Apple has been on something of a world tour securing trademarks for its anticipated “iWatch.” After first seeking trademarks in Russia and Jamaica back in June, and more recently filing for the “iWatch” name in Japan, Apple has applied for the same trademark in Mexico, Taiwan and Turkey.

Mexico’s “Institute of Industrial Property” received the application on June 3 — the same day Apple submitted its Japan application — although the filing only became public recently, according to 9to5Mac. Apple has reportedly filed for the “iWatch” trademark under both hardware and software categories, the website explains, and the document in question is tied to the company’s present Infinite Loop address in Cupertino, Calif., as you can see: Read more…

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In the shadow of larger announcements during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote Monday were new AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule devices.

Apple updated its AirPort Extreme base station ($199.99) to include 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which supposedly works three times faster than Wireless N. The elevated design departs from the previous generation and now has six antennas to improve dispersion of the signal.— three antennas for the 2.4GHz band, three for the 5GHz band. Read more…

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Vodafone has cut the asking price of the iPhone 4, offering a saving of nearly £225 over the course of the contract term.

The carrier is now offering the iPhone 4 8GB edition free when customers sign up for a two-year contract at £21 per month. That's down from £29 previously, equating to a saving of £223.50.

Allowances are 600 minutes and 500MB of data per month, as well as unlimited texts.

To qualify for the offer, would-be buyers need to enter the promotional code 3MHPLR at the point of purchase.

Features of the fourth-generation iPhone include a 3.5-inch super high-density retina display, a five megapixel camera with HD video recording and tap-to-focus and a secondary camera.

A dual-core processor is also on board the 9.3mm thick smartphone, as is the Apple Maps mapping software and the FaceTime video-calling app.

As with all iPhones, the iPhone 4 also offers perhaps the world’s largest choice of apps and games at the App Store.  Find out more about the iPhone 4 here: iPhone 4

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Apple supplier Pegatron is set to raise staffing levels by a colossal 40 per cent in the second half of the year, with the new workers rumoured to be assembling Cupertino’s much-hyped budget iPhone.

While Pegatron itself refused to confirm that the extra workforce would be beavering away on Apple’s latest iPhone, sources have told Reuters that the device is already in the works.

The news agency reports that some Japanese suppliers have already started on early production.

Mass production is scheduled to begin in June, with the device now expected to make an official appearance in the autumn, in line with Tim Cook’s promise of ‘exciting products this fall’.

Pegatron’s hiring drive comes just a month after rival Apple supply-chain mainstay Foxconn added 10,000 new employees to its production lines.

That suggests that Apple is going all out to get every supplier it can working at full capacity on a budget iPhone.

The handset is expected to rock a cheap plastic shell, with talk of a larger screen to compete with the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy range and HTC’s forthcoming M4.

Whether it can capture the lucrative Chinese and Indian markets, however, remains to be seen

Source:  Reuters

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Apple could ditch its policy of replacing faulty devices with brand new ones in favour of in-store repairs, it has emerged, in a move that could dramatically reduce costs for the purveyor of premium pocket-lint.

According to Apple Insider, the Cupertino-based company now has the capabilities to carry out repairs to iPhones and other iOS devices in-store and has already been shifting to this approach.

Alongside repairs to “speakers, receivers, home buttons, the vibrator motor and battery”, which it currently carries out within branches, from next month Apple will be able to replace displays, camera parts, logic boards and sleep/wake buttons.

An Apple employee told the site: "The way it is now, if almost anything is wrong with an iPhone, iPod, or iPad, the entire device is exchanged for a like-new re manufactured (sic) device, whether brought into an Apple store or sent in for mail in repair.

“Now we are starting to actually repair the products and return the same device to the customer."

The change to after-care policy, which was purportedly outlined by Apple Vice President Tara Bunch, will also see Apple adopt for a subscription model for AppleCare.

The move would see customers given training with their iOS device, as well as a 24/7 version of the

AppleCare service. Source:

Apple Insider

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One of the industry's best-connected analysts has dismissed the chance of a new take on the iPhone landing before September, despite some tech sages’ forecasting that a fresh Apple contender will drop as early as next month.

In a typically forthright interview on Bloomberg TV, Jeffries analyst Peter Misek ruled out an iPhone landing at June’s WWDC event. Basing his prediction on supply-chain rumbling that the market research company collates, Misek claims that the earliest we can probably expect the phone is September.

He said: “It typically takes 60-90 days of production before the phone is introduced to retail. And it hasn’t gone into production, yet, so if we assume production starts in June, that would mean the soonest you’d be able to get it would be late August/early September.

“But, we don’t think production is going to start until late June/early July and that’s based on 400+ suppliers that we track.”

Perhaps disappointingly for the iFaithful, Misek also refuted claims that we might get a significantly redesigned kit this time.

According to the number-cruncher, although multiple colours are a possibility, the majority of changes “will be underneath the hood, much like they were with the 4S”.

That suggests the rethought version of iOS that Jony Ive is helming will be the phone’s main sell, along with spec-sheet enhancements such as 12 megapixel camera, faster processor and fingerprint-tracking that have long been mooted on the tech-site rumour mill.

Source:

Gotta Be Mobile

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The next iPhone will make a landmark break from a physical home button, rumours suggest, as Apple calls time on a feature that’s been present since its first handset dropped back in 2007.

According to a report Taiwanese site Technews.tw, which was brought to wider attention by Cult of Mac, the iPhone 5S will drop a physical home button in favour of an on-screen capacitive presser.

It’s not known whether the change, which flies in the face of reports that the seventh-gen iPhone will differ little from the current model, is to allow Apple to equip the handset with a larger screen.

The site does disclose, however, that the new button will be coated in scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass to make it more resistant to the kind of wear and tear that has caused problems with iPhones’ physical buttons in the past.

Apple purportedly also favours sapphire glass because it is compatible with optic sensors.

Industry consensus suggests that the iPhone 5S will land in September. The phone is set to be the first in which the iOS software that powers iPhones is helmed by hardware design hero Jonathan Ive.

Ive is expected to usher in a new iOS era marked by a 'flatter' look and feel and less in the way of cutesy skeuomorphic icons, whereby apps resemble real life objects – for example, the current Notes app that takes on the form of a notebook.

Via:

Cult of Mac

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iPhones keep their resale value on online auction sites much longer than Samsung’s flagship Galaxy efforts, a study reveals.

Analysis from Piper Jaffray, which collated eBay prices for second-hand Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 models as well as used iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 kits, found that the value of an iPhone falls at less than half the rate of a high-end Samsung Galaxy handset.

Perhaps reflecting the fact that iPhones’ arguably superior build quality makes them a better bet when buying an older phone, the study found that over an eight-week period the iPhone 5 lost 11.2 per cent of its value. In the same time, the Samsung Galaxy S3 lost 13.7 per cent.

The sharpest rate of decline noted, however, was for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which dropped by 15 per cent, with consumers’ relative unwillingness to pay top dollar possibly influenced by speculation that a new edition of the Note will land in Q3.

Conversely, the ageing iPhone 4S performed best and lost just seven per cent of its value.

Report author Gene Munster stated: "The key takeaway from eight weeks of data is that the iPhone is holding slightly more of its value compared to the top two Galaxy phones.”

Prices of the iPhone 5 are likely to continue to hold up well until September when Apple is set to debut a new version of its all-conquering smartie.

Around this time, eBay is typically flooded with current-gen iPhones for sale as would-be upgraders look to offload their handsets on later adopters and bargain-hunters.

Source:

Apple Insider

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Wal-Mart has cut the price of the iPad mini, adding heft to speculation that next month’s World World Developers’ Conference (WWDC) could be marked by a second take on Apple’s micro-tablet.

The US retail giant, the sheer size of which in its US domestic market makes Tesco look like Arkwright’s homely corner shop from Open All Hours, has trimmed $30 off the iPad mini. That brings the cost of the device down to $299.

Although fairly modest, the price cut comes ahead of Apple’s press call/developers’ get-together in June, suggesting to some tech-watchers that the unveiling of iOS 7 could be accompanied by the company’s Google Nexus 7-challenger.

Recent indications from Apple’s supply-chain had suggested that the iPad mini 2 wouldn’t arrive until much later in the year, after the company’s manufacturing partners purportedly encountered production problems.

These are believed to relate to the challenge of creating a scaled-down high-res Retina display for the slate, as well as issues with the fingerprint-scanning technology that is intended to add an extra layer of security.

Source:

Stabley Times

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Purported specifications for the second-gen iPad mini have leaked online, along with a mock-up imaging how Apple’s next effort is likely to look based on the leaked spec sheet.

According to a source cited by Dutch website MobiLeaks, the slate will pack a 7.9-inch display with 2048 x 1536 pixels (324ppi) and, as rumours suggest, the same Retina display technology as the standard-sized slate.

The slate also packs Apple’s A7 processor, an eight-megapixel camera, a secondary two-megapixel camera for video calls and for snapping those utterly vain and self-regarding self-portraits to post on Twitter so all your mates can see how just purty you are.

As with earlier models, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage options will be on offer and will come in 0.3-inchs slimmer than the current edition at 7.5mm.

Taking the market intel into account, the render imagines how Apple will be able to slim down the device without compromising the screen size by reducing the size of the bezel around the display.

Truth be told, it looks pretty cool too. But like a few other tech watchers, we’re not sure there’s any particular imperative to shrink the iPad mini this early in the range’s life, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the real tablet retains the same dimensions as the current one.

Source:

Mobilinks

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Apple may be all about premium materials nowadays, but one designer is out to prove a plastic iPhone can look just as impressive as those fashioned from metal.

Produced by Ran Avni and spotted by Cult of Mac, the render illustrates what Apple’s next-generation iPhone could look like if it were made of plastic rather than aluminium and glass like the iPhone 5.

The result is an impressive concept that's proof that despite the perceived inferiority of plastic, it isn’t at odds with the trademark design ethos that’s made Apple’s smartphones so popular around the world.

At first glimpse, Ravni’s handset looks largely similar to the iPhone 5, but at the back it boasts smoother, curvier edges that immediately bring the iPad mini to mind.

While we don’t think that Apple would, or even should, make its flagship kit out of plastic, it certainly wouldn’t be a wrong choice for the more affordable version that’s been a staple of the rumour-mill for some time now.

Unofficially dubbed the iPhone mini, a cheaper Apple smartphone is expected to retain the four-inch display of the iPhone 5, but recycle other parts from older models, such as an A5 processor from the iPhone 4S and an eight-megapixel camera.

Apple is widely tipped to unveil a less costly iPhone alongside its flagship model this year – possibly in summer or autumn.

Would you like to see a cheaper iPhone made of plastic? Share your thoughts in the comments platform below.

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Rumours that Apple will debut at least two new smartphones this year gathered pace today, after a Chinese source claimed to have seen the forthcoming devices.

Posting on micro blogging service, Sina Tech, Old Yao claims his friend at one of Apple’s Chinese parts suppliers has laid eyes on the new edition of the standard-sized iPhone, AKA the iPhone 5S, and the phablet-sized iPhone 6.

According to said insider, the iPhone 5S isn’t too different from the current-gen model in the looks stakes. That tallies with other recent reports suggesting that improvements that the next-generation handset brings will be largely restricted to the phone’s internals.

The iPhone 6, meanwhile, is a different matter and is purportedly longer – Yao claims it packs a five-inch screen - and wider than the iPhone 5, but is also thinner.

Although that’s not a terribly concrete description, it’s sure to add to the clamour of tech voices forecasting that Apple’s 2013 product portfolio will include a tablet-smartphone hybrid aimed at seeing off the challenge from the Samsung’s Note range.

Still, before you get too excited, it’s worth remembering that we can’t set too much store in Old Yao’s claims, given that it’s been hard to verify what kind of industry credentials he’s got. If indeed, he’s got any at all.

Either way, given the Samsung Galaxy Note and Note 2’s huge sales, it seems likely that demand for an Apple phablet would be huge. And with a putative spec sheet that takes in a super HD camera, 128GB of storage and Near Field Communications, it’s not hard to see why.

Via:

CNET
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Apple has gotten a lot of flack over the last month for its after-sales service practices in China, and perhaps rightfully so. But instead of being exploited by Apple, police have discovered that some Chinese criminals used Apple’s return system to turn more than 100 fake iPhones into real ones.

In December, a Wenzhou Apple shop owner turned in what he claimed were 121 iPhone 4S BAND parts (the core of the phone, worth about $476 each) that were broken and asked they be replaced. Apple complied, but discovered in January that the parts were actually counterfeits. Apple reported this to the shop, which maintained its innocence and reported the case to the police.

After several months, police arrested one of the shop’s engineers and her boyfriend, who, in turn, implicated other employees in the scam, all of whom have since also been arrested. In addition to raising questions about Apple’s after-sales service in China and whether it might be too lenient when it comes to returns. But it also raises the question of how many of the iPhones out there are real. Scammers can now make fake parts so real that it takes even Apple itself a month to notice the difference. Read more…

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Apple's so-called “iPhone mini” could grab 11% of the low-end smartphone market within its first year on the shelves.

In the worst-case scenario, the budget iPhone could cannibalize about 30% of existing iPhone sales, according to AppleInsider.

According to Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, Apple’s low-cost iPhone is likely to launch in September with a price tag of around $300. This phone would carry a gross margin of 30% for Apple, compared to 55% for existing models.

The budget iPhone’s rumored release is being billed as a way to satisfy customers in developing nations who wish to spend less on smartphones. We've heard quite a bit about this phone over the past few months, including various concept designs. Read more…

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Rumors of an Apple iWatch have started to surface again, now suggesting that an Apple-branded smart watch will be hitting store shelves in late 2014.

In a note to investors, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he expects Apple to release an iWatch, but not necessarily anytime in the very near future. Kuo, who has successfully predicted other Apple launches, says Apple will start production on the device middle of next year, with a likely launch date toward the end of 2014.

According to a recent report on 9to5 Mac, Kuo says the watch will have a 1.5-inch to 2-inch display and will use biometrics – much like a prototype of a Toshiba smart watch we saw at CES this year – to keep it secure. This means the watch can to determine who is wearing it. Biometric functionality would also allow the watch to be used as a fitness-tracking device, similar to FitBit.

Check out the video above to learn more about the latest iWatch rumors.

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