Apple

Apple has updated MacBook Air with all-day battery life, fourth-generation Intel Core processors with faster graphics, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and flash storage that is up to 45 percent faster than the previous generation. The 11-inch models feature double the storage of the previous model, and 13-inch models now start at a new lower price of $1,099. “MacBook Air is the industry leader for thin and light notebooks, and now with longer battery life, we’ve set the bar even higher,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With faster flash, more powerful graphics and up to 12 hours of battery life, the new MacBook Air packs even more performance into the portable and durable design our customers love.” Apple also introduced completely redesigned AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations featuring 802.11ac Wi-Fi for up to three times faster performance than the previous generation.

Apple has released a developer preview of OS X Mavericks, the 10th major release of the Mac operating system. With more than 200 new features, OS X Mavericks brings Maps and iBooks to the Mac, introduces Finder Tags and Tabs, enhances multi-display support for power users, delivers new core technologies for breakthrough power efficiency and performance, and includes an all-new version of Safari. The preview release of OS X Mavericks is available to Mac Developer Program members starting Monday, and Mac users will be able to download Mavericks from the Mac App Store this fall.

Announced today by Apple, iTunes Radio is a free Internet radio service featuring over 200 stations and an incredible catalog of music from the iTunes Store. When you tune into iTunes Radio on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, or Apple TV, you’ll have access to stations inspired by the music you already listen to, Featured Stations curated by Apple, and genre-focused stations that are personalized just for you. “It’s the music you love most and the music you’re going to love,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. Coming this fall, iTunes Radio is ad-supported and free for everyone, and iTunes Match users get iTunes Radio ad-free.

Apple today showed a sneak peek into the future of the pro desktop with a first look at the next-generation Mac Pro. It introduces a completely new pro desktop architecture and design that is optimized for performance inside and out. “With the latest Xeon processors, dual FirePro GPUs, ECC memory, PCIe-based flash and Thunderbolt 2, all built around a revolutionary thermal core, the next generation Mac Pro is the most radical Mac yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “All this performance and expandability is packed into a dramatic new design that’s one-eighth the volume, and best of all, it will be assembled here in the USA.” The next generation Mac Pro will be available later this year.

Apple today unveiled iOS 7, the most significant iOS update since the original iPhone. iOS 7 is completely redesigned with subtle motion, an elegant color palette, and distinct, functional layers that make it feel more alive. The typography has been refined for a cleaner, simpler look, and the use of translucency and motion makes even simple tasks more engaging. iOS 7 has hundreds of great new features, including Control Center, Notification Center, improved Multitasking, AirDrop, Safari, Siri, and much more. “With what we’ve been able to achieve together, we see iOS 7 as an exciting new beginning,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. The iOS 7 beta software and SDK are available immediately for iOS Developer Program members at developer.apple.com. iOS 7 will be available as a free software update for iPhone 4 and later, iPad 2 and later, iPad mini, and iPod touch (fifth generation) this fall.

Bechtel, a global engineering company based in San Francisco, is featured in a new video that highlights how it uses iPad in the field. In addition to built-in apps, Bechtel has created its own apps. One focuses on worker safety at hazardous work sites, and another lets engineers create, update, and share technical information from their device. “iPad removes what in the past has been a huge barrier for construction projects,” says Eli Walter, Bechtel’s engineering manager. “It allows innovation to get out of the office and into the field where it belongs.”

Apple has announced that global superstars including Justin Timberlake, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jack Johnson, and Jessie J are among the headliners at this year’s iTunes Festival in London. Running every night in September at the Roundhouse, the iTunes Festival features over 60 acts. Performances can be watched live or on-demand by millions of iOS users around the world on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, as well as by music fans with iTunes on their computer or in HD with Apple TV. “This year’s iTunes Festival is the best ever with an incredible lineup of global superstars and stellar emerging artists,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. Fans can win tickets to the iTunes Festival through competitions run by local media partners.

A new video features Mayo Clinic, which is using iPhone and iPad to transform how they care for patients. Practitioners say it’s helping patients and saving time. The clinic, known worldwide for its healthcare innovations, has developed a host of custom in-house apps, including one to give physicians instant access to patient records on an iOS device. Another app lets patients securely access their records and exchange messages with their providers. “For patients dealing with any health issue, information is power,” says Mayo’s Dr. Brad Leibovich. “The more we can empower them to understand what’s going on with them, the better they’ll feel and the better their outcomes will be.”

Apple has announced that customers have now downloaded over 50 billion apps from the App Store. The 50 billionth app — Say the Same Thing by Space Inch, LLC — was downloaded by Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio, who received a $10,000 App Store Gift Card to commemorate the milestone. “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years.”

A new video profiles Essa Academy, a once struggling school in one of the most disadvantaged areas of England. New principal Showkat Badat has reinvented the school as a hub of technology-assisted learning, and helped incorporate an ecosystem of Apple products, including iPad, Mac, and iTunes U, into the classrooms. The students’ excitement about the technology and direct access to information is reflected in dramatically improved test scores. Since adopting the technology, Essa went from a 28 percent pass rate to 100 percent. “I don’t see technology as an add-on, a nice option to have,” says Badat. “It’s what enables learning and creates an environment that sparks creativity.”

According to the latest Consumer Reports reader survey, Apple tops the list of brand-name computer manufacturers for the quality of its tech support, far surpassing other large companies. The report points to “ease of contacting staff, clarity of advice, technical knowledge, patience, and time for follow-up” in the phone and online support areas. Service at the Genius Bar rates equally highly. In addition, Apple improved on its own scores from last year’s survey.

Apple announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 10 through June 14 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. At the five-day conference, developers from around the world will learn about the future of iOS and OS X. WWDC will also feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by over 1,000 Apple engineers and hands-on labs to help developers integrate new technologies. And the popular Apple Design Awards will showcase the most outstanding apps available through the App Store and Mac App Store. Tickets for this year’s WWDC go on sale Thursday, April 25, at 10 a.m. PDT.

Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 second quarter ended March 30, 2013, posting revenue of $43.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $9.5 billion, or $10.09 per diluted share. During the quarter, Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones, compared to 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter. And it sold 19.5 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 11.8 million in 2012. “We are pleased to report record March quarter revenue thanks to continued strong performance of iPhone and iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software, and services, and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline.”

Bloomberg West profiles Ed Summers, who, as head of accessibility at international software company SAS, “has made it his mission to help other visually impaired people unlock the power of the iPad.” Summers is traveling around the United States to teach educators how to maximize the device’s built-in accessibility features in their classrooms. Bloomberg notes that tablets are growing in popularity among educators, and Summers says iPad is “opening up a whole world” for visually impaired students. “We’re working to make sure that students and professionals of all abilities can succeed in the classroom and the 21st-century knowledge economy,” Summers says.

Laptop Magazine has awarded Apple the top prize in its Best Brands feature for the fourth year in a row, placing first in five of the eight categories it measures. In addition, the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display took honors as the magazine’s top notebook of 2012, with editors praising the screen, performance, battery life, and design. Software and tech support were also highlighted. “Apple continues to epitomize the best of the best,” say the magazine’s editors.

Across the United States, teachers are using iPad and other tablets to reinvent the presentation and management of educational material. According to a report in Wired magazine, “tablets’ simplicity, ease of use and the massive range of academically minded applications available are drawing teachers and educational technologists to the platform in droves.” iPad is leading this charge, as “the most popular tablet among educators,” and “Apple’s iTunes U is one tool making iPad-based course integration easier by helping teachers create and curate a wholly digital curriculum.”

Apple has announced the launch of the iBookstore in Japan. The iBookstore has a wide selection of emerging and established authors, including Shyotaro Ikenami, Jiro Akagawa, Atsuko Asano, and Ryu Murakami. “We’re excited to launch the iBookstore in Japan with a wide selection of Japanese publishers and authors,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We think customers are going to love how engaging and interactive the books are to read, and how beautiful they look on iPad.”

With an eye toward helping students navigate the digital world, Burlington High School outside Boston adopted the iPad one-to-one program, which provides every student with an iPad. In its first year, the program has already made a big difference — students say they’re more excited and organized than in previous years, and teachers say they see a deeper level of learning. “Having a say in your education is really powerful,” says one student. “With iPad, you feel like you’re more in charge.”

Apple announced that iTunes U has reached a new milestone — over one billion content downloads. iTunes U features the world’s largest online catalog of free educational content from top schools and prominent libraries, museums, and organizations. Educators are using this content to create courses that include lectures, assignments, books, quizzes, and more for iOS users around the world. “It’s inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “With the incredible content offered on iTunes U, students can learn like never before ― there are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn.”

In its annual rankings, Fortune magazine has named Apple the world’s most admired company for the sixth year in a row. Fortune calls Apple “a financial juggernaut,” citing Apple’s $13 billion in net income last quarter — earnings that made it the most profitable company in the world during that period. The magazine also applauds Apple’s “fanatical customer base” and the unprecedented success of the iPhone and iPad product lines.