New Aerial Video Shows Significant Construction Progress at Apple Campus 2 [Mac Blog]

Apple appears to be making significant progress on its forthcoming "Spaceship" campus in Cupertino, as an aerial video shared by YouTube user jmcminn (via Apple Spotlight/9to5Mac ) shows the site now featuring significantly constructed walls, spots for buildings, and a more defined oval shape.






Apple closed off sidewalks and built a number of privacy fences to keep the area hidden, but this latest video taken with a DJI Phantom 2 drone and GoPro camera goes above the site to show an assortment of vehicles and materials helping to build Apple's newest campus. Previous photos showed initial work on the site's walls and deep trenches for what was said to be "underground tunnels." The site was once the home of Hewlett Packard's former offices, which were vacated and demolished by Apple ahead of its initial work on its Campus 2 project.



Apple is currently at work on the first phase of its Campus 2 construction, which includes the 2.8 million square foot ring-shaped main building and an underground parking facility capable of holding 2,400 cars. Those structures will also be complemented by a 100,000 square foot fitness center and a 120,000 square foot auditorium, with some of the landscape being occupied by more than 4,500 trees.



The first phase of construction is expected to be completed by 2016, and will be followed by additional 600,000 square feet of buildings along with another parking structure in the second phase.

Apple Hires Longtime Technology Journalist Anand Lal Shimpi

After announcing his departure from AnandTech , veteran technology journalist Anand Lal Shimpi will join Apple in an undisclosed role, reports Re/code. A representative for Apple confirmed that Shimpi would be joining the company, but also declined to provide any further details.




Image credit: Anandtech


Shimpi launched AnandTech in 1997 and established the website's reputation around in-depth analysis and reviews on a number of topics from the world of technology, including posts on Apple's line of desktops, notebooks, iPhones, iPads, iPods, and accessories.



In his farewell post on AnandTech published yesterday, Shimpi stated that he "won't stay idle forever" and added that there are "a bunch of challenges out there."

Apple Partnering With American Express on iPhone Mobile Payments Initiative

Apple's rumored mobile payments initiative appears to be coming closer to launch, with Re/code reporting the company has reached a deal to partner with American Express.

Apple has reached an agreement with American Express to work together on its new iPhone payments system, according to sources familiar with the talks. American Express is one of several partners Apple will need to sign up before it can launch its new payments plan, which sources say it plans to announce at its September 9 product event.

Apple was previously reported to have been in negotiations with Visa over the effort, which is said to leverage the upcoming iPhone 6. Just days ago, a logic board leak revealed the near field communications (NFC) chip destined for the iPhone 6 and which will presumably play an important role in enabling the mobile payments functionality.




EasyPay mobile payments concept by Ricardo Del Toro


With Apple's extensive database of credit card numbers linked to iTunes Store accounts and new security technology such as Touch ID built into the iPhone, the company is strongly positioned to leverage those assets for widespread adoption of mobile payments. The effort naturally requires partnerships with credit card processors and retailers, but the pieces do appear to be falling into place just ahead of next week's media event.

Apple Reportedly Weighing $400 Price Range for Upcoming Wearable Device

In the latest of a string a reports regarding Apple's plans for its upcoming wearable device, Re/code reports company executives have "discussed" a rough price of $400 for the device. That is merely a range, however, with cheaper models perhaps also in the works.

Apple executives have discussed charging around $400 for the company’s new wearable device.



Pricing has yet to be finalized for the forthcoming product, which is expected to begin shipping next year. Sources say consumers should expect a range of prices for different models including lower priced versions.

The report indicates that it is unclear whether Apple will have the pricing issue settled in time for its September 9 media event where it will reportedly show off the device, popularly referred to as the iWatch. If not, the company would remain silent on pricing for the time being and announce it a later date closer to launch, which may not occur until early next year.



Rumors regarding the wearable device have been inconsistent over time, making it unclear where on the spectrum of health and fitness band to true smart watch it will fall. Apple may, however, have altered its announcement schedule in order to better position the device as an iPhone accessory rather than as a standalone product.



(Image: iWatch concept from ifyoucouldseethefuture.com)

4.7-Inch iPhone 6 Built From Parts Supports Theory of 1334 x 750 Display

Yesterday, we shared a video and some photos from Feld & Volk [Instagram page] apparently showing a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 built from parts actually booting to the "Connect to iTunes" recovery mode screen.



A Tweet today from developer Steven Troughton-Smith points out that the graphics shown on the display during this booting process "*seem* to confirm" John Gruber's arguments in favor of the device being equipped with a 1334 x 750 display at the same 326 pixels per inch density of previous Retina displays. More specifically, the evidence points toward an approximately 667 x 375 point display, which would presumably arrive in the form of a 2x Retina display at 1334 x 750 as Gruber suggests.



Sparked by Troughton-Smith's observation, we have independently examined photos of the booting device provided to us by Feld & Volk and come to the same conclusion.




iPhone 6 (left) and iPhone 5s (right) shown booting to recovery mode. Letterboxing on iPhone 6 visible below Lightning cable.


The method relies on the fact that the "Connect to iTunes" image does not completely fill the display on the iPhone 6, with the Lightning cable ending above the bottom edge of the screen whereas on current iPhones it extends all the way to the edge. Assuming this "letterboxing" is due to the image not being optimized for the larger iPhone 6 display, it would correspond to the image filling an area equivalent to a 4-inch screen centered on the device's 4.7-inch display.



This would account for the margin of black seen between the cable and the bottom of the display, and measuring the ratio of the space (plus a presumed equal one at the top) to the overall display size should yield an approximation of how much larger the viewable area is in points on the iPhone 6.




4.7-inch iPhone 6 display showing apparent letterboxed areas (red) with image optimized for 4-inch display (blue)

(Click for larger)


By our calculations, the border areas not covered by the image together suggest that the iPhone 6 display carries approximately 17.5% more points in the vertical dimension than a current 4-inch display. This would move the current 568-point height of the iPhone 6 (1136 pixels at 2x Retina) to 667 points (1334 pixels assuming 2x Retina) on the iPhone 6.



Assuming the aspect ratio of the screen remains the same as in the iPhone 5s, which by all indications it does, this would mean a 667 x 375 point (1334 x 750 pixels Retina) display for the iPhone 6. Performing the calculation in the horizontal dimension is more difficult due to nature of the recovery mode image, with no portion of the visible graphics extending to the side edge of the overall image to determine how much letterboxing space is on the sides.



This analysis obviously addresses only the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 that Feld & Volk has acquired parts for. Gruber suggests the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 will likely contain a 2208 x 1242 display at a sharper 3x factor than the current 2x Retina. As pointed out by developer James Thomson and 9to5Mac , the current iOS 8 beta is indeed showing some behavior indicating a preference for displaying 3x images when available.