Apple : iPad Mini possibly revealed in Instapaper iOS access logs

iPad Mini possibly revealed in Instapaper iOS access logs
Source: Apple, four publishers look to beat antitrust investigation
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google's Larry Page in secret peace talks?
Photos show A6 chipset on iPhone 5?

iPad Mini possibly revealed in Instapaper iOS access logs

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Marco Arment, the creator of save-for-later app Instapaper, revealed an interesting discovery on his blog Thursday that further hints at the existence of Apple's iPad Mini.

Arment writes that he noticed some "curious" devices in the Instapaper iOS app's access logs: the iPad2,5 and the iPad2,6 (alongside the iPhone5,1, though no one's questioning the iPhone 5's existence).

He postulates first that the new iPad designations could refer to process-shrunk versions of the iPad 2, though he admits "that would be a pretty strange move."

His real theory soon surfaces: that the iPad2,5 and iPad2,6 represent the iPad Mini in its Wi-Fi and GSM iterations.

A textbook move

Arment goes on to suggest that based on his observations, the iPad Mini is effectively an iPad 2 stuffed into a smaller, cheaper chassis.

That would grant it Apple's A5 chipset and 512MB of RAM, though by Arment's estimations, the iPad Mini wouldn't launch with a Retina Display.

"It's a textbook Tim Cook supply-chain move: selling the last generation's hardware at a lower price point to expand marketshare," Arment writes.

"But this time, it's more dramatic."

iPad Mini release date

Jailbreakers could theoretically fake whatever iPad designation they wanted to, Arment admits, though he's "never had a device show up there that didn't end up being a real, about-to-be-released Apple device."

So when will the iPad Mini release?

Initial rumors in July predicted the iPad Mini would be revealed on Sept. 12 alongside the iPhone 5, and that both would launch nine days later on Sept. 21.

More recently, "sources" have reported that the iPad Mini launch would take place at an event in October, separate from the September iPhone 5 release event.

Whatever happens, Apple is sure to keep us guessing until the eleventh hour.

Source: Apple, four publishers look to beat antitrust investigation

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Cheaper ebooks may soon hit retailers like Amazon if a European Union antitrust commission accepts placating offers from Apple and four major publishers.

Apple and the publishers - Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrink, owner of Macmillan - placed proposals before the commission in an effort to end an antitrust investigation into exclusive sales deals, a source told ReutersFriday.

Each has an agreement with Apple to sell online versions of their publications at a discounted rate on iTunes with the contingency they can't offer the lower rates to other retailers.

While Apple enjoyed lower rates no other retailer could offer, it also took home 30 percent of each sale's proceeds.

A page turner

The commission launched its investigation to see whether the deals restrict European competition.

It said in April all five companies had put offers on the table to avoid penalties and halt the investigation. The fines could've reached 10 percent of each business's total global revenue.

It's unclear whether these concessions are part of April's offers or if the deals on the table extend beyond European boarders.

Another publisher, Penguin, is also under investigation but the source didn't name it among the companies submitting proposals.

The EU commission is reportedly now taking the proposals around the industry to gather whether the concessions satisfy the allegations.

If the industry offers their consensus, the commission will conduct a formal market test that could lead to an end to the investigation, the source said.

No one at HarperCollins was available for comment. TechRadar has reached out to Simon & Schuster, Apple and Amazon for comment and will update this story if and when they respond.

HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette offered similar proposals in a lawsuit settlement with the U.S government. The U.S. brought the suit amidst price-fixing allegations and exclusive deals with Apple.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google's Larry Page in secret peace talks?

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Reports on Wednesday claim that high level talks between the CEOs of Apple and Google have taken place, with a view to resolving a host of patent disputes.

As first reported by Reuters, Tim Cook and Larry Page have engaged in behind the scenes discussions regarding intellectual property matters, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The story was later 'confirmed' by AllThingsD, which consulted its own sources on the story.

Those in-the-know bods revealed that at least one more meeting between, arguably, the two most important men in tech has been scheduled.

Keeping it out of the courtroom

News of the summit comes less than a week after Samsung was found guilty of multiple counts of patent infringement, as alleged by Apple.

Although the award of $1.05 billion strikes at the heart of one of it key manufacturing competitors, many observers believe that Apple's true motivation is to stifle the Android operating system that powers Samsung's tech.

In the wake of the court ruling, Google issued a statement claiming none of the infringed-upon patents relate to 'core Android,' and it would await the results of a Samsung appeal.

As well as its beef with the Android OS, Apple also has pending legal proceedings with Motorola, the manufacturer now, of course, owned by Google.

Any accord the two behemoths could reach, likely through cross-licensing agreements, would avoid another long and expensive courtroom saga for which we would all be grateful.

Playmates

The Cook/Page summit is perhaps the first sign that Google and Apple can play nicely with each other again, without tantrums and toys getting chucked out of prams.

The pair were the best of pals throughout much of the last decade, until Google launched the Android operating system, enraging the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who felt it 'wholesale ripped off the iPhone.'

In his official biography Jobs was quoted as saying he was willing to go "thermonuclear war" and spend "every dollar Apple has in the bank" to right the perceived injustice.

Soured relations

Relations have soured ever since, most recently with Apple removing the built-in YouTube app and dropping Google Maps for its own solution from the latest version of iOS.

Representatives from Apple and Google have so far declined to comment on the reports, but we'll be sure to bring you any updates.

Photos show A6 chipset on iPhone 5?

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The latest allegedly leaked image from the iPhone factory floor appears to show a brand new chip for the iPhone 5: the Apple A6.

Apple began using its own, in-house system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs with the introduction of the iPad.

That version was dubbed the Apple A4, and it was also used in the iPhone 4, while the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S used the Apple A5 and the third-gen iPad used the Apple A5X variation.

Apple's apparent decision to go with a brand new SoC designation for the iPhone 5 could indicate big changes.

Then again, it could indicate nothing

The A5X designation was created primarily to deal with the third-gen iPad's detailed 2048x1536 Retina display, which was the first such screen on an iPad.

To that end, the A5X SoC added a shiny quad-core GPU.

But the iPhone's existing A4 and A5 chipsets already support Retina graphics on the smartphones' smaller screens; the iPhone first went Retina with the Apple A4 chipset on the iPhone 4.

So despite the iPhone 5's rumored slightly larger, 4-inch 1136x640 screen, Apple isn't limited to using the same SoC found in the iPad with Retina display.

But what changes will the Apple A6 bring to the iPhone 5?

Bigger battery and other leaks

As iMore points out, the name of Apple's new iPhone 5 chipset could be down to more of a "branding decision" than anything else.

But the alleged images do appear to reveal a little more about the iPhone 5: an unsurprising Qualcomm chip and space for a larger battery.

In addition, there have been conflicting reports about the possibility of iPhone 5 NFC support.

A smaller docking cable has also been seen in recent supposed leaks.

Most importantly, recent developments support the theory that Apple's set to unveil the iPhone 5 on Sept. 12, possibly alongside the iPad Mini.

Yahuui Blog

Friday, August 31, 2012