You can call it customer loyalty, brand stickiness, or whatever other terms the cool marketing kids are using these days, but it all means the same thing in this case: Apple is doing a better job than Samsung of retaining customers and winning over new ones.
This is according to a report from RBC Capital Markets, which polled Apple and Samsung customers about their current and future purchases.
Samsung is reportedly making a bid to steal away Toshiba’s job of producing the flash memory chips for the iPhone 6s — something which would help out the South Korean tech giant at a time when its own mobile business is struggling.
The news follows not long after reports that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is looking to add faster TLC-based NAND flash storage for the next-gen handsets, possibly en route to ditching the largely-useless 16GB entry level storage option in current iPhones.
Apple has been secretly experimenting with dual-camera iPhone lenses for three years, according to Altek’s Xiaru Wen, the CEO of the company responsible for building similar camera modules for HTC and Huawei.
The report claims that Apple has been held up by two challenges until now: technical problems resulting in blurred images, and an inability to find a manufacturer able to build enough of the components in the allotted time.
But things may be about to change.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple 52 patents today, including a notable patent for a new hearing aid technology that would make the iPhone an even better device for the hearing impaired.
Apple may not have any immediate plans to support 4K content in its next-generation Apple TV, but if true, the decision wasn’t one the company came to lightly without weighing up all the options.
In fact, according to a document leaked to WikiLeaks as part of last year’s Sony Pictures hack, Apple has been testing and licensing select 4K content from Sony since at least 2013.
Over the past several years, one analyst has risen above the rest to become the most reliable voice on all things Apple. His name is Ming-Chi Kuo, and his ability to accurately prophesy Apple’s future product plans is unparalleled. Fittingly, he is also incredibly mysterious.
Kuo is back in the news with a report that the iPhone 6s — due in the fall — will have a new stronger case to make it less ‘bendable.’ The iPhone 6s will be made from the same tough-but-light 7000 series aluminum used in the Apple Watch (it’s also used to make bikes and planes). Kuo also predicts the 6s will come Rose Gold and a darker space grey, again, matching the near-black Apple Watch.
Last month, Kuo reported a long list of features coming to the 6s, including a better, faster A9 processor, a Force Touch screen, a 12-megapixel camera, better Touch ID, new gestures and more.
Kuo’s track record has elevated his Apple predictions to the level of gospel. He’s been called “the most accurate Apple analyst in the world” by Business Insider; and the “most reliable industry watcher on the planet when it comes to Apple” by BGR.
How did he become so good at knowing what Apple is going to do next?
Based on the number of times both terms were searched for on Google over the past three months, customers are less interested in the Apple Watch than they are in Apple’s virtually-abandoned relic, the iPod.
That’s according to Google Trends data published by Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves, whose latest note to clients has few kind words to say about Apple’s debut wearable device.
In the West, the most iconic Apple Store is probably the company’s glass cube for its Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York. In the East, however, arguably Apple’s most recognizable retail outlet design is the 30-foot glass cylinder used for both the company’s Shanghai and Chongqing Apple Stores.
As Apple continues its rise in places like China, it is doing everything it can to stop rivals from ripping off its ideas — which is why it filed a design patent on the building, which was published today — naming none other than Steve Jobs as one of its inventors.
Thanks to its constant improvements and the fact that we carry it around virtually everywhere we go, the iPhone has become our de facto camera over the past few years.
But while most of us use our iOS devices for little more than taking Facebook snaps, the annual IPP (iPhone Photography) Awards are a reminder of just how gorgeous our mobile pics can look.
Simply put, there’s no excuse!
The next wave of iOS devices could sport some huge improvements to their front-facing camera, according to referrences found in iOS 9 that hints to the upcoming devices.
It’s been rumored for months that the iPhone’s rear camera could be in for a big upgrade, but the new FaceTime camera could get a panoramic capture mode (think of the selfie possibilities), 240p video and more.