-What's cracking?
Brian Tong here, and welcome to the Apple Byte for all the good and bad inside the world of Apple.
Let's jump into the show, and I know many of you are just waiting for Apple to release something, so you could spend all that money instead of paying your bills.
Well, your wishes could come true after Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is planning to unveil their next-gen Apple TV set-top box by April.
It's negotiating with Time Warner Cable and other
potential partners to add video content and wants it to be available for sale by the Christmas holidays, but the release date could change depending on the timing of content deals.
Now the new Apple TV is expected to have a faster processor and an upgraded interface, and 9to5Mac recently reported that the new Apple TV hardware references are already appearing in the latest iOS 7 software builds.
The current Apple TV is noted with a 3,2 notation and 4,1 is the new model.
Now rumors of a full size 'Apple TV' TV have been pretty
quiet since the end of last year and, really, they need a proof they even have a concept that works and resonates with us before selling a $3,000 TV set.
We've also got iPhone 6 rumors and news galore this week, a new report from the Korea Herald claims Apple's iPhone 6 will gain a bezel-free display when it launches later this year.
According to the South China Morning Post, Apple is preparing to release, not one, but 2 new versions of the iPhone in September coming with a 4.7-inch display, and for a bigger
bulge in your pants, a 5.5-inch display with both phones bringing a higher 441 pixels-per-inch density.
Now that falls in line with the rumors of two screen sizes floating around right now.
The report also says both displays will be made from sapphire crystal and they will be flat not curved.
Now, there are rumors flying back and forth about what will Apple's Arizona sapphire plant actually produce first, Chinese media sources say they have iPhone prototypes already using sapphire display panels, but a sapphire screen on an iPhone would make its price
point too high.
Instead, the rumored iWatch's 2-inch panel would have much lower cost and be more affordable.
And by affordable, you know, Apple is going to sell it for about $400 to $500 affordable.
Now the volume of raw materials in the number of sapphire furnaces Apple will have on site will allegedly allow the big A to manufacture 200 million 5-inch sapphire displays, and that's more than enough to meet their yearly demand for iPhones, but again, it's another wait and see.
Now a report
from LEDinside also says Apple will take advantage of new advancements in LED technology, and shift to even thinner components for the iPhone 6 and upcoming iPad models.
It will allow Apple to shift from a .6 millimeter backlight on its thickest side to a .4 millimeter one and, you know what they say every .1 millimeter counts.
All right, Sony will likely be providing the front facing camera sensors for iPhones and other devices in the future.
Japanese business site, Nikkei, says Sony and Apple are
in negotiations that would double Sony's shipment of camera sensors in 2015.
Now, Sony has provided the iPhone's rear camera since the 4S and one place the iPhone could really improve is with its front facing camera for all you selfie lovers and FYI, I refuse to take selfies.
And guys, how can we not do the show without talking about Flappy Bird, the world's most frustrating game that took over in just a few weeks, but was then taken down by developer Dong Nguyen because he now says,
"It was just too addictive, that was the main negative, so I decided to take it down." He was also making over $50,000 a day, and he's making even more chatter after people swarmed to download the game before it was pulled.
Dong, you took down the game?
That's a bad Apple.
Now Flappy Bird was so maddening that there's how to videos giving you tips to play and other people, well, they just beat the game a different way.
-See right there.
-Now, I just wanna let you all know at home, I'm a pro with my best score at 27, that's right, a 27, so we'd like to honor Dong Nguyen with one last run at Flappy Bird.
Just go easy-pacey, first pipe, seriously, easy.
Second, none up, up, up, oh-- Come on.
That happens all the time.
I hate that.
But, let's be honest, the game is genius.
And if you
haven't checked out Apple's website lately, they just put up a video that pays tribute to the 30 years of the Mac and Apple as a whole while being shot entirely on an iPhone.
Now, 100 iPhones were used, 70 plus hours of footage was shot from 15 shooting crews around the world and it was edited from a single command center with an original score in Los Angeles, so let's take a look at the snippet.
I love that.
So, we were inspired to create our own video to show you at home how we make the show in a day.
Yo, what's up, David?
How you doing, man?
Hi five, baby.
Okay.
Okay, you know, that's a little too much there.
How does Seacrest doing?
-Okay.
Yeah.
We're getting there.
-How's that-- our script going, huh?
-Here check this out.
What do you think?
-Okay.
What's up?
Yeah, I would say that.
-You think so.
-Yeah.
-Good.
-Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
What-- what's up?
Yeah, how would you guys say that?
I'm Br-- I'm Brian Tong, that's me, and welcome to the Apple Byte, Byte-- Hey, is the Y a
long Y or is this silent?
Hey.
Hello.
You know, it's really a team of people that enjoy each other's company and love working together and especially, love working with me.
I mean, come on.
How could you not?
All right, guys, that's gonna do it for this week's show.
Remember to email us at the Apple Byte at CNET.com or you guys can tweet me @briantong.
Thanks for watching, and we'll catch you guys next week for another Byte of the Apple.
