iOS 6: Standalone Podcast App Coming At Launch?

You didn't think they told us EVERYTHING on Monday, did you?

When Apple unveiled iOS 6 at Monday’s WWDC 2012 keynote they showed off some pretty cool new features. Thanks to Monday’s presentation we know that iOS 6 will be getting a brand new Maps app with 3D Flyover and turn-by-turn navigation, FaceTime over 3G, improvements to Siri, Facebook integration, and more. In fact, Apple promised 200 new features in iOS 6.

Of course, if you know much about Apple, you know that they’ve got more tricks up their sleeve than they revealed on Monday. After all, iOS 6 will be launching alongside the new iPhone this fall At least some of its features will be keyed to features that are exclusive to the new iPhone. Still others will be coming in later betas of iOS 6, or will be announced when the new iPhone is announced (probably in October).

Apple Sued Over Lost Time Capsule Backups

If you’ve used OS X since the launch of 10.5 Leopard in the fall of 2007, you’re probably familiar with Time Machine. One of the flagship features of Leopard, Time Machine allows users to create automatic, incremental backups of their files and store them to an external hard drive. To go along with Time Machine, Apple also released Time Capsule, a combination external drive/wi-fi base station. Unfortunately, the Time Capsule was plagued with hardware defects. There were numerous stories of Time Capsule failures resulting in lost user data. Eventually, Apple issued a recall and began replacing the devices.

Unfortunately, Apple’s recall didn’t help Perminder Tung of Surrey, British Columbia. Tung, an attorney, purchased a Time Capsule in 2009, before the recall period began. He used it to back up two MacBooks and an iPhone. Unfortunately, the Time Capsule crashed last month, losing all the backed up data, including photos from an iPhone that had also failed. Among those photos were pictures of the birth of Tung’s first child.

iOS 6 Maps Flyover Hacked To Run On An iPhone 4

One of the biggest things unveiled at Apple’s WWDC 2012 keynote on Monday was the new Maps app for iOS 6. Quite apart from its implications in the ongoing battle between Google and Apple, it packs in several new features. Most notably, it comes with turn-by-turn navigation (which is fully integrated with Siri), and an amazing new 3D mode called Flyover.

Unfortunately, Flyover will not be available on all iOS devices. While iOS will run on a pretty wide variety of iOS devices, not every feature is available on every device. For example, Siri is coming to the new iPad, but not to the iPad 2. FaceTime over 3G is only coming to the new iPad and the iPhone 4S. Flyover and turn-by-turn navigation will only run on the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, and the new iPad.

Or will they?

WWDC 2012: Apple Uploads Keynote To YouTube

On Monday various Apple executives took the stage for the keynote at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which ends today. During the keynote they introduced a huge number of new products. Items on the menu included updates to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines, an all new MacBook Pro with retina display, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, and iOS 6.

Unfortunately, Apple did not see fit to stream the keynote live. While there were a number of live blogs (including ours) and a Ustream feed available, neither is quite the same as watching the keynote yourself. Shortly after the keynote ended, Apple posted their own video on their website, but if you weren’t watching via Safari on your Mac or iOS device, or QuickTime on your Windows PC, then you couldn’t see it then, either.

Apple & Samsung Hold 55% of the Smartphone Market, but Earn 90% of its Profits

According to some new figures by ABI Research, Samsung and Apple captured 55% of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2012, but took in over 90% of the market’s profits.

Looking at vendor shipments for the quarter reveals some interesting figures. Apple shipped 35 million smartphones. That number was small compared to Samsung who sent out over 43 million.

The challenge appears when you look at everyone else. Their next closes competitor, Nokia, only shipped out 11.9 million smartphones. That’s a huge discrepancy. RIM wasn’t far behind with just over 11 million, but again, these figures don’t reflect any real competition for Apple of Samsung.

13-Inch Retina Display MacBook Pro Coming In October

Yesterday we brought you news that Apple may have a 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display in the works. It seems that references to a MacBook Pro with the model number 10,2 were found in the usage data for the MiniBatteryLogger utility. The 15-inch MacBook Pro with retina display unveiled during Monday’s WWDC 2012 keynote is the MacBook Pro 10,1. While it’s possible that the 10,2 is a 17-inch model, it’s more likely that it’s a 13-inch version, in keeping with Apple’s probable plans to have the next generation MacBook Pro supplant the older version.

Now it seems that this 13-inch retina display MacBook Pro may be launching in October. Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI, reportedly told AppleInsider that production of a 13-inch next-gen MacBook Pro will be ramping up in September with a targeted launch date of early October.

Apple 1 Computer Goes For $374,000 At Auction

I’m a Windows fan now, but that doesn’t mean that I hate Apple. In fact, I have a soft spot for the Apple II – my very first computer. I would love to get my hands on its predecessor, but it apparently takes a millionaire to get one.

According to CBS, there was an Apple 1 on auction in New York City. The computer was one of the original six computers that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built back in 1976. The demand for such a rare item must surely be high. An Apple fan, or maybe just a technology fan in general, has far outstripped what the original demand was valued at.

When the smoke cleared from what was surely an arduous battle, a victor appeared having won the computer for $374,000. Those in charge of the auction stated that the selling price was two-times higher than what they expected to get for the computer. The last Apple I sold at auction went for $210,000, so here’s hoping the next one goes for over $600,000.

Fake Apple Survey Email Making The Rounds

A fake survey claiming to be from Apple is making the rounds this morning. It’s pretty much your basic phishing email. It offers the recipient the chance to take a survey in exchange for $115 Apple Store gift card. Of course, if you know what to look for, the email is full of red flags.

First off, there are numerous grammatical errors in the body of the email itself. That’s always your first clue that an email like this is a fraud. Apple makes gazillions of dollars. They can afford to have people proofread the emails they send out. If you get an email from Apple – or any other major company for that matter – that reads like it was written by a sixth grade dropout, you can be sure it’s phony. Interestingly, though, email scammers don’t include grammatical errors because they’re idiots. They include them because the kind of person who catches grammatical errors is less likely to fall for an email scam. It’s a way of homing in on the easy marks. 

Steve Jobs And Bill Gates Throw Down In Rap Battle

If you’ve been on YouTube for any amount of time, you’re probably aware of NicePeter’s and EpicLloyd’s Epic Rap Battles of History. The video pits two historical figures against each other in what can only really be described as epic. Past battles have pit Hitler vs. Darth Vader or Michael Jackson vs. Elvis, but the newest is by far the best.

Apple, Motorola Given One More Day In Court

Last week we brought you news that Judge Richard Posner had tossed out the patent infringement case between Apple and Motorola that was scheduled to begin trial soon. Judge Posner declared that neither company had managed to demonstrate that the alleged infringement was actually causing them harm, and that the case would be dismissed with prejudice, preventing either party from filing suit again over the relevant patents.

In that order, though, Judge Posner declared that he would refrain from filing the judgment until he could prepare a formal opinion, leaving him room to change his mind. Well, it seems that he did change his mind. Sort of. The case is still not headed to trial, but Judge Posner issued another ruling yesterday in which he declared that Apple and Motorola would have one more day in court. At this hearing, scheduled for June 20th, the two companies will have the opportunity to convince Judge Posner that they have enough of a case against each other to justify proceeding to trial. If the judge is not convinced, the case will be dismissed, as per the original order.

Ping To Be Killed With Next iTunes Update

Ask not for whom the bell pings. It pings for thee.

Late last month at we brought you news that Apple may finally kill off Ping, the failed music-based social network introduced in 2010 with iTunes 10. Speaking at AllThingsD’s D10 Conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that Ping had failed to capture customer attention, and that there was the possibility that Ping would be killed off in a future release of iTunes.

Well, now it looks like “future” may mean “fall.” According to a report from AllThingsD, the next major release of iTunes will no longer include Ping. That release – probably iTunes 11 – is expected to launch in the fall alongside the new iPhone and iOS 6.

The loss of Ping does not, of course, mean that Apple is removing itself from the social media space. Quite the opposite, in fact. After all, iOS has had OS-level Twitter integration since iOS 5 launched last fall. OS X is getting Twitter integration with Mountain Lion next month, and Facebook will be coming to iOS 6 (and probably OS X Mountain Lion) in the fall. Along with all that, Apple is bringing the ability to share apps via Twitter and Like them via Facebook to the App Store, and you can bet that before long you’ll be able to do the same with music and movies in the iTunes Store.

iOS 6: Screenshots Reveal Unannounced Features

As expected, during yesterday’s WWDC 2012 keynote Apple unveiled iOS 6, which will be releasing in the fall alongside the new iPhone. During the keynote, Apple announced a lot of new features in iOS 6, most of which were not surprising. Features like Facebook integration, Do Not Disturb for notifications, improvements to Siri, and the new Maps app had been predicted for some time. Others, like Passbook and enhancements to the Phone app were unexpected.

Whether expected or unexpected, though, the features highlighted during yesterday’s keynote were only a fraction of the over 200 new features Apple is bringing to the iOS platform with iOS 6. Today, courtesy of a source with access to the iOS 6 beta, we can bring you some screen shots of some of those features as found on the iPad. Combined with what Apple announced yesterday, these new features show that Apple really does pay attention to customer feedback, and have added some of the features that we’ve been wanting (and getting from Cydia, in some cases) for years. That being the case, some of you may no longer feel the need to jailbreak once iOS 6 ships. If, on the other hand, you’re like me and most of your jailbreak modifications have focused on the Notification Center, you’ll still want that jailbreak. There are lots of new features in iOS 6, but a lot was left out, as well. 

New MacBook Pro Lineup Creates Confusion

Three months after the new iPad, Apple’s product naming practices are back in the spotlight. The company’s WWDC 2012 keynote yesterday afternoon is being called their best yet. Various Apple execs treated us to an almost unheard-of assortment of new product announcements, including OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, iOS 6, updated MacBook Airs, updated MacBook Pros, and an all new next-generation MacBook Pro with retina display. All in all, it was an impressive display.

It’s that last set of new products, however, that is raising a few eyebrows. The launch of an all-new retina display MacBook at WWDC was not unexpected. In fact, we first reported that they might do so last week. What’s surprising is the name they chose to give this new device. The original report suggested that with this new computer would drop the “Pro” branding and simply be called the MacBook, and that it would ultimately replace the current MacBook Pro.

New iMac, Mac Pro In The Works, Coming In 2013

In the run up to yesterday’s WWDC 2012 Apple keynote, there were all sorts of rumors about just what Apple would and would not announce. In fact, if you paid much attention to the rumor mill before hand (and some people on Twitter clearly didn’t), little of what Apple announced was a surprise. Nevertheless, some of the rumored announcements never came.

Most notably, three things were left out: the Apple TV, the iMac, and the Mac Pro. While major updates to the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines – including the new retina display model – had been predicted, the rumor mill had also hinted at similarly major updates to the iMac and the Mac Pro. While the Mac Pro did get a very minor feature bump (which Apple neglected to mention during the keynote), nary a peep was heard about the iMac.

iOS 6: Which Features Will Your Device Get?

Without a doubt, one of the biggest highlights of yesterday’s WWDC 2012 keynote was iOS 6. Apple’s latest mobile operating system packs in over 200 new features, some of which we heard about at yesterday’s keynote, some of which have come to light as developers have gotten their hands on the new iOS 6 beta.

Apple And Search: Now Is Google A Monopoly?

With all the talk about Google being a monopoly, the company is probably glad (at least partially) to see Apple make some search-related announcements during its WWDC keynote, which could help the argument in Google’s favor (even if hurting its market share).

Should Google be worried about Apple’s announcements? Tell us what you think.