Flagship Apple Store in Brisbane, Australia to Open January 17 [Mac Blog]

Apple’s long-awaited retail store in Brisbane, Australia in the MacArthur Chambers building is finally set to open on Friday, January 17. Though the Brisbane store was announced more than two years ago, problems with contractors and the historical site prevented construction from beginning until 2013.

The store is located in the famous MacArthur Chambers building, a 10-story high-rise that was originally constructed back in 1934. Building plans indicated that Apple made some minor changes to the structure, adding windows, a stairway, and other features.

With the addition of MacArthur Apple Store, there will be a total of three retail locations in Brisbane, Australia’s third most populous city. The other two locations are in Carindale and Chermside.

Hiring for the store first began back in November, leading to speculation that a store opening was imminent. Back in December, MacRumors received several photos of the store, which looked to be nearing completion.

The store will open on Friday, January 17 at 10 a.m., and both workshop reservations and Genius Bar appointments are already being accepted on the location’s website.

Apple’s iBeacon Technology Brings New Possibilities for Location-Based Gaming

Apple’s iBeacons have a lot of potential for inclusion in location-based games, according to The Tap Lab CEO Dave Bisceglia, who spoke to Re/Code in an interview. Currently, iOS game developers who want to incorporate location into gameplay are limited to determining location via Apple’s internal GPS system, which is not designed to deliver precise information, especially indoors.

iBeacons, on the other hand, are physical Bluetooth low-energy transmitters that are able to provide micro-location information to nearby apps, with an accuracy range of a few feet. For this reason, iBeacons could be incorporated into a whole new category of games that offer multiplayer interactions and other features at specific real-world locations.

Bisceglia’s company, for example, is behind a location-based game called Tiny Tycoons. In the game, the idea is to travel around the world and claim real-world locations, kind of like a cross between a city building game and Foursquare.

Rule the REAL WORLD! Tiny Tycoons is the first location-based tycoon game on the App Store. Build your fortune, travel the globe and claim your favorite real-world places before someone else does!

RISE TO THE TOP: In Tiny Tycoons, you can be a Celebrity Chef at a 5-Star Restaurant, the Lead Barista at your favorite Café, or a Millionaire CEO with offices around the world. The choice is up to you!

The company is currently testing an internal version of Tiny Tycoons that takes advantage of Apple’s iBeacons, which are used within the game to alert people when they enter a building “owned” by another player. For example, in the video below, Bisceglia enters a Starbucks and gets an iBeacon-based alert from Tiny Tycoons providing the name of the player who owns the location and a prompt to purchase it.

Bluetooth LE, which iBeacon is based on, is also a promising technology for upcoming games. Pkpkt, a game released in mid-December, utilizes Bluetooth LE to let users steal virtual currency from one another in real life, in a futuristic game of tag. Knock, an app released in November, also uses Bluetooth LE in a unique way, allowing the iPhone to unlock a Mac. While iBeacon technology is promising for location-based gaming, Bluetooth LE itself could result in a whole new crop of interactive, multiplayer games and apps.

Nintendo’s handheld 3DS gaming device uses a wireless-based system that is somewhat similar to iBeacons to allow two devices to communicate with one another. It also utilizes hotspots around the world to deliver game information, and iBeacons could work similarly, albeit more simply as they would not require a user to connect to Wi-Fi.

First introduced during the 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference, iBeacons allow iPhones and iPads to wirelessly communicate with physical beacons via Bluetooth LE, with the beacons able to deliver specific information to apps when a user is nearby.

iBeacon technology gained some popularity towards the end of 2013 and has been utilized in multiple unique ways. For example, Shopkick and Macy’s teamed up to deliver location-based notices when customers passed by products, and Apple has implemented iBeacons in its retail stores to provide product information to browsing customers. A cafe has used iBeacons to deliver free publications, MLB plans to integrate them into stadiums, and most recently, an iBeacon scavenger hunt was held at CES.

Apple Continues Hiring for Oregon Data Center as Solar Farm Plans Take Shape

Apple has posted three new job listings for the data center the company is constructing in Prineville, Oregon. Apple is seeking two Data Center Maintenance Technicians, along with a Data Center Chief Engineer, a position the company has been trying to fill since early 2013.

While the chief engineer would be responsible for overseeing, testing, and monitoring the data center, as well as implementing new projects, the maintenance technicians would identify and repair potential issues quickly.

Apple has been hiring for the 338,000 square-foot Prineville data center since shortly after construction began in October of 2012, and has maintained a temporary modular data center on the site to house employees. With the new hirings, as well as rumors of a solar farm coming to the site, it appears the Prineville data center may be growing closer to completion.

Apple’s Prineville data center under construction in February 2013 (Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)
According to a recent statement by Prineville major Betty Rope, Apple is planning to add a solar farm to the Oregon data center, just as it has done in North Carolina.

Mayor Betty Roppe says those agreements were with Apple. She says the company’s enterprise zone agreement defers taxes on improvements to the land for a period of 15 years.

“My understanding is that they will create the solar farm and then they will sell that back to the companies that they actually get their electricity from,” said Roppe.

Apple has committed to running all of its data centers with 100% renewable green energy, an initiative that it embraced for its massive Maiden, North Carolina data center. In Maiden, Apple has two operational solar farms, providing 42 million kWh of clean, renewable energy.

According to Apple’s environmental site, the Oregon data center is designed to be as environmentally responsible as the site in North Carolina, though at the current time, the Oregon data center is much smaller in scale. While Apple has not specifically outlined plans to install a solar farm in Oregon, it has pledged to purchase renewable energy directly from two local utilities and other local renewable energy generation providers.

Back in September, Apple did look into purchasing an additional 96 acres of land near the Prineville, Oregon site, which could be the home of a future solar farm.

In North Carolina, Apple’s massive solar farms generate approximately 40MW along with another 10MW from fuel cells, and at times of peak energy, Apple produces power for Duke Energy, the local utility company. The NC solar farm consists of more than 50,000 panels on 100 acres of land and will likely serve as a blueprint for solar farms in other areas.

Image of North Carolina solar farm courtesy of Gigaom
Along with the solar farms at its Maiden, North Carolina data center, and the possible solar farm in Oregon, Apple is also planning to build a solar farm at its Reno, Nevada data center.

Apple Wins Another Legal Battle with Google’s Motorola Unit Involving Push Notifications [iOS Blog]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today issued a decision (PDF) upholding a previous ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) that Apple did not infringe upon a patent held by Google’s Motorola unit. The ITC had ruled in Apple’s favor last May, but Google/Motorola appealed that decision to the federal courts.

The item in question, Claim 12 of Patent Number 6.272,333, addresses methods for communication between wireless devices and fixed data networks. The specific disagreement between Apple and Motorola centered around whether the deletion of applications capable of receiving of push notifications, thus requiring a status update be sent to the fixed network in order to halt sending of notifications, is covered by the patent. The ITC ruled that such action as implemented by Apple is not covered by the patent, and the appeals court has affirmed that decision today.

Put simply, the change in accessibility of deletion is not the change in accessibility that is communicated to the fixed portion of the network. Rather, what is communicated to the fixed portion of the network is a message indicating that push notifications for the application should be cancelled. This message only indicates that push notifications have been cancelled for the application; it does not inform the fixed portion of the network that the application has been deleted.

The court also ruled that Motorola failed to satisfy a requirement that it demonstrate a technical example of the claimed invention with its Droid 2 handset. According to the court, the Droid 2 and Apple’s devices do use the same relevant features with respect to registering and unregistering for push notifications, but in line with the previous rationale those devices do not implement the exact invention described in the patent.

Apple has faced off with a number of Android device manufacturers in patent battles over the last several years, most notably Samsung, but for the most part Google and Apple have avoided directly targeting each other. But Google became directly involved in the disputes when it acquired Motorola Mobility and its patents in 2011, thereby inheriting existing lawsuits between Apple and Motorola.

Apple Taps UK Engineer for New Optical Image Stabilization System for iOS Device Cameras

In line with yesterday’s report claiming that the iPhone 6 will retain an 8-megapixel rear camera while focusing on other aspects such as image stabilization to improve performance, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office yesterday published an Apple patent application (via Unwired View) outlining a system for implementing optical image stabilization (OIS) with improve autofocus (AF) capabilities in miniature camera such as those found on iOS devices.

Apple’s iPhone 5s introduced last September includes software-based image stabilization, a system that involves taking four photos in quick succession and then combining the best parts of each to produce a final image minimizing noise, subject motion, and hand shake. Optical image stabilization, found in some smartphones and many standalone cameras, allows the actual camera lens to move slightly, buffering against hand shake and other small movements.

The newly published patent application from Apple describes a method for integrating optical image stabilization into the voice coil motor (VCM) actuators used for autofocus in miniature cameras.

An embodiment of the invention is an actuator module suitable for use in a camera, more specifically, a miniature camera. The actuator module may include a mechanism to provide an AF function and a mechanism to provide an OIS function. […]

The combination of the AF mechanism and OIS mechanism within a single actuator module allows the actuator module to modify the position of the lens relative to the image sensor along five different axes (i.e., 5 degrees of freedom (DOF)). Representatively, the lens may be shifted or translated along at least three different axes and rotated about at least two different axes.

Apple’s patent application, filed in October 2012 and based on a provisional patent application filed in July of that year, credits a sole inventor, Richard Topliss. According to his LinkedIn profile, Topliss joined Apple as a senior camera technology specialist in January 2012 after spending over a decade as chief technical officer of Cambridge Mechatronics in the UK. That company currently focuses on OIS actuators for smartphones, and today’s patent application makes clear that Topliss immediately brought that expertise to bear at Apple.

Cambridge Mechatronics began sampling its latest OIS actuators to customers last August, with the modules expected to begin appearing in smartphones early this year. It is unclear whether Apple is working directly with Cambridge Mechatronics on lens module projects, but the two companies are clearly working on very similar technology and have a natural connection through Topliss.

CES 2014: NueVue Introduces Antimicrobial Cases for iOS Devices [iOS Blog]

U.K. based company NueVue introduced its line of cases for the iPhone, iPad, and iPad mini at CES 2014, which contain screen-cleaning properties and eliminate up to 99% of bacteria on a device’s surface. The cases themselves come in cotton twill, leather, and canvas variants lined with antimicrobial microfibers licensed from medical company BioCote, and are also anti-static and shock resistant.

Introducing NueVue, a unique and long overdue concept in smartphone and tablet cases. More than just a fun and stylish way to protect your phone or tablet, NueVue cases clean the screen and offer antimicrobial protection, every time you remove the device. Not only is a cleaner screen easier on your eyes, your device stays looking like new – longer.

The introduction of the cases comes as Apple glass supplier Corning announced an antimicrobial version of its Gorilla Glass earlier this week, which incorporate ionic silver into the glass to inhibit growth of bacteria. NueVue’s cases will sell for $49.99 in a variety colors and are expected to be available soon.

‘Confide’ is Like Snapchat for Text Messages [iOS Blog]

With the image-based Snapchat reaching huge levels of popularity with its ephemeral image and video messaging, new app Confide looks to offer the same type of secure, self-destructing messaging for text.

The app allows users to send messages to anyone with an email address — prompting those users to download the app — and conceals the contents of messages until they swipe to select it. It also alerts senders when screenshots are attempted and sends read receipt messages so senders know when their message is read.

The company is pitching Confide as an app for business executives and others to send messages to each other that they would prefer HR or legal departments not find out about.

Gigaom writes:

Brod added that Confide is different from Snapchat and other disappear apps in that it connects potential users through their email addresses, not by searching their phone contacts. This means that if someone sends a message to a person who doesn’t have the app, they will receive an email that informs them there is a message from the first person waiting for them in the app.

To address the issue of screenshots, which can provide a way to preserve disappearing messages, Confide uses a “wand” feature that requires recipients to pass their fingers over the message to reveal additional words. The app also includes a notice feature, common among other disappear apps, that alerts the sender if the recipient took a screenshot of the message.

Confide for iPhone is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

iPhone ‘Halo’ Driving Corporate iPad/Mac Adoption, 25% of Cisco-Owned Laptops Are MacBooks

Apple is seeing increased success in selling its wares to large corporations thanks to the iPhone, reports The Wall Street Journal. A number of Apple products have acted as “halos” over the years, selling to first-time Apple owners and seeing that penetration lead to sales of more products.

The iPod helped drive Mac adoption with consumers, particularly amongst college students, but the iPhone is the most successful product in Apple’s history and has driven tremendous amounts of Mac and iPad sales. One-quarter of Cisco’s company-provided notebooks are Macs following that company’s decision to allow employees to choose which platform they preferred.

Many companies are deploying custom applications for iPhones and iPads, with the iPhone often being Apple’s first foothold in a business.

LG&E and KU Energy LLC, Kentucky’s biggest electric utility … approved the iPhone for employees in 2010. It then introduced iPads, and built apps such as one to help its helicopter patrollers survey 5,500 miles of high-voltage power lines. Using an iPad’s global-positioning system, patrollers can pinpoint the location of a problem and select from a menu of common issues, such as a damaged pole or an overgrown tree.

“For years, we looked for some way to automate this and we heard all sorts of fairy tales, but we could never find anything,” said Robby Trimble, LG&E and KU’s manager of transmission-line services.

Now, the utility’s engineers who run power plants use iPads to record how much electricity is generated. Warehouse managers use the tablet to scan bar codes and track the utility’s tools and materials.

Forrester says Apple accounts for 8 percent of global business and government spending on computers and tablets — that number does not include the iPhone — and could rise to 11 percent by 2015.

Apple executives frequently mention enterprise adoption and custom app development in earnings release conference calls with analysts, touting large corporate adoptions of iOS devices and how companies are using internally developed apps. The company also has large websites profiling how businesses are using both the iPhone and iPad.

‘PAC-MAN’ Named App of the Week, Available for Free [iOS Blog]

Namco Bandai’s classic PAC-MAN app has been named Apple’s App of the Week, and as a result, it is available for free for the first time since its initial 2011 release.

PAC-MAN is based on the classic arcade game and the gameplay focuses on navigating Pac-Man to eat pellets and fruit while avoiding ghosts. Along with the original maze, the game offers eight other mazes that all feature ghost-free bonus modes.

Who can forget the countless hours and quarters spent avoiding pesky ghosts while chompin’ on pellets and gobbling up fruit for bonus points?

– Arcade perfect classic PAC-MAN
– 8 new mazes for all new challenges
– Two different control modes
– Three game difficulties
– Retina display support

During its years on the App Store, PAC-MAN has ranged in price from $0.99 to $6.99, but it has not been offered at no cost. The app, which can be downloaded from the App Store, will be free for the next week. [Direct Link]