Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will soon become world wealthiest personWeek in review: Apple iPhone 6 release date, iTime iWatch patent, and more

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This week in review is all about Apple, as we prepare for the iPhone 6 announcement this September. First, the iPhone 6 release date looks to be around either the second or third week of September. We’ve seen an Amazon Japan claim and China Weibo flyer that posits two release dates for September 19 and September 30. Again, these dates show that it’s unlikely Apple will announce the iPhone 6 at the very end of the month, but China’s release date (Sept. 19) will actually come later than say, US or UK customers can expect the iPhone 6.

So, with that said, expect an early iPhone 6 announcement date around Sept. 10, with a release date to China on Sept. 19 and Japan around the same time (with possible online sales at the end of the month). As for US customers, it’s likely that we may see the iPhone 6 released around the same time as the China Weibo flyer supplies though we still don’t have an exact date in the US. September 19th makes sense, however, seeing that it’s around the time the iPhone’s been released in years past.

iWatch patent surfaces

We also saw the iTime iWatch patent come around the Web this week, showing that Apple’s had wearables on its mind since 2011. The patent was filed in 2011 but wasn’t published until this week. It shows that Apple wants to patent a device that contains sensors for gesture control, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, and so on. The device contains haptic touch controls and will require a bounce, tap, or shake wrist motion to accept/decline calls and other necessary functions. One diagram of the iWatch is called “iTime,†though we don’t know what Apple will name its iWatch (except to say that it’s been called “iWatchâ€).

What we know about the iWatch is that it fits the rumors we’ve heard about what Apple looks to bring to market: there’ll be three variants of the iWatch with sapphire crystal displays and gorilla glass displays (and display sizes) distinguishing them. We’ve got our own iPhone 6 rumors list

that you should check out to find out the latest on what we know about the iPhone 6, as well as the iWatch.

Apple’s earnings report: Rationale for the IBM Deal?

Apple’s earnings report came in this week as well, showing that the iPhone is still Apple’s greatest product. iPhone sales came in at around 35.2 million sales, which is slightly below Wall Street’s expected 36 million. This is still better than Apple’s iPad sales, which are down nine percent from the same time last year (14.6 million vs. 13.3 million).

Some see Apple’s falling iPad sales as a rationale for why Apple struck its enterprise deal with IBM, and this may be true. The iPad still has its success among consumers, but Apple sees its iPad in the hands of business professionals as well. With the need to compete in every space in the world (work as well as home, school as well as store, etc.), Apple’s got to get the iPad to appeal to more business professionals. Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet lineup and Samsung’s Galaxy Note tablets are winning in the enterprise space, but Apple’s new deal could put a dent in their success going into the future.

iOS back door vulnerabilities answered by Apple

iOS hacker Jonathan Zdziarski (a.k.a NerveGas) argued earlier this week that Apple intentionally left certain loopholes within iOS that’ve made it easy for the NSA to spy on iPhone users. Apple responded this week by stating that it’s done no such thing and that the only information that’s shared between the iPhone and a computer (MacBook) is that to which the user gives permission. Apple’s also been under fire for a similar claim coming out of China, with Chinese company CCTV saying that iOS allows the US Federal Government to spy on Chinese citizens.

Even if Apple says it isn’t intentionally leaking information, we still want to know why certain things remain in iOS that relate to developers rather than average individuals. I think that, if Apple wants to implement certain features for developers, it should create a developer edition device (similar to that done by Motorola, Samsung, and some others), but maintaining these software factors on over 6 million iOS devices is suspicious in and of itself – and it bears a more detailed answer. We appreciate other tech analysts who want to answer questions for Apple, but these are issues that the Apple engineering team should address.

OS X Yosemite Public Beta

The OS X Yosemite Public Beta release arrived this week, but there’re some problems of which you should be aware before you download it. OS X Yosemite is the newest-announced Mac OS X update and should arrive (along with iOS 8) this Fall. Of all the goodies Apple’ll bring us in Mac OS X Yosemite, you can expect the inclusion of audio calls from your Mac, a pick-up-where-you-left-off continuity between MacBooks and iDevices, enhanced Spotlight functionality, markup for your documents, photos, and letters, as well as iCloud Drive storage features that’ll prevent you from having the same old large file/server breakdown issues from years past.

Is there anything interesting about Apple that you’ve heard this week that we missed? If so, feel free to let us know.