Tag Archives: ios

By Staff | Published: January 6, 2012

Quad core references found in iOS 5.1 beta

Quad core iOS reference

9to5Mac has discovered some interesting bits of information buried inside the latest iOS 5.1 beta.

As 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman explains, the numbering in this particular section of code in iOS 5.1 suggests that Apple will be shipping a quad core processor at some point in the near future:

Extremely reliable and knowledgeable people familiar with iOS’s inner workings explained to me that core references begin at “0.” For example: A single core device would be limited to ”/cores/core.0,” and a dual-core device would come in at ”/cores/core.1.” A “core.2″ (which is not referenced in iOS code) would be a triple-core processor according to this labeling method. iOS 5.1 beta 2 now includes core.3, a seemingly quad-core chip from Apple.

Apple’s A6 is rumored to be a quad core design slated for release in 2012, might we be seeing the initial support in iOS necessary for an A6-bearing iPad 3? Read more

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By Staff | Published: November 17, 2011

Reader Q&A: When will FaceTime, iMessage and iChat merge across Mac and iOS?

Several of our followers on Twitter and Facebook have recently expressed interest in the state of Apple’s efforts to merge its various forms of messaging/chat/videoconferencing/IM functionality across its two key platforms, iOS and Mac OS X. New code spotted in iOS by third party developers may shed some light on this. Read more

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By Staff | Published: November 3, 2011

Apple’s A5 will continue to power iDevices into 2012-2013, exist alongside A6

Apple’s next generation of mobile iDevices will be powered principally by A5-class System-on-a-Chip (SoC) hardware, according to Rumors’ sources. The A6 will indeed be introduced next year, as has been long rumored, but may be exclusive to the family of next-generation AppleTV devices at first.

According to sources, the iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5 and iPad 3 will all be powered by a series of chips that, regardless of how they will be marketed by Apple, will be essentially unchanged from the A5 except for clock speed differences and a possible switch of suppliers (thusly, also possibly a switch in manufacturing processes but with little functional effect). Unless the iPad is split into two or more tiers as has been considered for the entire iOS device family more than once in the past and is expected to happen with the AppleTV’s next generation, the A6 is expected to be exclusive in its initial production run to the new AppleTV family. Read more

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By Staff | Published: December 17, 2010

Apple posts “navigation software” job opportunity

Apple has posted 4 similar job opportunities over at jobs.apple.com with the following 3 things listed as “Valuable knowledge” that would be helpful for the position:

  • Deep knowledge of Computational Geometry or Graph Theory
  • Experience with Linux server-side development of distributed systems
  • Experience developing navigation software (emphasis ours)

The job title is listed as “iOS Software Engineer”, and the pitch for the job includes the phrase “build the world’s best hosted platforms at massive scale”.

Given the job description, it’s likely that Apple is planning to add navigation functionality to the iOS Maps application, or perhaps release a new Navigation App which would offer live turn by turn directions read aloud, along with the “point of view” 3D map that GPS owners are accustomed to. Read more

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By Staff | Published: October 19, 2010

October 20th Apple Event preview

Steve Jobs will once again take to the stage tomorrow, Wednesday October 20th at the “Town Hall” on Apple’s Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, California to unveil a new round of products and technology previews with his infamous headline-grabbing presentation style. What will be announced? Grapevine consensus appears to have a firm grasp of the big picture, but as to the details….

With a few notable exceptions (the small number of people working on certain projects within Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion,” internal code name ‘Barolo,’ force us to sit on details of those projects until after the Event when even if those projects aren’t mentioned during the Event, they will be known to a wider group within Infinite Loop and leaks can no longer be tied so easily to our sources), what we’ve been told by some of our oldest and most reliable contacts in Cupertino comports very closely with the grapevine’s consensus of what to expect tomorrow:

*Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” as hinted by Apple’s logo for the Event:

Apple's Back to the Mac October 20th Apple Event logo

….Lion is a collection of long-standing projects, many of them held back from the Leopard and Snow Leopard development cycles because they were too ambitious and too out of sync with Apple’s priorities at the time to make the cut for those releases. Read more

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By Staff | Published: September 1, 2010

Apple updates iPod Touch with cameras, Facetime

The new 2010 iPod Touch has been revealed, including features that were expected but not included on the 2009 model.

4th Generation iPod Touch

4th Generation iPod Touch

At just 7.2mm thick, the new Touch has shed some of its bulk including that rounded back many users complained about. A new microphone is included to support FaceTime, but should also work with other applications on the App Store.

As expected the new iPod Touch is running on Apples A4 processor just like the iPad, iPhone 4, and newly released AppleTV. While Apple doesn’t like to publicize the amount of RAM in iOS devices, the current generation iPhone has 512MB so that would be a safe bet for the iPod Touch.

Apple also gave the new touch a significant screen upgrade: Apple’s Retina display at 960×540 resolution. Read more

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By Staff | Published: September 1, 2010

New AppleTV loses the Hobby, gains streaming and TV rentals

Apple has finally taken the Apple TV out of ‘hobby’ status and loaded it up with features that will appeal to a wider audience.

2nd Generation AppleTV

2nd Generation AppleTV

The new AppleTV model shrinks from 7″ square, for the previous model, to just 3.9″ square and slightly less than 1″ tall. In sharp contrast to the older model, which was essentially a Mac running special software, the new AppleTV is an iOS device running on Apple’s own A4 ARM processor.

The move to an ARM processor means the new AppleTV is much cooler and more power efficient than the older model. Note that the new AppleTV does not have an App Store at this time, though it is nearly certain that it will be jailbroken at some point. Read more

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