Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
Coming Attractions: Apple (AAPL) will launch a larger screen iPad during the second half of next year and a much-anticipated smartwatch during the second quarter, DigiTimes notes. The iPad-maker has placed manufacturing orders for its 12.9-inch iPad — which will be aimed education and enterprise buyers — with Quanta Computer. Production volumes of the bigger iPad will be limited compared to its existing iPad and iPad Mini lines. Apple has been rumored to be testing a bigger iPad for some months. Other tablet manufacturers, including Samsung, are also reportedly developing bigger screen tablets. Apple had originally planned to launch the iWatch during the first quarter, but has delayed the smartwatch’s debut until the second quarter after its supply chain partners encountered low production yields during trial component production runs. Foxconn and Quanta will both manufacture the iWatch, though Apple hasn’t decided how the orders will be divided between the two manufacturers. Apple has been rumored to be working on a smartwatch for months and has reportedly assembled a team of 100 designers and engineers to complete the device. In October, Samsung launched its own Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
Confirmed: Apple says that it has acquired the maker of 3D motion sensing technology, Reuters notes. The iPad-maker announced on Monday that it had purchased Israel-based PrimeSense, which developed the technology used in the Kinect sensor for Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox gaming console. Apple did not reveal the terms of the acquisition, but Israeli news outlets indicate that Apple paid about $350 million for the company. Reports surfaced earlier this year that Apple was in talks with PrimeSense about a possible deal. Last week, an Israeli media outlet reported that a deal was all-but-done for about $345 million.
Lead Style: Apple head designer Sir Jony Ive is dyslexic, just like the iPhone-maker’s late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs, the Telegraph notes. Ive, who has a long-standing love of fast cars, was almost killed when he was involved in an accident outside San Francisco while driving his Aston Martin DB9. He later bought a Bentley after a replacement Aston Martin caught fire in his driveway. Ive is known for making devices that invite users to touch them. He leads a team of about 20 designers at Apple that hasn’t changed very much since the late 1990s.
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
