If you look around your next hotel room, there's a fair chance it will have an alarm clock with a 30-pin dock connector for your iPhone. It's a popular amenity for hotels to list, since there are some 500+ million iOS devices out in the wild.
But one hotel in Cupertino, California is taking their iOS compatibility to the next level. Starwood Hotels' Aloft Hotel has announced today that it now has an Apple TV, connected to a 42-inch LCD television, in all 123 of its guest rooms...
The Internet giant Google, reportedly adamant to solve its instant messaging conundrum, is working on consolidating its many chat services and folding them under a new brand name - Google Babble. Not sure whether Babble is just a code-name, but I'd definitely chose a different moniker because the term 'babble' doesn't just denote chatter, it also means "to utter a meaningless confusion of words" and "talk foolishly or idly".
Be that as it may, a new report Monday claims knowledge of an all-new IM solution from Google designed around organizing chats by conversation rather than by people, no matter what chat service they happen to be using. It's said to support video, audio, file transfers and threaded conversations across all the existing services. Go right past the break for more tidbits...
Gadget resellers such as Gazelle may have been eagerly awaiting Samsung's new Galaxy S 4 in the hope that Apple fans will jump ship and trade-in their iPhones. Thus far, this hasn't been the case. Quite the contrary - the vast majority of post-S4 trade-ins are for other Galaxy smartphones, not iPhones.
Specifically, Gazelle's CEO said Monday his company has seen a cool 168 percent increase in the number of the Galaxy S III trade-ins compared to the number of Galaxy S II trade-ins, both observed during the same post-launch timeframe for each device...
Morgan Stanley's resident Apple expert Katy Huberty appeared on CNBC's Fast Money Halftime Report this morning, in a rare TV interview, to field questions on her firm's current positive buy ratings for both HP and Apple.
Asked about Apple, Huberty—who has an overweight rating on the stock with a price target of $630—says the company is poised for a big year with new software features for the upcoming iPhone, including one 'killer feature.'
Another publication has commissioned Dutch concept artist Martin Hajek to bundle all the less-pricey iPhone rumors together in some plausible renderings. The 3D designer's fresh batch of conceptual renderings imagine the rumored device in two flavors, one with a screen measuring four inches diagonally and the other sporting a larger 4.5-inch display.
Hajek took into account credible talk of the budget iPhone adopting a polycarbonate shell, having combined that rumor with analysts speculating about some vivid colors, too. If you ever though using plastics would ruin the iPhone brand with unwanted and cheap feel to it, have a look at the images and think again...
Following Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller's anti-Android comments on the eve of Galaxy S 4 launch and Apple's new 'Why iPhone' web campaign, the CEO of BlackBerry has unsurprisingly launched a critique of Apple's handset and its user interface, referring to the the fact that iOS now 5+ years old.
In his view, Apple is being out-innovated by others, right up to the point where the Cupertino company could get replaced "pretty quickly". Of course, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins, like every other handset vendor in the ferociously competitive mobile market, is really drumming up his own platform by arguing that the iPhone is an old hat. Be that as it may, I'd choose my words carefully if I were Heins.
The struggling handset maker's market share and capitalization have all but evaporated because of the iPhone and now stand in the single-digit range and below the $8 billion mark, respectively. That's how much investors thought the entire BlackBerry biz was worth Monday morning. Now, contrast Blackberry's market cap to Apple's first-quarter net profit of $13.06 billion...
A new week brings a fresh batch of iPad rumors. According to a report out of Asia, Apple is gearing up to launch a Retina iPad mini in the third quarter of this year, alongside a redesigned fifth-generation 9.7-inch model with an iPad mini-like aluminum design, featuring a thinner bezel and lighter frame.
Despite Apple slashing shipments for its full-size iPad 4 in nearly half, from 60 million units down to 33 million units, the story notes the company has not reportedly seen any material decrease of iPad mini demand since its launch in October of 2012...
The U.S. wireless carrier AT&T this morning introduced its data-hungry subscribers to some powerful new tiers.
Going beyond AT&T's existing options topping out at twenty gigs, the new options are now available to add thirty, forty or fifty gigabytes of cellular data to your shared plan of choice. Beware, however - these come at high prices.
The $30GB a month tier will set you back an unsettling $300 a month, with the 40GB and 50GB tiers commanding an alarming $400 a month and a whopping $500 a month, respectively. These prices include unlimited calling and texting. Should you need only data, AT&T will happily sell you data-only tiers for your tablet and laptop, with the top 50GB plan running $335 a month...
Retailer Best Buy is known for discounting iTunes Gift Cards from time to time, with their last offering dating back to December 2012. Today, it started selling the $100 iTunes gift card for $80, a cool twenty percent discount. Lower-denominated iTunes Cards still go for their usual prices so this promotion only applies if you're willing to add a hundred bucks worth of iTunes credits for $80 and save $20 doing so. You can order the card at one of Best Buy's outlets, place an order via Best Buy's web store or have it delivered directly to your home...
Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile USA this morning sent out invites for a March 26 event in New York, where the telco should announce some big news and update us on its technology and business. "We're still a wireless company," reads the invitation, "We're just not going to act like one anymore".
We know that the carrier, as part of its system-wide modernization effort, is planning to finally flip the switch on 4G LTE before the end of this month in Las Vegas and Kansas City (plus, it's been spotted in New York City). Another thing we know is that Apple's iPhone is officially landing on T-Mobile's network this year...
Folks who can't wait for Ashton Kutcher's Steve Jobs biopic to hit theaters—its April release date was recently pushed back to allow time for more marketing—will be happy to hear that another Jobs movie is going to be launching next month.
No, it's not the Sony-backed flick written by Aaron Sorkin. It's actually a Funny or Die production. The popular comedy website, founded by Will Ferrel's production company, has apparently recorded a full-length, 'very silly' Steve Jobs movie...
Apple this weekend launched a new advertising campaign for the iPhone showcasing some of the many reasons why the handset is so popular. It's added a new 'Why iPhone' page to its website, and has begun sending out promotional emails.
The 'Why iPhone' page highlights a number of the device's features including its Retina display, the iTunes ecosystem, iCloud and more, and the fact that it's won 8 J.D. Power and Associate awards and it's the most popular camera in the world...