Month: November 2012

Apple Stores outsold Microsoft Stores nearly 5 to 1 in Black Friday purchases

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX1eTBeWoyw

A quick side-by-side video MacWeekend.com shot early morning on Black Friday at Lone Tree's Park Meadow Mall where both Apple and Microsoft have their respective retail stores shows one is packed and the other is not. Apple's place is much smaller versus Microsoft's so it feels busier, of course. And over at the Apple Store in the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster and his crew counted heads at both Apple's store and the Microsoft Store directly across the hall.

Although non-scientific, their comparison survey tells us that shoppers picked up nearly five times as many items per hour at the Apple store. We already knew the iPad dominated mobile shopping on Black Friday. And if you ask kids, Apple's tablet is the #1 item on their holiday wish list. Looks like Apple's gonna own Christmas this year...

Internal Apple video gives insight into its retail prowess

Cody Lee ∙ November 26, 2012

Apple launched its first retail store(s) on May 19, 2001. It was the fruition of Steve Jobs' vision to improve Mac sales by giving consumers a top-notch shopping experience. Several analysts, of course, predicted the failure of the chain.

But as we all know, Jobs proved everyone wrong. Apple Stores have since exploded, and there are now close to 400 of them around the world, making more money per square foot than high-end jewelry stores. And here's how they did it...

Best Buy ad highlights all things Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2017

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEKer84625Q

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy is airing an interesting new television commercial 100 percent dedicated to Apple products found at its outlets. The ad is titled "Gifts That Do: Finding Santa" and depicts a retail employee telling a kid that he can do pretty much everything with Apple products, including reaching Santa over FaceTime...

Apple acquired ‘Lightning’ trademark from Harley-Davidson

Cody Lee ∙ November 26, 2012

Back in September, Apple fulfilled the prophecies of the rumor mill and introduced a new charging port for its iOS devices called 'Lightning.' As expected, it had 9 pins, and was reversible, so you could insert the plug either way.

Interestingly enough, two trademark applications published on Sunday by the EU Patent & Trademark Office show that Apple actually had to acquire the 'Lightning' trademark from the motorcycle-maker Harley-Davidson...

Facebook urges employees to switch to Android

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

This is kind of an interesting story. Apparently Facebook has launched an internal campaign to get its employees to trade in their iPhones for Android devices. After years of giving its workers Apple handsets, the social networking giant is urging them to make the switch to Google's platform in an effort known as Droidfooding...

The iPad dominated mobile shopping on Black Friday

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

The annual day-after-Thanksgiving sales blitz known as Black Friday is now behind us. We'll likely see several more deals and discounts over the next month, but the long lines and door busters are gone.

The lines, though, were noticeably shorter this year than they were in 2011, despite the fact that retail sales were up. And that can only mean that more people are doing their holiday shopping online...

The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week [Nov 25, 2012 edition]

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 24, 2017

A new week is coming, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on what happened last week. If you think you may have missed a few of the top stories from last week, don't sweat it, we've got you covered.

We've gathered the top 10+ most popular stories from iDB last week for you to check out. As always, make sure that you're friends with us on Facebook, Google+, and that you are following us on Twitter...

Concept: how Jony Ive should redesign iOS alerts

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 24, 2012

With Scott Forstall's departure, watchers and users alike are keeping their eyes peeled for Jony Ive-ification of Apple's mobile operating system. It is no secret that iOS is showing its age in several key aspects, especially compared against Android. The concept of alerts, despite advancements such as Notification Center, is still too obtrusive and leaves a lot to be desired.

That's why I approve a new solution proposed by an Apple fan who has envisioned friendlier and actionable iOS alerts...

Musician Will.i.am launching a 14-megapixel iPhone camera attachment next week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

This is gonna be every iPhoneographer’s dream come true. Apparently, musician Will.i.am is set to launch an interesting iPhone accessory next week via his new consumer electronics venture.

It basically replaces the device's built-in iSight camera with a 14-megapixel sensor that clips onto the iPhone to provide dramatically enhanced clarity and definition of your snaps.

The gizmo also has its own built-in flash better than the iPhone's. "You dock you phone into our device and it turns you smartphone into a genius-phone", he tells The Telegraph. "We take over the camera"...

Apple’s patent pact with HTC auto-terminates if either party is bought

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

Apple's worldwide patent settlement with HTC is set to automatically expire should either firm get acquired by a third-party, patent blogger Florian Müeller discovered combing through court documents. Even more so, a so-called "change of control" clause is mostly beneficial to Apple given its $110+ billion cash pile making Silicon Valley's most powerful company literally unlikely to be snapped up any time soon.

But if HTC gets bought, Apple's prized iPhone patents licensed to the Taiwanese handset maker remain encumbered. What's more, in case of such an outcome Apple is theoretically free to reassert its claims. The settlement also involves HTC subsidiaries S3 Graphics and VIA technologies, both of which were asserting patents against Apple in the past...

The majority of iPad mini screens are made by LG Display, not Samsung

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 24, 2012

The vast majority of iPad mini units incorporate a 7.9-inch screen manufactured by LG Display, a report out of Asia claims. AU Optronics, another Apple supplier, is said to be responsible for a much smaller portion of orders as it reportedly continues to suffer from poor yields in the production of panels.

The news is another indication of Apple distancing itself from Samsung. Remember, Samsung was originally the primary supplier of Retina screens for the third-generation iPad, until LG Display stole the Apple account in August. The Galaxy maker also lost out on the iPhone 5 front to rival panel makers, although the company still manufactures chips for Apple devices...

UK bank Barclays buys 8,500 iPads, calls Apple’s tablet ‘the best solution’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Another significant win for Apple's popular tablet brand: British multinational banking and financial services company Barclays has confirmed it's purchased 8,500 iPads “to assist our branch colleagues to interact with customers, improving the customer experience”.

The announcement couldn't have come at a worse time for Microsoft, whose Surface tablet hit store shelves on October 26 but so far has generated only "modest sales", per CEO Steve Ballmer...