The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple on Thursday that reveals a 3D eye-tracking-based interface that could be used for gaming, digital photography and videography in future iOS and iMac devices, reports PatentlyApple. The new features could work in conjunction with Apple’s current 3D head tracking and ambient light technologies. The solution would utilize a variety of sensors such as an accelerometer and compass in combination with eye-tracking technology to a...

In 2009, Tristan Schaap received the chance of a lifetime when he was offered an internship by Apple’s Platform Technologies Group. During his time interning with the company, Schaap was part of a team that was secretly attempting to port Mac OS X to the ARM architect, according to his Bachelor thesis published by Delft University of Technology. ARM-based chipsets are currently used in in Apple’s mobile devices while its computers use Intel processors. The thesis was originally embargoed due to t...

Apple certainly helped shape the mobile space by popularizing multitouch screens on smartphones and tablets, but can it do the same for desktop computing, too? The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published an Apple patent application that describes a desktop computer — likely the iMac — with a touchscreen display. Dell, HP and plenty of other firms have introduced all-in-one PCs with touchscreens, of course, but Apple’s invention may make some applications more intuitive. Read ...

Apple may be looking to incorporate support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi specification into the company’s products this year, according to a report from AppleInsider. The new standard offers three times the speed of the 802.11n standard, capable of achieving speeds of over 1 Gigabit per second. The Cupertino-based company is expected to “rapidly deploy support” of the new standard into AirPort base stations, Time Capsules, the Apple TV, notebooks and possibly mobile devices, according to the report...

When counting tablets as personal computers, Apple will soon overtake Hewlett-Packard as the world’s top PC vendor. Based on a Fortune poll of 42 analysts, iPad sales could hit the 14 million mark in the fourth quarter, a big bump over the 11.12 million sold in the third quarter. Apple previously sold 4.89 million Macs, with holiday sales estimated to exceed 5 million units. When combined, both iPad and Mac sales are expected to be over 20 million units during the holiday quarter, which would be enough ...

Apple, a company known for its secrecy, has released a list of its official suppliers for the first time ever. Due to backlash from human rights groups, Apple created a supplier responsibility page on the company’s website. Previously, the page only featured labor and human rights, worker health and safety, environmental impact, and general ethics information. The company has updated the page, however, and it now now includes a list of more than 150 different companies that supply parts for Apple p...

Apple may launch an iMac with integrated “TV capability” before it launches its own full-blown HDTV, Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair said Wednesday. Blair said Apple’s new iMacs, which could launch during the first half of 2012, will integrate several features that are currently found in the Apple TV set top box and create a “slimmer all-in-one PC with TV capabilities.” Blair doesn’t make any mention of the Siri voice engine, which Apple is expected to use in its HDTV to...

Details surrounding Apple’s Black Friday sale have reportedly been revealed and as has been the case in the past, the discounts afforded are minimal. 9to5Mac on Wednesday published what appear to be images of a pamphlet outlining all of the deals Apple has in store this coming Friday, November 25th. Sale items this year include the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac, all available for $101 off retail pricing. Discounts on Apple’s iPad 2 will range from $41 for the less expensive models to $61 for t...

A new rumor from DigiTimes suggests Apple will “overhaul” all of its products next year. The site’s sources specifically named the iPad, iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air as lines to receive significant refreshes, though each was upgraded to some extent this year. A slightly refreshed iPad 2, with a thinner design and better battery life could land as soon as March, while a brand new iPad 3 is rumored to make its debut during the third quarter of 2012. DigiTimes said a new iPhone and iMac will b...

Apple has quietly launched a new entry-level iMac that targets education. The new model features a 21.5-inch display like the current base iMac, but the specs are dialed down in order to push pricing to a slightly more attainable starting point. Highlights include a 3.1GHz Intel Core i3 dual-core processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB hard drive and an AMD Radeon HD 6750 GPU. Pricing starts at $999, 11% higher than the last iMac aimed at the education market, and the new model is available immediately to educati...

Apple’s OS X Lion was downloaded more than 1 million times during its first day of availability, Apple said on Thursday. The Cupertino-based company made the announcement just as Microsoft announced its earnings results for the fiscal fourth quarter — merely a coincidence, we’re sure. Presuming these were paid OS X purchases and upgrades, Apple grossed more than $30 million from Lion in just one day. “Lion is off to a great start, user reviews and industry reaction have been fantastic,” sa...

Apple news site MacRumors on Friday discovered images of a new LED Display on Apple’s website. While the OS X Lion wallpaper could have meant that these are simply new product shots as opposed to an updated model we’re looking at, the URL of the image features the recently revealed part number “MC914.” This part number corresponds with a number seen in a recent leak that identified multiple forthcoming refreshed Apple products. The new LED Display will be nearly identical to the curren...

Apple on Friday seeded the Gold Master build of its OS X 10.7 Lion operating system to developers. The build number is 11A511, and the download is available immediately on Apple’s developer site. Barring the discovery of any major issues, the Gold Master code is likely to be unchanged in the release version of Lion, which will launch to the public later this month. Apple announced recently that OS X Lion will be distributed via the Mac App Store rather than using physical media discs, and it will cost j...

Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf on Tuesday raised his estimates for iPad shipments in the fiscal third quarter and full year. Wolf now believes increased demand will boost third-quarter shipments from 7.5 million to 9 million units, and he thinks Apple will ship a whopping 30 million iPad 2 tablets in fiscal 2011. “While competitors have rushed to launch competing tablets, they have made an imperceptible dent in the trajectory of iPad sales,” the analyst wrote in his note. “They ...