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Intel Delaying Mass Availability of Ivy Bridge Processors Until 'After June'?
 Digitimes reports that Intel has apparently begun informing partners that mass availability of its forthcoming Ivy Bridge processors will be delayed until "after June". Intel is said to be sticking to its initial schedule calling for an April introduction of Ivy Bridge, but only very limited supplies of the chips will be available at that time. Intel recently notified its partners about plans to postpone mass shipments of its upcoming Ivy Bridge processors. Despite that the company will still announce the new products and ship a small volume of the processors in early April, mass shipments are not expected to occur until after June, according to sources from notebook players. The report suggests that the delay may simply be due to Intel holding off in order to draw down both its own oversupply of current Sandy Bridge processors and its partners' PC stocks that have been selling more slowly than anticipated as consumers continue to hold off on new computer purchases.
Many Apple fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ivy Bridge, as it has been pegged as the processor family to be used in the next updates of most of Apple's Macs.
Apple is rumored to be planning for Ivy Bridge to usher in a revamped MacBook Pro that will take a number of design cues from the MacBook Air and perhaps even see a merger of the two lines. While observers have been hoping that such an update could come as soon as April with the Ivy Bridge timeline, it is now unclear whether the chips will be available in sufficient supplies for Apple to update the MacBook Pro within that timeframe.
 
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iPad Issues in China: Amazon Not an Authorized Retailer, Apple's Victory in Hong Kong Trademark Case
 Earlier today, we noted that the iPad had been pulled from sale at online retailers Amazon China and Suning.com, with the development coming just days after authorities had seized some iPads over a trademark dispute involving the "iPad" name. At the time of the removal, an Amazon China spokesperson indicated that the iPad had been removed at Apple's request rather than as a result of actions associated with the trademark dispute, but Apple's reasons for the request were unknown.
The Wall Street Journal now reports that Apple did indeed request that Amazon China remove the iPad from sale, simply due to Amazon China not being an officially authorized retailer. The Cupertino, Calif., consumer electronics giant asked Amazon in China to stop selling iPads because it is not an authorized reseller, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon has since removed iPads offered by other resellers on its Chinese website as well. The report's sources indicate that the move was not specifically related to the ongoing trademark dispute, although the timing suggests that it perhaps did play some role in the decision, if only by spurring Apple to reassess iPad distribution in China and tie up any loose ends.
While Chinese courts have so far ruled against Apple in the trademark dispute with Proview Technology, Apple has noted that it did win a court case on the issue in Hong Kong last year. The Wall Street Journal's report offers some additional details on that decision, which held that Proview and its subsidiaries had conspired against Apple in a scheme to extract more money from Apple.The court said, in its findings, that Proview, its subsidiaries and at least one other company had combined together "with the common intention of injuring Apple," by breaching the agreement over the iPad name. The court, calling the event a conspiracy, further said Proview had "attempted to exploit the situation as a business opportunity," by asking for money.
"It is accordingly important that (Apple) is able to secure and obtain the China trademarks," the court wrote in its decision. Proview reportedly failed to transfer the iPad trademark assignment in China to Apple as required by a 2009 agreement, instead demanding that Apple pay $10 million for the rights. Proview is now seeking as much as $1.6 billion in damages in Chinese courts.
 
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Apple to Require Explicit Permission for iOS Apps Accessing Address Book Data
 Just hours after a pair of U.S. Congressmen sent a letter to Apple requesting information on privacy practices, specifically as they relate to address book data being collected and stored by the apps' developers, Apple has issued a statement to AllThingsD indicating that the issue will be addressed in a forthcoming iOS software update. ?Apps that collect or transmit a user?s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines,? Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told AllThingsD. ?We?re working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.? Apple has been testing iOS 5.1 for some time, but appears to have slowed development as the company is assumed to be waiting to release it to the public alongside the iPad 3 early next month. The company has not, however, specified whether the new address book permission feature will be included as part of iOS 5.1 or if it will arrive in the form of a separate update, perhaps as an iOS 5.0.2 update to enable a faster turnaround on the fix.
 
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Apple Seeks Bankruptcy Court's Blessing to Sue Kodak over Patents
With Kodak having filed last-minute patent lawsuits against Apple and HTC as it was heading into bankruptcy last month, Bloomberg reports that Apple is looking to assert itself against the pioneering photography company with a new lawsuit alleging infringement of Apple-held patents.
While Apple says in its filing with the bankruptcy court overseeing Kodak's case that it is not required to seek approval for a lawsuit, Apple notes that it is requesting the court's blessing "out of an abundance of caution". Apple Inc. asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to sue Eastman Kodak Co. over allegations it?s infringing patents that Apple says cover technologies used in printers, digital cameras and digital picture frames. [...]
While arguing bankruptcy law doesn?t prevent the filing of infringement suits against a company in court protection, ?Apple requests express authority from this court before it initiates the actions out of an abundance of caution,? the company?s lawyers wrote in the filing. In a separate case, Apple has been contending that it is the rightful owner of a patent currently held by Kodak. Apple claims that through its partnership with Kodak to produce QuickTake digital cameras during the mid-1990s, Kodak misappropriated intellectual property involved in the project and patented it for itself.
Apple QuickTake 100, manufactured by Kodak (Source: Time)
Apple last month filed a petition with Kodak's bankruptcy court requesting that Kodak not be permitted to use the disputed patent to secure loans supporting the company's restructuring until ownership of the patent is resolved. The U.S. International Trade Commission has preliminarily rejected Apple's ownership claims, but the case and a parallel federal lawsuit remain pending.
 
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Congress Weighs in on iOS Apps Collecting Address Book and Other Personal Data
 Last week, controversy erupted when it was discovered that the popular iOS app Path was uploading users' entire address books to the company's servers without alerting users or asking for authorization. While Path quickly deleted all address book data on its servers and updated its app to make the data collection an opt-in service, the issue has cast a fresh light on user privacy issues on iOS.
As noted by The Next Web, U.S. Congressmen Henry Waxman and G.K. Butterfield have now weighed on in the issue, sending a letter to Apple requesting information on the company's data collection policies it imposes on App Store developers. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the legislators state:
"This incident raises questions about whether Apple?s iOS app developer policies and practices may fall short when it comes to protecting the information of iPhone users and their contacts."
Butterfield and Waxman then quote parts of Apple?s iOS developer website which states that Apple provides a comprehensive collection of tools and frameworks for storing, accessing and sharing data. It is then questioned whether Apple requires apps to request user permission before transmitting data about a user. Butterfield and Waxman have requested that Apple provide answers to a series of questions by February 29, with the topics including Apple's definition of user data, how the App Store review process assesses compliance with guidelines on privacy, and data on how many apps transmit "data about a user" in general and address book data in particular. The Congressmen have also asked Apple to explain why it has not instituted a simple toggle setting for address book sharing as it has for location information.
It is not terribly unusual for Congress to request information from companies when issues related to consumer protection and privacy arise, and Apple was subject to a similar process when questions about location information arose last year. In that case, Senator Al Franken contacted Apple with questions about the company's policies, with executives from Apple and Google later testifying in a Senate hearing on the matter.
 
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Fair Labor Association Offers Initial Impressions on Foxconn Audit as iPads Used to Collect Survey Data
With the Fair Labor Association's independent audit of Foxconn's manufacturing facilities for Apple products having been underway for several days now, Reuters reports on the association's initial impressions as it works to collect and analyze data on working conditions.
According to Fair Labor Association president Auret van Heerden, Foxconn's facilities appear to be "first-class" in comparison to the garment factories the association has typically monitored, with van Heerden suggesting that monotony and boredom associated with repetitive assembly tasks may be among the most significant threats to workers' all-around health at the facilities. After his first visits to Foxconn, van Heerden said, "The facilities are first-class; the physical conditions are way, way above average of the norm."
He spent the past several days visiting Foxconn plants to prepare for the study.
"I was very surprised when I walked onto the floor at Foxconn, how tranquil it is compared with a garment factory," he said. "So the problems are not the intensity and burnout and pressure-cooker environment you have in a garment factory. . It's more a function of monotony, of boredom, of alienation perhaps." The report notes that the Fair Labor Association has 30 employees on hand to conduct the audit, with Foxconn employees being surveyed for the audit using iPads to record their responses. Three separate Foxconn factories representing 300,000 workers are being audited over the course of three weeks, with 35,000 employees participating in the group's anonymous assessment surveys.Questions will include:
- how the workers were hired
- if they were paid a fee
- if they were offered and signed contracts and whether they understood them
- the condition of their dorm rooms and food
- if complaints are acted upon
- their emotional well being Apple CEO Tim Cook had much to say on the topic of worker safety during an interview at a Goldman Sachs investor conference yesterday, noting that Apple is working closely with the Fair Labor Association and attempting to be as proactive and transparent as possible in addressing the issues.
 
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Apple Pulls Online iPad Sales from Amazon China for Unknown Reasons
Just as Chinese authorities have indicated that it would be difficult to impose a ban on Apple's iPad over a trademark dispute, Tech in Asia notes that the popular tablet has gone missing from online stores at Amazon China and Suning.com.
The removal is apparently not, however, the result of a request from Proview Technology, which is laying claim to the iPad trademark and which has been seeking to halt both imports and exports of the device in China. The company's efforts earlier this week resulted in local Chinese authorities seizing a small number of iPads from retailers as others removed their stocks from display to avoid the seizures.
M.I.C gadget reports that the removal of the iPad from sale at Amazon China and Suning.com is actually by Apple's request, although the reasons for the move are not entirely clear. According to an Amazon China spokesman, the withdrawal is on the notice of Apple and also it?s the adjustment on its sales strategy [...]
Meanwhile, Apple has not made any comments on the issue, and Apple?s staffs in China refuse to reply too. However, as confessed by the lawyer of Proview, Proview did not apply for the administrative ban on the online sale of iPad in Beijing where Amazon China is located; also he has no idea about Apple?s demand for the iPad withdrawal from Amazon China. The dispute over the iPad trademark in China relates to a deal Apple made with the Taiwanese arm of Proview under which it claims it received the rights to the mark in China. But Proview's Chinese arm has argued that it controls the rights to the trademark in China, and thus Apple's deal with the Taiwanese subsidiary could not have included rights for mainland China. Chinese courts have sided with Proview in the dispute, but Apple is appealing the ruling.
 
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Chinese Customs Tells Proview That Ban of iPad Exports Would be Difficult
Reuters reports that Proview Technology will apparently have a hard time blocking Apple iPad exports from China. On Tuesday, we reported that Proview was seeking a block on both Chinese imports and exports of the iPad over a trademark dispute with Apple. Given that Apple's iPad manufacturing is centered in China, such a move would be "catastrophic" for Apple.
However, China's customs authorities told Proview that it would be difficult to execute such a ban due to the popularity of Apple's products:"The customs have told us that it will be difficult to implement a ban because many Chinese consumers love Apple products. The sheer size of the market is very big," Yang Long-san, chief of Proview Technology (Shenzhen), told Reuters in a telephone interview on Wednesday. As many commenters have noted, China's Foxconn manufacturers many of Apple's products including the iPad, and a ban on exports would negatively impact Foxconn as well.
Apple claims that it purchased the Chinese rights to the trademark several years ago, but the original owner Proview and Chinese courts have disagreed with that assertion. Apple's case is still pending with Chinese courts as it seeks to appeal earlier rulings.
 
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Page 2: NVIDIA Presentation Slide Seems to Show a MacBook Air / Pro Hybrid [Mac Blog]
Hardware.info points to a presentation slide from NVIDIA showing the range of products the company's graphics chips power. The tagline reads,"From Super Phones to Super Computers". The site also noted a strange looking Mac notebook in the middle of the lineup.
The notebook seems to carry characteristics from both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro line.
The lower part of the body has a tapered rather than squared off shape like the original MacBook Air. Meanwhile, the screen has the black border of the MacBook Pro line. The MacBook Airs have all had silver borders on their screens ever since their release. NVIDIA also doesn't power any of Apple's Mac laptops at the moment, but is rumored to be powering the next generation MacBook Pros.
Still, we wouldn't read too much into the photo. NVIDIA did power the 2008 MacBook Air which did carry a similar look to the bottom shell with the tapered edges. Our best guess is that the photo is of the 2008 MacBook Air that has been manipulated to include the darkened screen border.
We frequently see ads and slides that seem to depict an upcoming device, though it's rare that they ever amount to anything more than creative artist renditions.
Update: As a number of commenters have noted, NVIDIA has been using this slide for quite some time and the desktop wallpaper on the machine is from Mac OS X Leopard.
 
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| MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:01:09 PST |
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