A week of Apple rumor confirmations

CNET - The technology world spent this past week with its collective eyes glued to the Consumer Electronics Show. But there was a truckload of news in Apple land, including announcements that confirmed three high-profile rumors.

Amid the product unveilings going on at CES in Las Vegas, Apple quietly sent out invites to an education-related event that it’s holding next week in New York. That matched up with rumors from last week claiming the company was gearing up for an event across the country from its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.

That confirmation was joined by two others. Target confirmed that it was, in fact, building special displays for Apple products in 25 of its stores as part of a larger initiative to bring boutique shopping experiences into the fold. That was joined by a report from Bloomberg, with Apple confirming that it had purchased Anobit, a chipmaker it was rumored to have bought in early December.

For more on these and other stories, read on.

Apple Talk Weekly is a collection of some of the week’s top Apple news and rumors. It appears every Saturday, and is curated by CNET’s Apple reporter, Josh Lowensohn.

News

Apple holding education event next week

Smack dab in the middle of the Consumer Electronics Show, Apple stole some of the thunder, sending out invites to a special event it’s holding next week at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The event, which takes place on the 19th, is rumored to focus on Apple’s iBookstore and text books.

 

(Credit: Apple)

 

 

iPhone 4S launches in China, then stumbles

This week brought the iPhone 4S to customers in China, but things got off to a rough start. Apple’s flagship store in Beijing didn’t open on time, and later said it wouldn’t be selling the device at all. An angry crowd threw eggs at the store, and several fights broke out between customers. In a statement, Apple said it would not be selling the device in two of its Chinese retail stores, pushing shoppers to purchase one on the Web instead.

Apple unveils supplier list in supplier report

Yesterday, Apple published the 2012 edition of its supplier report, its audit of the suppliers that it says manufacture 97 percent of its products. The big surprise was a full listing of third-party companies it uses, information that up till now had not been shared with the public. Alongside the release of the report, Apple joined the Fair Labor Association, a third-party auditing group that will keep tabs on what goes on in those factories and issue publicly available reports.            More

iPad 3 To Hit in 3 Months?

 

iPad 3 rumor roundup

 

CNET - With the success Apple is enjoying with the iPad 2, I’m not sure it even needs to make an iPad 3.

It will, of course. Just as it’s done over the past two years, Apple will likely unveil its latest, greatest tablet around April 2012. Until then, it’s open season on iPad 3 rumors.

In this ongoing blog post, we’ll be collecting the best, most interesting rumors and predictions for the Apple iPad 3. Which of these rumors will pan out? Only time will tell.

December 12
iPad 3 expected in March/April 2012
After a supply chain analysis, DigiTimes predicts that Apple’s iPad 3 will be ready for retail in three to four months. Given that the original iPad was released in April and the iPad 2 released in mid-March, the timing of this prediction seems consistent with Apple’s history.

December 12
iPad 3 expected in March/April 2012
After a supply chain analysis, DigiTimes predicts that Apple’s iPad 3 will be ready for retail in three to four months. Given that the original iPad was released in April and the iPad 2 released in mid-March, the timing of this prediction seems consistent with Apple’s history.

November 22
iPad 3 will be thinner with low-power non-IPS display
Forbes claims that Apple will ditch its IPS technology for a lower-powered Sharp display with a higher resolution and a thinner profile that will allow for a thinner overall design.

November 16
iPad 3 to use Qualcomm 4G LTE Gobi 4000 chip
Qualcomm is the current manufacturer for the 3G mobile chip inside the iPhone 4S, so it stands to reason that Apple may take advantage of its latest and greatest chip for use in the iPad 3. Using the 4G-compatible mobile chip would make the iPad 3 the first 4G device Apple has produced.

October 26
iPad 3 QXGA display
Of all the iOS devices out there (including the iPhone and iPod Touch), the iPad is the last to receive the upgrade to Apple’s Retina Display technology. The problem is that touch-screen manufacturers simply cannot yet make panels at the iPad’s size with the same 326ppi pixel density. They can get close, though. QXGA resolution (2,048×1,536 pixels) gets you a pixel density of 264ppi, which is twice that of the iPad 2.              More