News tagged ‘Apple iPhone’

Recently AdMob revealed a new metrics report that studied the numbers of iPhone OS and Adroid devices throughout the world. The company emphasized it was looking only at the devices that were at least once connected to the AdMob network:

"These unique device numbers are from the AdMob network only and reflect the adoption of our products and business operation. We don’t know what percentage of the total universe of iPhone and Android devices AdMob reaches. However we believe the data is useful on a relative basis given the large sample size of devices in our network."

So here are the main facts and conclusions along with figures:

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Latest NPD report reveals that Apple increased its music market share again. Here is a current ball game (in comparison to the last year situation):

• Digital music downloads: 40% (+5%) of all music sold;
• Apple: 28% (+4%) share of all music sold, 70% (+1%) of digital music downloads;
• Amazon: 12% (+3%) share of all music sold, 12% (+4%) share of digital music downloads.

Vice president of industry analysis at NPD Russ Crupnick says that physical media market share decreases because it becomes too effortful to look for a necessary CD in retail stores.

"Online shopping offers consumers who still want CDs more variety than they would get in a brick-and-mortar store; plus, recommendations, and other interactive features that raise the overall value proposition for music buyers."

It is interesting that though Amazon's market share is growing, the Department of Justice is looking into Apple to determine whether the company leverages its market power to prevent competition on the music market.

Yesterday Digitimes posted an interesting interview with its own senior analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who disproved many rumors about upcoming iPhone.

He told that Apple once considered using OLED display in iPhone 3GS, but it was found to be unsuitable for displaying text, and now this is a key direction in which Apple is improving its iPhone since the company promotes iBookstore for it. Moreover, in February scientists unveiled that Apple iPhone 3GS' LCD display is much better than the OLED screen in Google Nexus One, because the latter doesn't reproduce colors accurately and has lots of artifacts.

Ming-Chi Kuo also revealed that the work on iPhone 4G was started at the end of 2008. Its codename is N90, and not many people knew about this, but Gizmodo found exactly the N90 prototype. There is another iPhone with codename N91 that is a lesser upgrade that must be used «in case there are major delays [of components] due to significant modifications.

With regard to the iPhone 4G's processor Ming-Chi Kuo told:

"Since the launch schedule of the Cortex A9 processor is estimated for year's end and iPhone 4.0 is not ready to fully utilize a multi-core processor, the A4 is the most likely candidate".

This is not the first words of Ming-Chi Kuo about iPhone 4G, previously we posted another information revealed by him, you can read it here.

After yesterday news report about tenth suicide among Foxconn employees Apple had officially commented on the situation. Here are the words from the company's public statement:

"We are saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn. Apple is deeply committed to ensuring that conditions throughout our supply chain are safe and workers are treated with respect and dignity. We are in direct contact with Foxconn senior management and we believe they are taking this matter very seriously."

Reuters also informed that Apple will investigate the case and had already involved its own investigation team to "address these tragic events".

Foxconn is known much not only as the manufacturer of iPhone 4G, it is also a company responsible for making a number of products created by HP, Dell, and Nokia. Analyst Andrew Deng from Taiwan International Securities told Reuters that these companies might  react accordingly in case Foxconn is not tackling the problem:

"It's a crucial issue that Hon Hai [registered trade name for Foxconn] has to deal with right away. If not, Nokia, HP and Apple might cut their orders as pressure against buying their products could be mounting."

According to information from the Wall Street Journal Foxconn chairman Terry Gou has already launched antisuicide measures. They include the construction of special nets around Foxconn's building (as most of the workers died because of a jump from the roof) and establishing the "Foxconn Employee Care Center". Moreover, the company invited counselors and academic experts to talk with its employees and asked a group of Buddhist monks to utter prayers for the factory.

This week Terry Gou also showed reporters a huge swimming pool, bakeries, dormitories and banks built for employees needs.

Gene Munster, who is an analyst at Piper Jaffray, told yesterday that Steve Jobs won't allegedly make a surprise with presentation of the next generation iPhone at the WorldWide Developer Conference 2010. Because of numerous prototype leaks everybody expects the iPhone 4G to have thinner design, front-facing camera, improved battery and 5MP rear camera. But Gene claimed people should not expect that a Verizon-compatible model will be presented.

"We believe that it is unlikely that the next generation iPhone will be available at Verizon (or Sprint) at launch; rather, it is more likely that it remains exclusively available at AT&T in the U.S. at launch".

He also said Apple may start selling iPhone 3GS for $99 instead of iPhone 3G and provide a "limited demo" of new version of Mac OS X (10.7), that has all chances to support multi-touch technology as a key feature. But as we wrote before it looks like WWDC2010 will focus mainly on iPhone OS 4.0 so the preview of Mac OS X 10.7 will not allegedly happen.

Gene is assured that the presentation of iPhone 4G will have a positive influence on Apple's stock.

"...the new iPhone will likely drive unit sales beyond Street expectations, providing a positive catalyst for shares of AAPL in the coming months."

Last week Apple has released its iPhone Os 4.0 beta 4 and redsn0w is finally updated to support this as well as beta 1. New version of jailbreak is 0.9.5.b4 and it can be applied on iPhone 3G only(!).

Redsn0w 0.9.5.b4 is targeted at developers who make jailbroken apps, and will not work if you are already using blacksn0w, ultrasn0w or yellowsn0w.

iPhone Dev-Team warns:

"You should stay clear of this beta software if you rely on a carrier unlock."

To use the jailbreak, follow the guide below:

1. Download redsn0w 0.9.5.b4 here. (Only Mac OS X version since app are developed on this OS).
2. Make sure you have already activated your iPhone 3G with iTunes and your own developer ID.
3. Launch the jailbreak.
4. Select your stock iPhone1,2_4.0_8A274b_Restore.ipsw (beta4) or iPhone1,2_4.0_8A230m_Restore.ipsw (beta1) file that you used to update your firmware.
5. Choose "Install Cydia" and then click "Next". Use DFU mode to install the redsn0w.
6. When your iPhone 3G comes back up, you will notice Cydia has a blank white icon. It also has no sources so you should go to the Sources panel and add this repo: http://apt.saurik.com/cydia-3.7 (make sure you are connected to the Internet before). When Cydia restarts, you should see its real logo now, and the standard sources should be ready to use.

Because of Apple and Google success on a mobile device market Microsoft is going to conduct "major organizational changes" in its Entertainment and Devices Division that is currently responsible for Xbox, Zune and Windows Phone. It looks like first step has been already taken - the work on the dual-screen tablet named Courier had been canned. This allegedly caused its main developer J Allard to leave the company. Further changes will affect on the team that develops Windows Phone 7 mobile OS. The latter must be introduced this fall.

Nick Wingfield from the Wall Street Journal wrote Microsoft lose its positions mainly because of its Windows Mobile OS that had been criticized much for years.

Microsoft's division of Entertainment and Devices also develops portable media players named Zune. The latest Zune HD received many positive reviews but couldn't rival with tremendously popular iPod touch.

Yesterday The New York Times had posted a Brad Stone's report that reveals interesting information on the online music market investigation started recently by US Department of Justice.

The story started two months ago, when Amazon began to seek music labels that would allow company to sell their new songs day earlier than everyone else in exchange for exclusive "MP3 Daily Deal" promotion on the Amazon's site (according to BillBoard). In answer to that Apple asked labels to refuse Amazon or the company will not provide marketing support to those of songs that appeared in Amazon first. Such negotiating tactics attracted the attention of DoJ and now, as the NYT reports, it started inquiries with different music labels to confirm the information.

Currently Apple has 69% of online music market, while Amazon holds second place with its 8% share.  Since 2003 Apple sold more than 10 billion songs and thus provided significant revenue for the music industry.

Recently Wall Street Journal reported that Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz is going to equip its forty dealerships with iPads for more effective selling and leasing cars. The devices will have company's Advantage app installed on. That will enable dealers to have a quick access to the latest rebates and discounts and complete credit applications on the go without the need of leading the customer to a desk with a PC.

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Yesterday Associated Press reported that a 19-year-old Li Hai, who had worked for only 42 days in Foxconn, which is responsible for iPhone manufacturing, jumped from a building and died on Tuesday.

This is a tenth death in a row for a last year among Foxconn workers. This and eight other suicides were commited at Foxconn's plant that situated in the southern city of Shenzhen. That was also the place for two feeble attempts when the workers have survived.

Terry Gou, who is a Foxconn Chairman, told reporters on Monday (beofre the tenth death):

"Foxconn is not running a sweatshop. We are confident we'll be able to stabilize the situation soon."

Last week Southern Weekend reported that employees are signing "voluntary overtime affidavits" to earn more than $132, which is a local minimum wage that a worker can earn through a 36-hour workweek. One of the employees explained:

"Without overtime, you can hardly make a living."

Days later, on Friday a 21-year-old Foxconn employee jumped from a 4-story building.

One of the heart-rending stories reveals a suicide committed in July of 2009, when one of the workers jumped from a 12-story building because he was allegedly responsible for one of the sixteen next-gen prototype iPhones disappearance.

Yesterday Apple officially presented its new back-to-school promotion. This is an annual sale, when school faculty and students can purchase a Mac and get a 8GB iPod touch for free. Apple claims on its website:

"Take a free 8GB iPod touch to school. Along with tons of other great features, iPod touch has built-in Wi-Fi for downloading thousands of games, movies, songs, apps, and amazing, free educational content from iTunes U."

If you have an education discount, along with acquiring new iPod touch you can save $50 on a low-end MacBook, $100 on a MacBook Air and iMac desktop and $200 on a MacBook Pro. Such educational discounts are available to staff and faculty of K-12 schools, and to students, professors and staff of any college.

The deal applies between May 25 and Sept. 7, 2010. Those who doesn't want to get free iPod touch can receive a $199 discount for purchasing 160GB iPod classic or a higher-capacity iPod touch, a $179 discount for a 16GB iPod nano, $149 discount for a 8GB iPod nano, $99 discount for a stainless steel 4Gb iPod shuffle, and $79 discount for a regular 4GB iPod shuffle.

Customers can use their educational discounts in an Apple online store, retail stores, authorized campus stores or call 1-800-MY-APPLE.

Scoopertino.com had recently posted another "unreal news" report, where it is revealed that Apple made a Flash-compatible version of iPad. It's called iPad XL and made with a support of Honda. Just insert your iPad into the XL's side-mounted pocket and that will make it possible "to run the flashiest and most tasteless Flash sites on earth” as quite as never before - only at 96 decibel.

Full story can be found here.

Recently posted report from Associated Press reveals that a local team of the New York Yankeees, decided to ban the iPad from the world-famous Yankee stadium because of a security and safety issues. MLB Advanced Media Chief Executive Officer Bob Bowman said Business Insider that the real reason is that the Yankees don't want people to get distracted because of iPad and then getting hit with a ball. But IntoMobile notes that people will still have an ability to bring their iPads anyway.

"If you've got a loose-fitting jacket or some monstrous pockets on your blue jeans, you might be able to smuggle the tablet inside”.

It is interesting that the Yankee Stadium is one of the most tech-savvy parks with computer screens in their lockers.

Today Apple started sending emails to its customers telling Apple Retail Stores will open for iPad at 8am on Friday. Currently we know that Italy and UK customers have already received these letters, where it is said:

"The Apple Retail Store is the best place to experience the iPad. Have one of our Specialists show you all the amazing things it can do. If you buy one, we’ll even help you get set up and running."

Also it is known that in the UK Dixion Group has a 60-day exclusive deal with Apple to sell iPads at its own stores PC World and Currys.

Few minutes ago we also received information that one of the Italian users of iPadevice.com named Ricky have already received his iPad. He posted a video of unboxing it (under the cut), where you can note the European plug. Macstories.net assumed Ricky ordered the device using UPS Saver, which provides faster shipment than the American one.

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According to Engadget, new Apple's commercials will be shot by Sam Mendes, who is an Academy Award Winning director that is widely known for his work on "American Beauty".  Website's editor Joshua Topolsky says the ad will show new video chat abilities of iPhone:

"A trusted source has confirmed to us that the ads will feature at least one spot where a mother and daughter are having a video chat conversation using the new front-facing camera that's been spied on the face of that iPhone floating around Vietnam and Northern California".

Engadget also found people in Twitter who will perform in Apple's commercials. One actress is from New York, and another actor is from California (his tweet can be seen above).