Items tagged with (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Investors are still trying to figure out how to react to Apple's Q4 financial results for its fiscal year that ended in September. Apple posted quarterly revenue of $37.5 billion and a profit of $7.5 billion, or $8.25 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $36 billion and a profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share, in the same quarter a year ago. In other words, revenue is up but profit is down, albeit the company is still making an obscene amount of money. Apple sold 33.8 million iPhone devices during its financial fourth quarter, the most ever for that particular time period, and up from 26.9 million iPhone sales during the same quarter a year ago. The Cupertino outfit also sold...
Read more...
Some of the reactions to Apple's decision to make OS X 10.9 Mavericks a free upgrade have been a little over the top, especially in relation to Windows, which we think will be just fine in this so-called "new era," as the Cupertino company calls it. However, if we're talking about free software, Linux certainly needs to be in the discussion. During a question and answer session at LinuxCon Europe in Edinburg on Wednesday, Linus Torvalds pointed out that Linux has been free for over two decades," NetworkWorld reports. However, Apple's move into pro bono territory isn't the same as the philosophy behind Linux, he says. It's one of the reasons why he uses the term "open source" rather than "free...
Read more...
To anyone who took the day off yesterday and/or crawled out from under that cozy rock that's kept you isolated from the Internet, welcome back to the online world. You didn't miss a whole lot. Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro became available in 21 markets, and Nokia launched its first Windows tablet. Oh, and Apple rebooted its iPad family, though not before turning technology writers on their collective heads and spinning them dizzy by announcing it would not charge a dime for Mac OS X Mavericks for Macs or for iWorks for the new iPad Air and second generation iPad mini, which will come with the productivity suite pre-installed. The resulting headlines are varied, but the content is mostly the same....
Read more...
It was widely expected that Apple would refresh its iPad tablet family today, and the Cupertino company didn't disappoint. What you might be surprised to find out, however, is that Apple didn't unveil an iPad 5. Not technically, anyway. Because the new 9.7-inch tablet is so much thinner, lighter, and faster than before, Apple decided a new name was in order. So, what we have here is a first generation "iPad Air" tablet, and though thinner, lighter, and re-branded, the new Air still leverages all of the goodness of previous-gen iPads. That's right, Apple just renamed its iconic tablet, which now sports a 43 percent smaller bezel than the previous version. It's also 20 percent thinner all around,...
Read more...
If you've listened to Apple CEO Tim Cook over the years, you've probably heard him focus on one thing more than any other: customer satisfaction. It's the data point that drives him, and in many ways, Apple itself. It's hardly about revenue, profit margin, or market share. In his view, if customers are in love with a product, the rest will fall into place. Obviously, that mantra has worked out fairly well for Apple, and it continues to bear fruit. A new J.D. Power survey, which looked at U.S. wireless smartphone satisfaction among users, has both Apple and Samsung atop the charts. According to its findings, both Apple and Samsung are leading in overall satisfaction performance among the U.S....
Read more...
We gave high praise to Apple's 2012 model MacBook Air (see our review for the full scoop), unfortunately one thing we're not able to test for is reliability over long periods of time. That's usually not an issue, but in this case, Apple is warning 2012 model MacBook Air owners that a small percentage of flash storage drives used in these laptops have an issue that might result in data loss (we didn't experience this ourselves). Apple has issued a firmware update (version 1.1) that will let you know if your MacBook Air's storage might be affected. Unfortunately, there doesn't exist an update that will fix the problem, but if you happen to have one of the small number of wonky SSDs, Apple will...
Read more...
Remember several years ago when people were so hesitant to switch from Windows to Mac OS X because they felt like migrating was going to be too hard? People were worried about software and file types, and a spate of migration tools popped up to make it easier. The same thing is happening again, but this time it’s about users switching from iOS to Android, and specifically, to the Moto X. Motorola has developed a tool to let users migrate their contacts and calendar from their iPhone to a Moto X device. The tool, simply called “Migrate”, will appear when you buy a Moto X on MotoMaker.com. You simply select “I have an iPhone”, enter your iCloud credentials, click Continue,...
Read more...
A new Apple patent has emerged that shows a new, more immersive 3D desktop GUI, which looks essentially like cover flow but for applications instead of just for items within Finder windows. It also seems like an incredibly obvious (though no less attractive and innovative) evolution of displaying open applications, and it will certainly allow users to increase the speed of their workflow. It appears that you can click (or swipe?) your way through open applications that are presented as a series of windows, and whichever application is front and center is the currently active app. You can work with a given application without leaving the cover flow environment, which is a nice touch, and if you...
Read more...
Barring some kind of major surprise, Apple will unveil its next generation of iPad and iPad mini devices a week from today on October 22, 2013. That's the date that appears on invitations Apple has begun sending out to members of the press with a heads up that the media event will take place at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, beginning at 10 AM Pacific (12 PM Eastern). The invitation doesn't reveal what specific products are to be announced, with the only hints being the tagline ("We still have a lot to cover") and graphic, which shows the top of the Apple logo and a bunch of colorful leaves in the background. It's not so much a matter of what Apple will unveil -- we...
Read more...
According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has an impressive track record with his reports, Apple is going to be unveiling a couple of interesting products in mid-2014 - one MacBook and one iPad. On the MacBook front, a new 12" model will enter the lineup (it's not clear if this will replace the 11" MacBook Air or not) which will feature a clamshell form-factor that is said to be thinner than the current MacBook Air. In addition, thanks to improved yield rates on the retina displays, this MacBook Air may debut for a lower-than-expected price. Kuo notes that this 12' model will be portable like the 11" Air but offer the productivity of the 13". While it's been heavily rumored for some...
Read more...
Apple has famously eschewed any industry standardization with its device connectors in favor of proprietary options, including when it rolled out the new Lightning connector and sucker punched an entire side industry’s worth of iOS accessories that weren’t compatible with new iPhones and iPads. Frank Nuovo, Nokia’s phone design guru, is on record as saying that Apple needs to get with the program and switch to a standard micro USB connector as essentially the rest of the mobile industry has done. “I think that the world is frustrated that you have to have a proprietary connector at this point of maturity in the mobile phone world, we have reached a point where these phones...
Read more...
It's been a long time since we've seen a dreaded "blue screen of death" (BSoD), but it's back and in the in the unlikeliest of places. Oddly enough, some Apple iPhone 5S owners are reporting BSoD errors, though they're a little different from the ones you may remember seeing on Windows desktops. Rather than spit out an obscure error code with a generic description, some iPhone 5S devices are suddenly turning blue before automatically restarting. The Numbers app in Apple's iWork suite, a free program with new iPhones, seems to be the primary cause, though BSoD behavior has also been observed in other applications, according to complaints in Apple's support forum. Here's a demonstration of the...
Read more...
Apple doesn't increase screen sizes on its iPhone line very often. In fact, the Cupertino company has only done it once, going from a 3.5-inch display on the original iPhone up through the iPhone 4S (five generations of iPhones), to a 4-inch display on the iPhone 5 and recently introduced iPhone 5C and 5S models. That's seven generations of iPhones and only one relatively minor bump (half an inch) in screen size. Don't worry if you've been clamoring for an even bigger iPhone model though, the biggest bump in display size is yet to come. So says Peter Misek, an analyst with Jefferies. Misek wrote in a note to investors that Apple's upcoming iPhone 6 device will sport a 4.8-inch screen, CNET reports....
Read more...
Here in the U.S., we love our smartphones, as evidenced by 145 million people owning one for a nearly 61 percent penetration rate, according to the latest data by market research firm comScore. That represents a 3 percent spike compared to last quarter, and just as interesting is the fact that Apple's gaining ground on the competition. As far as OEM manufacturers go, Apple is the top handset maker in the U.S. with a 40.7 percent share of the market, up 1.5 percent sequentially. Samsung gained nearly as much ground, improving from 23 percent to 24.3 percent, though remains a somewhat distant second to Apple. After that, HTC (7.4 percent), Motorola (6.9 percent), and LG (6.7 percent) all scrap...
Read more...
The drama surrounding Apple's second generation iPad mini tablet and whether or not it will sport a Retina-class display continues as rumors of a supply shortage come to light. Plan and simple, people working in Apple's supply chain are saying that it's not feasible to introduce an iPad mini with a high resolution display this month. This puts Apple in a bit of a pickle. The Cupertino company could roll out its second generation iPad mini this month as planned and let customers deal with the shortage of devices. Alternately, Apple could forgo a Retina-class display and save that upgrad for another time, a decision Google and Amazon would be thrilled with. There's also a third option -- delay...
Read more...
It's widely expected that Apple plans to follow up the launch of its iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C handets with new iPad and iPad mini tablets, though it's still a bit of a mystery as to when those products will be announced. Based on leaked info and rumor mill chatter, most analysts believe Apple is on pace to announce a fifth generation 9.7-inch iPad later this month, and for a time, some also expected a new iPad mini would make a simultaneous debut. That no longer looks to be the case. While the iPad 5 may still have an unveiling in October, it's looking more and more like the next iPad mini device, which is expected to sport a Retina class display, will be pushed back into next year. "The Regina...
Read more...
As much as Apple would love it if every iPad owner purchased a new model every time it came out with a new version, not everyone has that kind of disposable income. That means there are people out there who are still using the original iPad launched back in 2010, and those who opted for the 3G model may be getting some financial compensation for broken promises. There was a class action lawsuit filed against Apple and AT&T due to the wireless carrier's promise and subsequent cancellation of unlimited data on iPad 3G models. A proposed settlement that's already been approved by a U.S. District Court judge in San Jose would have Apple cut a check for $40 to everyone in the U.S. who bought or...
Read more...
For the past 13 years,Coca-Cola has sat at the top spot of Interbrand's annual Best Global Brands report, which recognizes the 100 most valuable brands around the world. Coca-Cola's time at the top has finally fizzled as Apple rose to No. 1 on the list in its 14th year, followed by Google in second place, pushing the soda maker back to No. 3. IBM (No. 4) and Microsoft (No. 5) round out the top five spots. "Every so often, a company changes our lives—not just with its products, but with its ethos. This is why, following Coca-Cola’s 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands, Apple now ranks No. 1," said Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s Global Chief Executive Officer. "Tim Cook has...
Read more...
Rumblings earlier this week suggested Microsoft was going to make a full court press on Apple, offering a buy-back incentive program for old iPhone users to trade-up for a new Windows Phone 8 device. The move makes sense. Lots of iPhone users were probably disappointed with Apple's recent iPhone 5S and 5C unveiling, wishing instead the Cupertino company had simply increased the display size of the device. Apple's performance play is enticing for power users but mainstream iPhoners jonesing over their friend's significantly larger Android and Windows Phone devices, like the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Nokia Lumia 1020, may have been left a little flat. A 64-bit platform sounds just kinda cool for...
Read more...
Apple has a new indoor mapping feature in iOS 7 called iBeacon, and Major League Baseball has wasted no time in leveraging the feature to enhance the gameday experience at ballparks. The MLB’s At the Ballpark app will use the feature to create “micro-locations” within stadiums and offer information on points of interest as you walk past them, a virtual hole punch for food vendors at the stadiums, team store discounts, locate your seats, and more. Credit: Mashable The MLB’s iOS app developer, Marc Abramson, told Mashable, “We've been looking at customizing the app based on where you are within the stadium, but GPS is notorious for not working indoors, especially when...
Read more...
Apple's update to iOS 7 is the most drastic change to its mobile platform in a long time, and for some users, it's downright sickening. Literally. If you've noticed that any of your iPhone wielding friends are looking green around the gills lately, it could be due to the subtle movements and zoom effects introduced in iOS 7, which some users have complained are making them nauseous. "I thought I was going crazy today after I updated my phone and I noticed I was feeling queasy every time I used it. Now I see I am not alone! I just used my phone for about 20 minutes and now I feel like I'm going to vomit. There has to be a way to turn this off!," an iPhone user wrote in a thread on Apple's support...
Read more...
It doesn't quite answer all of the lingering questions, but it sure sheds a lot of light on what Apple's doing behind the scenes. As the wearables market explodes, fitness gadgets have found themselves in the spotlight. Startups are coming out of the woodwork to sell health-minded bands, while Google has found a market for an expensive computer / eyeglass device dubbed Glass. The future of computing involves computing devices that are on one's person, and while Apple didn't beat everyone to it (see: Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch), it won't be sitting it out entirely. The company has just hired one of Nike's lead Fuel Band designers, presumably to join yet another Nike hire from a few months...
Read more...
