By Lorraine Luk
HONG KONG-- Apple Inc. suppliers have been told to start
production of a larger-screen iPad in the second half of this year
as the U.S. tech giant wrestles with new designs and features for
the enterprise market, people familiar with the matter say.
The Cupertino, Calif., company had originally told suppliers
that it wanted to start mass production of the 12.9-inch iPad in
the first quarter of 2015, the people said.
Apple is now considering adding USB ports and adopting so-called
USB 3.0 technology, a much faster version that promises to transfer
data up to 10 times as rapidly as current USB ports, one of the
people said. It is especially useful when users are transferring
large amounts of data, such as backing up computers to
USB-connected hard disks. Currently, Apple's 9.7-inch iPad and
7.9-inch iPad mini do not come with a USB port.
"Apple has continued to rework some of the features of the
larger iPad. It is now considering the faster technology for data
synchronization between the larger iPad and other computing
devices," said the person.
"Apple is also working on technology to speed up the iPad
charging time, but it remains uncertain if the final design will
have these new features."
Daisuke Wakabayashi in San Francisco contributed to this
article.
Original Email Message:
http://10.13.38.85/enewsmails/Links.aspx?Ac=6&ID=20150304-23159835-0
Access Investor Kit for Apple, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0378331005