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If you follow fashion trends and you want to be in style, you might be interested to know that a new fab accessory has been released for the iPhone. So, if you don’t know where to keep your favorite smartphone, you might consider the new Freedom of Creation collection by Alan Nguyen.

This fashion house is based in Amsterdam and specializes in 3D printing. And if you’re thinking we are talking about a bland bag or case for the iPhone, you couldn’t be more wrong. Fashion is sometimes about extremes and using items one wouldn’t expect.

So, Freedom of Creation launched the iPhone Mashup Shoes. That’s right, that means a pair of trendy shoes and a place to keep your phone while out and about. The shoes have been designed for the size 37 (Europe), which translates to size 6 (American). They come available in a bright yellow color, which would make them perfect for performers and DJs but also for people who want to make a fashion statement.

The case is implemented in the shoes’ heels, which have been 3D printed using material from the FreshFiber website. The shoes have already been on display during the Milan Design Week and Maison et Objet Paris. The latest appearance of the shoes was during an event organized by a 3D printing oriented magazine called Print Shift, in London.

Source: Cnet

If you’re someone that loves to read well-sourced and credible Apple news (which is hopefully why you’re at this Forum as well!) then you’ll be interested to learn from iDownloadBlog today that the excellent Loop blog, which features the well-sourced Apple news and opinions of Editor-In-Chief Jim Dalrymple, among others, is launching a digital magazine for iOS devices, which is now available via the Newsstand app. Called The Loop Magazine, it is instantly recognisable from the lush purple art scheme, and very basic layout, just like the web blog. You can share stories that you read in the magazine via Safari, Twitter, Mail, and Messages, and it also has a built-in web browser so that you can open links. The magazine will be published bi-monthly, and the first free edition has six articles, including “a personal look at disruptive problem solving from Flexibits co-founder Michael Simmons,” and “an autobiographical piece from Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess talking about the impact of technology and how he has embraced it in his work.”


Excellent pic of Jim with Slash courtesy of iDownloadBlog!:

Click here to download: http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/...rtnerId%253D30

Source: Popular Apple blog ?The Loop? launches bi-monthly iOS magazine on Newsstand

AppleInsider reports today that we may have to wait a little longer for Apple’s forthcoming iRadio service, due to problems with ongoing negotiations with Sony. Apparently the ever-thorny issue of licensing fees is once again the sticking point, according to the original story in the Financial Times, which says that Apple has already struck a deal with Universal Music, and is on the verge of inking a deal with Warner Music. However, it seems that Sony Music has yet to sign a deal with Apple, apparently wanting more concessions, according to the report. It is thought that Sony wants Apple to pay more, seeing as Apple looks set to make lots of money from any streaming music service that it might set up. AppleInsider says that Apple originally offered just 6.5 cents per 100 tracks streamed, which is half of what Pandora pays. The labels turned this down, so Apple then offered 12.5 cents per 100 tracks, which some of the labels appear to be happy with, but clearly not Sony!


Source: iRadio stalled again as Apple, Sony can't agree to royalty terms

iDownloadBlog reports today on new findings by research firm Canalys, which provide data for first-quarter smart mobile device shipments, which Canalys says achieved 300+ million new units, representing 37.4% year-over-year growth. Fifty-Nine percent of those devices were Android, and 19% were iOS, with Android beating iOS in the smartphone market, and iOS remaining dominant in the tablet market, as laptop demand continues to fall. iDownloadBlog points out that smartphones, tablets and laptops all come under Canalys’s description of “smart mobile devices.” iDownloadBlog also points out that Canalys only posts stats for shipped units, rather than units sold. In terms of overall figures, Samsung shipped 82.2 million units, representing 26.6% share of the total shipments, with Apple shipping 59.6 million in total, or 19.3%. Smartphones came out on top of all smart devices, with 216.3 million shipped, showing 47.9% quarterly growth. It was tablets, though, that showed the most growth of all, with iPad shipments growing by 106.1 % year-over-year. However, iDownloadBlog reports that Apple’s supremacy in the tablet market could soon come more and more under threat as more cheap Android tablets are released onto the market.


Source: Canalys: one in five smart devices are Apple

We have been hearing a lot of rumors, saying that Apple is secretly working on a cheaper iPhone aimed at developing market, especially China. But some time has passed and no new information surfaced to sediment the theory.

Until now. Reuters has stumbled upon some Apple trusty sources from Japan that claim the low cost iPhone is not out ​​of the cards for the tech giant. Actually, test production of panels is starting as soon as this month, while mass production will kick start in June. One of Apple’s main supplier in China, Pegatron, held a conference this week and during it, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jason Cheng, shared some details with the media. He declined to comment anything concrete about the cheaper iPhone, nevertheless providing some important clues.

The most important is the fact that Pegatron is going to hire a lot of people in the near future. The company is planning to add 40% more workers to its factories across China. This might be a good indicator that the supplier is preparing for something big. Lin also claims that more than 60% of the company’s profits for 2013 will come in the next months, hinting towards the fact that Pegatron has a secure deal of manufacturing products that are sure to become a major success.

Pegatron however is doing quite well as it is. For example, the company reported an increase with over 81% in revenue in Q1 compared to the year before.

Source: Reuters

Apple’s famous glass cube store in New York has come in for a bit of a soaking, according to a report in the New York Post today, via AppleInsider. It seems that the store was flooded with water at around 8 am this morning (the store is open 24 hours), with a customer reporting that what started out as a slow leak soon turned into something more serious, with water pouring into the building. “Everyone started scrambling, moving tables,” said Errol Rappaport in the Post. “It didn’t look like there were any electrical issues, otherwise they would have evacuated the store.” As it was early morning, there were only around 15 customers in the store at the time, and employees quickly mopped up the water, with the store remaining open the whole time. The blame for the incident was laid on a “drainage problem” by workers, the result of some construction work carried out at the flagship store back in 2011.


Source: Heavy rains in Manhattan breach Apple's flagship Fifth Ave store

Following on from a previous news story today saying that Sharp will start mass production of iPhone 5S LCD screens in June, AppleInsider has published another news story today that supports the previous story, with the news that Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty has revealed new information about Apple’s plans for the summer that she heard during a trip to Asia. According to Huberty’s sources in Apple’s supply chain in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Apple is to start manufacturing “multiple” iPhone models in June and July, ready for a likely September launch. What this most likely means is that Apple will be launching the iPhone 5S, as well as a budget iPhone, in September, as well as continuing to produce older iPhone models, with iPhone 5 shipments now back on track following recent reports of reduced iPhone 5 orders. “After a slow start, iPhone 5 is now on track to meet carrier volume expectations and iPhone 4 price cuts could stimulate incremental demand near-term,” said Huberty in her note to investors today.


Source: Morgan Stanley: Apple on track to build multiple new iPhone models in June-July

T-Mobile waited long enough to get its hands on the iPhone, and now, judging by today’s report on AppleInsider, it is already enjoying the fruits of its partnership with Apple, as the company has just disclosed in its Q1 earnings report that it expects a very strong showing for Q2, having sold 500,000 iPhones since it first started carrying them on April 12. This will be a very welcome and much-needed upturn for the company, as AppleInsider reports that the Q1 results for T-Mobile showed a 7.1 year-over-year decline in revenue, with adjusted earnings reaching $1.2 billion for the quarter ending March 31. Also encouraging for T-Mobile are the quarter-on-quarter numbers, which were up.

“Our first quarter operating metrics and financial results are showing positive impact from the changes we began making in the fourth quarter,” said T-Mobile president and CEO John Legere. “We ended the quarter with strong operational momentum, which is continuing into the second quarter, driven by the successful launch of our Un-carrier “Simple Choice” service plan and the introduction of the iPhone into our device line-up."

Source: T-Mobile reports 500K iPhone sales in less than one month

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Apple’s iPhone has officially become one of the safest devices to use. The iconic Apple smartphone has just received this week the FIPS 140-2 certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Computer Security Division.

Security has become an important issue for Federal IT managers who fear security breaches due to the expanding numbers of iPhone and iPads out there. More and more agencies seem to be inclined to purchase Apple gear to use for their purposes within enterprises. But before purchasing anything managers usually make sure that cryptographic standards under FISMA aren’t being violated.

The tests which led to the certification were m​​ade on the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and an iPad featuring iOS 6.0. The final report explains:

“Apple iOS CoreCrypto Kernel Module is a software cryptographic module running on a multi-chip standalone mobile device and provides services intended to protect data in transit and at rest.”

Even so, according to the FISMA standards, Apple might need to work on its security protocols, as it was awarded the Level 1 of Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 – which is the lowest level. Knowing Apple – evolution in this department seems imminent.

Being FISMA certified might open a new set of opportunities for Apple. Already some government agencies have taken up iOS mobile devices and some have expressed their interest in them. But with this new certification, more governmental business might come Apple’s way.

Source: TUAW

All the previous rumors which forecasted the production of the iPhone 5S to start in March or April are slowly going down the drain.

A new report coming via Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun and translated by AppleInsider, with the help of Google Translate, now places the start of production, at least in the panel department, in June. Apparently Apple's partner, Sharp, has started setting the stage in order to begin assembling LCDs for the upcoming iPhone.

The production will kick-start in June at the Kemayama Plant No. 1 in Mie Prefecture Japan. When operating at full steam, the facility is capable of producing 600 million displays a month. This number might be enough to clench the thirst of avid Apple fans. The report also claims ​​that Apple is not only requesting Sharp to do its bidding, but has also ordered panels from LG and Japan Display. Will they be all for the iPhone 5S?

With production being set for June, everything seems to be falling right on schedule. At the most recent quarterly earnings call, CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple is preparing to launch “some amazing new hardware, software and services”.

Even with news like these surfacing, some hopeful souls still believe that Apple will fool everybody and unravel the new iPhone at the WWDC event which will be held next month. We however see this as a very unlikely scenario. The iPhone 5S is also rumored to become available in multiple colors and featuring an improved camera. We can’t wait!

The iPhone is one of the best looking smartphones available on the market today, but we can’t say the same about its accessories. Finding an aesthetically pleasing iPhone case is an extremely difficult job, even if we are bombarded with countless offers. Sadly, most of them, lack any insight into Apple’s values regarding design and are plainly tacky.

However, a new Kickstarter project has managed to amaze lovers of the iPhone. A team of two techies hailing from Florida has designed a simple and elegant iPhone case that might as well have come from Apple itself. The inventors are called Laster Mapp and Jeremy Foster and they have baptized their pro​​duct “AL13” – AL stands from Aluminum (if you remember your chemistry) while 13 represents the total weight (in grams) of the accessory.

The AL13 is available for your pleasure in five different colors: black, red, blue, gunmetal and silver and is compatible with the iPhone 5/4/4S. The most important factor is that the AL13 does not alter the overall look of the phone, like your average iPhone case might.

The two designers posted their project on December 28 and waited to collect the $20,000 they needed to start off their idea. And they didn’t have to wait long. In just 10 days they managed to collect the sum, but the project kept going until the 13th of February. When the campaign finally ended, the two Floridians had gathered a total of $86,250. The AL13 is now available for $79.

Source: Kickstarter

AppleInsider reports today that iOS continues to make inroads into Android’s share of the mobile Web market in the US, according to new figures from Piper Jaffray. The new figures have lead Piper Jaffray to conclude that iPhone and iPad owners are more engaged with their handsets than Android and other phone users. The data was compiled by Investing Analytics on behalf of Piper Jaffray, and show impressive growth in iOS Web share during the past three months, while Android’s share is shown to be in decline. AppleInsider reports that the study looked at mobile traffic to 10 of the top 100 mobile websites, such as Answers. com, Tumblr, and Dictionary.com.

"For the second straight month in our tracking of the data, iOS gained on Android as a source of mobile traffic," said Piper Jaffray’s leading Apple expert, Gene Munster. "We believe the traffic data continues to demonstrate that iOS is not only the leading platform in the US, its users are generally more engaged with their mobile devices."

Illustration source: Investing Analytics


Source: Apple's iOS widens lead over Android in US mobile Web traffic share