Apple

Apple sold more Macs and iOS devices than all Windows PCs combined last quarter

Cody Lee ∙ February 14, 2014

Apple may not have impressed Wall Street with its holiday quarter, but it did reach a major [symbolic] milestone. During the 3-month period, the Cupertino company sold more Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPod touches than the total number of Windows computers combined.

According to data gathered by analyst Benedict Evans, this is the first time Apple has surpassed the PC market in hardware sales. Now this doesn't include Windows Phone. If you add that in, the two are more or less exactly equal, though Apple still wins in average selling price...

Bloomberg profiles head of Apple University Joel Podolny

Cody Lee ∙ February 13, 2014

Earlier this week, Apple announced that it was promoting its retail HR head Denise Smith to lead its human resources department company-wide. Smith replaces Joel Podolny, who will now focus all of his energy on a top-secret executive training program known as Apple University.

Not much is known about the project, other than that Steve Jobs hired Podolny—the former dean of Yale's School of Management—to put together a program to teach his methods to future execs. But a new Bloomberg report helps shine some light on the University, and its new leader...

Apple’s marketing head honcho Phil Schiller to appear on the witness stand again

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2014

Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, will take the witness stand again in the second Apple v. Samsung trial due in March, a pair of court filings PCMag spotted on Thursday have revealed.

Furthermore, Apple's former iOS boss Scott Forstall seems to be on Apple's and Samsung's lists for possible live testimony! Forstall hasn't spoken publicly since he got pushed out of the company on October 29, 2012 over the Apple Maps debacle...

Max Axe is App Store’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

It's Thursday and those of you who routinely follow Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week promo know what to expect. That's right, the App Store editors have cherry-picked a new iPhone and iPad application, a game this time around, and slashed it to zero bucks for a limited time.

Max Axe, a humorous arcade frenzy by ChangeYou.com (a publisher of free to play MMORPGs), is now available free of charge until next Thursday (it normally costs $1.99).

This also means that last week's free app, Toca Boca's kids driving game Toca Cars, is no longer available in this promotion...

Twelve South unveils second-generation Compass stand for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 5, 2014

Third-party accessory maker Twelve South today announced a second-generation iPad stand, the Compass 2. The original Compass was released back in 2010 following the first iPad launch. It was available from the Apple Store and classed as one of the first accessories that put Twelve South on the map.

The Compass 2 is lighter and more stylish than its predecessor while building on the features that made the original such a compelling stand.

Like a host of similar accessories, the multi-use Compass 2 raises your device off the surface or affixes it in the low-angle typing mode. This is handy in a number of situations, ranging from enjoying your media to conducting FaceTime calls or simply giving your device a nice, elegant home on your work desk.

It works with any iPad Air, iPad mini or iPad and is available in black, red and silver for $39.99...

Responding to pricing pressure, Verizon launches new MORE Everything plan

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 26, 2017

Caving in to competitive pressure, the nation's top carrier Verizon Wireless today launched a more competitive shared data family plan which comes with unlimited international messaging, double the monthly data allowance, a complimentary 25GB of cloud storage and more.

Unimaginatively dubbed MORE Everything, the new plan doubles the monthly cap from 500MB to 1GB for Verizon's $40 a month plan. The $50 plan has gone from 1GB to 2GB and the $60 plan doubles your monthly data cap from 2GB to 3GB.

But that's not all as Verizon has decided to introduce line discounts for customers enrolled in its Edge early upgrade program. If you're using up to eight gigabytes of data per month, Verizon will treat you to a line discount of $10, or $20 in the case of plans that include ten or more gigabytes of data per month...

Former Cercacor CTO Marcelo Lamego joins Apple and other iWatch hires

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple's hiring spree of biosensor experts continues with the latest revelation pointing to another high-profile executive hire.

According to the newest scoop by NetworkWorld, the former chief technology officer of non-invasive patient monitoring company Cercacor, Marcelo Lamego, has joined Apple's iWatch team.

Apple has been hiring some of the world's top experts in sleep research, medical devices and biosensing, fueling speculation that its rumored wearable device will focus on health and fitness tracking...

Report: Apple to finally phase out iPad 2 ‘in the near future’

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2014

Nearly three years following its March 2011 debut, Apple is finally set to discontinue its second-generation iPad. The iPad 2 was arguably the most important iPad refresh in history, bringing a major redesign from the original iPad, VGA front-facing and 720p rear-facing cameras designed for FaceTime video calling and image capture, magnetic Smart Covers and substantial speed increases courtesy of the Apple-designed dual-core A5 processor.

According to a new report, customers are “resoundingly” buying more of the iPad Air and iPad mini, prompting Apple's leadership to decrease iPad 2 production going forward...

Rovio announces new Angry Birds Stella game debuting this Fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

After teasing its brand new Angry Birds "adventure" game on Twitter, Finnish games maker Rovio today formally announced that a new game named Angry Birds Stella is arriving this Fall. The game has been named after its protagonist, the pink, female Stella thing described as a "fierce and a feisty character with a great group of friends".

Angry Birds Stella will open a door to a part of the Angry Birds universe "you’ve never seen before," the blurb promises. If a media release is an indication, Angry Birds Stella will indeed combine the familiar bird-slinging action with some new adventure elements. I've included some additional information below the fold...

Apple’s ops-chief emails troops on supplier responsibility

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple's Senior Vice President of Operations, Jeff Williams, has issued an internal memo to Apple employees following the company's newly published 2014 Supplier Responsibility Report. Williams was promoted to the position as Tim Cook's long-time right hand man. Before being named CEO, Tim Cook used to run Apple's vast network of suppliers and manufacturer for years.

This is the first time Williams penned an internal memo to troops regarding Apple's environmental strides. The full contents of the memo can be read after the break...

Apple publishes 2014 Supplier Responsibility Report

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple this morning published its annual Supplier Responsibility Report to its website. The report details the company's Supplier Code of Conduct and the lengths it has gone through in the past year to ensure its suppliers and their materials are on the up-and-up.

One of the more notable items from the report is that Apple says that all active, identified tantalum smelters in its supply chain were validated as conflict-free by third-party auditors. This means that all of Apple's suppliers are using only verified tantalum sources...

Apple said to be moving forward with ‘less ambitious’ TV plans

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Following a report by Bloomberg, which reiterated Apple's move to revamp its set top box, comes a scoop from The Wall Street Journal regarding the company's TV plans. The outlet says Apple has abandoned efforts to disrupt cable TV in favor of a less ambitious strategy.

According to the story, the Cupertino firm was at one time approaching media companies directly to obtain content rights for an a-la-carte TV service. But due to failed licensing negotiations and other issues, it's said to now be working on hardware for existing cable service ...