Tag Archives: apple

Steam Box’s biggest threat isn’t consoles, it’s Apple

Posted on by at 9:06 pm

That’s Valve’s goal for the Steam Box, its own Linux-based gaming hardware which will bring Steam’s Big Picture mode to living room televisions at an affordable price point. Valve is also teaming up with several hardware manufacturers, who are also trying to put together the most attractive hardware at the most attractive price, in order to make the PC platform’s jump to the living room as painless as possible.

via Gabe Newell: Steam Box’s biggest threat isn’t consoles, it’s Apple | Polygon.

I’d like to see more numbers.  Having Apple at the high end and Linux at the low end seems like an OK solution and everyone makes money.

Got an iPhone? You probably pay over $100 on your monthly bill

Posted on by at 10:53 pm

When it comes to monthly bills for various smartphone platforms, iPhone users are paying the most, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. In a recent analysis shared with AllThingsD, 59 percent of iPhone users are paying more than $100 per month for calls, texts, and data.

via Got an iPhone? You probably pay over $100 on your monthly bill | Ars Technica.

Errata Security: Apple’s secret “wispr” request

Posted on by at 2:38 pm

The reason Apple does this is because you may be using an app other than the web browser. For example, the only thing you might be doing is syncing your e-mail. In such situations, you would never see the portal page, and your app will mysteriously fail to connect to the Internet.

Therefore, before your app has a chance to access the network, Apple does this for you. It sends out a request to the above URL. If the request gets redirected, then Apple knows there is a portal. It then launches a dialog box, containing Safari, to give you a chance to login.

via Errata Security: Apple’s secret “wispr” request.

At my local Starbucks, all web surfing is free. But, Windows presents a captive logon page where you must accept the Terms of Service, but the iPhone doesn’t. I assume the portal detects this URL, and automatically opens up the access-point without doing a redirection. I need to test witha Linux distro in order to figure out what’s going on.

We’ve passed peak Apple: it’s all downhill from here

Posted on by at 7:38 pm

Why do I think Apple has passed its peak? There are a number of signs. The most visible recent one is the Maps debacle. Replacing Google Maps with an obviously inferior experience shows how much Apple has changed. Apple’s success had been all about offering users the best possible experience; suddenly it is willing to give users a clearly worse experience to further its corporate interests – in this case its long-running dispute with Google. We might expect this sort of behaviour from Microsoft, but we don’t expect it from Apple.

via We’ve passed peak Apple: it’s all downhill from here | Technology | guardian.co.uk.

Apple’s Samsung statement reprimanded by court of appeal

Posted on by at 6:00 pm

At a hearing in the court in London on Thursday morning, the judge told Apple that it had to change the wording of the statement within 48 hours, carry it on its home page, and use at least 11-point font.

via Apple’s Samsung statement reprimanded by court of appeal | Technology | guardian.co.uk.

Bloomberg quoted Jacob as saying Apple’s statement was “a plain breach of the order”.

Moving from love-hate to hate-hate

Posted on by at 6:54 pm

Since the early 2000s, Samsung has been involved in designing of Apple’s A-range of chips as the main manufacturer. Samsung technologies contributed in the development of the A6 predecessors A5 and A5X, thanks to a broad agreement between the two companies. It now appears that the structure of the deal has been dramatically adjusted.

via Moving from love-hate to hate-hate.

As the patent war deepens, the two companies have seen a faster deterioration of their business partnership. Apple has already reduced its memory chip orders from Samsung for the iPhone 5 as it intends to widen its supply chain.

Unlike memory chips, which just read and write data, application processors control an entire computing system, therefore processor chips are more profitable.

Apple loses UK tablet design appeal versus Samsung

Posted on by at 5:11 pm

Apple still needs to run ads saying Samsung had not infringed its rights.

The US firm had previously been ordered to place a notice to that effect – with a link to the original judgement – on its website and place other adverts in the Daily Mail, Financial Times, T3 Magazine and other publications to “correct the damaging impression” that Samsung was a copycat.

via BBC News – Apple loses UK tablet design appeal versus Samsung.

Apple declined to comment. It can still appeal to the UK Supreme Court, otherwise the ruling applies across the European Union.

TSMC Seen to be Sole 20nm Process Supplier

Posted on by at 9:01 pm

Taipei, Oct. 12, 2012 (CENS)–Citigroup Global Markets Inc. estimated Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to be the only supplier of 20nm process to Apple quad-core processors over the next one to two years, citing the company’s unmatched technological advance on 20nm process and Apple’s decision to adopt 20nm quad-core processors in its new products.

via TSMC Seen to be Sole 20nm Process Supplier to Apple Quad Processors | CENS.com – The Taiwan Economic News | Daily Prime News | HTML |Ta1-CaE-Dy2012/10/12-Id41728.

Google’s Motorola Files New Patent Case Against Apple

Posted on by at 5:52 pm

The complaint at the U.S. International Trade Commission claims infringement of seven Motorola Mobility patents on features including location reminders, e-mail notification and phone/video players, Motorola Mobility said yesterday. The case seeks a ban on U.S. imports of devices including the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. Apple’s products are made in Asia.

via Google’s Motorola Files New Patent Case Against Apple – Bloomberg.

Apple patent filing looks a lot like Microsoft Surface

Posted on by at 3:56 pm

A patent application submitted by Apple last year — and made public just this morning — describes a flexible, magnetically attached cover for a tablet device. It’s similar to Apple’s existing smart cover for the iPad, except that this cover can also function as an input and display device. And one of the concepts described by Apple in the patent filing is an idea for using the cover as a keyboard.

The end result looks very similar to the signature feature of Microsoft’s Surface tablet computer.

via Apple patent filing looks a lot like Microsoft Surface – GeekWire.