Tag: iPhone

Samsung Passes Nokia To Become Top Cellphone Maker In The World

Samsung has released their earnings report for the first quarter of 2012, and it seems that for the first time the Korean company has overtaken Finnish rival Nokia to become the top mobile handset maker in the world. Samsung reported revenue of 45.27 trillion Korean won ($39.9 billion) and operating profit of 5.85 trillion won ($5.16 billion), a year-over-year increase of 98%.

Meanwhile, Nokia’s quarterly earnings report revealed a company undergoing considerable struggles. Despite €7.3 billion ($9.6 billion) in net sales, the company suffered net losses of €1.34 billion ($1.7 billion). Nokia CEO Stephen Elop attributed the losses to “greater than expected competitive challenges,” brought in large part by Android-based smartphones making inroads into the budget phone market, a segment once dominated by feature phones (most of which were made by Nokia).

In addition to generating nearly $7 billion more in profits than Nokia, Samsung also passed Nokia to become the biggest mobile phone vendor in the world. While the company did not release exact figures for its mobile phone sales, it hinted that 92-93 million units were sold. Nokia, on the other hand, reported that they sold 82.7 million units.

Where things get interesting, though, is when we start to look at smartphone sales. Since Samsung’s earnings report was released this morning, two separate analytics firms have come to two separate conclusions about whether Samsung or Apple is the top smartphone vendor in the world. Strategic Analytics says Samsung, IHS iSuppli says Apple.

First off, it’s worth noting that both firms agree that Samsung has overtaken Nokia in overall handset sales, with Apple solidly in third place. Here’s iSuppli’s data on overall handset sales:

Now here’s Strategy Analytics’s:

The problem ultimately stems from the fact that while Apple reported the number of iPhone sales in their quarterly earnings report, Samsung did not say what percentage of their handset sales were smartphones. That means that figuring out how many smartphones Samsung sold is a matter of estimation. Strategic Analytics estimates that Samsung sold almost nine million more smartphones than Apple in the first quarter: 44.5 million to Apple’s 35.1 million:

iSuppli, on the other hand, estimates that Samsung only sold 32 million smartphone units (down four million from the previous quarter):

Without actual data from Samsung on their overall handset sales and their smartphone sales, it’s difficult to know which estimates are correct. That said, the overall trend in the mobile phone market has been for smartphones to take up an increasing proportion of the market. iSuppli’s requires Samsung’s proportion of smartphone sales to overall handset sales to remain the same. That said, it seems likely that Strategic Analytics’s data is closer to the mark, and that Samsung really did sell in the neighborhood of 40 million smartphones in the first quarter.

If that’s so, then Samsung really is the biggest smartphone maker in the world, with Apple a fairly close second. What will be most interesting is to see how those figures change in the coming months. Samsung is set to unveil the next addition to their Galaxy line of smartphones next Thursday at a media event in London. That is likely to provide a significant boost to Samsung’s smartphone sales for the second quarter. Apple, meanwhile, is not likely to have a new iPhone on the market until September or October, which means that Apple’s iPhone sales for the next quarter are likely to continue slowing down.

In any event, whether Apple is the top smartphone maker or Samsung is, the fact remains that the two companies effectively split the smartphone market between them. Other smartphone makers – HTC, Nokia, Motorola, etc. – are left squabbling over a distant third place.

April 27, 2012
Brazilian Foxconn Workers Threaten Strike Over Working Conditions

Workers in Foxconn’s factory in Jundiai, Brazil are threatening to strike over poor working conditions, according to recent reports. The workers claim that Foxconn has not made adequate adjustments to its infrastructure in light of the recent hiring of over a thousand new workers.

According to Brazilian site Tech Guru (Google Translation), over 2,500 workers at the Jundiai plant are upset about working conditions. They say that buses into the factory are overcrowded, water supplies inside the factory are too limited, and the quality of the food in the cafeteria is bad.

According to the labor union, the problems are a result of Foxconn’s recent hiring spree. They recently added 1,000 new workers, but made no efforts to improve the factory’s infrastructure. While the union claims to be confident that the situation can be resolved without a strike, they have given the company until May 3rd to respond. On that day, the union will meet with representatives of the company to determine if conditions have been resolved to the union’s satisfaction.

April 27, 2012
Apple Sales Growth May Plateau in China

Even though Apple sales in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan skyrocketed by 300% to $7.9 billion in Q1, a trajectory which would double last year’s total sales of $13.3 billion, some analysts think that this expansion will soon begin to slow. Apple in China has been on a bit of a rocky road – Beijing still sees Shenzhen-based manufacturer ProView as the rightful owner of the iPad name, mobile network support problems for iPhone, various knockoff copies of Apple products being circulated, and even reports of full-on fake Apple Stores popping up around the country. Still, sales rates of legitimate Apple products are still remarkable, in the world’s largest mobile market, where iOS devices are seen as a status symbol.

Though, Candice Wang, an analyst with research firm Analysys International, states, “We may not see a repeat of this year’s stellar pace of growth in coming years unless Apple comes up with great products to keep up with consumers’ demand and tastes.” Apple might also get its Siri system to speak Chinese. A problem with Apple in China relates to the fact that the vast majority of mobile users don’t reside in affluent first or second-tier cities, and much of the population plainly can’t afford the iOS devices, which has fostered a market where other companies can come in with lower-cost products. A basic iPhone 4S costs about $790 in China, which is more than most of its people earn in a month. Rural disposable income is about $1105 per year in China – not exactly enough to blow almost $800 on a handset.

CK Lu, an analyst at Gartner, states, “There is no doubt that Apple’s sales will keep rising, but market share is a different story – If Apple wants to maintain or grow its market share, it will have to cooperate with its partners to roll out more affordable smartphones.” Many less affluent Chinese users are buying into lower-cost Android devices, even though Apple products are generally preferred and regarded as being fashionable. It’s evident that Apple need to introduce some more affordable devices in order to keep momentum in China – Wong Teck Zhung, senior analyst at IDC, states that, “consumers, increasingly aware of non-iPhone alternatives, might also just get tired of waiting.”

April 27, 2012
iPhone 5 Rumor: WWDC Logo Provides Clues?

When Apple announced the details about the 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference on Wednesday, it set tongues wagging – or, more accurately, keyboards clicking – all across the internet. While Apple’s announcement all but confirmed that iOS 6 would be announced (just as iOS 5 was announced at WWDC 2011), there was speculation about what else Apple might have up its sleeve. An iPad Mini? An iTV? The iPhone 5 (or iPhone 6 or, most likely, “new iPhone”)?

While some still think the next iPhone will be unveiled at WWDC 2012 – after all, the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4 were announced at WWDC 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively – the majority agree that the next iPhone will be coming in October. After all, a summer release would put only about nine months between the iPhone 4S and the next iPhone, and that’s an awfully short window for Apple to prepare the kind of redesigned iPhone that we’ll probably be seeing.

Nevertheless, some have speculated that the iPhone 5 will at least get a mention at WWDC 2012. Blogger Michael Nace asked readers if they could see any hints to what Apple might be doing at WWDC in the logo itself. While this may seem a bit silly at first, bear in mind that Apple has often hidden clues about their upcoming announcements in logos like this. Interestingly, a pretty significant number of Nace’s readers did see something. Before we get to what his readers saw, though check out the logo below and see if you see anything:

Do you see anything that might be a hint? How about a big red 5 in the middle, at about a 45º angle to the left? Well, that’s what Nace’s readers – quite a few of them, apparently – saw. In case you can’t find it, here’s where it’s supposed to be:

What do you think? Do you see it now? Well, of course you do. The problem with this sort of thing, though, is that the 5 isn’t the only number that shows up. Before I read the part of Nace’s post that specifically tells you to turn your head to the left, I couldn’t see it. Even then, I had to look for a bit before I saw the 5. What I saw at first was a 2:

Even after I knew where the 5 was supposed to be, I had to work a bit before I could see it as a 5. It looked a little more like an upside-down 8:

So, what’s the point of all this? Well, while the 5 is visible if you look at it just right, the fact is that the odds of the next iPhone being called the “iPhone 5” are actually pretty slim. For one thing, it’s actually the sixth-generation iPhone, not the fifth. The iPhone 4S was the iPhone 5 in all but name. Apart from that, though, there’s the iPad issue. With the 3rd-generation iPad, Apple dropped the number from its name. It’s a pretty safe bet that they’ll do the same with the iPhone.

The moral of the story, then, is that although sometimes Apple does hide stuff in their logos, it doesn’t necessarily pay to go looking too hard for it. After all, to paraphrase Freud, sometimes a bunch of colored squares is just a bunch of colored squares.

Although, now that I think about it, those square are the same shape as an iOS app icon…

April 27, 2012
One Quarter Of iPad Buyers Are First-Time Apple Customers

The iPad and iPhone are replacing the iPod as the first Apple product many people buy, according to a recent study. In years past, Apple’s iPod was the device by which many users were introduced to Apple’s products. Recently, though, the iPod has been supplanted, even as Apple’s sales of the iPod have dipped.

According to survey data recently released by the NPD Group, roughly a quarter of all iPad purchases are made by people who are buying their first Apple product. iPads are the fastest-growing product in Apple’s lineup, in terms of sales. In fact, during Apple’s recent earnings report, CEO Tim Cook noted that the iPad has sold 67 million units since the first model’s introduction in 2010. For a little perspective on how amazing that is, it took three years for the iPhone to hit the same mark, and 5 years for the iPod. The Mac, however, did not sell its first 67 million units until twenty-six years after its introduction.

While 82% of Apple owners say that the iPod was their first Apple device, that number has diminished in the two years since the iPad’s launch. According to NPD’s data, only 52% of those who bought their first Apple product in the past two years bought an iPod first.

Another study late last month found that Apple products are now in over half of American homes, with almost a third of American homes owning two Apple products or more. According to NPD’s data, 69% of those owning one or more Apple products own an iPod.

With sales of the iPad continuing to grow and sales of the iPod continuing to shrink (iPod sales have been down for two consecutive quarters) it may only be a matter of time before the iPad becomes the introductory Apple product for a majority of Apple users.

What was your first Apple product? Do you think the iPhone or iPad will ever completely supplant the iPod as the go-to first Apple product? Let us know in the comments.

April 26, 2012
Twitter For iPhone and Android Updated and Improved

Twitter has updated its mobile apps for both iPhone and Android. The updated app can now be downloaded at the Apple App Store or at Google Play. The announcement came from Twitter Product Manager Sung Hu Kim in a post at the Twitter blog. Kim states the apps now feature improved discover, search, and notifications.

The “Discover” tab in the app now allows users to see “Activity” on Twitter. “Activity,” Kim wrote is, “a stream of updates that shows which Tweets are favorited or retweeted by the people you follow and which accounts those people follow or add to lists.” From Kim’s blog post:

Activity appears below the redesigned stories in Discover. Now you can tap any story once to see Tweets about a particular trend or news article. You can then read the entire story or join the conversation by replying, retweeting or favoriting related Tweets.

The search function will now correct spelling and suggest terms related to a search. It will also autocomplete the names of people you follow when you begin typing them into the search box.

Notifications got what is arguably the biggest change. Notifications for interactions are now push notifications. This means user’s won’t have to wait for their app to refresh to receive notifications for their retweets, follows, or direct messages. Users can now choose to have notifications happen instantly.

Some interesting incremental changes for mobile apps. What do you think? Do you use the Twitter app or some other app, such as Seesmic? Leave a comment and let us know.

April 26, 2012
Samsung Hires Flash Mob To Protest Outside An Apple Store

If you’ve seen many Samsung commercials, you’ve probably noticed a common theme: Samsung has a bit of a… fascination with Apple. The company can’t seem to release a commercial that doesn’t take at least a subtle (and usually a not-at-all subtle) shot not only at Apple but at Apple’s fans.

Back in January Samsung released a commercial in which a group of disheveled Apple fans lamented that they’d been “Samsunged” when they discovered that the Galaxy S II had built-in navigation features. Another commercial during the Super Bowl took a similar approach (though wisely ditched the use of the word “Samsunged” in favor of a musical number by The Darkness). Most recently, the Samsung released a teaser for the Galaxy S III that subtly (well, more subtly than is normal for a Samsung commercial) compared iPhone users to sheep.

Finally, earlier this week Samsung went beyond commercials and actually hired a mob of protesters to stand outside of an Apple Store in Australia dressed all in black and chant “Wake Up” while holding black signs that said “Wake Up.” They arrived outside the store in a large black bus that said… wait for it… “Wake Up.”

By fortunate coincidence, Australian blogger Nate Burr happened to be present at the store and captured some of the protest on video (using his iPhone, presumably). Check out the video below:

As you can tell from the video, no one on the scene was able to figure out exactly what they were supposed to “wake up” from. After a little digging, Australian blog Mumbrella managed to trace the campaign to a marketing agency called Tongue. Tongue is also responsible for the Wake Up Australia website, which consists of a counter counting down the seconds until May 6th (the anticipated launch date of the Galaxy S III in Australia).

Interestingly Mumbrella also points to a report earlier in the week by The Daily Mail, who discovered a website called “tgeltaayehxt,” which is an anagram of “The Next Galaxy.” That sight counts down to the May 3 media event where Samsung will announce the Galaxy S III.

Interestingly, both the invitation and the website found by the Daily Mail seem to refer to the phone as “the Next Galaxy,” rather than the Galaxy S III, as it’s widely been expected to be called. If you pay any attention to news concerning Apple products, that change in naming practices might sound familiar.

Whether you love Apple or hate them, you’ve got to admit that Samsung’s fixation is a little weird, especially when you consider that insulting the very people to whom you’re trying to market your products is not usually an effective marketing strategy.

What do you think? Is Samsung’s flash mob/protest a good marketing move, or not? Is Samsung a little to focused on making fun of Apple, or do Apple fans need to be taken down a peg? Sound off in the comments.

April 26, 2012
Socialcam Grabs 4 Million New Users

Socialcam, a social video app for iPhone and Android that has been spreading like wildfire, has added a new feature, in attempts to keep hold of it’s 4 million new users garnered over the past weekend. Justin Kan, the co-founder of Justin.tv helped to develop Socialcam, which is a sort of Instagram for video, and investors are presently all over it. And the creators are scrambling to keep up:

Still, Socialcam’s 3-man team has been able to crank out updates, including one from yesterday adding the ability to instantly play videos that are in a users main feed when selected, instead of loading a new page to watch. This functionality streamlines the interface, making it more intuitive. Socialcam CEO Michael Siebel had recently stated, “We’re not just looking for distribution. We want the app to be better for everyone, to make sure that we take all the pain out of both making and watching videos – My goal is to make the process of taking and watching videos as easy as it is for photos.”

With Instagram going to Facebook for $1 billion, a sort of video version of the app is in high demand. While Viddy has been gaining a lot of users as of late, Socialcam’s apparent bump of 4 million within a couple of days blows the former out of the water. It will be interesting to see how video content advances in line with expanding 4G LTE network capabilities.

Hat tip to TechCrunch.

April 26, 2012
Dubstep Tebow: All He Does Is Drop The Bass

I just downloaded the “#1 rated Tebow app in the App Store,” and after playing around with it for a bit I’ve determined that you should too.

Despite cringing upon hearing that there could be an entire category called “Tebow apps,” I have to say that I laughed pretty hard while tinkering with the new Dubstep Tebow app from Electric Green. It’s pretty simple, but the amount of possible musical configurations gives it some staying power – that is, of course, if neither Dubstep or Tebow fall from the public’s obsession. If you’ve watched ESPN or read a sports blog lately, you’re probably aware that the latter isn’t going to happen. My 18-year-old brother assures me that the other one won’t happen either.

As of right now, the app features 10 different dubstep beats, which you can enhance with 10 different bass effects. Once you get those going, you can sample one of fifteen Tebow-related sound clips. These include Tebow himself, saying things like “God Bless” and screaming “LET’S GO.” Tebow’s “let’s go” doesn’t feel as powerful as Lil Jon’s, however. Other clips include announcers and commentators, including ESPN’s Skip Bayless with his now-famous “All he does is win” quote.

Possibly the coolest feature comes when you tilt your device. The app will mess with the speed of the bass depending on the level of tilt to produce that “fat bass wobble” that we all ~~love~~ ~~hate~~ know.

The app, available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, will run you $0.99. They promise “bigger and better” updates in the near future.

One reviewer says, “I never thought I’d be making fat beats and listening to Tebow at the same time!”

Me neither, young Tebow fan, me neither.

[Via Gizmodo]

April 26, 2012
iPhone 4S, iPad Activations Surge As Enterprise Users Driving Tablet Adoptions

Apple’s iOS devices are moving into the business world in a big way, according to a recent study. While many companies are beginning to transition toward the iOS platform (and away from BlackBerry, which once ruled the business mobile market), the biggest driver of enterprise iOS use appears to be employees who work for companies with a “bring your own device” (BYOD) program. Apparently when offered the chance to choose which smartphone and tablet to bring to work, employees are choosing Apple’s iPad and iPhone 4S in droves.

This data comes from a recent study by Good Technology (PDF). The study looked at mobile device – smartphone and tablet – activation rates among their enterprise customers. These customers, it seemed, “show a clear preference for Apple products.” Upon further examination of the data, “clear preference” might be a bit of an understatement. According to Good’s data, four out of every five device activations in the first quarter of 2012 were iOS devices.

Interestingly, when you break the activations down into smartphones versus tablets, Apple’s advantage becomes clearer. Of the top ten mobile devices activated during the first quarter, six of them were Apple products. More to the point, the top six were Apple: the products. The iPhone 4S topped the lists with 37% of all activations, followed by the iPad 2, the iPhone 4, the new iPad, the original iPad, and the iPhone 3GS. Only then does an Android device (the Motorola Droid) make the list. Take a second and let that sink in: the original iPad and the iPhone 3GS – devices that are two and three years old, respectively – are higher on the top ten list than any single Android device, including the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Nexus, two of the best and most popular Android smartphones on the market. What’s more, while Apple has three tablets on the list – every tablet they’ve ever made, in fact – there is not a single Android tablet.

When we back up a bit and look at device activations by kind and platform – smartphone and tablet, iOS and Android – iOS’s penetration in the business market becomes clearer, particularly when it comes to the iPad. The most-activated devices were iPhones by a wide margin. The second most-activated devices were iPads, followed by Android smartphones. Android tablets were are barely represented in the data. In fact, of all the tablet activations among Good Technology’s business customers in the first quarter, 97.3% of them were iPads.

According to Good’s report, most of the companies surveyed – about 70% – have BYOD programs in place, meaning that the popularity of iOS devices over Android is a matter of their employees’ preferences, rather than the company’s. Of the 30% who have standardized their mobile devices – i.e., they issue devices rather than supporting BYOD – the majority are still choosing iOS over Android.

Now, at first glance this report may seem to be extremely bad news for Research in Motion and its BlackBerry platform. The BlackBerry once held undisputed ownership of the business market, and has suffered badly since the introduction of the iPhone. The astute observer will no doubt have noticed that BlackBerry is not represented in Good’s data at all. That does not mean, however, that there were no BlackBerry activations among Good’s customers. BlackBerry activation data was not available for Good’s study because BlackBerry devices use their own server for email access. Similarly, the Windows Phone platform is not reflected in the report because Good Technology’s Windows Phone client has only just been released.

Which smartphone or tablet do you prefer to use for work? Does your company allow BYOD, or do they have standardized device deployment? Which platform does your company prefer? Let us know in the comments.

April 26, 2012
iMac Touch Gets The Concept Video Treatment

We tend to take the touchscreen technology in the iPhone (and other iOS devices) for granted these days. When the original iPhone launched in 2007, though, it was a pretty big deal. What’s more, it sparked all manner of speculation concerning what device might get a multitouch display next – a MacBook? An iMac?

While Steve Jobs dismissed the idea of touchscreen laptops and desktops over concerns that they would cause users’ arms to get too tired, that hasn’t stopped people from wondering what they would look like. Nor, in fact, did it stop Apple from filing a patent for a touchscreen iMac.

Last month we brought you a concept video of an interesting – if impractical – MacBook Touch. Now it’s the iMac’s turn. Joakim Ulseth, a motion graphics and 3D-animation student, put together this video – based on Apple’s patent application – that shows what an iMac Touch would look like. And I’ve got to say, notwithstanding Steve Jobs’s objections, it looks pretty cool. Check out the video below, then let us know what you think in the comments.

April 25, 2012
Sprint Will Offer Unlimited 4G Data Plans

Earlier this month we brought you news that Sprint had unveiled a new Android smartphone – the LG Viper – that would be available on the company’s fledgling 4G LTE network when it launched. While the phone itself was not especially remarkable, one part of the announcement was pretty important: it hinted that Sprint would continue offering its unlimited data plans once the transition to 4G LTE was made.

Today, Sprint confirmed that customers on their 4G LTE network will indeed have the option of an unlimited data plan. When asked whether Sprint would continue the practice of offering unlimited 4G data plans, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told CNet that he was “not anticipating the unlimited plan would change by [the iPhone launch].”

Sprint’s unlimited data plan is, as Hesse said, the carrier’s “distinctive differentiator.” Sprint is the only carrier that still offers unlimited data to smartphone users. While AT&T and Verizon both offered such plans when the iPhone launched on their network, the plans were eventually abandoned in favor of a tiered data plan structure. Those who originally signed up for the unlimited plans have been allowed to keep them, though AT&T is in the habit of throttling the connection speeds of customers foolish enough to think unlimited actually means “unlimited.”

The fact that Sprint still offers unlimited 3G plans already makes them exceptional. The fact that they will continue to do so once their 4G network is in place makes them all the more so. Despite the fact that 4G LTE networks are able to handle larger traffic loads than 3G networks, AT&T and Verizon have made no move to offer their customers unlimited plans.

Sprint, however, needs the iPhone very badly. As we reported this morning, the company posted a net loss of $255 million in the first quarter. The iPhone, however, went a long way toward keeping the company afloat. During the first quarter Sprint reported a net gain of 1.1 million subscribers. They also sold 1.5 million iPhones. The company bet a lot on the iPhone when it launched on their network last year. So far – despite losses incurred by the looming shutdown of the old Nextel network – the iPhone is one of the main things keeping the carrier afloat.

April 25, 2012
Samsung Ordered To Give Apple Documents In Infringement Suit

Apple has won a victory in one of its myriad patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung, as a judge ruled that Samsung violated a court order by failing to hand certain documents over to Apple during the discovery process. The documents apparently deal with specific products made by Apple, and Samsung has failed to hand them over despite two orders to do so.

According to Bloomberg, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal issued the third order yesterday. While Grewal acknowledged “the burden placed upon [Samsung] by the compressed case schedule and the numerous claims at issue,” he said that the company is not excused from its “obligation to comply” with the courts instructions.

As part of yesterday’s order, Grewal also imposed several monetary sanctions on Samsung, pursuant to Apple’s earlier requests. Other sanctions, however, were denied. A Samsung spokesperson promised that the company would “respond in accordance with the court’s order and produce the requested documentation within the timeframe provided.”

Apple filed suit in the U.S. in April of last year following the release of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. Apple’s suit alleged that the Galaxy Tab and some of Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones copied the design of Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Following Apple’s initial suit, Samsung countersued in the U.S. and then filed its own patent infringement suits against Apple in several other countries. At present the fracas consists of over 20 suits in 10 countries.

The U.S. suit, which was filed first, has progressed the farthest and is nearing a trial date. Last week, as part of the proceeding, the two companies were ordered to meet and discuss the possibility of reaching a settlement before taking the case to trial.

With the change in leadership at Apple following the death of Steve Jobs last year, many have wondered whether Apple’s stance on lawsuits such as this one would change. Jobs was famously unforgiving in such matters, while Tim Cook seems far less fierce. During Apple’s quarterly earnings call yesterday, Cook was asked about his stance on continuing litigation. While he said that dislikes litigation, he also said that “we just want people to invent their own stuff,” and stressed that he did not want Apple to “become the developer for the world.” While he might be more inclined to settle certain suits than his predecessor, Cook said that such settlements would not be possible unless he could be assured that the infringement on Apple’s intellectual property would stop, and that Apple would be properly compensated for past infringement.

Given Cook’s response yesterday and Samsung’s generally entrenched attitude concerning the situation, it doesn’t look like that a settlement will be reached before the case goes to trial.

April 25, 2012
Apple Announces Worldwide Developer Conference 2012: June 11-15

Apple has announced the date’s for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The five-day conference will kick of on Monday, June 11 at Moscone West in San Francisco.

Apple’s announcement is, of course, quiet about what (if anything) Apple plans to reveal at this year’s WWDC. In years past, the conference has played host to announcements regarding new iPhones. This year isn’t likely to see an iPhone announcement, though, because last year’s iPhone 4S got pushed back to October, setting (in all likelihood) a new release schedule for Apple’s flagship product.

Nevertheless, there are bound to be some interesting things coming at WWDC 2012. You can bet that a major focus will be OS X Mountain Lion, which is set for a late summer release. It’s also possible that we’ll get at least a glimpse of iOS 6, which will launch with the iPhone in the fall. In Apple’s announcement Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior VP for Worldwide Marketing, said that Apple “can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers.”

Of course, there’s always room for “one more thing,” and it’s possible that even without the new iPhone, we’ll be treated to a product unveiling. The iTV seems a pretty likely candidate, though there’s also the (slight) possibility of an iPad Mini. With just under two months between now and the conference, there will probably be more details – and even more rumors – about what WWDC will bring in the coming weeks.

The conference is open to members of Apple’s various developer programs, though a ticket will set you back $1599. You can get more information and order tickets at Apple’s WWDC 2012 page.

What do you think? Does Apple have any major products in the pipeline for WWDC, or will it be all about iOS and Mountain Lion? What would you like to see at this year’s conference? Let us know in the comments.

April 25, 2012
Highlights From Apple’s Second Quarter Earnings Call

Just a little while ago, though, Apple released their earnings report for the second quarter of the 2012 fiscal year, and the news was quite good. Apple generated $39.2 billion in revenue for the quarter and sold 35.1 million iPhones, both figures beating Wall Street expectations. As a result, Apple’s stock surged in after-hours trading. The surge not only made up for losses during this morning’s worries over possible diminished iPhone sales, but also for declines earlier in the month.

Here are some other highlights from the earnings call:
Though Mac sales grew more slowly in this quarter than in the previous quarter, they still grew more than the overall PC market during the same quarter. While the PC market only grew about 2% in the quarter, Mac sales grew 7%.
The lowered entry price for the iPad – $399 for the iPad 2 – generated increased demand for the tablet in several markets. Most notably, the education market and several foreign markets.
When asked about convergence of tablet and desktop products (a la Windows 8), Tim Cook said that while “anything can be forced to converge,” but that doing so often results in making the kind of compromise that reduces the quality of user experience. Though other companies might decided to go that route, Cook said “we’re not going to that party.”
When asked about carrier subsidies and the carriers’ increasing discomfort with how much of the iPhone they are required to subsidize, Cook had some interesting comments. Apple, he said, is focused “on making the very best smartphone in the world,” and that “carriers want to provide what their customers want to buy.”
One analyst asked Tim Cook about Apple’s ongoing legal battles and whether Cook might be willing to settle rather than pursue continuing lawsuits begun during the tenure of Steve Jobs (though Jobs was never mentioned by name). Cook replied that although he found litigation distasteful, litigation would continue until Apple could reach a settlement that they found satisfactory. “We just want people to invent their own stuff,” Cook said. While he has “always hated litigation,” he stressed how important it was “that Apple not become the developer for the world.” Given that fact, Apple would not be willing to settle until they could be confident that Apple’s innovations would not continue to be infringed by competitors.

April 24, 2012

If you’re a member of the iOS jailbreak community, you know that sometimes a jailbreaking a new version of iOS can take awhile. While Apple is legally required to tolerate jailbreaking – and by “tolerate” I mean “not sue jailbreakers” – they are not obligated to make it easy. In fact, Apple has long been in the habit of making jailbreaking hard. Pretty much every new major release of iOS closes the exploits that allowed the previous version to be jailbroken. Such is the case with iOS 5.1. Apple not only fixed the exploits that were used to jailbreak iOS 5 (which took months to crack), they even acknowledged the Dev Team in the security release notes for iOS 5.1

So it’s no surprise, then, that iOS 5.1 is taking awhile to crack. Unfortunately, though, some early successes gave many jailbreakers the idea that an untethered iOS 5.1 jailbreak was right around the corner. Despite assertions from pod2g, chpwn, and other jailbreak devs that the jailbreak would be coming later rather than sooner, people are still clamoring for it.

Now it seems that pod2g is getting a bit impatient with repeated questions about when the jailbreak of iOS 5.1 will be ready for the public. He took to Twitter today to explain that there was still a lot of work to be done, and that those doing the work were doing it as a hobby, and have lives and jobs that also demand their attention. Check out what he had to say below:

@pod2g
pod2gETA for 5.1 JB: no clue! We’re going to set pieces of the puzzle together this week. We could have issues… Could be 1 month maybe 2… 14 hours ago via Twitter for iPad · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto

@pod2g
pod2gMaybe never… (!) 14 hours ago via Twitter for iPad · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto

@pod2g
pod2gI know 1 month seems long, but it’s short to work on a project like this when it’s a hobby and you’ve other things to do as well. 13 hours ago via Twitter for iPad · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto

Now, several reports today have taken these tweets as a timeline. You may have seen something like “iOS Jailbreak Coming In A Month.” I doubt, however that that’s what pod2g is getting at here. While the 1-2 month timeline may be accurate, the point he’s trying to make is that people need to just calm down and be patient. The work is getting done, but this is hardly the only thing he has to do.

So, as impatient as you might be for the next jailbreak to be available, try to give pod2g and the other devs a little space and let them do the work in peace. After all, everybody knows how hard it is to get things done with people constantly asking “You done yet?”

And while you’re at it, try not to think about how little time there will be between the iOS 5.1 jailbreak and the release of iOS 6.

Tag: iPhone

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