iPad mini with Retina display 'out by end of 2013'

It is not yet clear whether the redesigned 9.7-inch iPad and Retina display iPad mini will launch simultaneously, Bloomberg said.

The next version of the iPad will be adapted to look more like the current iPad Mini, with rounded corners and thinner sides, one source told the news organisation.

Details on the new iPad mini were sparse apart from the addition of a Retina display, as featured in the current iPad.

A Retina display would also bring the new iPad Mini in line with other Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch and MacBook Pro. The current iPad Mini comes with a lower-resolution 132ppi screen from LG and Taiwan's AU Optronics.

Retina display is a brand name used by Apple for their liquid crystal displays, in which pixelation is imperceptible to the human eye. Other brands also offer higher resolution screens, marketed simply as high definition.

The Californian company will be hoping the potential double-product launch will boost tablet sales, after global shipment of the devices fell from the first quarter to the second quarter of this year.

Apple, still the market leader in the tablet-manufacturing sector, ahead of Samsung, shipped a lower-than-predicted total of 14.6 million tablets in the second quarter last year, down from 19.5 million in the first.

“A new iPad launch always piques consumer interest in the tablet category and traditionally has helped both Apple and its competitors, said Tom Mainelli, a research director at the International Data Corporation.

“With no new iPads, the market slowed for many vendors, and that’s likely to continue into the third quarter. However, by the fourth quarter we expect new products from Apple, Amazon and others to drive impressive growth in the market.”

There have also been rumours online that the new iPhone 5S, expected to be released on September 10, will come with a protruding, sapphire button rather than the concave plastic one which currently features on the devices.

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Apple iPhone C will be scratch-resistant

The iPhone C, a budget version of the Apple smartphone, will be made of scratch-resistant materials, according to reports.

And the iPhone 5S, expected to be unveiled next month, will come with a dual LED flash to improve photo quality, according to the same article on the Chinese fan site Apple Daily.

A video on the website showed a reporter putting what is claimed to be the case of the low-cost iPhone C – which is expected to be Apple’s next move in an attempt to break into emerging markets - inside a bag of keys and coins before shaking it.

He then tries to scratch the casing directly with a key but is unable to.

Photos of brightly-coloured cases similar to those featured in the video have already been leaked online, leading some to suggest that the ‘C’ in the anticipated iPhone C stands for ‘colour’.

The higher-end iPhone 5S will be slightly thicker than the current iPhone 5, the Chinese report also claimed.

Rumours emerged earlier this week that the iPhone 5S would be available in a ‘champagne’ gold colour.

Until now, Apple has only offered the iPhone in black and white, (or 'slate' and 'silver' for the iPhone 5). However, a report in TechCrunch claimed that Apple plans to add a gold colour option for the forthcoming smartphone, citing multiple sources.

A gold iPhone would likely do well in the Chinese and Indian Markets, where the colour is very popular. Once considered gaudy, gold is now reportedly one of the most popular after-market colour adjustments for current iPhones.

The device is unlikely to be "a totally blinged-out gold," according to TechCrunch's MG Siegler, but a more subtle "champagne" colour - similar to the previously released gold iPod Mini.

The iPhone 5S is also expected to come with a form of fingerprint scanner, a rumour which has been circulating online since a developer found plans for biometric scanning in a folder in the iOS7 beta, the operating system any new handsets will carry.

Reports earlier in the month suggested the iPhone C and iPhone 5S would be launched at the same event on September 10.

Via......

Gold iPhone 5S back goes under the knife -- literally

The life of a pre-release iPhone is not an easy one. Not only do you get photographed inside and out, but you are also privy to being scratched by keys, pocket change, and now knives.

The latest comes from Jailbreak nation, which appears to be the latest in a series of sites to get its hands on the rear shell of what is almost certainly the backside of Apple's next iPhone. It's by no means the first, but has maybe gone the furthest to test how durable Apple's latest gold color holds up to some extreme abuse.

That comes in the form of a knife scratch test, which scrapes up the back of the phone to show how it holds up to cosmetic damage. Notably the test does not cover drops, something that could crack your screen, and possibly lead to a non-functional device.

You can watch the whole clip below:

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New leak points to Sept. 10 release of iOS7

Loose lips, sunken ships and -- iOS7? Sure looks that way, given an email sent to a developer named Owen Williams who reposted contents of an email sent to him today by Siri developer Nuance suggesting that the public would get its first look at iOS 7 on September 10th.

Developers have so far gone through sixth beta versions of this upcoming software update for iPhones, iPods and iPads as they work out any kinks.

Via: The Cnet

Sphero 2.0 iPhone-controlled robot unveiled

Orbotix's iPhone-controlled robot has had some significant upgrades with the Sphero 2.0 now boasting a higher speed along with some other internal tweaks.

Orbotix has unveiled Sphero 2.0, an update to the Sphero iPhone and Android-controlled robot which lets you use Augmented Reality to control the orb-shaped robot.

Sphero 2.0 now comes with a new engine which boasts 7 feet per second making it twice as fast as the previous model, the internal LEDs have also been boosted making it reportedly 3x brighter.

For those that want something that's a little more rugged Sphero 2.0 now comes with a range of rubber cases which will also increase its ability to swim through water.

One of the main attractions are the host of Augmented Reality apps which let you use your iPhone or smartphone to turn the Sphero into a host of different objects all through the screen.

It's available now for £99.99 from the Orbotix website and comes with two ramps to get any budding off-roaders started.

Rea More: http://www.t3.com/news/sphero-2-0-iphone-controlled-robot-unveiled

China Mobile, Apple still 'actively negotiating' iPhone, iPad deal

China Mobile is still talking to Apple about bringing the iPhone to its network. New comments from China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua reveal that the two companies "are actively negotiating and both sides are keen," which could potentially see subscribers of the Chinese carrier being able to buy and use the iOS smartphones on its TD-SCDMA network in the future.

Even though Tim Cook visited the country and spoke to the carrier late last month, with the meeting believed to be about the iPhone and iPad, the deal is still far from completed. "There are still some commercial and technology issues that need time to resolve," said Xi according to Reuters, with the use of the proprietary TD-SCDMA instead of usual 3G networks being the likely cause, though China Mobile has been working on its own 4G LTE network.

Though Apple and China Mobile have been in talks for quite some time about introducing the iPhone to the carrier, the comments from China Mobile are not necessarily a sign that it will take place anytime soon. That said, Chinese iPhone launches typically happen a number of months after it gets released in the United States and other markets, so there is still time for the two companies to agree before the expected launch of the iPhone 5S and the rumored iPhone 5C next month.

By Electronista…

Malicious apps smuggled into Apple app store

n the history of Apple iOS, only a handful of malicious apps have been discovered

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have published a paper on what they call "Jekyll apps", which have the outward apprearance of being benign but contain vulnerabilities that allow them to be exploited remotely.

In their investigation, the team, led by Tielei Wang, developed a proof-of-concept Jekyll app and successfully published it to the Apple app store. The app worked by taking the binary code that had already been digitally signed by Apple and rearranging it in a way that gave it new and malicious behaviours.

"The key idea is to make the apps remotely exploitable and subsequently introduce malicious control flows by rearranging signed code," the researchers state in their paper.

"Since the new control flows do not exist during the app review process, such apps, namely Jekyll apps, can stay undetected when reviewed and easily obtain Apple’s approval."

Once their Jekyll app had been accepted to the app store, the researchers were able to remotely launch attacks on a controlled group of devices that had installed the app.

Despite running inside the iOS sandbox, tha app was able to perform many malicious tasks, such as stealthily posting tweets, taking photos, stealing device identity information, sending email and SMS, attacking other apps, and even exploiting kernel vulnerabilities.

"Such a seemingly benign app can pass the app review because it neither violates any rules imposed by Apple nor contains functional malice. However, whan a victim downloads and runs the app, attackers can remotely exploit the planted vulnerabilities and in turn assemble the gadgets to accomplish various malicious tasks."

In the paper, the researchers set out possible counter-measures that Apple could take to mitigate this threat. In particular, they recommend introducing more advanced runtime monitoring mechanisms that can limit Jekyll apps' capability to perform malicious applications.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told MIT Technology Review that developers have made changes to the iOS operating system in response to issues identified in the paper. However, it remains unclear if the vulnerabilities have been completely fixed.

iOS is not the only mobile phone platform vulnerable to this type of attack. Earlier this month, researchers from antivirus provider Trend Micro discovered an exploit that allows hackers to inject malicious code into legitimate Android apps without invalidating their digital signature.

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