Apple

Firing Forstall was a mistake, says former engineer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Apple CEO Tim Cook's decision to fire the architect of Apple's mobile and desktop operating systems was a mistake, according to former senior Apple manager Michael Lopp. He is calling for a downturn for the company and predicting that "Apple’s doom will start quietly".

You may have noticed trending Apple doomsday scenarios as haters are having a field day painting the company's recent moves in negative light. Forstall, Lopp says, "was old school", the closest thing the company had to Steve Jobs. Lopp goes as far to claim Forstall was the only legit successor to Jobs "because he displayed a variety of Jobsian characteristics"...

Ad assault: Windows Phone commercials are heavy on celebs and great overall

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y29tpFjWyUE

Microsoft is sparing no expense in promoting its freshly updated Windows Phone software platform. The massive advertising blitz that will end up costing billions over the next twelve months kicked off during NFL games on Sunday with a series of effective commercials. They're all heavy on celebs who explain how Windows Phone makes their lives more personal.

The basic message the campaign wants to instill in the mind of the consumer is that Windows Phone is "reinvented around you" (it reminds a bit of the "inspired by nature, designed by humans" tagline for Samsung's Galaxy S III, doesn't it?). "When we set out to make a smartphone, we didn't make one for all of us", the ad above proclaims. "We made one for each of us".

Right below the fold: more ads showing Gwen Stefani arranging Live Tiles, Jessica Alba using Kid's Corner parental controls and even Microsoft's boss Steve Ballmer messing with the Live Apps on the Start screen...

Apple’s Android settlement with HTC could be worth at least $3 billion

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2012

Apple and HTC last Saturday announced a global settlement in their long-standing Android dispute. The agreement dismissed all patent-related lawsuits between the two firms and put forth a 10 year cross-licensing deal for all current and future patents. While the terms of the settlement are confidential, one analyst thinks that Apple gets up to eight bucks per every Android-based HTC phone sold. With 30-35 million Android-based HTC smartphones sold annually, Apple could pocket a cool $280 million annually on this patenting pact...

Samsung allegedly ups Apple chip prices by 20 percent

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2012

Samsung Electronics, which manufactures Apple-designed chips for iPads and iPhones exclusively at its Austin, Texas facility, has reportedly hit the iPhone maker with a material 20 percent price hike. Unsurprisingly, per an unnamed person allegedly familiar with negotiations between the two companies, this price increase is only aimed at Apple and not other Samsung clients. Apple up until recently used to account for as much as 8.8 percent of Samsung's revenue. It's been estimated that Apple ordered 130 million iPhone and iPad chips from Samsung Electronics in 2011 and more than 200 million units this year. The two frenemies have allegedly started to reflect the new supply price recently...

Rumor: the iPhone 5S entering trial production in December

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2012

And you thought your iPhone 5 would keep you on the bleeding edge of technology. A new report out of Asia this morning claims that Apple plans to begin trial production of a next iPhone, the iPhone 5S, in December. The reason for such a hasty production schedule? Low yields that continue to affect availability of the current iPhone 5.

In order to avoid similar problems with the next iPhone, the story goes, Apple wants to start trial production of the iPhone 5S as early as possible so the company could work out any kinks ahead of volume production, which is apparently slated to begin in the first quarter of 2013...

Apple airs two new iPad mini ads highlighting iPhoto and iBooks apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdmkhzGD-ZA

Apple Sunday afternoon posted a pair of television commercials for the iPad mini. Unlike the inaugural ad which focuses on the GarageBand app, these new clips highlight Apple's own iPhoto and iBooks apps for the tablet, the former provided as a $5 download. Using the effective side-by-side format, the first commercial, named Photos and see above, takes us through the various photo management and editing capabilities of the iPhoto app.

The other is called Books and shows off various iBooks. As you'd expect, both apps behave exactly like on full-sized iPads. The ads are available as QuickTime streams from Apple's home page and via Apple's YouTube channel. I've included the Books commercial right after the break...

Ballmer qualifies Surface sales as ‘modest’, but there’s a huge opportunity

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

For all the talk about the Surface - and we've said some nice things about it - Microsoft's foray into big league tablet computing has been marred with teething problems and lackluster sales. Arriving in a crowded tablet market on October 26, the Surface was praised for its industrial design and build quality as it was panned for its resource-hungry and buggy OS and insufficient third-party software.

The software maker did not release exact sales data and its CEO Steve Ballmer is dogging such questions in absence of a milestone like Apple's three million tablet sales in three days. In an interview with a French newspaper, Ballmer qualified the beginning of the Surface sales as "modest", which probably means way worse than expected...

Apple ordered to pay Samsung’s legal fees in failed UK patent suit

Cody Lee ∙ November 11, 2012

Apple's legal team has had a rough go of it in the UK over the past few weeks. After losing a patent suit against Samsung, and then the ensuing appeal, the company was forced to write a public apology on its UK website.

Of course, Apple complied and posted the apology, but the judge wasn't impressed with its snarky tone. So in addition to asking the iPad-makers to correct it, he's also ordered them to pay Samsung's legal fees...

Apple and HTC reach global settlement on patent litigation

Cody Lee ∙ November 10, 2012

So this is huge. Apple and HTC have both announced this evening that they have reached a global settlement on all patent litigation, effectively dismissing all patent-related lawsuits between the two companies. Additionally, the two handset-makers have also agreed to a 10 year cross-licensing deal for all current and future patents...

Apple paid $20 million for iPad Clock design rights

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 10, 2012

Remember legal brouhaha involving Apple and iPad Clock app in iOS 6 on one side and Swiss Federal Railways, which holds rights to the iconic timepiece design, on the other? We praised Apple for doing the right thing after it was reported the intellectual property dispute ended by Apple agreeing to license the SBB station clock design for use on iPads and iPhones. Neither Apple nor the Swiss Federal Railways SBB commented on financial terms of the licensing agreement at the time, but sources now claim Apple paid to the tune of $20 million, or 16.5 million euros, for design IP...

If only this iPad mini parody clip was the real deal

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 10, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaW6IiWKHAk

After watching this, I'm beginning to wonder if somebody at Apple should seriously consider hiring Cinesaurus, a Seattle-based creative team "obsessed with telling stories through video and animation". They're also behind an excellent Surface parody video that teaches Microsoft how to advertise against the iPad...

Patent troll hits Apple with iPhone screen rotation suit

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 29, 2017

A Boston University study from July pegged the cost of lawsuits filed last year by nonpracticing entities - that's the code word for patent trolls - at an unbelievable $29 billion. Patents and lawsuits are their 'products' and Apple is among their favorite targets. You need look no further than Lodsys or VirnetX, which has expanded claims against Apple after winning $368 million in FaceTime case damages.

You can now add MobileMedia Ideas on your list of Apple patent trolls. Thanks to a Delaware federal judge, its suit against Apple over the iPhone screen rotation and call rejection features can proceed. What's really peculiar about MobileMedia Ideas, apart from the obvious patent troll innuendo in its name, is that it's a proxy for Sony and Nokia...