iPhone NFC by moneto

We had some time to talk to a well-connected developer at Macworld who was building an app that— among other capabilities— includes NFC reading for the purpose of mobile transactions.  We were obviously curious why they would do that, noting that third party NFC readers for iPhone were not popular (aside from the recently announced Moneto, above).  The developer told us that he had no hardware knowledge, but he had spoken to Apple iOS engineers on multiple occasions, and they are “heavy into NFC.”

I asked how confident he was, and he said, “Enough to bet the app development on.”

This is not the first we have heard that iPhone 5 would have NFC, however.  Besides the deluge of ideas Apple has patented with NFC, the New York Times said pre-iPhone 4S that an upcoming iPhone would have NFC.  While it did not turn out to be the iPhone 4S, it could be the one coming up.

(Moneto again)

The question is now: Who will Apple partner with for its payment systems?  Over the weekend we received some hints…

Ed McLaughlin, who heads emerging payments at MasterCard, had an exchange with Fast Company that went as follows:

…when asked to give an estimate for when smartphone payments would become commonplace (in other words, would 2012 be the year of NFC or contactless tech?), McLaughlin demurred–and may have dropped a hint about Apple’s future in the industry.

“The timeline is always as rapid as it makes sense for consumers,” he says. “That’s a combination of having a critical mass of the merchants, which is what you’re seeing right now, and getting devices into the hands of consumers. I don’t know of a handset manufacturer that isn’t in process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready.”

So that would include Apple then?

“Um, there are…like I say, [I don't know of] any handset maker out there,” McLaughlin says. “Now, when we have discussions with our partners, and they ask us not to disclose them, we don’t.”

Apple, of course, has the magical ability to transform whole industries. No one paid for music digitally before Apple unveiled iTunes; virtually no one listened to MP3 players, or carried smartphones, or played with tablets before Apple entered the markets. (And we have good reason to believe they are angling into wireless payment territory.) I asked whether the contactless payments industry needs Apple to hit critical mass.

“Well, anytime someone with a major base moves forward, it advances what you’re doing. So of course,” McLaughlin says.

It seems pretty clear that he wants so badly to say Apple is partnering but he cannot.

NFC for mobile devices is not cut and dry, however.  As Google would tell you with its Google Wallet platform, carriers can actually prevent device companies from putting apps on phones.  The well-covered Verizon blockage of Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus in favor of Verizon’s own ISIS NFC standard could also block an Apple/MasterCard entry.

Like all things iPhone 5, we will likely hear more in the coming weeks and months.

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A patent application published by the US Patent & Trademark Office earlier today reveals Apple is flirting with the idea of a universal touchscreen controller capable of controlling multiple devices including a “a television, a video tape player, a video disk player, a stereo, a home control system, or a computer system.” The patent application is titled “Apparatus and Method to Facilitate Universal Remote Control” and was filed September 30, 2011.

The patent application’s background covers many of the issues with current controllers for televisions and the devices mentioned above. It noted current universal remotes are “complex to operate” and unable to adapt to incorporate every command or control functionality supported by a device or future device. It also mentions the fact that users are often “confronted with multiple” remotes, which is the classic “table full of remotes” scenario described by Steve Jobs when talking about the Apple TV at D8. The patent application explained:

“While all of these buttons and switches are necessary for complete control of the appliance, users typically use only a small subset of the total controls on the remote control. The controls that are not normally used clutter the remote control and can cause confusion to the user when trying to locate a seldom-used feature.…users must spend time learning a new remote control or programming an existing universal remote control each time they purchase a new remotely controllable appliance, which detracts from the enjoyment of using the appliance after it is first purchased…What is needed is an apparatus and a method to provide remote control over multiple appliances without the difficulties described above.”

Apple’s solution would feature an automatic “discovery mechanism” allowing the remote to pair with other devices over Bluetooth or WiFi. The patent describes being able to customize the UI on the remote’s touchscreen without the universal remote control needing “special knowledge” of the device. In other words, graphical representations for any given device, such as a button layout, could be stored in the device and sent to the remote control wirelessly. The patent application also described using the remote with multiple devices simultaneously through a “active appliances” list.

According to the patent application, the unique UIs sent from a device to the remote could be customizable by the manufacturer of the device, hinting that the remote could control third-party appliances as well. Apple noted the UI “can also display an icon such as the manufacturer’s logo, user instructions, or an advertising message on remote control.”

When a user selects an appliance to control at the remote control, the remote control sends a message to the appliance requesting a menu description. In response, the appliance returns the menu description to the remote control. The remote control then displays the menu. If more appliances respond than can fit on a single page, remote control can provide multiple appliance selection pages including navigation icons on the appliance selection pages for switching between pages. 

With latest reports claiming Apple is already working on a 42-inch+ HDTV, and today’s patent focusing mainly on televisions and video players (opposed to Macs and iOS devices), it’s possible Apple is experimenting with touchscreen remotes with adaptable UIs to interact with a future Apple-branded HDTV. Other reports claimed the yet to be unveiled Apple HDTV will feature voice-control courtesy of Siri-like functionality. However, there is no mention of voice-control functionality or Siri in today’s patent application for the universal remote.

The US Patent & Trademark Office also published a series of other patents today filed by Apple Inc. including one covering “Programmable Magnetic Connectors” that could hint at possible MagSafe-like connections for iOS and other Apple devices. Another covers “Automatically Adapting User Interfaces for Hands-Free Interaction” for an “intelligent automated assistant”, aka Siri.

With an announcement tomorrow in New York City and an earnings call on Jan. 24, Apple Inc., has reached an all-time high of $429.47 per share on today’s market, and it closed at $429.11. Being up more than four points today, Apple is continuing to close in on a $400B market cap and sits at just $398.70B at closing.

Apple is expected to have had a record breaking Q1, which will be reported in an earnings call with CEO Tim Cook on Jan. 24. With the help of holiday sales, some analysts predict Apple sold 5 million Macs and around 30 million iPhones.

Tomorrow’s media event in New York City also added to today’s stock frenzy. Apple is expected to make a major announcement in the textbook industry. There have been many reports that Apple made the necessary partnerships with publishers, and may even launch its own textbook creation tool — which Ars Technica called a “GarageBand for e-books.” Apple teased the event as an education announcement. Per usual, 9to5Mac will be covering both events. Tomorrow’s event begins at 10 a.m., so stick with us for coverage. Any final predictions?

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Apple currently has only one other Apple Store in New York City outside of Manhattan that is located in Staten Island. Things could change, however, according to a new report from NY Daily News that clamed retail developer Yeheskel Elia is working with Apple to bring an “iconic store” to Queens, New York. The specific location of the store would be Austin Street in Forest Hills.

Nothing is official because Elia and Apple are still working on more details. Elia said he would do anything to bring an Apple Store to the bustling area. If a deal is reached, Elia said a store could open in under a year. Several months ago, an Apple broker also reached out to Elia regarding the new store.

The deal would be a “kick in the pants” to the neighboring rival Brooklyn who, with borough president Marty Markowitz and local hipster legions, has campaigned nonstop for an Apple Store for years.

When NY Daily News reached out for comment from Apple, in a typical fashion they responded, Apple has “made no announcements” regarding a NYC store outside of Manhattan (sorry Staten Island).

Apple recently opened a huge 23,000-foot. Apple Store in the NYC Grand Central Terminal. The grand opening drew in a huge crowd, who were eager to see the landmark.

Apple currently has six retail store locations in New York.

New York is also honoring Apple’s deceased cofounder Steve Jobs by inducting him into the Creative Hall of Fame today.

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Intel is looking to use its recently unveiled Medfield chips in the iPhone, according to The Telegraph. In the report, Dave Whalen, vice president of Intel’s architecture group, told The Telegraph that Intel has talked to Apple and other manufacturers about using the new Medfield chips in iOS devices. Specifically, Whalen said as iOS continues to grow, “We talk to everybody.” Intel is also looking to Android and Windows Phone to use the new chips.

It is worth noting that it is highly unlikely Apple would move to Intel chips in iOS devices, even though the company uses Intel in Macs. Since the iPhone 4, Apple has continued to use its own line of processors—with the help of Samsung. The iPhone 4 was graced with the A4, the iPad 2 had the A5, and most recently— the iPhone 4S got the A5. The iPad 3 is rumored to get the quad-core A6 (mock up on the right), and going off Apple’s recent timeline, the iPhone 5 will most likely have the A6.

The US Patent & Trademark Office published an Apple patent application today (via PatentlyApple) that details new 3D GUI concepts and touch-free, motion sensing gestures that would allow you to simply wave your hand over a device equipped with proximity sensors. This follows a patent application published in July that explores similar 3D gestures and UIs, and another in September detailing 3D display & imaging technology that could lead to Kinect-like gestures on future Apple products.

The image to the right (larger below) shows a 3D UI environment consisting of two side walls, a back wall, a floor, and a ceiling. As you can see, 2D objects are posted to the back and sidewalls, while 3D objects rest on the floor of the environment. The patent mentions a “snap to” feature that appears to allow objects to move from one surface to another by changing the orientation of the 3D environment. In other words, the user’s perspective of the UI, which PatentlyApple describes could be imagined as the “view from an imaginary camera viewfinder”, would change when rotation of the device is detected by its gyro sensor or accelerometer:

For example, the display environment could be displayed when the viewer holds their mobile device with the display directly facing them. In this orientation, the camera view is directly facing the back wall. As the user rotates their mobile device either clockwise or counterclockwise, the camera view is moved towards either side wall… More particularly, as the user rotates their mobile device clockwise (about the X axis of rotation), the camera view moves toward sidewall 112a. 

In one scenario, Apple describes gestures “made a distance above a touch sensitive display” detected by proximity sensors built into the device. We can obviously imagine the Kinect-like gestures that Apple has touched on in the previous patents mentioned above. Today’s patent, as usual, could extend to iPhone, iPad, and iPod, as well as any other device with capable GPU.

PatentlyApple noted the technology could rely on “one or more graphics processing units (e.g., NVIDIA GeForce 330M) and a 3D graphics rendering engine” such as OGRE. However, Imagination Technologies recently showed off the new PowerVR Series6 G6400 and G6200 GPUs that could theoretically provide up to twenty times better performance over chips currently being shipped in iPhone and iPad. Full-size image of the 3D environment concept is below.

Well, the speed difference is about to get even more noticeable. Samsung told me that it sold out of the 470 series OEM SSDs late last year and the company only makes a much faster variety: the 830 series.

How fast is the 830 Series controller/chips?  I had a chance to speed test the popular 2.5-inch 830 model late last year when it debuted.  Typical speeds were over 400MB/s write and 500MB/s reads (below, left).  That is almost twice as fast as the current MacBook Air SSD from Samsung (below, right), which itself is significantly faster than Toshiba’s SSD.

Samsung stopped short of announcing it is shipping the 830s to Apple, but the company confirmed it ran out of 470s a while ago and all of its SSD customers were receiving the updated 830 series. Samsung also confirmed that Apple is still a customer.

Today I ventured to the Las Vegas Apple Store to check the speeds of the MacBook Airs.  I checked a new 128GB MacBook Air right out of the box which had the same “APPLE SSD SM128C” listed in System Profiler as my year-old Air.  I checked the speed and it is indeed the old disk (same as above, right), which means the new Samsung SSDs haven not hit stores —at least here anyway.

Theoretically, a few things could happen at this point…

I do not know Apple’s supply chain lead-time and Samsung would not even pretend to hint anything about its relationship with Apple.  Therefore, Apple could have bought many months worth of the older 470 series SSDs and they might not show up in the final product for a while.  It also is not 100 percent certain that Apple will continue buying SSDs from Samsung.  Theoretically, Apple could move to another supplier or go with the slow Toshiba’s 100%, although, that would be hard to imagine with Samsung’s product being so good.

What is certain is that the OEM Samsung SSDs Apple currently uses in its MacBook Airs were sold out many months ago and the faster replacements have been taking their place to Samsung’s customers.  It is also certain that the MacBook Airs are built to take advantage of the speedier SSDs.  OWC sells a crazy fast aftermarket model with similar speeds to those of the Samsung 830 series that work extremely well.

I would be willing to bet that Apple will have a silent MacBook Air update to the faster SSDs at some point soon or —at the very latest— when Apple updates the MacBook Air to the Ivy Bridge platform later this year.

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First of all, Ray is excited.  He talks like someone who has been imprisoned by the merger over the past year, unable to make any long term moves. T-Mobile is still evaluating their long term options (like LTE) but there is a buzz in the air now.  While the parent company Deutsch Telekom gets the $3B payoff from AT&T, it seems that there will be big investment over the next few years in the T-Mobile USA subsidy.

On Dec 19th, T-Mobile’s official AT&T breakup release stated what, besides the $3B, T-Mobile would get:

As part of the break-up fee, T-Mobile USA will receive a large package of AWS mobile spectrum in 128 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs), including 12 of the top 20 markets (Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Baltimore and Seattle).

The UMTS roaming agreement for the U.S. in T-Mobile USA’s favor has a term of over seven years and will allow the company to improve its footprint significantly among the U.S. population and offer its customers better broadband coverage for mobile communications services in the future. Population coverage will increase from 230 million potential customers at present to 280 million. As a result of the agreement with AT&T, coverage will be extended to many regions of the U.S. in which T-Mobile USA previously had neither its own high-speed mobile communications network nor the associated roaming agreements.

That spectrum will allow T-Mobile to light up HSPA+ radio frequency that are used by the iPhone’s 3G.

I asked Ray about the reports that some T-Mobile networks in the Northwest were already broadcasting 1900MHz HSPA+.

Nevada, parts of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest are also seeing some pockets of 1900MHz spectrum refarming for HSPA+. There are other parts of the country T-Mobile can refarm the 1900MHz spectrum but, the focus is on the Pacific Northwest, Nevada, Utah and California for right now from what we’re told. We should emphasize and emphasize greatly that this post does not mean that all of the aforementioned areas are seeing this refarmed spectrum, just pockets inside those areas.

Ray responded that those networks weren’t officially lit up (perhaps some tower testing or AT&T roaming confusion happened).

However, there is some really good news for those who want to use an iPhone on T-Mobile’s 3G network…

For some in a short list of cities in the Eastern US, T-Mobile is lighting up some 1900MHz HSPA+ spectrum.  Long term plans haven’t been solidified, but combined with the new AT&T roaming bandwidth mentioned above, T-Mobile will offer a network that current iPhone users will get a lot of utility out of.

While Ray wouldn’t comment too much on the opportunity to carry the iPhone, T-Mobile users will be able to be able to use 14.4MHz speeds off of their iPhones when in those areas.

That’s an interesting proposition because, for people in lit up 3G cities, T-Mobile offers inexpensive 3G plans if you bring your own device.

Expect to hear more soon including a list of cities that will be lit up in the first round.

While Apple does not have a booth or keynote at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company is on the show floor scouting the competition. PaidContent’s Tom Krazit spotted Apple’s head of iOS product marketing Greg Joswiak at Sony’s booth. Joswiak talked to PaidContent, with a grin on his face, and said he was on location to see “How other companies present their products at events such as CES, from things like booth layout and aesthetics to which products are highlighted within a company’s booth.” Interesting.

It is worth noting that Apple has not participated in a trade show since MacWorld 2009, where the company announced iWork ’09, new MacBook Pros, and more. In recent years, Apple has stuck to announcing new products at its own events.

Roaming the floor does not seem like the only thing Apple is doing at CES. At 9to5Mac, we have been independently contacted through email by someone who seems to be seeking information on Apple competitors, including information on what 9to5Mac thinks about the technology being showcased at CES. The contact also wanted to know specifics on how journalists viewed companies’ product marketing practices. This probe certainly sounds similar to Mr. Joswiak’s recent activities on the show floor, right?

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We love this add-on to the Mac Mini that turns it into more of a pro-device (and a cube!).  The business up front is a DVD-R drive (not sure about BluRay) and an SDXC card reader that complements the one on the back of the mini. On the rear, you get a high power USB source for quick-charging an iPad as well as a few USB 3.0 ports that require separate drivers.  Also on the back is an eSATA port for fast external peripheral support as well as two Firewire 800 ports. Inside, there is room for up to a 4TB 3.5 inch hard drive which you can order with the Mini Stack Max or you can bring your own.

This is interesting because it is moving the Mini more toward a pro-like setup.

.

OWC has not put a price on the Mac Mini Stack Max but expects them to be available in March.

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