Valve may be taking on traditional video game consoles with its upcoming Steam Box, but CEO Gabe Newell says that Apple is the company's biggest threat to its success in the entertainment space.
Newell gave a lecture to a class at the University of Texas' LBJ School of Public Affairs this week, and he had some interesting things to say about Apple and the mounting war for the living room...
Talk about timely news. Just as I ran a story about a patent Apple was granted yesterday which describes what looks to be the rumored less-pricey iPhone that could be made from "transparent materials such as clear plastic", news broke that the Cupertino, California gadget designer posted a new job listing for Manufacturing Design Engineer with a focus in Advanced Plastic Tooling and Process.
Now, Apple's been moving away from plastic towards aluminum for pretty much all of its products in years past. Why on Earth would then Apple be looking to expand and improve its current plastics division unless, of course, it's in fact working on a less expensive iPhone for emerging markets, made with a cheaper plastic case to keep costs down?
Well, lookie what we have here... The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) yesterday published an Apple patent which at first blush appears to outline a device seemingly resembling what the rumored elusive budget iPhone is supposed to be.
An aspect that particularly piqued our interest: unlike Apple's iOS devices, this one has no home button on its face. There's also a rear-facing camera - interestingly, it has no cam out the front for making video calls - and the entire thing is encased in a "clear plastic body"..
Apple Stores provide an unmistakable, unique shopping environment. The company has spent years perfecting the look and feel of its retail shops, with their large glass windows, clutter-free product tables and walls of accessories.
And it looks like Apple will now be able to protect all of that hard work with a few newly acquired trademarks. This past week, the US Patent and Trademark office granted the company trademarks on its retail design and layout...
I just stumbled upon a nice post by Doug Hamlin highlighting how Android fragmentation seriously derails Google's ability to deploy the latest and greatest version of its mobile operating system to as many devices as possible, especially compared to Apple's iOS software. At the time of this writing, and based on Google's own numbers, Jelly Bean (both Android version 4.1 and 4.2) powers a total of 10.2 percent of devices in the wild. By contrast, 300 million Apple devices (out of 500 million) upgraded to iOS 6 and above in just five months...
Is it just me, or did last November's update to the Remote application, which came alongside iTunes 11, significantly affect stability? I use the app on a daily basis to control my Apple TV, and it seems like I'm constantly having to restart it.
Well hopefully that changes today, as Apple has just pushed out an update for Remote, bringing it to version 3.0.1. The app's change log says that it includes a number of improvements, including search results, song rating and stability...
Apple's $329 7.9-inch iPad mini is on fire: according to a new report out of Asia, the mini Apple tablet is outselling its bigger brother, the iPad 4, by up to four to one for off-contract sales through the retail chain. Looking only at subsidized carrier sales, the iPad mini is outselling iPad 4 by up to three to one. But despite booming sales of Apple's inexpensive tablets, retailers are cunningly required to first order iPad 4 before they can place orders directly for the iPad mini...
Don't get too excited about that unreleased Apple TV device which popped up in Monday’s iOS 6.1 release - Apple confirmed it's just a minor internal upgrade that won'y affect product features at all. That much was expected: after all, the very 'AppleTV 3,2' designation indicates a minor refresh (current-gen 1080p Apple TV is being referenced as 'AppleTV 3,1'). We kinda hoped that the new Apple TV would run third-party apps or become a full-blown television set, but Apple says 'no'...
Following up on yesterday's release of cloud-based Office 365 for Macs and Windows PCs, Microsoft's energetic CEO Steve Ballmer sat down with Ashlee Vance of Bloomberg Businessweek to talk biz, competition and discuss what's next for the productivity suite. Office 365, basically a subscription-based offering, shouldn't be confused with the just released Office 2013 suite.
Despite several credible leaks proving that Microsoft is working on Office for iPad, Ballmer isn't afraid of an Office-less iPad. Little wonder, considering the Windows maker is keeping a tablet version of Office exclusive to Windows 8 tablets as a crucial advantage over other tablets...
Car maker Honda announced Wednesday that some of its 2013 vehicles will feature integration with Apple's Eyes Free, a voice-activated system that lets compatible Siri-enabled iOS devices running iOS 6 to interact with the driver. Honda joins a host of other car makers who announced support for Siri's Eyes Free mode or are already supporting the feature in high-end vehicles.
Apple at WWDC 2012 announced Eyes Free and said a number of car makers will be supporting it, including GM, Audi, BMW, Toyota, Honda, Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, GM and Chrysler. Eyes Free allows drivers to interact with their iDevices using voice and bypassing touch input, thus increasing safety...
The next time you visit your local carrier asking for an iPhone, don't freak-out too much if the salesperson doesn't respond right away - it could be that loud 'ca-ching!' sound.
Nearly 60 percent of iPhone owners pay more than $100 per month to carriers - 10 percent paying more than $200 each month, according to a new survey released Wednesday.
By comparison, 55 percent of Android smartphone owners, 40 percent of BlackBerry owners and 56 percent of Windows Phone users have smartphone bills more than $100 per month, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners...
Days after reports suggesting shorter delays for Apple's iPad mini comes rumors the company could ship about 11 million of the 7.9-inch tablets during the first quarter of 2013. The potential reason: an improved supply chain from China's factories producing the device.
At last week's earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said iPad mini shipments were constrained during the all-important holiday period. While in December there was a week delay shipping the tablet, the shipping wait had fallen to 3-5 days by mid-January. The shortened shipping time was likely the precursor of today's rumor about first quarter demand...