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Apple abandons 2013 Super Bowl, risking more ridicule

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

Will Samsung once more take advantage of the looming Super Bowl opportunity to ridicule Apple, like it did last year launching a campaign which poked fun of the folks who'd wait in line for the iPhone? Given the fifty different lawsuits spread across four continents, it's difficult to imagine otherwise. Samsung has already secured a spot in the big game, but Apple, unfortunately, has again passed on the opportunity to convey its message to Super Bowl's huge audience.

Ad prices have increased every year, with advertisers paying as much as $3.5 million for a thirty-second spot during Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. But ad rates don't concern Apple and Samsung, both big spenders when it comes to advertising. SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller revealed during the Apple v. Samsung trial that Apple in fiscal 2010 spent to the tune of $346.6 million advertising the iPhone and iPad in the United States.

That's peanuts compared to what Samsung spends advertising its gadgets. The Galaxy maker, according to independent analyst Horace Dediu, has an annual budget of nearly $12 billion for advertising, commissions and sales promotions...

The iPhone 5 is the top searched gadget of 2012 on Yahoo and Bing

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

Samsung reigns supreme in handsets, but Apple's iPhone continues to pique consumer interest like no other gadget. The easiest way to figure out what consumers want is to comb through logs of major web search properties. Yahoo is out today with their annual top searches and the results are hardly surprising.

The iPhone 5 was the top searched for gadget in 2012: it's managed to beat Kim Kardashian for the most searched for term overall in 2012. Matter of fact, three of Apple's gadgets landed at the top of Yahoo's year in review list. Looking beyond units sold, it's clear where the public’s heart lies...

Lightning-enabled iPhone 5 dock for under $20

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

USB Fever joins the Lightning fever, so to speak, with an iPhone 5 focused dock that has a pass-through music jack and costs less than twenty bucks. In addition to a Lightning port, the dock is shaped for the iPhone 5 and is a nice option for those condemning Apple for not providing its own dock for the device. A pricier variant is also available with a pass-through audio jack which lets you feed audio out directly from your iPhone 5 via the dock to other music players using a standard 3.5mm jack while charging the device at the same time. As a bonus, the accessory has an additional 30-pin dock connector on the back...

Strong sales of older iPhones hurting Apple’s astronomic profit margins

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple might need to rethink its decision to roll-out older iPhones at cheaper prices at the same time it introduces its latest version.

Compared to previous roll-outs, the iPhone 5 accounted for a smaller percentage of overall iPhone sales, according to one market observer.

The iPhone 5 comprised just 68 percent of overall iPhone sales, compared to as much as 90 percent for the iPhone 4S when it was released in October of last year. And as a result of more lower-priced iPhones selling, Apple could face a smaller profit margin - and nervous Wall Street investors...

Apple rolls out iOS 6.1 beta 3 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ December 3, 2012

Apple has seeded a third beta of iOS 6.1 to developers this morning. The update, which includes "bug fixes and other improvements," comes nearly three weeks after beta 2. The new firmware is now available via an OTA update or through Apple’s developer portal...

AT&T’s LTE now available in Albuquerque, Reading, Salt Lake City and Puerto Rico

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2012

AT&T, the nation's leading carrier, Monday morning announced its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network is now available in Albuquerque, Reading, Salt Lake City and Puerto Rico markets, with the latter including Yauco, San German -Cabo Rojo and Guayama. Consumer Reports last week ranked AT&T worst of major U.S. carriers when it comes to voice and data service quality.

However, AT&T emerged as the nation's leading carrier in terms of LTE deployment, though Verizon still has the most robust 4G network. AT&T doubled its LTE coverage in 2012, which as of mid-November covered more than 150 million people in a total of 103 markets. And as part of the ambitious $14 billion LTE network expansion project, AT&T’s LTE will expand to 250 million people by year-end 2013 and to 300 million by year-end 2014...

Korea orders its telcos ‘not to give excessive subsidies’ for the iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

As iPhone 5 availability continues to improve, Apple today confirmed plans to launch the handset in South Korea this coming Friday, followed by the global expansion into an additional fifty markets throughout the month of December. However, the company could face an unexpected roadblock as The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country's telecom regulator, has threatened to punish carriers SK Telecom and KT if they offer "illegal subsidies to attract more iPhone 5 customers".

Apparently, luring would-be buyers with aggressively subsidized hardware is against the law in the fifty million people country. It is no secret that carriers elsewhere are whining about high iPhone subsidy, with some even mulling dropping subsidies altogether amid tanking margins, like China Unicom. Others, like T-Mobile, complain that carrying the iPhone bears short-term risks due to huge upfront payments to Apple...

Apple: we knew nothing of jury foreman Hogan’s background

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2012

Apple and Samsung are scheduled to once again duke it out in the courtroom on the eve of Pearl Harbor Day, Thursday, December 6. And as the South Korean conglomerate last month alleged jury misconduct, claiming a foreman in the Apple v. Samsung lawsuit concealed information during the jury selection process, Apple is adamant it knew nothing of the foreman background.

Samsung is hoping to overrule the jury verdict which resulted in a $1.05 billion penalty on the grounds that it would have never approved jury foreman Velvin Hogan had it known of his prior involvement in litigation with a former employee Seagate, with which the Galaxy maker has a “substantial strategic relationship”...

The Daily closes after two years

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 3, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NIO41eDMQ-A

Rupert Murdoch's two-year experiment with an iPad-only newspaper will fade to black later this month. Murdoch's News Corp. announced Monday that top executives at The Daily will move to the New York Post December 15. After earlier this year slashing staff by a third, the magazine's Editor-in-Chief Jesse Angelo will become the Post's publisher. Daily publisher Greg Clayman will oversee digital efforts of a News Corp. spin-off company devoted to only Murdoch's publishing empire...

Angry Birds Seasons get 25 new wintry levels in 2012 holidays update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tn3pgdnJNM

Angry Birds maker Rovio last weekend updated the Seasons game with 25 appropriately-themed winter holiday levels. As was the case with a similar update last holiday, each subsequent level becomes available every 24 hours, which is reliant on an internet connection as the game needs to talk to the Rovio cloud to unlock new content on a daily basis. If you do the math, the 25th level is scheduled for unlocking on the big day of December 25.

The winter-style environment features aurora borealis and includes three secret levels, a new slip and slide ice element and the usual amount of bird flinging and pigs popping. You'll also need to watch out for a special Harbin level, created in honor of the upcoming Angry Birds area in the Ice and Snow World in Harbin, China...

Apple announces that iPhone 5 hits Korea and 50 additional markets in December

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2012

Apple has just announced via a media release that the iPhone 5 will launch in South Korea this Friday, December 7, with 50 additional markets to follow later this month. Next week, the iPhone 5 will go on sale in Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

The third wave of the global expansion will follow a week later, December 21, and will include Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam...