Posted:

tech. magazine reveals the apps breaking into Apple's walled garden

With news that Amazon has released an Apple-friendly version of its MP3 service in the US, this week's issue of tech. magazine looks at other apps and services that are giving Apple a run for its own money.

From Spotify to Facebook Messenger, Apple is slowly but surely letting others into its eco-system that can essentially replace its own apps. But does more choice actually make for a better experience? tech. explains all.

Also in the issue, the crazy world of Kim Dotcom is investigated, alongside the entrepreneur's new service Mega, all the latest news on why Sony may be delaying the PS4 and expert opinion focusing on Mozilla's new phone offering, Firefox OS.

Reviews, videos and celebrations

tech. also joins Intel in celebrating the birthday of Professor Stephen Hawking and asks the question: do we really need Siri in our lives?

As always, the issue is packed with the week's best videos and this issue there are in-depth, interactive reviews of the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 and the Nikon 1 V2 and a preview of Microsoft Surface Pro.

Speaking about the latest issue, editor of tech. Marc Chacksfield said: "Ever since the FFC told Apple that is must open up its devices to rival apps, Apple has had to stand back and watch others create services for iOS that can replace the company's own offerings.

"Now that one of its biggest rivals, Amazon, is taking advantage and showing that all you need is help from HTML5 to stop Apple taking a chunk of money from sales, it's interesting to see how others will open up iOS to the masses.

"Oh, and let us know if you get the high score with our playable 'iOS Invaders' cover!"

Grab the latest issue of tech. from iTunes now. And don't forget that you can still get five issues free when you sign up for a subscription.

Details of Steve Jobs lawsuit threat surface in poaching case

Posted:

A patent lawsuit against Palm and threatened by Steve Jobs in 2007 has come to light thanks to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh's decision to make secret documents part of public record.

Koh's decision came about due to a new case where five technology workers have filed a complaint against Apple, Intel, Google, and other companies, alleging the defendants conspired to eliminate competition and drive down potential employee wages.

According to the newly released documents, Jobs proposed a deal with former Palm CEO Edward Colligan to eliminate competition for employees between the two companies.

"Mr. Jobs also suggested that if Palm did not agree to such an arrangement, Palm could face lawsuits alleging infringement of Apple's many patents," Colligan said in the sworn statement.

Tech Illuminati

Koh is deliberating how best to proceed with the case, and whether or not the civil suit can proceed as a class action suit, which could potentially lead to a larger settlement.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs estimated such damages could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Even though Koh claimed the plaintiffs had some "holes" in their analysis, she did cite key emails from executives as evidence in the case.

In 2010, several companies (including Google, Apple, and Pixar) reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, which prevents them from instituting anti-poaching policies.

With this case, filings made on Tuesday revealed just how Google has handled its no-hire agreements with its competitors.

According to the paperwork, Google's former chief executive and current executive chairman Eric Schmidt was quoted as saying he would rather share the company's policies with competitors "verbally, since I don't want to create a paper trail over which we can be sued later."

Schmidt is due to appear for questioning by the plaintiffs lawyers in February.

While the lack of competition may have proved beneficial for the companies allegedly involved in these practices, there are sure to be countless employees who feel otherwise.

This suit could have major ramifications for the tech industry should it continue, and work out in the favor of the plaintiffs.

Updated: Apple sold 47.8M iPhones, 22.9M iPads at the end of last year

Posted:

Beating its own projections, Apple released results for its earnings in the first fiscal quarter of 2013 today, revealing that it made a record $54.5 billion in revenue with a net profit of $13.1 billion.

During the same quarter last year (which was 14 and not 13 weeks long), Apple earned $46.3 billion in revenue and a profit of $13.1 billion.

As for devices, Apple said it sold a record 47.8 million iPhones during the 13-week period ending Dec. 29, 2012, up from 37 million the same quarter last year.

A record (there's that word again) 22.9 million iPads made it into consumer hands, up from 15.4 million during the same time last year. Both figures were records at the time the numbers were posted - this last quarter blew both out of the water.

"We're thrilled with record revenue of over $54 billion and sales of over 75 million iOS devices in a single quarter," said Tim Cook, Apple CEO, in a statement. "We're very confident in our product pipeline as we continue to focus on innovation and making the best products in the world."

Figure fun

As with all earnings calls, numbers were thrown left and right, but a few interesting tidbits floated to the surface.

Among them was news that Apple's average weekly revenue was $4.2 billion, up from $3.3 billion every seven days during the same time a year ago. That's enough cash to buy 1,750 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (the most expensive car in the world) once a week.

Cook said that to date, over half a billion iOS devices have been sold, with 10 per second flying out the door last quarter alone.

There are now 250 million iCloud accounts, he noted, while iMessage users sent 200 million messages a day.

iTunes pulled in record figures, culling a cool $2.1 billion for the Cupes. Two billion App Store downloads went down in December.

Eleven new retail stores opened up and each location contributed to $1.6 billion in income. Four of those locations opened in China. Interestingly, international sales made up 61 percent of the quarter's revenue.

As for Apple TV, Cook played coy once again, calling it a key area of interest and revealing the company sold 2 million units during the quarter.

"There's a lot we can contribute to the space," he said when asked about its future.

A last number for kicks: Cook said that next week, Apple will add 36 new LTE carriers on top of the 24 it already has.

Downtime

Not all of Apple's reportings were records, however.

The company sold 4.1 million Macs, a dip from 5.2 million sold during the same quarter last year. iPods were also down - from 15.4 million during the same time last year to 12.7 million.

Mac sales were hurt by "significant restraints" on supplies, Cook explained.

"[iMac numbers would be] significantly higher if the constraints did not exist," he said.

What's more, Cook said that cannibalization from iPads also contributed to poorer than hoped for Mac figures, though he said Apple views devices taking bites out of one another "a huge opportunity."

"Our philosophy is to never fear cannibalization," Cook said. "If we do, somebody else will just cannibalize it.

"iPhone has cannibalized the iPod business, the iPad has cannibalized Mac," he continued.

While Cook and crew are seemingly embracing cannibalization, it's important to note that they are only OK with internal cannibalization - as long as another Apple product replaces the one being devoured, bon appetit.

Wall Street was unimpressed with Apple's feats - shares toppled more than 10 percent in after hours trading, despite the records set. Analysts had predicted $54.9 billion in revenue, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg, but Apple missed that mark.

The suits on the Street may be hard to please, but we'll have to watch Apple next quarter - when it projects to pull in between $41 billion and $43 billion - to see if it's starting to take a significant slide.

Yahuui Blog

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Apple : tech. magazine reveals the apps breaking into Apple's walled garden

Apple : tech. magazine reveals the apps breaking into Apple's walled garden

Reviews, videos and celebrations

Tech Illuminati

Figure fun

Downtime

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive

Labels