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Apple clears final hurdle to bring sapphire-manufacturing plant to Arizona
AZCentral is reporting that the Gilbert Public School Board voted to approve a tax break for Apple, thereby clearing the way for Apple to open up its planned sapphire-manufacturing plant in Mesa, Ariz. Under terms of the agreement, Apple will buy the land, pay all expenses needed to build out the factory and then lease it back to GT Advanced, which will oversee the manufacturing operation. The fate of the high-profile deal potentially worth hundreds of jobs seemed to hang in the balance, with the school district being the last of eight governing entities needed to approve a property reclassification that would entitle the premier tech company to a tax break. News of Apple's plans to build a sapphire-manufacturing plant, in conjunction with GT Advanced, first surfaced earlier this month. Apple currently uses sapphire to protect the camera lens on the iPhone along with the the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 5s. The scope of Apple's deal with GT Advanced, however, has led to many to wonder just what Apple might need all that extra sapphire for. As for specifics regarding the tax breaks afforded to Apple, AZ Central indicates that the Arizona Commerce Authority "offered a US$10 million grant and other incentives to Apple to bring a high-tech manufacturing plant" to Mesa. All told, Apple's foray into the sapphire-manufacturing business in Arizona will create an estimated 1,300 construction jobs along with 700 full-time manufacturing jobs.
Apple is planning to use a whole lot of sapphire, but for what?
Earlier this week, Apple announced its plans to open a new facility with GT Advanced to help manufacture sapphire. Apple, of course, currently uses sapphire for the camera lens on the iPhone and on the Touch ID sensor because the material is incredibly durable and scratch-resistant. Apple's agreement with GT Advanced, however, suggests that it has much bigger plans for sapphire than its current product lineup would otherwise suggest. AllThingsD reports: During a Monday earnings call, GT revealed a few bits of data that suggest it is rejiggering its entire business model around sapphire production. As Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White noted today, GT's sapphire business accounted for 11 percent of its year-to-date sales - about $28.9 million in revenue. But, in forecasting 2014 revenue, the company said it expects to make $600 million to $800 million, with 80 percent of those sales attributable to its sapphire business. Let's take a closer look at those numbers. GT's sapphire business brought in US$28.9 million in revenue in 2013. Looking ahead to 2014, GT Advanced notes that its sapphire business will bring in anywhere from $480 million to $640 million. That's an absolutely monumental increase in sapphire production and begs the question as to just what Apple plans to do with all that sapphire. Not to get too swept away by the rumor winds a'blowin, but some folks have suggested Apple may feature sapphire more prominently on the iPhone 6, perhaps using it for the full display. This of course would certainly reduce the incidence of cracked and broken screens. At the same time, sapphire is more expensive and heavier than glass so there is a trade-off. As a final point, it's worth pointing out this blurb from GT Advanced's press release: GT has accelerated the development of its next-generation, large-capacity ASF furnaces to deliver low-cost, high-volume manufacturing of sapphire material. These R&D efforts will support its non-LED initiative with its new customer and are expected to enable the expansion of GT's LED, industrial and specialty sapphire businesses by positioning GT and its equipment customers as the industry's lowest-cost sapphire producers. Accelerated development. Low cost. High volume. Let the speculation begin.
Daily Update for November 5, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Apple to build manufacturing facility in Arizona, create 2,000 jobs in the process
It's no secret that Apple's investing in stateside manufacturing, considering its jet engine-like Mac Pro is being assembled in the great state of Texas, but it looks like Cupertino is getting even more serious about building things in the US. Arizona has just announced that Cook and friends will be opening their latest manufacturing facility in Mesa. The center is expected to create at least 700 jobs in its first year, and another 1,300 spots for construction workers. There's no peep from either camp on what exactly the plant will churn out, but a company by the name of GT Advanced Technologies is talking. The outfit's revealed that it'll help Apple produce a sapphire material in the state. Since iPhone cameras and the Touch ID sensor each use sapphire glass, its likely the factory will be providing parts for those specific components. Update: Apple's given us a statement regarding its future digs in the Copper State, and it turns out the complex will be completely powered by renewable energy from the day it opens. Head past the break for the firm's note.
Vertu Ti now available in red or blue limited editions, only 1,000 of each made
The Vertu Ti Colours collection is wrapped in either "Sunset Red" or "Midnight Blue" calf leather, and only 1,000 units are made for each color.
Champions Online Exclusive: Rock out with Sapphire!
With Champions Online reaching its third anniversary this month, the team at Cryptic Studios is pulling out all the stops to make it one for the scrapbooks (because superheroes totally scrapbook and don't let anyone tell you differently). Starting next week, players can enjoy rewards such as legacy gear and vanity pets as well as an upcoming concert starring Sapphire. Don't get too complacent with the festivities, however, as rampaging robots will be trying to crash the party. These machines are part of Dr. Destroyer's army from 1992 and are building up to a full-on invasion of Millennium City later this month. Get a jump on the party with an exclusive listen to Sapphire's anniversary song and a sneak peek at a trio of new comic book-style loading screens that are coming soon to the title! %Gallery-164837%
First GHz Edition Radeon HD 7970 hits shelves, throws $699 wrench into AMD's pricing strategy
The GHz Edition was supposed to deliver a significant mid-cycle performance bump to AMD's flagship 7970, without any attendant rise in cost. Instead, according to AnandTech, it looks like third-party vendors are looking to exploit the GE has a chance to max out every other spec in addition to the updated silicon and then charge a premium. Sapphire's new Toxic card is a case in point -- a 6GB double-helping of VRAM and a "Lethal" BIOS mode that takes base clock up to 1150MHz and memory clock to 6.4GHz (compared to 6GHz on the stock card). Those who can splutter up $699 will surely love it, but it's no substitute for the $499 upgrade that AMD originally intended.
France's ANDRA developing a million-year hard drive, we hope our badly-written blogs live in perpetuity
Us humans have been quick to embrace digital technology for preserving our memories, but we've forgotten that most of our storage won't last for more than a few decades; when a hard drive loses its magnetism or an optical disc rots, it's useless. French nuclear waste manager ANDRA wants to make sure that at least some information can survive even if humanity itself is gone -- a million or more years, to be exact. By using two fused disk platters made from sapphire with data written in a microscope-readable platinum, the agency hopes to have drives that will keep humming along short of a catastrophe. The current technology wouldn't hold reams of data -- about 80,000 minuscule pages' worth on two platters -- but it could be vital for ANDRA, which wants to warn successive generations (and species) of radioactivity that might last for eons. Even if the institution mostly has that pragmatic purpose in mind, though, it's acutely aware of the archeological role these €25,000 ($30,598) drives could serve once leaders settle on the final languages and below-ground locations at an unspecified point in the considerably nearer future. We're just crossing our fingers that our archived internet rants can survive when the inevitable bloody war wipes out humanity and the apes take over. [Image credit: SKB]
Gresso's Grand Premiere: an Avantgarde phone with a behind-the-times OS and a $50,000 price tag
Whenever Gresso's not crafting expensive new threads for iDevices, the company makes its own featurephones from the finest materials mother nature has to offer. The new Grand Premiere is the latest from the company's Avantgarde collection and carries on this incongruous tradition. Its frame and keys are made from more than five ounces of 18-carat gold, with numbers and letters laser-etched on its sapphire crystal skin. We don't know the internals of the 12mm-thin candybar, but we do know it's running Symbian S40 and is probably packing anemic hardware like other Gressos we've seen -- you're paying for exclusivity and the shiny stuff, not benchmarking abilities, after all. Only 30 Grand Premiere's will be made at $50,000 pop, so all you conspicuous consumers with money to burn better move fast. Wouldn't want to be the only luddite at the yacht club without luxury handset, would you?
Superconducting sapphire wires are as cool as they sound
Copper wire's relatively cheap, pliable and can conduct electricity, but it's hardly ideal. Powering cities requires cables meters wide and the metal loses a lot of energy as heat. Fortunately, a team from Tel Aviv University thinks it's solved the problem. Borrowing a fiber of sapphire from the Oakridge National Lab in Tennessee, it developed a superconducting wire barely thicker than a human hair that conducts 40 times the electricity of its copper brethren. Cooled with liquid nitrogen, the sapphire superconductors carry current without heating up, which is key to their efficiency. The team is now working on practical applications of the technology -- because it's so small and pliable (unlike previous superconductors) it could replace copper in domestic settings and its cold efficiency makes it perfect to transmit power long distances from green energy stations. The wire's going on a world tour as we speak and will touch down at the ATSC conference in Baltimore in October. Anyone who makes jokes about wires and Baltimore will be asked to leave, politely.
Champions Online celebrates two years
It's hard to believe that Champions Online is about to celebrate its second anniversary, but it's true: Cryptic Studios just sent out the invitations to the game's anniversary party! On Thursday, September 1st, our favorite super-heroine Sapphire takes center stage at the Renaissance Center at 1 p.m. EDT to start the festivities. She'll perform her musical set once every hour until Monday, September 5th at 2:59 a.m. EDT. Between sets, the audio automaton DJ Madbot thumps his funky beats all night long. Look for party hosts all about the center for party favors, unlocks, and missions. The party doesn't end at the Ren Center, however: Each of the zone bosses drop anniversary gives as well. What are these party gifts you ask? Developers at Cyptic tell us that favors consist of the standard gift boxes, party bombs, and boosters, but new this year is the Noise Visualizer Device. This device sparks visual effects like "Pow!" and "Bam!" Plus, Cryptic continues giving gifts with DJ Madbot costume and Glitter Heroic Wear unlocks. The event is open to the whole Free-For-All community, so why not stop by? At least you can find out why it looks like that robot has a box for head and maybe get one for yourself.
Edge HD2 Mini PC is an HTPC that hides behind your TV
When it comes to home theater PCs, size matters -- and it doesn't get too much smaller than Sapphire's original Edge HD mini PC, pictured above. In fact, Sapphire saw no reason to fiddle with the Edge's diminutive form factor when designing the HD2, and instead poured itself into improving the HTPC's specs. Not only is the updated mini-rig small enough to mount behind your HDTV, but it also packs a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Atom, 2GB RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. All this (and 1080p VGA / HDMI out, of course) at 30W, "20 times less power than a typical desktop PC," according to Sapphire. No word on price (or pics, for that matter), but feel free to jump past the break for an official press release with full specifications.
Vertu Signature Precious is awash in sea of sapphire...and regret (video)
It may not feature GPS, an accelerometer, or even a camera, but if you've run out of disposable items to encrust with jewels, then Vertu's Precious -- the latest revision to its aging Signature lineup -- may be the mobile phone for you. While its basic array of quadband GSM, 2100 / 850 MHz 3G, Bluetooth and WiFi may seem a touch modest, varieties come slathered in platinum, three types of gold (yellow, white and red), leather, ceramic, and enough jewels to make Her Majesty blush. Its face, known as the "sea of sapphire," is mostly obscured (save for the OLED display), but you high rollers can take comfort knowing it spent more than two weeks in a 2000°C oven to appease your discerning taste. Also hidden are 4.75 carats of ruby bearings, which are said to give the keys a frictionless, satisfying click. The ring tones are exclusive compositions by Dario Marianelli and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra -- though we were bigger fans before they sold out. For a quick glimpse of how the Precious comes together gem by gem, just follow the break. There's no word on pricing or availability, but if you're considering putting up your first born as collateral, you might want to reconsider this cringe-worthy creation. [Thanks, Radi]
Custom Droid X ROMs starting to break loose, eFuse be damned
Despite Motorola's best intentions to the contrary, the Droid X has been making steady progress toward viable custom ROMs, first with root access, then with a recovery method... and now, at long last, we're starting to get the first few glimpses at legit cooked firmware. The two options we're seeing so far are Sapphire -- originally designed for the Droid of old -- and a so-called "FlyX" ROM from longtime contributor Birdman. In both cases, the benefits of eschewing Motorola's standard builds are pretty obvious: you get Froyo, root, and a host of apps and capabilities preferred by the superuser crowd like surcharge-free mobile hotspot access. The process is a little involved to get these bad boys installed at this point, but with time, we're willing to bet it becomes a pretty painless endeavor. Follow the break for a quick video of Sapphire booting into stock Froyo on the X -- a tantalizing sight, indeed. [Thanks, Clift]
Gresso's Las Vegas Jackpot phone costs a million dollars, seriously
When you make it your business to deliver outlandish new looks for mobile telephony, it can sometimes be a challenge to just outdo your last effort. So Gresso's decided the only way forward is to collect all the fine materials it had lying around -- black diamonds, pure gold, diamond-cut sapphire crystals, and 200-year old African Blackwood -- sprinkle them atop an otherwise nondescript featurephone, and slap on the spectacular price tag of $1,000,000. Only three Jackpots are being made, while there'll be a Las Vegas handset without the black diamonds and sapphires for the more mundanely rich among us, priced at $20,000. Oh Gresso, just one tip: next time, try to align your earpiece to your fancy designs, we hear wealthy folks appreciate some attention to detail.
Cyanogen squeezes Android 2.2 Froyo into G1, MyTouch 3G
Earlier this evening, we took the plunge -- now, we're rocking Froyo on our formerly old-and-busted T-Mobile G1. That's because Cyanogen's team of ROM hackers has come through once again for the little handset that could, serving early adopters with HTC Dream and Magic phones (as well as the Nexus One) with the first fully-functioning, stable build of CyanogenMod 6. Based on Google's famous frozen yogurt, the release candidate's got more fabulous tweaks than you can shake a stick at, but sadly doesn't seem to include Flash 10.1, and though WiFi and the camera are working great (as well as SurfaceFlinger and Chrome to Phone) many would-be shoppers in the Android Market are finding themselves faced with the dreaded force close. As usual, you'll find instructions at the source link if you understand the risks -- if you're not careful, you can easily brick your phone. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
MB&F HM4 Thunderbolt considers legible time 'a fringe benefit' (video)
This isn't just a watch, it's a horological machine. The HM4 Thunderbolt, recently unveiled by designer Maximilian Busser, represents an intriguing mixture of high-grade materials, precision engineering, and outlandishly macho design. The case is composed of titanium and sapphire -- which collectively take over 200 hours of machining and finishing to achieve the desired aerodynamic look -- while ensconced within it are over 300 parts composing a "transcendental" engine. We can't say we're not attracted by the bullet-shaped dials offering us our time with a side order of superfly, but then the $158,000 price tag ensures that we won't be able to do something foolish like buying one for ourselves. See the HM4 on video after the break.
Sapphire makes multi-monitor 3D gaming a reality with a single video card
Multi-monitor gaming is hardly uncommon these days, but 3D gaming on the PC is, well, decidedly less common. Perhaps it will be the merging of the two immersive approaches that finally gets 3D going on the PC, and Sapphire is showing that it's possible. A single ATI-based Sapphire graphics card with Eyefinity support powered these three Zalman Trimon 3D displays, which use simple (and cheap) polarized glasses to make those boomers in Left4Dead really pop. No word on the overall cost of the system, but we'd hazard a guess it wouldn't be significantly higher than a triple-monitor setup woefully stuck in just two dimensions.
Cyanogen 5.0.7 experimentally brings Eclair to G1, myTouch 3G -- caveats apply
After a brief delay, looks like CyanogenMod 5 is now out for the HTC Dream, Magic and Sapphire, also known as the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G. The release is labeled as experimental, so take care not to flash it onto your work phone, and G1 owners should back up their data as they'll need to install a little something called the DangerSPL (which has phone bricking potential) and perform a full wipe. If you're the kind of individual who doesn't shy away from software explicitly labeled "danger," get cracking on that rooted Eclair at the source link. Update: Can't get through? That's because the sheer willpower of Android early adopters is crushing websites hosting the CM5 ROM like so many stale pretzels. Cyanogen is retweeting alternative options if you simply can't wait for things to quiet down.
Customer greeted with malware on Vodafone-issued HTC Magic (good thing it's discontinued)
Crapware's bad enough, but having your life torn asunder simply by plugging in that shiny new (insert USB-connected device here) is an exciting new trend -- viruses find their way into the darnedest places, don't they? It seems an employee at anti-malware firm Panda Research who'd ordered a new Magic off Vodafone UK's site was greeted with no fewer than three nefarious executables upon plugging the device into her PC: a bot client, a password stealer, and a Conficker variant, and running a network sniffer quickly confirmed that the virii were live and ready to do harm as soon as the autorun in the Magic's mounted mass storage was executed on her Windows machine. If this were a widespread issue, we'd certainly have heard about it in other places, so odds are good (as Panda points out) that this was simply a case of HTC or Vodafone doing an awful job of wiping a refurbished set -- but it gives you pause and kind of makes you wish you worked for an anti-malware firm, at least on days when you're plugging in a new phone for the first time. The silver lining, we suppose, is that Vodafone has recently discontinued the Magic, though that creates another problem: the only Android device it currently stocks now is the lowly Tattoo, so the X10 and Nexus One can't come soon enough.
