Tag Archives: models

Apple Estimated to Retake Title of World’s Largest Smartphone Vendor

Posted on January 27, 2012 by admin

Research firm Strategy Analytics today announced its estimates of the global smartphone market for the fourth quarter of 2011, finding that Apple narrowly squeezed by Samsung to retake the title of world’s largest smartphone vendor as measured by unit shipments. According to Strategy Analytics’ numbers, Apple’s 37 million iPhones narrowly eclipsed Samsung’s quarterly smartphone shipments of 36.5 million units. Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “While Apple took the top spot in smartphones on a quarterly basis, Samsung became the market leader in annual terms for the first time with 20 percent global share during 2011. With global smartphone shipments nearing half a billion units in 2011, Samsung is now well positioned alongside Apple in a two-horse race at the forefront of one of the world’s largest and most valuable consumer electronics markets.” Strategy Analytics showed Apple first taking the title in the second quarter of 2011 as it passed Nokia and held off a surging Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor. But Apple’s reign at the top was short-lived as Samsung easily topped the list in the third quarter on continued growth paired with a pause in iPhone sales ahead of the iPhone 4S launch. With the iPhone 4S launch now fueling Apple’s numbers, it was able to retake the lead from Samsung in the fourth quarter, although it was not able to top the charts for full-year 2011. One caveat for numbers released by Strategy Analytics and other research firms comes from the fact that Samsung no longer reports mobile phone sales numbers , ending the practice in mid-2010 for competitive reasons. Consequently, observers can only estimate Samsung’s sales numbers based on the company’s financial performance and other evidence. Continue reading →

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Apple Launches iBooks 2 with Interactive Textbooks

Posted on January 19, 2012 by admin

At its education-focused media event today, Apple introduced iBooks 2 , an updated version of the company’s e-book software for iOS devices. The update comes as part of a push into interactive digital textbooks in partnership with a number of major publishers. From the iBooks 2 description : Introducing iBooks 2 — now with iBooks textbooks. – Experience gorgeous Multi-Touch textbooks designed for iPad – iBooks textbooks are filled with interactive features, diagrams, photos, and videos – Tap to dive into images with interactive captions, rotate 3D objects, swipe through image galleries, watch videos in full screen, and more – Use a finger as a highlighter when swiping over text in a textbook – Take advantage of Study Cards to help you memorize important highlights, notes, and glossary terms – Tap glossary terms to see definitions of key topics and concepts without leaving the page Apple is partnering with McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on the textbook front, with the three companies currently responsible for 90% of textbook sales in the United States. McGraw-Hill and Pearson are rolling out a handful of introductory titles today, with more coming soon. Apple’s initial focus for its textbook effort is on high school textbooks, with books priced at $14.99 or less. Authors can continually update their content, and the students get to keep their copies indefinitely. iBooks 2 is a free download from the App Store, available as an update to the existing iBooks app. Apple also released iTunes 10.5.3 with support for syncing the new textbooks. iTunes 10.5.3 allows you to sync interactive iBooks textbooks to your iPad. These Multi-Touch textbooks are available for purchase from the iTunes Store on your Mac or from the iBookstore included with iBooks 2 on your iPad. iTunes 10.5.3 weigh in at 102.15 MB for Mac, 66.11 MB for 32-bit Windows, and 67.98 MB for 64-bit Windows. Continue reading →

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‘iBooks Author’ eBook Authoring App for Mac Now Available

Posted on January 19, 2012 by admin

Today, during their education press event, Apple announced the availability of the iBooks Author App that allows users to create interactive iBooks on their Mac. Now anyone can create stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books, and more for iPad. All you need is an idea and a Mac. Start with one of the Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts. Add your own text and images with drag-and-drop ease. Use Multi-Touch widgets to include interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote presentations, 3D objects, and more. Preview your book on your iPad at any time. Then submit your finished work to the iBookstore with a few simple steps. And before you know it, you’re a published author. The App allows you to start with a number of templates and then customize your book with images, videos, multi-touch widgets and even Keynote presentations. You can then preview your book on your iPad and then submit it to the iBookstore for sale or free download. iBooks Author is available for free in the Mac App Store. [ App Store ] Continue reading →

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AT&T Introduces New Smartphone Data Plans w/3GB and 5GB Options

Posted on January 18, 2012 by admin

AT&T today announced new smartphone data plans with larger data allocations, the first update to AT&T’s plans since June of 2010 . The plans kick in this Sunday, January 22. “Customers are using more data than ever before,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Our new plans are driven by this increasing demand in a highly competitive environment, and continue to deliver a great value to customers, especially as we continue our 4G LTE deployment.” The smartphone plans include unlimited access to AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspots, and replace the current $15/$25 data plans : – AT&T DataPlus 300MB : $20 for 300MB, additional 300MB for $20. – AT&T DataPro 3GB : $30 for 3GB, additional 1GB for $10/each – AT&T DataPro 5GB : $50 for 5GB, with mobile hotspot/tethering, additional 1GB for $10/each iPad 3G users can now choose from one of three plans: – The existing 250MB for $15 plan – AT&T DataConnect 3GB : $30 for 3GB – AT&T DataConnect 5GB : $50 for 5GB Current users can keep their plans, but as of Sunday, all new smartphone and tablet service contracts will have to use one of these plans. Continue reading →

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Display Panel Shipment Plans Suggest Apple Will Offer iPad 2 Alongside iPad 3

Posted on January 17, 2012 by admin

The question of whether Apple will continue to offer the existing iPad 2 as a lower-cost option alongside the forthcoming iPad 3 has been the subject of a fair amount of rumor and speculation, but if new display panel shipment plans provided to Digitimes are correct, it appears that the iPad 2 will indeed live on. According to the report, production of the “Retina” resolution iPad 3 display panels at 2048×1536 pixels will surpass that of the lower-resolution 1024×768 iPad 2 panels by the second quarter of this year, but Apple’s suppliers will still push out approximately 25 million iPad 2 panels in 2012. That will be down from an estimated 48 million panels in 2011, but still a substantial number. Sources suggest that Apple’s suppliers will also be pushing out approximately 40 million iPad 3 panels this year for a total of 65 million iPads between the two models. With fewer than one million panels shipped in the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple will keep increasing the shipment volume of panels for use in the new version of iPad to 6.0-7.0 million panels in the first quarter and 10.0 million units in the third quarter of 2012, the sources pointed out. In the meantime, Apple has downwardly adjusted shipments of iPad 2 panels from the peak of 16.0 million panels in the third quarter to 10.0 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 and further to 7.0-8.0 million units in the first quarter of 2012, the sources indicated. Thus, the shipment volume of panels for use in the new version of iPad will surpass that of iPad 2 panels in the second quarter of 2012, the sources noted. Digitimes has had a spotty record regarding Apple’s product plans, but it does sometimes offer at least reasonably accurate information on production volumes from the company’s supply chain. Consequently, it does seem likely that any volume of iPad 2 display panels approaching the rumored number would be indicative of continued iPad 2 production well beyond the introduction of the iPad 3. Several reports have indicated that the iPad 2 will carry on at a lower entry price of $399 or perhaps even lower, a move rumored to be planned in part to counter Amazon’s smaller Android-based Kindle Fire priced at $199. The iPad 3 is said to be set for a March debut and will reportedly offer LTE connectivity, a quad-core processor, and the high-resolution Retina display. Continue reading →

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Tim Cook’s Email to Apple Staff Regarding Supplier Responsibility Report

Posted on January 13, 2012 by admin

Earlier today, Apple released its 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report , an annual report that was supplemented for the first time by a public list of over 150 companies that supply components and manufacturing services to the company. As related by French site MacGeneration , Apple CEO Tim Cook sent the following email to company employees today addressing the developments on the supplier responsibility front: Team, We’ve just released our sixth annual update on conditions in Apple’s supply chain, and I want to personally share some of the results with you. We insist that our manufacturing partners follow Apple’s strict code of conduct, and to make sure they do, the Supplier Responsibility team led more than 200 audits at facilities throughout our supply chain last year. These audits make sure that working conditions are safe and just, and if a manufacturer won’t live up to our standards, we stop working with them. Thanks to our supplier responsibility program, we’ve seen dramatic improvements in hiring practices by our suppliers. To prevent the use of underage labor, our team interviews workers, checks employment records and audits the age verification systems our suppliers use. These efforts have been very successful and, as a result, cases of underage labor were down sharply from last year. We found no underage workers at our final assembly suppliers, and we will not rest until the number is zero everywhere. We’ve also used our influence to substantially improve living conditions for the people who make our products. Apple set a new standard for suppliers who offer employee housing, to ensure that dormitories are comfortable and safe. To meet our requirements, many suppliers have renovated their dorms or built new ones altogether. Finding and correcting problems is not enough. Our team has built an ambitious training program to educate workers about Apple’s code of conduct, workers’ rights, and occupational health and safety. More than one million people know about these rights because they went to work for an Apple supplier. Additionally, Apple offers continuing education programs free of charge at many manufacturing sites in China. More than 60,000 workers have enrolled in classes to learn business, entrepreneurial skills or English. Finally, we are taking a big step today toward greater transparency and independent oversight of our supply chain by joining the Fair Labor Association. The FLA is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving conditions for workers around the world, and we are the first technology company they’ve approved for membership. The FLA’s auditing team will have direct access to our supply chain and they will report their findings independently on their website. No one in our industry is driving improvements for workers the way Apple is today. I encourage you to take some time to read more about these efforts, so that you can be as proud of Apple’s contributions in this area as I am. The details are online now at apple.com/supplierresponsibility. Tim Today has been a busy day on the environmental responsibility and worker rights fronts for Apple, with the company also announcing a partnership with the Fair Labor Association to monitor conditions at suppliers’ facilities and an expanded recycling program in the UK, Germany, and France. News also surfaced today regarding Apple’s efforts to transition to halogen-free power and USB cables for its products. Continue reading →

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OnLive Desktop for iPad Now Available on App Store

Posted on January 13, 2012 by admin

OnLive’s virtual Windows 7 / Office app for the iPad has arrived on the App Store. As we reported earlier this week, OnLive Desktop offers iPad users access to full-featured versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The applications are running on OnLive’s servers and streamed to your iPad. OnLive offers a number of plans for the service, including a Free service as server capacity is available. Paid accounts will take priority over free accounts. Existing OnLive customers can sign in with their existing accounts and new users may sign up for a free account — though account activation seems to be throttled and may be delayed. As with their gaming service, performance can be subject to a number of factors, including internet speed and proximity to servers. [ App Store ] Continue reading →

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Sharp Out as iPad 3 Display Supplier?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by admin

Even as some sources are claiming that iPad 3 production is underway with Sharp providing the displays for the device, Korea’s Electronic Times reports ( via Patently Apple ) that Sharp has failed to meet Apple’s requirements and is out as a display supplier. According to the report, Samsung and LG will be providing the displays for the iPad 3. An industry source said on January 9, “LCD manufacturers started mass production and supply of LCD panels for the iPad3 late last year. Samsung Electronics’ LCD business unit was the first to start mass production, and LG Display has participated in mass production with full capacity, beginning this year.” Sharp has competed with Samsung Electronics and LG Display over the development of display panels for the iPad3, but reportedly failed to pass Apple’s approval process for mass production. Apple is said to be requiring at least 65 million iPad 3 display panels for 2012, with an initial batch of 5 million being produced for launch. A decision by Apple not to go with Sharp for the iPad 3 display could have consequences for the device’s design, as the two companies have been reported by several sources to be working together on Sharp’s indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) technology to achieve thinner, lower power displays. If Apple does utilize more traditional low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) displays from Toshiba and LG, that decision could require a dual light bar system to support the higher resolution of the iPad 3, thus necessitating the slightly thicker profile that has been rumored for the device. Continue reading →

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CES 2012: Apple’s Greg Joswiak ‘Scouting the Competition’

Posted on January 10, 2012 by admin

While Apple doesn’t participate at CES and has ended its involvement in trade shows in general, the company naturally continues to keep tabs on what its competition is up to and CES is a prime event for new product introductions. paidContent has in fact proven Apple’s interest in CES by chance, running into iOS device marketing chief Greg Joswiak on the floor at the expo. While wandering around the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center Tuesday, I bumped into Greg Joswiak, head of iOS product marketing for Apple, just outside of Sony’s booth. Joz, as he’s known within the Apple community, grinned sheepishly upon being recognized by a reporter and stopped to chat for a few minutes. Joswiak said he was interested in how other companies present their products at events such as CES, from things like booth layout and aesthetics to which products are highlighted within a company’s booth. Joswiak declined to enter a more in-depth discussion of his interests at the show, with paidContent noting only that he “seemed less than impressed” with Sony’s booth on the expo floor. Apple is of course interested in what its competitors are doing, but is likely also interested in following what companies are coming up with in terms of accessories for Apple’s own products. Despite Apple’s lack of official presence at the show, it remains a popular venue for announcements for products of all types, including those within the Mac- and iOS-related markets. Joswiak has appeared at several Apple keynote and media events, and has frequently played featured roles in Apple’s promotional videos for the company’s various iOS devices. Continue reading →

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Amazon’s Kindle for iOS Adds Magazines and Print Replica Textbooks for iPad [iOS Blog]

Posted on December 21, 2011 by admin

Amazon today updated its Kindle app for iOS, taking on Apple’s Newsstand feature by adding compatibility with hundreds of magazines on the iPad. In addition, Kindle for iPad can now handle “print replica” textbooks, preserving the original formatting and layout from print editions for improved usability. – New Design for Magazines: Kindle for iPad customers now have access to the huge selection of over 400 magazines and newspapers that are available on Kindle Fire. Magazines such as Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Popular Science and many more are displayed in rich full-color pages. Customers can buy a single issue or subscribe to popular magazines and leading newspapers and have them wirelessly delivered to the Kindle for iPad app. – Read print replica textbooks including rich formatting and layout of the print editions and support for notes and highlights, zoom and pan, and linked table of contents. In addition, Amazon has added support for Send-to-Kindle on all iOS devices, allowing users to send documents to their Kindle devices and apps for reading while also storing them in the cloud. Finally, Kindle for iOS now sports a new library view and support for PDF import and viewing. Continue reading →

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