Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Poll: How many of your friends and family use iMessage?

Apple shocked a lot of us back in 2010 when they announced iMessage, probably none more than the carriers who for years changed an absolutely obscene amount of money to send short text messages to and fro. When Apple made iMessage free (except for the data change, if you were on cellular) that carrier gouging was put to an end -- presuming everyone you texted used iOS. But is that the case? Do enough of your friends, family, colleagues, and contacts use iMessage to really put the kibosh on SMS?

For me it's still a very mixed bag. Some of my friends use iPhones, so iMessage is easy. Many of my family and the people I work with still don't even use smartphones, let alone iPhones, so iMessage is a non-starter. Also, with the just-released OS X Mountain Lion, Apple has brought iMessage back to the Mac, and you can quickly send and receive texts, pictures, locations, and contacts right on your computer. It's really fast, but it's also messy. Right now my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air are all in a constant race to see which can beep and buzz first and most often.

iOS 6 promises to make some things better, letting us combine our phone numbers and Apple IDs, so at least we won't have to wonder which message is going to which device any more.

But that still leaves us stuck on the old SMS system for all our Windows, Android, BlackBerry, and other non-iOS or OS X using friends and family, with no real future in sight. (Because the odds of Apple creating iMessage clients for those platforms are about the same as the odds of them putting a keyboard and kickstand on the next iPhone...)

So given all that, when you're typing away on Messages all day, are most of the ones you send and receive good old iMessage blue, or cold hard carrier cash green? Do most of the people you text with have iMessage, or do most of them not? Hit the poll up top and then give me the details in the comments below!



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/XUxFZNkalO4/story01.htm

LSI

Qualcomm Offers Devs Fastest, Priciest Android Tablet

Devs can now get their hands on the fastest, priciest tablet so far that runs the Android OS. Based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, the Mobile Development Platform/Tablet can be pre-ordered from Bsquare for $1,300. It is the first MDP in a tablet form factor, and the first to feature the quad-core APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro. The tablet runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.


Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/21be21ae/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C757440Bhtml/story01.htm

TECHNITROL

Google Delays The Nexus Q To Make It “Better,” But Pre-Order Customers Get A Free Dev Unit

google-nexus-q,W-A-343306-13Here's hoping you weren't planning on using one of Google's Nexus Qs any time soon -- the company has just revealed to pre-order customers that it has postponed the device's consumer launch because users wanted more out of the curious little orb. That said, Google's tiny media streamer has been unceremoniously yanked from the Google Play store. All interested consumers can do now is give the company their email address for future updates on the situation, as there's no word yet on when Google expects that full-blown launch to take place.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/bhbzuQj_K-k/

IXYS

September iPhone 5 release helps explain Apple’s weaker Q4 revenue and gross margin guidance

September iPhone 5 release helps explain Apple’s weaker Q4 revenue and gross margin guidance

Yesterday, iMore broke the news that Apple would be holding a special event on September 12th, with a release of the iPhone 5 on September 21st. Most other major websites and news services have now reported on this too.

I think this new information really helps to explain the financial guidance that Apple provided to Wall Street on its conference call last week. In case you missed it, check out the summary I wrote about Apple’s Q3 results.

Here’s the short version: Apple told the Street that Q4 (September quarter) revenue will be down 4% sequentially (i.e. compared to the June quarter). But the kicker was gross margin guidance. Apple told analysts to expect only 38.5% gross margin compared to more than 42% in the most recent quarter. This resulted in a stock sell-off, with Apple shares declining by more than 5% in after-market trading on the night of the release.

I pointed out last week that Apple has sung this song before. Last year they guided down (on margin) for the September quarter only to come in significantly ahead of guidance. Apple is notorious for giving lowball guidance.

Gross margin effect of the new iPhone

Last year, we couldn’t blame the iPhone 4S launch on a margin hit to the September quarter. Why? Because it launched in October. The only hit to margins in the September quarter last year came from the back to school promos and volume reduction due to anticipation for a new iPhone launch in October. When companies sell less hardware, they lose some of their leverage. So margin goes down.

But this year? It’s now shaping up to be a totally different story. If Apple announces the new iPhone on September 12, and starts selling them on the 21st, then this new blockbuster product will have a massive effect on the current quarter. It may only be a few weeks of difference, but to Wall Street, it’s important because it dramatically affect the comparison to last year.

Wells Fargo analyst, Maynard Um, wrote about Apple’s huge prepayment for inventory in Q3. Buying inventory doesn’t affect gross margin in the period that you buy it. But it does affect margins when you sell that inventory in the form of finished goods (the shiny new iPhone 5). That’s because in accounting, you record costs associated to products at the time of sale, not at the time of inventory purchase.

So when Apple starts shipping its new phone on September 21st, it will book revenue and record the cost of sales based on the cost of this new inventory. Because the iPhone 5 is expected to have LTE, a bigger and higher-tech screen, faster processor, and lots of other improvements, the components will cost more. Yet the price point (what Apple charges the carrier) may not change significantly. As a result, gross margin declines.

The timing of this year’s launch makes Apple’s guidance to Wall Street much more believable this year.

Will Apple regain its gross margin?

A lot of investors and analysts are wondering if Apple will regain its lost gross margin, assuming that they do report something in the high 30s for the September quarter. While the analyst community often obsesses over percentages, I think gross margin dollars are much more important. But before I get into that, let’s look at how margins are affected by product launches.

I already explained how new products can hurt margins because of more expensive components. But another factor to consider is the price reduction of older products. If Apple drops the price of the iPhone 4S by $100 (making it the new low-cost iPhone), this affects margin. And it’s a step change down, because Apple flips the switch on the price tag instantaneously.

How does the company recover from this? I’m not an expert in Apple’s supply chain practices, but I do know it’s quite common for OEMs to negotiate price reductions into supply agreements over the life of a product. I would guess Apple does this too. So whatever they pay for an iPhone 5 component in the September quarter might be higher than what they pay in December, March, and onwards. As long as Apple can hold onto its retail price while cutting the cost of its bill of materials, margin climbs.

Volume also matters, though. I’d argue that the iPhone 4S is a darn capable phone. At $99 on a contract, it will probably sell extremely well. We’ve seen this before. Most recently, when the new iPad launched, the iPad2 price was cut to $399. Apple acknowledged that this is hurting margins. But who cares? The iPad volumes are through the roof. Apple is spectacularly profiting from this move.

This brings me back to my original point about gross margin dollars versus percentage points. Would you rather see Apple sell 50 million iPhones at 38% margins, or sell only 40 million phones at 42% margin? Do the math. Shareholders make more money in the former scenario.

I’ll take the money, thanks.

Speaking of volume

While we’re talking about volume, it wouldn’t seem right to close off this article without mentioning Apple’s market share gains. Research firm Strategy Analytics reported some interesting numbers this week. According to their study, US smartphone sales actually declined by 5% in calendar Q2, compared to the prior year’s quarter. Shipments were 23.8 million instead of last year’s 25.2 million.

Here’s the bullish part for Apple: They were the only platform to show growth. Yup. Android volume declined 12%. BlackBerry volume declined 41%. But the mighty Apple? They expanded by a whopping 34%.

The total US smartphone market seems to be maturing, given the year over year decline in volume. But Apple still sits far behind Android in terms of market share, so it will be interesting to see how competitive Apple gets in order to make sure they don’t leave a “price umbrella” for competitors.

Perhaps a lower cost iPad mini is just the beginning?



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/A5gj2Ply0cc/story01.htm

ADOBE SYSTEMS

ICS updates reportedly starting for some Galaxy Tab 10.1 models

Android Central

Updated: ICS now pushing out to UK Wifi-only Tab 10.1, as well as Italian 3G version.

Good news for anyone living in a country where the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has yet to be banned from sale. Reports from SamMobile​ indicate that the Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich update for the venerable Tab 10.1 is now complete, and has started to roll out to customers' devices. Updates have begun on the Wifi-only version in the UK, and the 3G version in Italy. In addition to bumping the 10.1-inch tablet up to the most recent version of Android that's not Jelly Bean, you can also expect some visual changes to the TouchWiz UI, bringing the software experience in line with Samsung's Tab 2 range.

If you've got an Italian Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 3G (GT-P7500) or a UK Wifi-only model (GT-P7510), you can update now by heading to Settings > About Tablet > Software Updates, or by plugging your tablet into a PC running Samsung's Kies desktop software. Alternatively, if you're feeling adventurous, you could flash the firmware directly onto any 3G Galaxy Tab 10.1 -- you'll find an ODIN-flashable version version over at the source link.

We'd recommend most Tab owners outside of Italy and the UK sit tight and wait for the official update to roll out, though. It's been eight months already, what's another few days?

Source: SamMobile



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/cNT3DzoA3wU/story01.htm

SAIC

How Technology Could Keep Politicians From Killing Us

The details of the recent Colorado massacre are bothering me this week. What bothers me the most is that both political parties seem to take an event like this and use it to further an agenda. The right wants everyone to get armed, and the left wants to take guns away from law-abiding citizens.


Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/21db45a8/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C75760A0Bhtml/story01.htm

SUN MICROSYSTEMS

Apple's Siri nailed with patent suit over voice-to-text

The plaintiff, a Taiwan university, filed the lawsuit in a Texas court because "its rulings are usually in favor of patent owners."


Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57482106-37/apples-siri-nailed-with-patent-suit-over-voice-to-text/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple

ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS

Android loses ground to Apple in second quarter

Though still in top place, Android shed market share in the second quarter, while Apple's iOS gained ground, according to Strategy Analytics.


Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57482090-37/android-loses-ground-to-apple-in-second-quarter/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple

ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL

Monday, July 30, 2012

Organize Your iPhone Charging Cable with The Wrap

The Wrap, designed by Michiel Cornelissen, is a charging cable organizer that fits over the US/Canadian version of the iPhone charger.  You simply place the Wrap over the USB end of the iPhone charger, with the USB plug connected.  The Wrap mirrors the charger’s prongs, to create a convenient way to store the charger cable when [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/07/27/organize-your-iphone-charging-cable-with-the-wrap/

TIBCO SOFTWARE

Samsung Galaxy Note for T-Mobile review

Samsung Galaxy Note for TMobile review

The Samsung Galaxy Note is among a rare breed of smartphones that need no introduction. It's polarizing, memorable and single-handedly responsible for the popularization of the term "phablet." It's also the indisputable king of that category, having recently defended its throne against LG's Optimus Vu. Aside from the Note's sprawling display, much of its appeal lies in the tight software integration with the S Pen stylus, which endows the phone with notepad-like functionality.

The first (and second) time we reviewed the Galaxy Note, it featured Android 2.3. Since then, it's received an update to Android 4.0, along with a new set of productivity apps dubbed the Premium Suite. Now as the phone arrives at T-Mobile (for $250 with a contract and after a $50 rebate), we're taking the opportunity to review not just the new variant, but in this case, the latest OS as well. You already know much of the Galaxy Note's story, but now the question remains: just how much of the text has been re-written? Let's find out.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note for T-Mobile review

Filed under:

Samsung Galaxy Note for T-Mobile review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/30/samsung-galaxy-note-for-t-mobile-review/

TELETECH HOLDINGS

OS X Mountain Lion downloaded 3 million times in 4 days

Apple's brand new desktop operating system, OS X Mountain Lion, was downloaded over 3 million times in the first 4 days since it launched last Wednesday morning, July 25. Apple reports . According to Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, that makes it Apple's most successful OS X launch ever:

Just a year after the incredibly successful introduction of Lion, customers have downloaded Mountain Lion over three million times in just four days, making it our most successful release ever.

Mountain Lion is the ninth major release of OS X, and like Lion before it, focuses on taking iOS in general, and iPad in particular features "back to the Mac". The two operating system remain built on the same foundation but serve widely different purposes -- to use Steve Jobs' analogy, OS X is the truck where iOS is the car. Mountain Lion continues Apple's drive to make the car as nicely appointed as possible, with as many iOS-style amenities as possible, so that iOS users find the Mac just as accessible as the iPad.

That's the key to getting hundreds of millions of Apple mobile users to consider the Mac the next time they buy a computer. That's the democratization that drove the iPad, and that's now driving the Mac with Mountain Lion, Apple's ad campaigns with Genius commercials, and likely most of what else we'll see from them going forward.

Were you one of the 3 million who downloaded OS X Mountain Lion so far?

Source: Apple



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ehwq4tJwO7M/story01.htm

ARROW ELECTRONICS

Former NSA official says agency collects Americans' web data, director denies charges

Former NSA official says agency collects Americans' web dataThe NSA director, General Keith Alexander, is coming under scrutiny after he told a crowd gathered at the Def Con hacker conference that the spy agency "absolutely" does not collect data from and maintain files on American citizens. A former official stopped just shy of calling Alexander a liar, accusing him of playing a "word game." William Binney left the department in late 2001, when it became apparent to him that it planned to use the terrorist attacks on September 11th as an "excuse" to launch a data collection program that was already in the planning stages. Alexander for his part maintains that any data, be it web searches, Twitter posts or emails, collected from American citizens is merely incidental, and associated with intelligence gathering on foreign entities.

Of course, Binney rejects this claim and testimony from Qwest CEO James Nacchio regarding the NSA's wiretapping program would seem to contradict it. ACLU attorney Alex Abdo, who was on the panel with Alexander, cast further doubt on the director's denial. He noted that loopholes in the law allow the NSA collect vast amounts of information on Americans, without them being the "target" of the surveillance. Since the agency can hold on to any data collected, it can retroactively build dossiers on citizens, should they eventually become the focus of an investigation. For a few more details, hit up the source link.

Filed under:

Former NSA official says agency collects Americans' web data, director denies charges originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/30/former-nsa-official-says-agency-collects-americans-web-data/

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM)

Is this what the iPhone 5 will look like? Supposed part leaks assembled!

Take some of leaked parts, supposedly for Apple's next generation iPhone 5, assemble them together, and what do you get? A supposed iPhone 5! This time it's iLab Factory that have done the deed, and what they're showing off does indeed look a lot like one of the 4-inch prototypes Apple was rumored to be considering for the iPhone 5.

Easily visible is the miniaturized Dock connector, as well as the bottom mounted headset jack. Also impossible to miss is the metallic plate that covers the back of the iPhone from antenna break to antenna break, leaving only the top and bottom clear, glass, and presumably radio-fiendly. The Home button, Sleep/Wake button, and volume controls all look the same, though the front mounted FaceTime camera has been centered.

The 4-inch, 16:9 display will be the big story, though. It's the first screen size change since the original iPhone debuted in 2007.

It's tough to tell the real from the fake from the really fake, but these parts do match increasingly frequent rumors surrounding the iPhone 5, and it wouldn't be a huge surprise if it's fairly close.

One more photo below, and lots more via the source link below. Check them out and then let us know -- what do you think? Could this be what the iPhone 5 will look like come the fall? And if it is, what do you think of the design?

Source: iLab Factory



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/I9thxektRtY/story01.htm

KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY COMPANY