Apple

Samsung outspent Apple in 2012 smartphone marketing by $68 million

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 13, 2013

For years, the knock (unfairly) against Apple has been its slick marketing was what pushed sales. A report earlier this week put a dent in that urban myth, showing South Korea's Samsung outpaced the iPhone maker in terms of self-promotion.

Samsung spent $401 million to promote its mobile devices in the U.S. during 2012, above Apple's $333 million during the same period, according to the Wall Street Journal. Although Apple's brand is much better known, Samsung is pouring money toward raising brand awareness in the U.S. market, trying to overcome the lead the iPhone already has.

Indeed, Samsung's marketing budget may be cutting into its profits - spending that will only increase as sales of the company's smartphones climb, say analysts...

Android head Andy Rubin steps down, Chrome VP Sundar Pichai takes the reins

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2013

In a totally unexpected move, Google Wednesday announced its long-time Android head and Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content, Andy Rubin, is stepping down.

He will be replaced by Chrome vice president Cundar Pichai, who will lead Android, in addition to his existing work with Chrome and Apps. Google CEO Larry Page wrote in a blog post he expects Pichai to "double down on Android", noting "the pace of innovation has never been greater".

Despite Android's indisputable lead in terms of device activations, latest data suggests that Apple's iOS stole some share from Google's mobile platform in the United States, the most important market for smartphones. The iOS platform is also the preferred choice for developers because Apple leads in terms of metrics that matter.

The decision to replace Rubin at the height of his career cries for parallels with Apple CEO Tim Cook's firing of iOS boss Scott Forstall in August 2012, whose abrasive management style is said to have created unnecessary friction between key Apple executives...

Automatic Link in-car dongle brings your car’s diagnostics to iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 12, 2013

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

Automatic today announced an interesting new dongle which connects to your iPhone and leverages its Bluetooth connection to retrieve some useful data from your car’s onboard computer, adding a dash of Google Maps and gas pricing info so you can plan your trips and track fuel efficiency, but also keep tabs on your vehicle's critical data, check those engine alerts with actionable recommendations and more.

It connects to your car's OBD-II Data Link Connector to retrieve fuel, mileage and engine data and beam it to your iPhone via Bluetooth. A companion iPhone app combines this data with your GPS location, current fuel pricing and map data to track your drives, offer assistance for a bunch of issues and even automatically call 911 and your family members in an unfortunate case of a car accident...

Apple’s smaller A5 chip is still being fabbed by Samsung

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As we reported Monday, a retooled version of Apple's $99 set-top box has been found to have a die-shrunk version of the iPad 2's A5 chip rather than the A5X package, as previously speculated. Some market watchers even thought the new package is fabbed on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) new 28-nanometer process. However, after conducting a thorough analysis of the silicon under sophisticated microscopes, chip wizards over at Chipworks and Silicon-IP have determined that the new A5 package is being fabbed on Samsung's 32-nanometer process after all...

As smaller tablets catch on, IDC expects Android to overtake iPad in 2013

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Research firm IDC today updated its tablet shipments forecast to reflect the growing popularity of low-cost tablets coming from the Android camp.

IDC now predicts that Android tablets will overtake the iPad in terms of volume during the course of 2013.

The firm pegged Apple's share of the global tablet market in 2012 at 51 percent, with Android-driven tablets accounting for 41.5 percent of shipments. The new forecast calls for Android’s share hitting a peak of 48.8 percent in 2013, mostly at the expense of Apple’s iOS predicted to drop down to 46 percent this year.

But why stop there, IDC futurists project tablet shipments nearly four years into the future: in 2017, they expect Android to own 46 percent of the market, with the iPad dropping to a 43.5 percent share. As we know all too well, Apple isn't one to blindly pursue market share, as evident in smartphones where it captures three-quarters of industry profits with barely one-tenth of total handset shipments...

iWatch concept, the traditional edition

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Hot on the heels of releasing a set of renditions depicting what an iPhone 6 with a 4.6-inch screen might look like, 3D artist Martin Hajek is out with a new concept for the iWatch, Apple's rumored iOS-powered smartwatch that has been reportedly cooking in Jony Ive's kitchen for quite a time now.

Unlike a bunch of sci-fi renderings and some pretty radical mockups that couldn't be farther from the real thing (or so we hope, from the bottom of our hearts), Martin's new renderings featured on the April cover of the MacUser magazine employs a more traditional approach to what an everyman's app-enabled wristwatch should look like...

Twelve South launches sleek BookArc stand for iPad mini

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Twelve South makes some of the finest and most beautifully designed accessories for Apple gear, such as its highly-regarded BookBook case series for the MacBook Air, iPad mini, iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5, the premium, nearly invisible SurfacePad iPhone sleeve or the charming PlugBug charging kit.

Today, Twelve South announced an iPad mini variant of its iPad stand. The arc-shaped BookArc stand looks like a piece of sci-fi furniture and is designed (like its MacBook Air counterpart) to support your iPad in either portrait or landscape on a bunch of flat surfaces...

FCC approves T-Mobile and MetroPCS merger

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just approved a merger between Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile and MetroPCS, an American mobile phone service provider formerly known as General Wireless. Though FCC head Julius Genachowski clearing the merger, it still has to be approved by MetroPCS shareholders to become official.

The FCC told Bloomberg that the merger will "benefit millions of American consumers and help the US maintain the global leadership in mobile it has regained in recent years." At any rate, it should help bring T-Mobile's struggling 4G LTE network online sooner than later...

Vevo wants to become the next MTV, launches always-on broadcast channel

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 12, 2013

Today at SXSW, Vevo announced a 24/7 channel coming to your traditional television via the Roku set-top box and the Xbox gaming console, but also to the Vevo web site and mobile platforms like Apple's iOS, Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Phone. As you know, Vevo streams official music videos licensed from record labels, both through its web site and via a dedicated YouTube channel, where most of its 52 million monthly uniques come from.

Vevo's mobile apps will be updated with an around-the-clock curated experience of original programming, including live concerts and television shows. The experience is being described as multicast, meaning everyone gets to watch the same programming at the exact same time, regardless of the platform they're accessing it from. Vevo TV will even feature a 24-hour schedule of static programming blocks, just like your regular dumb-ified tube...

Gullible analyst says no iTV this year because Apple finds 4K display too costly

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 12, 2013

An analyst with a terrible track record wrote in a note to clients issued Tuesday that Apple won't release a standalone HD TV set in 2013 after all. As much as Apple wanted to, the report has it, the company has allegedly found ultra high-resolution 4K panels to be prohibitively expensive.

You should take this particular analyst's observations with a healthy dose of skepticism: the same guy called for an Apple-branded HD TV announcement at last year's WWDC, later mulling full iTV production for August 2012. He repeatedly said iTV was "imminent" (calling it the iPanel), having also missed with an Apple TV related media event (and a bunch of other things that never came to be)...

Qantas taps iPads for in-flight entertainment

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Australia's largest airline, Qantas, Tuesday confirmed that it will be handing out iPads to its passengers who will be able to use the device as an in-flight entertainment solution providing easy access to more than two hundred hours of music, movies and television programming. The solution entails iPads connecting to the plane's onboard Wi-Fi network to access the airline's Q Streaming in-flight technology. iPads will be deployed on Qantas flights between Sydney and Honolulu on 767 aircraft, available for all classes...