As most of you are aware of by now, the Northeastern part of the United States was hit by a superstorm this week. Hurricane Sandy tore through New York, New Jersey and other areas on Monday night, causing an estimated $60 billion in damages.
For those that are looking to help, Apple has teamed up with the American Red Cross to make it easy for folks to donate money to the relief efforts...
As we told you this morning, some customers started receiving their iPad minis today, despite the fact that the tablet doesn't officially launch until Friday. This gave us early unboxing photos and new details about the product.
One of those details is that on the back of the iPad mini's retail box, it says that the tablet requires iTunes 11 for sync. But, as we all know, Apple has pushed its iTunes 11 release back to November. So what's the deal?
Apple has filed its end of the year 10-K document, a performance report required of all companies by the SEC (Security Exchange Commission), and as you might expect, it contains some pretty interesting information about the iPad-makers.
Perhaps most interesting is that it names Scott Forstall's new official title at the company, following Monday's announcement that he is no longer the SVP of iOS software: Special Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer...
In a response to Motorola's motion from yesterday seeking clarification on essential wireless patents (which include both cellular and WiFi standards), Apple has formally acknowledged its willingness to accept a license at a court-determined rate of up to $1 per iPhone through a license agreement on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
The figure entails worldwide sales of covered products, the iPhone maker said. Apple's position on FRAND licensing is that the industry should set FRAND rates in order to prevent companies asserting wireless standards-essential patents against its rivals by jacking up prices.
Motorola, which is now a wholly-owned Google subsidiary, wrote in the filing that Microsoft's FRAND contract case had explicitly committed to the conclusion of a license agreement on court-ordered terms. Is there finally an end in sight to this patent mess?
Joy of Tech does regular takes on the tech industry's blunders and Apple is often the subject of their daily web comic. This is their view of Monday's executive shake-up that saw CEO Tim Cook fire long-time iOS chief Scott Forstall and retail boss (though he never earned that title) John Browett. Go past the fold for the comic and an additional explanation...
Wow, that was fast. The iPad mini hasn't landed on store shelves yet and already Amazon has removed a comparison ad on its home page which painted the device in unfavorable light to its own Kindle Fire HD tablet. I guess they didn't like mostly raving reviews that describe the device as being beautifully constructed, fast, fluid and hard to resist - price be damned. Or perhaps alarms were raised at Amazon when another report suggested that Apple's marketing boss clarified that the iPad mini does have stereo speakers where in Amazon's ad claimed it didn't? What goes around comes around, Amazon...
Senior Vice President Eddy Cue is known as the fixer at Apple, a reputation he built back in 2008, when Steve Jobs appointed him head of iTunes and online services after giving Apple's cloud team a serious dressing down over the MobileMe(ss) debacle. This 23-year Apple veteran immediately retired the flaky service, built iCloud from the ground up and took control of Apple's iTunes and App Store infrastructure.
Last September, CEO Cook appointed Cue Apple's new SVP of of Internet Software and Services, the role that encompasses the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, as well as the iAd advertising platform and iCloud services.
Monday, Cue assumed Maps and Siri responsibilities after Cook fired iOS chief Scott Forstall for shipping buggy software prematurely, clashing with his peers and refusing to apologize personally for Mapgate (it was Cook who eventually signed the public apology instead). We, of course, already knew all of the above. Today, CNET runs an interesting profile which reveals a couple previously unknown tidbits about this able exec...
In a classic marketing 101 move, online retailer Amazon last week highlighted the iPad mini's perceived flaws in a huge Kindle Fire HD ad on its web site. The move came after Amazon uncharacteristically compared the iPad mini to its tablet in an earnings release announcing its first loss in nine years. Advertising against the iPad mini, Amazon listed Apple's device as having a mono speaker versus dual stereo speakers on its tablet. Some people likely bought this as Apple's own web page makes no mention of stereo speakers and the Tech Specs page only confirms "built-in speaker".
Always quick to right the wrongs, Apple's head honcho of worldwide marketing allegedly confirmed in an email exchange with a fan that the smaller iPad does have built-in stereo speakers. We expect Amazon to update its homepage ad shortly...
Shares of Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer that assembles Apple's iPhone, iPad and a number of products for other big names in tech, posted its third-quarter earnings yesterday. The results are stronger than expected and attributed to high demand for the iPhone 5, warm iPad mini reception and the incoming new iMac, which arrives in November and is already predicted to be in short supply.
On the other hand, investors are also concerned over Apple's long-term growth prospect and Foxconn becoming too dependent on the Cupertino, California designer of shiny gadgets...
Markets finally opened this morning after a two-day period of suspended trading over Hurricane Sandy. Apple on its part has cunningly slipped in news late Monday that it fired iOS chief Scott Forstall and retail boss John Browett over a series of missteps that cost the Cupertino, California-headquartered company both reputation and market position.
Apple's bet was that investors, fans and the general public would have some time to process the news before jumping to conclusions. Many watchers and analysts deemed the move a strategic re-aligning, one that gave Apple's design guru Jony Ive more power, turning him into the steward of the user experience across Apple products. Still, some investors were spooked and sent shares of Apple down to their lowest level since late July...
Apple originally promised to ship the 4G LTE cellular version of the iPad mini mid-November. However, following selling out of initial supplies of Wi-Fi models, analysts have warned the company could easily face production issues that could easily affect delivery dates. Multiple web reports now indicate that Apple is in fact removing delivery dates for iPad mini LTE pre-orders.
Some customers are now reporting that the company updated their November 23 shipment date to just "mid-November". Meanwhile, just as first (and largely positive) reviews hit the web, a guy in France has already received his Wi-Fi unit ahead of Friday's official launch and posted a series of unboxing pics...
As Apple launches the iPad mini on Friday, the company will, for the first time in recent memory, be entering a crowded, well-established marketplace. Both Google and Amazon have been successfully selling 7-8-inch tablets for quite some time now.
We'll never know just how well Amazon's Kindle Fire HD is selling, as they don't release sales figures, but we do get a glimpse of Google's Nexus 7 numbers this morning. And they're pretty good. Asus' CFO says they're moving almost 1 million per month...