Items tagged with iPhone 6
The last holdout among the four major U.S. credit card issuers has finally caved to Apple. Discover announced today that it will allow its cardmembers to make wireless payments using Apple Pay on their iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch starting this fall. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express have supported Apple Pay since it launched in October 2014, so it’s nice to see Discover finally getting onboard, even if it’s going to be a year late. “As the mobile payments landscape matures, Discover remains committed to giving cardmembers secure options for using their cards and mobile devices,” said Discover President of Payment Services Diane Offereins. “Discover’s focus on simplicity and...
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Analysts expect that China will become a bigger market for Apple's iPhone than the United States, and to underscore the point, it's believed that quarterly iPhone sales in the region exceeded the U.S. for the first time. This can be explained, in part, by China's New Year celebrations, a time when people get in the gift giving mood. Citing market research firm Creative Strategies LLC, Bloomberg reports that last quarter's iPhone sales in greater China are likely to be between 18 million and 20 million, compared to 14 million to 15 million in the U.S. Not too shabby, though the question is whether or not China will continue to be a bigger market than the U.S. for iPhone sales going forward. "Before,...
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Apple took a lot of heat over complaints that its iPhone 6 and especially iPhone 6 Plus devices were prone to bending, even from just storing them in pockets as normal. The situation became known as "bendgate" and Samsung wasted little time capitalizing on the situation, but was it a case of the pot calling the kettle black? A durability test conducted by insurance firm Square Trade reveals that Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge bends just as easily as Apple's newer iPhone models, and breaks entirely under less pressure. Square Trade revisited tests it ran during bendgate, this time focusing on three handsets -- Apple's iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge, and HTC's One M9. Each device was put in...
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Many analysts wondered aloud if Apple was pricing itself out of the Chinese smartphone market with premium devices like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Well, according to data from market research firm Kantar Worldpanel, those fears were unwarranted. Apple’s iPhone family was able to grab a record 27.6 percent of the smartphone market in China during a three-month period ending in February, making Apple the number one smartphone OEM. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 led the way with a 10.2 percent share of the market, which was enough to make it the best selling smartphone in China. Second place when to the Xiaomi RedMi Note, while the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus took third place. "There has been a strong appetite...
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In case you haven't noticed, wireless carriers are fighting each other tooth and nail, and they're fighting over you. Yes, you! That's especially true of Sprint and T-Mobile, two companies that nearly merged with one another a few months ago, and are now bitter rivals, each trying to steal subscribers away from the other (along with Verizon and AT&T). As a result, there have been a lot of new pricing plans and promotions, the latest of which has Sprint combining its "iPhone for Life" and "iPad for Life" plans into a single lease option.Taking advantage of the new deal, you can snag an iPhone 6 smartphone and iPad mini 3 tablet for $100 per month with no activation fee or upfront costs. The...
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As we alluded to in our article earlier today, Apple has just announced its earning for fiscal Q1 2015. The results are nothing short of astonishing, as Apple had record quarterly revenue of $74.6 billion and along with record quarterly net profit of $18 billion. Yes, you heard that correctly, $18 billion in profit for a single quarter. For comparison, Microsoft yesterday reported a net profit of $5.86 billion for its most recent quarter. Gross margins were also through the roof, coming in at 39.9 percent compared to 37.9 percent for the same period one year ago. Earnings came in at $3.06 per diluted share compared to $2.07 per diluted share for the same period last year. When all the results...
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Motorola released the Nexus 6 to much fanfare back in early November. The Nexus 6 was the high-profile launch vehicle for the Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system. As we reported in our review, the Nexus 6 packs in plenty of high-end hardware including a quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, up to 64GB of internal storage, a 13MP rear camera with optical image stabilization, and a huge 5.9-inch QHD AMOLED Display (2560x1440). But according to a new report from The Telegraph, the Nexus 6 was supposed to include support for another promising hardware feature. Dennis Woodside is currently the CFO for Dropbox, but he was CEO of Motorola during the time the Nexus 6 was developed. He reveals that the...
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We’re still scratching our heads over this one. A Missouri lawmaker is looking to thwart one of the many advantages of using mobile payment services like Apple Pay — paying without the need to show an ID. Rep. Joshua Peters of St. Louis (D) wants to pass legislation that would require a customer to show a driver’s license or an alternate form of government ID when paying with mobile payment services like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. According to Peters, showing an ID would help to cut down on fraud if a person were to lose his or her smartphone. And if a merchant fails to “card” customers that use a mobile device for payment, it would be responsible for purchases made if the device was previously...
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It was always assumed (outside of Cupertino, anyway) that if Apple released a bigger size iPhone model to compete with large screen Android devices, it would be a huge hit. Well, that notion was proven right when Apple launched its 4.7-inch iPhone 6 (1334x750; 326 ppi) and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus (1920x1080; 401 ppi) models, which combined to break sales records. Those flurry of initial sales weren't just a knee jerk reaction, either -- Kantar Worldpanel ComTech notes that the latest smartphone sales data for the three months ending November 2014 shows that the impact of the iPhone 6 launch continued in the run up to Christmas. According to KWC's number nerds, iOS grew is market share in all surveyed...
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A look around the market should have revealed to Apple that there would be rabid demand for larger screen iPhone models, yet the Cupertino outfit is still struggling to ship the necessary number of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets in a timely fashion. Granted, being short on supply of a new product isn't unusual, especially for an Apple device, but to continue to have trouble meeting demand two months later isn't par for the course. According to a CNBC report, a research note by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said that just 58 percent of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models were in stock at retail stores across the nation in late November. That translates into 42 percent still unavailable...
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It appears the time is nigh for the iPhone 5C, says MacRumors which cited a report from Taiwan’s Industrial and Commercial Times. According to the report, Apple will discontinue production of the smartphone in 2015.Last year, Apple unveiled the iPhone 5C as a cheaper alternative to the iPhone 5S with the 16GB model retailing for $99 and the 32GB version for $199. Lacking features such as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and the A7 processor from the iPhone 5S, the iPhone 5C is available in five different colors. However, sales of the iPhone 5C reportedly failed to meet expectations when it launched in 2013 due to the high demand of the iPhone 5S. To compete with the lower-end segment, Apple then...
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While Samsung is reportedly getting ready to shake up management over disappointing sales of its flagship Galaxy S5 device, rival Apple continues to celebrate another record iPhone launch. Looking forward, the Cupertino outfit expects to ship more than 71.5 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, based on a report by KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. If Kuo's prediction comes to fruition, it will represent an 82 percent sequential jump in shipments.Out ahead of the pack is the iPhone 6 -- Kuo expects the 4.7-inch device to see 41.75 million shipments, which would account for nearly 60 percent of all iPhone sales for the quarter, while the iPhone 6 Plus is expected to add another 15.1 million units to...
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If you look over the most recent data from International Data Corporation (IDC), you'll see that Apple's share of the global smartphone market declined from 12.9 percent to 12 percent in the past year. Meanwhile, Samsung's stake is now almost twice that of Apple's at 23.8 percent. Granted, Samsung sells a lot more models than Apple does, but even so, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes the Cupertino company made a misstep by waiting this long to release a bigger size smartphone. "Apple could have had a much bigger share of the smartphone market if it had a larger screen iPhone for the past three years," Wozniak told CNNMoney. "It could have competed better with Samsung." That's easy to see...
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Ah, nothing says "I love you" like...99 iPhone 6 handsets arranged in a heart? Yeah, we think not. Unfortunately, a Chinese programmer somehow came up with the not-so-brilliant idea of spending around $82,000 on the aforementioned smartphones as part of a horribly conceived marriage proposal on November 11, otherwise known and celebrated as "Singles' Day" in China. The poor fellow (literally, the dude might be poor after spending two years worth of salary on the 99 iPhones) gathered a group of friends to stand around in a circle as he and his girlfriend took center stage inside the iPhones arranged in a giant heart. We're not sure what that many smartphones have to do with marriage, and apparently...
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Apple should really consider developing an excuse generator that it could plop on its mobile devices as a native app. Think about it -- is there any company that's better at coming up with excuses when things go wrong? Dropped calls on your iPhone 4? You're holding it wrong. Purple streaks in your photos taken with the iPhone 5? Stop pointing it directly at the sun. Bent iPhone 6? That's only happened nine times, or so Apple says. However, a website that's been collecting photos of bent iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices shows that the actual number of instances might be in the several hundreds, but who's counting? The blog is cheekily called "One of the Nine," an obvious jab at Apple for claiming...
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Regarding Apple's financial performance during its fiscal fourth quarter ended September 27, 2014, go ahead and choose whichever adjective floats your boat -- smashing, awesome, fantastic, and the list goes on. By the numbers, it was another record period with Apple collecting $42.1 billion in revenue to the tune of an $8.5 billion profit, or $1.42 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $37.5 billion and net profit of $7.5 billion, or $1.18 per diluted share, in the same quarter a year ago. "Our fiscal 2014 was one for the record books, including the biggest iPhone launch ever with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus," said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. "With amazing innovations in our new iPhones,...
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The recent launch of Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets has wireless carriers tripping over each other in a race to get your business. What about existing subscribers? Don't worry, you haven't been totally forgotten -- in fact, Sprint just announced that existing subscribers can lease an iPhone 6 model for just $5 per month. Sprint is offering what it calls a "Loyalty Service Credit" of $15 per month to existing customers interested in leasing an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. It costs $20 to lease an iPhone 6, so after applying the credit, the price drops down to $5 per month. If you're interested in the iPhone 6 Plus instead, the cost is $10 per month after applying the loyalty credit,...
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As Apple gets ready to release its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices in China on Friday, October 17, Chinese consumers are already coming out in record numbers to own the company's latest iOS handsets. More specifically, it's estimated that Chinese consumers have placed 20 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus pre-orders since last Friday. Assuming the figure from Chinese-language website Tencent is accurate, that works out to around double the number of combined orders Apple placed during the iPhone 6's launch weekend in September, and five times as many that were sold in the first 24 hours of availability. Apple didn't include China in its initial launch because there was a delay in the regulatory...
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When introducing the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple described it as the “biggest advancement in iPhone history.” Naturally, the use of “biggest” was quite intentional, a pun almost. Prior to 2014, Apple’s entire iPhone line had only ever had two screen sizes: 3.5-inch and 4-inch. Those sizes were perfectly acceptable in their day, but of late, the market has asked for more. More screen real estate, more pixels, more horsepower and more battery life. While Samsung, LG, HTC, Nokia, Sony, and just about every other smartphone maker on the planet introduced larger and larger smartphones, Apple held steady. Samsung pushed the very limits of what we’d label a “phone”...
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When introducing the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple described it as the “biggest advancement in iPhone history.” Naturally, the use of “biggest” was quite intentional, a pun almost. Prior to 2014, Apple’s entire iPhone line had only ever had two screen sizes: 3.5-inch and 4-inch. Those sizes were perfectly acceptable in their day, but of late, the market has asked for more. More screen real estate, more pixels, more horsepower and more battery life. While Samsung, LG, HTC, Nokia, Sony, and just about every other smartphone maker on the planet introduced larger and larger smartphones, Apple held steady. Samsung pushed the very limits of what we’d label...
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There seems to be a bit of confusion over how to buy one of Apple's iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus handsets in unlocked form. In the past, Apple has let consumers buy unlocked and contract-free iPhone models direct from its website, but this time around, there doesn't appear to an option to do that -- only the "contract-free" option is listed for those who don't want to go the subsidized route. What gives? Let's first look at the options. Apple offers the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Silver, Gold, and Space Gray color options. Once you choose a color, you then pick a wireless carrier -- available options include AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, each of which requires a 2-year service agreement or carrier...
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"Mulligan!" That's the sound heard loud and clear coming out of Cupertino as Apple releases its iOS 8.0.2 update to fix the damage done by iOS 8.0.1, the first update to iOS 8 that wasn't long for this world. Shortly after releasing iOS 8.0.1 to the wild, complaints began to surface of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners not being able to connect to a cellular network and of the Touch ID function not working. Apple ended up pulling the update offline and suggested that those affected should roll back to iOS 8 through iTunes while its engineers work on another fix. That fix is reportedly here in the form of iOS 8.0.2, which you should be able to snag now as an over-the-air (OTA) update. According...
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