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Apple Releases 2012 Proxy Statement to Investors
Jan 09, 11:09PM
Apple has posted its 2012 Proxy Statement (PDF) on its investor relations page. The proxy statement is released ahead of the annual stockholders meeting, and details voting procedures, background and compensation information on the company's directors, and information about executive perks and compensation, amongst other items. This year's shareholders meeting will take place on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific, in Building 4 of Apple's Infinite Loop headquarters. Shareholders will vote on a number of different items:
- To elect the Company's Board of Directors (the " Board "). The Board intends to present for election the following eight nominees: William V. Campbell, Timothy D. Cook, Millard S. Drexler, Al Gore, Robert A. Iger, Andrea Jung, Arthur D. Levinson, and Ronald D. SugarSome interesting notes in the statement include the fact that CEO Tim Cook owns a total of 13,754 shares of Apple plus 1,362,500 RSU's which will vest into shares if Tim Cook stays with the company for the foreseeable future, worth $580.5 million at current prices. Other executive officers hold hundreds of thousands of RSU's which should keep them with the company for years to come. In the statement, Apple explained the board's philosophy behind the large RSU grants:
- To ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2012
- To hold an advisory vote on executive compensation
- To consider four shareholder proposals titled "Conflict of Interest Report", "Shareholder Say on Director Pay", "Report on Political Contributions and Expenditures", and "Adopt a Majority Voting Standard for Director Elections"
- To transact such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting and any postponement(s) or adjournment(s) thereof.
The compensation for the other named executive officers consists of three elements—long-term equity awards in the form of RSU awards, annual performance-based cash bonuses, and base salaries—that are designed to reward performance in a simple and straightforward manner. The compensation program is weighted toward long-term equity awards rather than cash compensation in order to maximize retention and ensure that a significant portion of the named executive officers' compensation is tied to the Company's long-term stock price performance. The named executive officers' 2011 cash compensation levels were substantially below the levels generally provided by peer companies, despite the Company's strong financial performance. In addition, the Company has no long-term cash compensation program, nor does it have a pension plan.In addition, the statement notes that "there was no formula or peer group "benchmark" used in determining the award amount. Rather, the award was the product of the Board's business judgment, which was informed by the experience of the Board members, the input received from Mr. Jobs, and the Board's assessment of Mr. Cook's performance in assuming responsibility for the Company's day-to-day operations during Mr. Jobs's prior leaves of absence." The statement discusses executive compensation for several more pages, including the cash bonus payout structure and other arrangements.
The Company's executive compensation program is intended to promote and retain stability within the executive team. Each named executive officer has been an employee of the Company for at least 10 years. The Company expects each of its executive officers to contribute to the Company's overall success as a member of the executive team rather than focus solely on specific objectives within the officers' area of responsibility.
Because the Company's executive officers operate as a team, the Compensation Committee's decisions on executive compensation in 2011 were largely driven by considerations of internal pay equity as to the named executive officers, other than Mr. Jobs and Mr. Cook. As a result, the compensation awarded to Messrs. Oppenheimer, Forstall and Johnson in 2011 was largely the same. Mr. Cook's compensation is set at a higher level than the compensation for the other members of the executive team to reflect his responsibilities for the overall leadership of the Company.
OnLive Intros Virtual Windows 7 Desktop With Office for iPad
Jan 09, 10:36PM
Video game streaming company OnLive has announced a free, streaming, virtual Microsoft Windows 7 desktop app for the iPad. The OnLive Desktop app, announced at CES, will eventually expand to other platforms -- including the Mac. Users will have access to full-featured versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, less than a week after CloudOn introduced its Office solution for the iPad.
GigaOm has details about how the service will work:
Since applications are running on high-end computing clusters in OnLive's data centers, the only thing holding back performance is the network. Which means that in today's world of pervasive broadband connectivity, Windows applications running on an iPad could potentially be faster than those running on a standard Windows 7 laptop.The Verge notes that when they tried the app at OnLive HQ, there was "a little bit of perceptible lag, it's pretty impressive manipulating objects with our fingers and flipping through PowerPoint presentations on a desktop miles away."
OnLive is making the Desktop app available in a freemium model through which users will get 2GB worth of cloud storage and the ability to use Windows 7 applications such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint, as well as other utilities and games. Documents can be stored in the cloud and accessed from any device with a web interface. In the near future, OnLive expects to launch Onlive Desktop Pro, a more robust service that will offer up 50 GB of storage, priority access, additional apps and other features for $9.99 a month. It also promises collaboration features for enterprise users such as sharing documents or working on virtual whiteboards.
OnLive previously announced iPad and iPhone support for its gaming products, though those apps have yet to be publicly released.
Available this Thursday in the U.S. and "soon" in the UK, OnLive Desktop for the iPad will be free on the App Store.
iPhone 4S Closes Sales Gap on Android as Apple Sweeps Top Three Smartphone Models [iOS Blog]
Jan 09, 9:48PM
TechCrunch writes of the latest report from NPD, covering U.S. smartphone sales in October and November of last year. The data, which begins right about when the iPhone 4S was released, shows a dramatic increase in market share for the iPhone. The jump, from 26% in Q3 2011 to 43% in October and November, is due in-part to pent-up demand for the next iPhone following the pushback of the "iPhone 5" from the traditional June release cycle. As a result, iPhone share is unlikely to remain quite so high going forward, but the gain is nonetheless impressive.
Perhaps even more striking is that the top three phone models are all iPhones. Unsurprisingly, the iPhone 4S is the most popular, followed by the now-$99 iPhone 4. The iPhone 3GS, free on AT&T; with a two-year contract in its third year of availability, comes in third, ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and Samsung Galaxy S II -- both Android phones introduced in 2011.
Samsung, like Apple, makes three of the top ten most popular models; HTC holds two spots, whilst Motorola and LG each round out the remaining models with one model each.
Nuance Bringing Voice Recognition to Televisions and Intel Ultrabooks
Jan 09, 9:14PM
With the popularity of Siri on the iPhone 4S and rumors of a voice-controlled Apple television set, voice recognition and control have leapt to the forefront of the technology industry as companies seek to revolutionize the way users interact with their devices. Nuance Communications has long been a leader in the the field of voice recognition, and quietly provides that back-end functionality for Siri and other Apple products. Rumors of an Apple television set have centered around Siri voice control, fueled in no small part by Steve Jobs' comments to biographer Walter Isaacson regarding his idea for a television set interface being "the simplest user interface you could imagine". In seeking to open up some of that vision to a broad array of television manufacturers, Nuance today announced the launch of Dragon TV, a natural language recognition platform specifically tailored for the television experience.
Leveraging Nuance's voice and natural language understanding capabilities, Dragon TV creates the "lean-back experience" consumers demand, with the ability to easily find content by speaking channel numbers, station names, show and movie names. People can even search for content by actor and genre, and stay connected via Twitter, Facebook and Skype.Nuance's list of commands understood by the platform also include requests for guide/schedule information and DVR playback control.
In addition to Nuance's push into television, the company today also announced the launch of a partnership with Intel to bring voice recognition technologies to the chipmaker's new "Ultrabook" platform for ultra-light notebook computers. While Nuance already offers a number of voice-related applications for PCs, the new partnership will reportedly deliver greater integration of the functionality for core system features.
Nuance's Dragon voice recognition technology, which is at the core of the renowned Dragon NaturallySpeaking software used by millions, will be deeply integrated into the new Intel application. Using this new capability, consumers will be able to control their Ultrabook just by using their voice. Consumers will be able to quickly and easily launch applications, play media, interact with social media sites and control their email and calendars with natural voice commands.Additional details on the Ultrabook integration will be available later this year.
Apple Seeds iOS 5.1 Beta 3 to Developers, Restores 'Enable 3G' Toggle
Jan 09, 6:38PM
Returning from a holiday break, Apple today seeded iOS 5.1 Beta 3 to developers to allow for further testing of the next update to the company's mobile operating system. The new version arrives as Build 9B5141a, up from the previous Build 9B5127a released ad iOS 5.1 Beta 2 on December 12.
Screenshot of iOS 5.1 Beta 3 over-the-air update (Source: @CDeeRON)
So far the update appears to only be available via the over-the-air update mechanism for existing iOS 5.1 beta users, but should become available for general download through Apple's iOS developer program site shortly. We'll have more information on the new build at that time.
Update: We're still waiting for Apple to post iOS 5.1 beta 3 to the developer site with release notes, but commenters in our forums have noted that the new build restores the toggle that allows users to turn off 3G cellular data access. As Apple notes on the setting, 3G offers faster data speeds but uses more battery power than EDGE.
Update 2: iOS 5.1 Beta 3 is now available via the iOS developer program portal. Xcode 4.3 Developer Preview 3 and Apple TV Software Beta 2 have also been released today.
The full release notes for iOS 5.1 Beta 3 still have not been posted.
Update 3: The release notes for iOS 5.1 Beta 3 have now been posted, and one item of note involves a new API to help developers flag app content that should not be backed up.
iOS 5.1 introduces a new API to mark files or directories that should not be backed up. For NSURL objects, add the NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey attribute to prevent the corresponding file from being backed up.The addition appears to be an expansion of the company's iOS 5.0.1 effort to help deal with content being stored for offline use that does not need to be committed to a device backup but which should not be subject to removal during the purging of caches. Apple will be replacing the com.apple.MobileBackup file attribute introduced in iOS 5.0.1 with the new API usage in iOS 5.1.
Call of Duty Elite iPhone App Arrives Tomorrow [iOS Blog]
Jan 09, 6:00PM
Call of Duty Elite launched last fall to coincide with the rollout of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, the fastest-selling entertainment product of all time. Elite is the online counterpart to MW3, offering stats tracking, in-game competitions, game strategies and more. The service had some rough moments at launch, but most parts of Elite are up and running now.
Chacko Sonny, head of Beachhead Studio -- the Activision Blizzard division in charge of Elite -- explained that the app includes four main components, mirroring most of the major features from the Elite website:
- Career Summary: A "back of the baseball card" assessment of the players stats, and a way to look up other players cards and statisticsSonny told MacRumors that with Elite available on three very different platforms -- console, the web, and now the iPhone -- the difference in form factor between the interfaces was important: "it's smaller from an interface standpoint. We didn't want to shoehorn the website or console experience onto a smartphone." Beachhead's designers made sure the Elite app felt native to the iPhone.
- Recent Matches: "Fantasy football analysis" of recent games played
- Challenges: Track challenges in-game (achievements for performing certain tasks or leveling up a gun) and allows players to find the quickest ways to level up and have that information by their side while playing.
- Custom Classes: Perhaps the most useful feature, gives the player the ability to make any changes to custom classes and push those changes to the game. Sonny noted this was the most common way that beta testers used the app.
Further, Sonny emphasized that the Elite iPhone app is a 1.0 release and that the service will progress both on the console, the web, and the mobile apps.
We view this as the foundation. We want to hear from the community: how do they use this? What parts do they like? What parts aren't as useful? We want to drive additional development going forward from people who play the game every single day. That's going to help us deliver a better set of iterated features going forward, and for the forthcoming tablet version as well.The app will be free, and will be available to all Call of Duty Elite users -- there is a premium Elite membership available that includes free downloadable content and some other goodies, but that doesn't affect the mobile app -- though there is no sign-up from the app itself. Users must enroll via the website or the Elite app on either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 first. The Call of Duty Elite app only works when connected to the Internet via 3G or Wi-Fi.
Call of Duty Elite for iPhone launches tomorrow, Tuesday the 10th, on the App Store. An iPad version is promised "shortly thereafter".
54% of Near-Term Smartphone Purchasers Still Looking to iPhone 4S
Jan 09, 5:27PM
Citing "explosive momentum" for both Apple and Samsung, ChangeWave Research today released the results of a new survey of North American smartphone customers showing that over half of those looking to purchase a smartphone over the next 90 days are planning on buying an iPhone 4S. The 54% share of future buying plans held by Apple as of December was down from 65% in September, but easily marked Apple's best performance when measured two months after a new product release after demand has generally slackened considerably.
The late December survey looked at smart phone demand trends going forward, and finds Apple iPhone demand remains incredibly strong more than two months after the iPhone 4S release.Samsung has continued its momentum among Android smartphone purchasers, with its share more than doubling to 13% among those looking to purchase a new phone over the next three months.
Among respondents planning to buy a new smart phone in the next 90 days, better than one-in-two (54%; down 11-pts) say they'll get an iPhone.
Apple has never dominated smart phone planned buying to this extent more than two months after a major new release.
In analyzing satisfaction of existing smartphone users, Apple continues to lead with 75% of owners saying they are "very satisfied" with their iPhones. The iPhone has ranked in the 70-80% range for nearly the entire history of the device. Among Apple's competitors, Android manufacturers Samsung, HTC, and Motorola all score in the 45-47% satisfaction range while Research in Motion has continued its slide with a new low of 22% of users registering as very satisfied with their BlackBerry devices.
ChangeWave's sample base focuses on professionals and early-adopter consumers, somewhat skewing its data toward higher-end users likely to have greater awareness of the market. But the firm's long history of consistent data gathering offers a look at patterns measured from this pool of users that frequently serves to set trends for the rest of the market.
Netflix Launches in UK and Ireland, iOS Devices Included [iOS Blog]
Jan 09, 4:11PM
Netflix yesterday announced its launch in the United Kingdom and Ireland, once again expanding the footprint of the company's popular streaming service.
Netflix is available now, and anyone can get a one month free trial: click-to-watch TV programmes and films streamed instantly over the Internet to your smart TV, game console, computer, tablet, or mobile device. After the free trial, it costs just £5.99 or €6.99. Our catalog is full of complete TV programmes such as The Only Way is Essex, Prison Break, and Damages (watch from the pilot episode all the way through the last complete season) and great films such as 3:10 to Yuma, Blitz and The English Patient, with new content added continuously.With the launch, the company has made its services available across a number of different platforms, including the company's universal app for iPhone and iPad that has gone live in both countries' App Stores. In addition, we're hearing that Netflix has appeared as an option on the Apple TV in the new markets, although some users have had difficulties getting it up and running.
CES 2012: Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock to Launch in September at $299
Jan 09, 2:53PM
Last September, we noted that Belkin was showing off a new Thunderbolt docking station at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), preparing to offer users a single-cable dock connection three USB ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a FireWire port, as well as inbound and outbound Thunderbolt ports for daisy chaining.
Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock (Source: HardwareZone.com)
Belkin is once again previewing the Thunderbolt Express Dock at CES this week, but has announced that it will not begin shipping until September of this year and will be priced at $299.
Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock - $299The company had previously claimed following the publicity surrounding the dock's appearance at IDF that it would begin shipping in "spring 2012".
- Quickly connects into a desktop workstation and instantly accesses multiple devices with a single cable
- Adds reliable, gigabit Ethernet connectivity to your laptop
- Includes three USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire 800 port, one HDMI port, one 3.5mm Audio port, one gigabit Ethernet port and two Thunderbolt ports (one upstream and one downstream) for daisy-chaining to another Thunderbolt compatible device.
- Utilizes Thunderbolt Technology for data transfer rates of up to 10Gbps bi-directionally
Apple offers similar docking functionality built into its Apple Thunderbolt Display. The $999 27-inch display includes three USB ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a FireWire 800 port, a FaceTime HD camera, and a 2.1 speaker system, all connected to the user's computer over a single Thunderbolt cable.
CES 2012: iCade iOS Game Controller Expands to iCade Jr., iCade Mobile, and iCade Core
Jan 09, 4:42AM
Ion Audio's original iPad iCade started life as a ThinkGeek April Fool's joke but has since become one of the most well supported iOS game controller accessories. If you aren't familiar with it, it was a small arcade cabinet stand that allowed you to prop your iPad up and play games using a real joystick and buttons. The company behind the iPad gaming accessory has now announced that they have expanded to three new models to service a broader range of iOS devices.
iCade Core - Pictured on the top right, the iCade Core offers a stripped down version of the original iCade cabinet and supports the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Like the original iCade, the iCade Core lets you play your iOS games with a real joystick and buttons. Communication is done through Bluetooth, but a 30-pin connector is included to allow for charging while playing. No pricing yet for this slimmed down version.
iCade Mobile - Pictured top left, the iCade Mobile is a device that wraps around the iPhone or iPod Touch to give you more of a mobile handheld gaming experience. Again, using Bluetooth alone for the communication, it offers a swiveling landscape or portrait orientation. This one will cost $79.99 when it becomes available this spring. Engadget took this video showing it in motion.
iCade Jr. - Pictured below, the iCade Jr. is a shrunk down version of the original iCade. This version is made specifically for the iPhone or iPod Touch and lets you prop up your device in this miniaturized arcade cabinet. It comes with an arcade joystick and 4 front facing buttons a 4 rear facing buttons. It also offers a dock connector for charging. This one is expected to cost $49, again coming in spring.
There have been other similar mobile gaming accessories for iOS devices, but the iCade seems to be the one that has garnered the most support amongst gaming developers. The new devices will likely be directly compatible with the existing list of iCade compatible games.
The most notable titles include Atari's Greatest Hits, Pac Man for iPad, Temple Run and iMAME (no longer available).
CES 2012: LaCie Hub Connects eSATA Drives to Thunderbolt Macs
Jan 09, 1:29AM
CNet reports on a new eSATA Hub from LaCie which allows you to connect external eSATA drives to your Thunderbolt equipped Mac. The hub comes with two Thunderbolt ports and two eSATA ports. Users can connect up to two eSATA drives to the hub for use on their Thunderbolt equipped Macs. The additional Thunderbolt ports can also be used to daisy chain additional Thunderbolt peripherals off the device.
eSATA is a high performance drive connector used to connect external hard drives to your computer. eSATA has never been a standard option on Macs, but is a faster alternative to USB 2.0 and Firewire and is commonly found on high performance external drives and storage arrays. As noted by CNet, eSATA devices are also presently cheaper than their Thunderbolt counterparts. While Thunderbolt has a higher maximum speed than eSATA, if you are just connecting a single external drive (and not a drive array), it's not likely to exceed the upper limit of eSATA.
So, for those who are have existing eSATA drives or are waiting for Thunderbolt drives to drop in price, this could be a good interim solution. Unfortunately, LaCie hasn't released a price yet, but this eSATA hub is expected to be available during the first quarter of 2012.
CES 2012: AR Drone 2.0, OCZ External Thunderbolt SSD
Jan 08, 11:12PM
A few more interesting items are starting to leak out ahead of CES 2012.
AR Drone 2.0
Engadget publishes a press release for Parrot's new AR Drone 2.0 which sports a 720P HD Camera. The original AR Drone was shown off at CES 2010. It's an iPhone-controlled quadricoptor that uses a number of sensors, including a downward facing camera, to help stabilize its flight. You control the flying machine with the use of your iPhone.
The 2.0 upgrade now offers a 1280x720 resolution camera that can be used to record videos as well as new flight control modes to allow for easier handling. Per Gizmodo:
Perhaps best of all, it's now even easier to pilot. Before you had to rely on the camera to know which way the AR.Drone was facing, and then send commands from the drone's perspective. That option is still available for advanced users, but the AR.Drone 2 now senses where you are, so tilting your phone/tablet away from you will send the drone away, and tilting it to your right will make the drone go that way, too. It's incredibly intuitive.The 2.0 version of the AR Drone will be $299 and available in the 2nd Quarter of 2012. This video shows the original AR Drone in action:
OCZ Thunderbolt SSD
PCPer spotted this new external SSD coming from OCZ. The company had previously offered a similar external USB 3.0 SSD, but this new model brings Thunderbolt support.
According to OCZ, the Thunderbolt-equipped SSD should have transfer rates as high as 750MB/s and "improved latency and highly accurate time synchronization" for professional audio/video work. No timeframe on release, but more details may arrive at next week.
CES 2012 Kicks off Next Week: Gorilla Glass, Vizio, Windows Phone, Ultrabooks
Jan 08, 5:03AM
The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off next week in Las Vegas, Nevada. The January show has traditionally introduced new products and trends in the consumer electronics market. The LA Times notes, however, that there seems to be no single theme for this year's show.
This year, though, the Next Big Thing remains elusive. Despite what is expected to be a record number of exhibitors and attendees, many analysts agree that no single device or technology has emerged to define the show.While Apple has never had a presence at CES, their general influence on the industry has been apparent in past shows. Third party vendors, of course, will be showing their Apple-related wares in the 80,000 sq. foot iLounge pavilion.
Here are a few early items of interest that we've seen in the news leading into the show.
Gorilla Glass 2
Corning will be showing off their next generation of Gorilla Glass at the show. Apple is known to have used the damage-resistant Gorilla Glass in its original iPhone, and the company is believed to still be using it for their iPhone products.
Corning was vague about what improvements have been made to the glass, but hinted that it would allow for thinner designs. A full product announcement is planned for Monday, Jan 9th.
Vizio
The Wall Street Journal reports that television manufacturer Vizio Inc is planning to enter the PC market this year to compete against Apple on both price and looks.
Vizio, which also produces Blu-ray players and a tablet, says it worked on its computer designs for two years in attempts to offer an aesthetic that competes with Apple Inc.'s popular products but at a lower price.The company plans on unveiling 24- and 27-inch desktop models, a 15" laptop and 14 and 15-inch ultralight models at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Engadget has a full gallery of their upcoming product line. The company claims that their products will be priced 'substantially less" than corresponding Apple products.
Vizio says it spent months, for example, shaving millimeters from its desktop computer so the central processing chip could hide in a sleek base while the screen stands attached to its thin aluminum neck.
Nokia's Windows Phone
Nokia is expected to unveil their new Lumia 900 Windows Phone.
A NYTimes article details some of the challenges and sees 2012 as a crucial year for Microsoft's Windows Phone strategy.
Ultrabooks
Intel's Ultrabook initiative is expected to be highlighted at CES with new models being introduced. The MacBook Air-like design is expected to make up a large percentage of laptop designs in the near future.
Mac App Store Turns One Year Old, Aspyr Shares Numbers
Jan 06, 7:00PM
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Mac App Store, Apple's attempt to remake software distribution by offering an easy-to-use digital download store for Mac apps linked to the company's existing iTunes Store infrastructure. The Mac App Store gained prominence throughout the year as Apple added more and more of its own software to the marketplace, even opting to use the Mac App Store as the primary method of distribution for OS X Lion. Less than a year after the store's launch, Apple announced that the Mac App Store had seen over 100 million downloads, not including purchases of OS X Lion, app updates, or multiple downloads from a single transaction.
In an effort to assess the impact of the Mac App Store on established Mac software companies, we chatted with Aspyr, which offers over a dozen games through the store including the current top-grossing game and Mac App Store Game of the Year Civilization V: Campaign Edition [Mac App Store]. Other major titles from Aspyr include Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Call of Duty 4, and DOOM 3.
Aspyr is in a relatively unique position among Mac App Store developers in that it already offered a significant digital distribution platform of its own through its GameAgent marketplace. But the Mac App Store has still been able to attract a significant amount of business from Aspyr customers, with Aspyr telling us that the Mac App Store accounted for sales of roughly 500,000 units across all of Aspyr's titles in 2011, representing 50-60% of the company's digital distribution business.
In particular, Aspyr credits the Mac App Store with breathing new life into older titles, bringing them to the attention of more casual gamers who would not have otherwise sought out the games. Unsurprisingly, games that receive featured treatment from Apple in the form of banners and other promotional mentions are the strongest performers for Aspyr.
Even beyond the Mac App Store, Aspyr cites general growth of the Mac platform as another driver of increased software sales. The Mac has seen steady momentum in outpacing overall PC market growth every quarter for nearly six years, most recently setting a new high with 12.9% of the market in the third quarter of 2011.
Overall, the Mac App Store remains heavily skewed toward Apple's own software, with the top six most popular apps and the eight highest-grossing apps in the store being Apple software. But given the volume of downloads on the store, a number of other developers are clearly seeing success with the store as it is proving popular with Mac users looking for ease of purchase and installation. According to our sister site AppShopper, there are currently over 8,900 apps available in the Mac App Store, making for a substantial library of content easily found and downloaded through the marketplace.
Study Finds Wireless Data Consumption of iPhone 4S Doubled from iPhone 4 [iOS Blog]
Jan 06, 5:03PM
Reuters reports on a new study from mobile network consulting firm Arieso showing that iPhone 4S users consume twice as much data as iPhone 4 users, with new features such as Siri driving the increased demand.
IPhone 4S users transfer on average three times more data than users of the older iPhone 3G model which was used as the benchmark in a study by telecom network technology firm Arieso.The spike in data usage for iPhone 4S users is likely not fully explained by the debut of Siri on the device, as a study by Ars Technica conducted soon after the device's launch revealed an average of 63 KB of data used per query. With even high-use users reporting making an average of fifteen queries per day, that would equate to approximately 30 MB of usage per month if all queries were performed over cellular networks.
Data usage of the previous model, the iPhone 4, was only 1.6 times higher than the iPhone 3G, while iPad2 tablets consumed 2.5 times more data than the iPhone 3G, the study showed.
As noted by ZDNet, other factors such as iTunes Match, iCloud, device speeds, larger photos, and "new toy syndrome" are also all likely contributing to the increased data usage.
Data usage has become a major area of concern for carriers as they seek to deal with the surging demand from smartphone users that are growing rapidly in number and in their demands for content. While a number of carriers such as AT&T; and Verizon launched the iPhone with "unlimited" data plans, most carriers have now switched to tiered data plans for new customers as they seek to encourage more modest data consumption and extract additional revenue from the heaviest data users.
Consequently, customers have had to become more aware of their data usage needs as they determine which data plan to sign up for in order to avoid what can be significant overage charges.
Evidence of Quad-Core Chips Shows Up in iOS 5.1 Betas
Jan 06, 4:46PM
9to5Mac reports that evidence of support for quad-core processors has shown up in beta versions of iOS 5.1, lending support to claims that Apple's forthcoming A6 chips will see a doubling in the number of processing cores.
The references to quad-core iPhone and iPad chips come by way of a hidden panel that describes cores that are supported by iOS device hardware. The updated core management software includes an option of "/cores/core.3," and this represents a fourth available processing core…The report notes that single-core processors such as the A4 found in the iPhone 4 and original iPad fall under a "cores/core.0" designation, while dual-core processors such as the A5 in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 are covered by a "/cores/core.1" designation. The "/cores/core.3" reference thus suggests compatibility with a quad-core chip.
Apple's A6 system-on-a-chip has been rumored several times to carry a quad-core processor, and has been presumed to be set for inclusion in the company's next-generation iPad and iPhone models. There have, however, been some questions about whether the production timeline for the A6 would support its inclusion in the iPad 3, which is rumored for a release around March of this year.
China Unicom Offering Free iPhone 4S On Contract
Jan 06, 3:37PM
Earlier this week, Apple announced that it would be launching the iPhone 4S in 22 new countries on January 13, with China being the highest-profile debut in the group. Bloomberg now reports that China Unicom, Apple's existing iPhone carrier partner in the country, has released details on pricing that include a free iPhone 4S for users subscribing to contracts coming in at as little as $45 per month.
China United Network Communications Group (CHTZ), the nation's second-largest wireless carrier, will give users an Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone 4S if they sign multiyear service contracts costing as little as 286 yuan ($45) a month.Beyond the contract price levels required for a free iPhone 4S, China Unicom offers a complex series of service plans and term lengths that carry varying levels of subsidy for the iPhone 4S. Contracts are available in terms ranging from 1-3 years and begin at 66 yuan ($10) per month, with longer and more expensive contracts obviously carrying higher subsidies and thus lower device costs for consumers.
The promotion starting Jan. 13 offers a 32-gigabyte model with a three-year plan, while a commitment to two years for a monthly fee of 386 yuan allows users to get the 16-gigabyte model, the company known as China Unicom said in a statement on its website yesterday.
Full details on the China Unicom's contract options are available in Chinese in the company's press release.
Bloomberg notes that China Unicom previously offered similar pricing for the iPhone 4, but ended the practice due to the high subsidies cutting too much into the carrier's profitability. The carrier is continuing its efforts to rein in subsidies as it works to boost its smartphone customer base, but seems willing to make an exception for the iPhone 4S in hopes of winning away customers from other carriers.
Apple Bringing Store-Within-a-Store Concept to Target?
Jan 06, 3:07PM
AppleInsider reports that Apple is planning to launch a test program later this year that would see the company open "store-within-a-store" concepts in 25 Target stores around the United States. The stores would be similar to the "Apple Shops" found in a number of Best Buy locations.According to a source familiar with Apple's plans, the company plans to begin operating Apple-branded areas within 25 larger Target stores in locations which can't support a standalone Apple Store.The report notes that Apple has had a long-standing arrangement with Target for the retailer to feature iPods in its stores, a relationship that has since expanded to include the iPad and iPhone. With the test program, these select Target locations may soon also begin selling Mac products in its stores in addition to providing other dedicated Apple product sales support.
The initial opening would be a small start, given that Target, the second-largest discount retail chain in the US, operates 1752 stores in the US.
Best Buy Apple Shop (Source: Best Buy)
Many Best Buy Apple Shops are run under the Apple Solutions Consultants, which utilizes Apple-employed consultants to provide expertise within the Best Buy stores, although Best Buy employees may also assist customers.
'iPad 4' Headed for October Launch with iPad 3 as Interim Upgrade?
Jan 06, 2:33PM
In an effort to continue throwing ideas at the wall to see what might stick, the only occasionally reliable Digitimes today reported that not only will Apple be releasing the iPad 3 with high-resolution "Retina" display in March as is widely expected, but that the company will follow that up with the release of the iPad 4 in October.
On the topic of the iPad 3, Digitimes suggests that the Retina display will be the main attraction of the new device, with better battery life also serving to entice customers. But other hardware upgrades for the iPad 3 are said to be rather minimal, as Apple is reportedly rolling out the iPad 3 alongside an iPad 2 price cut to $399 as an interim effort to set the stage for a bigger battle with the competition later in the year.
Apple will ship the so-called "iPad 3" with a full HD display in March and then "iPad 4" - named so by its component suppliers - with killer applications in October, according to industry sources in Taiwan. [...]The rumor is somewhat reminiscent of last year's round of claims, which suggested that the iPad 2's successor would appear in late 2011 as an interim upgrade carrying a Retina display. Claims of a late 2011 iPad came from several different sources in July and early August of last year before other sources including The Wall Street Journal put the claim to rest.
But a true battle for market share will arrive in the second half of the year when Apple ships its iPad 4 in October, about the time when Microsoft releases its Window 8 and Intel unveils its Clover Trail-W platform, the sources commented.
The 9.7-inch iPad 4 is expected to come with much upgraded hardware specifications and integrated applications so as to compete with an array of Android-, Wintel- or WoA (Windows on ARM)-based tablet PCs to be released in the fourth quarter, said the sources.
Digitimes has a proliferative record of Apple-related rumors and has occasionally offered accurate information. But its information is generally considered unreliable given a significant number of claims that have failed to materialize. Claims of two separate iPad launches this year are sure to pique interest though, and we'll be waiting to hear if other sources offer similar information going forward.
CloudOn Returns Cloud-Hosted Office for iPad to App Store [iOS Blog]
Jan 06, 12:44AM
Earlier this week, stealth startup CloudOn released a free iPad app that aimed to bring the functionality of Microsoft Office to the iPad. One day later, the company declared the app "sold out" and pulled it until they could expand capacity. It has since been relaunched for some users, and will be opening up to more over time. In a post about the first day of CloudOn's public availability, the company shares some additional information about its privacy and security policies.
We enable you to be productive without overstepping our boundaries as a platform. Our privacy policy can be found at: www.cloudon.com/legal/privacy. We follow this privacy policy diligently across every part of our system.To determine if the application is available for download and if the service is active, visit the Status page on CloudOn's website. The CloudOn for iPad app is available free on the App Store. [Direct Link]
>From a security standpoint, none of your files are stored permanently on any of our systems. Your files are pulled only when you need them. Once you've finished editing them, they are saved back to Dropbox and wiped from our systems. We encrypt your credentials and also have 256-bit encryption between our servers and your client. We take pains to audit our security processes and improve them on a regular basis.
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