Joshua Topolsky from The Verge has written a lengthy report about his experiences using on-face computer Google Glass.
Google Glass is a small computer mounting to an eyeglass frame that has a display visible only to the user. The device includes GPS, a built-in camera, which can record what the wearer sees, and Bluetooth and Wi-FI connections. The wearable device can handle many of the tasks performed on smartphones, including sending text messages, showing weather reports, giving driving directions and more.
According to analysis by Asymco of Apple’s revenue breakdowns, Apple received more money from accessories and iTunes sales than all other companies, except for Samsung, received from phone sales over the last quarter.
According to a new research from Strategy Analytics, Apple outstripped Samsung for the first time ever to become the number one vendor of mobile phones in U.S. The report notes that Apple sold 17.7 million iPhones during the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to 16.8 million sold by Samsung and 4.7 million sold by LG holding the third place.
Recently the iPhone have captured a record 53 percent of the smartphone market in the U.S, but when it comes to its second place in the handset market (feature phones and smartphones combined), a new report said LG moved Apple to third place during December thanks to strong sales of its highly popular Optimus G.
Reuters reports that Sharp, one of the major partners that produce displays for Apple`s mobile devices, has reduced the production of displays for iPad at one of its plants. Sources do not indicate the reasons for the dramatic reduction, but it seems to be a combination of decreasing consumer interest to the iPad mini and the natural seasonal downturn.
Apple's 27-inch iMac continues to be in short supply, as Apple sets deadline for delivery of new online orders 3-4 weeks. 21.5-inch models have been delivering within 7-10 days. Even before the launch of the new iMac, it was expected that the device will be in short supply in the 2013, in connection with questions on assembly of new displays. The process involves laminating the screen directly on device's glass.
Today comScore published the results of its survey of mobile phone subscribers in U.S. for the September-November period, noting that 18.5% of mobile phone subscribers are using an iPhone, up 1.4% from the data for June-August timeframe. Samsung continues to lead the pack with 26.9% of the market share, up from 25,7% in the previous period, while LG, HTC and Motorola lost their shares.
iFixit has already completed its teardown of the new 21,5-inch iMac that officially launched on Friday. The company described the teardown as an “exercise in disappointment,” saying that the new thinner design brings new hurdles for reparaibility. Notably, the iMac’s LCD and glass are now glued to the frame, while accessing the CPU, hard drive and RAM now requires removing the logic board. iFixit said:
According to DigiTimes, shipments of the iMac and iPad mini are expected to be limited in 2012 due to display production issues.
Reportedly, the panels for the iPad mini have seen low yield rates. As a result, Apple may fall short of 10 million target and reach only 6 million mark for the shipments of the iPad mini in the fourth quarter.
iFixit has already performed a teardown of the new iPad mini, revealing its components for the first time. Among the interesting discoveries is the Samsung display driver chip. However, it does not mean that the display was manufactured by Samsung and the codes on the backside of the display do not offer clear evidence of its manufacturer. The production of iPad mini’s display had been reported to be shifted from Samsung to LG and AU Optronics.
The Economic Times reports that Apple will start selling the iPhone 5 in India on November 2. It was rumored that the launch was set for today, but the supply delay forced Apple to postpone the introduction for a week.
According to The Korea Times report, Samsung and Apple relationship continues to deteriorate with Samsung wanting to terminate its deal with Apple and cease supplying liquid crystal display (LCD) to the company next year. Senior Samsung source said:
Back in late June,early purchasers of Apple's Retina MacBook Pro reported on the image persistence caused by some production issues. Having used a device for a certain period of time, they noticed its screen became vaguely and left traces of previous images.
Apple replaced the defective devices. DisplayMate’s Ray Soneira has mentioned the persistence was caused by early production issue, but three months later, users still complain of the released product’s “ghosting” issue. A lot of messages were posted on MacRumors' forums and at Apple Support Communities which are largely reported on the issues related to the LG displays and experienced by the manufacturer. Samsung Displays were not affected by the issue.
Citing upstream supply chain sources, NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim claims that a high-resolution display bound for a rumored 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is now in production. The production timeline could point to a fall debut for the rumored 13-inch Retina display-packing MacBook Pro.