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WSJ: Apple moving towards larger iPhone screens

Posted by Gsurface on May 16, 2012 No comments

The idea of a smaller iPad has been rattling around the tech rumor mill for many a month now, but the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen? That’s sacred surely? Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, apparently not. It’s reporting that those ever-famous “people familiar with the situation” have told it that Apple has ordered screens that are larger that the ones used in the flagship phone so far. There’s no specifics on size, with the sources only going as far to say they are “at least” four inches. Apple, however, has declined to comment — no surprises there — but perhaps now is the time to start the office pool. Just hope you don’t land on the “4-inch iPad” square.

WSJ: Apple moving towards larger iPhone screens originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Wall Street Journal | Email this | Comments
Engadget

Apple rumored to use Retina display in next iMac

Posted by Gsurface on May 15, 2012 No comments

Apple may be gearing up to refresh its entire Mac lineup with Retina displays. The imminent MacBook Pro refresh has long been rumored to feature the new pixel-dense screen and now the next-gen iMac looks to be getting the same treatment. The new iMacs are also rumored to feature the latest Intel Ivy Bridge processors

Apple still faces Aussie iPad trial despite 4G rebrand

Posted by Gsurface on May 15, 2012 No comments

Apple’s decision to rebrand the new iPad as the “iPad WiFi + Cellular” and drop the allegedly confusing 4G reference will not save it from a court appearance with the Australian consumer rights watchdog. “Any move by Apple to cease using the descriptor of ’4G’ will mitigate against the ACCC’s concerns but will not deal

Apple cuts iPhone production ahead of next-gen model

Posted by Gsurface on May 15, 2012 No comments

Apple, however, is looking to ramp up production for the new iPad with an additional supplier for the HD Retina Display, according to Sterne Agee.
[Read more]
CNET News

Wozniak Calls For Open Apple

Posted by Gsurface on May 14, 2012 No comments

aesoteric writes “Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has voiced a renewed desire to see the company open its architecture to the masses, allowing savvy users to expand and add to their products at will. However, Wozniak qualified his desire for a more open Apple by arguing that openness should not impinge on the quality of the products themselves. He also sees any change of heart on openness as a challenge when Apple continues to rake in huge cash with its current model.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple forced to change name of iPad Wi-Fi + 4G

Posted by Gsurface on May 13, 2012 No comments

It seems that international pressure sometimes works, as criticism of the iPad Wi-Fi + 4G name — which in many countries isn’t actually 4G, has finally caused a name change to iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular.
[Read more]
CNET News

To 4G Or Not 4G? Apple Pulls “WiFi+4G” Branding For iPads

Posted by Gsurface on May 13, 2012 No comments

What is 4G? Many an armchair philosopher over the past few weeks has pondered this concept and now, thanks to a minor tempest caused by upset customers, Apple has changed their iPad branding from “WiFi+4G” to “WiFi+Cellular.”

Although the iPads were compatible with US 4G networks, the iPads didn’t work with international 4G connections, thereby dropping a few folks in Australia into a tizzy. To prevent this, Apple put the old moniker down the memory hole and replaced it with the new naming convention.
TechCrunch

Apple Gives In, Drops iPad ’4G’ Tag To Avoid Lawsuits

Posted by Gsurface on May 13, 2012 No comments

Back in March, Apple was sued in Australia and criticized in Europe over its marketing of the iPad as supporting 4G speeds when it only did so in the U.S. and Canada. Now, reader TheGift73 writes with news that Apple has given in and changed the ‘Wi-Fi + 4G’ label to ‘Wi-Fi + Cellular.’ From the article:
“In the U.K., a number of complaints by customers pushed the ASA into acting against Apple for its misleading advertisements. The regulator had received ‘dozens of complaints’ from customers, and had pushed for Apple to remove any mentions of ’4G’ from its websites. It should come as little surprise considering Britain has yet to see its mobile networks divide up its 4G spectrum without bickering furiously about it. Some networks had even opted to avoid litigation directed at them by including stickers to inform potential buyers that the new iPad will not work on existing 4G networks, or even 4G networks that don’t even exist yet. This should come as bittersweet news for consumers. Apple has already sold millions of iPads across the U.K., Europe and Australia, while the vast majority are unaware that they will not be able to connect to high-speed mobile broadband networks.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple iCloud beta website shows iOS 6

Posted by Gsurface on May 11, 2012 No comments

This week some intrepid iOS developers have discovered a new portal coming your way soon: Apple’s iCloud beta, complete with code references to the new iOS 6 mobile operating system. This climpse has not yet shown just one whole heck of a lot of information about what we’re in for in the future for Apple’s

Adobe’s security chief praises Apple for Flash-crippling move

Posted by Gsurface on May 11, 2012 No comments

Adobe’s head of security is applauding Apple’s move to block outdated versions of his company’s Flash Player.
Computerworld News

NY Times Apple Tax Article Flawed

Posted by Gsurface on May 10, 2012 No comments

bonch writes “Forbes contributer Tim Worstall points out that the NY Times article claiming Apple pays less than 10 percent of its profit in taxes was based on a flawed assumption of the corporate tax system. The 9.8% figure came from Greenlining Institute, who compared Apple’s 2011 profits to taxes calculated according to 2010 profits. In the corporate tax system, estimated quarterly tax payments are made based on the previous year’s profits until actual profits are calculated at the end of the trading year, when the balance is then paid to the IRS.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple To Help Foxconn Improve Factories

Posted by Gsurface on May 10, 2012 No comments

An anonymous reader writes “in a welcome move, Apple has agreed to help share initial costs with Foxconn in improving the factories being used to manufacture iDevices. From the article: ‘Foxconn chief Terry Gou did not give a figure for the costs, but the group has been spending heavily to fight a perception its vast plants in China are sweatshops with poor conditions for its million-strong labor force. It regards the criticism as unfair. “We’ve discovered that this (improving factory conditions) is not a cost. It is a competitive strength,” Gou told reporters on Thursday after the ground-breaking ceremony for a new China headquarters in Shanghai. “I believe Apple sees this as a competitive strength along with us, and so we will split the initial costs.”‘”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Elpida buyout would make Micron major Apple chip supplier

Posted by Gsurface on May 10, 2012 No comments

Micron may become a major supplier of memory chips to Apple if it completes the purchase of Japan-based Elpida, the third-largest memory chip manufacturer.
[Read more]
CNET News

Apple patches Safari, blocks outdated Flash Player

Posted by Gsurface on May 10, 2012 No comments

Apple on Wednesday patched four security vulnerabilities in Safari and blocked outdated versions of Adobe’s Flash Player from running in its browser.
Computerworld News

Apple e-mail hints at multi-user account feature for iPad

Posted by Gsurface on May 8, 2012 No comments

Apple’s iPad has always been a one user device, but that might not last forever. A reply to an Apple developer hints that the company’s cooking up a solution for multiple users using the same tablet.
[Read more]
CNET News

RIM takes shots at Apple and iPhone owners with new campaign

Posted by Gsurface on May 7, 2012 No comments

Late last month, RIM and its Australian marketing agency Tongue began a campaign that takes a different approach to raising brand awareness, though it’s one we have seen numerous times in the past: bash Apple and its customers.

Apple sequel to ’1984′ commercial featured Steve Jobs as FDR

Posted by Gsurface on May 7, 2012 No comments

A never-before-seen short film featuring Steve Jobs comically portraying the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt was recently uncovered — a parody the company created as a follow up to the iconic “1984″ commercial.

Apple engineering mistake exposes clear-text passwords for Lion

Posted by Gsurface on May 7, 2012 No comments

Apple's latest update to OS X contains a dangerous programming error that reveals the passwords for material stored in the first version of FileVault, the company's encryption technology, a software consultant said.
Computerworld News

Apple iPhone gamers spend five times more than Android gamers

Posted by Gsurface on May 7, 2012 No comments

A new study has found that while mobile gaming has seen sharp increases across the board, there is no doubt who the winner is when it comes to how much customers are actually spending on their mobile game experiences. The average iPhone/iPad gamer is spending about five times more money on their mobile games than

Apple Quietly Updates iPad 2′s Processor

Posted by Gsurface on May 5, 2012 No comments

bonch writes “Apple has quietly replaced the iPad 2′s A5 with a smaller 32nm die that increases battery life by 15 to 30%. It’s theorized that Apple is using the iPad 2 as a test bed for the new hardware platform, which shrinks the surface area of the A5 to 57% of the previous size.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple prepares upcoming Java updates for OS X

Posted by Gsurface on May 4, 2012 No comments

Java development for OS X is being handed to Oracle, and Apple is better preparing its in-house Java runtime for co-existance with Java 7 from Oracle.
[Read more]
CNET News

Visualized: Apple and Samsung occupy the 99 percent… of phone profits

Posted by Gsurface on May 4, 2012 No comments

Financial maven and maker of beautiful graphs Horace Deidu has found that between the top eight mobile phone vendors, Apple and Samsung share 99 percent of the total spoils. Of RIM, LG, Sony (Ericsson), Motorola, Nokia and HTC, only the latter made a profit — claiming that left over one percent. The remaining six all recorded losses for the quarter, Mr. Deidu adding that several of those companies are carrying feature phone businesses that they should shed before they become an albatross around their neck.

Visualized: Apple and Samsung occupy the 99 percent… of phone profits originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 May 2012 12:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Macrumors | source Asymco | Email this | Comments
Engadget

Judge again orders Apple, Samsung to streamline claims in iPad patent case

Posted by Gsurface on May 3, 2012 No comments

Apple and Samsung Electronics have until Monday to further boil down the number of claims to be considered in the sweeping intellectual-property lawsuit concerning their smartphone and tablet products, which is now scheduled to go to trial July 30.
Computerworld News

Apple rejecting iOS apps that use Dropbox SDK

Posted by Gsurface on May 2, 2012 No comments

Apple has reportedly been rejecting developer’s iOS apps that use the Dropbox SDK.
Computerworld News

Apple reportedly working with Dropbox on rejected apps

Posted by Gsurface on May 2, 2012 No comments

Developers using Dropbox’s SDK find their apps being rejected by the App Store, apparently due to links to external purchase options.
[Read more]
CNET News

Apple will soon offer wireless service, expert believes

Posted by Gsurface on May 2, 2012 No comments

Apple’s next huge move isn’t into the television or banking industries according to one expert. Instead, Apple will take on carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless by becoming a direct mobile service provider.

Apple patents that moment when you text-bomb everyone with your new number

Posted by Gsurface on May 2, 2012 No comments

So, you’ve changed your phone number to escape that stalker (look, we’re sorry, we just wanted to sell you a pyramid scheme), but how do you let all 104 of your remaining friends know without manually texting ‘em? The answer lies in Apple’s newly granted patent, which aims to end the tedium by having your device recognize when your number switches and automatically send an updated contact entry to everyone in your address book. Of course, there’s nothing in the claims to say it’s discriminatory, so now we’ve got your number again — have you changed your mind about that pyramid scheme?

Apple patents that moment when you text-bomb everyone with your new number originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 18:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source USPTO | Email this | Comments
Engadget

Juniper: Apple thrashing Samsung on revenue

Posted by Gsurface on May 1, 2012 No comments

Samsung has managed to supplant Nokia as the leading manufacturer of phones globally, but analysts are a little more confused about whether Samsung or Apple leads the smartphone race. A new report from Juniper Research suggests that while Samsung might indeed be the number one smartphone brand, Apple is making significantly more money. Juniper estimates

RIM admits to being the culprit in Apple Store flashmob

Posted by Gsurface on May 1, 2012 No comments

Research in Motion has admitted that it was the one that orchestrated a flashmob scene at an Apple Store in Sydney, Australia. The scene gained mass attention around the world, as people there were depicted as being part of an anti-Apple protest. Participants held up signs that read “Wake Up.” It was originally believed that

Who’s telling Apple to ‘Wake Up’ in Oz? It’s RIM!

Posted by Gsurface on May 1, 2012 No comments

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has been revealed as the perpetrator of the “Wake Up” advertising campaign outside Apple stores that puzzled Sydney and Melbourne.
[Read more]
CNET News

Australian Price Gouging Inquiry Targets Apple, Microsoft And Others

Posted by Gsurface on April 30, 2012 No comments

Getting a new laptop or buying a new license for an operating system is often cheaper in the U.S. than in most other countries. Europeans, for example, are used to paying a hefty premium for Apple products and the situation is similar in Australia, where the cheapest MacBook Air currently costs about 15% more than in the United States. Now, however, the Australian government is starting a parliamentary inquiry into these pricing schemes. According to Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, the politicians behind this inquiry hope that calling these companies out publicly will result in prices dropping.
TechCrunch

Microsoft Makes $300M Investment In New Barnes & Noble Subsidiary To Battle With Amazon And Apple In E-books

Posted by Gsurface on April 30, 2012 No comments

Barnes & Noble has found a new, major partner in its fight to get an edge over Amazon and Apple in the heating up market for e-books and the devices being used to consume them: it is teaming up with Microsoft in what the two are calling a strategic partnership, name yet to be determined. It will come in the form of a new subsidiary of B&N that will include all of its Nook business as well as its educationally-focussed College business that will see Microsoft make a $ 300 million investment in the subsidiary, valuing the company at $ 1.7 billion in exchange for around 17.6 percent equity in the subsidiary.

The news leaves the door open for B&N to eventually spin these off into a separate business altogether — or sell them to Microsoft. And it leaves a big load of questions about what B&N will do next with the Nook, which is build on a forked version of Google’s Android platform.
TechCrunch

Apple Patent Reveals Gift-Giving Platform For NFC-Based iDevices

Posted by Gsurface on April 30, 2012 No comments

redletterdave writes “While downloading and storing digital media with online service providers has become commonplace — more so than purchasing DVDs and CDs at physical retail stores — it’s not very easy to transfer digital files from individual to another, usually because of copyright laws. Some digital distributors have systems for limiting usage and distribution of its products from the original purchaser to others, but often times, transferring a copyright-protected file from one device to another can result in the file being unplayable or totally inaccessible. Apple believes it has a solution to this issue: A gift-giving platform where users have a standardized way for buying, sending and receiving media files from a provider (iTunes) between multiple electronic devices (iPhones, iPads). The process is simply called, ‘Gifting.’”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple, Google about to join Dow Jones stock index?

Posted by Gsurface on April 30, 2012 No comments

Barron’s reports that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is due a makeover and that Apple and Google better represent the global business landscape.
[Read more]
CNET News

Not Just Apple, How Microsoft Sidestepped Billions In State Taxes

Posted by Gsurface on April 29, 2012 No comments

reifman writes “Apple’s not the only company to save billions in taxes through Nevada as The New York Times reported yesterday. Here’s how Microsoft’s saved $ 4.37 billion in tax payments to Washington State and how it’s led indirectly to $ 4 billion in K-12 and Higher Education cuts since 2008. 18% of University of Washington freshman are now foreigners (because they pay more) up from 2% six years ago. Washington State ranks 47th nationally in 18-24 yo college enrollment and 48th in K-12 class size. This hasn’t stopped the architect of the company’s Nevada tax dodge from writing in The Seattle Times: ‘it’s [Washington] state’s paramount duty to provide for the public education of all children. Unfortunately, steady declines in public resources now threaten our ability to live up to that commitment.’ Yes, indeed.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple responds to tax criticism by highlighting job creation

Posted by Gsurface on April 29, 2012 No comments

Rebuttal comes in the wake of a report claiming the tech giant goes to great lengths to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes.
[Read more]
CNET News

So who’s behind Apple attacks in Australia?

Posted by Gsurface on April 29, 2012 No comments

Samsung denies that it’s behind flashmobs picketing outside Apple Stores in Australia with signs saying “wake up.” But if it isn’t Samsung, who could it be? Google?
[Read more]
CNET News

The Times takes on Apple again, with report on taxes

Posted by Gsurface on April 29, 2012 No comments

Following the year’s earlier reports on Foxconn and on Apple’s practice of sending manufacturing overseas, The New York Times publishes a piece that claims Apple has been a pioneer in developing ways to sidestep taxes.
[Read more]
CNET News

No, AirPlay Is Not The New Apple TV

Posted by Gsurface on April 29, 2012 No comments

If you asked your mom or dad what DLNA or UPnP stood for or did, would they just look at you weird? While the two technologies enable users to wirelessly beam content to Internet Connected TVs from their tablets, phones, and computers, Apple’s AirPlay is the first implementation that makes the experience seamless. Tap the button again and playback resumes on your root device. No complicated setup is required – it simply works.

Some, like Bloomberg and Hunter Walk, have suggested that AirPlay is Apple TV, and that Apple will simply license AirPlay to the major Connected TV manufactures – and by default every Connected TV sold will be an “Apple TV” – the remote being your iPhone or iPad. It’s certainly a sensible theory – there are 250 M+ iOS devices, and with the upcoming OS X update, laptops can now leverage Airplay as well. That’s over 300M Apple devices that can push content to TVs.
TechCrunch

How Apple Sidesteps Billions In Global Taxes

Posted by Gsurface on April 29, 2012 No comments

An anonymous reader writes “An article at the NY Times explains the how the most profitable tech company in the world becomes even more profitable by finding ways to avoid or minimize taxes. Quoting: ‘Apple’s headquarters are in Cupertino, Calif. By putting an office in Reno, just 200 miles away, to collect and invest the company’s profits, Apple sidesteps state income taxes on some of those gains. California’s corporate tax rate is 8.84 percent. Nevada’s? Zero. … As it has in Nevada, Apple has created subsidiaries in low-tax places like Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands — some little more than a letterbox or an anonymous office — that help cut the taxes it pays around the world. … Without such tactics, Apple’s federal tax bill in the United States most likely would have been $ 2.4 billion higher last year, according to a recent study (PDF) by a former Treasury Department economist, Martin A. Sullivan. As it stands, the company paid cash taxes of $ 3.3 billion around the world on its reported profits of $ 34.2 billion last year, a tax rate of 9.8 percent.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Continue reading Apple and Samsung set to meet May 21st, hug it out over 48 hours

Apple and Samsung set to meet May 21st, hug it out over 48 hours

Posted by Gsurface on April 29, 2012 No comments

These two brawlers were given until July to come together and mediate over their numerous globe-spanning patent lawsuits, but it appears neither side needs to wait that long. According to Foss Patents, May 21st and 22nd have been circled on the calendar of a certain San Francisco courthouse, where Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero will attempt to arbitrate in a calm, soothing voice for two days straight. Presenting himself as a confidant who sits outside of the main litigation being conducted in San Jose, Spero has already asked both parties to open up and provide “candid” statements about the strengths and weaknesses of their own cases, as a first step towards identifying areas of compromise. Fortunately, he still has a few weeks in which to devise further cunning plans.

Apple and Samsung set to meet May 21st, hug it out over 48 hours originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge | source Foss Patents | Email this | Comments
Engadget

Samsung beats Apple, Nokia as world’s largest handset maker

Posted by Gsurface on April 28, 2012 No comments

Samsung Electronics became the world’s biggest mobile handset vendor for the first time ever in the first quarter of 2012, capturing a quarter of the global market and overtaking struggling Nokia, according to data released Friday by London-based research firm Strategy Analytics.

New iPad owners pay big ‘halo’ dividends for Apple

Posted by Gsurface on April 28, 2012 No comments

The iPad is giving Apple entree to millions of customers who have never purchased one of company’s products before, a research firm said today.
Computerworld News

The Wearable Computing Startup From Agamatrix’s Founders, Former Apple CEO John Sculley, Raised $7.6M

Posted by Gsurface on April 27, 2012 No comments

Google Glass isn’t the only game in town.

Misfit Wearables, a wearable computing startup from the founding team of mobile health company Agamatrix and former Apple chief executive John Sculley, just raised $ 7.6 million in a round co-led by Founders Fund. The other notable firm in the deal isn’t disclosed, but we hear through a source that it’s Khosla Ventures.

Misfit isn’t saying too much about what it’s working on, except to say that the next generation of wearable devices shouldn’t compete with fashion, has to be ambient and has to have functions outside of sensing. It has to be the kind of thing a consumer wouldn’t need to remember to wear and ideally, it would be something that’s so critical that a person would go back home if they left it there.
TechCrunch

Dear Tim Cook: Apple is not the world’s tech inventor

Posted by Gsurface on April 27, 2012 No comments

At a recent earnings call, Molly Wood was shocked to hear Apple’s CEO accuse the rest of the tech industry of not inventing its “own stuff.” Innovation isn’t invention — and even invention is usually inspiration.
[Read more]
CNET News

Apple Planning To Build Private Restaurant

Posted by Gsurface on April 27, 2012 No comments

First time accepted submitter a90Tj2P7 writes “Apple is building a 21,468 square foot private restaurant in Cupertino so employees can talk shop over lunch without being overheard. Apple’s director of real estate facilities, Dan Wisenhunt, stated that: ‘We like to provide a level of security so that people and employees can feel comfortable talking about their business, their research and whatever project they’re engineering without fear of competition sort of overhearing their conversations.’”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.