Apple

Apple worked on curved-glass iPhone, but production was prohibitively expensive

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 2, 2012

This Apple vs. Samsung litigation may be the patent trial of the century, but to fans it's also a treasure trove of valuable information concerning the company's industrial design and craftsmanship, something Apple never detailed voluntarily.

One of the more interesting nuggets from yesterday's deposition by Apple's designer Christopher Stringer highlighted two interesting prototypes that Apple eventually passed on: one sporting a shaped glass and the other featuring all-aluminum enclosure akin to the iPod...

Sharp confirms display shipments for iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 31, 2016

Sharp president Takashi Okuda today confirmed to Reuters that his company will begin shipping displays for Apple's sixth-generation iPhone this month. This is the first time to my knowledge that a major supplier officially confirmed an unreleased Apple product, even if he didn't give a more specific date for shipments beyond this month. The panels will be four inches corner to corner, 30 percent bigger than current iPhones, sources told the news gathering organization...

Rumor: iPad mini display production to start this month

Cody Lee ∙ August 2, 2012

Alongside the new iPhone that everyone keeps talking about, Apple's other big announcement this fall is expected to be a smaller tablet. Dubbed the "iPad mini," by the media, the slate is believed to house a 7.85-inch screen and fall in the $200 price range.

Although there's no actual evidence that such a product exists, it's been confirmed by a number different news outlets. In fact, a new report is out this evening claiming that Apple is set to start production on the smaller tablet's display sometime this month...

Apple officially shuts down MobileMe and iWork.com

Cody Lee ∙ August 1, 2012

Apple has officially closed the door on its MobileMe cloud service today. The move comes after a several month-long transition period that allowed users to move their accounts to iCloud and download their remaining files.

As of this morning, the MobileMe site no longer offers users the option to transfer their accounts over to iCloud, or download their remaining data. Instead, MobileMe visitors are redirected to the existing iCloud website...

New report offers more information about Apple-Twitter talks

Cody Lee ∙ August 1, 2012

Last week, news broke that Apple had, at one point, been in talks with Twitter over a massive investment in the social network. The report described the move as a "strategic investment" believed to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Initially, it was believed that these negotiations had taken place in recent months. But a rebuttal by The Wall Street Journal claimed that it's been more than a year since this happened. And today, The WSJ is back with more information...

Martin Scorsese Siri ad gets the parody treatment

Cody Lee ∙ August 1, 2012

Last week, Apple started airing a new Siri commercial featuring the popular film director Martin Scorsese. The ad was the fourth in a string of celebrity spots focused on the digital assistant.

Unsurprisingly, a parody video has just been made to poke fun at the ad. You've seen "The Samuel L. Jackson ad you were hoping for." Now, here's "Scorsese's alternate iPhone commercial..."

Poll: is Samsung’s F700 an iPhone copy?

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 1, 2012

An interesting argument arose in the Apple-Samsung litigation related to Samsung’s F700 handset. As you know, Samsung sought to present this and other handsets - but the F700 in particular - as trial evidence of prior art that they were designing handsets akin to the iPhone before Apple got to announce its phone in January of 2007.

Judge Lucy Koh excluded that device and a bunch of other Samsung phones from the hearings, but Samsung defiantly publicized the slides yesterday, angering the Judge.

Apple had originally included the F700 as patent infringing in its suit, but later dropped it as it realized Samsung was working on this before the iPhone was released and especially after learning that Samsung applied for a South Korean design registration application in December of 2006, a month before the iPhone’s public unveiling.

Kill me but I just don't see any similarities between the F700 and the iPhone, especially not ones that could establish prior art for either party.

Maybe you do?

Apple’s head mobile chip designer leaves for AMD

Cody Lee ∙ August 1, 2012

Back in June we learned that Bob Mansfield, Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware, would be retiring. Bob has been a familiar face on Apple's executive team for several years, and an integral part of the success of the iPhone and iPad.

And now it looks like Apple is losing another important piece of its iOS squad. A new report is out today claiming that Jim Keller, Apple's lead chip designer, is leaving the company to take a new position at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)...

Samsung: we went public with excluded exhibits because you asked for it

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

As we reported yesterday, Samsung has gotten itself in some hot water with Judge Lucy Koh who strongly condemned its attorneys' decision to influence the jurors by publicizing previously excluded evidence. Samsung was hoping to sway the court of public opinion by releasing a set of slides and a media release which it hoped to use in the litigation to establish that Apple sough inspiration for the iPhone's design from Sony, as its product chief suggested in a pre-trial interview.

The Judge demanded that Samsung's legal team reveal who exactly drafted the press release and who authorized it. The Galaxy maker today filed a brief responding to Judge Koh's request which explains Samsung's reasoning behind the unusual move...

comScore: iPhone outgrew Android last quarter despite sales slump

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Like clockwork, marketing research firm comScore released its quarterly report today on mobile and smartphone marketshare in the US. Today's report covers the three month span between April and June.

The data comes from comScore's intelligent online survey of a "nationally representative sample" of mobile subscribers age 13 and up. Continue reading for the results of last quarter's research...

Why carriers push Android handsets over iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

In what looks to have become an industry-wide practice in the United States (and some other parts of the world), carrier AT&T reportedly instructed its retail staff to aggressively push Android handsets in place of iPhones.

The policy has already contributed to a notable drop in the iPhone's share in AT&T's overall handset numbers, with Apple's device falling from as much as 80 percent of smartphone sales at one AT&T store to between 50 and 60 percent share.

It's not just AT&T, other carriers prefer Android wireless products, too, and here's why...

Rumor: iPod nano with Bluetooth 4.0, new iPhone to sport 8-pin dock connector

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 1, 2012

The perfect wrist watch, a Star Trek communicator of sorts if you will, may be on the horizon if a new rumor by iLounge is anything to go by. Remember, the site reported on Monday that the mini iPad could hit the market in November, with thinner fourth-generation iPad being readied for early 2013 release along with two new iPhone cases for the iPhone 5 launch this fall.

Today, the publication reports on some interesting new tidbits regarding a possible Bluetooth 4.0 wireless networking for the next iPod nano plus a rumored eight-pin (like MagSafe) dock connector for the next iPhone...