iPhone News

Google posts Q4 results, comments on iOS apps, better batteries, impact-resistant phones

Google has just posted its fourth quarter earnings for the calendar year 2012. The Internet giant raked in $14.42 billion in consolidated revenue (versus estimates of $12.3 billion), up 36 percent annually and eight percent sequentially. Excluding traffic acquisition costs and Motorola Home, quarterly revenue was $11.34 billion, up from $8.13 billion. The firm earned 54 percent of the revenue outside of the United States, or $6.9 billion.

Quarterly net income came in at $2.9 billion, a 6.7 percent increase (non-GAAP profit was $3.57 billion, up from $3.13 billion a year before). The company surpassed analysts' expectations on EPS, which was $10.65 on a non-GAAP basis versus the $10.54 consensus. So, even though revenue climbed substantially, profit was only up slightly.

Of note, Google's Motorola subsidiary (excluding the home biz) lost "only" 353 million, or 23 percent of the unit's quarterly revenue. Better batteries and impact-resistant design could be in the works for Motorola handsets. A live stream of the earnings call is included right after the break alongside other tidbits related to Apple, Maps, Nexus devices and more...

Munster (again) sees Apple shipping iTV and new remote in 2013

You gotta give it to Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, arguably for years the most vocal proponent of a full-fledged Apple television set. Speaking to Bloomberg today, Munster re-iterated his belief Apple is working on releasing a standalone television set in 2013. His thinking is apparently based in checks with Apple's suppliers and he also sees the Cupertino firm shipping an intelligent remote that, in his mind, should be an important part of the rumored iTV...

Orchestra now offering reservations for upcoming Mailbox email client

Last month, we told you about an exciting new iPhone email client called Mailbox. The app, which has been described as a cross between Clear and Sparrow thanks to its simple, swipe-based UI, is slated to hit the App Store in the next few weeks.

And in anticipation of high demand for the free email client, Mailbox-creator Orchestra opened up a reservation system this morning. It operates on a first-come, first-served basis, and will help the team manage server traffic when the app lands...

AMD hires ex-Apple and Qualcomm chip experts, looks to move beyond PCs

This is kind of interesting. In an effort to move beyond PCs and expand its market, AMD just hired two high-profile chip experts: Charles Matar of Qualcomm, and Wayne Meretsky, formally of Apple.

The company currently depends on the PC industry for 80% of its profits. And with sales in that business dropping due to rising demand for smartphones and tablets, it's looking to shift gears quickly...

Verizon numbers suggest Apple sold over 50M iPhones last quarter

Apple is set to announce its iPhone sales and other figures from the holiday quarter tomorrow, in what many are calling its most important earnings report of the last decade. Recently, rumors of slipping iPhone and iPad demand have driven the company's stock down to $500. And this is its chance to start turning things around.

The focal point will be on iPhone numbers, since the handsets account for half of Apple's business. And it needs to have sold in upwards of 50 million of them to avoid disappointing the Street. Well according to analyst Brian White, they hit that mark and then some...

DigiTimes: jumbo-sized iPhone to debut in 2014

The somewhat reliable DigiTimes reports this morning that Apple will this year release two new iPhone models, not three as one analyst predicted. Citing industry sources, the trade publication claims Apple is planning two four-inch iPhone models due around summer, one of them being targeted at the midrange market segment (budget iPhone, anyone?).

Interestingly, both these devices are said to use in-cell display technology featured on the iPhone 5. This last tidbit contradicts yesterday's report out of Japan suggesting Apple asked Sharp to cut orders of iPhone 5 in-cell panels in half for the next quarter. Additionally, past reports asserted Apple is moving away from in-cell tech and evaluating a new display technology for 2013 iOS devices called Touch-On-Display...

Apple may have ordered ‘very large volume’ of chips from TSMC

Morris Chang, Chairman and CEO of the world's largest semiconductor foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), said in a recent earnings call that his company's 20 nanometer process technology will outsell the existing 28 nanometer tech in its first two years. “Enough discussions have taken place, with enough customers who have large requirements (on 20nm), to lead us to believe that the volume will be very large”, he said without specifically mentioning Apple.

Of course, TSMC also makes chips for Qualcomm, Nvidia and other tech giants, but recently rumors have swirled that Apple is about to drop Samsung as a chip supplier and turn to TSMC, which will invest $9 billion this year while spending even more in capital expenditure in 2014 as it moves toward the more advanced 20nm and 16nm process technologies...

Apple to open first retail store in Indonesia, resume direct online sales

Apple is finally opening its first retail outlet in Indonesia, a new report out Tuesday confirmed. The brick-and-mortar store will be located in the capital city, Jakarta. Additionally, the Cupertino firm will boost its retail presence in the 250 million people country by enabling direct online seals via the Indonesia online web store. Apple on December 3, 2012 started selling the iPhone 5 in Indonesia and more than fifty other markets. The following day, the company also launched its iTunes movies and music store in 56 new countries, including Indonesia...

Verizon activates 6.2M iPhones in Q4 2012, but quarterly loss doubles

Carrier Verizon Wireless Tuesday morning posted results for the 2012 holiday quarter. The numbers don't look good: the company posted a huge loss of $1.93 billion, despite adding a "record-high" 2.1 million new subscribers on smartphone penetration of 58 percent.

Even though quarterly revenues increased 5.7 percent to as much as $30 billion, Verizon reported negative EPS of a whopping $1.48, blaming the decline on pensions and costs associated with Hurricane Sandy. In a conference call with analyst, Verizon's finance chief confirmed that iPhone activations hit 6.2 million units out of 9.8 million smartphones, or 63 percent. This was the first quarter with full three months of iPhone 5 sales on the Verizon network...

Apple’s ‘Red Friday’ sale set to take place on January 25

Apple announced its annual Lunar New Year sale last night, a one day shopping event for Asian countries that is similar to November's Black Friday event. The sale, dubbed "Red Friday," is set to take place on January 25.

As with its popular Black Friday event, Apple will be offering up deals on its Macs, iPads, and iPod products, as well as many of its in-house accessories like the Magic Mouse, Bluetooth keyboard and Smart Cover...

The Daily Recap – Jan 21, 2013 edition

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

Welcome to The Daily Recap for January 21st, 2013. Watch our video for a quick look at some of the top stories from the day in less than two minutes. If you missed out on any of today's big news, this is a great way for you to get caught up fast.

For your convenience, you'll also find links to all of the stories listed in today's recap inside...