Hasta La Gadget!

Apple CEO Tim Cook promised a 2012 to remember, and with sweeping changes across the iOS and Mac ranges, new software and services, and more than a few courtroom battles, the Cupertino firm delivered. The new fourth-gen iPad with Retina display and its iPad mini sibling, along with the iPhone 5, cemented Apple‘s position as the benchmark against which new tablets and phones are measured. Yet it wasn’t all smooth sailing, and the past twelve months saw Apple forced to wake up to a new position in the consumer electronics marketplace.

The iPad’s share of the tablet segment has been jostled by capable entrants from Android vendors, but Apple’s slate remains the go-to model, and the breadth of tablet-specific software in the App Store continues to put Google’s Play market to shame. Apple in fact managed two full-sized iPads in 2012, the third-gen debuting Retina technology on a tablet back in March, and then promptly replacing it with the fourth-gen iPad in November.

After Steve Jobs’ oft-repeated comments about “tweener” tablets, however, it’s the iPad mini which caught the imagination this year. Apple needed to take a new approach, given the founder’s very public criticisms of the form-factor, and it did that with a combination of slick design along with a little compromise. Waifishly thin, the iPad mini gets us closest to the Star Trek fantasy of a futuristic PADD computer to-date, but by borrowing the core specifications of the original iPad’s display, Apple ensured compatibility with all of the tablet software already in the App Store. Undercutting the full-sized iPad in price – which has evolved into something of an iPad “pro” for power users – and having no shortage of software has seen the iPad mini instantly carve a niche in a segment Apple was late to.

Check out our iPad mini review for all the details

On the topic of lateness, Apple eschewed its yearly refresh cycle by pushing the iPhone 5 back until mid-September, rather than the mid-summer launch of previous models. Adopting 4G LTE for the first time, and dropping the glass body of the previous two generations in favor of more resilient aluminum, the biggest change for the iPhone 5 was an increase in screen size: stepping up to 4-inches from the 3.5-inch panels of all previous models. The elongated iPhone looked a little stretched at first glance, but Apple made a convincing argument that a longer device of the same width made one-handed navigation just as easy as before, while developers would have less work to do getting their apps up to speed.

Apple’s decisions around its Mac range have been more controversial. In portables, the new MacBook Pro with Retina followed the slick displays of the iPhone and iPad with a high-resolution panel first for the 15-inch (in June) and then the 13-inch (in October). A trimming of the unibody form-factor for the first time in some generations, meanwhile, made both thinner and lighter, prompting some split-decisions for potential MacBook Air buyers suddenly faced with the new 13-inch Pro.

Thin was in for the iMac, too, with the all-in-one going on a diet thanks to some visual sleight of hand and condensed internals. No Retina display – such large-scale panels likely being in short supply and at too great a price premium right now – but still space for the Fusion Drive, a combined traditional hard-drive and chunk of flash storage for a relatively affordable balance of cost, capacity, and speed.

Check out our iMac 2012 review for all the details

With slimmer form-factors, however, has come reduced flexibility in user repairs and upgrades: of the new-design iMacs and MacBooks, only the largest iMac supports memory upgrades. None of them are amenable to storage upgrades, and even if you do manage to crack open the chassis without damaging it along the way, non-standard flash storage and other components reduce the potential for easy updates. That decision hasn’t apparently dampened consumer spirits, but the impact may well not be seen until a few years into the life-cycle.

Meanwhile, Apple’s computing behemoth, the Mac Pro, remains largely untouched, prompting concerns by pro-users that the company intends to either “consumerize” the desktop or, worse still, phase it out altogether in favor of higher-spec iMacs. A minor processor bump in June also saw maximum memory support doubled, but Thunderbolt is conspicuous by its absence, as is USB 3.0. Exactly what the upgrade path for Mac Pro users is today is unclear.

The controversy didn’t end with hardware. iOS 6.0 launched alongside the iPhone 5, running into mixed opinions as to whether the platform’s consistency with the very first generation OS was admirable consistency or a sign that things were getting stale at Cupertino. Any real conversation on that front was squeezed out by Apple Maps, however, a new service to replace the ousted Google Maps and one which quickly met with derision.

Out-of-date business data, misplaced locations, nonsensical directions, and a complete lack of public transportation assistance quickly soured initial positivity about the new interface, turn-by-turn driving directions, and 3D “Flyover” graphics. Apple was even forced to publicly apologize, a mea-culpa from Tim Cook quietly followed by the resignation of Maps chief Scott Forstall. Server-side polish continues, but a standalone Google Maps for iOS app almost instantly shot to the top of the App Store free downloads chart when released in December.

Apple’s move to narrow the gap between desktop and mobile continued with the release of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8, hitting new Macs and old in late June. Borrowing features like Notification Center from iOS, and fettling the UI to be more similar – and, some criticized, more simplistic and at the cost of easily-accessible advanced features – to what iPad and iPhone users might be familiar with, it nonetheless became Apple’s most successful Mac OS release to-date, with 3m downloads in the first four days.

2012 wasn’t all business-as-usual for Apple, however, despite a product range that for the most part has been successful. The first full year without any input from Steve Jobs, after his death in late 2011, has seen Tim Cook and Co. face a more critical audience. It’s managed, for the most part, to adjust its position while putting a distinctive spin on each launch: following the smartphone industry with its progression to bigger displays, for instance, while opting for a panel aspect that still fits with one-handed use demands.

Still, where once the company might have been able to rely on brand, reputation, and some degree of Jobsian legacy to carry its decisions with sheer momentum alone, the Apple of 2012 and beyond has to adopt a more balanced position in the marketplace. That’s involved legal tussling with Samsung (among others) as the phone industry as a whole tries to get to grips with what’s generic functionality, what’s unique to a brand, and what’s legal homage. Meanwhile, the Apple-faithful – and Apple consumers in general, greater in number as the company’s sales increase – have become more vocal in their support and in their complaints.

That’s new territory for Apple, in recent years at least, but it’s arguably better for the brand and its products. Just as you might not trust your friends’ compliments about your new haircut, questioning their objectivity, so a groundswell of automatic applause every time you launch a product is a good way of losing sight of what the mainstream market thinks. Not so comfortable day to day – especially when the reaction to services like Apple Maps is so vitriolic – but better in the long term, and boding interesting times ahead for 2013.

You can keep up to speed with all the Apple news in our hub

Apple’s 2012 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

* Immigration reform, economic growth top Obama to-do list

* Energy, gun control round out second term priorities

* Obama wants immigration, gun measures in first year

By Mark Felsenthal

WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is pledging to focus in his second term on immigration reform, boosting economic growth through infrastructure repair and energy policies that nod to environmental protection.

The president is mired in a difficult fight with congressional Republicans to avoid sharp spending cuts and steep tax increases collectively referred to as the “fiscal cliff.” However, he still has a longer-term to-do list for his remaining four years in office, he said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that was broadcast on Sunday.

Obama, who won re-election in November after a campaign in which he succeeded in painting himself as a strong advocate for the middle class and those aspiring to join it, also promised in the interview to make a run at passing gun control legislation in the first year of his second term.

“Fixing our broken immigration system is a top priority,” he said. He renewed a pledge to introduce legislation in the first year of his second term to get it done.

Immigration reform is a sensitive subject for the president, who failed to fulfill his promise to revamp the system during his first term. Latino voters were a critical part of the coalition that helped get him re-elected, a fact that may soften political opposition from Republicans, who are eager to bolster their support with that demographic group.

Immigration reform supporters on the left believe that the 11 million undocumented foreigners in the United States should be allowed a path to work toward citizenship. But opponents believe that this approach would reward people who broke the law by coming to the United States illegally.

Republicans have sought stronger measures to keep illegal immigrants from entering the United States from Mexico. Advocates on both sides of the debate want to more effectively verify legal workers in an economy in which businesses want to hire non-U.S. workers ranging from low-paid farm hands to technology-savvy professionals.

While negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff have hogged the spotlight in the first weeks after the election, Obama said he wants to take steps to ensure the sluggish recovery gains steam.

Many observers had believed a persistently high level of unemployment would thwart Obama’s chances of winning a second term. The U.S. jobless rate peaked at 10 percent in 2009 after the harshest recession since the Great Depression but has been falling and dipped to 7.7 percent in November.

The president said rebuilding crumbling roads, bridges and schools could put people back to work and put the economy on a sounder footing. He said he would pair those steps – which would likely involve government spending – with deficit reduction measures to tame the nation’s budget deficit.

The president also said energy policy would be a leading emphasis. He said he would focus on how the country can produce more energy and export energy, while also dealing with environmental challenges. He did not specify how he would do that. The president’s effort to fight climate change with a broad emissions trading system failed during his first term.

When pressed, Obama added gun control to his list of priorities, reiterating his support for a ban on assault rifles and high capacity clips, as well as background checks.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Chuck Pagano walked onto the field Sunday waving to the fans and hugging his wife.

He left the field hugging everybody in sight – assistant coaches, Colts players, even Texans players and coaches – before dancing in the locker room.

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In celebration of the 50th anniversary of BBC’s “Dr. Who,” the Royal Mail is releasing collectible stamps featuring the show’s characters.

“It’s 50 years since a strange old man stepped out of a Police Box in a scrapyard down Totter’s Lane, and the most beloved and exciting television series in the universe began,” the promotional site for the stamps reads. “Since then, the Time Lord has had many faces and battled many foes, and his adventures look set to continue for years to come.”

The collection begins with the first doctor, William Hartnell, and celebrates each subsequent doctor, reaching the current one, Matt Smith.

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WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Sunday confirmed the head of the Federal Housing Administration in her position despite mounting losses from souring loans at the mortgage funding agency that some fear could eventually lead to a taxpayer bailout.

In a 69-24 vote, the Senate confirmed Carol Galante as an assistant secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Galante had been running the FHA in an acting capacity since July 2011.

The FHA, a key source of mortgage funding for first-time home buyers and those with modest incomes, backs $1.1 trillion in U.S. home mortgages. Last month it reported a projected shortfall of $16.3 billion due to souring loans that it insured during the housing market downturn during the past several years.

An independent audit suggested that the FHA would require taxpayer funding for the first time in its 78 years, though that won’t be decided until February when the Obama administration releases its budget.

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