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Monday 31 January 2011

Google overtakes Nokia as top smartphone platform maker

After passing Apple's iPhone on its way up, Google's Android has now passed up Nokia's Symbian to take the top spot among smartphone platforms, ending Nokia's 10 year reign on top of the global smartphone industry, according to one research firm.

Research firm Canalys revealed Monday that the 32.9 million handsets running a Google platform, which includes Android, OMS and Tapas, sold last quarter were enough to topple Nokia's Symbian, which had sales of 31 million, from the number one place, Reuters reports.

Google saw 615 percent growth year over year, compared to Nokia's 30 percent growth. Apple came in third with 16.2 million iPhones sold, giving it 16 percent of the global smartphone market. Research in Motion and Microsoft rounded out the list with 14 percent and 3 percent of the market respectively.

Though Nokia still maintains a sizable lead as the largest handset maker in the world, it has lost significant ground in the smartphone market in recent years. Former CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo admitted last year that the Finnish handset maker had failed to make a splash in the U.S. smartphone market.

In September, Nokia went through a major management shakeup. The company first announced it would change CEOs, bringing in Microsoft executive Stephen Elop, in hopes of reenergizing the company's smartphone offerings. The company's smartphone chief announced his resignation several days later, then Nokia Chairman Jorma Ollila declared his intention to step down.

Nokia's flagship N8 smartphone saw numerous delays on its way to market. The company even went through a lost prototype debacle similar to the leak of an Apple iPhone 4 prototype that made headlines last year. Though sales of the N8 reportedly reached around 4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010, the figures have been viewed as too little too late for Nokia.

Canalys Q42010


Google's Android has seen its fair share of controversy on the way to the top. Reports emerged last year that Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs felt betrayed by Google after the search giant followed his company into the smartphone business.

"We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business," Jobs allegedly said during a company meeting. "Make no mistake; Google wants to kill the iPhone. We won't let them."

While Apple has yet to pursue direct legal action against Google, the iPhone maker has filed infringement complaints against several prominent Android handset manufacturers. The Cupertino, Calif., company sued HTC in March of last year over alleged infringement of patents related to the iPhone user interface, architecture and hardware. HTC responded with a countersuit.

Apple and Motorola are also locked in a legal dispute. In October, Motorola accused Apple of violating a number of its patents, citing the company's "late entry into the telecommunications market." Apple responded in kind, eventually adding to the suit the same patents it was accusing HTC of violating after Motorola attempted to have them invalidated.

Quarterly sales of Android passed up the iPhone in May of last year. Earlier this month, research firm comScore reported that total subscribers of Google Android in the U.S. have passed the iPhone.

In the third quarter of 2010, Apple broke into the top 5 global cell phone makers, passing RIM to place fourth. According to IDC data released last week, Apple slipped to fifth in the fourth quarter.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Josh Ong

Sunday 30 January 2011

Report details iPad 2 components, 5 million unit supply

Apple's iPad 2 will feature a better quality display, faster chips, separate CDMA and GSM versions, iPod touch-like dual cameras, and vendors will produce 4.5 to 5 million units in the first quarter, according to a new report from Taiwan.

No Retina Display

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities has prepared a report indicating that iPad 2 won't get higher resolution screen this year, using the same 1024x768 of the original iPad.

"The improvement of iPad 2 display," the report notes, "focuses on thickness and anti-reflection, not resolution. iPad 2 display module is 30~35% thinner than iPad 1 and it’s helpful for better form factor.

"Thanks to anti-reflection, iPad 2 could have better sunlight readable experience and it's helpful for Apple to compete with Amazon's fast growing Kindle business.

"The most important reason why iPad 2 won’t have retinal display is yield rate of panel making. At this point, making high resolution and bright IPS/FFS panel is not easy and the production volume and cost couldn’t meet Apple’s requirements."

Faster, better, stronger

The new iPad model is also said to pack much higher processing power, graphics and more RAM and faster memory access. The greater computing power of of the revised iPad "could ensure iPad 2‘s competitive advantage for coming tablet war this year," the report notes.

"iPad 2 will use [ARM] Cortex-A9 dual core processor running at 1.2GHz. Increasing 1~2% single core processor clock results in a 3~5% power increase and dual core could get a better balance between computing power and power consumption. That's the reason why Apple will use dual core for iPad 2."

As expected, the report also states "iPad 2 will also have a GPU using Imagination’s SGX543 dual core graphics technology which is 200~300% powerful than iPhone 4."

RAM is also on the rise, the report says. "For making full use of GPU upgrading advantage, iPad 2 needs bigger memory bandwidth. So iPad 2 has 512MB RAM, same as iPhone 4 and twice as much as iPad 1, but running at higher clock 1,066 MHz for getting bigger memory bandwidth (iPhone 4 memory clock is 800 MHz)."

3G and cameras

Rather than being made available in a world-mode version, the report say "iPad 2 adds one new CDMA model and it could bring more market share to Apple. Project IDs of Wi-Fi, GSM and CDMA iPad 2 models are different. GSM iPad will use Infineon chip and CDMA iPad will use Qualcomm chip. More suppliers could reduce the risk of component shortage."

The possibility of an SD Card slot is mentioned, but not confirmed, but the report notes iPad 2 will have two cameras, but with components shared with iPad touch, rather than the higher quality iPhone 4 cameras.

"There are more and more photo and video editing applications for iPad in App Store. The SD slot could let users easily transfer photo and video files made by DSC and DV to iPad and edit them," the report observed, falling short of actually confirming whether a card slot will be present.

"iPad has two cameras. Front camera is 0.3 mega-pixel [VGA, like iPhone 4] and rear one is 1 mega-pixel [like iPod touch, rather than iPhone 4]. Front camera is for Facetime and Photo Booth and 0.3 mega-pixel is enough because the resolution of iPad 2 is 1,024x768. Rear camera is for applications such as video recording and augmented reality."

4.5 to 5 million units in 1Q 2011

The report notes Foxconn will remain the iPad's sole maker, noting that production began this month and will result in "at least 4.5 - 5 million units for Apple in 1Q'11. iPad 2 will likely go to market in late 1Q'11 or early 2Q'11 based on supply chain shipment status."


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2011 Daniel Eran Dilger

Saturday 29 January 2011

Source: SD Card slot on Apple's next-gen iPad just a rumor

With Apple expected to take the wraps off its second-generation iPad in the next few months, talk has focused largely around the potential hardware enhancements to the tablet device, including rumors of an SD Card slot that AppleInsider sources now suggest is unlikely to materialize.

SD Card Slot Rumors

That particular rumor appears to have gained its legs back in December when a pair of China-based case manufacturers leaked images of their upcoming iPad 2 protectors, which were presumably based off design schematics that often originate from Apple ahead of new product introductions and get passed around gray markets in the Far East.

One of those cases was reportedly accompanied by documentation that 'suggested' one of its cutouts could provide access to an SD Card slot like those commonly found on today's MacBook Pros, while another was a circular opening for a rear camera that would accompany a front-mounted camera for Apple's FaceTime technology.

The SD Card slot rumor gained a few more shots in the arm earlier this month through a handful of media reports and AppleInsider's discovery of yet another set of next-gen iPad cases, which suspiciously included a cutout for a slot on the upper left-hand side, opposite to where you'd find the volume and mute controls on the existing iPad.

In a mockup analysis of all the openings and recesses in those cases, it was speculated that that left-side opening could represent the much-rumored SD Card slot. However, a person that AppleInsider trusts on matters such as these has since rebutted that notion, stating instead that the break in the next-gen iPad enclosure at that location is actually a relocation of the tablet's SIM card slot. (This could signal a smaller logic board in the next iPad and better battery life via and even larger battery).

iPad


That may explain why some of the other next-gen iPad casings making the rounds don't sport the same opening, as users of 3G iPads aren't likely to need ready access to the SIM slot on a daily basis. And like Gruber's sources on the subject, the same person referenced above gave no indication that there's an SD Card slot elsewhere on the device.

Missing Features

Still, that's not to say an SD Card slot hasn't been considered or won't surface in the future, as Apple is notorious for yanking features from its hardware designs in the final moments before the products hit the assembly lines. Sometimes they resurface in a latter revision, while others are forgone forever.

For example, there were two core I/O features heavily rumored leading up to last year's launch of the current iPad which failed to materialize on the shipping product because they were axed by the Cupertino-based company right before the device went into production.

The first, and most publicized, was a forward-facing camera. (There were also prototypes of a model featuring two cameras -- one on the front, one on the back -- like the iPad that's expected to debut this year, according to people familiar with the matter.) Evidence to this end quickly turned up in the first teardowns of the device last spring.

"From our original teardown what we found most interesting was the ambient light sensor connector," Luke Soules, co-founder and teardown specialist at iFixit, told AppleInsider. "That connector has way more pins than you'd need for just an ambient light sensor and looks more similar to a typical camera connector."

iPad


That connector is highlighted in red in the photo above. "Also, next to that connector, highlighted in blue […] you can see unused solder points for a BGA [ball grid array] chip which could have been intended for a camera control chip," Soules added. "We think Apple was intending to put a camera in the original iPad, but for some reason changed their mind at the last minute."

Meanwhile, another I/O feature once planned for the inaugural iPad and pulled at the last minute was a second Dock Connector that would have allowed the tablet to be used in landscape mode with accessories like Apple's iPad Dock with Keyboard, according to people familiar with the device's initial development.

iPad


According to those same people, vague signs of that aborted implementation are also evident in early teardown photos of the iPad's logic board but hidden beneath a piece of black tape around the left-hand side of the device near the SIM connector flex, which is also said to sport a few too many pins to have been designed exclusively for a SIM .

iPad


Indeed, photographs of a first-gen iPad enclosure showing both portrait and landscape Dock Connector ports would later surface but were misreported at the time by those who discovered them as potential enclosures for the second-generation iPad. It's unlikely that this proposed feature will ever see the light of day.

When asked -- given his insight into Apple's hardware designs and logistics -- what he thinks of the rumors that Apple would be adding an SD Card slot to the iPad at this time, Soules said, "I don't see it happening."



Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Kasper Jade 

Friday 28 January 2011

Apple among top 5 global cell phone makers for second straight quarter

New data from IDC shows that Apple is among the top 5 mobile phone sellers worldwide for the second quarter in a row, though it slipped from fourth to fifth place.

Last year marked a major milestone for the Cupertino, Calif., iPhone maker, when IDC's third quarter 2010 data bumped the company from the smaller top smartphone vendor lists to the number 4 spot on the list of the five largest mobile phone vendors, passing BlackBerry maker Research in Motion on the way.

According to a report from IDC published Thursday, Apple posted 86 percent year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2010, giving it a 4 percent share of the market and the fifth-place spot among global vendors. Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics and ZTE took the other top spots, respectively.

The main mover last quarter was Chinese manufacturer ZTE, which leapt up from the "Other" category to the number 4 spot. ZTE's unit shipments of 16.8 million bested Apple's 16.2 million, though the iPhone's Average Selling Price of $625 is undoubtedly higher than ZTE's handsets, most of which are traditional feature phones.

ZTE has, however, seen unit growth with its smartphone offerings. "While most of [ZTE's] shipments have historically concentrated on entry-level and mid-range devices, some of its recent success is directly attributable to its rapidly expanding smartphone line, such as the Android-based Blade and Racer devices," IDC said.

RIM's 35 percent growth rate wasn't enough to keep it on the list of top mobile phone vendors. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in October last year that he doesn't see RIM catching up to his company "in the foreseeable future."

IDC Q4 2010
Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker


Apple's iPhone market share growth has been constrained due to supply issues. During the company's Q1 for fiscal 2011, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook admitted that Apple continues to have a "sizable backlog" on the iPhone and could have sold more if they were able to make more. China, in particular, represents a golden opportunity for the iPhone maker, as the iPhone 4 remains sold out in the country four months after the device's launch.

In 2011, the Feb. 10 launch of a CDMA iPhone on Verizon could help boost Apple's sales figures. One recent survey estimated that Verizon could pick up as many as 25 million new subscribers with the iPhone, though the figure is only a "directional" number, not a prediction.

According to IDC, the worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9 percent in the December 2010 quarter, a significant improvement over the 2009 market decline of 1.6%.

"The mobile phone market has the wind behind its sails," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. "Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles."

IDC also noted that the fourth and fifth place spots on the list will likely be up for grabs this year. "Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list."


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Josh Ong

Apple hit with class-action suit after girl drops, breaks iPhone 4's glass


A California man became so angry after his daughter dropped his iPhone 4 and cracked its glass enclosure that he filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple alleging that its most recent handset design is defective.

In the complaint filed earlier this week, Los Angeles resident Donald LeBuhn claims that Apple has known for months that its industrial design of the iPhone 4 is defective but has failed to warn customers that normal use of the device can lead to a broken phone.

More specifically, LeBuhn said that he paid over $250 in September for a new iPhone 4 only to have it rendered essentially useless after his daughter dropped it from a height of roughly three feet while attempting to send a text message.

In the suit, he claims to have owned an iPhone 3GS that fell from a similar height but did not break. As such, he's calling bologna on the Cupertino-based company's marketing claims that the iPhone 4 glass as "20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic," and is "ultradurable" having been made from the same material as the "glass used in helicopters and high-speed trains."

"Months after selling millions of iPhone 4s, Apple has failed to warn and continues to sell this product with no warning to customers that the glass housing is defective," LeBuhn's attorneys wrote in the complaint.

The suit comes a little over three months after third-party warranty provider SquareTrade issued a report stating that in its first four months on market, the iPhone 4 was seeing a reported accident rate that was 68% higher than the iPhone 3GS, primarily the result of broken screens.

A followup report from the same firm a month later claimed that while the iPhone 4 outperformed all other leading smartphones when it came to reported malfunctions, it also appeared to be more accident-prone. As such, SquareTrade projected the handset would have the highest accidental damage rate after 12 months of all smartphones at roughly 13.8 percent, possibly due to its two sides of glass.

iPhone 4
Projected iPhone 4 accident rate | Source: SquareTrade


With his lawsuit this month, LeBuhn has asked the court to mandate that Apple refund the purchase price of the iPhone 4 to all similarly situated class members, to reimburse customers for any repair fees they've paid, and to further compensate customers for their "overpayment" in purchasing a defective product.

Information retrieved from: http:///www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2011 Slash Lane

Thursday 27 January 2011

Sony to take on Apple with next-gen PlayStation Portable, Android game store

Sony will challenge Apple's iOS later this year with the just-announced next-generation PlayStation Portable, codenamed NGP, and a PlayStation Suite game store that will also be available on Google's Android mobile operating system.

Sony NGP

After hinting that the next generation of the PSP handheld gaming device would take cues from Apple by incorporating touch and motion controls, Sony unveiled the device, dubbed the Next Generation Portable, at a media event in Tokyo Thursday Engadget reports.

The device is built around five key concepts: Revolutionary User Interface, Social Connectivity, Location-based Entertainment, Converging Real and Virtual (augmented) Reality. It will also be compatible with the just-announced PlayStation Suite, a cross-platform software framework for mobile gaming.

According to the report, the NGP will sport a 5-inch touchscreen OLED display with a resolution of 960 pixels by 544 pixels, "dual analog sticks, 3G, WiFi GPS, front and rear touchpads, motion sensors, an electronic compass, and cameras on both the front and the rear."

According to the report, the handheld will utilize a quad-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU. Sony is touting the device's CPU as "the most advanced" in its class, claiming the NGP will be as powerful as the current-generation PlayStation 3.

As reported by AppleInsider earlier this month, the Sony NGP will use Imagination Technologies' SGX543MP4+, also with quad-core capabilities.

Sony's Next Generation Portable


Sony announced an aggressive release target for the NGP of the 2011 holiday season. The next-gen handheld will use a user interface dubbed LiveArea with built-in social networking.

At the event, Sony demoed titles from popular game franchises such as Killzone, Resistance, Little Big Planet and Uncharted, as well as several tech demos on the new device, including how the rear touchpad will be used for gameplay.

Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney was on hand to show off the Unreal Engine 3 on the NGP, starting with the same Citadel demo from Apple's Sept. 1 media event last year, but adding a "full living environment and realtime-rendered characters."

Sony's Next Generation Portable


PlayStation Suite

Sony's PlayStation Suite appears to be the content platform that the rumored Android-based Sony Ericsson 'PlayStation Phone' will use. The framework will initially include an emulator for PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 1 titles, eventually broadening to a "hardware-neutral" development framework for multiple devices.

Sony announced Thursday that an Android-compatible version of the PlayStation Suite is already in the works and should arrive later this year, though Android 2.3 or higher will be required.

In order to qualify for the PS Suite, hardware manufacturers will need to join the newly minted PlayStation Certified license program, which will ensure consistent quality across different devices.

Sony's partnership with Google Android is a first for the gaming giant, which has tended to prefer proprietary formats. According to the company's press release for the PlayStation Suite, "users will be able to enjoy PlayStation content on an open operating system for the first time in PlayStation history."

Apple vs. Sony

Sony's inclusion of a variety of input methods on the NGP: gamepad, capacitive touchpad, touchscreen, analog sticks, gyroscope, accelerometer and dual cameras seems to reflect a growing desperation from the company, resulting in 'control creep.' It appears that Sony, after watching the iPhone and iPod touch chip away at its market share for years, decided on an awkward marriage of the intuitive touch and motion controls of iOS with the legacy gamepad and analog stick controls from its previous PlaySation products. As with the PlayStation Portable and the PlayStation 3, Sony has once again turned to raw hardware specs and processing power to drive sales.

That Sony is willing to partner with Google Android, as much a rival as Apple's iOS, only adds to the evidence that both Sony and Google see Apple as a threat so dangerous that it would turn rivals into partners.

A recent report by Interpret revealed that the proportion of mobile games played on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP had declined by 13 percent. Even more worrisome for standalone gaming manufacturers was the fact that more than 27 percent of consumers who play games only on their phones actually own a DS or PSP, but do not actively use them.

Last fall, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter went so far as to predict that "the PSP2 is going to be dead on arrival," though he, of course, made the prediction without knowing the specific details of the NGP.

In October of last year, rumors emerged that Apple was considering buying Sony. Apple CEO Steve Jobs had told analyst that the company was planning big moves with its more than $50 billion warchest.

Though the rumors were quickly dismissed, their rapid dissemination may evince the public's view that Apple is in a dominant position and that Sony is struggling. According to Reuters, Sony is expected to post a fall in profits next week when it reports its quarterly earnings. By comparison, Apple reported its best quarter in history last week with revenue of over $26.74 billion.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Josh Ong

Microsoft ships 2 million Windows Phone 7 handsets in holiday quarter

Microsoft on Wednesday revealed that it shipped two million Windows Phone 7 handsets worldwide over the holiday quarter, lagging well behind the 16.2 million iPhones sold by Apple in the same period.

Microsoft Senior Product Manager Greg Sullivan revealed to Ina Fried of Mobilized that more than two million Windows Phone 7 devices were shipped to carriers worldwide by the end of December. It's the first update from Microsoft since the Windows maker revealed it had shipped 1.5 million handsets in mid-December.

"We're still in the early stages," Sullivan said. "When people use this phone, they really, really like it."

He added that 93 percent of early customers indicated they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with Windows Phone 7. Based on customer satisfaction data, Sullivan said he believes Microsoft is on the right track.

The company did not, however, reveal how many of those shipped phones were actually sold to consumers. The total number represents handsets shipped to carriers, not end sales.

Regardless, the numbers are well behind Apple's iPhone, which recently had a record breaking quarter with sales of 16.2 million units over the 2010 holiday buying season. Windows Phone 7 launched in parts of Europe and Asia on Oct. 21, and in the U.S. on Nov. 8.

The shipment numbers for Windows Phone 7 are also lower that those reported by Gartner for Microsoft's own, earlier Windows Mobile 6.x platform in the third quarter of 2010, which amounted to 2.25 million units worldwide.

Microsoft will further discuss the launch of Windows Phone 7 when it reports its quarterly earnings on Thursday. Expectations on Wall Street are for the Redmond, Wash., software giant to report earnings of $5.93 billion which, if accurate, would lag behind the $6 billion in quarterly profits reported by Apple last week.



Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Sam Oliver

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Apple becomes No. 3 global PC maker with 241% growth, if iPad is included


With Mac and iPad sales combined, Apple computer sales grew 241 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2010, vaulting the company into third place in worldwide PC sales research, firm Canalys revealed on Wednesday.

With Mac and iPad sales combined, Apple shipped 11.5 million units in the holiday quarter of 2010. That was enough for the Cupertino, Calif., company to edge out Dell, which has 11.4 million units.

Apple took 10.8 percent of global PC sales, according to numbers from Canalys. And with record year-over-year growth dwarfing the rest of the industry, Apple is now within striking distance of the No. 2 worldwide manufacturer, Acer, with 13.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The addition of iPad sales helped Apple tremendously, giving the company 241 percent growth from the same period in 2009, compared with industry-wide growth of 19.2 percent. A year prior, the company sold 3.4 million Macs.

"Any argument that a pad is not a PC is simply out of sync," said Canalys senior analyst Daryl Chiam. "With screen sizes of seven inches or above, ample processing power, and a growing number of applications, pads offer a computing experience comparable to netbooks. They compete for the same customers and will happily coexist. As with smart phones, some users will require a physical keyboard, while others will do without."

The top vendor for the quarter was HP, which sold 18.7 million units, good for 17.7 percent of the market. While HP maintained its No. 1 position, it grew sales just 2.9 percent year over year, well behind Apple, as well as the market average.

"Pads gave consumers increased product choice over the holiday season," Canalys analyst Tim Coulling said. "While they do not appeal to first-time buyers or low-income households, they are proving extremely popular as additional computing devices."

Canalys


Last week, Apple revealed record sales of Macs and iPads in its quarterly earnings report. The company reported 4.13 million Mac sales, a 23 percent increase over the same period a year prior.

Apple also sold 7.33 million iPads in the holiday quarter -- the first such sales period for the touchscreen tablet, which launched in April 2010. But since its debut, the iPad, with a starting price of $499, outsold the Mac, leading one Wall Street analyst to refer to the device as Apple's "Mac of the masses."

Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2011 Sam Oliver

Google "not happy" with slow Android app sales

Despite brisk hardware sales to consumers and large numbers of apps sitting in in marketplace, Google's Android platform isn't resulting in healthy app sales, a problem the company is trying to solve.

Speaking to "anxious app developers" at the Inside Social Apps conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Android platform manager Eric Chu said Google is actually "not happy" about the limited number of apps actually being purchased, according to a report by Forbes blogger Oliver Chiang.

The Plan to fix Android app sales

Chiang said Chu outlined a roadmap for Android in 2011 that the company hopes will help it drive new app sales more comparable to the outstanding results of Apple's blockbuster iOS App Store, but noted the plan is short on specifics.

"Chu used the phrase 'stay tuned' enough to make a drinking game out of it," Chiang wrote.

The overall plan includes creating an in-app payments system like the one Apple created last year as part of iOS 4, enabling developers to sell episodic content or related virtual goods.

Google also hopes to negotiate carrier billing agreements with scores of regional mobile providers, allowing users to buy apps and bill them to their mobile account. Apple doesn't need to do this because the iOS App Store in iTunes can bill users directly in most countries, far more than Google's Android Marketplace.

Wanted: app curator

Chu also wants to clean up Android Market, saying there is a team tasked with "weeding out apps that violate Android Market’s terms of service," an indication that Google's free-for-all market design is recognized to have serious drawbacks.

Many of the tens of thousands of apps in Android Market are just ringtones, wallpapers or simplistic "apps" designed just to fill space, a situation that drowns out legitimate developer's work under tons of copyright infringing junkware.

Android Market has also distributed distractive malware, a problem Google can't catch in advance because it isn't curating its catalog, and instead waiting for fires to erupt so it can put them out.

Migration toward HTML apps

The company also hopes to create algorithms to help promote the best apps, making it easier for users to discover worthwhile programs. Chu also indicated that Google planned to turn users' Address Books into a "social graph" that third party apps could tap into.

Without elaborating, Chu also commented that Google was "betting on" HTML5 as a way to create apps. Google employees have previously made it clear that the company sees the Java-like core VM of Android as a stepping stone to a future where apps are created in HTML, as soon as web tools can support sophisticated apps.

That's something that undermines rather than builds confidence in Google's commitment to Android in general. Why should Google bother to create an app store if its future is aimed at web pages? In Google's case, either can be monetized with ads, so there's no reason to build the current Android platform to be anything more than a temporary placeholder.

Chu's comments came just days after Apple celebrated its 10 billionth iOS app download and is promoting an iPad-optimized library of over 60,000 apps.



Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Daniel Eran Dilger

New 'iPad is iconic' ad touts 60,000 apps

Apple has begun showing a new commercial that highlights a growing number of iPad-specific apps, now pushing past 60,000 titles.

The spot, "iPad is iconic," highlights such apps as the "fresh" djay virtual turntables, "tickets" using American Airlines' iPad app, "news" depicting video embedded in the digital copy of the Wall Street Journal, "stories" in Apple's own iBook shelf, "students" and "teachers" both using Pages from iWork, "hollywood" depicting the Movie Slate app, and "iconic" featuring Vanity Fair.

Within the ad, an odometer-like counter of iPad apps turns over to 60,000, a number the company hit just days ago as it approached its 10 billionth iOS app download.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2011 Daniel Eran Dilger

Apple poised to beat Microsoft's quarterly profits for first time in 20 years

Microsoft is expected to report lower profits than last year as PC market growth stalls, making it almost certain that Apple's latest $6 billion earnings record will exceed Microsoft's for the first time since 1990.

Microsoft is expected to report $5.93 billion over the winter quarter, according to a report by Reuters, although it's possible the company could post a blowout quarter that exceeds the street's expectations.

Just two years ago, Microsoft was posting twice the quarterly profits of Apple. Over the last few years however, Apple has established new markets in smartphones and with the iPad, two product segments Microsoft has failed to execute in.

The report cited Tim Bajarin, president of tech research firm Creative Strategies, as saying, "Microsoft is still a juggernaut in the PC business; Windows-based machines are still selling over 300 million a year. But they missed the smartphone revolution, and even though they were the first to really push the tablet, Apple basically redesigned it and left Microsoft in the dust."

Windows Phone fails to connect

Last year, Microsoft scrambled to scuttle Windows Mobile 6 and the mobile software marketplace for that platform that it had just finished, in order to launch an entirely new, incompatible mobile platform based on more modern technology, with an easy to use touch interface rather than a windowing interface requiring a keypad or stylus to navigate.

An interim product, launched with Verizon under the brand KIN, failed miserably. However, even sales of Windows Phone 7 have been disappointing, with even LG, one of Microsoft's leading WP7 licensees, referring to sales as "less than we expected."

LG's marketing strategy and planning team director James Choi observed that "for tech guys like us it might be a little bit boring after a week or two, but there are certain segments that it really appeals to. We strongly feel that it has a strong potential even though the first push wasn’t what everyone expected."

Even Microsoft's developers took a dim view of the platform, with Justin James observing, "unless you consider Windows Phone 7 to be a 'must do' platform for development (which is quite unlikely), I suggest that you think of Windows Phone 7 development as a hobby or a learning experience rather than a source of revenue until the App Hub issues are sorted out."

In December Microsoft tried to frame sales of Windows Phone 7 as flatteringly as possible, referring to "phone manufacturer sales," defined as "phones being bought and stocked by mobile operators and retailers on their way to customers," as having reached a milestone of 1.5 million units, and saying this was "inline with our expectations."

That number was actually barely enough to fill Microsoft's well developed global channel. One reseller reported that the new WP7 models "are by and large generic phones from well known manufacturers, and in most cases an almost identical model is available from the same manufacturer with Android, and given the choice people seem to be picking Android."

Windows tablets flop

Hot on the heels of failed launch of last year's Slate PC initiative with HP, Microsoft killed the vaporware Courier project that many hoped would take on the iPad.

This year, the company promised to start over again, two years from now, with a version of Windows capable of running on the efficient chips of the ARM Architecture, just like last year's iPad and other Android tablet products hitting the market.

"I wish they did this [switch to ARM] two years ago, it's something they should have thought of," said Sid Parakh, analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen. "But it is a long game. The question becomes: Is the iPad a cannibalization of Microsoft's existing products, or an added component of consumer electronics spending? I'm sure it's a mix of both."

PC growth slower than predicted

Microsoft's bread and butter, the PC market, was up globally only 3.1 percent in the winter quarter, and US sales actually contracted by 6.6 percent according to figures reported by Gartner. Over all of 2010, PC shipments were up just 13.8 percent world wide, much lower than Gartner's original forecast for 2010 calling for 19.2 percent growth.

In addition to slow PC sales, Apple's iPad has increasing eaten into both consumer and enterprise PC demand, with Apple selling more than 7.3 million in the winter quarter and over 14 million in 2010. This year, Apple is expected to sell as many as 40 million of the devices, largely at the expense of Windows PCs.

Apple's iPad sales are already distorting the component markets for RAM and hard drives, and clearly slowing sales of conventional PCs, even as IDC and Gartner scramble to hide iPads behind the newly invented"media tablet" market to avoid direct comparisons to other tablet products and to PCs.

If iPads were counted as PCs, Apple would be the number one PC maker in the US with 24 percent of the market. Microsoft hasn't really faced a PC market that wasn't completely monopolized by Windows since the days before Windows, when it was earning less than Apple, a position it now appears to be in again.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2011 Daniel Eran Dilger

Apple revamps its public website using HTML5

Apple has relaunched its entire website with a new design using HTML5, adding a darker, glossy navigation bar and speedy new animated page layouts for Mac and iPod pages.

The redesign officially upgrades the site from "HTML 4.01 Transitional" to the latest HTML5, enabling such elements as a dynamically resized search field in the navigation bar that enlarges to accommodate search terms, as well as adding richer support for mobile features.

The new Mac section debuts a new "product slider" interface, which animates a series of icons depicting the families of Mac products, Apple's desktop applications, accessories, and server related products.

A similarly animated iPod section presents iPod models and accessories, as well as a panel of "iTunes and more," which includes links to download iTunes, purchase gift cards, and special sections for Nike+iPod, (Product)RED, MobileMe, and headphones.



Apple goes HTML5

Apple has been a big proponent of HTML5, with the company's supported WebKit open source project not only working to follow the specification but actively contributing toward it as well.

Last week, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) introduced a new HTML5 logo (depicted above) intended to promote visibility of the next generation of web technologies now being rolled out in modern browsers, using the "HTML5" brand to refer both to the HTML5 specification itself as well as serving as a "general-purpose visual identity for a broad set of open web technologies, including CSS, SVG, WOFF and others."

This announcement was received with scorn by many web purists who were upset that the public might be further confused by the semantic and technical blurring of simplified branding, rather than knowing the actual role played by each different web technology. This prompted the W3C to restate that the new logo "represents HTML5, the cornerstone for modern Web applications."

HTML5?

Within the same news cycle, the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), a team designated by the W3C to maintain the emerging HTML5 specification, announced that it would now be referring to HTML5 as simply HTML, because the specification would now be regarded as a "living specification" that constantly evolves, rather than being a designated version number going through a much more formal process of drafts and recommendations.

This change erupted in more controversy from those who saw it as either a feud between the two groups or a simply a confusing miscommunication on overall strategy. However, the HTML5 brand actually has little to do with the way HTML is presented as a specification.

Additionally, those complaining about the lack of an ongoing version number seem to assume that the WHATWG is compiling a specification that browser makers follow. In reality, such an effort would fail just as many other attempts by standards bodies to tell the industry how to work have, including the ISO's Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocol suite (rejected in favor of the industry lead and more practical TCP/IP) or the W3C's own XHTML 2.0, an intellectual exercise maintained between 2002 and 2009 and virtually ignored by browser makers.

When the W3C started over to create a more practical, precise and functional new version of HTML, it began working closely with Apple, Mozilla, Opera, Google, Microsoft and the parties to make sure the standard reflected what vendors wanted to and were willing to do, rather than trying to mandate impractical ideas that would never be supported by the browsers people actually used.

HTML5


It's Already Been Broughten!

The result, HTML5, was originally scheduled to publish a "candidate recommendation" by 2012, with at least two "100% complete and fully interoperable implementations." Ian Hickson, editor of the HTML5 specification, once said HTML5 was likely to be finished around 2022. These dates were frequently used by opponents of portions of HTML5, including Flash maker Adobe, to create fear, uncertainty and doubt about whether HTML5 would ever be completed, with the suggestion that everyone should just remain content with using Flash to build dynamic content.

The new shift in viewing HTML5 as simply the latest iteration of HTML means there's no reason to wait around for perfect compliance from every browser, something that still has yet to happen for even the decade old HTML 4.01. Instead, it motivates browser makers and web developers to use the specification that now exists to build real products, constantly evolving both along with the specification to deliver the best technologies as they become available.

In addition to redesigning its public site in HTML5, Apple has also used HTML5 and related technologies to craft native appearing web platforms for its mobile devices (including PastryKit and AdLib), create a self contained mobile ad experience platform (iAd), construct desktop-class web apps for MobileMe (using SproutCore), build dynamic web apps for its retail operations (via Gianduia), and create interactive iTunes bonus content that can be packaged with "LP" albums and movie "Extras".


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Daniel Eran Dilger

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Apple's second beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7 focuses on Mac App Store

Apple on Tuesday issued the second beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7, its forthcoming maintenance and security update for Snow Leopard, less than a week after the first was released.

People familiar with the software say it is known as build 10J846, and the delta update is a 372MB download. Apple has reportedly asked developers to concentrate on the new Mac App Store, as well as previous focus areas of AirPort, Bonjour, SMB and Graphics Drivers.

The latest build comes just days after the first was issued to developers last Thursday. The previous build, 10J842, was a 338.6MB download in its delta form.

As with the previous update, there are said to be no known issues with the pre-release build of Mac OS X 10.6.7.

Also issued Tuesday was a new beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7 Server. The 468.3MB delta update is said to include one known issue, in which clients may fail to NetBoot from NetRestore image of 10.6.6 created with Mac OS X Server 10.6.6.

The current version of Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6.6, was released to the public earlier this month. It included the Mac App Store, a new digital storefront where users can quickly and easily download applications for their Mac.

Further updates to Snow Leopard are likely few, as Apple is hard at work on its next version of the Mac operating system, dubbed Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. Lion will add features from iOS like home screens, full-screen applications and auto-saving, and is expected to be released this summer.



Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 AppleInsider Staff

Monday 24 January 2011

After pullback, even 'value' investors should eye Apple stock - report

Concerns about the health of Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs have caused the company's stock to take a hit, even as it reported record earnings last week. The news has left Apple's stock vastly undervalued, according to one Wall Street analyst, who has a price target of $550.

Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities issued a note to investors on Monday noted that it's a good time to look at AAPL stock, given the pullback in shares last week after the announcement last week that Jobs would take a medical leave of absence. Even without Jobs, White sees Apple's stock rocketing to a new high of $550 in the next 12 months, based on a strong product lineup and growing sales.

"Jobs's medical leave of absence... overshadowed a big December quarter print and March quarter outlook," White wrote. "Although there could be further selling pressure, we believe the risk-reward is becoming so favorable that even value investors should begin buying the stock."

The analyst said he believes Jobs has been building a strong team that will be able to successfully lead Apple into the future. He also believes that were it not for concerns about Jobs' health over the last few years, AAPL stock would never be trading at "such a discount."

"With Apple's hot product portfolio, we expect the company to continue outperforming the tech sector over the next several years," he said.

Ticonderoga


For fiscal year 2011, Ticonderoga Securities is projecting 56 percent revenue growth and 54 percent earnings per share growth. That growth will be driven by the new CDMA iPhone 4, set to debut on the Verizon network in the U.S. on Feb. 10, followed by anticipated launches of the iPad 2, new MacBook Pros, and the iPhone 5.

In particular, White sees strong sales of the iPhone and iPad driving the much documented "halo effect" that drives new consumers to the Mac platform. White said the Mac appears to be going through a "renaissance," and he expects that performance to only improve in the coming years. He sees Apple selling 16.7 million Macs and 27.4 million iPads in fiscal year 2011.

Ticonderoga Securities' $550 price target is based on an earnings per share estimate plus net cash per share of $63.98. White's numbers equate to a straight price-to-earnings ratio of 22x, which is below the 26x multiple AAPL stock has seen over the last six years.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Neil Hughes

Adobe survey finds readers 'engaged' with ads on Apple's iPad

Adobe on Monday released the results of a new survey which found that advertisements in digital magazines on devices like the iPad can "more effectively engage readers and create stronger purchase intention" than in print.

Dave Dickson revealed the results of the survey in an official post on the Adobe Digital Publishing blog/ The research paper, entitled "Digital Ad Engagement: Perceived Interactivity as a Driver of Advertising Effectiveness," was conducted by Alex Wang, Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut.

The test studied readers between ages 18 and 32, and had them view print and iPad versions of advertisements featured in a past issue of a digital magazine. Participants were asked to rank their perceived interactivity, engagement, message involvement, attitude toward the adds, and purchase intent.

"The result is a new brand advertising paradigm where advertisers can engage customers with a brand in the immersive context of a digital magazine -- in contrast to the interruptive, templatized, and commoditized nature of current digital display ad inventory," Dickson wrote.

Participants ranked ads in each category from a score of one to nine. Interactive ads on the iPad carried a purchase intent significantly higher than their static counterparts, as the interactive ads earned a score of 3.98, compared to just 2.50 for print.

"The study also found clear statistical connections among the five measured categories in the experiment," he wrote. "By using interactivity such as motion graphics, sound, slideshows and animation, advertisers can engage readers and create favorable attitudes toward their brands.

"Once engaged, readers are then more likely to interact with the ad, resulting in a higher probability that they will purchase the product or service being promoted."

Adobe


While the advertisements might be more effective, details of magazine purchases in late December indicated that they have significantly declined since many of them debuted earlier in 2010. For example, Wired -- a magazine powered by Adobe -- launched in May and sold more than 100,000 copies, but the more recent issues had much lower sales of 22,000 and 23,000 in October and November, respectively.

Publishers are said to be anxiously awaiting the ability to offer recurring subscriptions on the App Store for iPad versions of their magazines. Currently, publishers must make due with a pay-per-issue approach, something they believe has hurt sales.

Like Adobe, Apple has bet in the interactive advertising market potential on the iPad with its own mobile advertising network dubbed iAds. The iAd network on the iPad launched in late 2010 with just one advertisement, but is expected to significantly expand in 2011.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Katie Marsal

Production of Apple's iPad 2 to begin in February, iPhone 5 in May - report

Apple's overseas manufacturing partners will begin limited production of the second-generation iPad in February, with building of the fifth-generation iPhone to follow in May, according to a new report from the Far East.

China's Commercial Times reported Monday (via Google Translate) that iPad 2 production will begin in February in a "small pilot." But the company's shipments for the second quarter of calendar 2011 are expected to grow significantly, and may even exceed the peak seen by the first-generation iPad in the fourth quarter of 2010.

If true, the report would contradict earlier rumors that pegged partners to begin production of the iPad 2 in January. Still, a February production date would keep the device on track for rumors of an April launch.

Monday's report claims that Foxconn will remain the largest manufacturing partner of Apple, while other usual suppliers like Pegatron will also be involved in creation of the device.

The report also went on to say that Apple's partners are expected to begin "volume production" of the fifth-generation iPhone in May. Apple typically releases a new iPhone every June in keeping with its annual refresh cycle.

Strangely, the report also noted that Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs is not expected to attend the Macworld Conference on Jan. 26 for health reasons. The translated report incorrectly refers to the conference as "Apple's." Apple's final appearance at the Macworld expo came in 2009.



Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Sam Oliver 

Sunday 23 January 2011

Apple's new 'two is better than one' iPhone ad promotes Verizon, AT&T

Just days after Verizon launched its first iPhone ad, a new TV spot from Apple for the iPhone 4 highlights both Verizon and AT&T with the pitch "two is better than one."

Set to the iconic Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss, the ad displays two iPhone 4s side by side simultaneously tapping, scrolling and pinching their way through various iPhone apps and features, including Facebook, FaceTime, iBooks, Safari and the App Store. The two handsets are then moved away to show the AT&T and Verizon logos before the line "Two is better than one" is displayed.

The advertisement comes on the heels of a Verizon iPhone 4 teaser countdown ad, which never shows the iPhone 4, opting instead to build anticipation by displaying clocks ticking and people waiting eagerly.

Verizon is expected to put major "marketing muscle" behind the iPhone 4, at the expense of competing Google Android smartphones, according to one analyst. Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. said earlier this month that checks with industry sources suggest the largest wireless network in the U.S. will make a big push to promote the long-awaited arrival of the iPhone.



Ads promoting the new partnership between Apple and Verizon are an about-face from previous commercials that sought to tout Verizon's Android smartphones as superior to the iPhone on AT&T. In 2009, Motorola and Verizon teamed up to promote the Motorola Droid handset with an ad campaign that suggested the iPhone was feminine and highlighted perceived weaknesses in the iPhone with the tagline "iDon't."

Verizon and Apple will launch the new CDMA iPhone 4 on Feb. 10 for a starting price of $199.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Josh Ong

Apple reaches 10 billion downloads on the iOS App Store

Apple on Saturday announced that its iOS App Store for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad has reached the milestone of 10 billion downloads since its launch in 2008.

"Thank you. Ten billion times," Apple's official countdown was changed to read. "The 10 Billion App Countdown promotion has ended. Please come back to this page later to see who won."

The company began a countdown to 10 billion downloads on Jan. 14, when there were about 250 million downloads to go. It ran a promotion in which the 10 billionth downloader will win an iTunes gift card valued at $10,000 U.S.

Downloads from the App Store have grown at an exponential rate. It was in January of 2010 that Apple announced total App Store downloads had topped 3 billion in the digital download destination's first year and a half.

But in the last year, the number of App Store downloads has more than tripled, with nearly 7 billion downloads in the last year alone. For comparison, in its first year, the App Store reached 1.5 billion downloads.

App Store


There are more than 300,000 applications available on the App Store for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. And Apple revealed this week that it has sold 160 million iOS devices.

The App Store originally debuted on the iPhone and iPod touch, but last year it was extended to the iPad. In addition, this month Apple launched a spin-off of its popular iOS downloading service for the Mac, dubbed the Mac App Store.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Sam Oliver

Saturday 22 January 2011

White iPhone finally makes way -AppleCentral Exclusive


Six months after the launch of the iPhone 4, Apple will finally be releasing the White iPhone 4. 

The inventory of white iPhone 4 was spotted at Best Buy and is set to launch in the UK on the 27th February 2011. The same has been spotted in Germany's Vodafone inventory list. Some Apple fans and those who recently jumped on the iPhone bonanza were probably unaware  of this and had actually purchased a "White iPhone 4". Sadly these fans and new adopters of the famed device were duped by rogue sellers. No doubt these products sold were actually the originally iPhone 4 in Black and had its aesthetics coated over with cheap synthetics (excuse the pun). These apparent "'official" resellers of the popular device are actually your day to day "off the back of the lorry" resellers, who have created a large number of clients off social network sites such as Facebook, twitter, fourspace and others. Not to mention the word of mouth is actually a more powerful method of advertising their deeds. 

Nonetheless, if you have been wise enough to actually enquire about the actual launch of the White iPhone ever since the original appeared you would have discovered that actual product was not made by Apple although advertised by them. Apple's reasoning for not launching this coloured version was two folds. Firstly colour trade marking (not uncommon to be done by a manufacturer - just ask Sony about the use of Piano Black on any devices). And secondly because it can-it take good pictures as the case leaks light back in o especially when the flash is used to take pictures.
Making the photo or video looking washed out. 

Now that it will be released late February lets hope there are no further glitches on this device. 

This is an exclusive article published by AppleCentral on the 22 of January 2011.

Apple faces environmental criticism - Exclusive AppleCentral report


Dozens of Chinese environmental groups have accused technology giant Apple Of not responding to concerns about pollution and health problems at factories that supply it with components.


The report puts Apple at the bottom of more than two dozen technology firms in how they deal with concerns and the criticism comes as the company begins to open stores in China and push further into the country's market. Apple has been dogged by safety concerns after several workers for Foxconn Technology Group, which makes iPhones and other gadgets for Apple, killed themselves in southern China last year. Dozens of workers for another contractor. Wintek Corp, reported being sickened by chemicals used in making touch screens for Apple and other companies. An Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a for comment. 

Friday 21 January 2011

Apple's secret $3.9B investment could buy 136M iPhone, 60M iPad displays

The most likely use of Apple's secret $3.9 billion long-term supply investment is for tens of millions of displays for the iPhones and iPads the company plans to sell in the near future, one Wall Street analyst believes.

Katy Huberty with Morgan Stanley issued a note to investors this week in which she estimated that Apple's $3.9 billion investment could purchase about 136 million iPhone displays, or approximately 60 million iPad displays. If those displays were coupled with touch panels, the money could buy Apple 100 million iPhone panels, or 40 million for the iPad.

The fact that Apple is pre-paying for inventory indicates that the company is very confident in its outlook on demand for the company's products in the near future. Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said during his company's quarterly earnings report this week that he believes that the tablet market potential is "huge," and Apple has a head start on the competition with its iPad.

He also noted that Apple has tremendous growth potential for the iPhone, even as it has seen major sales increases. He noted that most people do not yet own a smartphone, and attracting those upgraders presents a major growth opportunity for Apple.

It was Cook who hinted at Apple's long-term component supply contracts this week while talking with analysts. He revealed that the company had made secret deals that he felt were a "fantastic" use of $3.9 billion from his company's $59.7 billion in cash reserves.

Cook declined to reveal what the investment might be, because he said he viewed the strategic move as "competitive" in nature. Revealing where Apple spends its money could tip off competitors to future products, he said.

Cook compared the investment to 2005, when Apple prepaid for flash memory. That NAND flash has become a major part of Apple's strategy, found in devices like the iPhone, iPad and new MacBook Air.

In addition to speculating on Apple's investments, Huberty also noted the company's impressive fourfold increase in revenue in China last quarter. She said she believes Apple is now ahead of the ramp carmaker BMW experienced in China over the last four years.

"[China] could contribute well over half (and as much as 100%) of the total company earnings growth we expect [for Apple] through [fiscal year 2012]," Huberty wrote.

Morgan Stanley


This week, after Apple's record setting earnings, in which it exceeded Wall Street expectations for revenue by $2 billion, Huberty upped her estimates for AAPL stock. Morgan Stanley now has a 12-month price target of $410, though in her "bull case" scenario, the stock could hit $540 in the next year.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Neil Hughes

Apple doubles board suppliers for iPad 2 ahead of April launch - report

As manufacturing of the second-generation iPad ramps up, Apple has reportedly more than doubled the printed circuit board suppliers it has contracted for the touchscreen tablet.

According to DigiTimes, Apple has more than doubled the number of iPad 2 printed circuit board suppliers from three to seven. Apple reportedly recently added Compeq Manufacturing, Gold Circuit Electronics, Meiko, and Nan Ya PCB to the mix.

The companies are expected to begin shipments of any-layer high density interconnect boards in "small volumes" between the end of February and early March. The report indicated that Apple plans to begin "mass shipments" of the next-generation iPad in April, marking one year after the first-generation tablet launched.

The four new companies will join Ibiden, Tripod Technology, and TTM Technologies, who were the initial printed circuit board suppliers for the second-generation iPad. Those companies were first revealed last November, in a report that claimed Apple would begin producing its next-generation early this year.

Growing use of any-layer boards in smartphones and tablets is predicted to continue in 2011, causing a shortage of such components. The report noted a number of "challenges" in manufacturing the printed circuit boards, including "complicated circuit designs, and supply constraints for laser drilling and electroplating equipment."

Apple revealed this week that it has committed $3.9 billion toward secret, long-term component contracts. The company wouldn't reveal where the money for the deal is concentrated, but Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook called the decision "very strategic."

Apple made a major, long-term deal in 2005 to secure flash memory components for use in future products. That strategic move proven to be a successful strategy for Apple, as reports of limited worldwide ability of NAND flash have cropped up repeatedly.



Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Sam Oliver

iPhone, iPad leading Android in mobile enterprise adoption

Enterprise mobile services vendor Good Technology reports iPhone 4 became the leading mobile device among its enterprise customers in the first month following its launch, with iPad helping Apple account for more than half of all its new enterprise device activations this summer.

Good provides push messaging, device management and security products for corporate mobile users, serving as an alternative to RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server. As such, Good supports mobile platforms outside of RIM's own, including Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Symbian, and adding relatively new support for iPhone and Android in December of 2009.

"As the leader in multi-platform enterprise mobility, security, and management," the report said, "Good has a clear view into enterprise adoption and support of mobile devices. Thousands of customers across every major industry and more than 40 of the Fortune 100 use Good Technology for enterprise mobility."

From May through September of last year, Good reported that Apple's iOS platform accounted for more than 50 percent of net new activations, followed by Android with nearly 30 percent, Windows Mobile with 15 percent, and Symbian devices representing less than five percent.

Apple's dominant standing in mobile enterprise adoption is particularly noteworthy because the iPhone was only available via AT&T in the US. With Verizon joining Apple as a US carrier, business adoption of the iPhone may begin to grow even faster.

iOS Good's most popular mobile platform in the enterprise

The report clarified that, "since RIM devices use only the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for corporate email access, Good does not have insight into BlackBerry handset activation trends and they are not reflected in this report."

Apple's iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, and iPad accounted for the top four new device activations for the May through September period, followed by the Android-based Motorola's Droid X and Droid 2 and HTC Droid Incredible, and the Windows Mobile using HTC Cedar, Samsung 1637 and BlackJack 2.

In addition to Apple's iPhone and iPad, Good noted that it supports over 30 Android device models and over 100 mobile devices using Windows Mobile. "More than 40 percent of Good’s customers support both iOS and Android devices, and nearly 20 percent support devices on three or more mobile platforms," the company said.

Good noted that the iPad entered its top five device list in less than two months after first becoming available. "Interestingly," the company observed, "70 percent of these iPad users have not activated any other devices with Good, while 30 percent have activated both an iPad and least one other iOS or Android device.

Good enterprise adoption ios android


Android growth stalls in June, Apple retains clear lead

Good noted that adoption of iOS peaked in May, when Apple's platform accounted for 60 percent of all new activations. Android grew rapidly in June, peaking at 36 percent of new enterprise activations. However, since then Android has slipped back down below 30 percent as Apple has stabilized at a 56 percent share of activations.

The dual punch of Apple's iPad and iPhone 4 launches this summer appear to have blunted the grown of Android in the enterprise, mirroring a similar phenomenon witnessed in Verizon's weakening Android device sales over the same period. While Good doesn't count RIM's BlackBerry platform, Verizon's rapidly collapsing sales of BlackBerry models may provide some context for its relative standing in business as well.

Verizon Android BlackBerry


Microsoft's mobile platform continues to shrink, although the report notes, "we don’t expect to see Windows Mobile devices vanish from the rankings in the foreseeable future, due to their continued use by government and other enterprises that have invested in ruggedized or other 'purpose-built' Windows Mobile devices to support retail, field service, logistics, and transportation applications.

"Symbian remains fairly steady, but is less than 5 percent of all net activations, driven primarily by Good’s European customer base."

Good enterprise adoption ios android

Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2011 Daniel Eran Dilger

Thursday 20 January 2011

Apple's next Magic Mouse could include a multi-touch display

Apple has shown interest in adding a display to its multi-touch Magic Mouse, adding interactivity and functionality to the wireless mouse for its Mac line of computers.

The new Magic Mouse was revealed this week in a patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office entitled "Computer Input Device Including a Display Device." Discovered by AppleInsider, it shows a mouse with a display on top that would be able to display information or allow contextual input options.

Apple's filing notes that the usability of a computer might become easier through input devices that are "more communicative" to the user. It also notes that the addition of a screen could make a device more "aesthetically pleasing," by allowing users to change the look of it by customizing what is displayed on the screen.

The proposed invention would provide "observable data" to a user through the input device itself. The image could even be displayed on the back of a curved surface, like a mouse, by projecting the image onto an outer surface of "collimated glass."

The display on the mouse would change according to what the user may be doing on their Mac. As an example, the application describes displaying a number of icons for quickly selectable options when a user is running Apple's Pages word processing application. Switching over to the spreadsheet software Numbers would reconfigure the buttons on the screen to allow for commands in that respective application.

Patent 1


In another example, the mouse displays a virtual depiction of a traditional number pad, commonly found on a full-size keyboard. With this, users could quickly input numbers right from their mouse using its touch-sensitive back panel.

The application notes that the dynamic touch-display input method could be employed on other devices like a keyboard, or even a mobile device like an iPhone or iPod touch.

In one illustration, an iPhone is shown with the top third of its screen occupied by the handset's traditional applications like SMS, Calendar and Photos. But the bottom two-third of the display are occupied by a trackpad-like area, and below that is a virtual clickable surface for using a cursor to select objects on a traditional computer. The iPhone sketch also lacks a home button on the hardware.

Patent 2


The patent application revealed this week is credited to Gordie Freeman, Jacob Farkas, and Toby Charles Wood Patterson. Apple first filed for the proposed invention in July of 2009.

Apple introduced its multi-touch Magic Mouse -- without a display on it, of course -- in 2009. The wireless mouse lacks any physical buttons, but brings multi-touch gestures, such as two-finger scrolling, to the pointer. Previously, those types of gestures were only capable on an iPhone, or a multi-touch trackpad on a MacBook.

The effort to add multi-touch input to Apple's entire line of products continued in July 2010, when the Magic Trackpad was released. The flat trackpad surface offers input similar to a MacBook on a desktop Mac.

As for controlling a device with an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, Apple already allows that with its own free Remote application. That software, available on the App Store, allows iOS users to control their Apple TV wirelessly from anywhere in their home.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Neil Hughes

Another report claims Apple's iPad 2 will sport a high-res display

Back-and-forth claims on the resolution of the display on Apple's forthcoming second-generation iPad continue, with a new report out of the Far East claiming it will be a 2048-by-1536-pixel screen.

Citing upstream component makers, Taiwan's DigiTimes reported Thursday that the iPad 2 will feature a resolution of 2048 by 1536, which would be quadruple the total pixels of the iPad. The current touchscreen tablet's 9.7-inch display has a pixel ratio of 1024 by 768.

For further evidence, the publication referred to previous reports that discovered icons labeled "@2x" in the iBooks application for iPad. For example, the current application's background image has a resolution of 768 by 400, while the "iPad@2x" file is 1536 by 800.

"The sources (added) that the larger resolution should provide the company's app developers more convenience, while all future applications will be able to run under any of Apple's machines including the 27-inch iMac," the report said.

It also noted that Apple should be able to ship more than 40 million iPads in 2011, and the company ordered between 1.6 million and 1.8 million devices in January. Initial iPad 2 shipments are expected to be between 400,000 and 600,000.

Though evidence exists suggesting a new high-resolution display for the second-generation iPad, one report this week claimed that such an upgrade is simply not in the cards for the 2011 model. John Gruber of Daring Fireball said on Wednesday that claims of a potential "Retina Display" in the next iPad are simply "too good to be true."

Gruber said the new iPad is expected to have a faster processor, more RAM, and better graphics performance. But he also believes it will have the same 1024-by-768-pixel display as on the current iPad.

Regardless of the resolution, as reported by AppleInsider, the iPad 2 is expected to have improved graphics capabilities with a fast dual-core SGX543 graphics processing unit included in a new, custom system-on-a-chip from Apple. The SGX543 architecture can support up to 16 cores, and the chip can push 35 million polygons per second at 200Mhz, and 1 billion pixels per second. It is also capable of handling Apple's OpenCL standard.



Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2011 Sam Oliver

iOS 4.3 adds new Photo Stream service, iPad FaceTime and PhotoBooth


The developer release of iOS 4.3 beta 2 includes mention of a new MobileMe-based Photo Stream picture sync feature, apparently part of a new Media Stream service, and includes versions of a standalone FaceTime and PhotoBooth app for iPad.

Photo Stream cloud sharing and sync

"Photo Stream uploads and stores the last thirty days of your photos on MobileMe and downloads them to all of your devices," according to text appearing in iOS 4.3 beta 2.

Apple previously offered a feature in iPhoto called photocasting, which allowed users to share an album with friends via an email link. Once shared, the album would appear in their iPhoto source list and stay updated (as new photos were added) via an RSS feed, similar to a podcast.

That feature was replaced by MobileMe Gallery, an online "cloud" service that stores selected photos on Apple's servers, for open or password-protected access by other users. MobileMe Gallery also supports movie sharing.

The new Photo Stream feature appears to make MobileMe Gallery sharing automatic, apparently enabling users to automatically share all their photos as they take them

Once in the user's MobileMe Gallery, they can be made available publicly or to select friends and family just like the existing MobileMe Gallery. It appears the feature will also allow a user to keep his or her own devices synced via the cloud, so that recent pictures snapped by an iPhone would also appear on the user's iPad, for example.

Photo Stream appears to be part of new Media Stream development, suggesting that the same type of service might be offered for sharing and syncing movies. There's also hints that the service may offer hooks for third party developers to use, enabling them to take advantage of the automatic media sync and sharing features just as they are now able to tap into MobileMe contact and calendar data sync, or desktop app preferences sync to regularly update the settings of an app installed on a user's various Macs.

New FaceTime, Photo Booth and Camera apps for iPad

Apple will also apparently be bundling a new standalone FaceTime and PhotoBooth apps for iPad, as well as including a Camera app to take advantage of the rear facing camera, which has been anticipated for some time.

While not installed in the developer build, FaceTime and PhotoBooth apps are depicted in a wallpaper preview image that has changed since the previous developer beta (shown below, first discovered by MacRumors). The image inadvertently leaks the internal development of those apps.

On the Mac, Photo Booth includes support for using Quartz Composition filters to distort, transform, chroma key (blue screen), or apply other affects in the pictures and videos it captures. Additional Quartz Composition filters can be created using Apple's free Quartz Composer application and installed for use by Photo Booth. The depiction of Photo Booth as an app on the iPad suggests similar functionally within the new iOS version.

iOS FaceTime PhotoBooth


Also in iOS 4.3 developer builds

The iOS 4.3 Beta 2 release also previewed full handed gestures for rapidly moving between multitasking apps or returning to the Home screen, although it warned that feature was experimental and not planned for public release in the next build.

The first beta of iOS 4.3 introduced a personal hotspot control panel, new multitouch gestures for the iPad, and updated SMS alert settings. Resource files accompanying the release also provided hints at a handful of new iPad and iPhone models, as well as a potential "Find My Friends" social networking feature.

Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2011 AppleInsider Staff