Apple Releases iOS 6.1, With Expanded LTE Support, Siri Movie Ticket Purchases, and More::

After much anticipation, and 5 separate developer betas, Apple has finally released iOS 6.1 for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.  The update adds LTE support for 36 additional iPhone and 23 additional iPad carriers worldwide, brings the to purchase movie tickets in the U.S. using Siri and the Fandango app, and allows users to download songs individually from iTunes Match on iOS devices.

From Apple’s press release:

Apple® today updated iOS to version 6.1, adding LTE capabilities to 36 additional iPhone® carriers and 23 additional iPad® carriers around the world, so even more iPhone 5, iPad mini and iPad* with Retina® display users can experience ultrafast wireless performance** to browse, download and stream content at blazing fast speeds. To date, iOS users have uploaded over nine billion photos to Photo Stream, sent over 450 billion iMessages and received over four trillion notifications. 

“iOS 6 is the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, and with nearly 300 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices on iOS 6 in just five months, it may be the most popular new version of an OS in history,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iOS 6.1 brings LTE support to more markets around the world, so even more users can enjoy ultrafast Safari browsing, FaceTime video calls, iCloud services, and iTunes and App Store downloads.”

Also worth noting: iOS 6.1 brings Bluetooth keyboard support to the Apple TV— a long-rumored feature that should be VERY welcome for users. The update comes about three months after the initial beta, and just three days after their latest iOS 6.1 beta for developers. The update is available now through iTunes. We’ll update this post with direct links as soon as we have them.

Update: Direct links to iOS 6.1 firmware can be found below (via TheNextWeb)

• iPhone 5 (A1428 AT&T)
• iPhone 5 (A1429 CDMA)
• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 4 (CDMA)
• iPhone 4S
• iPad 4 (WiFi)
• iPad 4 (GSM)
• iPad 4 (CDMA)
• iPad 3  (WiFi)
• iPad 3 (GSM)
• iPad 3 (CDMA)
• iPad 2 (rev b 2, 4) (WiFi)
• iPad 2 (rev a 2, 1) (WiFi)
• iPad 2 (GSM)
• iPad 2 (CDMA)
• iPad mini (WiFi)
• iPad mini (GSM)
• iPad mini (CDMA)
• iPod touch 4G
• iPod touch 5G

Apple Confirms: There are Now 300M iOS Devices Running iOS 6 or Later::

Alongside the release of iOS 6.1 on Monday, Apple announced that there are now a massive 300 million iOS devices running iOS 6 or later. Considering that there are now about 500 millon iOS devices in use worldwide, that’s a pretty impressive adoption rate (around 60%)! If you judge by developer stats, the number may be more like 80%!

From the press release:

“iOS 6 is the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, and with nearly 300 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices on iOS 6 in just five months, it may be the most popular new version of an OS in history,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iOS 6.1 brings LTE support to more markets around the world, so even more users can enjoy ultrafast Safari browsing, FaceTime video calls, iCloud services, and iTunes and App Store downloads.”

Over 100 million of those devices were upgraded to iOS 6 within the first week after it launched – and all devices sold since them have been pre-loaded with iOS 6. That’s a lot of iOS devices, and a pretty impressive figure from Apple. I wonder how many Android devices are running Jelly Bean? Oh, yeah – about 10 percent. How embarrassing.

Samsung Demands Access to Apple’s iOS 6 Source Code, Apple Says ‘Hell No!’

Samsung is back to their old legal tricks, and has once again demanded access to Apple’s iOS 6 source code, this time in a Korean court. The Korea Timesreports, noting Samsung’s argument that they need access to the source code to verify that Apple isn’t violating their patents:

Samsung Electronics claimed Friday it should be able to access Apple’s software source code to confirm whether or not its technology patents were infringed upon in the latest i0S 6 operating system powering iPhones and iPads.

Samsung claims that Apple’s i0S 6 borrowed from one of its software patents without consent.

Apple, of course, had something to say about this, issuing a response that effectively amounts to “Hell no!”

Apple has denied the request of its Korean rival, calling it ridiculous. Both Motorola and Google have also asked for the source code to be supplied but to no avail. 

“It doesn’t’ make any sense. Samsung is saying that we should give up protecting our most important data,’’ court officials recalled Apple lawyers as saying. The court requested Apple to have its software designers and engineers testify, but the American technology giant refused. 

It’s pretty obvious why Apple doesn’t want their competitors taking a lookie-loo at their source code – but Samsung’s argument isn’t completely ridiculous either (albeit that source code would need to be reviewed by legal counsel rather than any actual Samsung employee).

Microsoft Surface Pro Launches in U.S. and Canada on February 9::

Microsoft has officially announced that the high-end Windows 8-powered version of its Surface tablet will be available starting on January 9th in the U.S. and Canada. Microsoft initially announced a January launch, but missed their launch target.

The base model of the Surface Pro starts at a whopping $900, and includes 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage (expandable up to 128GB using MicroSD), and an Intel Core i5 processor. The high-end model will be available for $999, and includes 128GB of storage with the same specs as the 64GB version.

It’s also worth noting that the Surface Pro’s $900 starting price doesn’t include a keyboard – the magnetic Touch Cover ($120) and Type Cover ($130) have to be purchased separately. A fully-functional Surface with PC-like input and a keyboard will cost over $100. At those prices, you could purchase a MacBook Air or an Ultrabook, which would have more power, more storage, more power, could be configured with more RAM, and which are all-around more capable of computing tasks.

It will be interesting to see how well the Surface Pro performs in its first round of sales – but it’s hard to imagine these flying off of the shelves… For more information, head on over to the Microsoft Store.

Photos Released From Upcoming ‘Jobs’ Movie::

A couple of photos from the upcoming movie about Steve Jobs have been published by USA Today, and while I’m not convinced about the actor portraying Steve Wozniak, Ashton Kutcher looks incredibly like Steve Jobs did back then. Going by the pictures, I’m struggling to understand why people have been saying Kutcher is a bad choice for the part.

Nevertheless, you’ve got to credit Josh Gad, who portrays Steve Wozniak, for the effort he’s put in. Hour after hour of studying Wozniak and even attending a programming course takes some dedication.

Kuo: Apple’s 2013 Lineup to Include Multiple iPhones, Retina iPad mini, All-Retina MacBook Pros::

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has an excellent batting average when it comes to predicting Apple’s product plans, has released a new research report. It outlines his expectations for Apple’s 2013 product releases.

MacRumors:

Kuo believes that Apple will focus its launches on the third quarter of this year, with a number of updates throughout the company’s various product families.

iPhone

Kuo sees Apple as introducing both an iPhone 5S and a revamped iPhone 5 around June or July of this year. The 5S will look similar to the 5, but will have a number of upgrades, such as a better performing A7 system-on-a-chip, a fingerprint sensor, and improvements to the camera, which could include an f2.0 aperture and a smart LED flash.

He says the lower cost iPhone 5 will be basically a repackaged iPhone 5 in a slightly thicker, plastic enclosure available in six colors.

iPad and iPad mini

Kuo forecasts updates for both lines during Q3, as the iPad mini will get a Retina Display, and the full-size model will become considerably lighter and thinner.

MacBook Pro

Kuo sees the non-Retina Display Pros saying goodbye, with Apple releasing an all Retina line of notebooks at lower prices than the current Retina lineup. Kuo also believes the design of the Retina MacBook Pros will be tweaked a bit.

MacBook Air

Kuo predicts no Retina Display for the Air line, given their relative thickness. He sees a move to Intel’s upcoming Haswell platform, and says that will be the main upgrade for the lineup, coming as soon as late Q2.

Desktop Models

Kuo doesn’t see the Retina Display making into the iMac family on 2013. He does say the iMac and the Mac mini will move to the Haswell platform in the fourth quarter.

Kuo’s report doesn’t mention a new Mac Pro, even though Apple CEO TIm Cook has been quoted as saying a significant update for the venerable machine was in the cards in 2013.

iPod touch

The 4th-generation touch will be discontinued, Kuo says, and in order to fill that gap, a scaled-back version of the 5th-gen model with 8GB of storage, and no rear camera will be sold at $199.

Apple TV

Kuo sees a minor update coming to Apple’s “hobby” as soon as late this quarter, but offers no details. He doesn’t see Apple’s actual television set appearing any time this year, citing content issues, and Apple’s lack of experience in the television market.

iPhone 5S Said to be Set for June/July Launch, Production to Ramp Up in March::

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek is at it again. Following his report about two weeks ago about multi-colored iPhones, Misek has now released a new research report, once again claiming that the ‘iPhone 5S’ is due to launch in June or July, with production set to start ramping up sometime in March.

StreetInsider reports (via 9to5Mac)

Misek [...] said checks indicate that preliminary builds for the iPhone 5S will start in March for a launch in June/July. “As word of the earlier production schedule starts to spread, we believe we could see a slight slowing of demand CQ1 in anticipation of the new product launch and Apple will likely start curtailing channel inventory. Therefore we tweak down our CQ1 iPhone shipment estimate from 48M to 44M, which is still well above widespread fears of shipments in the mid-30Ms.”

MacRumors provides additional details regarding Misek’s comments. Misek makes a number of interesting claims regarding possible features of the ‘iPhone 5S’, which he classifies in terms of likeliness. He also makes note of 6 separate iPhone prototypes reportedly in testing at Apple:

 Based on our checks, likely updates include a new super HD camera/screen, a better battery, and NFC. Possible updates include an IGZO screen for Retina+, 128GB storage, and coming in 6 to 8 colors.

Several iPhone 6 prototypes appear to be floating around. The model with a 4.8″ screen is the most interesting. It has a Retina+ IGZO screen, a new A7 quad-core processor variant, and a new form factor with no home button. Full gesture control is also possibly included.

Misek also chimes in to back up recent rumors that Apple may release a significantly cheaper iPhone, possibly targeted at a $200-250 price range.

It’s unclear how much stake should be put in Misek’s claims. On the one hand, a June or July launch would make for a faster release schedule than we are used to for the iPhone – indeed the fastest release schedule yet. However, Apple made a similarly surprising move when they released the 4th-gen iPad just 8 months following its predecessor.

Horace Dediu of Asymco hypothesizes that Apple may be doing so in order to mitigate the loss of sales that occurs when users are expecting new Apple hardware. If they break up their release cycle, consumers may not hold back as much in advance of new product launches.

Misek also claims that a new 5th-generation iPad could launch in June, with a thinner build (due to a thinner and lighter IGZO display). Meanwhile, the iPad mini will also reportedly be updated on the same time table, with the most persistent claim being that it will receive a Retina display.

Leaving no stone unturned, Misek even makes some claims about Apple’s long-fabled television set, which has been rumored so deeply that it has attained unicorn-like mythical status. Misek claims that Apple might release such a product sometime in September or October of 2013.

It’s worth noting that Misek does have a somewhat mixed track record, and analysts generally shouldn’t be considered as insider’s into Apple’s plans. We’d recommend exercising extreme caution with Misek’s latest sky-high dish of Apple Rumor Salad. I’d say it’s about as credible as our “authentic” iPhone 5S header image at the top of this post…