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- Tim Cook calls assault on Apple's ethics in...
- Apple's overseas manufacturing operations...
- Apple execs are 'actively discussing' what to...
- Dutch court rules Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1...
- Apple working to adopt 802.11ac 5G Gigabit...
- Former executives accuse Apple of ignoring...
- Before he died, Steve Jobs kept a letter from...
- Apple earns record $13B on sales of 37M...
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Facebook IPO filing expected within weeks, could reach $100B valuation
Facebook is making plans to file papers for an initial public offering as early as next week with a valuation that is expected to range between $75 and $100 billion, a new report claims. ( 21 comments )
Steve Jobs asked Google to stop poaching Apple workers
As part of a civil suit involving the employment practices of seven major tech firms, a court filing was unveiled on Friday that includes an email which late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs personally sent to former Google chief Eric Schmidt requesting an end to worker poaching. ( 28 comments )
T-Mobile to offer official support for unlocked iPhones
Despite not being able to sell the iPhone, a reportedly leaked employee memo reveals that T-Mobile will begin to offer official support for subscribers using unlocked versions of Apple's popular handset on its network. ( 17 comments )
FileMaker highlights successful deployment of iPads by Austin, Texas
At Macworld Expo's MacIT conference, City of Austin staff members profiled how FileMaker Go has enabled them to rapidly eliminate paper work orders and streamline management of exhibitors in the vast Austin Convention Center using a fleet of iPads. ( 7 comments )
Before he died, Steve Jobs kept a letter from Bill Gates by his bed
In a new interview, Microsoft founder Bill Gates reveals he wrote a letter to Steve Jobs before he passed away, and the letter apparently meant so much to Jobs that he kept it at his bedside. ( 90 comments )
Former Apple exec and Palm chief Jon Rubinstein leaves HP
Hewlett-Packard on Friday confirmed that Jon Rubinstein, who came to the company through its $1.2 billion purchase of Palm, has left the company. ( 45 comments )
EFF working to keep iPhone, iPad 'jailbreaking' legal in US
An exemption from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that has made iPhone "jailbreaking" legal is set to expire, and a digital rights advocacy group hopes the U.S. government will renew and expand that exemption. ( 58 comments )
Apple features 'communication to protect consumers' in Italy after court ruling
Apple has complied with a court order in Italy and begun informing customers at its online store about a legally mandated two-year warranty. ( 8 comments )
German court dismisses second Samsung patent suit against Apple
In an early morning ruling on Friday, the Mannheim Regional Court dismissed the second of five 3G/UMTS standards patent suits Samsung leveled against Apple. ( 16 comments )
Chinese respond to report on Apple's suppliers in China
The New York Times republished its scathing report on Apple's alleged indifference to workers' rights in China in a Chinese business magazine to solicit comments "that might prove illuminating for readers" here in the US. Those responses were subsequently buried in a blog post. ( 48 comments )
Tim Cook calls assault on Apple's ethics in China "patently false and offensive"
Responding to a report by the New York Times that castigated Apple over an alleged permissiveness and indifference for workers' conditions among the suppliers it contract with in China, its chief executive Tim Cook rebutted the accusations in an email expressing "any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us." ( 166 comments )
Apple's iPhone believed to account for record 8% of global mobile phone market
Even as Apple appears to have retaken the top spot among smartphone makers during the fourth quarter of 2011, a new analysis claims the iPhone made up 8.3 percent of the worldwide mobile phone market during the same period. ( 20 comments )
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Apple reclaims title of world's largest smartphone maker after blowout quarter
Apple overtook Samsung in the fourth quarter of 2011 to grab the top spot among global smartphone makers, earning 23.9 percent of the market with sales of 37 million iPhones, according to one set of estimates. ( 39 comments )
App Store sales result in average revenue gains of 19% for iPad, 22% for iPhone
App publishers on Apple's App Store typically see a significant first-day revenue jump of 52 percent for iPad apps and 41 percent for iPhone apps and and 19 percent and 22 percent overall, respectively, when they put their software on sale, according to a new analysis. ( 3 comments )
Half of the enterprise is issuing Macs, 21% of workers use Apple products
A new study indicates around half of all large companies with 1,000 employees or more are buying Macs, while over a fifth of all "information workers" are now using at least one Apple product to do their work. ( 24 comments )
Motorola posts $80M quarterly loss, sells only 200K tablets
Motorola Mobility's fiscal year ended on a sour note with poor tablet and smartphone sales leading to a Q4 2011 loss of $80 million, which was further exacerbated by merger costs associated with a planned Google takeover. ( 51 comments )
Briefly: Verizon pulls away from AT&T, Apple philanthropy
AT&T announced a significant quarterly loss as a result of a failed T-Mobile takeover and is now adding fewer new customers than rival Verizon Wireless, while Apple extends its charitable matching program to include part-time employees. ( 19 comments )
iPhone 4S accounts for 90% of US iPhone sales, 42% of customers break contract to buy
Despite the customary price drop of Apple's last generation iPhone 4 and the free-on-contract iPhone 3GS, the company's newest handset dominated sales and has seen strong numbers not only from early adopters, but "conventional" smartphone users as well. ( 48 comments )
Nokia's earnings plunge 73%, Nintendo sees first annual loss
On the heels of Apple's announcement of the biggest quarter in company history, two of the iPhone maker's rivals -- Nokia and Nintendo -- have reported significant losses. ( 64 comments )
Apple to offer employees $500 off a new Mac, $250 off iPads - report [u]
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook reportedly informed employees this week that later this year they will be able to buy an iPad with a $250 discount, while Macs will be available for $500 off. ( 43 comments )
More than 80% of smartphones activated at AT&T were Apple's iPhone
Apple's first carrier partner remains its strongest, as AT&T revealed on Thursday that it activated a record 7.6 million iPhones over the holiday 2011 quarter. ( 63 comments )
Apple exploring MagSafe data, headphone connections for iPhone, iPad
Apple's standard 30-pin iPod cable and even its headphones could be replaced on future iPhones and iPads by new magnetic cables, much like the MagSafe power adapters currently used on MacBooks. ( 38 comments )
Apple's universal remote concept hints at future television set
Apple has shown interest in building a new, simplified remote control that would automatically control a variety of devices while reducing setup and frustration for the user. ( 38 comments )
Apple maintains dominance of global tablet market with 58% share in Q4 2011
Shipments of 15.4 million iPads in the fourth quarter of calendar 2011 gave Apple a commanding 58 percent of the market, while Amazon's Kindle Fire helped heat up Android tablet shipments to a record 39 percent, according to one analysis. ( 75 comments )
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Former executives accuse Apple of ignoring supplier labor abuses
A new report quotes former Apple executives as saying that the company has known about some "labor abuses" in supplier factories for years without requiring that they be addressed. ( 94 comments )
iPad takes 96% of tablets, iPhone 53% of phones in Good mobile enterprise study
Enterprise mobile services vendor Good Technology reported that iPad accounted for 96 percent of tablets and iPhone 53 percent of smartphones activated by the more than 2,000 companies using its services in the fourth quarter, giving iOS a 71 percent share of all mobile devices. ( 35 comments )
Foxconn gets Brazil tax breaks, looks to start iPad production
The Brazilian government has approved tax reductions or exemptions pertaining to tablet production that will allow Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn to start iPad production in the country. ( 8 comments )
Ron Johnson seeks to bring Apple Store savvy to J.C. Penney
Apple's former retail chief Ron Johnson has outlined plans for revitalizing the 110 year old retailer J.C. Penney, which he now heads as chief executive. ( 35 comments )
Apple appeals HTC ITC case, seeks to revive '263 patent against Android
Apple has appealed last month's ITC final ruling on the HTC case, seeking to revive a key patent it hopes to use against Android while adding two more. ( 7 comments )
Apple's new Israel chip R&D center rumored to open by end of February
Apple is said to have received hundreds of resumes from engineers who are seeking employment at a new research and development center in Israel rumored to open by the end of February. ( 13 comments )
New Motorola suit seeks injunction against Apple's iPhone 4S, iCloud
Motorola Mobility has filed a new U.S. lawsuit, presumably with approval from Google, against Apple, seeking an injunction against the newly released iPhone 4S as well as the iCloud service. ( 40 comments )
Massive holiday quarter pushes iPhone sales past Android in US
Apple's share of smartphones sold in the U.S. doubled in the fourth quarter of 2011, pushing iPhone sales just past the myriad of devices that run Google's Android platform. ( 74 comments )
Bill Gates discusses Steve Jobs, Apple's iBooks & the future of education
In a new interview, Microsoft founder Bill Gates discusses conversations he would have with the late Steve Jobs, and also shares his thoughts on the future of education in the wake of Apple's iPad textbook announcement. ( 73 comments )
Apple's 44.7% gross margins are highest in at least 15 years
Apple's record setting quarter included another major achievement for the company with gross margins of 44.7 percent, a number that was its highest in at least 15 years, and maybe its highest ever. ( 62 comments )
Wowed Wall Street watchers raise forecasts after Apple's 'perfect' $46B quarter
Analysts on Wall Street were blown away by Apple's blistering holiday 2011 quarter, and promptly revised their estimates even higher following the news. ( 49 comments )
iCloud nets 85M subscribers as sign-ups outpace device sales
During Tuesday's earning conference call, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook referred to iCloud as an integral part of the company's future after the cloud storage and syncing service saw an almost overwhelming adoption rate of over 85 million users. ( 49 comments )
Apple Stores rake in $6.1 billion in record quarter
Apple's retail outlets set new records in Q1 2012 and brought in an unprecedented $6.1 billion in revenue, which translates to a prodigious 59% increase over results from the same time a year ago. ( 7 comments )
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
President Obama points to Steve Jobs' ingenuity in State of the Union address
U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as an example of America's best and brightest during the State of the Union address on Tuesday, which was attended by Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs. ( 73 comments )
Apple has now paid $4 billion to App Store developers
The value of Apple's platforms is reflected in the amount of revenue the company's App Stores pays its developers, a figure that has now hit $4 billion. ( 18 comments )
iPhone vs. Android a tight race but iPad puts iOS 'way ahead' in mobile OS war
Apple CEO Tim Cook outlined his thoughts on the company's iOS device performance during Q1 2012 and sees iPhone sales momentum closing the gap with rival handsets running Google's Android platform, while iPad and iPod touch are in a league of their own. ( 55 comments )
Apple now largest computer maker, sold more iPads alone than HP sold PCs
Apple has surpassed HP in both computer unit sales and revenues for the first time, taking the top spot sooner than expected on record sales of iPads. Rather than losing sales to low priced tablets, Apple said it would "continue to innovate like crazy" in the tablet arena. ( 34 comments )
Apple execs are 'actively discussing' what to do with nearly $100B cash hoard
Apple's stockpile of cash and reserves grew another $16 billion in the holiday quarter, reaching $97.6 billion, as executives hinted they are considering big plans with their money, even though they aren't in a hurry to spend it. ( 115 comments )
Apple has sold over 4.2 Million iOS-based Apple TVs
Apple TV sold 1.4 million units during the holiday quarter after sales of just over 2.8 million across its first year as an iOS product, but Apple's executives are still describing it as a hobby. ( 21 comments )
Notes of interest from Apple's Q1 2012 conference call
Apple on Tuesday posted a massive holiday quarter with record sales of more than 37 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads and 5.2 million Macs. Following the news, Apple executives participated in a conference call with analysts and the press, and notes of interest follow. ( 31 comments )
Apple earns record $13B on sales of 37M iPhones, 15M iPads and 5.2M Macs
Apple announced Tuesday the best quarter in its corporate history where earnings rose more than 117% to $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share, on record quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion. ( 91 comments )
Steve Jobs's widow attending tonight's US State of the Union address
Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, will be in attendance as an official guest at tonight's State of the Union address by U.S. President Barack Obama. ( 67 comments )
Verizon's 4.2M Q4 iPhone activations were more than half of its smartphones
Verizon on Tuesday revealed its quarterly earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011, in which it sold 7.7 million smartphones, 4.2 million of which were iPhones. ( 32 comments )
Apple now the largest buyer of semiconductors in the world
Apple spent some $17 billion on semiconductors in 2011, making it the largest chip customer in the world, research firm Gartner revealed on Tuesday. ( 23 comments )
Dutch court rules Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 doesn't infringe on Apple's designs
An appeals court in The Netherlands has sided with Samsung and ruled that its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet does not infringe on patented designs owned by Apple. ( 114 comments )
Book details Apple's 'packaging room,' Steve Jobs's interest in advanced cameras
Apple has a secret room devoted solely to designing product packaging and what users experience when opening a new product, a new book reveals. It also gives details on Steve Jobs's interest in a startup camera company before he died late last year. ( 29 comments )
