Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
Hitch: A report from a Taiwanese news source indicates that Apple (AAPL) will launch a phablet-sized iPhone, but won’t introduce the device until next year, MacRumors notes. The Chinese-language Industrial and Commercial Times says that Apple has developed a new iPhone with a 5.5-inch screen, dubbed the “iPhone Air.” However, the report notes that Apple’s supply chain partners have encountered trouble locating a battery thin enough to fit inside the new iPhone’s case. The larger iPhone is said to be “very thin” and requires a battery that is no more than two millimeters thick. Due to the issue with the battery, the report indicates that Apple won’t release the 5.5-inch iPhone until 2015. Rumors over the past several months have indicated that Apple would released two iPhones later this year, one with a 4.7-inch screen and the other with a 5.5-inch screen. In recent weeks, a growing number of reports have suggested that Apple would delay the launch of the larger iPhone due to manufacturing issues. Despite the anticipated delays, most analysts expect the larger iPhone to launch before the end of this year.
Insurance: Emails and letters exchanged between Google (GOOG) and Samsung executives reveal that Google said it would cover a portion of Samsung’s patent infringement litigation expenses, if the South Korean electronics giant loses to Apple in court, the San Jose Mercury News notes. The correspondence was introduced by Apple as evidence during the current patent violation trial in a California federal court on Tuesday. The agreement covers two of the five patents Apple claims Samsung violated. Samsung has argued that the patents were actually infringed on by Google through its Android operating system. The emails, however, are intended to show that Google and Samsung cooperated to target Apple. Closing arguments in the case are expected to begin on Monday. Apple is demanding $2.2 billion in damages, which Samsung has called a “gross exaggeration.” Apple won almost $1 billion in damages in an earlier patent infringement case against Samsung in California.
Security: Apple has issued a software update meant to patch a vulnerability in recent AirPort products, MacWorld notes. The patch, intended for AirPort devices that were released in 2013, eliminates that so-called Heartbleed flaw in OpenSSL software. Heartbleed was discovered by software experts just weeks ago after going undetected for two years. Computer hardware and software makers have scrambled to fix the flaw, which affects a majority of Internet-connected servers and websites. The flaw could allow hackers to read encrypted data, potentially accessing critical user data, including passwords. Apple said earlier this month that its iOS, OS X and web services do not use OpenSSL software and thus were not affected by Heartbleed. The patch indicates that recent 802.11ac-enabled AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations — introduced in June 2013 — are potentially vulnerable to Heartbleed. Apple notes that older AirPort devices are not affected by the flaw and do not require the patch.
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
