For a long time after its launch, the iPad was by far the best-selling tablet on the market, and no matter how hard they tried, rival devices didn’t stand a chance of stealing its market share. But that’s all changed, according to the latest figures from IDC.
Android-powered slates saw a staggering 163% increase in the last year, and they’ve now overtaken the iPad and opened up a rather large gap in market share.
Over the weekend, President Obama weighed in on the famous Apple vs. Samsung patent disputes by vetoing an import ban proposed by the International Trade Commission that would have prevented Apple from bringing iOS devices older than the iPhone 4S and iPad 3 into the country.
An avowed fan of Apple’s products, it was the first time a U.S. presidential administration had vetoed a product ban by the ITC since 1987, and seemed to signal that the Obama Administration was not going to penalize an American company like Apple in favor of a foreign company like Samsung.
Financial Markets took notice. Samsung’s market cap is down a billion dollars since the vetoing.
Motorola has finally revealed all most of the details of the Moto X after months of leaks, and while the handset looks great and is customizable to a fault, what we really want to know is how its specs stack up against the best smartphones out there.
Specs aren’t everything, but it is important to keep in mind whether the Moto X will still be able to run the best apps after 12-24 months. Here’s a chart that GigaOm cooked up that compares the Moto X’s specs to the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S 4.
Samsung has admitted that a Korean PR agency did offer money to app developers to promote a competition on the popular developer question and answer website Stack Overflow. The electronics giant insists that this is “clearly against” its cooperate policy, and says that it cancelled the plan as soon as it was made aware of the situation.
Will it or won’t it have a Retina display?
That’s the big question everyone is asking about the second-generation iPad mini, and we’ve been seeing conflicting reports about it for several months. But according to sources “familiar with the matter,” who have been speaking to The Wall Street Journal, it’s “likely” the answer to that question is yes.
Despite the cornucopia of different smartphones available to consumers, the battle for global smartphone domination comes down to just two companies: Samsung and Apple.
Samsung posted record results in Q2 and even though a new iPhone hasn’t been announced, Apple still managed to beat Wall Street’s iPhone sales estimates last quarter, leaving Nokia, HTC, LG, and all the other major OEMs with nothing but table scraps to feast on.
Source: Benedict Evans
Via: BGR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wHwKGw0Yno
With features like Easy Mode, Smart Switch and that hand-waving feature thing, you’ll totally ditch your “simple” iPhone after spending a three hour flight crammed next to a hipster with a Samsung Galaxy S4.
At least, that’s what Samsung wants you to think with their new ad that shows a bunch of nerdy middle-aged iPhone users instantly converting to the Galaxy S4 after some hip dudes start showing off Samsung’s gimmicky features.
Source: YouTube
Via: MacGasm
Apple’s “pinch to zoom” patent, which features prominently in a patent dispute against Samsung, has been dismissed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. According to documents filed by Samsung in a U.S. federal court, all 21 claims of the patent have been rejected in a “final office action.”
T-Mobile’s new summer smartphone promotion is a scorcher: The carrier has eliminated down payments entirely and dropped the price of all devices to $0. Even the latest handsets like the iPhone 5, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Sony Xperia Z are included in the hot new deal, which the company announced today.
But there is a catch.
Apple’s fifth-generation iPad will feature a new touchscreen technology that will help it become thinner and lighter, according to industry sources. The device is expected to adopt a new form factor much like the iPad mini’s, with thinner bezels and a smaller frame — and Apple will have to make a number of changes to its internals to enable that.
Apple just released it’s Q3 2013 earnings report and even though iPhone sales were up to 31.2 million units in the quarter, compared to 26 million last quarter, the company only posted a net profit of $6.9 billion. Samsung on the other hand reported that it made $8.33 billion in profit during the same quarter.
Apple reported a profit of $8.8 billion and $35 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2012, so profit is still down and revenue growth is flat. The company’s year-over-year net profit shrank for the first time in a decade last quarter.
Source: SAI
After refreshing its iPad lineup in the fall last year, rather than summer, Apple set itself up to go through a June quarter without a new iPad launch for the first time since it was introduced in 2010. Analysts are expecting Apple to announce that year-over-year iPad sales last quarter were down, but one thing that’s still up is iPad usage.
According to the latest stats from the Chitika ad network, iPads now account for 84.3% of all web traffic from tablets in June. That’s just a slight bump up from the 82.4% Apple hit in May, but it’s the iPad’s highest share of tablet web use this year.
As Apple begins to line up suppliers for the production of the iPad mini 2 – that may or may not have a retina display – ET Newsmac reports that AUO has been dropped by Apple as a display supplier for the iPad mini 2.
AUO provided displays for the original iPad mini, but according the to report, the Taiwanese display supplier could not secure any orders from Apple for the iPad mini 2 because it failed to meet the supply deadlines or to develop an LCD with high penetration rate.
One of Apple’s biggest antagonist regarding smartphone theft says that he’s pretty happy with the improved security features of iOS 7.
After announcing his efforts last week to test Apple’s new security lock, San Francisco District Attorney, George Gascón says that Apple’s Activation Lock is a “clear improvement” over previous solutions aimed at deterring thieves from stealing smartphones.
Since Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, smartphones have really taken off , and more than 1 billion people worldwide now own one. Last year alone, smartphones generated $293.9 billion in sales, but the cost of the average smartphone has begun falling.
More than half of cellphone owners in the U.S. and other developed markets already own a smartphone, and those in emerging markets such as China and India aren’t able to pay for high-end devices like the iPhone. As a result, cheaper options are becoming increasingly popular.
Even though Apple was awarded $1 billion last summer during its patent infringement case against Samsung, the two tech giants still aren’t done fighting, but there’s hope that a deal can be made as the two sides have renewed their talks to reach a settlement.
Do you ever wish you had a better camera in your smartphone? Well, before you upgrade to a hideous Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, you might want to take a look at the blurry picture above. It’s an accessory that Sony is rumored to be working on that’ll help you take incredible pictures with your smartphone.
It’s not just a fancy clip-on lens; it’s actually a 20.2-megapixel Exmor RS camera with a Carl Zeiss lens that uses your smartphone’s display as its viewfinder.
On the right, the iPad mini, with its distinctive thin bezel design. On the left, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, with its distinctive thin bezel design. Both are eight inch tablets that look pretty much identical. I’m sure this will be the last time that Samsung follows Apple’s lead though, right? Absolutely shameless.
Source: Gizmag
Nokia’s decision to only make Windows smartphones has been heavily scrutinized ever since CEO Stephen Elop made the announcement in 2011. Why go with Microsoft’s new platform when Android was already better established?
In a recent interview Elop revealed the reason Nokia didn’t switch to Android was because they felt it was going to get dominated by one company: Samsung.
Apple and Samsung will meet in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit court next month as Apple steps up its bid to have a number of Samsung devices banned in the United States.
The Cupertino company is hoping to reverse the court’s decision not to remove then handsets from sale when they were found guilty of infringing Apple patents last August.
Samsung Electronics has reached a deal with Apple to supply A9 processors for the iPhone 7 from 2015, The Korea Economic Daily reports. Samsung has been producing Apple’s mobile processors since the iPhone first launched in 2007, but recent rumors have claimed the Cupertino company has been looking to take its business elsewhere.
We all know how exciting getting your first iPhone can be. But you should always remember to take your old phone home with you when you upgrade at the store — particularly if you decided to steal your iPhone rather than pay for it.
One man was caught red-handed for a robbery at a DMW Wireless store in Springfield, Virginia, when he left his Samsung Galaxy behind after fleeing the scene.
VimpelCom, owner of Beeline, Russia’s third-biggest mobile carrier, has cut its ties with Apple and decided it will no longer offer the iPhone. The company reportedly feels Apple’s conditions are too “harsh,” and so it has inked a deal with its biggest rival instead.
https://youtu.be/uhM-DuM2WgE
Check out the inexplicable Samsung ad above. A weirdo sitting in a barren landscape, giggling at apples, as a synthesizer farts. Then, suddenly, he does a weird dance with Ninjas. Hey, don’t you want to buy a Galaxy S4 now?
It’s completely stupid, and Steve Jobs would have hated it. How do you know? Because legendary Apple ad man Ken Segall says he would have. Here’s why: Steve didn’t want his ad companies huffing the paint thinner.
If you’ve been looking for a case for your smartphone but don’t want to get caught with one that becomes obsolete when you eventually upgrade, then Cult of Mac Deals has an offer that’s going to sound very appealing.
Now you can “splash-proof” any device with this case for only $9 – a savings of 77% – and have a case that is as versatile as it is protective.