The Loop reports that Apple's iTunes U education portal has topped 600 million downloads since its official launch four years ago. The milestone reveals a significant acceleration in activity, with the service having passed 300 million downloads just a year ago.
According to Apple, iTunes U has had more than 600 million downloads since it first launched in 2007. What’s even more impressive is that they’ve had more than 300 million in the last year alone — a testament to the growing popularity of the service.
Currently, iTunes U boasts more than 1,000 universities with active accounts. Schools contributing to the program range from big to small and include some of the world’s most prestigious institutions like Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, Oxford, University of Melbourne and University of Tokyo.
Open University and Stanford University top the list of most popular sources for iTunes U users, with each registering over 30 million downloads. iTunes U is available in 123 countries, with 30% of traffic reportedly coming from iOS devices.
DigiTimes reports that Apple's suppliers for the next-generation iPhone are ramping toward full production capacity, with manufacturing partner Foxconn already said to be producing 150,000 iPhone 5 units per day.
Suppliers in the iPhone 5 supply chain in Taiwan have geared up production recently with volume shipments of the new Apple smartphones to begin soon. Production of iPhone 5s at OEM maker Foxconn Electronics has reportedly reached 150,000 units per day, according to industry sources.
Lens maker Largan Precision, touch panel maker TPK Holding, reinforced glass supplier G-Tech Optoelectronics and battery vendors Simplo and Dynapack are all operating at full swing currently, the sources indicated.
iPhone 5 shipments are said to be set to reach 5-6 million for the month of September and over 22 million for the fourth quarter of the year. Interestingly, the report notes that while Pegatron has reportedly been tabbed to handle about 15% of the iPhone 5 production load, the company may not begin deliveries until next year.
The report makes no mention of any distinction between the iPhone 5 and the so-called "iPhone 4S", as some sources have indicated that Apple will introduce both a revamped iPhone 5 as well as a cheaper device codenamed "N94" based on the existing iPhone 4 design. Apple has already had considerable success with its cheaper iPhone models carried over from previous model cycles, as evidenced by the fact that the iPhone 3GS continues to rank as the second-best selling smartphone in the United States, behind the iPhone 4.
Details on the iPhone 5 remain scarce, with conflicting information pointing to either an only slightly larger display of up to around 3.7 inches on a device similar in size to the iPhone 4 or a significantly larger but thinner device with a display likely around 4 inches.
Even as Apple is still in the early stages of the planning process for its new corporate campus in Cupertino, California, it appears that the company has acknowledged that even that mammoth 13,000-employee complex probably won't be sufficient and that it will likely begin planning on a third campus once "Apple Campus 2" is up and running in 2015. News of the company's plans comes from Cupertino mayor Gilbert Wong, who spoke with the San Jose Mercury News (via The Next Web).
And just like a new gadget, the company may not be done upgrading. Wong said Apple executives have told him the company is expanding so fast that it expects to start working on Apple Campus 3 at an unknown location after they finish the second headquarters in 2015. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on plans for a third campus.
Planning for the new "spaceship" campus is continuing to move forward, with Cupertino set to hold a public scoping hearing regarding the project's environmental impact report tonight. Apple is reportedly requesting 13 separate approvals from the city in connection with the project, with Apple hoping to receive final approval by late 2012. That schedule would see construction begin on the new 2.8 million square foot circular main building in 2013, with an opening targeted for 2015. The campus will also include a separate 25,000 square foot fitness center, 1,000 seat auditorium, a parking garage, an energy center, and several ancillary buildings devoted to research and development.
In a curious development first noticed in Apple's European online stores yesterday, shipping estimates for many of Apple's products have suddenly been extended, suggesting low supplies of these models. The changes showed up in the U.S. online store as well today, indicating that the issues are not specific to the company's European distribution channel.
Tightening supplies are sometimes an indicator of Apple drawing down existing inventory ahead of product refreshes, but the extended shipping estimates are showing up on nearly all of Apple's products, many of which are not expected to see an imminent refresh. Current shipping estimates in the U.S. online store include:
- iPhone 4: 1-3 business days - iPad 2: 2-3 weeks - iPod touch: 3-5 days (8 GB and 32 GB), 1-3 days (64 GB) - iPod nano: 3-5 days - iPod shuffle: 1-2 weeks - iPod classic: 1-3 days - Apple TV: 3-5 days
- MacBook Air: 3-5 days - MacBook Pro: 3-5 days for all models except low-end 13-inch, which remains at 24 hours - iMac: 3-5 days - Mac Pro: 3-5 days for all models except 12-core, which is at 2-4 days
Only the Mac mini appears unaffected by the extended shipping times, with all stock configuration of the Mac mini continuing to ship within 24 hours, Apple's usual goal for order turnaround. Shipping estimates do occasionally increase on certain products from time, but this type of across-the-board increase is very unusual for Apple.
Update: Shipping estimates on all main Mac, iOS, and traditional iPod products in the U.S. online store have returned to "within 24 hours", with the exception of the 12-core Mac Pro, which remains at 2-4 business days.
For those keeping up with the back and forth lawsuits between Samsung and Apple, Reuters reports that Apple has now filed suit against Samsung in Japan over patent violations related to the iPad and iPhone.
California-based Apple is seeking the suspension of sales of Samsung's handsets in Japan, as well as 100 million yen ($1.3 million) in damages, Kyodo added, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Samsung had previously filed a lawsuit against Apple in several countries including Japan. This latest news is just another step in the legal escalation.
Apple recently won a preliminary injunction against the sale and promotion of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany.
Adobe today announced Carousel, a cloud-based photo storage and editing service.
Carousel allows users to store unlimited JPGs in the cloud, edit and enhance them on the go, and makes it easy for users to share their photos as well. Adobe will be releasing apps for iPad and iPhone on the App Store, as well as an app on the Mac App Store. Android and Windows apps will be coming eventually.
The editing portion is the same technology built into Photoshop Lightroom. It allows users to "fix exposure, white balance, and saturation with a single click, or use sliders to make nuanced adjustments to contrast, brightness, vibrance, and more."
Adobe Carousel is a subscription based service costing US$59.99/year or US$5.99/month. The apps will be released later this year.
Bloomberg reports on an interesting twist in the ever-growing patent dispute between Apple and handset manufacturers supporting Google's Android operating system. According to the report, HTC today filed a new patent lawsuit against Apple and amended an earlier complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), citing nine patents that had previously been held by Google and assigned to HTC just last week.
The four patents cited in the new lawsuit were initially held by Motorola, but apparently passed to Google sometime over the past year before being transferred to HTC. Google is of course currently attempting to acquire Motorola Mobility in a bid to add a hardware component to its existing software program in the competitive smartphone market.
The other five patents added to the earlier ITC complaint originated at Palm and Openwave Systems before being obtained by Google. Google then transferred those patents to HTC last week.
The nine patents originated with Palm Inc., Motorola Inc. and Openwave Systems Inc., with Google taking ownership within the past year, according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records. Mountain View, California-based Google recorded transfer of the patents to HTC on Sept. 1, according to the agency’s website.
HTC sued Apple today in federal court in Delaware, claiming infringement of four of those patents that originally were issued to Motorola. Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC also amended a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, alleging infringement of three patents first issued to Openwave and two others originally owned by Palm.
Apple has of course filed lawsuits and ITC complaints against a number of Android handset manufacturers, many of which have retaliated with their own lawsuits. But Google has stayed out of the immediate fray, although it has noted that it will support its hardware partners in their disputes. This direct transfer of patents from Google to HTC in order to provide HTC with additional ammunition in its fight against Apple seems to be the clearest evidence yet of that effort.
Japanese site Mac Otakara reports that Apple may be finishing up work on a new version of its Logic professional audio software, with the new version being named Logic Pro X. According to a rough English translation provided alongside the original Japanese-language report, a source familiar with the status of the project appears to report that the news comes from a source involved in a "customer interview" with Apple's Logic team.
The report indicates that Apple will be discontinuing the Soundtrack Pro component of Logic Studio with the update, which would mirror the move taken with the release of Final Cut Pro X earlier this year. Soundtrack Pro 3 had been offered with both Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio, but is no longer included as part of the Final Cut Pro X application set.
As far as other Logic Studio components, Logic Pro X is also said to fold some of the existing production tools such as WaveBurner directly into the core Logic Pro application. MainStage, Apple's software for bringing virtual instruments and effects to live performances, is reportedly set to be spun out as a separate standalone application.
The report does not specify how Apple plans to distribute Logic Pro X, although it seems reasonable to assume that it would be a Mac App Store release like Final Cut Pro X. MainStage would likely also be offered via the Mac App Store much as Motion and Compressor are offered separately from Final Cut Pro.
No rumored release date for Logic Pro X is given in the report, with the only concrete detail being that Apple will not be incorporating a GarageBand-style user interface for the revamped application, likely sticking to a more complex interface more appropriate for the professional-level nature of the software.
Apple launched Logic Pro 9 as part of a revamped Logic Studio suite in mid-2009, and brought 64-bit compatibility to the software in early 2010 in the form of Logic Pro 9.1.
Apple isn't the only retailer to put iPads in its window displays. Saks Fifth Avenue also has a window full of iPads, though not to advertise the tablet. Instead, the company is using iPads and Apple Cinema Displays to promote haute couture.
Saks has partnered with Stylist.com to celebrate Fashion's Night Out with the unique window display at its flagship Fifth Avenue location, just up the street from Apple's Fifth Ave. cube.
The window displays, designed, developed and built by Gin Lane Media, feature 64 iPad 2s in one center window, and nine Cinema Displays in each of two side windows. The company wrote custom software for the installation, and Dan Kenger, Digital Creative Director for Gin Lane says that the iPads are linked together via a local network. “We are able to get all the iPads to talk to each other as well as perfect the timing to produce elegant fades and control what device should display what.”
For users who need a bit more expansion for their Thunderbolt equipped Macs, Magma has introduced the ExpressBox 3T. The 3T is an expansion chassis with three PCIe slots for "outside-the-box" expansion.
The 3T can be used to connect PCIe cards for video capture, audio processing, data storage or whatever other needs a user may have. It works with any Thunderbolt equipped Mac and daisy-chains with the new Apple Cinema Display with Thunderbolt that began shipping this week.
Magma has not announced details on pricing or availability, but has a form for interested buyers on its website.
Back in July, Dutch site AppleSpot.nlrevived long-standing hopes and rumors regarding an iPod touch with 3G capabilities, claiming that Apple is planning to introduce the device this month alongside a new iPhone.
AppleNApps is now adding its voice to the rumors with its own claims that a 3G-capable iPod touch is indeed in development, and while Apple is reportedly planning for a launch this September, the report does note that there are "no guarantees" and that Apple's plans are of course subject to change.
After talking with multiple people over the past few weeks, we had a lengthy chat with one person who gave us great news about the next iPod Touch. We’ve used this person in the past, but they did qualify their remarks, saying that the iPod Touch changes should make it, but there’s no guarantee the changes will be ready for fall. The 3G iPod Touch idea intrigued us so much back in July, and we’ve been trying to find one of our contacts who can give some credence to the idea. A few have declined to comment, while others honestly have no idea, but the source for this report says that Apple is indeed working on a 3G iPod Touch. Apple is intent on announcing the device during their September event which they usually save for their iPod line, but will include the iPhone as well this year.
According to the report, Apple has already worked with wireless carriers to line up data-only service plans similar to those used for the iPad. Voice plans would not be available, although many users would certainly be interested in using any of the numerous VoIP services to add calling functionality to their devices.
Apple's new iCloud service has naturally increased chatter about a possible 3G-capable iPod touch, with speculation suggesting that Apple would like to provide as many of its iOS devices as possible with "always-on" data connectivity while on the go. Concrete evidence for a such a device has yet to appear, however, with many recent rumors for the next-generation iPod touch pegging it as a minor refresh of the existing model, perhaps with the addition of white as a color option.
Potential evidence of Apple considering the forthcoming iPod touch refresh to be a minor one surfaced back in June with the discovery of a new "iPod4,2" model mentioned in property list files in early iOS 5 builds. Its designation as a minor "4,2" evolution of the existing iPod4,1 rather than being a full "iPod5,1" update suggested that the forthcoming iPod touch could be fairly similar to the fourth-generation iPod touch currently available from Apple.
AppleNApps has yet to establish a significant track record of Apple-related rumors, and so we continue to express a fair amount of skepticism about the general claims of a 3G iPod touch until more evidence surfaces.
Traders who expect stocks to go down, also known as bears, seem to be moving out of positions in Apple. Bloomberg notes that prices of puts, or bearish bets on Apple shares, have dropped to a one-year low in the wake of Steve Jobs' resignation.
Instead of increasing equity swings, Apple shares are almost unchanged since Aug. 24 when Jobs, who turned the company into the world’s biggest by market value, said he resigned. Implied volatility for three-month options at the current stock price fell to 1.07 times the level of historic volatility, down from this year’s peak of 1.9 in February. Options usually rise when moves in the underlying security increase.
[...]
The stock’s implied volatility has dropped 14 percent to 35.72 yesterday from this year’s peak of 41.71 on Aug. 8, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Sixty-day historical volatility has risen to 33.36, the highest since July 30, 2010, the data show.
"The uncertainty hanging over the stock is removed," Jack Ablin, who helps oversee $60 billion as chief investment officer for Chicago-based Harris Private Bank, said in a telephone interview.
Cheaper puts mean the broader market feels good about Apple's prospects going forward under new CEO Tim Cook, and expect the company's record growth to continue.
Fortune Magazine's Adam Lashinsky is writing an unauthorized book about Apple titled Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired -- and Secretive -- Company Really Works.
The book is an expansion of an in-depth article Lashinsky wrote earlier this year. That article included a number of inside stories, including an oft-quoted tale of Steve Jobs colorfully asking his MobileMe team why the product didn't work as intended. AllThingsD has some more info about the content of the book, noting that the book will be less about Steve Jobs, who has a biography coming out this fall, and more about Apple, Inc. at large:
The publisher promises a lot of insidery facts, including, “how Apple creates killer products, forges intense bonds with consumers, and gets what it wants from suppliers … the lessons about leadership, product design and marketing are universal, and they should appeal to anyone hoping to bring some of that Apple magic to their own company, career or creative endeavor.”
Inside Apple will be available on January 18, 2012 from Business Plus, a Hatchette Book Group imprint.
The ad, which utilizes a portion of Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" as the soundtrack, unsurprisingly touts the 3G capabilities of the iPad 2 models offered for Verizon's network.
It's faster, thinner, and lighter, and with the power of Verizon, you can stay connected almost anywhere. Let's say you want to download a bestseller at the beach...done. Or, if you want to stay connected when you're miles away from Wi-Fi...no problem. You can even tweet when you're nowhere near your followers. And you can post pictures too. So, what do you think?
I'll take it.
Apple traditionally handles the majority of advertising for its iOS devices, sometimes with carrier branding appearing at the end of a commercial, but carriers have on occasion released their own ads promoting the devices alongside their networks.
Pocketnow.com reports that it has discovered a new photo that may have been taken by an iPhone 5. According to the report, EXIF data indicates that the photo was taken by an iPhone 4, but the original image checked in at nearly 8 megapixels prior to cropping, higher than the iPhone 4's 5-megapixel resolution and in line with rumors for the iPhone 5.
This (very attractive) photo claims to have been taken by an iPhone 4, but the rest of its EXIF data tells a different story: although the image has been cropped to 2235x2291 (5.12 megapixels), the original picture was a much larger 3264x2448 -- or just shy of eight megapixels. What's more, the lens was recorded as a 4.3mm f/2.4, which is closer to that of a point-and-shoot than the iPhone 4's actual 3.85mm f/2.8.
Further fueling the rumor is the purported backstory on the image, which includes claims that the picture was taken by an Apple engineer eating lunch at work.
Claimed part leaks from the "iPhone 5" revealed a rear camera essentially identical to that from the iPhone 4, but these leaks appear to be from Apple's "N94" iPhone that seems to be the so-called "iPhone 4S" based on the iPhone 4 rather than a redesigned iPhone 5.
Update: The original image was posted on Flickr (now pulled) by an Apple software engineer working on Safari and WebKit for iOS.
Intuit today announced the forthcoming debut of QuickBooks for Mac 2012, the latest version of the company's financial management software for small businesses. The new OS X Lion-optimized version is set to ship on September 26th and will offer over 50 new features and enhancements.
"As more and more small businesses adopt Macs, we see increased adoption of QuickBooks for Mac," said Dan Wernikoff, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit's Financial Management Solutions division. "In response, we've recommitted ourselves to making the product even better. With Apple's new Lion OS, we focused on a simple, elegant and easy to use native experience, while continuing to add new features that save small businesses time."
Among the enhancements included in QuickBooks for Mac 2012:
- Faster access to information enabled by improved search tools, customer and vendor history panels and transactions lists - Simplifications for multi-step tasks, including batch processing for online banking transactions and new invoicing options
QuickBooks for Mac 2012 will be available through Intuit beginning September 26th and a number of other third-party retailers, including Apple's online and retail stores, as of October 9th. Pricing is set at $229.95 for a single user, with 2-user pricing coming in at $439.95 and 3-user pricing at $599.95. Additional licenses are available for $209.95 each.
Adobe today announced that its Digital Publishing Suite will incorporate support for Apple's forthcoming Newsstand feature for iOS 5. Newsstand is intended to serve as the organization hub for digital subscriptions in iOS 5, offering users easy access to the latest content downloaded in the background.
Adobe's software will allow publishers to create digital editions of their magazine and newspaper applications that automatically deliver content to the Newsstand application on iOS devices. The compatibility will launch "soon after" Apple debuts iOS 5, which is expected sometime this fall.
Publishers will be able to use Digital Publishing Suite to create files that are detected by Newsstand and automatically downloaded to the Newsstand shelf, eliminating long download times which can present a barrier to reading content on iPad devices. Applications built with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite and enabled for Newsstand will allow publishers to better merchandise their content with support for Newsstand push notifications and icon covers displayed on the Newsstand shelf, reflecting the latest issue of the magazine or newspaper.
A number of publishers including Condé Nast and Reader's Digest have utilized Adobe's publishing tools to bring their content to the iPad, making Newsstand compatibility for Adobe's Digital Publishing Suite an important step toward making Newsstand the one-stop place for users to manage their digital subscription content on their iOS devices.
Back in August, Japanese site Kodawarisan claimed that Apple would be holding their usual fall media event on September 7th. The report was quickly refuted by The Loop who said "Apple will not have an event or launch the next iPhone on September 7th."
But on Tuesday, AppDated.de had heard from two Deutsche Telekom sources that the company is expecting some sort of "press conference" from Apple on the 7th (Wednesday). One source specifically said it won't be launching the iPhone 5, however.
We've posted this just for interest at this late hour. Apple certainly won't be holding a full press conference without any prior notice, but they may issue a press release or send out media invites. We found it interesting that it corresponded with the original Kodawarisan date. Apple typically issues their press releases at 8:30am Eastern.
Adobe today announced 
