Finnish cell phone giant Nokia Friday picked a former Microsoft software head to lead what it termed a ‘renewal and transformation’ in the face of increasing pressure from Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform. Stephen Elop, former leader of Microsoft’s Business Division, will assume the CEO chair from outgoing Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo September 21.
“The time is right to accelerate the company’s renewal; to bring in new executive leadership with different skills and strengths in order to drive company success,” Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Nokia’s Board of Directors, announced. Elop’s “strong software background and proven record in change management will be valuable assets as we press harder to complete the transformation of the company,” he added.
Apple’s long history of design consolidation is obvious at every level, from the no-button Magic Mouse and Trackpad, to the adoption of MiniDisplayPort, to the iPhone’s iconic home button.
But Cupertino doesn’t want to stop there: a new patent filing, Apple is now exploring ways to combine the headphone jack with the microphone on their iPhone and iPod Touch.
The patent says that “”in addition to using housing real estate, sound input apertures and electrical connectors introduce openings in the housing and breach the barrier that protects components inside the housing.”
In other words, drop a hole from an iPhone and you have less risk of dust and moisture making its way in. The advantages don’t seem to lie just in hardware reliability either: apparently, the two-in-one design would also enhance voice quality through a noise-cancelling technology Apple’s calling “audio beamforming.”
We’d say this one’s a lock: it’s not a pie-in-the-sky patent, but a natural extension of Apple’s predilection for the utmost in simplicity.
Yesterday’s report that the AppleTV would be rebranded the iTV was something of a puzzlement to Brits. After all, ITV is already an extremely prominent UK television broadcaster, isn’t it? Isn’t that obviously a brand conflict?
That’s just what ITV itself is asking, according to a sketch report by the Mirror, and they are reportedly hopping mad about the rumored name change.
“You only have to look at recent problems with the iPhone 4 to see not everything Apple produces is gold dust,” said an ITV insider. “We all take our ITV brand very seriously and we’ll do everything in our power to protect it.
Yup, they went there: the low blow of Antennagate. And isn’t this all much ado about nothing? A rumored name change does not a lawsuit make.
In fact, it seems like Apple themselves are denying the name change, telling the Mirror that the names won’t be “too similar.” Unless Apple’s being patently disingenuous here —renaming the AppleTV to the iTV won’t be “too similar” to the ITV brand because it will, in fact, be identical to it — that reads like an official denial of a name change.
Or is it? According to 9to5Mac, the original Apple comment cited by the Mirror was the “the names won’t be too similar” quote above, but the Mirror article has since been updated to the standard “Apple does not comment on rumors” response.
In other words, the Mirror is a rag engaging in some shady journalism, and has silently edited its story to eliminate some out-of-character verbiosity on Apple’s part. ITV might be mad about this rumor, but Apple’s certainly not ready to comment about it yet.
While it’s not too hard to imagine a luxury accessory company coming up with an iPod dock similar to this NeverNeverLand fever dream of one of Yanko Design’s Lost Boy designers, no effort has been made on Yanko’s part to explain just how that iPod Touch would hover in mid-air. Pixy dust, perhaps.
All that Yanko will venture to say is that “it streams music, connects to your iPod and computer and daisy chains with other units should you want to expand the system.” It also defies gravity, which is a first in consumer electronics: I hope the designer’s got a patent to back that up.
We overlooked it in yesterday’s gluttony of new Apple products, but Cupertino’s quietest new product might, in many ways, be its most interesting: a battery charger.
The battery charger costs $29.99, and is remarkably green friendly: it has the lowest vampire rating in its class, intelligently shutting off power when batteries are full, and the six batteries that ship with the device itself are specced to last ten years.
It’s a strangely practical and unflashy device for Apple to release, even though Apple’s trademark design elements are infused into the device to the core. It makes sense that Apple would release something like this, though, as more and more of its peripherals go wireless.
What may be most interesting to me about the charger, though, is that it’s the first Apple product in recent memory that was launched to everyone’s complete surprise. No one seems to have had the slightest inkling that Apple was working on this.
I’ve got to admit: even though my job is to follow rumors and sift through patent filings, it’s just really nice to be surprised. That, in and of itself, is enough to lay down $30.
It may seem strange now that HP owns Palm and is preparing to make a major push of webOS across devices as wide-ranging as smartphones, tablets and even printers, but there was a time just a few months ago when Palm’s major value was perceived to be their library of patents and not their mobile, multi-touch operating system.
At the time, HTC was seen as a potential buyer, largely because securing Palm’s patents would allow them to beat back a massive legal attack currently being made against them by Apple in relation to patents pertaining to their Android smartphones. HTC eventually withdrew, but a new report suggests that another party might have been interested in picking up Palm: Apple itself.
According to the report, Apple — like HTC — was primarily interested in Palm’s intellectual properties, but what’s interesting is that they intended on keeping webOS alive, subsidizing Palm’s operations as a means of challenging RIM’s dominance in the keyboarded segment of the smartphone industry.
Emboldened by a $612.5 million settlement from Research in Motion, a company claiming to have invented wireless e-mail, Friday sued Apple, Google, Microsoft and three other handset makers. NTP Incorporated alleges the companies are violating eight patents on wireless e-mail.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Eastern Virginia, is aimed at getting Apple and others to pay licensing fees. In a news release, NTP said the defendants all make hardware or software to deliver e-mail via wireless communications.
As with anything involving art, opinions may vary on who makes the best cover for your Apple mobile device. I’ve always been partial to the output from GelaSkins, myself. To begin with, the selection is vast, with an art style that speaks to just about any kind of taste from the utilitarian to the bizarre and their DIY option has always seemed the perfect way to truly personalize your device.
GelaSkins have now announced a new line of covers specifically for the iPhone 4 that may solve the much-talked-about antenna reception issue and definitely offers a layer of coolness utilizing the custom home screen supported in iOS4.
Preset designs from all of GelaSkins’ online catalogs are now available for the iPhone 4, along with customizable skins through the Do-It-Yourself service.
The new line of GelaSkins for the iPhone 4 cover the front and back of the device, giving it both style and scratch protection. Optional skins also cover the sides of the iPhone 4 with the desired design, with users being able to opt out of the side coverage if they want to showcase the phone’s metal frame.
The DIY GelaSkins design service offers users the option to turn their own artwork into custom covers (not only for iPhone 4 but for any device GelaSkins can be made to cover). And iPhone iOS4 users can now download free, matching wallpapers that continue the image through the iPhone 4’s screen, offering a continuous design as shown in the images included here.
All GelaSkins vinyl protective covers are removable using patented 3M adhesive, which prevents air bubbles from forming and allows for easy application.
Apple knows where you are and plans to put that information to work.
The Cupertino company updated its privacy policy today to disclose that it may now “collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device.”
The new terms of service will pop up as a prompt next time you try to download or buy anything on the iTunes store — there is currently no opt-out option. (As Cult reader Joh pointed out — iOS4 users can opt out of iAd, however, online here.)
The only service to users mentioned in the privacy policy update is the recently-announced “Find my iPhone” for MobileMe subscribers.
Future iPhones may be able to flash ads for theater discounts or suggest a burrito special in the neighborhood as you head out of the office at lunch time.
Geo-tagged ads and coupons would zap themselves to iPhone users a number of ways, including RFID, Apple Insider writes.
The Cupertino company applied for a patent this week titled “System and method for providing contextual advertisements according to a dynamic pricing scheme.”
If the price (or timing) is right, users could make buys at kiosks or use coupons or discounts from their smartphones.
Here’s how they described it in the application:
“If the submitted advertisement… provides a coupon for food at a restaurant, the submitting advertiser… may include an indication that the advertisement… is directed to food sales, times of day when meals are popularly served, a GPS location of the restaurant, keywords that may relate to the restaurant in an Internet search, how weather may affect the use or non-use of the coupon in the advertisement…, etc.”
