Decoding Apple's WWDC 2013 logo

The typeface
Apple's WWDC 2013 logo design differs quite dramatically from previous years. First up, Apple has ditched the Apple logo, which featured in the logos for its previous two WWDC events. Additionally, Apple has used a new typeface, which looks cleaner and more modern than the Myriad font used by the company in the past.

It's been suggested that this new typeface signals the start of a "flatter design" for iOS and OS X, which is expected to be introduced under the leadership of Apple design guru Jony Ive. Ive took on software design responsibilities, in addition to his roll as head of hardware design, following an executive shakeup at Apple in October. It's thought that Ive intends to remove skeuomorphic design aspects from Apple's operating systems in favour of a more minimalist look.

Roman numerals
This year, Apple has gone for Roman numerals to detail the date (MMXIII is the roman numeral for 2013). It's an unusual move for the company, and does remind us of Samsung's use of roman numerals for its Samsung Galaxy S smartphones.

The Roman numerals are depicted as a sort of reflection of WWDC, which some here in the Macworld UK office have suggested could relate to similarities between iOS and OS X, or perhaps improved AirPlay mirroring functionality.

Several of our Twitter followers think that the Roman numerals could hint at an iWatch, which has been circling the rumour mills for a while now, following reports that Apple has a team of 100 designers working on such device. SEE: iWatch release date, rumours and leaked images

While we'd love to see Apple launch an iWatch in June, Apple CEO Tim Cook's comments that the company is working on "amazing" new products in "exciting" new categories ready for release in Autumn and throughout 2014 suggest that we won't be seeing a venture into a new market from Apple until later this year, at the earliest.

The shape
Aside from the typography, the shape of Apple's WWDC 2013 logo is also interesting.

The shape of the logo is familiar, with the rounded square resembling iOS icons. We already know that iOS 7 is likely to make an appearance at WWDC this year, so this could be an indication that we'll be seeing some new iOS functionality.

It's expected that iOS 7 could see a complete user interface redesign, and reports have suggested that Apple may also launch a 'killer app' in the form of an 'iRadio' music streaming service, or perhaps a mobile payment system with the iOS update.

The shape is also shared by the Mac mini and Apple TV, so we could be in for an update of one or both of those Apple products.

The colours
When it comes to the variety of colours shown in the logo, it's been suggested that this could be a hint at the introduction of new colour options for the next-generation iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5S or iPhone 6. The colours shown in the logo are various shades of green, orange, blue, yellow, purple and red.

Earlier this year, Topeka Capital analyst Brian White wrote in a research note that "checks are pointing to more choices on the way with the next iPhone," including more colour options. "By providing customers with greater choices with the same high quality and performance of the iPhone, be believe Apple has the potential to further expand its market share in the rapidly expanding smartphone world," he said.

The latest generation of iPod touch introduced several new colours for the first time, expanding on the black and white versions previously offered, so Apple could extend these colour choices to its other products, including the iPhone, iPad, and iPad mini.

Additional thoughts
Creative Bloq suggests that the use of semi-transparent rounded suqares could relate to a new feature in the iOS interface, while Architosh thinks it might suggest 3D technology.

Of course, there is always the possibility that Apple isn't hiding any clues in its WWDC 2013 logo at all, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun if we thought about it that way, would it?

The tickets for WWDC  sold out within two minutes. Some developers who were unsuccessful in purchasing a ticket (which will cost you £1,050) have reported that they've been contacted by Apple with the offer of a second chance to get their hands on one.

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Sharp To Start Making Apple iPhone5S LCD In June

The capacity of Kameyama plant has not been fully utilized because of the decline in the LCD business of Sharp. The plant has used only 40 percent of its total capacity of 600 million units per month.

The declining revenues of Sharp Corporation have been a high concern, and the company has taken the investments from companies like Apple Inc. suppliers Foxconn and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung is the largest foreign stakeholder in Sharp.

Not only Sharp but a company in Japan, Japan Display, which is the combined display division of Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba and LG Display has also garnered orders for mass production of the display screens. LG Display is the worlds largest LCD panel maker based in Seoul.The display of the next generation phone from Apple Inc. will be identical to that of the earlier iPhone. The new features will have a fingerprint sensor, faster A7 SoC and the phone will run on iOS 7 mobile operating system.  In April, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that there can be delays in the launch of the iPhone 5S due to various hurdles coming up in implementation of the fingerprint sensors along with delay in iOS development.

The iPhone 5S is said to be a low priced phone, which would be available for the larger segment. The phone will be available in various colors with enhanced camera and processor.

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Apple iPhone 6: Rumours swirl about mid-year launch?

The US technology giant Apple Inc . is reported to have started preliminary builds of the next iPhone, dubbed iPhone 6 or iPhone 5S. The new iPhone is likely to be launched in June or July, said a report.

The report on macworld.com.au said: "Apple is currently testing two new iPhone prototypes, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek told investors in a note this week. One of the prototypes is the 'iPhone 5S', said Misek, while the other is likely to be the widely speculated cheaper iPhone."

The analyst has reportedly predicted that the next iPhone will be 0.8 inches bigger than the iPhone 5 's at 4.8 inches diagonally, adding "Similar to the iPad mini, we expect a concentrated low-cost iPhone rather than a 'cheap' one. Likely specs: polycarbonate case with 4in non-Retina display and no LTE."

Recently, Apple overtook Samsung to become the largest mobile phone vendor in the US in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In its latest report, research firm Strategy Analytics estimated that Apple shipped 17.7 million mobile phones in the US for a record 34 percent share of the market in the fourth quarter of 2012, making the tech giant the No.1 mobile phone vendor by volume in the US for the first time ever.

Samsung, Apple's arch-rival, shipped 16.8 million handsets for a 32 percent market share in the country, reported Xinhua.

The report said Apple's success has been driven by its popular ecosystem of iPhones and App Store, generous carrier subsidies and extensive marketing around the new iPhone 5 model.

However, Apple's hard-won victory is expected to be short-lived. Samsung had been the No.1 mobile phone vendor in the US since 2008 and it will surely be keen to recapture the title this year by launching improved new models such as the rumored Galaxy S4, Strategy Analytics said.

Meanwhile, the report pointed out that despite a solid fourth-quarter performance, the US mobile phone market had contracted for the first three quarters of 2012, making annual mobile phone shipments fall by 11 percent in 2012 from the year of 2011.

Earlier the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple had halved its orders for the iPhone 5. The report led Apple's share price to dip below $500 per share on Monday, but some suggest that the WSJ report was flawed, and that there may have been some stock manipulation involved.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/apple-iphone-6-rumours-swirl-about-mid-year-launch/1/248877.html

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300m iPhones, iPads and iPods running iOS 6

People queuing to buy the new iPhone 5 in October. Apple sold 76m devices running iOS6 in the past three months. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Apple says that nearly 300 million iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches are now running its iOS 6 software released in September - possibly helped by the release in mid-December by Google of its Maps app, after Apple replaced it with its own implementation.
The announcement came as it released iOS 6.1, its third update to the software since its launch in September.
The figure means that a majority of iOS devices are now running the newest version - a fact that Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller was quick to point up, saying in a statement that it "may be the most popular new version of an OS in history".
Chief executive Tim Cook said in October 2012 that there were 200m devices running iOS 6, and then during Apple's most recent quarterly earnings said the company had sold a total of 500m iOS devices since 2007. That suggests a substantial majority of the iOS devices still in use are running the newest version of the software. Every iOS device sold since 2009 except the original iPad, which lacks sufficient RAM, can run iOS 6.
With Apple having sold a total of 47.8m iPhones and 22.9m iPads, as well as about 6m iPod Touches during the fourth quarter of the year - totalling 76.7m devices with iOS6 pre-installed - the new figure suggests that existing owners of older devices are still moving to iOS 6, despite the concerns that have been expressed about the quality of Apple's Maps, seen by some as a key reason to hold back.
The growing proportion will be a relief for Apple, which dumped Google as its maps partner after the two sides could not agree on data and revenue sharing from the app, for which the search giant had been used on the iPhone since its inception in 2007.
It suggests that existing users with older devices are willing to upgrade to get new services - which is crucial to Apple's strategy of retaining customers by locking them in to its app store and services. Two of those are its Photo Stream (photo uploading to the cloud) and iMessage service, an iOS-only equivalent to RIM's BlackBerry Messenger (BBM): Schiller said that "iOS users have uploaded over nine billion photos to Photo Stream [and] sent over 450 billion iMessages."
The number of users of iMessage, introduced with iOS 5 in October 2011, could now be as many as 400m, far exceeding the number of BBM users, where RIM's worldwide user base fell by 1m during its last financial quarter to 79m.
Although Apple's maps implementation brings turn-by-turn navigation and vector graphics which require less data to download - putting it at feature parity with Google's Android, which had had those features in the newest version of its OS since January 2011 - users complained about misplaced airfields, misnamed towns and incorrect landmarks.
The arrival of Google's own Maps app for iOS 6 in December may have been an important step encouraging users to upgrade: according to the ad network MoPub, the release on 13 December of the app saw the number of users running iOS 6 increase by a third soon afterwards.

Google said that the Maps app, which brought its own routing and Street View offerings to a separate app which works on both iOS 5 and iOS 6, was downloaded more than 10m times in the 48 hours after its launch. It has not released any further download figures, nor any that would indicate which version of iOS the downloads are being used on.
Apple has pledged to improve the quality of its Maps app.
• iOS 6.1 brings compatibility with a larger number of 4G/LTE carriers around the world, as well as the ability to buy film tickets in the US via Fandango, individual song downloads via iCloud and a new button to reset the advertising identifier - found in Settings –> General –> About –> Advertising - which deletes any cookies and effectively makes the user look like a brand new visitor to any site.
• Apple has launched a 128GB version of the iPad 4, costing £639 inc VAT for the Wi-Fi model and £739 inc VAT for the 4G/Wi-Fi version. The pricing and capacity may mean it is aimed at businesses: the press release accompanying the release quotes three businesses which require large amounts of onboard storage, for AutoCAD files, high-resolution music files and the developer of an app for American football teams.

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Apple rumored to unveil 4.8-inch ‘iPhone Math’ in June

Despite the fact that Apple just launched the iPhone 5 in September of last year, talk of the next iteration of the handset has already started to accumulate. It seems like we hear rumors regarding the next-gen iPhone on a weekly basis.
The latest report claims that Apple is actually planning on unveiling three new handsets this year. It says that the first two, the iPhone 5S and the ‘iPhone Math,’ will launch in June, and a third, unknown model, just before Christmas…
China Times, which has been translated by BrightWire, reports:

“Apple will announce three new iPhone models in 2013, and two of them, the 4-inch iPhone 5S and 4.8-inch iPhone Math (both featuring 8-mega-pixel cameras), will hit markets before the end of June, China Times reported citing Taiwan-based Commercial Times.

Citing Apple’s suppliers, the report added that the third model, which has not been exposed, will be launched before Christmas. The model will feature a 12-mega-pixel camera.”

We’ve heard several reports in the past few months alleging that Apple has two separate iPhones in the works — a successor for the iPhone 5 and a so-called ‘budget’ model — but this is the first time we’ve heard anything about a third one.
This is also the first time we’ve heard anything about an ‘iPhone Math.’ But it’s worth noting that the 4.8-inch display part does mesh with a report we saw last December that was based on an investor note by Jefferies analyst Peter Misek:

“Several iPhone 6 prototypes appear to be floating around. The model with a 4.8″ screen is the most interesting. It has a Retina+ IGZO screen, a new A7 quad-core processor variant, and a new form factor with no home button. Full gesture control is also possibly included.“

It wouldn’t surprise me if Apple had several iPhone prototypes floating around. For one, to evaluate them and see which models are more efficient to manufacture. And two, to keep analysts and such guessing—which seems to be working.
But if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the iPhone 5S, and possibly a budget handset. There’s nothing in Apple’s history that suggests it would name a product ‘the iPhone Math,’ and a 4.8-inch display seems almost just as unlikely.
As far as the launch though, I’m starting to think there might actually be something to this June timeframe. Going back through all of the previous next-gen iPhone reports, I noticed that roughly 90% of them all called for a June/July release.

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iPhone Mini wont debut. Phil Schiller Says It Won’t Be The ‘Future Of Apple Products’

If Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is to be believed, the widely rumored low-cost iPhone could help Apple cater to a market representing as many as 580 million potential customers. But it seems that the Cupertino tech giant is not in a mood to take it into consideration as a company executive simply turned the rumor down in a one-to-one interview with a Chinese newspaper.

Apple is not in a mood to take a low cost iPhone into consideration as the company's SVP of Worldwide marketing Phil Schiller simply turned the rumor down in a one-to-one interview with a Chinese newspaper.Apple SVP of Worldwide marketing Phil Schiller told Chinese newspaper Shanghai Evening News in an official interview that regardless of the popularity of cheaper smartphones, this would “never be the future of Apple products.”

Although iPhone’s market share rose in the fourth quarter of 2011 and in the first quarter of 2012, standing at 23 percent, it dropped down drastically to just 14.6 percent worldwide in the third quarter of 2012. Schiller did address this concern, but tried to validate Apple’s current position in the market saying that the low-cost smartphones have created a new segment in the smartphone market, which Apple does not want to explore.

Schiller said that targeting the low-end of the market by making a cheaper iPhone was not Apple’s way of doing things. Instead, in every product that Apple creates, it considers “using only the best technology available. This includes the production pipeline, the Retina display, the unibody design, to provide the best product to the market.”
“So a lot of people in the Chinese market using a functional machine, some manufacturers use cheap smartphones replace feature phones, but this is not Apple’s product development direction,” said Schiller.
Criticizing some of Apple’s competitors for releasing “multiple products in one breath,” Schiller said that after purchasing such products customers often ended up with “no suitable software products and user experience.”
Apple doesn’t want that to happen to its customers, and as Redmond Pie noted, Schiller argued that “a small product line ensures maximum software and accessory compatibility by reducing the effort on the part of developers and manufacturers to ensure that their products work on all devices.”
There is no doubt that Apple’s market share in smartphones segment has dropped notably in recent times, but despite that the company has claimed to have made significant profits.
“At first, non-smartphones were popular in the Chinese market, now cheap smartphones are more popular and non-smartphones are out,” Schiller added. “Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple’s products. In fact, although Apple’s market share of smartphones is just about 20%, we own the 75% of the profit.”
Schiller nailed the cheaper iPhone rumor down. But should his comment be considered conclusive?
“Schiller’s statements aren’t conclusive in the way that they refer to exactly what price points that Apple will be targeting, only that ‘cheap smartphones’ aren’t really Apple’s fare,” said Matthew Panzarino of The Next Web. “This has always been the case and even with the ‘free’ iPhones, you’re still getting top-notch build quality, just from a couple of models ago. A ‘cheap’ smartphone would imply worse materials or construction in order to meet a price point.”
iDownloadBlog pointed to another report from Edible Apple, saying people should not confuse between a cheap iPhone and a more affordable iPhone.
“The iPad Mini is by no means cheap, but it’s certainly more affordable than the flagship iPad 4th generation,” said the report. “Similarly, a more economical iPhone might be a boon for Apple to the extent that they make more money per device sold than they currently do selling older generation models at steep discounts.”
So what’s your take on a cheaper or, to be more precise, an affordable iPhone? Will a low-cost but not cheaply made iPhone debut in 2013?

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Cheaper iPhone or iPhone Mini Could Make $6.5 Billion For Apple

iPhone Mini expected to costs around $200.
An analyst believes the rumored budget iPhone could generate upwards of $6.5 billion in revenue for Apple.

In a research note, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he believes there's a 60 to 70 percent chance Apple will launch a lower-priced iPhone this year. He expects the the cheaper smartphone will feature a lower-quality screen and casing, as well as a potentially downgraded processor.

Munster predicts that Apple will charge nearly $200 for the off-contract phone "given Apple's history of commanding a premium to the market." The price would represent "a significant discount" when compared to the premium-priced current iPhones.

He added that if Apple launched the low-cost iPhone in September, it's likely to account for 30 percent of iPhone sales during 2013's fourth quarter. Munster believes if the proposed launch does occur, it would see the selling price of an iPhone decrease from $640 to around $520.

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Apple rumored to be working on a cheaper iPhone (iPhone Mini), could arrive in late 2013

Major news agencies far and wide have been asserting that Apple would be producing a "cheaper iPhone" for years now, and it looks as if a few fresh rumors have the smoke all roiled up again. The Wall Street Journal is today reporting that Apple is "working on a lower-end iPhone," citing only "people familiar with the matter" as proof. The article notes that the company has "explored such a device for years," but that exploration is getting closer to reality now that the smartphone universe is beginning to shift in a major way.
As the story goes, the cheaper phone "could resemble the standard iPhone, with a different, less-expensive body" -- perhaps an iPhone that relies on polycarbonate plastic instead of metal / glass. It's most certainly unlike Apple to cater to the lower-end; when the netbook craze was in full force, it resisted the obvious urge to cut corners on its MacBook Air in order to play ball in that space. And, most recently, its smaller iPad didn't come close to matching items like the Nexus 7 in price.
What remains unclear, however, is if this report is merely a masked rehash of a DigiTimes report that surfaced earlier in the day. For those unaware, DigiTimes doesn't have the purest reputation when it comes to nailing Apple rumors, and given that a low-end iPhone has been rumored for nearly as long as the iPhone has existed, it's even more unclear if there's a reason to put more stock in this one compared to those prior.

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Apple iPhone 6 Rumor Roundup: Touch-On Display, New Colors, Different Screen Sizes

The Apple iPhone 6 might finally be the change in design and features Apple customers have been craving. According to new rumors, the device will change its touchscreen capabilities, offer new color options, and possibly arrive in two display sizes.

On Thursday, the reporting team at China Times alleged that Apple is investigating the use of “Touch On Display” panels from Innolux. According to the report, the panels are just 0.5mm thick and offer superior sensitivity and optical performance compared to current iPhone 5 displays.

The report also suggests that Apple is changing to the new displays because of poor iPhone 5 display performance issues. While problems with iPhone 5 displays have been few and far between, the number of customers reporting slow touch response times and interference problems have reportedly worried Apple engineers.  The biggest complaint to date has been devices that will not register rapid diagonal swipes.

Apple is also rumored to be prepping various device colors including pink, yellow, blue, white and silver, and black and slate. Apple is no stranger to colored device options, already offering a similar slate of device for its iPod touch devices.

In another rumor, Topeka Capital analyst Brian White suggests that Apple may choose to release two display options that include the iPhone 4S friendly 3.5″ option and the larger 5″ display that is now available for iPhone 5 users.

The Apple iPhone 6 (possibly the iPhone 5S) is expected to be announced in June 2013. With Google Android smartphones continuing to chip away at Apple iPhone market share, the actual release of the iPhone 6 could occur only a short time after the new device and iOS 7 are revealed.

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Apple iPhone Mini Has Smartphone Costing Under $250

The Apple iPhone mini rumors have the mini costing under $250. The new iPhone mini would be a smaller budget version of the iPhone 5, which is similar to how the iPad mini shrinks the full iPad.

“The idea behind a smaller iPhone is simple – make it more affordable which in turn will open it up to a much larger user base. It’s no secret that Samsung is winning the proverbial smartphone battle as recent data shows the Korean electronics giant is expected to account for one third of all smartphones sold this year. Apple’s iPhone, on the other hand, is forecasted to capture 21 percent of the market, just a single percentage point more than last year.”

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek thinks the iPhone mini could launch early this summer at a price of $200 to $250. Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston told CNET that he thinks an iPhone mini is definitely in Apple’s future but perhaps not so soon:

“We believe Apple will have to launch an ‘iPhone Mini’ at some point over the next three years to address the hundreds of millions of prepaid users worldwide that cannot afford the current iPhone. The iPhone 5 is growing fast and profitably right now, so there is limited incentive for Apple to launch a profit-squeezing ‘iPhone Mini’ this year. We expect the ‘iPhone Mini’ to be more likely next year, in 2014, when Apple’s penetration of the global postpaid smartphone market will be nearing saturation and Apple will be forced to discover fresh growth streams elsewhere.”

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iPhone Mini to Launch in 2014

smaller iPhone will take on Asian Markets

While Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) increased the size of the iPhone 5′s screen to 4-inches, yet another analyst says it will head in the opposite direction to take on Samsung in overseas markets, CNET notes. Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston has joined a number of other analysts arguing that Apple will look to compete with Samsung in emerging markets by releasing a cheaper iPhone. In order to reduce the new phone’s cost, Apple will reduce the size of its touchscreen. While other analysts have suggested that an iPhone Mini could debut as soon as this year, Mawson considers that unlikely. He anticipates that the smaller phone will be unveiled within the next three years, most likely in 2014. Will be a target to Indian and Chinese markets.

Alternate Choice: Despite a growing chorus of reports that Apple will partner with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) to produce chips for its mobile devices, Forbes notes that many Silicon Valley experts increasingly expect it to tap Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) instead. Apple has been reportedly moving to reduce its dependence on Samsung as a manufacturing partner as the two companies have become global competitors in the mobile device market. Previous rumors have suggested the TSMC has begun preparing test runs to make Apple’s A6X mobile processors. However, MKM Partners analyst Daniel Berenbaum suggest that Intel is a more logical choice for the role since it’s greater chip-making capacity could allow it to act as an Apple chip foundry without the need for new capital investment. Rumors suggest that TSMC has been investing heavily to accommodate Apple’s anticipated orders. But Berenbaum says that TSMC’s chip-making capacity remains too restricted to meet Apple’s heavy demand.

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