(Reuters) - Apple Inc sued Ericsson alleging that the Swedish company's LTE wireless technology patents are not essential to industry cellular standards and that it is demanding excessive royalties for these patents.
Showing posts with label iPhone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPhone. Show all posts
January 16, 2015
October 14, 2014
Apple to blame for Finland's economic problems, prime minister says
Apple is to blame for the economic weakening of Finland, the country’s prime minister suggested in an interview on Monday morning.
September 27, 2014
Apple says bent iPhones are 'rare'
Apple has responded to claims that its new handsets are prone to bending by saying such damage would be "rare" during normal use.
September 10, 2014
Apple unveils watch and new iPhones
Apple has unveiled a smartwatch - the Apple Watch - its first new product line since the first iPad and the death of Steve Jobs.
September 08, 2014
Apple doesn't need another charismatic leader. It needs Tim Cook
Steve Jobs always had his "one last thing" – the hotly anticipated moment at the end of presentations when he would reveal the latest innovation to Apple's adoring fans.
September 16, 2012
Apple wins second legal bout against Samsung in patent row
Apple has scored a second victory against Samsung after an American trade commission refused the South Korean manufacturer's request for a raft of products to be taken off sale.
October 19, 2011
Apple full-year profits rise 85%
The world's biggest technology company Apple has reported full year results, showing net profit for the year to 25 September at $25.9bn (£16.5bn), up 85% from the previous year.
Even that was not enough to satisfy Wall Street, with the shares falling nearly 5% in after-hours trading.
There was some disappointment with the fourth quarter of the year, when no major new products were released.
Even that was not enough to satisfy Wall Street, with the shares falling nearly 5% in after-hours trading.
There was some disappointment with the fourth quarter of the year, when no major new products were released.
September 26, 2011
Samsung and Apple warring over patents again
Samsung and Apple have gone to court once again in their ongoing, tit-for-tat patent war.
The companies went before judges in Australia and the Netherlands on Monday, each asking for the other's products to be banned from sale.
Apple's lawyers in Sydney claimed that Samsung's Galaxy Tab infringed patents relating to its touchscreen interface.
The companies went before judges in Australia and the Netherlands on Monday, each asking for the other's products to be banned from sale.
Apple's lawyers in Sydney claimed that Samsung's Galaxy Tab infringed patents relating to its touchscreen interface.
July 21, 2011
Nokia suffers heavy loss as sales slip
Mobile phone giant Nokia has plunged into the red as sales fell and margins were squeezed in the second quarter.
The firm made a net loss of 368m euros ($521m; £323m) in the three months to the end of June, compared with a profit of 227m euros a year earlier. Net sales fell by 7% to 9.3bn euros.
It had warned that its second quarter results would be disappointing.
The firm made a net loss of 368m euros ($521m; £323m) in the three months to the end of June, compared with a profit of 227m euros a year earlier. Net sales fell by 7% to 9.3bn euros.
It had warned that its second quarter results would be disappointing.
June 14, 2011
Nokia and Apple settle patent dispute
Nokia and Apple have agreed a technology licensing agreement that ends the long-running legal dispute between the two firms.
"The agreement will result in settlement of all patent litigation between the companies," Nokia said.
Nokia sued Apple for patent infringements in 2009 and extended the action in December last year.
"The agreement will result in settlement of all patent litigation between the companies," Nokia said.
Nokia sued Apple for patent infringements in 2009 and extended the action in December last year.
January 12, 2011
Microsoft seeks to block Apple 'App Store' trademark
Microsoft has said that it has asked US officials to block Apple's attempt to trademark the words "App Store".
Apple submitted an application for the phrase - used for its iPhone, iPad and Macintosh download services - in 2008.
But Microsoft has now told BBC News that it has asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to reject the application.
The company says the term is too generic and competitors should be able to use it.
"An 'app store' is an 'app store'," said Russell Pangborn, Microsoft's associate general counsel. "Like 'shoe store' or 'toy store', it is a generic term that is commonly used by companies, governments and individuals that offer apps."
"The term 'app store' should continue to be available for use by all without fear of reprisal by Apple."
It is not clear why Microsoft has filed papers now, more than a year after the USPTO opened up Apple's original application for opposition.
However the move comes just days after Apple launched its latest App Store, for computer software.
Since the iPhone and other high-end mobile handsets emerged over recent years, downloadable applications - or apps - have become commonplace.
Microsoft runs its own application store for Windows phones, while Google and Nokia also have their own equivalents. Amazon, meanwhile, recently announced plans to open its own retail channel called Amazon Appstore.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment, but it is not the first time the company has found itself on the end of a trademark dispute.
After the iPhone launched in 2007, it emerged that technology rival Cisco owned the trademark, used for a range of internet-based telephone handsets. The two companies eventually settled and have now agreed to share rights over the name.
In addition, the Californian company took nearly 30 years to completely settle its conflict with Apple Corps, the record company founded by the Beatles.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk
Apple submitted an application for the phrase - used for its iPhone, iPad and Macintosh download services - in 2008.
But Microsoft has now told BBC News that it has asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to reject the application.
The company says the term is too generic and competitors should be able to use it.
"An 'app store' is an 'app store'," said Russell Pangborn, Microsoft's associate general counsel. "Like 'shoe store' or 'toy store', it is a generic term that is commonly used by companies, governments and individuals that offer apps."
"The term 'app store' should continue to be available for use by all without fear of reprisal by Apple."
It is not clear why Microsoft has filed papers now, more than a year after the USPTO opened up Apple's original application for opposition.
However the move comes just days after Apple launched its latest App Store, for computer software.
Since the iPhone and other high-end mobile handsets emerged over recent years, downloadable applications - or apps - have become commonplace.
Microsoft runs its own application store for Windows phones, while Google and Nokia also have their own equivalents. Amazon, meanwhile, recently announced plans to open its own retail channel called Amazon Appstore.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment, but it is not the first time the company has found itself on the end of a trademark dispute.
After the iPhone launched in 2007, it emerged that technology rival Cisco owned the trademark, used for a range of internet-based telephone handsets. The two companies eventually settled and have now agreed to share rights over the name.
In addition, the Californian company took nearly 30 years to completely settle its conflict with Apple Corps, the record company founded by the Beatles.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk
January 05, 2011
Could Apple become the world’s first $1-trillion company?
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) could become the world’s first company with a $1-trillion market cap, according to James Altucher, managing partner at hedge fund Formula Capital.
Apple just passed the $300-billion market cap milestone, ranking it second only to Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM) which is valued at about $377-billion.
In an article that appeared on BusinessInsider as well as CNBC, Altucher estimates that iPad sales will total between 10 million and 12 million this year, versus 7.5 million at the end of last quarter, adding that Apple has about 40 percent gross margin on iPad sales.
Moreover, “iPad has about 30 percent gross margin on app sales and 10 percent margin on song sales,” he wrote. “They are selling up to 30 million apps a day.”
He further estimates Apple’s sale of iPads will likely skyrocket in the coming years, perhaps to as many as 200-million by 2013.
“Two-hundred million iPads with a 30 percent margin (currently margins on iPads are about 36 percent, but I assume they will go down) is about $30 billion in gross profits,” Altucher estimates.
Plus, assuming the company sells 100 million apps per day, each app, on average, is about 30 cents.
“They get 30 percent margins on an app, or about 9 cents per app,” he noted. “That’s $9 million in gross profits per day or about $3.5 billion per year in gross profits on app sales in 2013. Already we are at $35 billion in gross profits and that’s without counting iPhone sales, iPod sales, song sales (also about 10 cent margin per song), video sales, and of course, Mac sales.”
Moreover, he adds, the iPhone will be available on Verizon, further accelerating sales.
Altucher proposes that by 2013, if iPad and app sales represent about 40 percent of Apple’s gross profits, total gross profits could amount to $80 billion (versus $25 billion now).
“Cash flow could be about 75 percent of that (like it is today), or about $60 billion,” he stated. “Slap a 20 times multiple on that and you have a market cap of $1.2 trillion. That’s a share price of about $1200 by 2013.”
Altucher also alluded to the ubiquity of Apple products.
He crowed that “already in my house there’s one Macbook Air. There are two iTouches, one iPhone, two iPads, and four or five iPods. I’ve got 10 authorized computers already for iTunes across two accounts. I download apps at least once per day, much more if you add in songs, TV shows and movies from the iTunes store. Within two weeks, before I leave on a trip for India, I will buy a Macbook Air 13” to travel with, and I know I will never go back to the HP laptops I’ve been using for almost the past 10 years.”
Apple shares are currently trading at about $331.60 per share, at a P/E of about 21.9.
Source: www.ibtimes.com
Apple just passed the $300-billion market cap milestone, ranking it second only to Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM) which is valued at about $377-billion.
In an article that appeared on BusinessInsider as well as CNBC, Altucher estimates that iPad sales will total between 10 million and 12 million this year, versus 7.5 million at the end of last quarter, adding that Apple has about 40 percent gross margin on iPad sales.
Moreover, “iPad has about 30 percent gross margin on app sales and 10 percent margin on song sales,” he wrote. “They are selling up to 30 million apps a day.”
He further estimates Apple’s sale of iPads will likely skyrocket in the coming years, perhaps to as many as 200-million by 2013.
“Two-hundred million iPads with a 30 percent margin (currently margins on iPads are about 36 percent, but I assume they will go down) is about $30 billion in gross profits,” Altucher estimates.
Plus, assuming the company sells 100 million apps per day, each app, on average, is about 30 cents.
“They get 30 percent margins on an app, or about 9 cents per app,” he noted. “That’s $9 million in gross profits per day or about $3.5 billion per year in gross profits on app sales in 2013. Already we are at $35 billion in gross profits and that’s without counting iPhone sales, iPod sales, song sales (also about 10 cent margin per song), video sales, and of course, Mac sales.”
Moreover, he adds, the iPhone will be available on Verizon, further accelerating sales.
Altucher proposes that by 2013, if iPad and app sales represent about 40 percent of Apple’s gross profits, total gross profits could amount to $80 billion (versus $25 billion now).
“Cash flow could be about 75 percent of that (like it is today), or about $60 billion,” he stated. “Slap a 20 times multiple on that and you have a market cap of $1.2 trillion. That’s a share price of about $1200 by 2013.”
Altucher also alluded to the ubiquity of Apple products.
He crowed that “already in my house there’s one Macbook Air. There are two iTouches, one iPhone, two iPads, and four or five iPods. I’ve got 10 authorized computers already for iTunes across two accounts. I download apps at least once per day, much more if you add in songs, TV shows and movies from the iTunes store. Within two weeks, before I leave on a trip for India, I will buy a Macbook Air 13” to travel with, and I know I will never go back to the HP laptops I’ve been using for almost the past 10 years.”
Apple shares are currently trading at about $331.60 per share, at a P/E of about 21.9.
Source: www.ibtimes.com
December 30, 2010
Two lawsuits target Apple, app makers over privacy concerns
(CNN) -- Although Apple gadgets sat under many a Christmas tree this year, the computer company is receiving some unwanted holiday-season attention.
Two separate class-action lawsuits filed last week in federal court allege that Apple and as many as eight makers of popular applications for the iPhone facilitated the sharing of private information about their customers to advertisers.
Though a recent news report claimed that many apps are sharing this personal data, the lawsuits together target just eight: Dictionary.com, the Weather Channel, internet radio service Pandora, the messaging app textPlus 4, as well as the makers of entertainment or game apps Talking Tom Cat, Paper Toss, Pumpkin Maker and Pimple Popper Lite.
The plaintiff leading one of the suits, Los Angeles County resident Jonathan Lalo, has been using four of those apps on his iPhone, said Dave Stampley, a partner at KamberLaw, which is bringing the case in a San Jose, California, district court.
"Mr. Lalo has had some of these apps since they were first issued -- in some cases, years," Stampley told CNN.
A copy of Lalo's suit, obtained by CNN, claims many iPhone and iPad owners have been "the victims of privacy violations and unfair business practices."
Both cases are seeking class-action status in the hopes of covering all Americans that are allegedly affected. More app developers could be added to the suits, or sued separately, as more plaintiffs join the case, Stampley said.
Lawyers filed the suits in U.S. District Court on behalf of the named plaintiffs and an unspecified number of unnamed plaintiffs.
The other suit was filed Thursday on behalf of three Texas men and a California woman, all of them iPhone owners. It states that "their personal, private information was obtained without their knowledge or consent ... their personal property -- their computer -- was hijacked by Defendants and turned into a device capable of spying on their every online move."
The plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages.
An Apple spokesperson could not be reached for comment because its press department is closed for the holidays, said a company message.
Apple recently launched an ad network of its own, though that does not seem to be a target in the suits. Apple has said app makers must obtain users' permission before transmitting data.
The suits follow a December 17 Wall Street Journal article highlighting dozens of apps that reportedly collect usage data and send personal info to advertisers without the user's consent or knowledge.
"I think it was through the Journal," that Lalo discovered the issue and decided to connect with KamberLaw, said Stampley. That investigation by the newspaper claimed that Android apps were also sharing personal info but that the Android platform was less intrusive.
Mobile app data-sharing differs from websites, which commonly use small files called cookies to track users, because smartphone apps can access a device's UDID, an unchangeable string that's embedded in each Apple device.
People can generally delete cookies on most browsers, but they can't change or hide a UDID. This allows advertisers to more reliably tie behaviors to a single iPhone user, for example.
Source: CNN
http://edition.cnn.com
Two separate class-action lawsuits filed last week in federal court allege that Apple and as many as eight makers of popular applications for the iPhone facilitated the sharing of private information about their customers to advertisers.
Though a recent news report claimed that many apps are sharing this personal data, the lawsuits together target just eight: Dictionary.com, the Weather Channel, internet radio service Pandora, the messaging app textPlus 4, as well as the makers of entertainment or game apps Talking Tom Cat, Paper Toss, Pumpkin Maker and Pimple Popper Lite.
The plaintiff leading one of the suits, Los Angeles County resident Jonathan Lalo, has been using four of those apps on his iPhone, said Dave Stampley, a partner at KamberLaw, which is bringing the case in a San Jose, California, district court.
"Mr. Lalo has had some of these apps since they were first issued -- in some cases, years," Stampley told CNN.
A copy of Lalo's suit, obtained by CNN, claims many iPhone and iPad owners have been "the victims of privacy violations and unfair business practices."
Both cases are seeking class-action status in the hopes of covering all Americans that are allegedly affected. More app developers could be added to the suits, or sued separately, as more plaintiffs join the case, Stampley said.
Lawyers filed the suits in U.S. District Court on behalf of the named plaintiffs and an unspecified number of unnamed plaintiffs.
The other suit was filed Thursday on behalf of three Texas men and a California woman, all of them iPhone owners. It states that "their personal, private information was obtained without their knowledge or consent ... their personal property -- their computer -- was hijacked by Defendants and turned into a device capable of spying on their every online move."
The plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages.
An Apple spokesperson could not be reached for comment because its press department is closed for the holidays, said a company message.
Apple recently launched an ad network of its own, though that does not seem to be a target in the suits. Apple has said app makers must obtain users' permission before transmitting data.
The suits follow a December 17 Wall Street Journal article highlighting dozens of apps that reportedly collect usage data and send personal info to advertisers without the user's consent or knowledge.
"I think it was through the Journal," that Lalo discovered the issue and decided to connect with KamberLaw, said Stampley. That investigation by the newspaper claimed that Android apps were also sharing personal info but that the Android platform was less intrusive.
Mobile app data-sharing differs from websites, which commonly use small files called cookies to track users, because smartphone apps can access a device's UDID, an unchangeable string that's embedded in each Apple device.
People can generally delete cookies on most browsers, but they can't change or hide a UDID. This allows advertisers to more reliably tie behaviors to a single iPhone user, for example.
Source: CNN
http://edition.cnn.com
December 29, 2010
Apple sued over iPad and iPhone app 'data leaks'
Two groups of iPhone and iPad users are suing Apple saying apps for the gadgets leak personally identifiable data.
The groups want to stop personal data being passed around without owners being notified or compensated.
Apple is just one of six application makers being pursued by the two groups of consumers.
The legal firm putting together one class action lawsuit said it might also take action against Google over data leaking from Android applications.
Backflip Studios, the Weather Channel, Dictionary.com and others were named in court papers supporting the lawsuits.
The papers allege that many applications collect so much personal data that users can be individually identified. This is despite Apple operating a policy that allows data to be shared with third parties only if an app requires the information to keep running.
The complainants said many firms, including advertisers, were managing to track and identify individuals via the unique device ID Apple assigns to every gadget. Apple does not do enough to enforce its privacy policy or restrict use of unique IDs, they allege.
Apple has yet to respond to requests for comment.
The law firm behind one of the class action lawsuits said it was considering whether to prepare a case against Google, saying that many Android applications leak personal data too.
Despite the filing of separate lawsuits, some experts suggest the court cases will not succeed.
"If this were a major issue, all web browsers would have to shut down and there would not be any advertising on the internet," Trip Chowdhry, Global Equities research analyst, told Reuters.
Source: BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
The groups want to stop personal data being passed around without owners being notified or compensated.
Apple is just one of six application makers being pursued by the two groups of consumers.
The legal firm putting together one class action lawsuit said it might also take action against Google over data leaking from Android applications.
Backflip Studios, the Weather Channel, Dictionary.com and others were named in court papers supporting the lawsuits.
The papers allege that many applications collect so much personal data that users can be individually identified. This is despite Apple operating a policy that allows data to be shared with third parties only if an app requires the information to keep running.
The complainants said many firms, including advertisers, were managing to track and identify individuals via the unique device ID Apple assigns to every gadget. Apple does not do enough to enforce its privacy policy or restrict use of unique IDs, they allege.
Apple has yet to respond to requests for comment.
The law firm behind one of the class action lawsuits said it was considering whether to prepare a case against Google, saying that many Android applications leak personal data too.
Despite the filing of separate lawsuits, some experts suggest the court cases will not succeed.
"If this were a major issue, all web browsers would have to shut down and there would not be any advertising on the internet," Trip Chowdhry, Global Equities research analyst, told Reuters.
Source: BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
December 23, 2010
Apple Shares Hit Life-Time High, What Next?
By Balasubramanyam Seshan
Shares of iPhone maker Apple Inc. (AAPL) reached an all-time high of $325.72 on Wednesday's regular trading session, after it said shipments of the second-generation version of Apple TV to exceed 1 million units this week.
Apple stock finished Wednesday up 0.29 percent at $325.16 with an average volume of 17.71 million shares. In the pre-market hours Thursday, Apple shares were trading down 0.05 percent to $325.00 on the NASDAQ stock market.
Apple's market cap hit $298.27 billion on Wednesday, leaving it ahead of rival Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), which has market cap of $241.16 billion, as the largest technology company in the world and second largest company in market capitalization.
In September, Apple overtook PetroChina Co. (PTR) to become the world's second largest company by market value. However, it still has to go a long way to surpass Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) in the market capitalization where oil giant retains the top spot with a whooping $367.10 billion.
On the other hand, Apple's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 21.46 is ahead of software giant Microsoft's 12.15, and Exxon's 12.89. P/E ratio is a valuation ratio of a company's current share price compared to its per-share earnings over the last twelve months.
In general, a high P/E suggests that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to companies with a lower P/E. The P/E is sometimes referred to as the "multiple", because it shows how much investors are willing to pay per dollar of earnings.
On October 13, Apple shares blew past the $300-mark for the first time in the company's history on the back of growing popularity of the iPhone 4, the iPod and especially the iPad.
Jobs Doing Job For Apple
Apple's success has been largely credited to its co-founder Steve Jobs, who was named the world's best performing CEO last year, according to January 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review.
Recently, the U.S. President Barack Obama during a speech on Wednesday referred to Steve Jobs as an example of the "American dream" and one whose wealth should be celebrated, according to Cnet.
On Dec. 23, British international business paper the Financial Times named Steve Jobs as its "Person of the Year" this week.
Jobs also recently made in to Forbes magazine's annual list of the wealthiest Americans, climbing to 42nd place with net worth of $6.1 billion as on September 2010.
"Insanely creative Apple co-founder transforms multibillion-dollar industry every few years. First, personal computers with Apple II, Macintosh; then film with Pixar; music (iTunes), mobile (iPhone). Now iPad is treated as messiah tablet, savior for publishing industry. Apple still sells computers, but twice as much revenue now comes from music distribution and hand-held devices," Forbes stated in the profile of Steve Jobs.
Apple TV -- A Game Changer in TV Space
"We believe the Apple TV is now positioned to become a more material contributor and game changer in the TV space. But we believe a major catalyst for the set-top box would be the addition of an App Store, allowing users to download new applications for the Apple TV," said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Bros said in a report to clients.
"While the new Apple TV has definitely generated greater consumer interest, it is still too small to really impact estimates. We view the Apple TV as part of AAPL's longer-term living room ambitions, of which its new North Carolina data center is also a part," said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies in a note to clients.
Apple releaesd the second-generation version of Apple TV on September 1, 2010. The new Apple TV offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows, stream content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, for just $99. iTunes users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day.
Apple TV has Apple's A4 (ARM Cortex-A8) chip processor and graphics processing of PowerVR SGX535 with a memory of 256 MB. The new version has no hard drive; however, it does have 8 gigabytes of flash storage for caching purposes. All content is drawn from online or locally connected sources.
The latest TV has connectivity port for Micro-USB, HDMI, infrared receiver, and optical audio with networking capacity of Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), 10/100 Ethernet. About a quarter of the size and one-third of the price of the original Apple TV, the new device can stream rented content from iTunes and video from computers or iOS devices via AirPlay.
The second generation Apple TV runs a version of iOS (known as iPhone OS prior to June 2010), rather than the modified Mac OS X of the previous model. The interface is similar to that of the previous generation, with only slight modifications. The second generation sold 250,000 units in the first two weeks it was available.
Apple's operating system iOS 4.2.1 was released on November 22 with support for all Apple A4 devices, 3rd, and 2nd generation devices, with the exclusion of the Apple TV. It brings initial support of iOS 4.x to iPad, plus AirPlay and AirPrint to all compatible devices. It also contains minor changes to the YouTube app and alters the multitasking animation.
On December 14, Apple released a new version of Apple TV (version 4.1.1), with features such as enhanced TV resolution. As the second generation Apple TV is iOS based, developers have used the traditional Jailbreaking techniques to install additional software on the Apple TV.
Apple on Wednesday updated its Remote application for iOS devices, adding the ability to remotely stream a video from a computer's iTunes library to the new Apple TV via AirPlay. Remote version 2.1 (iTunes link) is now available on the App Store as a free download. It is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and requires iOS 3.1.2 or later.
Source: www.ibtimes.com
Shares of iPhone maker Apple Inc. (AAPL) reached an all-time high of $325.72 on Wednesday's regular trading session, after it said shipments of the second-generation version of Apple TV to exceed 1 million units this week.
Apple stock finished Wednesday up 0.29 percent at $325.16 with an average volume of 17.71 million shares. In the pre-market hours Thursday, Apple shares were trading down 0.05 percent to $325.00 on the NASDAQ stock market.
Apple's market cap hit $298.27 billion on Wednesday, leaving it ahead of rival Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), which has market cap of $241.16 billion, as the largest technology company in the world and second largest company in market capitalization.
In September, Apple overtook PetroChina Co. (PTR) to become the world's second largest company by market value. However, it still has to go a long way to surpass Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) in the market capitalization where oil giant retains the top spot with a whooping $367.10 billion.
On the other hand, Apple's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 21.46 is ahead of software giant Microsoft's 12.15, and Exxon's 12.89. P/E ratio is a valuation ratio of a company's current share price compared to its per-share earnings over the last twelve months.
In general, a high P/E suggests that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to companies with a lower P/E. The P/E is sometimes referred to as the "multiple", because it shows how much investors are willing to pay per dollar of earnings.
On October 13, Apple shares blew past the $300-mark for the first time in the company's history on the back of growing popularity of the iPhone 4, the iPod and especially the iPad.
Jobs Doing Job For Apple
Apple's success has been largely credited to its co-founder Steve Jobs, who was named the world's best performing CEO last year, according to January 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review.
Recently, the U.S. President Barack Obama during a speech on Wednesday referred to Steve Jobs as an example of the "American dream" and one whose wealth should be celebrated, according to Cnet.
On Dec. 23, British international business paper the Financial Times named Steve Jobs as its "Person of the Year" this week.
Jobs also recently made in to Forbes magazine's annual list of the wealthiest Americans, climbing to 42nd place with net worth of $6.1 billion as on September 2010.
"Insanely creative Apple co-founder transforms multibillion-dollar industry every few years. First, personal computers with Apple II, Macintosh; then film with Pixar; music (iTunes), mobile (iPhone). Now iPad is treated as messiah tablet, savior for publishing industry. Apple still sells computers, but twice as much revenue now comes from music distribution and hand-held devices," Forbes stated in the profile of Steve Jobs.
Apple TV -- A Game Changer in TV Space
"We believe the Apple TV is now positioned to become a more material contributor and game changer in the TV space. But we believe a major catalyst for the set-top box would be the addition of an App Store, allowing users to download new applications for the Apple TV," said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Bros said in a report to clients.
"While the new Apple TV has definitely generated greater consumer interest, it is still too small to really impact estimates. We view the Apple TV as part of AAPL's longer-term living room ambitions, of which its new North Carolina data center is also a part," said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies in a note to clients.
Apple releaesd the second-generation version of Apple TV on September 1, 2010. The new Apple TV offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows, stream content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, for just $99. iTunes users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day.
Apple TV has Apple's A4 (ARM Cortex-A8) chip processor and graphics processing of PowerVR SGX535 with a memory of 256 MB. The new version has no hard drive; however, it does have 8 gigabytes of flash storage for caching purposes. All content is drawn from online or locally connected sources.
The latest TV has connectivity port for Micro-USB, HDMI, infrared receiver, and optical audio with networking capacity of Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), 10/100 Ethernet. About a quarter of the size and one-third of the price of the original Apple TV, the new device can stream rented content from iTunes and video from computers or iOS devices via AirPlay.
The second generation Apple TV runs a version of iOS (known as iPhone OS prior to June 2010), rather than the modified Mac OS X of the previous model. The interface is similar to that of the previous generation, with only slight modifications. The second generation sold 250,000 units in the first two weeks it was available.
Apple's operating system iOS 4.2.1 was released on November 22 with support for all Apple A4 devices, 3rd, and 2nd generation devices, with the exclusion of the Apple TV. It brings initial support of iOS 4.x to iPad, plus AirPlay and AirPrint to all compatible devices. It also contains minor changes to the YouTube app and alters the multitasking animation.
On December 14, Apple released a new version of Apple TV (version 4.1.1), with features such as enhanced TV resolution. As the second generation Apple TV is iOS based, developers have used the traditional Jailbreaking techniques to install additional software on the Apple TV.
Apple on Wednesday updated its Remote application for iOS devices, adding the ability to remotely stream a video from a computer's iTunes library to the new Apple TV via AirPlay. Remote version 2.1 (iTunes link) is now available on the App Store as a free download. It is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and requires iOS 3.1.2 or later.
Source: www.ibtimes.com
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