Posts tagged with "apple"

The Daily Averaging Only 120,000 Readers A Week

The promised iPad-only newspaper, The Daily, that News Corporation created with some Apple support and launched in February this year has continued to sell poorly. Bloomberg reports from an advertising executive, John Nitti, that the newspaper is averaging just 120,000 readers a week (which includes those who are on a two-week free trial of the publication). He says the subscription numbers are less than a quarter the number that is required for the publication to make money.

When The Daily was unveiled in February, News Corporation Chairman and CEO, Rupert Murdoch said “We believe the Daily will be the model for how stories are told and consumed”. He spoke of how the publication would have the speed and versatility of new technology with the “serendipity and surprise” of newspapers - making ‘newspapers’ “viable again”.

News Corporation did reveal that more than 1 million people had downloaded the app between February and June but had declined to give out figures of actual readership. In May, News Corporation COO, Chase Carey defended the publication calling it a “work in progress”, and it being “early days”. Murdoch revealed in February that they had invested $30 million in the project, hiring over 100 staff and required a readership of 500,000 to break even.

[Bloomberg via The Guardian]

Dragon Go! Update Adds Support For Netflix, Wolfram|Alpha, Google+ And More

Back in July Nuance released a new iOS app, Dragon Go!, that we described as combining “Nuance’s top-notch voice recognition with the intelligence to do what is actually being said”. It will listen to a question or statement you make and then using the number of services it supports (from Yelp to Twitter to the iPod app), complete the task that you invoked.

Today Nuance has released an update to Dragon Go! that, in a sense, upgrades its intelligence that we described. It has improved it’s intelligence by adding support for a number of new services - meaning it can now understand more commands and actually do more things. It has added support for media services Netflix and Spotify, search engines Wolfram|Alpha and Ask.com as well as Google+.

It has also improved the Yelp experience from within the app by allowing users to access a map from within the Yelp tab. You can grab the update now, or if you haven’t yet tried Dragon Go! you can download it for free on the App Store.

iTunes Music Store Goes Live In 12 More EU Countries, iBookstore Coming To More Countries Soon

Following a report from yesterday that Apple was set to launch the iTunes Music Store in 10 more European Union countries, Apple has pressed the button and launched it in not 10 but 12 EU countries that did not have the service before. This now means that every single EU member nation now has the iTunes Music Store, with today’s countries that got the store being: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Apple is also about to launch the iBookstore in most EU nations including: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

These countries have now gone live in iTunes Connect, a back-end system where authors give Apple their content for distribution on the iTunes stores. Previously, authors could only sell their books on iBookstore in the US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, and Canada.

[Via MacRumors, The Next Web]

Rumor: New iPhone And iPod Touch Models Appear In Apple’s Inventory

Next week’s iPhone event on October 4th is still somewhat of a mystery, with rumors going round and round in circles as to whether Apple will launch a brand new iPhone 5, a slightly upgraded iPhone “4S” or perhaps both. 9to5 Mac claims to have some information on new products that have turned up inside Apple’s internal inventory system. According to their source, there are now three new iPod touch models under the codename N81A, which 9to5 Mac speculates could represent a white variation of the device.

Since there are only new three iPod touch models - at this time – it’s likely that the black models won’t be updated. This also likely means the storage capacities will stay at their current 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities.

What has also appeared is two new iPhone SKUs that are marked as tweaked iPhone 4s. Codenamed N90A (the current iPhone 4 is N90), this could represent a new 8GB version. In previous iOS SDK releases there has been reference to an iPhone with the codename of N94, this has not yet appeared in the inventory. As noted below such a codename would be given to a device with vastly different features and large improvements - rather than just a new white version or a new storage capacity model.

It is very possible that the two SKUs mean black and white models, but that is unconfirmed. We don’t think Apple’s next-generation iPhone – coming next week- would be labeled as an N90A – as it includes major internal hardware upgrades that would typically constitute a new codename.

If you’d like a recap of all the iPhone 5 rumor shenanigans that have occurred over this past year, be sure to have a read of our recap of the more reputable rumors that have been shared around.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

Apple Second “Coolest Brand” In The UK→

Apple Second “Coolest Brand” In The UK

According to the latest CoolBrands survey, Apple’s gadgets and computers aren’t the coolest brand among UK consumers, leaving the #1 spot to British manufacturer of luxury cars Aston Martin. The BBC reports this morning:

Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the CoolBrands Expert Council, said: “Cool is subjective and personal. But being identified as a Cool Brand by the British public and a panel of influential opinion formers implies it is a brand that most Brits wish to own.

“Votes are based on a wide criteria of factors but these brands are clearly delivering cool in the eyes of consumers and influencers alike,” he said.

Apple’s devices are often described as elegant and “cool”, but there’s no denying Aston Martin’s James Bond cars have their very own historic charm, too. In this year’s CoolBrands index – which is voted by consumers as well as a group of “experts” in brand recognition and popularity –  BlackBerry and Google came at 6th and 7th place, respectively, with Harley-Davidson behind Apple at the 2nd spot. The full list can be viewed on CoolBrands’ website.

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Report: iTunes Music Store Coming To 10 More European Union Countries

The Rzeczpospolita newspaper of Poland is reporting that Apple is preparing to launch the iTunes Music Store in 10 more European Union countries. The newspaper does not specify an exact date for when Apple might launch the new region-specific Music Stores but their sources note it could be “at any time”, possibly as soon as this October.

The newspaper names Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic as definite countries where the iTunes Music Store will soon be launching, but the other 7 are not known. As MacRumors points out, only 12 of the 27 European Union member countries do not yet have the iTunes Music Store. This list includes: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

The iTunes Music Store is currently available in roughly two dozen countries unlike the App Store which is available in many more dozen countries (including all 27 EU nations) — mostly due to more complicated licensing issues that arise when dealing with music.

[Rzeczpospolita via MacRumors]

Apple Could Be About To Discontinue The iPod Shuffle and Classic

Apple could be about retire the iPod classic and iPod shuffle as part of a “product transition” that was hinted at by Apple in their last earnings call. The news comes from TUAW who seem reasonably confident that at some point this year Apple will axe the two devices — likely keeping the iPod nano and iPod touch, for now.

To back up their source’s information they cite a recent report from CNet in which it was noted that the iPods now only make up for 8% of Apple’s total revenue. As the above graph shows, iPod sales have also been stagnant or falling over the last few quarters and although Apple doesn’t break these figures down model by model, its believed the iPod touch is what has held iPod sales up. Interestingly the iPod’s 10 year anniversary is coming up soon on October 24th and as CNet said it would be a nice for Apple to say “It had a great run, now go buy an iPhone”.

The shuffle is basically the same form factor as the nano, minus a screen. The classic uses a platter-based hard drive, while Apple is largely transitioning to flash-based memory solutions. The shuffle’s lack of a screen has been an issue since it first appeared as a memory stick with music playback functions. If Apple killed these off, all of its iPods would have touchscreens, and something tells me it wants it that way.

Concluding their report, TUAW notes that their source is “NOT an analyst” and that Apple’s plans are to consolidate the iPod line into just the nano (which would become Apple’s lowest-end iPod) and the touch. The iPod touch would become the premium iPod, with few changes except the availability of a white version.

[Via TUAW]

Apple Confirms: Media Event on October 4th

Jim Dalrymple at The Loop reports Apple sent out invitations for a media event moments ago. The event is scheduled for October 4th and it’ll take place at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino.

Looking at the invitation posted by The Loop, it’s clear Apple’s keynote will focus on the iPhone – the tagline for the banner is “Let’s talk iPhone” – and, curiously enough, the image features four of Apple’s stock apps for iOS: Calendar, Clock, Maps, and Phone. We wouldn’t look too much into a possible hidden meaning on this image, but all these apps were mentioned in a rumor that claimed to have details on Assistant, an upcoming software feature of the iPhone 5. Obviously, the image itself is a representation of the event’s details (October 4th, 10 AM at Infinite Loop), but it’s not like Apple hasn’t hinted at upcoming features/products in invitations before.

Apple is widely expected to unveil the next-generation iPhone at is next keynote. Speculation surrounding the device in the past months has failed to pinpoint exactly how the next iPhone will look like, and iPhone 4-like parts surfaced this summer suggested Apple could also plan a minor “iPhone 4S”  upgrade. Others claim the “iPhone 5” will be a completely redesigned device with thinner form factor, and possibly a bigger screen. Either way, the next iPhone is rumored to feature the company’s A5 processor, 1 GB of RAM and an 8-megapixel camera – as for the iPhone5-iPhone 4S speculation, you can read more about it in our rumor roundup and retrospective.

At WWDC in June, Apple announced iOS 5 with iCloud integration would ship “this Fall” to customers. iCloud is cross-compatible with iOS devices, web browsers, PCs and Macs – OS X will need an update to version 10.7.2 (currently in beta with developers) to work with iCloud. Other software updates expected to hit with iOS 5’s release are iTunes 10.5 (required for iOS 5 device syncing) and iPhoto 9.2 (for Photo Stream integration).

Apple Announces Q4 2011 Conference Call For October 18

As usual after the end of a fiscal quarter, Apple refreshed its Investor web page and activated the URL that will redirect to its next conference call webcast. For the fourth fiscal quarter, which ended on Saturday, September 24th, Apple has announced that they will announce results on October 18th.

Apple’s conference call webcast discussing Q4 - 2011 financial results will begin at 2:00pm PT/5:00pm ET on Tuesday, October 18, 2011.

Please note that comments made during this call may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. For more information on the factors that could influence results, please refer to Apple’s SEC filings.

In Q3 2011, Apple posted $28.57 billion of revenue with 20.34 million iPhones, 9.25 million iPads, and 3.95 million Macs sold. The company posted record quarterly revenue of $28.57 billion and record quarterly net profit of $7.31 billion, or $7.79 per diluted share. Also in Q3, Apple reported an amazing growth in China with revenue of $3.8 billion during the quarter. In the year-ago quarter, Apple posted revenue of $20.34 billion with 3.89 million Macs, 14.1 million iPhones and 4.19 million iPads sold during the quarter.

Initially rumored to be released in September, Apple’s fourth quarter won’t include any iPhone 5-related results – the device is now rumored to be unveiled at a media event on October 4th. The earnings call will provide, however, insight into Apple’s summer release cycle, which saw updates for the popular MacBook Air line, new Mac minis, and the release of OS X Lion in July. If most recent rumors are to be believed, the Q4 earnings call might be a way for Apple to announce day-one sales of the next iPhone, rumored to be hitting the U.S. marked in mid-October.

We will provide live updates from the call on our site’s homepage on October 18 starting at 2 PM PT.