News tagged ‘Wall Street Journal’

Samsung made a next step in its battle with Apple and filed for a preliminary injunction against the iPhone 4S in Australia and Japan. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Japan filing that is also attempting to halt sales of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2, accuses Apple of infringements in technology and user interface patents. The patents apparently relate to “the display of a flight mode icon, the utilization of homescreen space, and an app store menu structure”. Samsung claims that in Australia Apple has infringed on patents related to wireless telecommunication standards.

A Samsung spokesperson said that the company is “now counterattacking Apple again”. Though, many believe that Samsung’s attack will certainly fail. Moreover, an Australian judge will unlikely consider patents Samsung using in the filing as enough for a preliminary injunction, because they are essential for the 3G telecommunications network. As for Japan filings, the situation here is not so obvious like in Australia. This means Samsung could seek injunctions on them and it would be up to Apple to contest their validity.

Today Apple has begun selling its new iPhone 4S in seven countries: US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Australia. The device is available in two colors (black, white) and three storage sizes (16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB).  As usual, lines have begun forming near Apple Stores worldwide and Apple Store employees were pulling overnight shifts to put up new displays and promo materials for the iPhone 4S launch.

The Japanese launch was hampered by registration slowdowns from Softbank, according to the Wall Street Journal:

The launch of the iPhone 4S in Japan was interrupted when Softbank – the main service provider for Apple products in the country—suffered a server glitch that temporarily suspended sales nationwide. A company spokesman said the servers were unable to process registration information.

Apple has already received more than one million pre-orders for the iPhone 4S. Analysts are predicting that weekend sales will exceed the iPhone 4 which were sold 1.7 million units its opening weekend. Estimates range from 2 million to 4 million.

As both LATimes and Wall Street Journal report, citing sources familiar with the matter, that currently Apple is in talks with major movie studios for deals that would allow users, who purchased movies on iTunes Store, to stream them via iCloud on their Apple devices.

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AllThingsD reports that Simon & Schuster has rescheduled release of Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs to October 24th. The previous date of release was November 21st.

The fully authorized by Steve Jobs book is based on over 40 interviews with Jobs and interviews with over 100 of his friends and family members and will include full details on Steve Job’s life. The Wall Street Journal reports that Isaacson last interviewed Jobs four weeks ago. At that moment Jobs already knew that he would die soon. The last interview will be included in the book. Of course, the book causes a great interest of Apple fans. Since yesterday the book orders on Amazon has increased by 40,000%.

Right after Sprint iPhone 5 WiMax/LTE rumors here goes another one: the Wall Street Journal reports that people familiar with the company’s plans claim the device “won’t operate on long-term evolution or WiMAX fourth-generation networks”:

The people said the device will work on 3G networks, which are broadly in use today and are the standard for the current iPhone 4. AT&T says its HSPA+ network has 4G-like speeds.

As Wall Street Journal reports, Samsung has offered Apple a deal, which would allow Samsung to put its Galaxy Tab 10.1 on the Australian market. If the agreement will be accepted the Samsung tablet could be released in October. The terms of the agreement were not revealed to the court. But Stephen Burley, Apple's attorney, said that this agreement had some potential benefit for the company.

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JPMorgan analysts have recently predicted that Apple slashed its fourth quarter iPad production plans by 25%, suggesting significant price cut. But The Wall Street Journal believes that such argument is insufficient to make these predictions. Other analysts not that Apple appears to have actually accelerated production ahead of the holiday shopping season. Sources also indicate that Apple plans to begin production of the iPad 3 at the end of the fourth quarter or early in 2012, so accelerating production now, the company tries to ease that transition.

We believe chatter regarding iPad production cuts are misleading – we have seen pull-ins, not cuts. We have noted recent comments by competitors discussing iPad production cuts for 4Q. Our recently published AAPL supply-chain checks noted a sequential decline in 4Q iPad builds from 17 mln-19 mln units in 3Q to 11 mln-13 mln units in 4Q. However, the 4Q sequential decline was accompanied by an increase in 3Q builds, leading us to conclude that production was likely pulled-in from 4Q to 3Q.

Some analysts suggest that the fourth quarter production cuts may be connected with shifting some production to Brazil by the end of the year.

Bloomberg confirms information previously reported by The Wall Street Journal that Sprint will indeed begin offering the iPhone 5 next month with unlimited data plans for the device. Sprint reportedly will launch the iPhone 5 in mid-October.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) will offer Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone next month with unlimited data service plans to distinguish itself from rivals AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, plans to begin selling the device in mid-October under a deal with Apple for the next model, the iPhone 5, said the people, who wouldn’t be identified because the plans aren’t public. Becoming the country’s only operator to offer the device with unlimited data service for a flat fee may help Sprint draw customers from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which already carry the phone, they said.

Best Buy expects that the iPhone 5 will be available for pre-order during the first week of October. BGR points to an internal memo:

Thanks to a leaked document from a Best Buy source, we have discovered that Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores are anticipating taking preorders for the iPhone 5 starting in the first week of October. What’s a tad bit more interesting, however, is the mention (and further anticipation) that Sprint will be carrying the iPhone 5 at launch.

Of course, the dates may be changed. Noteworthy to say that the Wall Street Journal is also anticipating Sprint will be carrying the iPhone 5. Meanwhile, Best Buy is also expecting a new "Apple Fixture Installation" on Friday, October 21st.

To be clear, this isn’t a run-of-the-mill installation for the big box — our tipster tells us that the request that a manager be on-hand at 6AM is out of the ordinary (they usually show up at 7AM for inventory), and that a similar arrangement was scheduled for the iPhone 4 launch.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. third largest carrier Sprint will offer iPhone 5 this year. Also the report says that Sprint, AT&T and Verizon will release the iPhone 5 simultaneously in "mid-October". At the same time Sprint will also offer the iPhone 4, as a person familiar with the matter said. AT&T has exclusively carried iPhone in the U.S. until Apple launched a CDMA iPhone 4 for Verizon earlier this year.

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The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is working on its next generation iPad with the 2048x1536 Retina display that might be launched early 2012.

The next generation iPad is expected to feature a high resolution display - 2048 by 1536 compared with 1024 by 768 in the iPad 2 - and Apple's suppliers have already shipped small quantities of components for the sampling of the iPad 3. Suppliers said Apple has placed orders for a 9.7-inch screen device.

The Wall Street Journal's sources claim that Apple is aiming to launch the iPad 3 in early 2012 and has already started placing orders for many of the key components for the next iPad. They also indicate that a trial run will begin in October.

According to Bloomberg’s report, Hewlett-Packard, one of the largest computer makers worldwide, is going to announce plans to spin off its personal computer business in order to focus on cloud-based services and software. The computer maker confirmed that its board of directors has authorized the decision of partial or full separation of its Personal Systems Group (PSG) from the company by means of spin-off or other transaction. The announcement about spin off is planned to be made later today after the company publishes its quarterly financial results.

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In the The Wall Street Journal’s article about Intel investing $300 million on developing "Ultrabook" platform, an Intel executive revealed that Apple was threatening to drop Intel’s processors if they didn’t made their chips less power-consuming.

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As DigiTimes reports, now Apple as well as other companies like Samsung, is exploring the possibility of using solar panels in its future products. Reportedly Apple is even considering adding Taiwan-based solar panel makers in its supply chain. This fact means that the company is not only exploring this technology but is already planning who exactly will manufacture these panels.

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DigiTimes, Taiwanese trade publication, cites industry sources that said that the largest contract maker of gadgets in the world Foxconn will manufacture a rumored Amazon’s tablet powered by Android. They claim that the tablet will boast a 10.1-inch display and its shipments will begin in 2012. Quanta Computer, another Asian contract manufacturer, has already started shipments of a smaller 7-inch gadget to Amazon, the report writes.

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