Apple
met with video consultant and trainer Larry Jordan on the eve of the 2012 NAB show and shared some upcoming plans for Final Cut Pro X. The following features are expected in Final Cut Pro X in 2012:
- Multichannel Audio Editing Tools
- Dual Viewers
- MXF Plug-in Support
- RED camera support
Jordan goes into some light details about some of the new features. FCP X will be able to read MXF files directly without the need to convert to QuickTime. The same can be said for RED camera support whose files will be able to be edited natively. Finally, Apple explains that Dual Viewers is analogous to Source and Record monitors and that they will try to do it better than has been implemented in the previously.
While those are the only features officially announced, Apple indicated that they wouldn't be the only new features coming this year. Jordan also asked for hints about upcoming hardware, but Apple didn't provide any information.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference kicks off this week in Las Vegas. Apple has not held a major presence at the show in recent years, but did use the venue last year to
introduce Final Cut Pro X. Apple again appears to have a presence at the show and is at least meeting with some prominent figures. The NAB runs through April 19th.
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On
Friday, AT&T released a statement that they would now be offering SIM unlocks for iPhones that are no longer under contract. The process of SIM unlocking a phone allows it to use SIM cards from other carriers. This feature is frequently used during international travel to allow the use of mobile service from local carriers.
The Next Web detailed the basic steps required by AT&T.
The process is painless and only takes a few minutes in the chat. The only piece of information required by AT&T is the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, which can be found under Settings>General>About on your device.
Once you’ve completed the procedure, Apple pushes the unlock code during the next 72 hours to your email address, so the code comes from the mothership, not from AT&T. Once Apple completes the unlock request, a customer has to back-up and restore and tether the device to iTunes to complete the unlock process.
MacRumors readers shared their experiences on Sunday trying to unlock their out-of-contract iPhones in
our discussion thread on the topic. Responses from AT&T service representatives were mixed with some
seemingly unaware of the process.
Confirmation email from AT&T
Others had better luck, such as
Exegesis48, who was able to get his iPhone 3GS unlocked immediately.
I called AT&T Tech Support and was able to get my iPhone 3GS unlocked no problem. In fact, the representative waited on the line to ensure I received my unlock confirmation email, at which point he told me to backup and restore my phone to receive my unlock. I did this and was able to receive my unlock IMMEDIATELY.
Experiences may have improved over the day. Some early callers were
told the process would complete on April 16th, while others were told to simply wait 48-72 hours for the confirmation email.
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The Daily spoke with Five Star Institute's Mark Hulme who is producing the upcoming Steve Jobs film that is starring Ashton Kutcher. Hulme reports that Kutcher is "pouring himself" into the role and "believes the role was meant for him".
“He is already meeting with folks that knew Steve Jobs. He’s working with professionals to get inside the voice. He’s letting his hair grow out. I understand he’s canceled all meetings and actually canceled all other projects,”
The news of Kutcher in the role of Steve Jobs was
met with mixed reactions, but Hulme is confident in Kutcher's abilities as well as his personal interest in the role.
Steve Jobs (left) and Ashton Kutcher (right)
This film about Steve Jobs was reportedly in the works prior to Steve Jobs' death and before Walter Isaacson's Jobs biography was published. Sony purchased the rights to Isaacson's biography and is working on their own film about Steve Jobs.
Kutcher's film is set to start filming next month for release by Thanksgiving of this year. The focus will be on Steve Jobs' earlier life.
“We decided between 1971, the initial partnership of Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, is where we would start and then the bulk of the script remains in the early years of Apple and the recruiting of [former Apple CEO] John Sculley from Pepsi and then of course Jobs’ ousting and a smaller portion is his triumph and his return,” Hulme said.
Jobs' earlier life and early days at Apple have been previously covered in other films such as
Pirates of Silicon Valley.
Meanwhile, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak appears to be
happy with the decision to cast Kutcher:
The fear that many might have is that Ashton was selected because he's 'hot' right now. But I feel that his selection was done in the most professional manner. And I'm glad that he's onboard. I think he'll put a lot into it and that he cares about this particular subject.
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In Anandtech's
lengthy iPad review, they
reveal knowledge of an internal Apple project for a game controller for iOS:
I know of an internal Apple project to bring a physical controller to market, but whether or not it will ever see the light of day remains to be seen. As smartphones and tablets come close to equalling the performance of current game consoles, I feel like the controller problem must be addressed.
ION's
iCade Mobile shown at CES
Apple is not the first company to have considered such a device for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Several 3rd party companies have worked on similar devices over the years.
iControlPad was one of the first and is now shipping. Ion Audio's iCade followup (pictured above) also allows users to enclose their iOS device within a controller offering physical buttons and controls. Apple has
even applied for a patent on a similar design.
These 3rd party solutions however have generally been relegated to keyboard emulation over Bluetooth rather than full fledged dock-supporting accessories. In fact, we'd heard that Apple had originally supported these accessory makers in their quest to make official dock-connector game controllers, but then the approval process was mysteriously halted. Some had speculated at the time that Apple was working on their own game controller solution. We've heard little else about this, though Atari's recently announced
Arcade Joystick does now use the dock connector.
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Over the weekend, Apple informed developers that the company was increasing iAd payouts from 60% to 70% of revenue.
We have made the following changes to the Developer Advertising Services Agreement for the iAd Network, effective immediately.
- The revenue share for the iAd Network is now 70% to the Developer.
This move had been
previously predicted in February by
AdAge. While the 10% increase is expected to further entice developers to use the iAd service, AdAge reports it is also to compensate developers for decreasing ad revenue.
The extra money will compensate for lower ad rates and serve as added incentive for developers to build businesses on Apple devices, even though they may grab a bigger audience or more ad revenue creating apps for Google's Android devices, which now outnumber Apple smartphones in the U.S.
Apple has repeatedly cut the minimum advertising spend for iAds, and most recently has removed the per-click fees from ads, now relying on impressions alone, according to the original report.
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Digitimes claims that Apple will be ramping up production of the new 15" MacBook Pro in April, but with the new 13.3" model not ramping up until June:
As Apple will start mass producing its 15-inch MacBook Pro in April, sources from the upstream supply chain have pointed out that the company's orders for the 13.3-inch model are far higher than those of the 15-inch, indicating that Apple is more focused on the 13.3-inch notebook segment. However, the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro will not start mass production until June.
Digitimes also notes that the orders for the 13.3" MacBook Pro is "far higher" than those of the 15" model, though without a frame of reference for the typical mix of Apple notebook sales, it's hard to gauge the significance of this observation.
The April timing falls nicely with
reports of new Intel Ivy Bridge chips that would be suitable for use in the new MacBook Pros.
Digitimes, however, doesn't provide any explanation for the discrepancy in the production dates between the 13" and 15" models. It's seems possible that Intel CPU availability may have something to do with the timetable as it was reported the very low power Ivy Bridge CPUs also won't be ready until June. Apple has typically only used these low power CPUs in the MacBook Air line, but the MacBook Pro has been rumored to be adopting a thinner and more Air-like appearance.
Previous reports claimed that the new MacBook Pros will feature a thinner design without an optical drive. We've been hearing whispers about this kind of Macbook Air inspired design since
April of last year.
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Universal Studios (left) vs 20th Century Fox (right)
