[tube]SNPJMk2fgJU[/tube]
Could be a fun weekend project, no?
Month: April 2012
Ferrari CEO had sit-down meetings with Apple’s boss and heads of Google
Don't hit the comments yet, this is nothing like the false Valve rumor. A surprising report straight from Ferrari's website has it that Apple CEO Tim Cook along with heads of Google sat down for a two-hour chat with Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo.
Remarking Cooks' "openness and availability", the car maker wrote that the sit-down meeting occurred during di Montezemolo's trip to Silicon Valley last week, where he also gave a speech at Stanford University.
What did the two men talk about if not world-class industrial design and their common penchant for creating great products with the utmost attention to detail?
Ferarri wouldn't reveal the agenda of the two-hour face-to-face meeting with Cook, but they did state the obvious - that the car maker and the iPhone maker share the same "maniacal attention to technology, but also to design"...
Confirmed: Sprint to keep unlimited data, whether or not iPhone 5 is LTE
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has finally addressed concerns that the carrier might drop its unlimited data plans for an upcoming sixth-generation iPhone. Speaking to CNET's Roger Cheng, Hesse said his company has little interest in changing unlimited data plans by the time the next iPhone hits the market later this year, whether or not it is LTE capable.
Sprint is the only major United States wireless operator still offering an all-you-can-eat data plans to smartphone customers. This, as Hesse often puts it, remains the carrier's "distinctive differentiator"...
Cook on toaster-refrigerator dilemma and why iPad and MacBook won’t converge
Apple reported its monster first-quarter earnings yesterday and CEO Tim Cook updated investors on a conference call with various tidbits.
He also addressed the upcoming Windows 8 operating system which was designed to scale easily from tablets to notebooks to desktop systems.
Even as the likes of Huawei allegedly jump on the Windows 8 bandwagon, Cook thinks the operating system won't succeed at uniting the two worlds.
Specifically, Cook likened Microsoft's strategy to a toaster-refrigerator convergence that would never work.
Fielding a question from Citigroup's Richard Gardner, Apple's boss said that yes, even though iPad and MacBook could converge, such a combination would never work because of the many tradeoffs customers would not be willing to put up with.
Plus, he said it would make little sense as the two products cater to different needs and consumers use them differently...
Whoa, WWDC 2012 sells out in two hours
This is insane: tickets for Apple's WWDC 2012 conference, which was announced earlier this morning, sold out in mere two hours. Nevermind the $1,599 price tag, tickets went on sale at 1:30pm GMT and by 3:30pm sold out.
In a way, Apple - itself based on the West Coast - screwed developers on the West Coast who woke up to the news that the year's most important event has already sold out. Here's to the hoping they put into effect a staged ticket roll-out on a per-region basis next year so all United States-based developers get fair treatment.
This year's WWDC, which runs June 11-15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, looks to be Apple's most popular developer conference yet. I wonder if monster quarterly stats released yesterday and speculation of an iOS 6 preview could have anything to do with such a high interest...
150 young developers have a chance to attend WWDC 2012 free of charge
If you didn't get the memo or can't afford forking $1,599 for this year's WWDC conference, but are a full- or part-time student over the age of thirteen, Apple's got you covered. The company said it will offer 150 students a chance to win scholarships for WWDC 2012, which includes a free of charge ticket to all conference sessions.
The company will judge applicants on "technical ability, creativity of ideas expressed in products or projects, prior WWDC attendance, as well as technical and work experience". If there is a tie, the most creative applicant has an edge, Apple noted...
The 2012 Apple Design Awards nominations now open, get your apps ready
As Apple announced this morning that it will hold its annual WWDC conference from June 11-15 at San Francisco's Moscone Center, they also revealed details about this year's Apple Design Awards. The prestigious award recognizes the best of the best in iOS and Mac app design, innovation and technology adoption.
Developers who intend to have their work included for this year's Apple Design Awards consideration are required to submit their apps by May 1 through Apple’s developer portal. However, even if you don’t submit your app, Apple could still award your work in one of the categories...
WWDC 2012 tickets go on sale: June 11-15
Confirming speculation, Apple just announced via a press release that its annual developer conference will run this year from June 11 through June 15 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, a week after this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo show. Tickets are now on sale, available from $1,599 for conference passes.
If history is anything to go by, WWDC 2012 will sell out in a matter of hours. If you're planning on attending the conference, better get your tickets right now, right here.
Unlike previous WWDCs, however, this time around Apple is mandating that attendees with conference passes be members of one of their developer programs...
Sprint activates 1.5M iPhones in Q1, but posts $863M net loss
Just as Apple posted its massive earnings, Sprint Nextel, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, published on Wednesday their first-quarter earnings ahead of the bell.
The carrier activated 1.5 million iPhones in the quarter and 44 percent were to new customers, amounting to 660,000 new iPhone subscribers. That wasn't enough to save the day as the carrier reported a substantial $863 million net loss and operating loss of $255 million.
They lost $0.29 per share on wireless service revenues of $7.2 billion, a seven percent increase year-over-year. The carrier added 263,000 net prepaid subscribers under the Sprint brand - each spending an average of $4.03 more than last year.
Without the iPhone, Sprint would have actually lost 400,000 customers. The carrier's ARPU was $59.88, a new record. The company added 1.1 million new subscribers during the quarter and it now commands 56 million subscribers in total...
ITC judge finds Apple’s products in violation of Motorola Wi-Fi patent
Thomas Pender, of the International Trade Commission, passed down a ruling yesterday that could have some serious ramifications for Apple if the cards fall just right. Bloomberg reports that the ITC judge found the iPad-makers to be in violation of one of Motorola's patents.
Motorola was actually suing Apple over four patents, so the fact that Apple was only found to be in violation of one is a victory in itself. But the patent it is being charged with infringing upon, an invention involving Wi-Fi, is a pretty crucial component for iOS devices...
HackStore: it’s like Cydia for your Mac
Cydia has become a household name in the jailbreak community over the past few years. The underground app store has withstood the tests of time and competition to become the de facto source for apps, themes and utilities that aren't allowed in the official App Store.
Last night, a similar app store launched for the Mac platform called HackStore. No, it doesn't include the same apps and tweaks that you'll find in Cydia. But it does contain apps and utilities that Apple wouldn't normally approve for its official Mac App Store...
Tim Cook speaks out on Apple’s patent battles
Along with making announcements regarding its quarterly performance, Apple also uses its financial earnings calls to offer analysts a chance to ask questions. After all, these are the folks that have to essentially guess how Apple will fair over the next few months.
On today's call, there was one particular question that was both interesting and relevant: "In terms of flexibility in cash and providing more color, how should we think about opportunities regarding patent disputes? Any thoughts about settling vs ongoing litigation?
And here's how Tim Cook responded...