Earlier this month, BlackBerry announced plans to receive an investment worth over $1 billion in the form of a debt sale and to fire its CEO Thorsten Heins. Instead of sell out, the company has decided to try and rebuild.
Of course, that's much easier said than done. Not only has BlackBerry lost nearly all of its consumer marketshare, it's also lost most of its major enterprise accounts, and word has it that another one—Pfizer—is on the way out...
What better way to manipulate AAPL than trash-talk the company on a Friday and let bloggers disseminate FUD? First, UBS analyst Steve Milunovich articulated his disappointment with iPad sales because the tablet in general "simply isn’t a must-have device" (I swear I'm not making this up).
Next, Henry Blodget (who runs Business Insider) is back with his 'iPhone dead in the water' meme: Apple's refusal to go for low-value customers has been ticking Blodget off for some time, even if the move carries the real risk of damaging the brand beyond repair.
Then, a Chinese blog asserts Apple is further trimming the iPhone 5c production as early adopters continue to prefer the flagship iPhone 5s. Finally we have Morgan Stanley creatively putting all of the Android tablets together - including those sold on the Moon plus sub-$50 no-names sitting in the drawer collecting dust - to proclaim Google's platform a revenue winner.
Grab your popcorn and chillax...
Nearly 6 months after announcing that it would be coming in 'a few weeks,' Google has finally launched an official Google Play Music app for iPhone. The software allows you to use both Google's All Access and standard music services.
All Access is similar to Spotify and other like-services, allowing users to listen to unlimited songs and create custom radio stations. And the standard service lets you upload 20,000 of your own songs to the cloud for playback anywhere...
An unknown portion of the first batch of Retina iPad minis coming out of assembly line is apparently plagued with the screen retention problem, reports from disgruntled users claim. Every Apple product launch is marred with teething issues, though this one is more than skin-deep. As we reported, Korea’s ETNews blamed the issues last week on production woes with Sharp-made IGZO Retina panels.
Manufacturing issues have apparently prompted Apple to negotiate with Samsung Display for the supply of 7.9-inch Retina screens starting next year, as Samsung’s display-making unit “was the first to solve the technological problem”. At the heart of the issue is malfunctioning of Sharp’s thin-film transistor screen technology...
Nest, a startup run by the iPod Godfather and brilliant engineer Tony Fadell, made a name for itself with a sleek, intelligent thermostat (check out Jeff's hands-on) and the beautiful smoke and carbon monoxide detector dubbed Nest Protect. Today, the company has announced a big update coming soon to its companion application for the iPhone and iPad to allow for easier and, well, eye-candy management and robust remote control of your app-enabled Nest devices.
For starters, the app's been redesigned from the ground up and now supports both landscape and portrait orientation and includes gorgeous animated weather and more detailed Where location settings for Nest devices.
The headline new feature is support for both the Nest Thermostat and the upcoming Nest Protect smoke-detector, making it a one-stop solution for Nest device management, from the palm of your hand...
To say that Candy Crush Saga, a game that challenges players to match candies in a combination of three or more, is a hit would be an understatement. You can't scroll through Facebook or walk through the mall without seeing it.
And today, The Telegraph added some context to the success. Speaking with Tommy Palm of developer King, the news outlet is reporting that Candy Crush has surpassed the 500 million download mark, just one year after launching...
As of yesterday, Apple's internal retail system which runs Apple Stores in the United States has been experiencing nationwide outage which is threatening to hurt the company's retail revenue as the downtime continues to slow down the sales process and affect both walk-in purchases and in-store pickups of online orders.
In fact, Apple has now switched to a pen and paper system, in some instances replacing its custom-made EasyPay self-checkout software/hardware combo with old-fashioned credit card machines.
The full details are right past the fold..
As the Apple v. Samsung trial to recalculate the damages Samsung owes continues, Phil Schiller took the stand yesterday. Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing was called up to speak with just 11 minutes left in the session.
But that still proved enough time for Schiller to dish out some interesting details about his role at Apple, and its early days of iPhone development. He said around 100 people worked on what was referred to as the 'bet the company' product...
Thanks to Game Center, Facebook, and plenty of other social networking connected sites and services, we can play games against friends and family without having to be in the same room with them. We don’t even have to be on the same continent as them. Actually, we don’t even have to know them at all, in some circumstances.
ins and outs – a casual and competitive puzzle game is one of those games that focuses on competing against others in a friendly game of connect-the-dots. Instead of just inviting them to play the game, you get to entice them by putting the “dare” into it…
It's been a big week for Apple-related book releases, with two major titles hitting the shelves: Dogfight: How Apple And Google Went To War And Started a Revolution and Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products.
The latter is a full-length biography on Ive, Apple's senior vice president of design. And if you've been thinking about picking it up, you'll be interested to know that you can snag it at a nice discount in this two-book combo deal...
Driving back and forth every day to the office can be a burden if your commute is more than 20 minutes on average, which it is for most people. If your drive lasts at least as long as a broadcast sitcom, you probably have a routine for keeping yourself from going mad on the road. If you don’t you should.
We have a list of apps that we think will help make your commute easier by letting you know what the traffic is like, how soon your bus will arrive, and where to find the cheapest parking lot in the city…
United Airlines has posted an update for its iOS app this morning, bringing it to version 2.0.1. Well it's calling it an update, but it's been completely rebuilt with an iOS 7-friendly design and several new features.
Included in the new design are what United is calling 'travel cards,' which look like Windows Phone Live Tiles that provide quick access to info like flight status, and more. We've got the release notes after the fold...