Year: 2012

Analysts estimate the iPad mini could cannibalize one-fifth of current iPad sales

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

The rumored iPad mini, expected to be introduced by Apple next Tuesday, could eat into up to twenty percent of sales of regular-sized iPads, analysts said Thursday. Such cannibalization caused one high-profile Wall Street Apple watcher to trim one million units from his sales projection for the December quarter.

"We believe that the smaller iPad could cannibalize one million regular iPad units in December or a rate of cannibalization at twenty percent", Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors. In other words, for every five million iPad minis sold, deduct one million sales of the original iPad...

Apple previews Beijing’s massive new store, the largest in Asia

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2017

Apple is set to launch a grandiose new store in Beijing this coming Saturday, as we told you earlier. Both Western and local press had a chance to attend a media preview today and boy does the upcoming retail outlet impress. It files as the company's sixth brick-and-mortar store in China and Apple's SVP of Retail John Browett was on hand, taking advantage of the opportunity to confirm that the iPhone maker is also working to open another store in Shenzhen, China, where its contract manufacturer operates plants where Apple products are being assembled...

Verizon activates 3.1M iPhones in Q3, nearly 1 out of 5 was iPhone 5

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Verizon reported today it activated 3.1 million iPhones during the three-month period ending September 30. About 650,000 were iPhone 5 units that had been purchased in just one week, the largest US carrier reported. The iPhone represented 46 percent of smartphones Verizon sold during the period. Overall, smartphones now account for 53 percent of the handsets Verizon sells.

The 650,000 iPhone 5 sales figure is impressive, given Apple's latest handset was released in late September, permitting only one week of sales during the third quarter. The Cupertino, California-based Apple confirmed it sold 5 million of the new handsets during its opening weekend last month...

Microsoft’s Surface OS is a resource hog

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 18, 2012

We've been covering Microsoft's Surface and other competing tablets quite extensively here at iDB because we believe Apple is not an isolated isle and it pays to keeping tabs on what your competition is doing. Now, a 32GB Surface RT matches a 16GB iPad 3 in terms of price, both costing $499. That said, Surface RT users will wind up having less storage space available because the operating system and bundled apps require a significant amount of storage. It almost comes close to installing a Windows on a PC...

Apple’s request to seal financial documents from Samsung trial denied

Cody Lee ∙ October 18, 2012

Apple must have really hated divulging all of those secrets during the high-profile patent trial against Samsung this summer. We saw everything from iPhone and iPad prototypes, to how Apple creates its products.

And it looks like we're about to learn some more interesting information, as Judge Lucy Koh handed down an order late last night denying Apple's motion to keep certain financial documents sealed from the public...

Sprint to take control of Clearwire without acquisition

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Sprint is said to be in high-level negotiations with Clearwire, a wireless broadband provider, that would give it greater control over its long-time partner. The deal would give the carrier the ability to appoint a majority of the company's board members, without having to pony up cash for a buyout.

The news actually comes as a bit of a surprise, as many folks (especially investors) believed that Softbank's announcement that it was going to take a controlling stake in Sprint from earlier this week would lead to a Clearwire acquisition. But apparently, the carrier had other plans...

Apple loses appeal in major UK patent case against Samsung

Cody Lee ∙ October 18, 2012

Back in July, the High Court in London ruled against Apple in a patent suit against Samsung, saying that consumers were unlikely to mistake its iPad with Samsung's Galaxy Tab because it "wasn't as cool."

As a result of the ruling, Judge Colin Birss ordered Apple to run advertisements on both its UK website and in British publications stating that Samsung didn't copy the iPad to correct the damaging impression.

Well, Apple might want to start planning its marketing campaign. Because it just lost the appeal...

iPhone accounts for nearly half of smartphone web traffic

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

The number of models in the iPhone family is extremely small compared to the amount produced by other manufacturers. But according to a new report, which is an update to Chitika's recent iPhone 5 study, Apple's handsets still account for nearly half of all smartphone-generated internet traffic...

Apple said to be acquiring media sharing startup Color Labs

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

It seems like Apple's on a bit of a shopping spree this week. Hot on the heels of yesterday's revelation that the company acquired web app firm Particle, comes another scoop about an acquisition.

A new report is out tonight claiming that Apple is about to buyout Color Labs, a Palo Alto-based social startup that allows users to share photos and videos through its Android and iOS apps...

Google invites press to October 29 Android event

Cody Lee ∙ October 17, 2012

Google has sent out press invitations this afternoon for an Android event to take place on October 29th. The shindig will kick off at 10 a.m. EST at Basketball City in New York.

The invitation itself doesn't give many clues as to what could be announced. But given the fact that the holidays are just around the corner, we're guessing it's new hardware...

How to jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 on Pre-A5 devices using backup and restore

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

We've been stressing how many new features were packed into the new RedSn0w, and we weren't kidding. Another under the radar feature that's been added to the new RedSn0w is the ability to jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 untethered on Pre-A5 devices in A5 Non DFU style.

This is accomplished using the same method used for jailbreak tools like Absinthe, which utilizes backup and restore instead of the typical DFU ramdisk method. This is a great feature that speeds up the jailbreak process on Pre-A5 devices running iOS 5.1.1. Check inside as we give you a video demonstration and tutorial showing how it works.

FCC gives AT&T the go-ahead to use its WCS spectrum

Cody Lee ∙ October 17, 2012

Reports are coming in this afternoon that the Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's plan to use its dormant WCS spectrum to expand its LTE network. The carrier acquired the spectrum years ago, but has been unable to use it due to concerns that it would knock out the popular Sirius satellite radio service...