The drawback to success is you’re only as good as your last killer product. Perhaps that’s what Apple executives were thinking when they recently told a Wall Street analyst any rumored low-cost iPhone would have to be more than out-cheap Android, but be a ‘category-killer’ like the iPad and iP
hone.
As BlackBerry-maker RIM clings to life-support, more than half of the smartphone’s owners have Apple’s iPhone on speed-dial. More than half of BlackBerry users intend to switch to the iconic iPhone as Wall Street experts pull the plug on RIM’s recovery plans.
Beware Android users, malware authors are picking Google’s platform as their first foray into mobile mayhem, security researchers say. Interestingly, there’s no mention of malware using Apple’s iOS.
Apple’s main mobile competitor, Android, isn’t exactly known for being the most secure platform. While Google’s ‘open’ mentality has proven beneficial in many ways for the Android OS, a non-curated system often leads to compromises in security.
We’ve already seen numerous malware programs surface on the Android OS, and the latest one is particularly villainous.
If the upcoming next-gen iPhone likely won’t get 4G LTE, what will keep consumers’ interest? Turns out the iPhone 5 (or whatever the handset is eventually named) is going to be a ‘bigger upgrade than expected.’
Although we don’t know exactly when Apple will release the iPhone 5, one feature of the next-gen handset is clear: the pent-up demand could double Apple’s smartphone marketshare. A recent survey found nearly half of Android owners want iPhones.
Don’t expect another Nokia-like settlement in Apple’s current legal wrangles with HTC and Samsung. The Cupertino, Calif. tech giant could convert courtroom victories to market gains over Android worth more than $30 billion a year, argues one analyst.
Apple may not be the world’s largest computer maker, but a growing number of reports put the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone company as the largest global smartphone manufacturer, topping beleaguered cell phone giant Nokia.
Who controls the U.S. smartphone market? It’s a tie between Apple and Android with RIM and others trailing far behind according to new research.
Yet another report indicates Apple’s iPad beats the pack of Android tablets until at least 2015. More polished and less expensive alternatives could cut Cupertino’s comfortable marketshare by more than a third, new research finds.
Not all patent defenses against Apple are created equally, HTC has learned. A trade court told the Android handset maker its shiny bundle of $300 million S3 patents aren’t infringed by Apple’s iPhone or iPad, and just partially by Mac OS X.
Can we talk? That’s the message coming from executives at Android-handset maker to Apple. HTC’s finance chief wants to “sit down” with the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant flush from a patent win that could be costly for companies touting Google’s mobile operating system.
Ah, the marketing sleight-of-hand, it’s something to behold. On one hand, Android sales are thundering past the iPhone. Yet, on the other hand, buyers are finding Android isn’t as easy-to-use as iPhone, resulting in returns of 30-40 percent.
In a bit of pre-emptive posturing, PC maker Acer charges Apple “started the patent war,” warning any losses should be seen as the cost of doing business. What patent war? Acer is among a number of Android-backers worried a recent Apple patent court win could result in more lawsuits.
Lodsys has gained plenty of fame (even infamy) in recent months for its continued pursuit of a number iOS and Android developers for their alleged infringement on patents that cover in-app purchases and upgrade links. Dissatisfied with its results so far, it now takes aim at some of the big names in gaming… but has Lodsys now bitten off more than it can chew?
Despite sliding almost 30 percent, Apple’s iPad still leads triple-digit growth in tablet demand, finds research released Thursday. Android-based rivals, although growing to 30 percent of tablet sales, still offer only ‘patchy’ alternatives.
Since most companies’ mobile technology patent portfolios are woefully untested, now is a time of the survival of the fittest in the smartphone biosphere. Smartphone companies are suing each other to test the sharpness of their fangs and claws.
So imagine panther-like Apple with agate eyes stalking through the foliage, hunting the biomechanical wildebeest of Android OS. Now imagine, right before the panther sinks its fangs into the wildebeest’s flanks, the wildebeest suddenly rearing about and bleating: “You’re just jealous!”
Well, in real life, the wildebeest has bleated just that, and it came off as stupid as it sounds. According to Google chairman Eric Schmitd, Apple is suing HTC and other Android makers out of jealousy. Oh, right! And a lack of innovation.
On Friday, the U.S. International Trade Commission agreed with Apple and found that HTC’s smartphones infringed upon at least two patents.
The wound Apple has dealt HTC is not just a minor scratch, though. It’s a big victory, and it goes beyond just HTC. Apple may have just plunged its patent dagger right into Android’s achilles heel.
Foxconn Electronics currently assembles a whole host of Apple gear, and apparently persuaded the Cupertino company recently to make it the sole producer of a third iPad expected to launch later this year. It seems that’s not enough for the China-based manufacturer, however. It has no intention of being as loyal to Apple in return. According to industry sources, it will also produce what could be one of the iPad’s biggest rivals: an Amazon Kindle tablet.
It appears Google is learning a lesson from Apple: mobility mean big bucks. The search giant told reporters Thursday Android could become “an accelerator” for the business. There are more than 130 million Android devices now, the company says.
Sources for the Wall Street Journal claim Amazon is getting set to launch its first tablet this October. The 9-inch device will go head-to-head against against Apple’s iPad, though it may not pack as many features.
Washington Post senior vice president and chief digital officer Vijay Ravindran lost his MacBook Air when his son’s spilled baby bottle put the fizzle in it.
So he got an Asus Transformer (aka Asus Eee Pad) to replace it and never looked back. He ponied up $399 for the 16-gigabyte version with a 32-gigabyte memory card then added a $150 keyboard dock that essentially transforms it into a netbook.
As you probably know, Apple and Samsung have been battling each other in court over a heated “copycat” lawsuit for awhile now. Apple accused Samsung of stealing the iPhone’s design for Samsung’s own series of smartphones, and Samsung has been retaliating with counterclaims.
Pretty standard stuff. What makes the legal battle between Apple and Samsung more interesting is that Apple has been using Samsung as an internal parts provider for the iPhone. Now that’s about to end. In the midst of this copycat legal battle, it appears that Apple is looking to give Samsung a swift kick to the gut by taking its $5 billion/year parts order business elsewhere.
The Philadelphia Media Network announced today that in addition to local news it will also peddle “deeply discounted” Android tablet computers pre-loaded with four apps, including digital versions of its two newspapers, The Inquirer and the Daily News, as well as additional content from The Inquirer and the Philly.com website.
Too bad they can’t offer at least one thing anybody actually wants.
Speculation that claims Apple is set to launch two new iPhones this September doesn’t look like it’s going to die down anytime soon. The latest report, citing information from a previously reliable source, claims that in addition to an all-new iPhone 5 this September, there will also be a low-end device, possibly based on the iPod touch.