Apple's Best Fortune Tellers See Bigger iPhones (And Much More) For 2014

With last week’s iPhone launch behind it, and next week’s iPad announcement ahead, 2013 product introductions are basically a wrap for Apple. While we still await the final details of the newest iPads — a slimmer full-size model, a Retina screen on the Mini — and perhaps updated Macbook Pros, the company is already onto next year’s products. And if the pros at DisplaySearch and KGI Securities are to believed, those include a larger screen iPhone (at last?) and a long-awaited update to the Macbook Air, with a Retina screen of its own. But there is apparently more on tap, including possibly a cheaper desktop iMac, a larger 13-inch iPad, Apple’s long-awaited televisions, and the much-discussed smartwatch. These could be the catalysts to reignite slowed growth at the company.
Many are quick to dismiss the rumor mill — and with good reason. Anyone with a website and an idea can post, “Apple to release really cool gadget next year with features I want.” But some sources are better than others. David Hsieh of DisplaySearch is on such source and KGI Securities anaylst Ming-Chi Kuo is another. One of their secrets is that Apple can’t introduce a product at all without acquiring literally millions of parts and getting them into their supply chain to make their product launches possible. I’ve discussed this before, but it’s worth reiterating: Just because the Nexus 7 has a Retina-quality display (and it’s a nice one, I can say from experience) doesn’t mean the iPad Mini could have had one 6 months ago. For all Google/Asus’ success with their tablet, Apple sells millions more.
To do a Retina Mini, Apple needs to have acquired 10 million screens before shipping a single unit and to be certain that it could obtain 10 million more each subsequent quarter. The way it does that is through a series of supplier agreements with display makers that are negotiated far in advance and often lead to dedicated production of Apple specified screens for its products. Hsieh, who has been in the business for a long time, talks to everyone, tries to figure out who is making what for Apple, and then attempts to discern how it relates to future products. From that, he’s produced a “best guess” a the 2014 product line.

There's a new way that advertisers could track you around the web, andyou might be surprised about where the tracking data would come from:your device's accelerometer. According to SFGate, security researcherHristo Bojinov has discovered a way to distinguish individual devicessimply by looking at data their accelerometers provide to webpages.Because accelerometers work imperfectly, they all display a uniqueresult when idle — that result, Bojinov says, is enough to track adevice around the web. THIS IS FAR FROM THE ONLY TRACKING TOOLADVERTISERS HAVE A website would just need to implement a small pieceof code in order to begin tracking a device this way, reports SFGate.Though Bojinov can't say for certain whether anyone is already doingthis, he says he'd be surprised if an advertiser wasn't alreadyexploring the possibility. To see how effective the method is, you canview your own mobile device's accelerometer footprint at a website setup by Stanford, where Bojinov is a PhD candidate in computer science.While you'll have to actively flip the phone around in order to make itwork, that reportedly wouldn't be necessary for actual tracking.Bojinov's research should be published in the coming months, SFGatereports. But while he may describe a surprising and eerie way to trackdevices, it's far from the only tool advertisers have for tracking:even outside of cookies, advertisers can distinguish between differentpeople just by looking at information their browsers always hand over,like what fonts they have access to and what operating system is beingused. That means accelerometer tracking may not be needed, but asadvertisers look for better ways to follow people around the mobile webon your smartphone

There's a new way that advertisers could track you around the web, and you might be surprised about where the tracking data would come from.