Displaying items by tag: iPad

It looks like there was more going on at the Foxconn manufacturing company in the last few days than was previously stated. Even though Foxconn stated that “There has been no workplace stoppage in that facility or any other Foxconn facility and production has continued on schedule”, things are starting to pile up rather quickly. As Apple continues to bring more and more new products, it looks like some of them will have to wait a bit due to slow production process. Their iPad Mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro are said to be delayed and it looks like it's because of the issues at Foxconn

Unlike their colleagues from BBC UK, The New York Times shows their maturity to deal with upcoming technologies. They have launched a new HTML5 web app for the iPad, and rumors are that they've done it to avoid Apple's high subscription fees that are inside the app. The app is available to both digital and home-delivery subscribers of their papers. The main goal for Denise Warren, senior VP and chief advertising officer of The New York Times Media Group, is to provide something new for their readers, and for them to have best reading experience no matter what platform they are reading the news on.

For about the last four months we have been talking about the decline of Apple. We are not saying that they are going to die, or go bankrupt or anything like that, but we are saying that they are no longer going to be the company that they once were. There are many reasons for this that we have covered including a lack of real innovation, a closed eco system, and one of the biggest ones; Tim Cook as CEO. To many this one may come as a surprise, but it is not that much of one really. Tim Cook is a businessman first and foremost. He was the one that proposed moving production and warehousing outside the US. He also has been instrumental in making other very business oriented decisions. However, while Tim Cook is good at running the day-to-day operations of a company, he is not the guy you want in charge at a place like Apple.

FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) is annoying to read regardless of what side is doing it. Today’s bit of FUD is about Apple decreasing the amount of memory they are using from Samsung for the next iPhone. To start off with the decrease is nothing new nor is it unexpected. Apple used Elpida as the primary source for memory in the third generation iPad last year. They liked the product and the price so we would not expect them to drop that particular connection. Another supplier of memory to Apple is Micron Technologies. By an amazing coincidence Micron is also planning to buy Elpida some, like Citibank even feel that Apple might have encouraged Micron to make the purchase last year.

It seems that Apple and Qualcomm wanted to try and lock out competition when it comes to the use of TSMC (The Taiwanese Semi-Conductor Manufacturing Corporation). The pair attempted to buy themselves a nice exclusive deal with TSMC with a large bundle of cash (over $1 billion). However, TSMC decided that there was more money to be had in keeping things open.  The original deal from Qualcomm and Apple was to make sure the pair had access to production facilities. TSMC replied by saying that they could always expand if there was a need, but that they would internally fund it.

Although Samsung and Apple are waging a global patent war against each other most eyes are fixed on the US where a group of nine people will decide who gets to file for appeal. However, while we all wait for that exciting moment in history to happen there is another case that is going on in South Korea between these two competitors. The case covers the same basic patents between the two companies and the same phones so the details are a little boring. What was interesting is that the South Korean courts decided to wait on a verdict while the US trial was underway. Many thought they were going to wait until a US verdict was reach and then hand down a judgment that matched. However, it just seems they may have wanted to hear all of the facts in the US case before making a decision.

Back when I was working as a photographer, a friend of mine had a funny name for weddings: The Big Lie. He said that there was nothing worse than two people standing up in front of “God and everyone” and lying to one other’s faces like that. Of course, Wedding shoots were one of his most profitable sessions, so he did not let this interfere with making money. It is this money that motivates many companies to lie to the consumer. It was certainly a motivator when Apple told its Big Lie to the world about their innovations for the iPhone, iPad, and many other products.

There was a lot going on in the stock market yesterday. Apple became one of the top companies in the world for a number that actually means nothing (Market Cap). The Market Capitalization of a company is the value of a single share multiplied by the number of tradable shares available. This gives the purchase price of market value of a company. In order for someone to buy out Apple they would have to come up with a staggering amount of money. However, that number still means nothing when it comes to the actual company and its “value”.

We all have heard that someone broke in and stole property from the house of the late Steve Jobs. Although the act was deplorable it later came to light the thief that took upwards of $60,000 in property (according to insurance estimates) did not even know whose house he was breaking into. Instead he happily took his ill-gotten gains and proceeded to try and turn them into money. From what we are hearing most of the products have been recovered and the thief is in jail.

Judge Lucy Koh has asked that Samsung and Apple executive meet for a third time. Her request for a peace talk is coming with only about a day and half of Samsung’s presentation in the bag. This move seems a little odd to us considering her defiance in allowing for key pieces of Samsung evidence to be shown to the jury and her refusal to throw out some Apple patents based on Prior Art.