Apple

Apple off the hook as Chinese media approves of Tim Cook’s apology

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2013

Pressured by the relentless crusade of state-owned media in China which have been dissing Apple in headlines for days over its warranty practices, Tim Cook yesterday issued an open letter.

Published on Apple's Chinese web site, the letter is basically a public apology addressed to the company's customers and fans in the 1.33 billion people country, now Apple's second-largest market. It's done its job (for now) as the iPhone maker appears to have earned back the media's respect in China.

The same major print and broadcast media that have been bad mouthing Apple throughout last week over its supposedly "unparalleled arrogance" is now singing praise to the company, with the country's Foreign Ministry officially approving Apple's apology...

Apple’s EarPods trademark challenged by HearPod maker Randolph Divisions

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 2, 2013

When you have a few hundred million in walking around money and are worth more than any company on the planet, you become a magnet for lawsuits. That's the lesson Apple is learning as the iPhone maker fields increasing numbers of trademark infringement legal cases.

The latest: a hearing aid maker claims Apple's EarPods sounds just too much like its HearPod. Randolph Divisions filed the lawsuit against Apple in Hawaii District Court. According to the company, it registered the 'HearPod' trademark in 2007, years before the smartphone maker unveiled in 2012 its EarPods for the iPhone 5. Win or lose, at least Apple's legal team gets a trip to Honolulu to argue the case...

Funny or Die’s iSteve trailer hits the web

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Funny or Die production, the popular comedy web site founded by Will Ferrel’s production company, last month announced work on a full-length Steve Jobs movie dubbed iSteve and starring Justin Long as Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs. With the first official trailer having been posted to the Funny or Die web site, it looks as if this flick is actually a more serious depiction of Steve Jobs rather than a typical Funny or Die comedy production...

Apple to announce Q2 2013 earnings on April 23

Cody Lee ∙ April 1, 2013

It looks like folks wondering how Apple did financially last quarter will find out in just a few short weeks. The Cupertino company announced this afternoon that it will be releasing its financial results for Q2 2013 on April 23.

Apple's earnings reports are typically a major affair in the tech world, and this one is particularly important. The iPad-maker's stock is at its 52 week low, and it needs to post some big numbers to change the conversation...

Apple rep says Steve Jobs helped design next two iPhones

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Folks worried about the future of Apple's smartphone line can rest easy. At least for the immediate future anyway. A new report is out that suggests Steve Jobs was involved in the design stages of at least the next two generations of the iPhone.

The report comes from The San Francisco Examiner, after speaking with its city's District Attorney George Gascón. Apparently, Gascón recently met with Apple to discuss the rise in iPhone thefts, and he found out some pretty interesting stuff...

Tim Cook issues open letter apologizing for warranty issues in China

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

If you've been reading the news lately, you've probably heard that Apple's been having some major difficulties in China. Over the last few weeks, it's been getting bashed by the state-run CCTV network and Chinese celebrities over its warranty policies.

The main issue is that some folks believe Apple provides customers in China with worse after-purchase service than it does in other countries, with reports claiming it replaces their goods with recycled components instead of new ones like in the US.

Apple has been fairly quiet on the criticism, until today...

Handset cost: a common reason why people go Android

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Evidence supporting a call for Apple to produce a budget-minded smartphone keeps mounting. The latest evidence: Android's market share lead over iOS in the US is widening, according to research concluded in February. What once was a 2-point domestic lead for Google's mobile software in 2012 has stretched to 8 points.

Android now has just over half of the US smartphone market with 51.2 percent of sales, according to a survey by Kantar Worldpanel. That is a gain from 47 percent during the same period a year ago. Apple's iOS is in second place in the U.S. with 43.5 percent of smartphone sales, a 3.5 percent slip from 2012, according to Kantar...

Nuance launches Voice Ads platform, now ads can talk back to you

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kusQK7PCXTM

Nuance, which supplies Apple with the voice-recognition engine behind Siri, on Monday introduced a new voice-driven advertising platform. No, this isn't one of the April Fools' Day jokes hitting the web today. They are calling it Voice Ads and with a reason, too: the system gives advertisers an opportunity to literally create conversations with consumers through the power of voice recognition and interactivity.

We're not sure how users will react to mobile ads that talk back to them, but we'll admit that the addition of voice - when used the right way - could enhance mobile advertising by going beyond the limitations of mobile devices' limited screen real estate...

April Fools’ Day: the Internet’s best techy pranks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-P6jEMtixY

Today is April Fools' Day so don't take everything you read at face value. Practical jokers as they are, Google is pulling a bunch of April Fools' Day pranks so a lot of people will find it difficult to read today's headlines without disbelieving them. Google's jokes range from the Google Nose Beta button in search ("Smelling is believing") to Google Treasure Maps, a new mapping product to help you find treasure in cities to YouTube closing down after eight years.

They aren't the only ones, other brands pulled pranks of their own. Heck, companies are even issuing press releases with April Fools' Day announcements. I've included more stuff right after the break, like Gmail Blue, a Google Maps Street View feature which lets you decorate your house with themes, a Lumia-branded microwave oven, the Samsung Eco Tree and lots more...

Chpwn and other developers hit with iMessage DoS attack

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 9, 2016

Over the past few days, several well-known iOS and jailbreak developers have reported that they've been hit with an iMessage DoS, or denial of service, attack. The attacks feature a series of spam messages that end up crashing the iMessage app.

The list of affected developers include Sn0wBreeze creator iH8sn0w, Zephyr creator Chpwn, and others. And the perpetrator has been tracked to a Twitter account involved in selling things like provisioned UDIDs and Siri proxy servers...

Tension rises as Samsung complains about not receiving iPhone 6 chip orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 30, 2013

Despite the ongoing legal wrangling over mobile technology patents, Samsung to this date remains the only supplier of Apple-designed processors which drive iPhones, iPads and iPods. The South Korean conglomerate has been exclusively building these chips according to Apple's blueprints at its multi-billion dollar fabrication facility in Austin, Texas.

However, recent chatter increasingly points to rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) possibly stealing the Apple contract from Samsung as Apple looks to further distance itself from its chief rival.

A new report from South Korea alleges Apple has now actually excluded Samsung as a future mobile processor supplier. In turn, TSMC, which is the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, may produce a significant portion, even possibly all of mobile chips for Apple's next-gen iPhone 6 to be released in 2014...

US Patent Office turns down Apple’s iPad mini trademark application

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Apple's been having some pretty bad luck on the patent and trademark front lately. It recently lost a trademark battle in Mexico for its world-renown 'iPhone' moniker, and it's fighting a similar battle in Brazil.

And that bad luck continues this week with reports claiming that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has turned down the Cupertino company's trademark application for its just-launched iPad mini...