Luke Dormehl - page 303

In some bad news for Apple, Australia’s Federal Court has rejected an appeal by the company to trademark the term “App Store.”

In a ruling made Wednesday, judge Justice Yates dismissed Apple’s case and ordered it to pay the court costs of Registrar of Trade Marks.

Apple has been locked in a long-standing tug of war with Oz’s Registrar of Trade Marks over whether it should have ownership over the term it popularized on Mac and iOS. The company first took the registrar to court in March 2013, after the “App Store” trademark was revoked following its initial accepted. Since then, Apple has lost a total of three appeals: firstly by the trademark examiner, then by the Australian Trade Marks Office, and now today’s ruling.

The Los Angeles school board has officially shelved the $1.3 billion contract that would have provided iPads to every student, teacher and campus administrator in the district.

The deal first stalled back in July, after which it was reported that former Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent John Deasy and his then-chief deputy, Jaime Aquino, had been unlawfully discussing the deal with Apple up to two years before the bidding process was finished and contracts were approved.

Steve Jobs made an appearance Monday as a key witness in Apple’s most recent antitrust lawsuit — courtesy of a video deposition taped shortly prior to his death in 2011.

The lawsuit concerns a long-running class action antitrust lawsuit dating back to 2005. It is argued by the plaintiffs that Apple gained an unfairly monopolistic position by blocking competitors from putting their music on iPods.

Jobs avoided many of the questions he was asked during the 2-hour video deposition, saying that “I don’t remember,” “I don’t know” or “I don’t recall” a total of 74 times — including when he was asked if he was familiar with what the lawsuit was about.

A few typically snappy Steve Jobs moments did crop up, however. Responding to a question about the former iTunes rival Real Networks, Jobs replied, “Do they still exist?”

In a universe where things worked out a bit differently, Ronald Wayne would be a billionaire.

When Apple was incorporated on April 2, 1976, Wayne was named alongside Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak as one of three founders. Wayne owned a 10 percent stake in the company, a fact that raises questions about who owned apple.

However, just 12 days after Apple started up — feeling out of his depth because he “was standing in the shadow of intellectual giants” — Wayne threw in the towel and sold his shares for just $800.

“I was 40 and these kids were in their 20s,” Wayne told Cult of Mac. “They were whirlwinds — it was like having a tiger by the tail. If I had stayed with Apple I probably would have wound up the richest man in the cemetery.”

An incredibly sketchy report, citing supply chain sources, claims the iPhone 6s could arrive as early as spring next year, to coincide with the eagerly-anticipated launch of Apple Watch.

“[O]ur source says that Apple is hesitant about launching the iWatch in the spring of 2015 without a new iPhone to go along with it, as it could give hesitant consumers an excuse to wait on buying both until the fall,” notes Jerry Miller of Stabley Times.

The report goes on to suggest that Apple is looking to narrow the time between iPhone releases down to six-monthly intervals to match the more rapid release cycle of other companies, such as Samsung and Sony — the latter of which upgrades its Xperia Z handsets every six months.

There have been rumors of a possible 12.2-inch “iPad Pro” for ages now, and a new video from YouTube user Canoopsy offers a glimpse of what that might look like — comparing the giant-sized tablet the current iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, and recent iPhones.

While Apple isn’t the first company that would “go big” with its tablet (Samsung has its GALAXY NotePRO 12.2, for instance), the idea of a larger iPad frankly has us salivating. And given the success Apple has had with its “phablet” iPhone 6 Plus, it would be surprising if Apple was feeling any different.

Check out the video after the jump:

The abandoned Steve Jobs monument previously erected in St. Petersburg, Russia is to be auctioned off, according to a new report.

The 6-foot-tall iPhone-looking slab was designed by local Russian sculptor Gleb Tarasov and named “Sunny QR Code.” It was assembled in the wake of Steve Jobs’ 2011 death, but removed earlier this year — reportedly as a result of Russia’s anti-gay laws after Tim Cook outed himself in an open letter.

The statue is being sold off by owners the Russian Holdings Company, with a starting price of 5 million rubles (around $95,000). Money from the sale will go to Russian tech developers.

Previously unseen emails and a videotaped deposition of Steve Jobs is set to play a key part in a long-running class action antitrust lawsuit against Apple, which goes to trial this week.

First filed back in 2005, the lawsuit argues that Apple put itself in a monopolistic position by refusing to allow iPod customers to use non-iTunes music on their iPods, thanks to software upgrades issued by Apple. The case saw little action for its first seven years, but picked up steam with a judge’s ruling in May 2012, and is now finally arriving in the court room.

“We will present evidence that Apple took action to block its competitors and in the process harmed competition and harmed consumers,” the lead plaintiffs’ lawyer was quoted as saying in an article for the New York Times.

Apple Store logos around the world turn red today to mark Apple’s commitment to raising awareness of World AIDS Day. Red is a color synonymous with World AIDS Day, and the battling of HIV, thanks to the red ribbons first introduced back in 1991.

Apple has changed the color of its Apple Store logos since 2012. Apple has described December 1 as part of its “biggest fundraising push yet”. Any items bought through brick-and-mortar Apple Stores today will have a percentage of their sales donated to the charity.

The availability of cheap smartphones and tablets might mean that Android has a larger market share than iOS, but iOS users certainly spend more.

Analyzing sales trends from Thanksgiving, IBM notes that iPhones and iPads were responsible for far more payment activity online, with average orders worth $118.57 compared to $95.57 for Android.

But that’s not where iOS’s sales triumph ends. iOS also generated more site traffic at 36 percent versus 16 percent for Android. Even more impressive, iOS devices accounted for 25 percent of all sales — next to a minuscule 7 percent for Android.

The first vehicles to support Apple’s CarPlay infotainment system are just starting to appear on the market, but a clever hack from developer Adam Bell means you may be able to get your hands on it sooner than most — and without the need for a compatible in-car infotainment system.

Despite not quite being ready for primetime just yet, Bell’s nifty jailbreak means that users will be able run Apple’s CarPlay software on iPhones and iPads, as seen in the above picture.

It follows hot on the heels of Pangu’s recent iOS 8 jailbreak, which Apple has subsequently (and most likely temporarily) patched.

One of the neatest and most innovative features of Apple’s new iPads is the unique Apple SIM feature, which allows users to easily switch between different carriers and plans using iOS.

A newly uncovered patent application dates elements of Apple’s concept back to 2009, before Apple even debuted the iPad. Called “Provisioning an Embedded Subscriber Identity Module,” the invention describes a method of obtaining and personalizing an embedded eSIM card, which can be provisioned over-the-air, rather than the pre-provisioned nature of physical SIM cards.

And in true Apple style it was all about one thing: simplicity.

On otherwise flawless devices that strip away any unnecessary components, the ugly small print on the back of an iPhone or iPad — including the serial number, FCC logo, CE logo and model number — has always stood out.

Well, thankfully Jony Ive and the rest of his design-obsessed team can finally do away with it for good, thanks to the E-label Act law signed in by President Obama on Wednesday. The bill, which unsurprisingly was heavily supported by those in the tech industry, means that gadget makers can now add software-based labels as opposed to having to print the identifying information onto their hardware.

Samsung will snap up the majority of the next generation iPhone A9 chip orders, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will manufacture the chips for the next iPad devices, according to a new report coming out of China.

This differs from the current iPhone 6 devices, where TSMC is reportedly responsible for producing the A8 chips thanks to a deal inked in 2013.

Although it was previously reported that the two companies were locked in a tussle to pick up the Apple orders, Samsung apparently beat out TSMC by quoting Apple lower prices for the 14nm FinFET process production. Samsung has upped its game to secure Apple orders following its posted dismal Q3 earnings, which were down a whopping 60 percent in operating profit from the same period in 2013.

iOS 8 adoption figures continue to creep upwards. According to the latest figures released by Apple, 60 percent of active devices are now running the latest version of the company’s mobile operating system. By comparison, 35 percent of users are running iOS 7, while 5 percent are using earlier versions.

Apple last measured iOS 8 usage through the App Store two weeks earlier, on November 10. At that time, 56 percent of users had upgraded to iOS 8. While there’s still a long way before iOS 8 adoption catches up with where iOS 7 numbers were after the same period last year, the gap is starting to narrow.

In between dessert and the traditional food coma on the couch, Thanksgiving offers everyone a great opportunity to take stock of the past year’s accomplishments.

When it comes to looking back at the previous year, sure you can stew over your failures and missed opportunities, but that’s for losers. And coming off one of Apple’s most successful years in history, Tim Cook is no loser.

So what’s Apple’s CEO going to be thinking about when he sits back in a carbohydrate-induced daze? Here are our best guesses.

The more iPhone 6 ads I see with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, the more I’m enjoying them as a comedy duo. In Apple’s latest ad for its next generation iPhone handsets, called “Voice Text,” the focus is on the new ability to send and receive audio messages, as introduced with iOS 8’s iMessage service.

For anyone who finds plain text messages somewhat lacking, the ad shows off how voice messages can add a much-neeeded element of sarcasm, let you drop some soulful lyrics, or mean that you don’t have to spell complex words like “smörgåsbord” and “arachnophobia.”

Apple is set to discontinue the iPhone 5c next year, according to a new report from Taiwan’s Industrial and Commercial Times. The news outlet claims that Apple will continue producing the handsets until the middle of 2015, at which point assemblers Wistron and Foxconn will wind down production.

This news follows on the back of a similar report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims that Apple will do away with both the 5c and 4s, despite both doing well in emerging markets. This is part of an effort to streamline Apple’s handset business, and will mean that all available iPhones will feature the Touch ID technology at the heart of Apple’s mobile payment ambitions.

In a marketing campaign I can only assume is some kind of meta-parody designed to go viral, BlackBerry is offering a so-called “Trade-Up” program designed to get iPhone owners to jump ship to the new BlackBerry Passport.

From December 1 until February 13, disgruntled iPhone owners can “upgrade” to the BlackBerry Passport and receive up to $400 for their iPhones, plus an extra $150 (or $200 CAD) from BlackBerry. To take advantage of the “deal” customers must pick up their BlackBerry Passports from either ShopBlackBerry.com or Amazon.

Apple is big on secrecy: both its own and its users’. Earlier this year, the company tweaked its software to ensure that even Apple would be unable to crack a passcode set by one of its customers.

“Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data,” Apple wrote on its website. “So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.”

Users have generally praised the decision, but government officials have been less than impressed — even going so far as to say Apple’s decision could potentially result in the death of a child.

While most people can see through this kind of scaremongering, the U.S. Justice Department isn’t giving up that easily. According to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, the DOJ is turning to a 225-year-old law called the All Writs Act to try and solve the problem of password-protected cellphones.

Corning’s relationship with Apple looked doomed earlier this year. Having manufactured the touchscreens for every iPhone since 2007, the Gorilla Glass bosses were all but sure they were being ditched in favor of synthetic sapphire crystal, set to be supplied by Apple’s hot new partner, GT Advanced Technologies.

But while Apple’s affair with GT has imploded spectacularly, Corning is back on Cupertino’s crush list after stepping in at the eleventh hour to create super-sized displays for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Now Corning is convinced its latest technological advance — Gorilla Glass 4, its toughest version yet — will banish sapphire suitors for the immediate future.

“Sapphire is a really, really nice material that’s very good for reducing scratches,” Dave Velasquez, Corning’s director of marketing and commercial ops, told Cult of Mac. “However, we feel very strongly that glass is the best material for touch panel cover glass. When you weigh up everything from cost to drop-testing, to the amount of energy that’s needed to make it, in our opinion Gorilla Glass is clearly the best material to use.”

Touch ID might have just made it to iPads, but Intel wants to go one step further: bringing enhanced biometric passwords to PCs, which it plans to do before the end of the year.

“Your biometrics basically eliminate the need for you to enter passwords for Windows log in and eventually all your websites ever again,” Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group at Intel, recently revealed.

The software, which will arrive courtesy of the Intel-owned McAfee, will allow PC users to replace the 18 passwords that the average user reportedly has with a combination of fingerprint, gesture, face and voice recognition.

AAPL shares sure have experienced a crazy roller coaster ride this year. Splitting 7-to-1 earlier in 2014, a fantastic run of product launches and announcements since then has driven Apple stock higher and higher. Earlier this month we noted that Apple was now worth more than the entire Russian stock market, and today it has hit a personal-best market cap of $700 billion.

This happened as Apple’s share price rose to the $119.65 mark, bringing it to a pre-split price of $837.13. For those keeping tabs at home, not only is this better than Apple’s last high point, when it was valued around $650 in late 2012, but it also represents a massive 50% increase since January this year.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are shattering all kinds of sales records, and that knock-on effect is starting to be felt elsewhere: The overwhelming interest in Apple’s next-generation handsets pushed iTunes App Store downloads to new heights last month.

How much of an increase are we talking about? In October, the top 200 free iOS apps hit a collective 7.8 million app downloads per day, according to new research from Fiksu, a Boston-based marketing firm.