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Apple Inc. - page 100

Apple Joins The Fair Labor Association To Help Improve Factory Working Conditions Overseas

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The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights and living conditions of factory workers around the world. Following the string of scandals and suicides throughout Apple’s supply chain, the Cupertino company has joined the FLA as a Participating Company.

Apple is the first technology company to join the FLA, and this will hopefully prompt many other industry leaders to do the same. The FLA will closely monitor Apple’s supply chain environments and help protect the rights of the workers that make the products we use every day.

Sony’s In Serious Denial About The iTV. That’s Why They’re Screwed. [CES 2012]

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LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Want to see at a glance everything that’s wrong with Sony? Look at that monstrosity above. It’s Sony’s new TV remote, and while the Japanese electronics maker prattled on about its wireless capabilities, backlit keyboard and VoIP microphone, the rest of the industry at CES is showing off voice- and gesture- controlled Smart TVs in anticipation of Apple’s entry into the market.

Totally clueless. Sony’s press event on Monday evening was like watching a company that had never even heard of Apple, let alone seen it in the last five years topple Sony’s lead in multiple industries.

The Television Industry Is Scared Witless Of Apple’s iTV, Here’s What They Think It Will Be [CES 2012]

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The specter of Apple's rumored iTV looms large over CES 2012

The Consumer Electronics Show has officially kicked off here in Las Vegas, and if there’s one thing every Mac fan should go into CES knowing, it’s that the whole television industry is petrified of Apple entering it.

As CEA’s Chief Economist and Director of Research Shaun Dubrovik made clear in his introductory presentation on the trends they expect to see this year at CES 2012, the whole television industry is scrambling. They are all trying to anticipate just what the heck Apple is going to do when they unveil their long rumored television, the iTV.

What are TV makers betting that Apple has up its sleeves? A bezel-less, ultra high resolution TV that runs apps and is controlled by a mixture of gestures and voice control and effortlessly interact with tablets and smartphones.

No wonder they’re scared: no one is better positioned to roll out a next-gen television that does all of the above things than Apple.

Friday Night Fights: Is Samsung Really Copying Apple? [Feature]

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Laaaaaaaaaaadies and Gentlemen, welcome to Friday Night Fights, a new series of weekly deathmatches between two no-mercy brawlers who will fight to the death — or at least agree to disagree — about which is better: Apple or Google, iOS or Android?

This week’s topic is one personal to both iOS and Android fans alike: is Samsung really copying Apple’s designs for its Galaxy series of Android smartphones and tablets? Samsung and Apple are brawling it out on pretty much every continent on Earth trying to get to the bottom of this issue, so it’s only fitting that we try to settle this one in the ring too.

In one corner, we have the 900 pound gorilla, Cult of Mac; in the opposite corner, wearing the green trunks, we have the plucky upstart, Cult of Android!

Place your bets, gentlemen! This is going be a bloody one.

The Android Market Passes 400,000 Apps, Doubles Apple’s Growth In Just 4 Short Months

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The Android Market saw staggering growth in 2011 and thanks to some tracking done by Distimo, we have a better look at how the numbers play out in comparison to Android’s top competitor Apple. According to Distimo, the Android Market has now reached over 400,000 apps, which is still 100K shy of Apple’s 500K+ active apps available according to 148apps metrics. While Android still trails in overall apps, it’s really the rate at which it’s growing that is impressive.

Samsung Is Now Shamelessly Ripping Off The Design Of The 4+ Year Old iPhone 3G [Photo]

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More people are recognizing Samsung because of its legal battles with Apple.
More people are recognizing Samsung because of its legal battles with Apple.

Over the course of the past year, Samsung has shamelessly stolen Apple’s design on everything from the iPod touch, the iPad 2 Smart Cover, iOS’s homescreen, and more. Heck, they’ve even poached the actresses who star in Apple’s current iPhone 4S commercial!

Having apparently run out of new Apple products to rip-off, Samsung has decided to examine Apple’s past portfolio of devices for new designs to flagrantly plagiarize. The latest? Meet the Galaxy Ace Plus, Samsung’s new entry-level Android phone that looks just like the three year old iPhone 3G design!

This is just beyond parody at this point. Next up? Samsung announces the Galaxy Tab 8.5 Noir, which shamelessly violates the design of the 1993 Apple Newton.

Apple’s Santa Siri Commercial Named Most Effective Ad Of Holiday Season [Report]

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Santa has come and gone on his sleigh, and Apple has profited along the way. A survey from Ace Metrix, a TV ad analysis firm, has revealed that Apple’s Santa Siri commercial beat out 34 other Santa-themed spots to win the crown of most effective ad for the 2011 holiday season.

Apple’s commercial, featuring Santa and the iPhone 4S’s Siri assistant, scored a 652 out of a possible 950 points in Ace Metrix’s survey, topping competitors like Pillsbury, Coca-Cola, and Nintendo.

Replace The Glossy Text Bubbles In iChat With Something Less Aqua-ey

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I’ve never particularly cared for iChat. It’s less full-featured than free alternatives like Adium, and since it can’t easily be skinned, if you hate all the bubbles and aqua in the UI, there’s not a lot you can do about it. Luckily, over at OS X Daily, they’ve put together a fantastic and simple way to replace the iChat Aqua Text Bubbles with a flatter, less idiosyncratic matte version. Check it out: this is really the way iChat should look by default.

HTC Already Has A Workaround Finished To Sidestep Apple Patent Infringement [Report]

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The International Trade Commission (ITC) recently placed an import ban on several HTC devices in the United States for violating an Apple design patent. The ban wasn’t set to take place until April of 2012, but Apple’s win would effectively end HTC’s short-term business in the US if HTC failed to develop a workaround.

Noting that it was already working on “alternate solutions” to sidestep the patent infringement issue when the ITC’s ban was announced, HTC has today confirmed that it has already developed a fix that will keep its Android-powered devices safe from Apple’s lawyers for the foreseeable future.

Apple Wins Huge Battle Against HTC In US Patent Case, HTC Fighting Back [Report]

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The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled in favor of Apple and declared a ban on the import of many HTC devices in the US, including flagship phones like the Sprint Evo 4G and Verizon Droid Incredible. The ruling would effectively end HTC’s business in the US.

After a lengthy back-and-forth between the two companies, the ITC has ruled that HTC infringes on two of Apple’s patents. Should the President of the United States decide to let the decision pass through, the ban will be put into effect on April 19, 2012. HTC plans to implement “alternate solutions” to combat the ruling.

Customize Your Mail Signature On Your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad [iOS Tips]

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Apple’s iOS devices come with a default mail signature that reads “Sent from my iPhone/iPod/iPad.” It was a nice novelty in 2007 when the iPhone was first released, but over the years, it’s gotten a little boring.

But did you know that it’s incredibly easy to customize your Mail signature and remove Apple’s default? Here’s how to change your signature on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

Santa Meets Siri – Happy Holidays from Apple!

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Apple’s advertising runs the gamut from motivational to touching, pragmatic to inspiring. They don’t play the humor card very often, but this latest ad showing Santa using Siri on an iPhone to help him through his rounds is actually pretty funny and appropriate for the season.

Thanks Siri! Thanks Santa! And Happy Holidaze to all…

What Was Apple’s Best Product Of 2011? [Poll]

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It’s been a huge year for Apple. They’ve released a dizzying array of new products and services this year: two new operating systems, two new iPhones, major updates to their entire computer line, a revolutionary new voice control system, a new I/O interface that looks likely to steal the crown from USB 3.0, and even a greeting card app. All of this while dealing with the death of Steve Jobs, the design of a new, futuristic spaceship HQ, and a brand new CEO.

By any measure, it was an amazing year. Still, if you had to pick just one, what do you think was Apple’s best new product this year? Vote in our poll below, and next week we’ll declare the best Apple products of the year as voted by you, the readers.

Google Has Its Own Siri Alternative For Android Coming In 2012 [Report]

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Image courtesy of Gizmodo

Apple’s new Siri assistant has really revolutionized the way in which we interact with mobile devices using our voice. It’s no wonder, then, that rivals are scrambling to introduce their own alternatives. Google already has one for Android, according to some reports, called Majel, and it’ll debut during the first quarter of 2012.

Apple Releases iOS 5.1 Beta 2 To Developers

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If you’ve got a developer account, time to get downloading: Apple has just knocked up the second beta of iOS 5.1.

In addition, Apple’s gone ahead and updated the beta of the latest Apple TV software, as well as release Xcode 4.3 Developer Preview 2.

Release notes are below, but here’s hoping Cupertino’s finally cracked some of those battery life issues.

Apple: We’ve Got Half A Million Apps Now, A Billion Downloads A Month

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Half a million. Most app stores would be happy to have half a million users, but that’s just the number of apps Apple has in the App Store. And while they are bragging about their big swinging stats, Cupertino’s got another one to announce: over 100 million apps have been downloaded from the Mac App Store since its debut in early November last year. Wow.

Check Out The Insanely Huge Crowd That Showed Up For Apple’s Grand Central Opening [Photo]

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Holy crap. Check out this photograph of all the people who queued up for the opening of Apple’s new Grand Central Terminal location, as photographed by Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt. You’d think this was an iPhone 5 launch!

Also interesting to me: look at the number of Apple Geniuses on hand. Most stores would be lucky to have that many customers at once, let alone need that number of employees to handle their customer base.