Apple Inc. unveiled a faster, more powerful iPhone on Tuesday in its first major product event in years without Steve Jobs presiding.
New CEO Tim Cook led the show after Jobs, who has been battling health problems, resigned from the post in August.
Cook, wearing a navy blue button-down shirt and jeans, opened by calling his nearly 14-year tenure at Apple “the privilege of a lifetime.” Those in the audience clapped as he entered, but the reaction seemed more muted than what Jobs had recently received.
Cook said the latest iPhone, which came out in June 2010, sold more quickly than previous models, but the iPhone still has just 5 percent of the worldwide handset market.
Apple is hoping to grow that with a new model. The new iPhone 4S has an improved camera with a higher-resolution sensor. The processor is faster, which helps run smoother, more realistic action games. It’s also a “world phone,” which means that Verizon iPhones will be able to useable overseas, just as AT&T iPhones already are.
Apple is including a “personal assistant” application called Siri, which responds to spoken questions and commands such as “Do I need an umbrella today?” It’s an advanced version of speech-recognition apps found on other phones.
The new iPhone also comes with new mobile software, iOS 5, that includes such features as the ability to sync content wirelessly, without having to plug the device to a Mac or Windows machine.
IOS 5 will also be available on Oct. 12 for existing devices — the iPhone 4 and 3GS, both iPad models and later versions of the iPod Touch.
Apple said Oct. 12 will also mark the launch of its new iCloud service, which will store content such as music, documents, apps and photos on Apple’s servers and let people access them wirelessly on numerous devices.
Apple also touted the popularity of its products and unveiled a new line of iPods, including a Nano model with a multi-touch display that promises to be easier to navigate. Apple made no mention of its Classic model, which many people had speculated the company might discontinue.
The event took place in Apple’s Town Hall room, where the first iPod was launched a decade ago. Cook said Apple has sold more than 300 million iPods worldwide so far, including 45 million in the 12 months through June.
The iPhone came six years later and has gained millions of fans, thanks to its slick looks, high-resolution screen and intuitive software. There were 39 million iPhones sold in the first six months of this year.
Apple’s stock fell $11.76, or 3.1 percent, to $362.84 in afternoon trading Tuesday.
Google Inc. is blaming computer hackers in China for a high-tech ruse that broke into the personal Gmail accounts of several hundred people, including senior U.S. government officials, military personnel and political activists.
The breach announced Wednesday marks the second time in 17 months that Google has publicly identified China as the home base for a scheme aimed at hijacking information stored on Google’s vast network of computers.
This round of attacks isn’t believed to be tied to a more sophisticated assault originating from China in late 2009 and early last year. That intrusion went after some of Google’s trade secrets and triggered a high-profile battle with China’s Communist government over online censorship that has made it more difficult for the company to do business in the world’s most populous country.
The latest duplicity appeared to rely on so-called “phishing” scams and other underhanded behavior that hackers frequently use to obtain passwords from people and websites that aren’t vigilant about protecting the information.
Google credited its own security measures for detecting and disrupting the intrusions. All the victims have been notified and their Gmail accounts secured, according to the company. Mila Parkour, a security researcher who helped alert Google to the Gmail breach, said the attacks had been occurring for at least a year before they were finally uncovered.
“It was persistent and bold,” Mila Parkour said of the hacking scheme in a Wednesday email exchange with The Associated Press. Parkour first shared her suspicions about the breach in a Feb. 17 post on her Contagio blog.
Google wouldn’t say what parts of the U.S. government were targeted or whether any confidential information may have been contained in the trespassed Gmail accounts. Besides senior government officials, other people whose Gmail accounts were infiltrated included Chinese political activists, military personnel, journalists and officials in other countries, mainly in South Korea.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn’t shed any light in its statement on the attacks. “We are working with Google and our federal partners to review the matter, offer analysis of any malicious activity, and develop solutions to mitigate further risk,” agency spokesman Chris Ortman said.
Google traced the origin of the attacks to Jinan, China. That’s the home city of a military vocational school whose computers were linked to the assault more than a year ago on Google’s computer systems, along with those of more than 20 other U.S. companies.
That break-in prompted Google to move its Chinese-language search engine from mainland China last year so it wouldn’t have to censor content that the government didn’t want the general public to see. The search engine is now based in Hong Kong, which isn’t subject to Beijing’s censorship rules.
Before the shift, the tensions escalated amid reports that the Chinese government had at least an indirect hand in the 2009 and 2010 hacking attacks, a possibility that Google didn’t rule out.
This time around, the hackers appeared to rely on tactics commonly used to fool people into believing they are dealing with someone they know or a company that they trust. Once these “phishing” expeditions get the information needed to break into an email account, the access can be used to send messages that dupe other victims.
The culprits behind the Gmail breaches appeared to have specific targets in mind. That is known as “spear phishing” in high-tech circles.
Computer security specialist says spear phishing often provides the means for even broader attacks.
The Gmail attackers were intent on spying on inboxes, according to Google, but their ambitions beyond that were unclear.
Parkour said the hackers’ scam proved highly effective “because they used information from the emails for future phishing emails, often using information that would be known only to (the) victim — thus gaining more trust.” She said the ruse served as a reminder of the security weaknesses of Web-based email services such as Google’s.
Gmail has 221 million users worldwide, ranking it third behind the Microsoft Corp.’s Hotmail at 327 million and Yahoo Inc.’s webmail service at 277 million, according to the research firm comScore Inc.
Both Google and the Department of Homeland Security advised email users to take steps to protect their accounts. Google posted its safety tips on its blog, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/ensuring-your-information-is-safe.html
Apple says it will sell a new, smaller version of its Apple TV device for streaming movies and television shows over the Internet and into the living room.
The new Apple TV will only let people rent, not buy, content. For first-run high-definition movies the day they come out on DVD, people will have to pay $4.99. High-definition TV show rentals will be 99 cents.
Apple TV has been around since 2007, but it hasn’t caught on with the mainstream. It doesn’t record shows the way TiVo and other digital video recorders do.
At an event in San Francisco on Wednesday, Jobs says the current Apple TV setup is too complicated for average consumers.
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Mintz reported from Seattle.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs announced a new line of iPods on Wednesday, including a Nano model that has a touch screen and lacks buttons.
Like previous versions, the Nano has a built-in FM tuner and can display photos. But instead of buttons, controls for playing, pausing and selecting music are right on the screen. It will cost $149 for the 8 gigabyte version and $179 for 16 gigabytes.
In a refresh to the iPod Touch, Apple is adding video-chat features similar to the newest iPhone. It has a front-facing camera for conducting video chats with other iPod Touch and iPhone users over Wi-Fi using Apple’s FaceTime program. A camera on the back can be used for taking snapshots and recording video. Prices range from $229 to $399.
Jobs also introduced a new iPod Shuffle, the lowest-end music player in Apple’s line. Like the past generation, it can speak the names of playlists and songs. But unlike the most recent of the tiny music players, the new $49 device brings back the square shape and buttons of Apple’s second-generation Shuffle.
Apple, meanwhile, is adding social features to its iTunes software. Jobs said iTunes 10 brings new ways for people to learn what their friends are listening to. The feature, called Ping, is likely based on the technology Apple acquired with the purchase of Lala.com last year.
The Ping section in iTunes lets people “follow” friends, musicians and others, similar to the way Facebook and Twitter work. Ping builds custom top-10 lists based on what the people someone follows are listening to.
Earlier, Jobs also said iPhone users will be getting a software update that offers the ability to upload high-definition video over Wi-Fi. And when people take photos, the new software will save three slightly different copies that, when combined, make for a sharper image.
The new software is version 4.1 of the iOS system. It will be available next week for free, initially for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPod Touch.
The iPad currently runs an older version, though Jobs said an update coming in November will add such features as wireless printing to Apple’s tablet computer. Apple had been criticized for making a powerful device but hobbling it by not including any ports for USB devices such as printers or thumb drives.
Jobs appeared at a media event in a crew neck rather than his trademark mock turtleneck.
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Mintz reported from Seattle.
