Apple

Pebble smartwatches shipping to Kickstarters as iOS app lingers in approval limbo

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 23, 2013

As promised, the Pebble E-Paper smartwatch (actually, it has a memory LCD screen) is now shipping to Kickstarter backers around the world, albeit initial volume is limited over some paperwork complications. As you know, the smartwatch device works in conjunction with a free iOS or Android app.

Pebble Technology today updated its Kickstarter page with a note acknowledging that Apple unfortunately has not yet approved the software even though Pebble submitted it two weeks ago. A version for Android devices is scheduled to go live on Google's Play Store tomorrow, January 24...

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Netflix and YouTube working on an open AirPlay alternative

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 23, 2013

AirPlay, a wireless media technology from Apple featured on the Apple TV, iPhones, iPads, iPods and newer Macs running OS X Mountain Lion, is a major selling point because it allows users to seamlessly beam their photos, music and video from their computer or iDevice to a TV set via an Apple TV set-top box. However, Netflix teamed up with Google's YouTube on an AirPlay alternative and today the two have released official details.

DIAL, as it's called (an acronym for DIscovery And Launch), is an open second screen protocol which automatically discovers compliant devices to stream media. The new standard has impressive support from key content owners and consumer electronics makers, including the likes of BBC, Sony, Hulu and of course Samsung...

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How Verizon almost made Siri an Android exclusive

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 23, 2013

Apple's digital secretary, Siri, arrived as an iPhone 4S exclusive in October 2011, but the feature almost ended up being exclusive to Android devices on the Verizon network. According to a new report, Verizon in the fall of 2009 managed to sign a deal with the startup to make Siri a default app on all Android phones set to launch in the new year. It's interesting that the agreement was signed several months before Apple approached Siri and that the carrier even created unreleased ads highlighting Siri on Android.

Several months later, Apple came into full view to acquire the startup outright, effectively making the feature exclusive to its devices and narrowly escape seeing Siri falling into hands of the Android camp...

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Steve Jobs threatened Palm with patent suit over employee poaching

Cody Lee ∙ January 23, 2013

By now, you've probably heard of the anti-poaching civil suit that's been brought against Apple, Google, Intel and others. Former employees are suing the companies for allegedly conspiring to keep each other from recruiting out of each other's firms, which is definitely illegal.

The evidence in the case before hand was already pretty damning. But looking at these court documents that were just made public yesterday, it might now be open-and-shut. The filing features emails, between executives, openly discussing an anti-poaching agreement...

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Munster (again) sees Apple shipping iTV and new remote in 2013

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

You gotta give it to Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, arguably for years the most vocal proponent of a full-fledged Apple television set. Speaking to Bloomberg today, Munster re-iterated his belief Apple is working on releasing a standalone television set in 2013. His thinking is apparently based in checks with Apple's suppliers and he also sees the Cupertino firm shipping an intelligent remote that, in his mind, should be an important part of the rumored iTV...

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AMD hires ex-Apple and Qualcomm chip experts, looks to move beyond PCs

Cody Lee ∙ January 22, 2013

This is kind of interesting. In an effort to move beyond PCs and expand its market, AMD just hired two high-profile chip experts: Charles Matar of Qualcomm, and Wayne Meretsky, formally of Apple.

The company currently depends on the PC industry for 80% of its profits. And with sales in that business dropping due to rising demand for smartphones and tablets, it's looking to shift gears quickly...

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Verizon numbers suggest Apple sold over 50M iPhones last quarter

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple is set to announce its iPhone sales and other figures from the holiday quarter tomorrow, in what many are calling its most important earnings report of the last decade. Recently, rumors of slipping iPhone and iPad demand have driven the company's stock down to $500. And this is its chance to start turning things around.

The focal point will be on iPhone numbers, since the handsets account for half of Apple's business. And it needs to have sold in upwards of 50 million of them to avoid disappointing the Street. Well according to analyst Brian White, they hit that mark and then some...

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Apple wins 26 patents, including multitouch and more

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 22, 2013

Apple was granted more than two dozen patents today, including technology for multitouch sensors dating back to 2007, when the original iPhone debuted. Also approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Apple patents covering the iOS magnifying loupe, noise-cancellation and even product packaging.

The multitouch patent, which covers the layout of screen sensors in the first iPhone, as well as future touch devices, follows a broad patent granted earlier this year covering a wide range of potential uses for multitouch, including aircraft instruments. For some time, Apple and its chief rival Samsung have fought over patents, culminating in a $1 billion victory for Apple, which charged the South Korean company infringed upon technology owned by the iPhone maker...

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More research shows Apple leads in US with 51% of smartphone market

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 22, 2013

Apple's iOS has more than 51 percent of the US smartphone market, leading Google's Android, which claims just over 42 percent of the American market share, according to new figures released Tuesday. The numbers are just the latest prior to Apple's quarterly sales report expected later this week. Handset sales research firm Kantar announced Apple gained 6.3 percent of the domestic smartphone market, fueled largely by demand for the iPhone 5. Meanwhile, Android sales in the US slowed lightly, shedding 0.6 percent from the same 12-week period in 2011...

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DigiTimes: jumbo-sized iPhone to debut in 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 22, 2013

The somewhat reliable DigiTimes reports this morning that Apple will this year release two new iPhone models, not three as one analyst predicted. Citing industry sources, the trade publication claims Apple is planning two four-inch iPhone models due around summer, one of them being targeted at the midrange market segment (budget iPhone, anyone?).

Interestingly, both these devices are said to use in-cell display technology featured on the iPhone 5. This last tidbit contradicts yesterday's report out of Japan suggesting Apple asked Sharp to cut orders of iPhone 5 in-cell panels in half for the next quarter. Additionally, past reports asserted Apple is moving away from in-cell tech and evaluating a new display technology for 2013 iOS devices called Touch-On-Display...

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Apple may have ordered ‘very large volume’ of chips from TSMC

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 22, 2013

Morris Chang, Chairman and CEO of the world's largest semiconductor foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), said in a recent earnings call that his company's 20 nanometer process technology will outsell the existing 28 nanometer tech in its first two years. “Enough discussions have taken place, with enough customers who have large requirements (on 20nm), to lead us to believe that the volume will be very large”, he said without specifically mentioning Apple.

Of course, TSMC also makes chips for Qualcomm, Nvidia and other tech giants, but recently rumors have swirled that Apple is about to drop Samsung as a chip supplier and turn to TSMC, which will invest $9 billion this year while spending even more in capital expenditure in 2014 as it moves toward the more advanced 20nm and 16nm process technologies...

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