Apple under European investigation over iPhone, iPad sales tactics and 4G restrictions (ZDNet)
The European Commission is pressing ahead with an investigation into whether Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s sales contracts with carriers are unfairly keeping rivals out of the European market. “The Commission has received information from industry players concerning Apple’s distribution practices for iPhones. We are currently examining the situation. This does not prejudge the Commission’s position on the issues raised,” the EC said in a statement today. The EC sent out a nine-page questionnaire to several operators last week, asking whether Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had locked in arrangements with the carriers that prevent smartphone rivals from securing better sales deals, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.
If you thought a coffee date with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook was expensive, vintage Apple hardware will set you back even more – though only just. An original version of the Apple I computer – signed by co-founder Steve Wozniak – fetched a staggeringly high price at a recent auction in Germany. The final price of $671,000 (£444,000) was more than £130,000 higher than auctioneer Uwe Breker estimated as the highest possible price that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s first-ever computer might generate. The system, originally owned by electrical engineer Fred Hatfield, is one of 46 known units still in existence out of an original lot of 200 systems crafted by Wozniak and late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Apple iPad 5 release date, specs and price: weekly roundup of most powerful iPad (News Tribe)
According to rumors, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) plans to launch more than one device this year like iPhone 5S, iPad mini 2 and iPad 5 with some reports indicating Apple is preparing to lunch iPhone 5S next month. According to rumors, Apple’s new iPad 5 will be lighter and faster than iPad 4, so playing heavy games and watching videos will be a pleasing experience. As far as release date of iPad 5 is concerned, it is expected to come in third quarter of 2013, with likely month is September. The price of the new iPad, we’re looking at US$499 (£399, AU$539) for the Wi-Fi-only 16GB iPad 5, US$599 (£479, AU$649) for the 32GB model, US$699 (£559, AU$759) for the 64GB and US$799 (£639, AU$869) for the 128GB iPad.
Apple patent automatically adjusts iPhone speaker volume based on proximity (Apple Insider)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday issued Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) a patent for a system that leverages the iPhone’s various sensors to seamlessly increase and decrease volume, as well as switch between the device’s multiple speakers, depending on how far away the handset is from a user. Apple’s U.S. Patent No. 8,452,020 for “Adjustment of acoustic properties based on proximity detection” describes a method in which data from the iPhone’s proximity sensor is employed to calculate distance from a user, which is then applied to dynamically adjust volume.
Huawei Says Apple’s China Experience Teaches Supply Chain (Bloomberg)
Huawei Technologies Co., China’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment, said Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s experience in the world’s most populous nation shows the importance of supply chain management. “We can learn from the issues that Apple has faced in China,” Zhang Hao, director of corporate sustainability for Huawei, said at a press conference in Beijing. “Supplier management is a very key part of our brand management. We will never let supplier issues tarnish our brand.” Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook joined the Washington-based Fair Labor Association last year following the suicides of at least 10 workers at Foxconn Technology Group, the assembler of iPhones and iPads.
Ex-Apple Employees Reveal How The Company Is So Good At Keeping Secrets (Business Insider)
A small number of former Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) employees — or at least people claiming to be such — have written a Quora thread answering the question, “How does Apple keep secrets so well?” Apple, of course, is famously press shy. It’s incredibly difficult to get insider news out of the company, compared to its peers. The former employees range from people who joined the company in its earliest days in the 1970s to those who’ve dealt with it recently. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many say that founder Steve Jobs set the tone in ways small and large.
Apple’s Problem Isn’t Skeuomorphism, It’s Services (TechCrunch)
So iOS 7, it seems, is going to do away with much of the skeuomorphic design that has crept into the operating system and its utilities. Jony Ive, rumor has it, has done away with all the textures and real-world analogs in iOS 7 and has switched to a flat design instead. Good for him, but if that’s all that is new in iOS 7, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a real problem. It’s not the design of iOS, but rather the fact that its own service offerings like Siri, iCloud and iTunes aren’t all that great when compared to what its competitors in Mountain View (and may startups) are working on.
How badly does Foxconn want to end its reliance on Apple? Let us count the ways (Quartz)
Taiwanese electronics giant Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, has had a good run assembling iPhones, but it was always precarious: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) paid the firm a measly $8 per phone and the company always struggled with labor issues, from suicides to a shortage of low-priced workers. Now that iPhone volumes have dipped and Apple is sending more business to Pegatron, an even lower-priced electronics assembly firm, it’s blindingly obvious that Foxconn needs to diversify.
OttoCat makes Apple’s app store useable again for indie developers — and app buyers (VentureBeat)
“The Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store, with a mere 23 categories, is nearly impossible to navigate,” Edwin Cooper, the CEO of app discovery site OttoCat, said in a statement. That’s is probably why Google Play’s top 10 lists are more diverse than Apple’s, with more indies hitting the big time. OttoCat does exactly what the named suggests: Break Apple’s million apps into easily navigated nested categories. They’re automatically generated via a scraped list of iOS apps from Apple’s public web-accessible app previews. And they’re much more helpful, exploding the very generic “Utilities” into subcategories such as “Calculators,” “Security,” “Remote Control” and “Servers.” And then even more subcategories, further breaking down “Remote Control” into “Windows,” “Media Center,” “Appliances,” “Wi-Fi Network.” In other words, making those 775,000 apps actually browsable for the first time. And shining the light of day on apps below the top 250 or so.
Apple’s Tim Cook needs to win back investors (MarketWatch)
Tim Cook is stepping back into the public limelight just as the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) chief executive finds himself faced with a growing list of challenges that may tax even his considerable abilities — and his demonstrated ability to turn on the charm. Cook is just coming off an impressive appearance before Congress — where he defended Apple’s controversial offshore cash and tax practices. Tuesday night, Cook officially kicks-off the D11 conference, a high-profile gathering of high-tech and media executives hosted by AllThingsD, the technology blog that, like MarketWatch, is owned by News Corp. But an even bigger test will take place at Apple’s worldwide developer conference next month, when the company is expected to demonstrate an upgrade to its iOS mobile operating system that will be the precursor to other new iPhones and possibly iPads in the fall.
