It may not be entirely unexpected, but it's disappointing nonetheless. Following the Australian Apple Store's refresh overnight, it is now clear that Apple's big Black Friday offers will not be all that big after all.
This week, in the unlikely case that you weren't already aware, is Black Friday week, and the deals and special offers will be running from most of the major retail outlets. In technology terms, it's a great time to go shopping in preparation for the holiday season, particularly since many of these price-cuts don't occur at any other time of year. Apple is a prime of example of a company that seldom alters its price structure except for on Black Friday, and those holding out on an Apple purchase in hope of making some savings later on this week will be pleased to learn that the Cupertino outfit has just announced the details.
As far as causes go, The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has to be a pretty good one, and with names like Bono, Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newson, CBE involved in a charity auction for said cause, it was always going to be a success. Though, we suspect the results may have exceeded everyone's hopes by some way.
Just when you thought the patent litigation saga between Apple and Samsung was beginning to dwindle into obscurity it has returned with a vengeance. The discontent between the two companies may not have been hitting public headlines as much in recent months, but it has still been simmering away nicely in the background with legal teams from both entities doing their best to represent their sides. In a ruling that has been passed down today, the United States Court of Appeals has ruled that Apple can have yet another stab at trying to get certain offending Samsung smartphones banned from sale.
We've seen rumors of Apple's claimed interest in launching new, larger iPhones throughout the recent months, and it's clear that those rumors aren't going to go away any time soon after Bloomberg today got in on the speculation action.
Today, November 1st, Apple opened their stores around the world to fans queuing up for the latest and greatest in their tablet line: the iPad Air. Announced in late October, the iPad Air didn't exactly come as much of a surprise to anyone who isn't living under a rock. Leaks of it's existence were occurring left, right and center until almost the only piece of the puzzle we were missing was it's official announcement from Apple.
Apple, like all of the big tech companies, is always filing new patents and ideas with the USPTO, and one published this week suggests that the company could be looking into solar-based charging options for both the MacBook and the iOS device range. Such technology is already available, but its use is extremely limited, and with solar charging peripherals often bulky and impractical, Apple is looking for a simplified way to charge devices without he use of an inevitably hard-to-find plug socket.
We think it's pretty fair to say that Apple's recent announcement of the iPad Air didn't exactly blow everyone's mind when it comes to technological innovation. The unveiling of the next-generation full-sized iPad pretty much fell in line with what the majority were expecting in the fact that it offers an improved but evolutionary upgrade from its predecessor. The introduction of the Apple A7 chipset and the improved engineering principles mean that the device will ultimately be faster, lighter and thinner than all other iPads to date, but the Primate Labs Geekbench 3 tests give us a pre-release indication of just how capable the iPad Air is.
Today may have, in the eyes of many, been all about the new iPad, but in actual fact, a small faction of Apple fans have been waiting a great deal longer for the Mac Pro. The revamped version has been some years in the waiting, and after being partially unveiled at this year's WWDC, Apple has finally showcased the new machine. Inherently powerful, it packs in some of the most up-to-date hardware currently available, and you can catch all of the key details right after the break!
Talk of Apple being able to read iMessage contents is nothing that new, but it's been at the fore today after the iPhone and iPad maker was forced to reiterate that it cannot see the content of messages, even if it wanted to. That may have put people's minds at rest, and while it should be reassuring, Apple's claim has already had a bog old dollop of doubt thrown at it by jailbreak supremo Pod2g.
