iLounge

Apple’s education event, scheduled for tomorrow in New York City, will focus on broadening the education content available for the iPad, with an emphasis on the K-12 market, according to a new report. Citing two people with knowledge of the announcement, Bloomberg reports that Apple will announce a set of tools to make it easier to publish interactive textbooks and other digital educational content. In addition to making more content available, Apple also hopes to empower “self-publishers” to create new kinds of teaching tools, likely based on a modified version of the ePub standard. A report form earlier this week suggested that Apple would adopt the ePub 3 standard in such a tool, allowing for easier creation of interactive, multimedia-rich content.

Brookstone is now offering its iConvert Scanner for the iPad and iPad 2. The portable scanner works with a free companion app to enable high-resolution 300dpi scanning to JPEG format, with a real-time, on-screen previews, and a front feeder that’s adjustable from 2 to 8.5 inches to handle a wide variety of documents, from business cards to photos and full-page printouts. The iConvert Scanner for the iPad and iPad 2 is available now for pre-order and is expected to begin shipping in early February for $150. [via Dvice | Gizmodo]

According to the latest research from Nielsen, the launch of the iPhone 4S had an “enormous impact” on the percentage of new smartphone purchasers who bought an iPhone. Among recent acquirers—those who said they got a new device within the past three months—44.5 percent of those surveyed in December said they chose an iPhone, compared to just 25.1 percent in October. Interestingly, the same metric for Android buyers dropped over that same period, from 61.6 percent in October to 46.9 percent in December. In addition, 57 percent of new iPhone owners surveyed in December said the bought an iPhone 4S. Overall, 46 percent of U.S. mobile consumers had smartphones as of Q4 2011, with 60 percent of recent purchasers choosing a smartphone over a feature phone. [via Fortune]

This week’s featured photo is from our iPhones Around the World gallery, and shows a black iPhone 4 overlooking the Pacific Ocean from Nootka Island in British Columbia, Canada. To share your photos and to be considered for our Photo of the Week, you simply need to submit your own photo to one of our galleries. So get out there, take some pictures featuring your favorite iPod, iPad, or iPhone and maybe your submission will be our next Photo of the Week!

Apple plans to hold a special event in early February to debut the iPad 3, according to a new report. Citing an Asian supplier and a source in the U.S., Macotakara reports that Apple is prepared to hold a special event in early February, at which it will debut both the next-generation iPad as well as iOS 5.1, which is currently in developer beta testing. The report claims that due to the Chinese New Year, the next iPad would not be released until early March, leaving a month-long gap between the product’s announcement and its release; last year, Apple debuted the iPad 2 on March 2nd, then released the device to stores on March 11, making for a debut-to-release gap of only nine days. [via BGR]

Incase has debuted its new Thermo Snap Case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. As the name suggests, the Thermo Snap Case features a snap-on design, and a heat-activated finish that shows your finger/hand prints when you pick it up, until the material cools down again. Other features include hardshell construction, an included viewing stand, and open access to all ports, controls, and cameras. Incase’s Thermo Snap Case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S is available now in pink and sells for $35.

Cocoa Box Design has released an update to Penultimate adding integration with Dropbox and Evernote as well as support for opening Penultimate notebooks in other iPad applications. With Penultimate 3.3 users can now send specific notebooks and individual pages directly to their Dropbox account or enable an automatic backup feature to ensure that all Penultimate notebooks are backed up to Dropbox. Users can also open Penultimate files directly from their Dropbox. Evernote integration in the latest version allows users to easily send notebooks and notes to their Evernote account where handwritten notes can be full-text indexed by Evernote’s advanced image search algorithms. The latest update also adds the ability to send Penultimate notebooks and pages to other supported iPad applications and copy and paste images and ink between Penultimate and other iPad applications. Penultimate 3.3 is available from the App Store for $1.

Apple has been working with McGraw-Hill and potentially other publishers on a digital interactive textbook initiative that it is expected to launch at its special event on Thursday, according to a new report. Citing a person familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports that McGraw-Hill has been working with Apple on the announcement since June, and may have been joined in participation by Pearson and Houghton Mifflin. Cengage Learning, a leader in higher-education textbooks, has partnered with Apple in the past and will also be attending the event. “Apple today clearly has a strong position in hardware, and companies like Cengage Learning have a very strong position on the content side,” said Bill Rieders, Cengage executive vice president of global strategy and business development. “To the extent there’s a combination there, that could be exciting.”

In a separate report, Ars Technica also suggests that Apple is working on digital textbooks, but instead suggests that Apple will announce support for the more robust ePub 3 standard in iBooks moving forward, as well as a new tool for creating ePub 3- compliant e-books. Referring to the tool as “GarageBand for e-books”, the report cites former Apple education employee and current CEO of digital textbook house Inkling Matt MacInnis as expecting such a tool. “That’s what we believe you’re about to see,” MacInnis told Ars, a statement that was agreeable to the report’s other sources. “Publishing something to ePub is very similar to publishing web content. Remember iWeb? That iWeb code didn’t just get flushed down the toilet—I think you’ll see some of [that code] repurposed.” Late Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs was known to have been involved with the initiative, and according to the report worked on this project for several years.

Expanding the ongoing legal battle between the two companies, Apple has filed another suit against Samsung in Germany. According to a Bloomberg report, Apple is seeking to ban sales of 10 Samsung smartphone models, including the Galaxy S Plus and the Galaxy S II. The suit was filed in the Dusseldorf Regional Court and is based on Apple design rights in Europe, court spokesman Peter Schuetz said, adding that Apple has also started a separate suit against five Samsung tablet models related to a September ruling banning the Galaxy Tab 10.1. The two companies are currently involved in a number of suits against one another worldwide.

Apple has officially launched its iTunes Match online music service in the Netherlands. Launched in the U.S. in November, iTunes Match is a $25/year service that matches tracks in a user’s iTunes library with tracks stored on the company’s iTunes Store servers, uploading any tracks it can’t match, and offering users full access to all their music — up to 25,000 tracks — from any of their devices. As noted by Mac Rumors, Dutch collecting society Buma/Stemra announced last week that it had reached a deal with Apple for iTunes Match; links to the service have yet to appear on the Dutch iTunes Store, but Apple has updated its terms and conditions with new text covering the service, and the direct link to the iTunes Match page is now working.

Update: According to AppleInsider, iTunes Match has also launched in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Latvia, Lithuania, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.

According to a new report from IDG Connect, the iPad is replacing laptops for over 10% business users. The global survey finds that the iPad has completely replaced the laptops of 16 percent of IT and business professionals worldwide, and has partly replaced the laptop for another 54 percent. 91 percent of IT decision-makers said they use their work at least on a partial basis, while 79 percent said they “always” use their iPads “on the move”. Not surprisingly, web browsing is the most popular activity performed by professionals on the device, with 79 percent saying they “always” use their iPad for that task, followed by reading with 76 percent, news consumption with 73 percent, work communication with 54 percent, and social media with 44 percent.

An administrative law judge with the International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued an initial ruling in Apple’s patent suit against Motorola, ruling that the latter did not violate Apple’s patents. Ars Technica reports that Motorola was ruled to have not infringed any of the three smartphone-related patents upon which Apple built its case; however, the ruling is still subject to review by a six-person ITC panel. Apple and Motorola have been involved in a series of lawsuits against one other since October 2010, when Motorola Mobility filed a series of suits against Apple, leading to a countersuit from the Mac-maker; Google acquired Motorola Mobility last August, complicating the various disputes.

Among the usual plethora of cases, speakers, earphones and other accessories, we also occasionally see a few products that are a bit unique in their design or approach. Below we’ve highlighted some of the most interesting of these products that we’ve seen.

Sound Egg Chair: Designed with an eclectic look that may remind some of Mork from the classic seventies sitcom, the Sound Egg Chair provides a 5.1 channel surround sound system built into an enclosed, egg-shaped chair.  A swivel arm provides a mounting point for a TV screen and ports on the back provide for audio input from an external amp. A variety of colors and interiors are available, and the Sound Egg Chair price ranges from $1,400 for a base model to $3,000 for a fully-loaded model with leather interior and included HDTV.

i-Dice Speakers: Vaguely reminiscent of the fuzzy dice you might find in a car windshield, the i-Dice speakers provide a dock for an iPhone, iPod or iPad and are available in black, white and red versions.

3DLuxe’s Cases go beyond the usual 2D designs, incorporating raised relief 3D embossed artwork.

The Crystal Pirate optical mouse from Pat Says Now is joined by a variety of other unique and eclectic optical mouse designs.

TekChick Designs turns computer parts into jewelry and fashion accessories, recycling old Mac keyboard keys, RAM chips, and other appropriate into earrings. While the designs may not be for everyone, it’s an interesting idea and a good use for components that might otherwise end up in a landfill somewhere.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has just confirmed a staggering statistic: after selling out its entire original footprint last year in two hours—eventually leading to an even larger, 85,000-square foot space—the 2013 iLounge Pavilion just sold over 95,000 square feet of exhibit space in three hours. According to CEA, demand for additional space is at an all-time high.

This year’s Pavilion, which featured over 350 exhibitors, reportedly benefitted from exceedingly strong CES attendance of more than 153,000 people—conservatively measured prior to an official final number—which, if accurate, would represent an all-time attendance high for the world’s largest consumer technology trade show. Designed as a dedicated area for Apple’s iPad, iPhone, iPod, and Mac products, the iLounge Pavilion has been receiving rave reports from exhibitors. Thousands of new products were shown inside the Pavilion, top picks from which were spotlighted in iLounge’s 2012 Best of Show Awards.

Apple today released its 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report (PDF Link) as part of its ongoing efforts to provide acceptable working conditions for those that are involved in building its products. The report itself includes data from 221 audits of Apple’s overseas suppliers, and was accompanied by a list of 156 suppliers (PDF Link) that represent 97 percent of the company’s supply chain, the first time the company has offered such as list. In addition, Apple joined the Fair Labor Association (FLA) as a Participating Member. According to a FLA press release, the group will “independently assess facilities in Apple’s supply chain and report detailed findings on the FLA website”; Apple is the first technology company to join the Association as a Participating Company. In an email to his employees that was subsequently published by French-language MacGeneration, CEO Tim Cook discussed the moves:

“Team,

We’ve just released our sixth annual update on conditions in Apple’s supply chain, and I want to personally share some of the results with you.

We insist that our manufacturing partners follow Apple’s strict code of conduct, and to make sure they do, the Supplier Responsibility team led more than 200 audits at facilities throughout our supply chain last year. These audits make sure that working conditions are safe and just, and if a manufacturer won’t live up to our standards, we stop working with them.

Thanks to our supplier responsibility program, we’ve seen dramatic improvements in hiring practices by our suppliers. To prevent the use of underage labor, our team interviews workers, checks employment records and audits the age verification systems our suppliers use. These efforts have been very successful and, as a result, cases of underage labor were down sharply from last year. We found no underage workers at our final assembly suppliers, and we will not rest until the number is zero everywhere.

We’ve also used our influence to substantially improve living conditions for the people who make our products. Apple set a new standard for suppliers who offer employee housing, to ensure that dormitories are comfortable and safe. To meet our requirements, many suppliers have renovated their dorms or built new ones altogether.

Finding and correcting problems is not enough. Our team has built an ambitious training program to educate workers about Apple’s code of conduct, workers’ rights, and occupational health and safety. More than one million people know about these rights because they went to work for an Apple supplier. Additionally, Apple offers continuing education programs free of charge at many manufacturing sites in China. More than 60,000 workers have enrolled in classes to learn business, entrepreneurial skills or English.

Finally, we are taking a big step today toward greater transparency and independent oversight of our supply chain by joining the Fair Labor Association. The FLA is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving conditions for workers around the world, and we are the first technology company they’ve approved for membership. The FLA’s auditing team will have direct access to our supply chain and they will report their findings independently on their website.

No one in our industry is driving improvements for workers the way Apple is today. I encourage you to take some time to read more about these efforts, so that you can be as proud of Apple’s contributions in this area as I am.” [via Mac Rumors]

We have to give Portable Sound Labs credit as the “most improved” developer we spotted at CES: after some stale past products, the new design direction it was showing off at this year’s International CES has us genuinely excited. On display were some unique speakers, many of which are still in the prototype phase but are slated to be released later this year. The first is Aire SideKick, an iPad 2 speaker that doubles as a cover for the tablet. It attaches with magnets much like Apple’s Smart Cover, and the final version will be made out of aluminum. This will make the flat speaker thin and light.

Next up are Pipeline and Base, both portable wireless speaker systems. Each is modular and works in sets, or as individual pieces. Pipeline’s central unit is a long horizontal tube, and it comes with two satellite speakers called Drops that attach to either side with magnets. Base, on the other hand, is a large dish-sized cylindrical shape, with detachable speaker units called Slices.

What’s unique is the satellites are also Bluetooth-enabled, which means they can serve as standalone units on the go. Both Pipeline and Base come with two of the smaller speakers, but more will be able to be added if purchased individually.

We also saw AllSpark, which has a very different design from anything we saw on the show floor. The set is made up of two pyramid-shaped speakers that attach to one another with magnets in their bases, creating a cube that can be held at an angle in the included stand. AllSpark supports a Bluetooth connection, with one speaker acting as the receiver and carrying the audio to the other over a cable. Each of the items is being targeted for very aggressive pricing; AllSpark for instance is slated for a $100 selling price.

One of the Apple accessory areas of particular interest to iLounge’s editors are products for kids—speakers, cases, and headphones if they’ve been designed to be safe for little ears. Here are a few of the more noteworthy items we saw at this year’s CES, which is just now winding down in Las Vegas.

Case-Mate: Showed off a huge collection of kids’ cases, including many made from multi-layered rubber with different cool artwork—ice cream, animals, and the like. Some of the cases are abstract versions of animals, others are obviously so. Case-Mate also showed Marvel/Disney-licensed hard shells that had great iconic art from the comic company’s biggest-named series.

Electric Friends: This division of Noetic showed four different animal speaker systems targeted at a sub-$60 price point, and they were seriously cute—like Chew Chew the Dog, each has its own name and backstory, with two big speaker grilles protecting eye-shaped audio drivers. The price is right, the design is right, and the sound is respectable.

More images and details are below.

While our focus tends to be on mainstream consumer products, there are several companies here at the iLounge Pavilion that are aiming at the higher end of the market, including the ones we’re spotlighting below.

Known for their carbon fiber cases, Moncarbone is taking the material to the next level with its Art Collection, which features graphics that are subtly integrated into the material using dye injection methods. A nice change of pace from standard carbon fiber cases, which have become a bit stale recently. The cases are priced at $60 each.

We’ve seen loads of leather cases for the iPhone over the years, but few as simple or elegant as Eblouir’s slim pouch. Made from high-quality leather, it features two interior slots—one for the iPhone and one that’s cash-sized—as well as a simple closure that uses a long strip of leather to hold the entire thing closed. It sells for $45.

Continuing an ongoing trend, there are a number of exhibitors here focusing on female users—and among them is Tyla Rae. This fashion-focused brand offers a wide range of bags for the iPhone , iPod, and iPad. The bags are made primarily from leatherette, and range in price from $60 to $220.

Speaking with Cnet, Keith Lampron, associate director of device marketing with Verizon, has said that the company will require LTE on all new smartphones and tablet devices launched on the network in the future. Calling LTE a “hard requirement”, Lampron said the only exception will be for phones on Verizon’s push-to-talk network, which will be 3G-only until further notice. Apple has yet to announce any LTE-compatible devices, but the statement by Verizon strongly suggests that any future iPhone and iPad devices with cellular data capabilities will be able to connect to the 4G network.

Apple’s planned Chinese iPhone 4S launch was marred by an unexpected delay, leading to angry crowds and vandalism. Bloomberg reports that a crowd of shoppers outside Apple’s main store in Beijing began pelting the store with eggs after a man announced that the phone would not go on sale today. The announcement came roughly 15 minutes after the store was scheduled to open, giving the crowd—which was waiting in sub-20 degree temperatures, and began chanting “Open the door!” and “Liars!”—no explanation for the delay. The delay was not country-wide, however, as Apple’s store in Shanghai opened an hour earlier than scheduled to begin selling the device.

Update: Apple has since released a statement on the matter. “The demand for iPhone 4S has been incredible and our stores in China have already sold out,” an Apple spokeswoman told Reuters. “Unfortunately, we were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd. And to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees, iPhones will not be available in our retails stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being.”