Apple Begins Hiring for Arizona Sapphire Plant with Focus on iPhone and iPod
Apple yesterday posted a trio of job listings (via 9to5Mac) for positions located in Mesa, Arizona where the company is building a sapphire manufacturing plant. The facility is to be owned by Apple and run by sapphire producer GT Advanced Technologies, although the new job listings confirm that Apple will have some of its own staff on hand as well.
Furnaces for sapphire production
Sapphire is currently used to protect the cameras on several recent iPhone models, as well as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5s, with the material’s high durability and resistance to scratching making it a key component for those applications. Apple’s commitment to the new sapphire production facility has led to speculation that Apple is preparing to significantly expand its use of sapphire glass, perhaps for the company’s rumored iWatch or to protect iOS device displays.
Among the three Apple job listings for Mesa, one is for a facilities manager to oversee operation of the facility, while the other two positions relate to design and quality engineering with iPhone and iPod products specifically mentioned in the listings.
The iPod/iPhone Manufacturing Design Engineer is accountable for driving the development of key mechanical manufacturing processes across Apple’s worldwide supply base. In this highly visible hands-on role as the expert technical member of the Manufacturing Design Team you will have direct frequent communication and collaboration with Apple Industrial Design, Product Design, Manufacturing Design partners and worldwide suppliers.
Apple’s mention of the positions relating to iPhone and iPod manufacturing of course does not indicate whether or not the company may have broader plans for sapphire such as an in iWatch.
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10 Android icon packs you need to download now (Volume 6)
One of the easiest ways to change the look and feel of your Android device is to install a new launcher. And, once you do that, it’s a breeze to swap icons packs in and out to refresh the aesthetics. Prefer a minimal look with white icons? Sweet! Dig that flat and square stuff that feels like Google Now? Get it! Prefer for a nice, rounded icon design? Whatever, dude… it’s your device.
We’ve gathered up yet another 10 of our favorite icon packs to go along with our previous collections. For those counting, this is the sixth post of its kind; see others at bottom of post.
Note that there are a number of launchers for Android and that not all of these may play nice. Our advice is to read the Google Play details and check out the user comments if you aren’t quite sure.
- Flatty – A Flat Hex Icon Pack – Actually considered a beta app, there are more than 1,000 hexagaon-shaped flat icons available in resolutions up to 144×144. Also includes 10 solid wallpaper colors. $1.99
- Simplicity Plus Icon Pack – Roughly 300 icons and growing, it’s a combination of circular shapes and flat designs; all the rage lately. Easy to install for just about any launcher you’ll find. $1.21
- Naxos Flat Icon Pack ADW Nova – More than 600 icons with 300×300 pixel resolution and 11 wallpapers give this bundle a real Google Now-like feel. Bonus points for easy installation tool $2.00
- Axis – GO Apex Nova Theme – More than 1,000 flat icons with a hint of 60′s travel brochure retro, there’s nearly a dozen wallpapers and an installation dashboard too. Bang for the buck to be sure! $1.99
- Rusticons – Nearly 500 icons at 144×144 resolution, these have a nice touch of grunge and grit; lots of detail packed into these images. Note these won’t work with Go Launcher FREE
- Crysta – While there are less than 200 icons in the bundle, the app will mask your existing icons to match. Creates a great 3D depth that looks different than anything else on this list $1.30
- Pixelicious – Give your Android an old school flavor with these 8-bit icons. More than 1,000 icons available; look like truly stripped down versions of the standard icons. $1.29
- Circlons – Packed with 1,500 icons, 32 wallpapers, icon masking, and two dozen icon packs, you’ll be hardpressed to get more for your money. Flat, soft, and easy on the eyes $1.49
- Octa UI – 565 icons and getting bigger, these 144px icons employ the same eight colors across the entire palette and bring a nice uniform look to the table. Updated regularly and comes with 6 HD wallpapers $.99
- Half Shade – Flat for the most part, these also have a 3D-like appearance with a beveled edge and shade falling diagonally across the face. Includes 400+ icons, masking, and 21 wallpapers $1.50
Be sure to see our other highlighted icon packs
- 25 fantastic icon packs
- 10 more awesome icon packs
- 10 kick ass icon packs
- 10 favorite icon packs, volume 4
- 10 Android icon packs you need to download now
The post 10 Android icon packs you need to download now (Volume 6) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Sony adds Xperia E, Xperia T2 Ultra to Android portfolio
The 4-inch and 6-inch smartphones are introduced less than one week after CES
Sony on Tuesday added two new smartphones to its Android stable, introducing the Xperia E and Xperia T2 Ultra. Both run Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and offered with dual-SIM variants, the duo are bound for international markets.
The Xperia E1 features a 4-inch (480×800) display, a 3-megapixel rear camera, 4GB internal storage, and HSPA+ connectivity. In terms of power, the handset is equipped with a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor and 512MB RAM. Standout details include a loud 100db speaker and Sony’s WALKMAN controls.
Certainly not the sort of stuff that replaces your existing Android, no, but it’s the kind of device that makes for a good first smartphone. The Xperia E1, and its dual-SIM brother, will be offered in black, white, and purple; pricing and exact availability are unclear.
The Xperia T2 Ultra is considerably bigger at 6-inches (720p) and provides users with a 13-megapixel rear camera, 1.1-megapixel front-facing camera, and 8GB internal storage. Powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, there’s 1GB RAM, microSD expansion, 4G LTE connectivity, and a 3000mAh battery. Headed for China, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East, it’s akin to Samsung’s Galaxy Mega.
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Moto G now available through Boost Mobile
Just a quick heads up that the Moto G smartphone is now available through Boost Mobile. Priced at a mere $129, the smartphone runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (4.4 KitKat guaranteed) and features a 5-megapixel rear camera. Internally you’ll find a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 3G connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 2070mAh battery.
To pick up the Moto G through Boost Mobile you’ll need to head to boostmobile.com; retail presence begins on January 20.
Boost Mobile Reunites with Motorola to launch Smart and
Stylish Moto G with NextRadio
The Moto G is available TODAY, Jan. 14 at www.boostmobile.com and select Boost Mobile exclusive retail stores nationwide starting Jan. 20. This represents the first Motorola handset on Boost Mobile since 2011.
Priced at only $129.99, Moto G packs the features consumers want at a price that won’t break the bank, all without an annual contract. The affordable 3G smartphone comes with an impressive and highly durable 4.5-inch HD screen made with scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass and sports a super-fast 1.2 GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ quad-core processor. Moto G is loaded with Android 4.3 Jellybean with a guaranteed upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat expected as early as February, making the Moto G the most up-to-date Android of any phone in its class. Customers also have the freedom to express themselves with a variety of colorful interchangeable backs, available from Motorola directly.
Moto G will come preloaded with the free interactive FM radio application NextRadio®. With NextRadio, listening to FM radio on smartphones is a new type of interactive radio listening experience. When compared with streaming, NextRadio consumes about three times less battery life than other music apps. That’s because the audio is coming through a built-in FM tuner instead of over the Internet.
For extra protection, Moto G has a water-repellent coating on the outside, meaning that a little rain won’t get in the way when taking a call. In addition, customers get an extra 50GB of Google Drive storage for two years and, as with all Android devices, Moto G owners have access to more than 1 million apps and content in the Google Play Store.
Additional key features of the Moto G include:
- 5MP-enhanced camera with panoramic and continuous shot
- All-day battery, 2070 mAh
- Stereo Bluetooth 4.0 capable
To entice consumers to switch to Boost Mobile, Moto G is offered on Boost’s no-contract $55 Monthly Unlimited plan. Boost Mobile rewards its customers for simply making on-time payments. Unique from the competition, for every six on-time payments, the cost of the Boost Mobile Monthly Unlimited plan shrinks by $5 to as low as $40 per month for unlimited nationwide talk, text and data[1]. Payments do not need to be consecutive to qualify for the next savings milestone.
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Next-gen strategy game engine lets you control an army of 5,000 units at one time
Every real-time strategy game has some kind of population cap, limiting the number of units that can be placed simultaneously on a player’s terrain. This limit can stem from the designers’ need to balance competition between armies, but ultimately it’ll also have something to do with the underlying hardware in a PC or console, because a processor will slow down if it’s asked to simulate too many independent, physical 3D objects at once. Some RTS games set the limit at 50-70 units, while others can cope with as many as 500, but a new demo game called Star Swarm takes things to a new level: it uses AMD’s Mantle programming tool to speed up communication between the CPU and GPU, allowing up to 5,000 AI- or physics-driven objects (i.e., not mindless clones or animations) to be displayed onscreen at one time. Coming up, we’ve got a 1080p video of what this looks like, plus an explanation of how Oxides Games, the company behind Star Swarm, made this possible.
As you’ll hear from the video’s narration, Star Swarm is a demo game that is built to show off Oxide’s new engine, Nitrous, which is being licensed to other developers. At least three Nitrous-based RTS games are currently in production and Oxide believes that these games will represent a major leap forward for real-time strategy genre thanks to the “epic scale” permitted by the high population limit.
“It’s a difference of at least an order of magnitude,” says Oxide founder Dan Baker (who was previously Graphics Lead for Civilization V). “Take the most complex scene you’ve ever seen in StarCraft II and multiply it by ten.”
There are a couple of ingredients that are essential for delivering these huge 5,000-unit spectacles. Firstly, you need a robust CPU, since processing this quantity of AI and physics relies on general computing power just as much as on graphics. Unlike many games on the market, Star Swarm is designed to use many CPU cores at the same time. The configuration in the video includes a aging but powerful six-core Intel Core i7 980.
“Take the most complex scene you’ve ever seen in StarCraft II and multiply it by ten.”
Secondly, to allow for both scale and enhanced visual effects such as motion blur, the graphics-side of the system must contain a recent AMD GPU that supports the Mantle programming tool. As we’ve reported before, Mantle brings hardware-specific (read: brand-specific) programming to PC games, because it allows developers to code directly for AMD’s Graphics Core Next architecture rather than going through fluffy, hardware-agnostic middlemen like Microsoft’s DirectX drivers. In this instance, Mantle speeds up the communication between the CPU and GPU, allowing multiple CPU cores to talk to the GPU at the same time without causing a jam. (For deeper technical detail on this, check out Oxide’s presentation at APU13.)
Star Swarm is actually the first hard evidence we’ve seen of what Mantle can do, and the numbers speak for themselves: with everything else being equal, enabling Mantle increased the demo’s frame rate by nearly 300 percent, from an unplayable 13 fps to a buttery 44 fps. AMD promised as much when it launched its Kaveri APU earlier today, adding that Star Swarm will run at playable frame rates even on low-power 65-watt versions of the APU (versus 95-watts for a regular desktop chip).
More Info
Separately, AMD claims that a forthcoming Mantle update for Battlefield 4 will boost performance in that title by as much as 45 percent. We’ve also heard some gossip that the PC version of Sniper Elite 3 will support Mantle, likely reflecting the fact that its developer, Rebellion, is making PS4 and Xbox One versions of the first-person shooter and is therefore already accustomed to optimizing its code for AMD’s architecture. All in all, if these games leave up to the precedent set by Star Swarm, it could well be worth having some Mantle juice in your gaming rig in 2014.
China Mobile Stocks 1.4 Million iPhone 5s Units Ahead of Friday’s Launch
Apple’s iPhone 5s assembler Foxconn has shipped roughly 1.4 million iPhone 5s units to China Mobile in advance of Friday’s launch for the carrier, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. After several years of negotiations, Apple finally announced last month that the iPhone would be coming to the world’s largest carrier on January 17.
While the initial shipment volume doesn’t represent the total sales at China Mobile for January, the figure helps to gauge early demand for iPhones from China Mobile, the world’s biggest carrier by subscribers with more than 760 million customers. China Mobile began taking preorders for iPhones since Dec. 25.
“Shipping one million or more iPhones to a single carrier per month is substantial. But we have limited visibility beyond this month as Apple hasn’t informed Foxconn of the volume for the next shipment to China Mobile,” said the person.
China Mobile will also launch the iPhone 5c on Friday, but early shipment numbers for that device have not been revealed. Pegatron serves as Apple’s primary assembly partner for the iPhone 5c.
Estimates of Apple’s potential iPhone sales on China Mobile have varied widely from 10-30 million units this year, with some suggesting that sales may be lower than expected due to demand having been partially satisfied through the country’s other two carriers, China Unicom and China Telecom, and waning enthusiasm for the iPhone amid increased smartphone choices in the country.
On the other hand, China Mobile already has tens of millions of iPhones operating unofficially on its network but unable to take advantage of the fastest speeds due to technological incompatibilities between older devices and the carrier’s network. As a result, there is already a substantial base of iPhone users on China Mobile who may be looking to upgrade in the near future.
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Apple’s Back to School Promo Kicks Off in Australia and New Zealand [Mac Blog]
Apple has launched its annual back to school promotion in Australia and New Zealand, offering education customers free gift cards for the company’s digital content stores with the purchase of a new Mac, iPad, or iPhone. Gift cards can be used in the App Store, Mac App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore, and are available in the following amounts:
– Purchase a new Mac except Mac mini or Mac Pro: AU$ 100 or NZ$ 125 gift card
– Purchase a new iPad or iPhone: AU$ 50 or NZ$ 65 gift card
The gift card offer comes on top of Apple’s education pricing, which discounts Macs by up to several hundred dollars. Eligible customers include faculty and staff of K-12 and higher education students, as well as students and parents of students at higher education institutions. The program runs through March 20, and all purchases must be made direct from Apple through the company’s online store for education or by phone. Australian customers may also make their purchases at Apple retail stores in the country.
Apple offers its Back to School promotion offerings in a number of countries around the world, staggering their timing to match the respective school calendars. The largest version of the program is typically offered in the July-September timeframe for North America and Europe.
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iPhone 6 Fingerprint Sensor Production Set to Gear Up in Q2 with Increased Efficiency
Apple’s iPhone fingerprint sensor supplier TSMC is preparing to begin production on sensors for the iPhone 6 in the second quarter of this year, according to a report from Digitimes. The report claims that TSMC will be shifting to a larger 12-inch fab from the current 8-inch fab, a move that should increase production efficiency. TSMC will also handle the packaging process for the sensors itself rather than contracting out to other firms, centralizing control over the component.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reportedly will begin producing fingerprint sensors for Apple’s next-generation iPhone at its 12-inch fab using a 65nm process in the second quarter of 2014, according to industry sources. […]
TSMC has been fabricating the fingerprint sensors for iPhone 5s at its 8-inch fabs, while outsourcing the backend services to Xintec, China Wafer Level CSP and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE).
The Touch ID fingerprint sensor was reported to be the primary factor contributing to very tight supplies of the iPhone 5s at its launch last September, with low yield rates at packaging firm Xintec and iOS 7-sensor integration slowing production. With several of those issues now ironed out and TSMC able to get an earlier start on sensor production for the next-generation iPhone, that bottleneck on launch supplies appears likely to be solved.
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Moto X coming to UK, France and Germany on Feb. 1, lacks Moto Maker customization
Motorola’s pride and joy, the Moto X, has been a U.S. exclusive up until today, when the company announced availability in the UK, France and Germany.
Coming Feb. 1 for £380 sim-free or £25 on contract from Phones 4u, Carphone Warehouse, O2, Amazon and Techdata, the device will lack Moto Maker customization and will be available in black. White will be exclusive to Phone 4u for three months.
Besides that, the device will have the same specs as its American cousins.
For a refresher, it packs Android 4.4 Jelly Bean, 4.7-inch AMOLED (RGB) / HD 720p display, Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.7GHz dual-core processor, Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System, 2GB of RAM, 2200 mAh battery, 10 MP rear-facing Clear Pixel camera and a 2 MP front-facing camera.
Moto is holding a press conference today, so we should have full details later. Any of our friends across the pond can preorder the device now by following the Motorola source link below.
via Motorola, +Motorola, ZDNet
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Visualized: a closer look at an HTC One prototype
Shortly before a flagship smartphone is announced to the general public, companies like HTC will often send a prototype version of the upcoming product to tight-knit partners and developers. We got an exclusive close look at one such prototype of the M7 — the codename for the HTC One — which as you can see in the above image and gallery below, looks very little like the final version. That doesn’t mean the plastic casing shouldn’t look oddly familiar to you; this particular device was leaked in the latter half of last January. But this goes to show the importance companies like HTC place on secrecy — the more hands that are in the pot, the more likely it is that leaks will pop up. In this way, HTC was very successful at keeping the final product away from prying eyes (well, aside from a few accurate renders, that is).
Upon taking a look at the once-top-secret device, we noticed a couple things that especially stood out to us. First, we peered into a completely empty void where a camera should have been; despite the fact that the chassis left a spot open for the rear camera module, none was to be found. If we were to guess, we imagine the UltraPixel setup simply wasn’t ready by the time this prototype was made, so the company shipped it without one. Additionally, just as the leaked images show, there are three icons for capacitive buttons, even though there are only two on the final version. The prototype threw in an icon for recent apps, but interestingly enough, it’s not a functional button whatsoever. Perhaps HTC had been toying with the idea of keeping a three-button setup instead of the two-button layout it finally settled on.
We’ve included a small gallery of images below so you can take a closer look at the phone that many originally thought would become the HTC One. Frankly, we’re pretty happy about which version HTC eventually used, but it’s still fun to take a look behind the scenes. And think about this: it’s quite possible that right now — at this very moment — those same partners are playing with the next HTC flagship’s prototype in much the same way as they did with this one.
AIVAnet 