Apple is going to replace Touchscreens with Voice control

No one knew a decade before what apple is and what it’s going to bring forth for us. Ten years later Apple changed the way of telephonic conversation, they brought new and innovative ideas which other companies failed to meet and Apple became king company of Smartphone’s. The mobile phones and tablets from apple were much lighter, thinner and more powerful than any other company produced. Their products are more user friendly and easy to handle. Now the question is, are they looking for a horizon beyond touchscreen as well. Because a few days before one rumor suggests that Apple could spearhead that future early next year, in the form of the iWatch.

A Chinese blog claimed that Apple is trying to produce a new and innovative smart watch in collaboration with Intel. The features of iWatch include a 1.5-inch OLED screen and the device would be connected to an iPhone through a low powered Bluetooth 4.0. Using the Siri it will enable you to answer calls and operate other functions of the iPhone.

Whether this rumor is true or not but Siri is going to replace touch screens with voice in our mobile devices for Apple company. Apple thrives on making tech products behave less like tech products, and more like natural human tools. When taken to its extreme, this could result in a device with a conversation-based interface.

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10 iPad Apps for Teaching Kids About Science

Compared with mastering multiplication tables, struggling with Shakespeare or memorizing a slew of dates, science class has always been pretty lively. After all, where else could you play with volatile chemicals, fire, magnets and even the occasional dead frog (OK, so maybe that part wasn't "play" for everyone).

Now, thanks to some very smart people who paid attention during science class (and a few other periods), we have another way to study science: the iPad. In just a few short years, this ubiquitous tablet has proved its versatility and usefulness in all sorts of ways. Perhaps most valuable among these is education. Science apps written for the iPad let us explore space, look inside the human body, test out theories and yes, even dissect a frog (although with much less mess). Science itself has made educating people about it more fun and interactive than ever.

Here we present 10 iPad science apps that are so engaging and entertaining that kids won't even mind that they're learning while using them.

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Apple Locks App Screenshots To Ward Off Scammers

Apple has announced that app screenshots will be locked in iTunes Connect once an app is approved. New screenshots can only be added when developers submit a binary for an updated to an existing or new app.

This move will help combat a common scam tactic that tricks people into buying fake apps with screenshots stolen from more popular or non-iOS games. Past examples include fake descriptions for  various apps titled Halo 4 that were actually just a chess or racing game and a non-functional “Pokemon Yellow” app. Many scam developers managed to get past App Store monitors by using different screenshots when they first submitted their apps for approval and then later changing the store description.

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References To iPhone 6, iOS 7 Reportedly Seen in Developer Log

The iPhone 5 just finished its global rollout, but it looks like leaks about the iPhone 6 are already starting to surface. An iOS developer saw a device named “iPhone 6.1″ running iOS 7 making requests from an IP address within Apple’s Cupertino campus, according to TNW. The iPhone 6 is expected to be released by the middle of next year. TNW says that “although OS and device data can be faked, the unique IP footprint leading back to Apple’s Cupertino campus leads us to believe that this is not one of those attempts.”

So does this show anything significant, aside from the fact that Apple will continue to regularly push out new iPhone models and iOS versions? Probably not. Over the last two years, since police raided Gizmodo editor Jason Chen‘s home after he obtained an iPhone prototype, Apple’s attitude toward secrecy has become increasingly lax despite Tim Cook’s insistence otherwise. And, as TNW notes, references to the new iOS 6 software were seen in May a month before its official launch, giving this latest round of leaks a precedent.
  
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Samsung to sell first Tizen smartphone next year, report says Tizen is an alternative Linux-based operating system seen as a more open platform that will rival Google's Android and Apple's iOS.

Samsung at the Consumer Electronics Show.
(Credit: Samsung)

Samsung Electronics will be the first to sell a smartphone running on the Tizen operating system through Japanese carrier NTT Docomo and other partners next year, according to Japan's Daily Yomiuri.

Samsung, NTT Docomo, and their partners hope to build a platform that will rival the major operating systems from Apple and Google. Other carriers interested in Tizen include the U.K.'s Vodaphone and France Telecom, according to the report.

CNET has contacted Samsung for comment, and we'll update the story when the company responds.

Tizen is a Linux-based operating system that emerged from the death of Nokia's MeeGo. Intel, which originally worked with Nokia on MeeGo, and Samsung took over the development of the operating system, which is also overseen by the Linux Foundation. It is seen as more open than Google's Android, which despite its claims of openness, has irked some partners with certain restrictions, including the inability to make massive changes to the underlying platform.

The various companies involved with Tizen see the platform as a potential alternative with both Android and the closed iOS operating system from Apple getting too powerful. Samsung has seen its market share and dominance over the smartphone industry soar with Android, but is hedging its bets. Samsung is also juggling Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system as well, but so far the platform hasn't taken off for the company.

Beyond phones, Tizen could be used for other devices, including televisions and tablets. Samsung has been quick to add platforms capable of running apps in devices such as televisions and even appliances.

NTT Docomo, meanwhile, is the only major Japanese carrier to not sell the iPhone, and Daily Yomiuri said that the carrier hopes that Tizen will help reverse the subscriber losses.
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Apple Will Reportedly Start Selling Unlocked iPhones As Early As Tonight In The U.S.

Apple has yet to release the unlocked iPhone 5 in the U.S., even though early on they let images leak depicting pricing of that device on its website. Now a new report from 9t05Mac claims that the company will start selling unlocked iPhones as early as tonight via its online store, with physical retail availability coming shortly thereafter. As we reported at launch, unlocked pricing for the iPhones will be $649, $749 and $849 respectively for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions.

9to5Mac’s generally solid retail sources say that the phone will be made available unlocked beginning around 9 PM PT tonight at the earliest, and that physical stores will have them “soon,” but haven’t received a firm starting date for sales as of yet. The report does claim that unlocked device inventory is already making its way out to retail locations, however, in advance of being put on sale. Finally, their sources also indicate that customers will start being able to reserve devices ahead of time anytime, rather than just after 10 PM, as is the current practice.

Unlocked devices are on the market through Apple in other markets, like the Canadian store. These come SIM-unlocked, meaning you can use them with the carrier and plan of your choice. Customers still have to ensure that the version of the iPhone they pick up is compatible with the network of their choosing. In the U.S., Apple offers two versions of the iPhone, one that works with Sprint and Verizon 4G networks, and one that works with AT&T frequencies. It’s unclear from this report whether both versions will be made available unlocked, but hopefully we’ll find out later this evening.

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Apple Gains On Samsung In U.S. Mobile Phone Market Share, Lands Second Overall For The First Time

For the first time in the history of comScore’s MobiLens U.S. mobile market share report, Apple has come in second overall among handset OEMs. Apple grew its U.S. market share by 1.5 percentage points from 16.3 to 17.8 percent in the three-month period ending October 2012, according to the report. During the same period, Samsung also saw its share grow, but only by 0.7 percentage points, from 25.6 to 26.3 percent. Apple seems to have begun narrowing the gap on the back of the iPhone 5, which went on sale in the U.S. towards the middle of the period covered by comScore’s latest report.

Screen Shot 2012-12-01 at 8.34.07 AMApple climbed to second over LG, which saw a dip of 0.8 percentage points from 18.4 to 17.6 percent during the period. Motorola and HTC rounded out the top five, both experiencing slight drops and finishing the quarter with 11 and 6 percent of the market, respectively. Another key metric comScore found, and one which helps explain what finally pushed Apple into second place, is nearly 52 percent of all subscribers in the U.S. were on smartphones, up 6 percent from the previous quarter. Apple only sells smartphones, so its fortunes rising in lockstep with the decreasing popularity of feature phones makes perfect sense.

As mentioned, Apple also released the iPhone 5 during the quarter covered by this report. We’ve already seen from Kantar Worldpanel that the iPhone 5 propelled Apple back to the top of the U.S. smartphone charts, and it’s likely that device is also the reason Apple now comes in at number two overall among handset makers of all stripes.

Platform market share still shows Google with a commanding lead, and one which grew during the period, from 52.2 percent of subscribers to 53.6 percent. Apple also gained, rising 0.9 percentage points from 33.4 percent to 34.3 percent, while RIM was the biggest loser among the top five with a decline of 1.7 percentage points. Microsoft and Symbian round out the top five, both with minor drops in overall share.

The next quarter will be an interesting one to watch for. It covers November through January, which means that we’ll see the holiday effect on all OEMs. It also should include LG’s sales of the Nexus 4 device, which seems to be remarkably popular, or at least in very short supply. Depending on how LG allocates supply among its Optimus G and Nexus devices, we could see it claw back into second, since the gap is still quite narrow, but it has to contend with Apple’s holiday iPhone sales, which are generally very strong.

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A First Look At The 2012 21.5-inch iMac, And How It Compares To Generations Past

The new iMac all-in-one desktop computer from Apple goes on sale today, and it includes a significant hardware redesign. Apple has cut bulk and thinned out the edges with a tapered design that is only 5 mm thick at the edge. Leaving aside what’s new under the hood, the case itself is impressive enough that it merits a good look. Here’s what the new 21.5-inch version of the iMac looks like, and how it stacks up to other Apple hardware, past and present.

21.5-inch 2012 iMac, front view. It’s hard to tell in pics, but the screen is very impressive. Images sit so close to the glass.

 21.5-inch 2012 iMac, side view. you can see here how it tapers out to a relatively thick point where the hinge attaches to the stand.

21.5-inch 2012 iMac, from the back. Not much has changed here from the last generation. Ports, power button, etc all in the same place.

Thickness comparison, 2012 iMac and 13-inch 2012 Retina MacBook Pro. You can see the edge of the iMac is just slightly thicker than the MacBook’s lid.

2012 iMac next to 2012 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. Apple’s design aesthetics are definitely still in tight lockstep between notebooks and desktops.

 Edge comparison, 2011 MacBook Air and 2012 iMac. At its thinnest point, the MacBook Air is still thinner than the iMac’s edge, but just barely.

 

 2008 20-inch iMac (left) next to 2012 21.5-inch iMac. My old kitchen workhorse comes out to showhow much has changed in four years. Note the thickness of the stand on the older machine.

 2008 iMac (right) and 2012 iMac (left) thickness comparison. The difference here is almost absurd.

2008 iMac (right) and 2012 iMac (left) top thickness comparison. That taper accounts for all the saved volume on the newer machine.

2011 iMac (left) thickness comparison to 2012 iMac (right). This is a comparison with the 2011 iMac released last summer. At their thickest point they’re close, if not the same at around 1.5-inches thick.

Close-up of Mail icon on 2012 iMac screen. It’s not a Retina display, but the further distance from the screen a user sits makes the difference harder to spot than on, say the iPad mini.

Close-up of Mail icon on 2012 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro. Here’s the comparison shot from Apple’s HiDPI Mac screen.

 2012 iMac edge close-up. You can tell this is a precision-crafted machine.

iPhone 5 and 2012 iMac thickness comparison. Thinner than iPhone 5 at the outer edge.

Pad mini and 2012 iMac thickness comparison. These are pretty close, too.

iPad (3rd generation) and 2012 iMac thickness comparison. The iPad’s starting to look positively hefty in this context.

We’ll have more on the new iMac in a proper review once I’ve had a chance to put it through more thorough day-to-day testing.

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Apple heads into choppy waters as new iPhone awaited

A man shows a photograph he took on his iPhone of an Apple store in Beijing June 6, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/David Gray

By Poornima Gupta

SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:06am EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc faces an unusual phenomenon when reporting earnings this time around: low expectations.

Few are expecting the world's most valuable technology company -- which surpasses Wall Street expectations with near regularity -- to deliver a bumper quarter once more on Tuesday.

The main reason: consumers holding out for the new iPhone.

Apple may still surprise market watchers, but many Wall Street analysts and investors remember how chatter over the launch of a new iPhone last year caused Apple to miss quarterly expectations in the fall, for the first time in years.

The iPhone 5 is only expected to hit store shelves around October -- just in time for the holidays -- with a thinner, larger screen and fine-tuned search features. Couple that pre-launch lull with slowdowns in Europe and China, Apple's biggest markets outside of North America, and sentiment on the Wall Street darling is more muted than many can remember in a while.

"No longer is Apple the company that beats every time," said Tim Lesko, portfolio manager at Granite Investment Advisors, which owns Apple stock. "I expect Apple to beat Apple's guidance, but I don't know whether they will beat Wall Street's guidance."

Tony Sacconaghi, analyst with Bernstein Research, sees a reasonable chance Apple will miss expectations on revenue, citing "macroeconomic weakness in China and Europe, a product cycle lull in the iPhone, a later than expected introduction of the new iPad into China, and the late quarter introduction of new Mac notebooks."

Any hiccup in demand for the best-selling smartphone can have a big impact on both revenue and profits as the five-year old device accounts for nearly 50 percent for Apple's revenues. And it comes at a time Samsung and other manufacturers that use rival Google Inc's Android software are chipping away at its market share.

Apple is expected to report fiscal third-quarter earnings of $10.35 a share on revenue of $37.2 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Top Wall Street analysts are betting the numbers will undershoot that. Apple may miss the average sales forecast by about 0.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine's SmartEstimates, which places greater emphasis on timely forecasts by top-rated analysts.

IPAD'S LAUNCH IN CHINA

But some analysts also think the Street is underestimating the impact of a late iPad launch in China, a focal point of intense expansion for the company and a huge driver of growth.

Apple began selling the tablet there on Friday, but many had expected it to ship last quarter.

Sales in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan jumped threefold to $7.9 billion in the second quarter, accounting for about 20 percent of Apple's $39.2 billion in total revenue.

The company typically introduces a new iPhone every year, but has yet to reveal any details on the next model.

However, people familiar with the situation have told Reuters the new iPhone will have a bigger display and that Apple has begun to place orders for the new displays from suppliers in South Korea and Japan.

Meanwhile, Apple's iPhone 4S is just three quarters old, which is relatively new by any standard. But many fans of the phone now see it as a cyclical product with somewhat predictable launch timeframes, preferring to wait a few months to buy the new model, analysts said.

Wall Street estimates Apple sold about 29 million iPhones, down from 35.1 million sold in the March quarter. Sales of the new iPad, expected to be 14 million to 15 million, is likely to offset part of the anticipated sequential drop in iPhones sales.

Apart from concerns about iPhone purchases, Wall Street is worried about the rising prominence of Google and Amazon.com in the mobile market, particularly with the launch of Google's smaller and cheaper Nexus 7 tablet, which is gaining popularity.

Still, no one is bearish in the longer term on the world's largest technology company by market value and most Apple watchers believe the company will make up any lost iPhone volume during the holiday season.

"Big picture, it doesn't matter," said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. "They are still the share gainer in the larger scheme of things. This is clearly a timing issue."

BIG HOLIDAY SEASON EYED

Wall Street expects that the outlook for this year's holiday season will be enormous for Apple as it may include the launch of a new iPhone as well as a potential new "mini iPad."

Apple has been working on a smaller tablet, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

It is unclear when Apple will launch such a tablet, but some clues are emerging on the timing of the new iPhone.

When Verizon -- one of the wireless carriers that work with Apple -- was asked on Thursday why customers have been holding back on handset upgrades, CFO Fran Shammo said: "There is always that rumor mill out there with a new phone coming out in the fourth quarter and so people may be waiting."

Investors will pick apart executives' comments for clues to new product introductions. While Apple has a policy of never giving advance details or timings on new products, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer has often hinted of "product transition" in earnings conference calls preceding a launch.

Wall Street estimates Apple sold about 4 million Macintosh computers as the PC market saw growth sputter in the quarter.

The lackluster expectations do not appear to have affected Apple's stock, which is up nearly 50 percent so far in 2012. The stock has been choppy since a high of $644 in April. It closed Friday at $604.30 on the Nasdaq.

"Of all the quarters, this is the one that seems to have widest range of opinion," said Granite's Lesko.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta, Editing by Gary Crosse)


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