Latest Gear Live Videos
Verizon sold 2.2 million iPhone 4 units in the first 2 weeks
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News,
Verizon said Thursday that it sold 2.2 million iPhones in its first two weeks and sold out of the iPad 2 in early March.
Verizon also sold 260,000 HTC Thunderbolt devices, the first smartphone for its 4G LTE network, and another 250,000 4G LTE Internet devices, Fran Shammo, president and CEO of Verizon Telecom and Business, said during a Thursday earnings call.
About 22 percent of iPhone activations were for people new to Verizon Wireless, while 78 percent were existing Verizon customers who upgraded.
Overall, 60 percent of phones sold during the quarter were smartphones, up from 36 percent last year. About 65 percent of those were new to the smartphone category, meaning they upgraded from a feature or multimedia phone or were new to Verizon. Overall, 32 percent of Verizon Wireless's retail post-paid customers are now using smartphones, up from 28 percent last quarter.
Click to continue reading Verizon sold 2.2 million iPhone 4 units in the first 2 weeks
Advertisement
The iPhone 3GS makes AT&T numbers look great
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News,
AT&T has revealed its first-quarter earnings, and things certainly smell like they're coming up roses for the carrier. That's probably expected considering it's destined to soon become the nation's largest wireless provider thanks to its recent move to acquire T-Mobile. But there was one part of the company's results that was a bit surprising: the debut of the Verizon iPhone appeared to have little effect on AT&T's iPhone subscriber base. Were there really that few people switching when AT&T finally lost its exclusive grip on the device?
AT&T said it activated 3.6 million iPhones last quarter, the first quarter the Verizon iPhone was available. It also said iPhone subscriber "churn," or the number of iPhone owners ditching AT&T for another carrier, was unchanged from the same period last year. During a call this morning, company executives said the impact was, "significantly less than many in the financial community and the media expected and, frankly, they were less than we expected."
After a close look at the numbers, an X factor becomes apparent: the iPhone 3GS. In January, AT&T reduced the price of the 8GB iPhone 3GS from $99 to $49, and it's been pushing the discounted phone hard. The 3GS is a very capable smartphone and looks extremely cheap next to the iPhone 4, which starts at about $200 on both Verizon and AT&T. Of course, Verizon doesn't offer the iPhone 3GS, so any iPhone cravers not willing to pony up a couple of C notes will be going to the AT&T store (or eBay where you can get them cheap without contract.)
Click to continue reading The iPhone 3GS makes AT&T numbers look great
You gave Apple permission to track your whereabouts via your iPhone
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Features, GPS, Videos,
Did you know that Apple is tracking your every move with your iPhone and iPad? A blog post published today on O'Reilly Radar claims that devices running iOS 4 are gathering location and storing it in an unencrypted manner.
"What makes this issue worse is that the file is unencrypted and unprotected, and it's on any machine you've synched with your iOS device. It can also be easily accessed on the device itself if it falls into the wrong hands. Anybody with access to this file knows where you've been over the last year, since iOS 4 was released," wrote Pete Warden, founder of the Data Science Toolkit, and Alasdair Allan, a senior research fellow at the University of Exeter.
The data is being stored to a file known as "consolidated.db," which includes latitude-longitude coordinates and a timestamp.
Of course, this shouldn't surprise anyone who read the entire 45-page EULA, as it clearly states the following clause when going into detail on the type of “non-personal information” that Apple can “collect, use, transfer, and disclose … for any purpose.”
We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behavior and improve our products, services, and advertising.
Click to continue reading You gave Apple permission to track your whereabouts via your iPhone
All the iPhone 5 rumors in one place
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Features, Rumors,
Looks like Reuters is the latest to add to the tally of iPhone 5 rumors. Citing three anonymous sources "with direct knowledge of the company's supply chain," Reuters claims Apple's fifth-generation iPhone will have a faster processor, and begin shipping in September.
That means mass production of the phone would have to start no later than August, with an announcement likely to come at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Reuters' report is the latest in a series of rumors about the release date of Apple's next iPhone. Most rumors about the fifth-generation iPhone have focused on when the official announcement and launch date will be, which may face delays caused by the Japanese crisis.
In case you haven't been paying close attention, here's every what various sources have reported about fifth-generation iPhone in the last few months:
Click to continue reading All the iPhone 5 rumors in one place
Ancestry app surpasses 1 million downloads
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Reference, App Store News, Free Apps,
Ancestry.com on Tuesday announced that its mobile app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch has received over one million downloads.
One-third of those one million downloads occurred in the last two months alone, and over half of the app users are new to Ancestry.com.
"We've been pleased with the early adoption of our iPhone and iPad apps and believe we are just getting started," Eric Shoup, senior vice president of product for Ancestry.com, said in a statement. "It's a natural extension of the Ancestry.com service and another way to help our members discover, preserve and share their family history."
Ancestry.com Inc., the world's largest online family history resource, has nearly 1.4 million paying subscribers, who have created more than 20 million family trees with over 2 billion profiles. In the past 14 years, more than 6 billion records have been added to the site.
Click to continue reading Ancestry app surpasses 1 million downloads
The Blank Screen: How Apple Outsmarts Competitors
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Features, Home Entertainment, Software,
When the iPhone was launched in 2007, I met with Phil Schiller, SVP of World Wide marketing for Apple, and Greg Joswiak, the Apple VP in charge of marketing the iPods and iPhones. During the meeting they showed me the iPhone's many features and shared their goals for the device, which has now become a major business for Apple.
During that meeting, they made a comment that I believe is really the heart of Apple's secret sauce and the cornerstone of how it continues to outsmart its competitors. They laid the iPhone on the table, with it turned off, and asked me what I saw. I told them I saw a 3.5 inch blank screen. They said that from Apples point of view, the "magic" of the iPhone is strictly in the software. And, they de-emphasized the hardware.
Yes, the iPhone was a slick smartphone with a great screen and, at the time, it broke new ground in smartphone design, and Apple was very proud of that. However, with the iPhone turned off, it had very little value. But once it was turned on, the iPhone's OS and apps turned it into a completely different device. While it was a phone, the software made it much more—it became a vehicle for applications. It also had another component that really made it sing and dance; it was also an iPod and was tied directly to iTunes. Now it morphed into a much broader multi-purpose device. It was a phone, a vehicle for apps, and an iPod, which made it a great personal mobile entertainment system.
Click to continue reading The Blank Screen: How Apple Outsmarts Competitors
Bleeding Edge TV 379: HTC Thunderbolt review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Cell Phones, Features, Podcasts, Product Reviews, Videocasts, Videos,
The HTC Thunderbolt is the world's first 4G LTE smartphone. It's available on Verizon Wireless in the US, and also acts as a 4G mobile hotspot, allowing you to connect up to 5 Wi-Fi devices to the 4G signal. It ships with Android 2.2, sports a 4.3-inch display, and even has a kickstand around back. In this video we give you a look at the Thunderbolt, perform a speed test, and also do a speed test comparison with an iPhone 4 on AT&T.
As you'll see, the device is ridiculously fast, especially when compared against an AT&T 3G smartphone like the iPhone 4. The screen looks great, and the phone feels good in your hand. If you're a Verizon Wireless customer, this is definitely one to consider, as long as you have a charger in the car and/or at the office, as this thing will eat through a battery like it's nothing. Check the video for the full scoop.
Big thank you to JackThreads for sponsoring the show - be sure to check them out, we've got exclusive invite codes that give you $5 to use towards anything you'd like.
White iPhone 4 set for April release?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Rumors, Videos,
Perhaps having exhausted all the iPhone 5 rumors, it's back to the fabled white iPhone. Reuters reports that Apple suppliers have started production on white iPhones, which could be available within a month.
Apple has not yet made any annoucements; Reuters cited people familiar with the situation. Foxconn's Hon Hai Industry Co. would assemble the devices, the report said.
Chatter about the white iPhone 4 got reignited last month after Apple released the white iPad 2, with no iPhone version in site. Phil Schiller, senior vice president for worldwide marketing at Apple, later tweeted that the white iPhone would be available soon.
"Hi Eric. The white iPhone will be available this spring (and it is a beauty!)," Schiller said in response to a follower's question about where he could get the white iPhone.
Click to continue reading White iPhone 4 set for April release?
With iPhone 4 demand still high, iPhone 5 production not yet started
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Rumors,
Speculation is growing that Apple won't release the iPhone 5 this summer as expected. In fact, according to a Digitimes report, Apple hasn't even released a production roadmap to component suppliers yet.
Citing "sources at Taiwan-based touch panel makers," Digitimes said part of the reason Apple isn't releasing a next-generation phone is because demand for the iPhone 4 has been consistently strong. Parts shipments have also remained constant, and Apple hasn't given manufacturers a timeframe for when production of the iPhone 4 will wind down.
Apple could release a slightly modified version of the iPhone that isn't a full update, as it did with the iPhone 3GS about two years ago. It's likely that Apple wants to continue riding the momentum of its hugely popular iPhone 4 smartphone, especially as Google's Android platform gains ground. However, the company could skip releasing any kind of phone at all. The rumors, at least, suggest it's highly possible.
Click to continue reading With iPhone 4 demand still high, iPhone 5 production not yet started
Apple working on hybrid E-Ink LCD display?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Displays, Rumors,
One of the features Amazon champions on its Kindle e-reader is the black-and-white E Ink screen, which puts less stress on the eye than the iPad or iPhone's LCD screen. A recent patent application, however, suggests that Apple is looking to produce a device with a hybrid E Ink-LCD screen.
Not only that, Apple's hybrid screen might have the ability to split into quadrants, with some segments displaying images via LCD and others displaying via E Ink. That, according to Patently Apple "would work very nicely with Apple's proposed use of Spaces on future iOS devices."
Specifically, Apple's patent covers a system for switching between an electronic paper display and a video display based on visual content.
"Based on the one or more features, the control circuitry could selectively enable the device's electronic paper display or the device's video display," Patently Apple said.
Click to continue reading Apple working on hybrid E-Ink LCD display?
