DigiTimes reported today that smartphone players such as Apple, Samsung Electronics and High Tech Computer (HTC) have started showing interest in adopting ultra-thin heat pipes for their smartphones and are expected to release heat pipe-adopted models in the fourth quarter, at the earliest, according to sources from cooling module player. Yet like so many times, Apple has been known to buck some of the industry's traditional trends. The most recent is Apple's AirDrop solution coming to iOS 7 which blatantly bucks the trend of using NFC technology that the likes of Samsung use in their Galaxy product line-up. Apple's Craig Federighi got quite the laugh making fun of Samsung's solution of physically having to tap smartphones in order to transfer photos or data to those in close proximity to you. So while the industry may be moving toward adopting ultra-thin heat pipes, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that Apple will follow.
The US Patent & Trademark Office recently showed activity in a series of Apple trademark filings related to Siri. Three were updated on June 13 and another was updated in mid-May. We usually don't cover many trademark applications as we now cover trademarks when USPTO deems them to be Registered Trademarks. Yet there are always exceptions and in the case of Siri, Apple may have provided us with a few hints at what could be next for our intelligent personal assistant. One of them was for "online social networking services" which will in-part debut with iOS 7. But there are a few other interesting one's that we could look forward to in the future and our report points those out for you.
During last week's WWDC Keynote, Apple's CEO Tim Cook emphasized a series of iOS strengths in the form of statistics. Market share stats, of course, don't always tell the full story. For instance, Android is statistically the leading smartphone operating system in volume, but not in profits. Apple still rules the profits stat where it really matters. That being said, Apple's CEO kept hammering stats home to their developer community to show them that iOS is still number one in the market. Yet the old adage states that "if you live by the sword, you'll die by the sword." Likewise, if you live by stats, you'll die by stats. New studies out this week show that Apple's iOS has lost significant market share over the last year.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 39 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. Our report covers three new multi-touch patents, Aperture's 2D Slider Control, a few major design patents wins for the iPhone 5 and Lightning connector and others. Our report closes out by presenting you with a list of the remaining thirty patents that were granted to Apple today.
Last Thursday we reported that Samsung had revised their Galaxy S4 sales down as their false hype failed to convince consumers to buy into the cheesy plastic non-inspiring phones. Today, news is breaking that a massive wave of Samsung downgrades from some of the biggest names on Wall Street is hitting home.
On Saturday we reported that Apple will use Samsung as one of the main suppliers for the next generation iPad and iPad mini displays. Today we've learned that Apple's relationship with Samsung had begun months earlier and that it covers a wide range of components.
In September of 2012 we accurately reported that Apple had cut display orders to Samsung. In May we reported that Apple had resumed business with Samsung Display and speculated that Apple had likely shifted display orders from AU Optronics to Samsung. A new report out today confirms that to be the case and much more.
Today, Microsoft is releasing Office Mobile for iPhone available at no extra charge from the Apple App Store for Office 365 Home Premium and Office 365 ProPlus subscribers. Microsoft's new iPhone app enables great Office content viewing and on-the-go content editing capabilities.
Late last year Samsung fans and their respective fan sites went ballistic claiming that Apple's key patents found in their case against Samsung were found to be invalid. Many in the mainstream press ate it all up and it made headlines everywhere. Even many Apple fans began to shout that patents seemed to be worthless. At that point Patently Apple decided to step in with a report titled Cries of Apple's Patents Being Found Invalid a Nice Pipe Dream." We provided historical statistics proving that reversals of patents deemed invalid were common. Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office announced their official reversal, with Apple's patents being valid. Samsung may have maneuvered the press to give them a momentary victory over Apple, but in the end, Samsung is the loser, plain and simple, and the patent system has validated Apple's Intellectual Property.
Rumors that Apple has been working on a new mid-level iPhone have been around for some time now and there's a business case to be made for an economical iPhone as a means of capturing more share of the exploding market in China which Apple is most definitely interested in capturing. Today, the hottest rumor emanating from the Taiwan-based supply chain is boldly stating that Apple supplier Pegatron has landed orders for an inexpensive iPhone with plastic chassis and next-generation iPad mini from Apple and will begin shipments in August.
Everyone on the planet has covered Apple's WWDC conference keynote in some form or another, and with so much information available from Apple's own website on the event and their new products, the angle for today's report is a simple one. I chose to point out a few key moments that stood out for me and so many others; moments that everyone will be able to refer back to in a flash to include in a report, an email to friends and colleagues or just to banter around on the weekend over drinks. It was great to see Apple come out swinging and even a little testy at one moment but it was all in good fun. This was Apple's first big event of the year and we all know it was only the warm up for the really big events that will be unfolding later this year. For now, a quick look back.
In April we questioned the hype surrounding Samsung's Galaxy S4 with a report aptly titled "Is Samsung's Galaxy S4 Really Selling Off-the-Chart or are they Just Playing a Marketing Game?" Last week we reported that some of Wall Street brokers were cutting their estimates for Samsung due to "concerns" that sales may be slowing for Samsung's Flagship smartphones. Well, a new report out this morning confirms that sales are indeed falling and it doesn't look like Samsung will be hitting their S4 sales goal of 100 million units for 2013. Samsung was out to beat Apple's standing record of having sold 100 million of their iPhone 4S.
On June 13, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an all-new kind of tablet cover. The patent filing is deadly focused on the make-up and process in creating the cover using various materials with non-radio portions so as not to interfere with the tablet's various radios. Considering that Apple's original Smart Cover was introduced in early 2011 and that this new filing was only filed in December 2012, it's pretty clear that Ive's Industrial Design Team have something completely new in mind. Could it be a new iBooks centric design? Only time will tell.
On June 13, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that simplifies one of their inventions relating to a possible new spirals centric interface or element for a future version of iTunes.
On June 13, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a key update to an older patent of Apple's relating to wearable computers and "sensing systems monitoring" applications covering sports, shipping, training, medicine, fitness, wellness and industrial production. The invention specifically relates to sensing and reporting events associated with movement, environmental factors such as temperature, health functions, fitness effects, and changing conditions.
On June 12, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple's latest registered trademark for "Launchpad" which was officially issued late yesterday under registration number 4,350,665. As noted in our cover graphic, Apple's Launchpad is an application launcher found in OS X. It was initially released under Mountain Lion in July 2011. Apple originally filed for their trademark on April 20, 2011. The icons that are found in Launchpad today will be updated this fall when the new iOS 7 icons are made official.
According to a new report that was just released, the growth of 802.11ac and 802.11ad will occur in very different ways over the next few years. The adoption of 802.11ac is expected to explode into devices including smartphones right out of the gate this year while 802.11ad will see a more modest and staggered growth pace. 802.11ac is being pushed into smartphones by key carriers' device requirements that are in sync with 802.11ac hotspot plans for more robust Wi-Fi offloading.
The European IP Office database for trademarks has revealed that Apple had applied for an update to their "Mac" trademark sometime last week. The application was officially filed last Tuesday, just days ahead of the WWDC keynote event held yesterday at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco. Apple introduced their long awaited iTunes Radio music service which will be integrated into their next generation mobile operating system iOS 7. The newly filed application covers online music and video subscriptions in addition to a gaming machine.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 37 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we primarily cover one of Apple's notable iTravel patents that is evolving into Apple's Passport application. Apple first introduced us to an exciting future iPhone application dubbed iTravel back in April 2010 which certainly shook things up in the travel industry. Today's granted patent focuses on the "travel itinerary" which will walk a traveler through every step of a flight from preflight activities at the virtual service counter to activities at the airport as well as in-flight and post-flight activities. Other notable patents that were granted to Apple today include two relating to their Maps app, another for iChat/FaceTime and lastly one relating to PCIe which will be included in Apple's radically redesigned Mac Pro this fall.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 37 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover one of Apple's gaming accessory inventions that cover a gamepad and joystick. Virtual gaming controllers just don't have that tactile touch that is needed to assist gamers so that they could keep their eyes focued on the game rather than on where the controls are. Even the new PS4 and Xbox controllers debuting this year have stuck with physical buttons and joysticks because that's what players need at the moment until haptics could get to a point where physical buttons could be eliminated. Apple's patent covers attachable game controller accessories that could simply stick to the touchscreen surface of a roomy iPad display to give the gamer more control over their games. It also assists developers to have a common gamepad/joystick structure so that more games could follow a specific guideline for controller activity.UPDATED JUNE 14, 2013
On June 11, 2013, the US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 37 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. In this particular report we cover a key iWallet patent that relates to setting financial rules for controlling a subsidiary account such as one for a child, employee or spouse that an account holder will be able to control via a new iTunes "Mobile Pay" Service.
In May we covered a rumor out of Asia that stated that Apple is working on a new 12.9" iPad for some time in 2014. The new iPad, referred to as the iPad Maxi, is supposedly being aimed at the educational market which requires a specific electronic textbook format. I guess that rumor spooked Samsung who shadows Apple's every move, as the company is planning to launch a similar sized tablet in the coming months.
Last Monday we reported that Fitch Ratings, a global rating agency dual-headquartered in New York and London, put out a report on Samsung and clearly stated that Samsung has yet to prove its "creative" innovation which is defined as creating a new product or market segment that hasn't existed before. Translation: Samsung's leadership is still based on copycatting other companies' true innovations. Now a new report out of Korea has a Samsung official on record stating that they're not innovators yet even though the mainstream media dances to that tune daily.
This year's Intel Computex keynotes did in fact deliver some very interesting new features that will be coming to market later this year. Features like their NFC "Tap to Pay" eWallet, their all new Fast Access Login feature and new ways for users to share content with future TVs. Intel even had a breakthrough announcement regarding a new device coming to market in the second half of 2014 which could be exciting. Our report presents you with an in-depth look at the keynote highlights at Computex while showing you that Apple has similar projects on record. Yet the one thing that may interest Apple fans the most is that one Intel keynote slide accidentaly revealed something new about Apple's iTunes that could play into Monday's WWDC announcements.
A new report today is citing a note by Citi Research saying that Apple will launch an iPhone with 4.8-inch screen next year. Contrary to Apple's traditional iPhone events held in September, Citi's note says that the larger iPhone design is being scheduled to debut in Q1 2014. If the rumor is true, it would mark a new strategic move by Apple to counter the wave of news that traditionally emanates out of the Mobile World Congress tradeshow that is held every February.
Has Wall Street finally seen the folly of their ways when it comes to backing all-things Samsung who blindly favors market share over profit? Well it sure looks like it. Today, a new report states that Samsung has lost $12 billion in market value, hit by brokerage downgrades that have underscored concerns about slowing sales of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone.
