Air has also been rumored alongside an update for the rest of the line in the first quarter of 2012. But with the appropriate Ivy Bridge processors apparently not debuting until May, it is unclear how Apple would meet this timeline.
While it seems obvious that the holiday gift-giving season is a strong driver for iOS device sales, as evidenced in part by past history and Apple's forecast of a blockbuster quarter, it is generally difficult to quantify that holiday boost before Apple reports device sales as part of its quarterly earnings or makes public statements about App Store milestones.
A couple of analytics firms have, however, put out reports today seeking to offer some measure of the bump in demand for iOS devices and those of competing platforms such as Android.
According to Flurry, both iOS and Android saw a "massive influx" of devices registering on the firm's servers, coming in through the over 140,000 apps using Flurry Analytics. Data collated by Flurry shows that combined new device activations for iOS and Android rose from an average of 1.5 million per day during the first three weeks of December to 6.8 million devices on Christmas Day, an increase of 353%. This compares to a total of 2.8 million new devices detected on the previous record-setting day of Christmas 2010.
All of those new device activations also drove increased App Store activity, with Flurry measuring an increase of 125% in iOS and Android app downloads on Christmas Day compared to the early December baseline. Flurry's data shows that the 242 million app downloads on Christmas Day spiked from an average of 108 million per day during the first three weeks of the month. Flurry notes that the increase in app downloads is smaller than that for new device activations on a percentage basis due to the higher baseline from apps being installed onto the already-large installed base of devices.
Illustrating how different analytics firms can see somewhat different patterns due in part to what data is used for baseline purposes, Localytics issued a report showing iOS device activations coming in more than 12 times higher during the holiday weekend than they did during previous weekends. The increase was over 15x for iOS devices as a whole in the United States, with the iPod performing strongly at a 21x increase due to the relative lower cost and lack of service contract, factors which make them relatively more popular as gifts than iPhones or iPads.
Comparing iOS to Android, Localytics found that Android also grew at approximately 12.5x over baseline. Localytics also looked at country-by-country comparisons, showing iOS outpacing Android in terms of growth in the United States, Germany, and the UK, while Android performed better in most of the other top countries.
BGR reports that Apple is planning to launch a completely redesigned iPhone in the fall of next year, following the trend set by the iPhone 4S of new hardware being released later in the year as opposed to the mid-year timeframe used previously.
According the report, the next iPhone will utilize an aluminum back panel rather than the glass found on the iPhone 4 and 4S. The new design will reportedly also see the incorporation of a rubber or plastic bezel covering similar to that used on Apple's iPhone bumpers, with the covering serving to protect the device's antennas from direct skin contact.
We have also learned that Apple is planning to use a rubber or plastic material — similar to the material used in the company’s bumper cases — that will be built into the new iPhone case. In all likelihood, this material will be used as a bezel surrounding the front edge of the phone (like the iPhone 3GS bezel) and it will serve two purposes. First, it will join the glass iPhone face with a new aluminum back plate. It will also cover a redesigned antenna system that surrounds the device, allowing Apple to build the rear case out of aluminum without having to use a large plastic insert above the antennas as the company does on its iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.
BGR has a mixed track record when it comes to hardware rumors, coming relatively close on Apple's late 2011 iPhone lineup while missing with a claim of a redesigned WiMAX iPhone 5 exclusive to Sprint.
Dev-Team and Chronic Dev Team have released an untethered 5.0.1 jailbreak for non-A5 devices. Developed by @pod2g, the new jailbreak is now available:
A few days ago, @pod2g gave the untether to both the iPhone devteam and the chronic devteam. We’ve put it into redsn0w 0.9.10 and PwnageTool, and the chronic devteam put it into a Cydia package (the same set of exploits is in all three).
Detailed instructions are available on each respective site. The new jailbreak is only available to devices prior to the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S which both use the A5 processor. Jailbreaks for those devices are still pending.
This is also the first "untethered" 5.0.1 jailbreak which allows the jailbreak to remain active without having to reconnect to a computer upon reboot.
China Daily reports (via Electronista) that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn is investing $1.1 billion to nearly double the size of a recently-opened iPhone manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou, China, banking on continued strong growth of iPhone sales.
The base will be centered on the Foxconn Science Park in Zhengzhou, provincial capital of Henan, increasing its current production lines to 95, said the Henan provincial development and reform commission during a conference.
The expansion plan, costing 7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), is expected to bring $20 billion in sales revenue in 2012, the commission said.
The facility opened earlier this year and is already employing 130,000 workers and producing 200,000 iPhones per day. If the facility were running at full capacity seven days a week, it would be capable of producing 18 million iPhones per quarter.
A Bloomberg report from last week indicated that the city of Zhengzhou is working to help Foxconn add 100,000 workers to the facility this year, and a production boost in line with that workforce increase could see the factory yielding over 350,000 iPhones per day, or nearly 32 million per quarter.
Reuters reports that Apple has been fined the equivalent of $1.2 million in Italy over issues related to warranty disclosures.
According to the report, Italy's antitrust regulators ruled that Apple has not been providing adequate disclosures about the two free years of product warranty assistance required under Italian law, while also pushing customers to purchase AppleCare extended warranties without disclosing that many of the benefits overlap the standard warranty.
The authority said Apple Sales International, Apple Italia and Apple Retail Italia did not properly inform customers that they were entitled to two years of free assistance under Italian law. Three Apple spokesmen contacted by Reuters weren't immediately available for comment.
Information provided about an extra guarantee scheme, the "AppleCare Protection Plan," encouraged customers to buy the service without clearly explaining that it overlapped with the free assistance required by law, the competition authority said.
News of Italian regulators' inquiries into Apple's warranty offering surfaced in late May. Word on any fines levied on Apple was said to be set to follow by late August, but the agency apparently took some additional time to examine the issue before reaching a decision.
Digitimes reports that Apple's suppliers are set to begin preparing materials for the new Apple television set during the first quarter of 2012, with the company reportedly targeting a launch for the second or third quarter of the year. Apple is said to be initially working on 32-inch and 37-inch sizes.
The supply chain of Apple will start preparing materials for iTV sets in the first quarter of 2012 in order to meet Apple's schedule to launch the new display products in the second or the third quarter of 2012, according to industry sources. [...]
Media reports in Korea also indicated that Samsung Electronics started producing chips for the iTVs in November 2011, while Sharp will produce the displays for the new TVs.
While the new television sets will reportedly integrate most if not all of the functionality of the current Apple TV set-top box, sources also indicate that Apple is likely to release an updated standalone Apple TV box next year as well.
While rumors of an Apple television set have been floating around for quite some time, they gained steam several months ago when Steve Jobs was quoted in Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of him as saying that he had "finally cracked" how to create a revolutionary interface for a television product. Rumors have since suggested that Apple is working on a Siri-enabled television set that would be introduced by 2013.
Grant Paul (chpwn) has posted a new tool for Jailbroken iPhones that allows Siri to run on pre-iPhone 4S devices. The tool (called Spire) gets around any copyright issues by downloading Siri from device images housed directly on Apple's servers and installs them on your device. The download is about 100MB, so a Wi-Fi connection is recommended.
It's not quite as simple as that, however. Siri still requires special authentication when connecting to Apple's servers. For early testers, this has meant pulling the authentication key from a valid iPhone 4S. Not only that, but the key must be regenerated every 24 hours.
For Spire users, that means setting up a proxy server, and connecting an iPhone 4S to it regularly.
However, Spire is not a complete solution. Apple still requires authorization to use Siri, so information from an iPhone 4S is still required. To insert this information, Spire allows you to enter your own proxy server address. By using this (ancient) SiriProxy fork, you can setup a proxy using your own iPhone 4S to insert the needed information reasonably easily.
So, it's not quite as plug-and-go, but it's a step closer to that reality, if you are desperate for Siri -- and have an iPhone 4S at your beck and call. The proxy workaround is required while we wait for the iPhone 4S jailbreak that should simplify the matter somewhat, but even then you'll still need regular access to an iPhone 4S-generated authentication key.
DigiTimes reports that Intel has notified partners that the company will "fully release" its Thunderbolt technology in April 2012. Intel is reportedly preparing to launch Thunderbolt-supported motherboards, notebooks and desktop PCs at that time.
Intel and Apple originally partnered on the new technology which has become standard across Apple's MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iMac. Digitimes reports that the cost of Thunderbolt technology is expected to drop in the second half of 2012, allowing more widespread adoption.
While Apple does offer Thunderbolt across most of its product line, the first Thunderbolt products have been limited to relatively high end devices. More widespread adoption should help drive adoption by accessory makers that will benefit both Mac and PC users that use Thunderbolt.
Intel has always said that they see both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt as complementary technologies and plans to support both in their 2012 motherboards.
Claimed iPad 3 parts have been circulating for some time already, but a few more pieces to the puzzle are starting to appear. 9to5Mac posts this photo of iPad 3 home buttons in comparison to the existing iPad 2 ones.
No real surprises, though it should help kill already sketchy rumors that Apple might do away with a home button altogether. The backside is slightly tweaked, though we'd be hard pressed to draw any conclusions from it. The biggest takeaway is that iPad 3 parts are continuing to leak as production and shipment draws near.
The iPad 3 is expected to arrive in early 2012, anywhere from February to April in timeframe. The iPad 3 is also expected to carry an ultra high resolution 'Retina' display.
Last year at about this time, we highlighted the biggest Apple leaks of 2010. While there wasn't quite as big a story as the iPhone 4 leak this year, we still saw a lot of early leaks of unreleased products.
iPhone 4S
When this parts leak video was released in January 2011, we weren't entirely sure what we were looking at. Global Direct Parts called it an "iPhone 5" at the time, and detailed differences found in the new antenna design. The changes were relatively small, but what we know now is that this was the first look at the iPhone 4S design -- 10 months before its release. The antenna design looks a lot like the Verizon iPhone which hadn't been released at the time, but the inclusion of the SIM slot means this particular design was definitely for the iPhone 4S.
In another last minute Christmas Eve offer, BestBuy is offering the 32GB iPhone 4 in a Buy One, Get One Free Offer.
Apple doesn't officially offer the 32GB iPhone 4 anymore. After the introduction of the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4 is being officially sold now as an 8GB model only, but stock of the 32GB models must remain. The 32GB iPhone 4 costs $199 plus 2 year contract. If you buy two from Best Buy today (in store only), you get the 2nd one free. Both need to sign up for two year contracts, but it's still a nice savings -- if you're in the market for two new iPhone 4 devices.
Deal-a-day site Woot.com occasionally offers Apple products for sale, generally refurbished iPod Nano or Touch models. But this year, on Christmas Eve, the site is offering Apple's current entry-level iMac for nearly 13 percent off Apple's prices -- and tax free for most states, unlike Apple's online store.
The model in question, MC309LL/A, is $1,199 on Apple's online store in a stock configuration. Woot's offering, at $1049.99 plus $5 shipping (for up to three iMacs), doesn't offer any sort of custom configuring but is significantly cheaper than any other site -- including discounts available through Apple's store for college students. It's also cheaper than any of the deals available on Black Friday last month.
Woot, which uses a literary point of view to humorously sell their products, has this to say about the iMac:
GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMAN
That furry red-and-white coat would look great over a black turtleneck, wouldn’t it?
“Tonight’s the night! Are you excited about Jobsmas Eve?”
I’m afraid to even ask what that means.
“Jobsmas Eve, man! The way I see it, over the next several hundred years, the stature of Steve Jobs will grow to legendary proportions, like Gilgamesh or Axl Rose. And since Apple products are considered the ultimate Christmas gifts, the holiday will someday become synonymous with the company, and the man who founded it!”
Wow, you’ve managed to deeply offend both Christians and Apple fans with one fake holiday. Nice job.
”’Offend’? What’s offensive about the spirit of Steve Jobs going from house to house to deliver fantastically awesome presents to good little girls and boys? I’m just getting a jump on what everyone’s going to believe hundreds of years from now. I’ve always been ahead of my time.”
Is that what people in the future will call “crazy”?
“Look, you and I know that Steve probably couldn’t have visited every kid in the world in one night. I mean, he never tried, so who knows. OK, yeah, it seems far-fetched to you and me. But just imagine how far-fetched the Apple iMac Quad-Core i5 Desktop would have seemed to our great-grandparents.”
Hey! Have you been digging around in the back of my closet?
“Uh, no, no! I certainly haven’t seen that you bought me an Apple iMac Quad-Core i5 Desktop with 21.5” LED display, a quad-core 2.5GHz Intel processor, 4GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, 802.11n wireless, and OS X Lion! Uncovering a surprise like that would ruin Jobsmas Eve!”
It's curious that Woot would offer a current-model new-in-box iMac. To sell it as a main-item suggests the site has a fair number of the iMacs in-stock. Woot may be selling the machines near cost or as a loss-leader on Christmas Eve, or it's possible that iMac sales are slower than Apple expected and it is using Woot -- which was purchased by Amazon.com last year -- to clear out surplus holiday inventory.
JJ Abrams has been involved in the creation of some of the most successful movies and TV shows of recent years, including directing the reboot of Star Trek, co-creating the television show Lost, and producing the just-released Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.
His company, Bad Robot Productions, typically focuses on his motion picture properties -- however, the company has now branched out into iOS apps with Action Movie FX.
The free app allows users to insert incredibly realistic special effects into videos shot within the app. Action Movie FX includes two free effects, Missile Attack! and Car Smash. Four more effects -- Chopper Down and Tornado, Air Strike and Firefight -- are available in two-packs via in-app purchase. Each set is $0.99, with more effects promised.
Business Insider's Ellis Hamburger filmed this clip inside BI's New York City headquarters, noting that the creation of the movie took "two minutes, tops."
Action Movie FX is available for free on the App Store, with two effects packs available via in-app purchase for $0.99 each. [Direct Link]
Following up on 
Earlier this month, 
JJ Abrams has been involved in the creation of some of the most successful movies and TV shows of recent years, including directing the reboot of Star Trek, co-creating the television show Lost, and producing the just-released Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.
