Month: January 2013

Angry Birds: 30M downloads on Christmas week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

So much about Angry Birds running its course. Finnish developer Rovio announced today that its Angry Birds series, which just turned three, has been downloaded thirty million times during the Christmas week, raking in over eight million downloads on the Christmas Day alone. The 99-cent holiday sale of Rovio's iPad games might have helped with that. It was an Angry New Year for Rovio indeed and the company produced a charming infographic that highlights other interesting holiday sales stats...

Apple probably sold 50 million ‘boring’ iPhones during the holiday quarter

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

What should we expect to hear from Apple when it announces quarterly earnings later this month? One Wall Street observer Thursday forecasts a huge December quarter of 50 million iPhones and 24 million iPads sold. Although the company could report iPhone sales 86 percent higher than the previous quarter, an aggressive roll-out of the iPhone 5 may prompt Apple to reduce production by mid-year.

According to analyst Rob Cihra of Evercore Partners, the December quarter will reveal 86 percent growth of iPhone sales, compared to the previous three-month period. What's more, the iPad mini will sell ten million of the 24 million Apple tablets moved during the holiday period, up 71 percent over the September quarter...

The next iPhone will fix touch screen lag with Touch-On-Display tech

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The iPhone 5 introduced a bunch of both small and big advances in terms of display tech, most of them centered around the in-cell display process which laminates the cover glass to the display itself. As a result, in-cell tech reduces the iPhone 5's thickness while increasing the image clarity by removing a third layer, which reduces light refraction noticeably. On the downside, this technology reduces the response speed of the touch panel.

This becomes especially evident when moving your finger across its screen in a rapid succession. Given the slow response speed of the iPhone 5's touch panels caused by the in-cell technology, Apple reportedly is going to adopt the new Touch-On-Display technology from Chimei Innolux, a Foxconn subsidiary, to solve the problem...

China Mobile needs the iPhone now more than ever

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 3, 2013

With a whopping 1.1 billion mobile phone users at the end of November 2012, China is the biggest telecom market in the world by subscriber base. And with about 703 million subscribers, state-owned China Mobile remains the world's largest wireless carrier.

Unfortunately, it's also the country's sole holdout when it comes to the iPhone.

China Mobile and Apple have been in iPhone talks for years now, but neither caved in yet. Apple in particular is unwilling to share a portion of App Store sales in China with the carrier. But seeing its 3G subscriber base eroding as a result of not having the iconic smartphone, China Mobile could be starting to need the iPhone more as it finds itself in a position of softening of its tough stance on doing business with Apple...

Apple moves to patent iOS Notification Center it cribbed from Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 12, 2018

We're not sure this was the right move on Apple's part, but the company has in fact filed for the iOS Notification Center patent with both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization. While the document tries to outline the feature in excruciating detail, even the most ardent Apple fans would have to admit that the feature is way too similar to Google's Notification Bar in Android.

To make matters worse, Google got there first as its Android software had the Notification Bar in place before Apple introduced Notification Center in iOS 5, which was released in June 2011.

Maybe Apple hastily moved to file for this patent because Samsung last month filed a lawsuit in its home country against Apple regarding the iOS Notification Center, arguing the feature infringes on one of its active patents?

Ubuntu to join crowded mobile OS market in 2014

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2013

Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS have dominated the mobile space for quite some time now, but the third place spot is still up for grabs. Both RIM and Microsoft are currently vying for the spot, and we've heard that Amazon and Mozilla will soon be joining the race.

Today, we're adding another name to the list: Ubuntu. On Wednesday Canonical offered up details regarding its new Ubuntu mobile OS, an Android-based operating system that it says is more immersive, less cluttered, and easier to navigate than its Google counterpart...

Apple files for patent on advanced ‘Active Stylus’ for iOS devices

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2013

Apple has always strongly opposed the stylus, even though other manufacturers have continued to push for them. Steve Jobs had a number of quotes on the matter, famously saying things like "nobody wants a stylus" and "if you see a stylus, they blew it."

But despite its public disdain for the touchscreen accessory, Apple obviously sees some value in it. The Cupertino company recently filed a patent for an advanced "active stylus" that works with the capacitive touch screens on its different iOS devices...

Apple: Samsung should drop U.S. complaints as it did in Europe

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2013

Back in December, Samsung withdrew all of its SEP (or Standard-Essential Patent) —related injunction requests in Europe "in the interest of protecting consumer choice." Well if that was truly the case, then why is it still pursuing identical claims here in the US?

In a response filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission yesterday, Apple accused Samsung of filing a motion to strike to avoid "inconvenient facts" regarding its reasons for withdrawing claims in Europe. In short, Apple just called Samsung out...

Microsoft beats out Apple and others to acquire R2 Studios

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Last month, word got out that a number of high-profile companies were in possible acquisition talks with the mysterious home automation startup R2 Studios. This included the likes of Microsoft, Google, and yes, even Apple.

Well it looks like Microsoft won the day, as a new report this evening claims that the Redmond company will be the one purchasing the popular startup to help beef up its Xbox unit and increase its living room presence...

Apple to announce Q1 earnings for 2013 on January 23

Cody Lee ∙ January 2, 2013

With all of the talk of Apple losing its dominance, and its stock price taking a $200 bath towards the end of last year, the Cupertino company needed a big holiday quarter to quiet its critics. Outside figures look good, but we won't know for sure until Apple says something.

Fortunately, we won't have to wait much longer for it to break the silence. The iPad-maker has updated its Investor Relations page this afternoon to note that it will announce its earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2013 (4th calendar of 2012) on Wednesday, January 23...

Court dismisses Apple’s ‘App Store’ lawsuit against Amazon

Cody Lee ∙ January 2, 2013

Apple's been involved in some pretty silly legal tiffs, but this one has to be at the top of the list. In 2012, the Cupertino company filed a lawsuit against Amazon for using the term 'App Store' to describe its app portal, calling it "false advertising."

Well luckily, it looks like we can finally put this mess behind us. According to a new report, a California court has granted Amazon's request to dismiss Apple's false advertising suit on the grounds that it failed to provide sufficient evidence...

Apple gains 4% ahead of CES and a smart watch

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 2, 2013

If you are just shaking off the holiday headaches, just think of Apple. After taking a drubbing from Wall Street analysts worried about everything from the fiscal cliff to too few (or too many) sales of iDevices, the iPhone maker woke up this morning to its stock actually up. After rising 4 percent in early morning trading, AAPL shares remain positive. Why the better performance, after being jostled around like a visitor to Time Square on New Year's Eve? Apparently, it has to do with next week's CES and talk that Apple could create an iWatch...