Following a claim earlier this week that Apple had made its first settlement offer to Proview in the ongoing dispute over the "iPad" trademark in China, The Next Web now points to a report from Sina.com [Google translation] claiming that Apple's offer amounted to 100 million yuan, equivalent to $16 million.


That marks a substantial increase over the $55,000 purchase price in the original deal between Proview's Taiwanese arm and a dummy corporation set by Apple to acquire the trademark in a number of countries. Proview later claimed that the Chinese rights to the trademark were owned by its Chinese subsidiary and that the Taiwanese arm consequently could not have sold them to Apple.

Proview has been seeking as much as $2 billion in its lawsuits against Apple over the trademark, but today's report notes that Proview has gone bankrupt with $400 million owed to its creditors, speculating that that amount would be the minimum it the company would accept from Apple. It seems extremely unlikely that Apple would increase its offer to that level, and so it remains to be seen how the talks and court case will play out.

Digitimes has had a hit-or-miss track record when it comes to Apple rumors, but with the site having offered some accurate information in the past, its claims continue to be closely watched. In its latest report, the site lays out a timeline for Apple's iPhone and iPad plans for the remainder of the year, basing its claims on sources within Apple's supply chain.

The report focuses on Pegatron, which has served as an alternate assembly partner to Foxconn for a number of Apple products. According to Digitimes, Pegatron has landed orders for both a new iPhone planned to launch in September and a new iPad scheduled to debut "in the fourth quarter".

The iPhone claim appears to be a reasonable one given current thinking that Apple will return to a roughly one-year interval between iPhone updates, with a September launch coming just under a year after the early October introduction of the iPhone 4S last year.

But the iPad claim is a more troublesome one, as Apple has so far stuck to a yearly schedule for iPad hardware updates centered around the March-April timeframe. A late 2012 release of a new "10-inch iPad" presumably arriving as a next-generation version of the current device would mark a significantly shorter lifecycle for the current model than would be expected.

Similar rumors of a late-year iPad update surfaced last year before being quashed amid reports that work on the new Retina display would keep Apple on its yearly update cycle.


Mockup of 7.85-inch iPad next to an iPhone (courtesy of CiccareseDesign)
Digitimes makes one final claim in its latest report, indicating that Foxconn will be a manufacturing partner for a smaller 7-inch iPad, which is planned for release in August. Claims of such a device have been circulating for some time with some reports similarly pointing to a Q3 launch, and it seems likely that Apple has at least toyed with the idea. It is unclear, however, whether the company truly has any intentions of bringing it out of its design lab.

Among several lawsuits filed by Chinese company Proview alleging that it legally owns the "iPad" trademark in China despite a deal December 2009 between Proview's Taiwanese arm and a dummy corporation set up by Apple for the purposes of acquiring the trademark, one lawsuit has been filed in the United States. In that suit, filed in California in late February, Proview alleged that Apple had engaged in deception in its efforts to acquire the trademark.

The Wall Street Journal now reports that the judge handling the case has thrown it out of court, citing an apparent agreement between Apple and Proview to adjudicate their differences in Hong Kong courts, where Apple won a decision last year.

After Proview took its legal case to the U.S., Apple argued for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that the parties had agreed to settle any legal disagreements in Hong Kong.

Judge Pierce upheld that view, writing that Proview failed to provide evidence that the selection of Hong Kong was "unreasonable or unfair," according to a copy of the order.

In response to the decision throwing out the U.S. case, Proview's lawyers claimed that the decision was not based on the merits of the case and that the company will appeal the decision.

The U.S. developments come as Apple and Proview continue their litigation in China, where the two companies are engaging in court-suggested settlement talks that have reportedly seen Apple for the first time making a settlement offer. But the two parties apparently remain far apart in their expectations for a settlement, and it is unclear whether the talks will yield any agreement.

As revealed by Apple's iPad selection page for Latin America, the new iPad will be launching in 13 new countries in that region this Friday, May 11. The most significant new addition is Brazil, where Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn has been ramping up production on iPhone and iPad production.

A further examination of Apple's country-specific store pages reveals that this weekend's iPad launch will actually include a total of 30 countries. The majority of those countries will see the new iPad launch on Friday, May 11, but seven countries in the Middle East will debut the new iPad on Saturday, May 12. The full list of launch countries includes:

May 11: Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Malta, Martinique, Mauritius, Morocco, Peru, Taiwan, Tunisia, Vietnam

May 12: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

The new iPad appears to still be awaiting certification before it can be sold in China, Honduras, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and the Philippines, and Apple is now promoting lower pricing on the iPad 2 in those countries as it awaits final approvals for the new device.

Apple also quietly launched the new iPad in Turkey this past Saturday, May 5, and following this weekend's launches the new iPad will be available in close to 90 countries around the world.

Apple today reduced prices on all refurbished models of the original iPad and iPad 2 in its online store, knocking between $20 and $50 off of each model. The price drops include:

iPad 2

- 16 GB Wi-Fi: $319, down $30 from $349
- 32 GB Wi-Fi: $399, down $50 from $449
- 64 GB Wi-Fi: $499, down $50 from $449

- 16 GB Wi-Fi+3G: $449, down $30 from $479
- 32 GB Wi-Fi+3G: $529, down $50 from $579
- 64 GB Wi-Fi+3G: $629, down $50 from $679

Original iPad

- 16 GB Wi-Fi: $279, down $20 from $299
- 32 GB Wi-Fi: $349, down $50 from $399
- 64 GB Wi-Fi: $449, down $50 from $499

- 16 GB Wi-Fi+3G: $379, down $20 from $399
- 32 GB Wi-Fi+3G: $449, down $50 from $499
- 64 GB Wi-Fi+3G: $549, down $50 from $599

Apple has yet to begin offering refurbished models of the new third-generation iPad, but for comparison last year the company first offered refurbished iPad 2 models in late August at a $50 discount from brand-new pricing.

(Thanks, Brad!)

Last month, it was discovered that Apple quietly tweaked the 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, equipping the device with a smaller 32-nm die shrink of the A5 system-on-a-chip previously used in the line. The tweaked iPad 2 carries an internal identifier of "iPad2,4", which was first spotted in an iOS 5.1 beta back in November, but at the time it was unclear what the model represented.

A similar die shrink of the A5 was found in the new Apple TV, and it appears that Apple made the move in order to test out production of next-generation chip processes in lower-volume devices. The A5X used in the third-generation iPad continues to be based on a 45-nm process.

Anandtech has now gotten its hands on one of these new iPad 2 models and subjected it to a series of battery life and performance tests, finding that the revised model offers identical performance to other iPad 2 models but with battery life improvements of 15-30% in several benchmarking tests.

Assuming Apple didn't change any fundamentals of its microarchitecture, the iPad 2,4's gains in battery life can be attributed directly to the process. The gains themselves are significant. We measured a 15% increase in our web browsing battery life, a nearly 30% increase in gaming battery life and an 18% increase in video playback battery life. Although Apple hasn't revised its battery life specs, the iPad 2,4 definitely lasts longer on a single charge than the original iPad 2.

Unfortunately, Anandtech notes that there appears to be no way for customers to ensure that they receive one of these revised iPad 2 models for their $399 purchase, as there are still a significant number of the original iPad 2 models in circulation and they can not be distinguished based without opening the box and turning on the device.

Logitech today announced the launch of its Solar Keyboard Folio, a folding case for the new iPad and iPad 2 that incorporates a solar-powered Bluetooth keyboard.

Similar to Logitech’s solar keyboards for Mac and PC, the Logitech Solar Keyboard Folio includes onboard solar cells that charge the built-in Bluetooth keyboard in any light, whether indoors or outdoors. When fully charged, the battery lasts for up to two years, even in complete darkness (based on a average use of two hours per day).

Much like Apple's Smart Cover, the folio also folds to serve as a stand for the iPad, with two positions available: an upright orientation offering full access to the keyboard and a more reclined position that offers access to only the bottom row of the keyboard for media playback controls.

Logitech's Solar Keyboard Folio will carry a retail price of $129.99 and will launch in the United States and Europe later this month.

IDC today released its data on worldwide tablet shipments for the first quarter of 2012, revealing that despite a quarterly drop in iPad shipments of over 20%, Apple's share of the tablet market rose to 68% from last quarter's 54.7%. Apple's boost came at the expense of Android-based tablets, most notably Amazon's Kindle Fire which appears to have seen its shipments collapse from 4.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 to less than 750,000 units last quarter.

"Apple reasserted its dominance in the market this quarter, driving huge shipment totals at a time when all but a few Android vendors saw their numbers drop precipitously after posting big gains during the holiday buying season," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at IDC. "Apple's move to position the iPad as an all-purpose tablet, instead of just a content consumption device, is resonating with consumers as well as educational and commercial buyers. And its decision to keep a lower-priced iPad 2 in the market after it launched the new iPad in March seems to be paying off as well."

Amazon had surged into second place in the tablet market during the fourth quarter with a 16.8% share of the market as the Kindle Fire debuted in the United States. But while IDC did not report a number for Amazon's first quarter shipments in its press release, it did note that Amazon's share dropped to to "just over 4%" in the total tablet market of 17.4 million units, yielding shipment volume of roughly 700,000-750,000 units for Amazon.


As a result of Amazon's decline, Samsung was able to regain the second position in the tablet market, ahead of Amazon, Lenovo, and Barnes & Noble. Amazon's slide also comes as mass retailer Target yesterday announced plans to discontinue the sale of all Kindle devices and other Amazon- and Kindle-branded products.

The overall tablet market grew 120% year-over-year, but the 38% quarter-over-quarter decline was even steeper than expected coming off the strong holiday quarter. Apple obviously has a significant influence on the overall tablet market given its dominant position, and the company did ship slightly fewer than expected iPads during the quarter as consumers held off on iPad 2 purchases ahead of the new iPad's launch and Apple experienced some supply constraints when the device did launch with just three weeks left in the quarter.

Availability of the new iPad continues to improve, as evidenced by shipping estimates for new orders now registering at 3-5 business days in Apple's online stores for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The change comes less than two weeks after shipping estimates improved to 5-7 business days.


The shorter timeframes have not yet propagated to Apple's other online store distribution channels, with stores in the Asia Pacific region continuing to list estimates of 5-7 business days and stores in Europe maintaining estimates of 1-2 weeks that have been in place for some time now.

Apple CEO Tim Cook noted during last week's earnings conference call that supplies of the new iPad had been constrained for the entirety of the the three weeks the device was available during the company's fiscal second quarter, and that supplies remain constrained even today.

Streaming music service Spotify, which gained a loyal following in Europe before debuting in the United States last July, has launched its highly-anticipated iPad app. The app arrives in the form of a universal version of Spotify's free existing app, although like the iPhone version a Premium subscription is required for mobile access after a brief trial period.

Today we’re extremely proud to present our native iPad app in all its green-hued glory. Features include:

- Retina graphics for iPad - dazzling display, razor sharp images, richer colors
- Even easier to browse and explore Spotify’s entire 18 million* song catalogue
- New ‘Now Playing’ full-screen view with high-definition cover art
- Search for playlists, users and music - all from the same view
- Check out what's hot and find trending playlists & songs amongst your friends
- Inbox grouped by user for easy searching
- Gapless playback and crossfade
- AirPlay integration

Spotify Premium is available through the app as a free 48-hour trial, with users able to extend the trial to 30 days by signing up through Spotify's website. Continued Premium service is priced at $9.99 per month.

Reuters reports on the first public comments from a government official regarding Apple's dispute with Proview over ownership of the "iPad" trademark in China, with the official stating that according to Chinese law Proview is indeed the rightful owner of the trademark.

"According to the ... provisions of the China Trademark Law, currently Shenzhen Proview is the legal registrant of the iPad trademark," Fu Shuangjian, a deputy director of [the State Administration for Industry and Commerce], was quoted as saying at a news conference in Beijing. [...]

"This case has a huge impact and the final court ruling would directly influence who owns the iPad trademark. The commerce department will (take the matter) very seriously," said Fu, whose department governs market regulation and supervision.

Fu's comments are not an official ruling on the matter, as the case is still being tried in a Chinese court and settlement talks are reportedly underway, but his perspective could provide a hint about how the case will ultimately play out.

His comments do, however, leave some room for interpretation, potentially noting only that Proview remains listed as the trademark's owner in governmental records. In that context, his comments may simply be observational rather than outlining a position that Proview should ultimately retain those rights.

Apple claims that it obtained the Chinese trademark on the iPad name through a dummy corporation it set up to purchase various iPad trademarks from Proview's Taiwanese arm in the months leading up to the device's debut in early 2010. But Proview later argued that the Chinese right could not have been included in the deal because they were controlled by Proview's Shenzhen arm, despite the fact that officers participating in the deal were aligned with both companies.

A Hong Kong court ruled that Proview and its subsidiaries had conspired to extort additional money out of Apple once it became known that it was the ultimate purchaser of the rights, but Chinese courts are continuing to weigh the matter.

As announced earlier this week, Apple today began selling the new iPad in twelve new countries: Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, South Korea, Saint Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela. An additional nine countries will see the new iPad launch a week from today.


Just as Apple expands availability of the device yet again, the company is also reducing shipping estimates in a number of markets, now citing 5-7 business days for new orders instead of the 1-2 week estimate that has been in place for the past month. The new 5-7 business day estimates appear to be in effect in Apple's North American and Asia/Pacific distribution channels, but have not yet made their way to the company's European channel, where estimates remain at 1-2 weeks.

Update: Fortune posts a video of the new iPad going on sale at an Apple reseller in South Korea.