Apple Blogs
Indiedevlab announces speakers
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
Couldn't get tickets to WWDC or can't afford it? Be sure to check out indiedevlab, which we wrote about here. Here's a quick recap:
indiedevlab will pay host to many developers as a place to come during before and after WWDC to work/play and meet like minded people. Throughout the 4 days there will be a Games remix contest in which developers attending will be given the source code to a bare bones game and their task will be to remix said game...
Foxconn building new production line for Apple products
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
Apple must be expecting record sales of new and existing products, as manufacturing partner Foxconn has announced a US$210 million investment in a new production line in the Chinese city of Huai'an in Jiangsu province.
The new line is expected to be cranking out unspecified Apple products by October of 2012. It covers an area of 40,000 square meters, and will employ 35,800 workers. That's a relatively small percentage of Foxconn's total...
iBook Lessons: The long and short of ebook submission review times
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
iBook Lessons is a continuing series about ebook writing and publishing.
Last Autumn, after Apple launched the iPhone 4S, Steve Sande and I wrote Talking to Siri. It took several weeks to move through Apple review. Throughout all that time, people kept asking us, "Aren't you going to offer an iBooks version?" and we were all, "Patience, all in the fullness of time." The fullness of time, in that case, was almost a month.
Since then, Apple has...
Retailers relocate to accomodate Apple Store in Hong Kong
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
Apple is adding a second Apple store in Hong Kong and retailers are vacating their spaces to make room for the Cupertino company. According to an ifoAppleStore report, three retailers, HSBC, Agnes B. and Izzue, are leaving their spaces in the Festival Walk shopping center to make room for a large Apple Store.
The new store will be across the bay from the current IFC Mall store and located on an island that ifoAppleStore describes as being...
Apple Reaches Out to Cupertino Neighbors Regarding 'Campus 2' Plans
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
Apple last week sent out a mailing to neighbors of its planned Apple Campus 2, a massive new facility on the site of an old HP campus in Cupertino that is set to host 13,000 workers. The mailing offers details on the project, solicits feedback, and asks whether neighbors will support the project either in person at public meetings or by writing letters of support.
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In the mailing, Apple touts how the project will enhance the...
Apple sends letter to neighbors about new spaceship campus
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
Apple wants its new spaceship-style campus to be as free from controversy as possible. To quell any discontent from its neighbors, the company is reaching out to Cupertino residents and asking them for feedback about the project. In a document obtained by 9to5Mac, Apple tells residents how and why it's building this new campus.
According to the document, the research facility will accommodate 13,000 employees with additional 300,000 feet of...
Carriers accept high iPhone subsidies for now
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
It's widely believed that US carriers pay a lot for the iPhone. A perfect example is Sprint which signed an estimated US$15 billion deal for the iPhone and won't make money off the handset until 2015. AllThingsD presents several compelling reasons why Sprint and other US wireless carriers are willing to accept such high subsidies for the iPhone.
First, the carriers believe the iPhone will help them attract customers and keep them for the long...
The cost and construction of Apple's iPhone charger
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
Have you ever wondered exactly why Apple's tiny USB Power Adapter for the iPhone has such a large price tag? The diminutive cube costs US$29.00, while similar USB wall chargers are available from retailers like Monoprice for as little as $6. Ken Shirriff wondered the same thing, so he went all iFixit on one of the Apple chargers and tore it to pieces to see what's inside.
Shirriff found that there's a reason for at least part of the premium...
The story of Apple's upside down logo
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
It was perhaps one of the most baffling and frustrating design choices Apple ever made: the upside down Apple logo. For those of you who haven't been using Macs long enough to remember this, the "upside down Apple logo" refers to how PowerBooks and iBooks used to display the Apple logo "pointing" at the floor when the laptop was opened.
Former Apple employee Joe Moreno reveals the story behind the upside down logo. Apparently when Steve Jobs...
Leap suggests future of gesture-based computing
- Mon, 21 May 2012
SOFTWARE Apple Blogs
When techies try to think of the future of gesture-based computing, they often discuss 2002's Minority Report, a sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise. In the flick, Cruise controlled a huge transparent display by moving his hands and arms like an orchestra conductor. Now San Francisco-based Leap is taking gesture control seriously, with a US$69.99 product that's expected to ship later this year.
The Leap is a small aluminum and black plastic...