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Amazon CEO admits Kindles are sold at cost

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 12, 2012

For some time, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been cagey when it comes to discussing hard numbers surrounding the Internet retailer's Kindle. But apparently, Bezos is a bit more open when not talking to U.S. reporters. Speaking to the BBC Thursday, Bezos said his company sell's "the hardware at cost, so it is break-even on the hardware."

The answer shouldn't be too much a of a surprise. As All Things Digital notes, selling items cheaply in hopes of consumers snapping up humungous numbers of your widgets is a rather common retail practice. Apple has successfully bucked this trend, hauling in huge profit margins for its devices...

ChangeWave: Mapgate and Lightning woes did not affect massive iPhone 5 buying

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 12, 2012

According to a new study by ChangeWave Research, a 451 Research company, "massive iPhone 5 buying" continues despite a string of at times sensationalist reporting of various teething problems with the handset, ranging from the unwarranted cellular data usage and light leakage issues to the purple haze and virtual keyboard flickering woes.

More interesting than that, the study found that so-called Mapgate and incompatibilities with 30-pin accessories brought upon users by Apple's new miniature Lightning connector literally had zero effect on iPhone 5 sales...

Report: iPad mini accessories waiting for Apple announcement to start shipping

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 12, 2012

Third-party accessory makers in Asia appear well-prepared for Apple's expected Oct. 23 launch of a smaller iPad. Nearly two dozen Asian add-on manufacturers have gadgets all set to sell when the reported 7.85-inch 'iPad mini' is finally unveiled, according to a Wall Street analyst.

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White said he met accessory makers during a tour of Asia and found some add-on products already boxed-up and ready for shipping. At one point, White even handled a "pilot" version of the smaller iPad, which "he was easily able to keep in his coat pocket," according to AppleInsider...

The iPhone 5 surpasses the Galaxy S III in web traffic volume in just 18 days

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

Apple's iPhone 5 in under three weeks has managed to overtake Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III smartphone in web traffic volume, a new survey by research and analytics firm Chitika has found. Let's put this in some perspective. The iPhone 5 went on sale in the United States, Canada and seven major oversea markets on September 21, or just over three weeks ago, rolling out the following week to 22 more countries.

Samsung released its Galaxy S III on May 29, four months ago. By July, the South Korean conglomerate was selling the flagship handset in a whopping 145 countries, shipping 20 million units as of September 6. Apple plans to sell the iPhone 5 in a hundred countries through 240 carriers by year's end and announced opening weekend sales of five million iPhone 5 units...

Report: TSMC to begin making quad-core mobile chips for Apple beginning 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 20, 2017

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry with its headquarters located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan, will according to an analyst's research note begin making next-generation quad-core mobile chips for iPhones, iPod touches and iPads sometime in 2014. We heard before that TSMC has a “good chance” of winning Apple’s chip biz in 2014 and this report reaffirms the notion...

Apple does the right thing, licenses the iPad clock design from Swiss Railway

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 29, 2017

After Apple was accused of lifting the iPad clock design from the timeless railway clock created by designer Hans Hilfiker for the Swiss Federal Railway service (SBB), and following a round of negotiations between Apple and the railway service, the Cupertino, California headquartered gadget maker has agreed to license the iconic timepiece look for the new clock app in iOS 6. The information has been confirmed officially by the SBB. Good move Apple, good move...

iPad mini announcement confirmed for October 23

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

October 10 came and went without an Apple media event (here's why), but that doesn't mean the rumor-mill is standing still. According to a new report by a Wall Street Journal-owned blog, Apple will hold an iPad mini event on October 23 (that's a Tuesday). And instead of holding a presser at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where the iPhone 5, iPads and other products were introduced in the past, Apple has reportedly opted for a more intimate setting at Town Hall Auditorium on its Cupertino, California headquarters.

UPDATE: Jim Dalrymple of The Loop has weighed in on the rumor with his trademark "yep".

New iPod nano gets software update

Cody Lee ∙ October 12, 2012

Owners of the newly-introduced iPod nano might be interested to know that there is now a software update available for the device. That's right, Apple just started shipping the refreshed MP3 player a few days ago, and there's already new firmware for it.

The update brings the nano's OS to version 1.0.1. Keep reading for more details...

The state of the iOS 6 jailbreak

Cody Lee ∙ October 11, 2012

It would seem that we're now in the heart of what some folks call the jailbreak season. Apple has just released a new iPhone, iPod touch, and a major update to iOS. And as usual, this has really shaken up the jailbreak scene.

When will the new devices be jailbreakable? What about iOS 6? We've seen a dramatic increase in these kinds of questions recently. So we figured it was time to give everyone an update. Here's the state of the iOS 6 jailbreak...

iPod touch 5th generation review

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

I never planned on purchasing a new iPod touch, but the impulse bug got me. I bought one last year for testing purposes. But despite that justification, I still had buyers remorse soon afterwards. That's how bad the iPod touch 4th generation was. It lacked power, had a terrible screen, and the design was, well, disgusting.

But when Apple showed off the new iPod touch hardware last month, my interest was piqued. Still reeling, though, from the 4th generation product, I kept myself from getting too excited about it.

Unfortunately (thankfully?) I struggle to control myself when it comes to Apple product purchases. But that lack of control allowed me to witness first hand a marvelous turnaround to the iPod touch line. Yes, the iPod touch 5th generation shares little with the previous generation hardware, and that's a good thing.

Indeed, the new iPod touch is — wow — it's actually good. I mean, it's really good. If you haven't yet seen it in person, you owe it to yourself to check out this review...

Samsung’s chip wizard defects to Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

An interesting development here in the never-ending Apple-Samsung saga. Per The Wall Street Journal, Apple has successfully lured Jim Mergard, one of Samsung's most noted chip design luminaries, who joined the Mac maker to presumable help its silicon team create new processors for Apple devices. This has gotta be a blow to South Korea-based Samsung, whose components arm manufactures processors for iPhones, iPads and iPods, which are designed internally by Apple's team of silicon engineers.

Mergard is said to have been tasked with developing ARM chips for servers at Samsung. Prior to joining Samsung, the chip expert was charged with the development of a “high-profile AMD chip that carried the code name Brazos and was designed for low-end portable computers”. It wasn't immediately clear from the report whether Mergard joined Apple's team that creates mobile chips of the unit which develops desktop products...

Microsoft targets Android’s Google Maps app in German patent lawsuit

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2012

Google's pricey $12.5 acquisition of handset maker Motorola Mobility didn't change the dynamics of patent wars as Google hoped it would. Recently, Microsoft and Apple scored a major win in a patent dispute in Germany, forcing Google's Motorola subsidiary to pull all of its Android-based smartphones and tablets from store shelves in the country.

Luck continues to be in short supply at Mountain View, California. Today, the Windows maker has expanded the Motorola patent case to include Google Maps for Android, specifically naming Google as a defendant.

As the public fight between Google and Microsoft gets uglier, Google faces a real possibility of Google Maps becoming unavailable in Germany as early as next spring. Ouch!