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Apple

Apple patent filings hint at iPhone evolution

Apple could be providing a glimpse into some new features for future iPhones in a couple of patent applications the company recently filed.

The blog MacRumors.com reports that Apple has published two patent applications in the past few weeks that focus on features that incorporate motion and gesture user interfaces. One patent was published two weeks ago. And the other one was published Thursday.

The iPhone already has an accelerometer that allows users to shuffle songs on the iPhone by shaking it. And the motion-detecting technology has also been widely used by application developers who have incorporated the functionality into games and other kinds of apps for the iPhone. But Apple appears to be moving a few steps further in making motion an even bigger part of interacting with the iPhone.

Apple notes in the first of the patent filings that interacting with mobile devices while also engaging in another activity, such as jogging or running, can be dangerous as users might be distracted while they're trying to advance to another song or answer a phone call. The new gesturing technology would try to solve this issue. According to the patent filing:

There is a need for providing a user interface in a personal media device that minimizes either or both a user's physical and visual interactions with the personal media device, especially while the user is performing other activities that require, for example, the user's visual senses.

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Piper: iMac refresh boosts Mac, iPhone sales off

If Piper Jaffray's survey of U.S. Apple store activity holds water, the company's second fiscal quarter might not have been as bad as some had feared.

Apple is getting set to report earnings for its second fiscal quarter next week, and the tech industry is watching closely to see if Apple has managed to diffuse the impact of an economy in recession for the second straight quarter. Few are expecting a blowout from Apple, but Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster is now more confident about Mac and iPhone sales for the quarter than he was in February.… Read more

A year on, Psystar still defying Apple

One year ago, an otherwise sleepy April in the Apple universe was turned upside down by a tiny company from Southern Florida, kicking off a real-world Clone War between Apple and Psystar.

Today, the essential question regarding Psystar is unchanged: does the company have the right to sell computers with Apple's Mac OS X Leopard preinstalled, as it has been doing since April 14, 2008? Psystar set off shock waves through the Apple world that week, as an army of journalists, bloggers, fanboys, and detractors set off on a manic search for anything and everything related to the company … Read more

Report: AT&T looks to extend iPhone pact

AT&T has found the golden goose in its iPhone partnership with Apple and it wants to keep it alive.

The original deal had AT&T as the exclusive carrier of the iPhone until 2008, at which time Apple would be allowed to start selling the wildly popular smartphone on other carriers. But the companies met last August and decided to extend that partnership through the end of this year.

Now, AT&T wants to extend that deal a bit further--say another two years. AT&T's chief executive is talking with Apple to keep that … Read more

Apple releases iPhone OS 3 beta 3 to developers

Apple's engineering department still isn't sparing the horses for iPhone OS 3.0. It has released beta 3 to developers only two weeks after beta 2 was released.

Like most Apple updates, we suspect that the new beta 3 includes several stability and performance enhancements that might make the beta more pleasing to use, if you are testing it.

We've heard from some early beta testers complaining (see article comments) about the number of issues they were experiencing with the previous releases.

It is too early to tell what kinds of changes have been made in beta … Read more

Latest Windows ads parodied in Web video

With three genuine installments on the Web, it's naturally time for the parodies of Microsoft's "laptop hunter" ads to start rolling in.

The first one I've seen is from LandlineTV. It features Frank, a homeless guy with $1,000 to spend on a laptop.

Frank's first stop is the Apple store.

"These are beautiful," he says, spotting a MacBook Air that is "so thin" but costs $1,700.

"What can I get for $1,000?" Frank asks. Eventually, he winds up in front of a Windows PC.

"… Read more

Microsoft amends 'Apple Tax' return slightly

Microsoft and technology analyst Roger Kay have made a couple of changes to their charts outlining the "Apple Tax," but the update does little to address broader critiques of their math.

On Monday, Microsoft noted that it has updated both Kay's white paper and the accompanying blog post and chart to reflect the fact that both failed to take into account Apple's latest hardware specifications. The new paper and chart use slightly different models on the PC side.

However, the main points I (and others) made last week regarding Microsoft's bad math haven't changed. … Read more

Analyst: Apple placed chip order for 32GB iPhones

A correction was made to this story. See below for details.

Updated at 2:54 p.m. PDT with with additional information about the volume of NAND chips Apple is reportedly purchasing and its effect on the number of units the company could ship.

Apple has reportedly ordered 100 million units of 8-gigabit and 16-gigabit NAND flash chips, with the bulk of its order coming from its main iPhone chip supplier, Samsung, according to a research report released Monday by a Lazard Capital Markets analyst.

The majority of the sizable order is expected to be applied toward the 16-gigabit NAND, … Read more

Report: Jobs still in control at Apple

Steve Jobs may be down, but he is by no means out, according to a report Saturday in The Wall Street Journal.

Apple's CEO has been on medical leave since January, but sources tell the Journal that Jobs is still running key parts of the company from his home.

He was, for example, specifically involved in the user interface for the latest version of the iPhone operating system, continues to review products, and is working on future projects, sources told the newspaper. He has made no public appearances this year.

Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is running day-to-day operationsRead more

Apple nearing 1 billion apps served

Apple is approaching the 1 billion mark for applications downloaded from the App Store, and plans to give out a host of Apple gear to the lucky billionth customer.

The company put up a countdown Web page Friday as it gets closer to the mark: as of this writing, about 928 million applications have been downloaded from the App Store since it went live last July, according to the counter. Whoever manages to download the 1 billionth application will come away with a pretty good haul: a MacBook Pro, a 32GB iPod Touch, a Time Capsule, and a $10,000 … Read more

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