Posts tagged apple
Steve Jobs passes away
Oct 5th
Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and former CEO, has died at the age of 56. Jobs had been diagnosed with an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor (a rare type of pancreatic cancer), and despite a liver transplant in April 2009, his health continued to deteriorate. Jobs’ vision and passion drove Apple to great heights and will certainly have a lasting impact on the world. Apple released the following statement:
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com
Source: Apple
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Apple announces iPhone 4S: A5 processor, HSDPA/CDMA, 8 MP, dual antenna
Oct 4th
Many expected Apple to launch a redesigned iPhone 5 at its phone event earlier today, but the company instead announced the iPhone 4S, an upgraded iPhone 4 that includes:
- Dual-core Apple A5 processor (ARM Cortex A9)
- Both HSDPA and CDMA radios built in (instead of separate variants, as in the iPhone 4)
- 8 MP camera with 1080p video recording
- Dual antenna (to split send/receive and address iPhone 4 “death grip” issues)
- Siri voice control
Apple also announced a Find My Friends feature that lets iPhone users track their friends on a map, similar to Google Latitude.
In the US, the new phone will be available on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint for $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB), and $399 (64GB) on a 2-year contract. Meanwhile the iPhone 4 (16GB) will drop to $99 and the iPhone 3GS will be free, both on 2-year contracts.
Presales of the iPhone 4S begin Friday, and the phone should hit stores by October 14.
Source: Apple
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Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO
Aug 24th
Major news in Cupertino this evening– Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple, citing health reasons. He will remain Chairman, while COO Tim Cook will take over CEO duty. The company’s press release states “Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company.”
Jobs released the following letter:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Steve
Press release after the break.
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Nokia CEO to employees: “We poured gasoline on our own burning platform”
Feb 8th
Nokia’s new CEO Stephen Elop, formerly of Microsoft, just sent out a fairly devastating internal memo to all Nokia employees. It’s a brutally honest portrayal of the mess the company is in and an interesting example of how to kickstart a company that on the surface appears to be doing fine (positive growth, still the largest market share globally) but actually faces serious threats that it has failed to address.
On the smartphone front, Nokia’s lead has severely eroded thanks to modern platforms like the iPhone and Google’s Android OS, which Nokia’s Symbian platform is still not competitive with and its Maemo OS has yet to battle. In emerging markets, its long-standing lead has been eaten up by Chinese manufacturers (many based on the city of Shenzhen, a famed hub of knock-off electronics).
Some tidbits:
- “Chinese OEMs are cranking out a device much faster than, as one Nokia employee said only partially in jest, ‘the time that it takes us to polish a PowerPoint presentation.’”
- “The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don’t have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.”
- “Our competitors aren’t taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem.”
- “We poured gasoline on our own burning platform. I believe we have lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times. We had a series of misses. We haven’t been delivering innovation fast enough. We’re not collaborating internally. Nokia, our platform is burning.”
- “They changed the game, and today, Apple owns the high-end range.”
- “Google has become a gravitational force, drawing much of the industry’s innovation to its core.”
Full memo after the break- it’s worth a read.
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Google removing H.264 video support from Chrome
Jan 12th
Google just announced on its Chromium blog that it will be removing support for the H.264 video codec from the Chrome web browser, in favor of supporting only its own open WebM codec (which, as we covered earlier, is based on On2 Technologies’ VP8) for HTML5 web videos using the <video> tag.
Earlier, Microsoft, Apple, and Google had decided to support H.264 (the dominant high-definition video codec) for HTML5 web video, while Mozilla and Opera supported only Google’s WebM codec. Now, Google’s move leaves Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 and Apple’s Safari 5 as the only major browsers supporting the H.264 codec without plugins. Ironically, since the vast majority of HTML5 video on the web today is encoded using H.264, Google’s move will likely reduce the usable installed base of HTML5 video-capable browsers.
Read on for more about Google’s web video codec move.
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The Verizon iPhone 4
Jan 7th
It’s finally here– after years of speculation, Apple’s iPhone has at last launched on Verizon’s CDMA network in the U.S. Executives from both companies presented the new device, an iPhone 4 with a CDMA radio instead of GSM/HSDPA, at a media event in New York this morning. The device is otherwise the same and will launch on February 10 for the same price as on AT&T (16GB for $199, 32GB for $299 on a 2-year contract). Verizon is, however, tossing in a Wifi mobile hotspot feature, which will allow up to 5 local clients to access the internet through the phone’s CDMA 3G connection.
Being a CDMA phone, the Verizon iPhone 4 will not be able to use voice and data simultaneously on 3G, nor will it be able to roam outside the United States. On the upside, it does have a redesigned antenna that sounds like it may fix the “deathgrip” issue plaguing the standard iPhone 4 (gripping the phone from a joint on the side causes it to entirely lose its cell reception).
The end of AT&T’s exclusive hold on the iPhone should allow Apple to significantly boost its U.S. sales as it battles an onslaught of competitors running Android and other mobile OSes. From Verizon’s perspective, the iPhone could have made a great introduction to its 4G LTE network, but integrating today’s first-gen LTE chipsets into the iPhone 4 would’ve required significant re-engineering, which Apple wasn’t willing to do.
More info: Verizon Wireless
Press release after the break.
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Steve Jobs action figure hits the market
Nov 22nd
If you’ve always wanted to add an Apple reality distortion field to your action figure collection, here’s your chance! The illustrious iCEO, Steve Jobs, has been crafted into miniature form, complete with his trademark black turtleneck shirt, Levi’s 502 jeans, New Balance sneakers, and beard. He also comes with rimless glasses, a mini iPhone 4, and an Apple logo to stand on.
The $79 figurine is highly detailed and even comes with a set of speech bubble cards that you can mount next to him, so your playtime routine can include such gems as “People don’t read anymore,” “I’ve always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do,” “It turns out people want keyboards…we look at the tablet, and we think it is going to fail,” “We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas,” and more.
Check out M.I.C. Gadget for more photos and ordering info.
Update (11/23): Apple has of course issued a cease-and-desist notice to the site selling these, so unfortunately no more Steve Jobs toys!
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Windows Phone 7 outlasts Android, iPhone 4 in grilling contest
Nov 13th
If “Will It Blend” isn’t enough for you, the makers of EZGrill have put up a comparison video between a Windows Phone 7 device (HTC Surround), an Android phone (T-Mobile HTC G2), and an iPhone 4 to see which lasts longer on a grill. Looks like Windows Phone 7 has a stronger “firewall” than the iPhone, and the Android phone roasts the quickest.
See the video after the break.
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Aug 25th
A new video from Pocketnow compares browsing speed on a Windows Phone 7 prototype from LG, the iPhone 4, and Google’s Nexus One on Android. Even though the software’s not finalized yet, Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7 is surprisingly competitive with the WebKit-based browsers on the iPhone and Android, beating or matching them in most tests. No Flash, Silverlight, or HTML5 A/V support yet, but the browsing experience is at least on par with the competition and at least won’t be a hindrance to the platform’s success.
While the rendering engine is a mix of IE 7 and 8, Microsoft has clearly put a lot of effort into the user experience, with silky-smooth scrolling, multi-touch zoom, and tab management. It’s a completely different animal from IE Mobile 6 on Windows Mobile 6.x (though most WinMo owners use Opera Mobile or other browsers in any case).
Video after the break.
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Apple’s mystery 1.2″ touchscreen device
Jul 10th
Taiwanese site Apple.pro has unearthed a tiny touchscreen with Apple markings. The panel measures a minuscule 3 cm (1.18″) diagonally- the fact that it’s touch sensitive is interesting given how tiny any touchable items would be on screen. This could be anything, but if we had to guess, it might be the next-generation iPod Nano, with touch gestures to switch songs and the like. Or maybe it’s a new device altogether.
One more photo after the break.
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