Apple is expected to give potential iPhone 5c customers a cheaper option tomorrow with the launch of a new 8GB model. Leaked documents from O2 Germany have confirmed the existence of the device and its launch date, while two carriers in the U.K. have reportedly already received their first deliveries.
Apple stuck to its guns when it came to expanding into China: refusing to compromise its brand equity by selling lower cost iPhones to compete with low-end smartphone manufacturers.
That decision seems to be paying off, since a new study in China by app and mobile advertising analytics firm Umeng shwes that Apple’s targeting of affluent users has already seen it capture more than 80% of the Chinese smartphone market, who spend upwards of $500 on their phones.
The iPhone 5c is a total flop, and Apple may very well kill it off entirely when the iPhone 6 comes around. But Cupertino’s not going down without a fight, which is why the company is making a major advertising push for the iPhone 5c on Yahoo and the New York Times webpage.
CarPlay could be the best thing to happen to your automobile’s dashboard since GPS, but unless you’re buying a Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz or Volvo sometime soon, it’s been unclear when you could actually expect your vehicle to support Apple’s new automotive standard?
No time soon, alas. Two representatives of major aftermarket brands have shot down the notion that you can expect aftermarket CarPlay systems coming anytime soon that you can install in your old clunker… and definitely not in 2014.
Apple has chopped its iPhone return policy from 30 to 14 days, according to leaked document uncovered by 9to5Mac. The updated policy officially goes into effect on March 13th, but Apple’s website is already showing the change.
The change sounds like an effort to clear up return policy confusion.
In the past, customers could bring an iPhone back to Apple within 30 days of purchase, but the carrier would still charge an early termination fee if the iPhone was returned after 14 days. iPhone carrier partners have always offered a 14-day return window, and all of Apple’s other products have a 14-day policy as well.
Source: 9to5Mac
The consensus within the rumor mill seems to be that Apple will release not one, but two larger iPhones later this year. According to a new report from Japanese site Macotakara, the new designs will borrow heavily from the existing iPhone 5c and iPod nano.
Apple wants Samsung to pay a $40 license fee for every smartphone and tablet it sells after the South Korean company infringed five patents with a number of Galaxy-branded devices.
That’s right… just five patents, $40 for every device. It’s a pretty surprising demand — especially after Apple recently stated that monetary damages were “not an adequate remedy” for Samsung’s patent infringing ways.
Former Apple CEO John Sculley is one of the principal investors behind a new smartphone brand set to launch in India.
The as-yet-unnamed brand is being funded by the investment and acquisition company, Inflexionpoint, for which Sculley serves as a founding partner.
The brand is set to be led by Ajay Sharma, who was previously head of HTC’s India operation. The company will launch a series of smartphones, which will debut in April this year.
Apple is planning to bring fullscreen video iAds to iOS, according to a new report from AdAge. The ads will be interstitials, meaning that they will interrupt whatever you’re doing to briefly take over the screen.
In the past, iAds have only been displayed as small banners that can be tapped to bring up fullscreen adverts. Newsstand publications can already do this on the iPad, but in the future fullscreen interstitials could be in any kind of app, including games.
AdAge has previously reported that Apple is hiring executives left and right from the advertising industry to beef up its iAds division. The same site also recently reported that Apple is building its own ad exchange to sell iAds to the highest bidder. When you put the pieces together, it looks like Apple is gearing up for a heavy iAds push for developers.
Source: AdAge
If you buy an Apple TV by March 5th, you will receive a $25 iTunes gift card from Apple. The promotion began today and only works at Apple retail stores or through the company’s online store.
Apple rarely does deals like this, and the timing is interesting. A new Apple TV is rumored to come out as soon as March, and this time of year is when Apple has updated its set-top box in the past. But that doesn’t mean you should expect a new one in the near future.