Apple iPhone 5 Arrives at Last

Posted by Jeff in Apple, Technology

Apple iPhone 5 arrives at last, Apple claims its the thinnest, lightest iPhone ever featuring an all new aluminum design.

Apple press release copied below to give you all of the juicy details.

Apple® today announced iPhone® 5, the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, completely redesigned to feature a stunning new 4-inch Retina™ display; an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing fast performance; and ultrafast wireless technology*—all while delivering even better battery life.**

iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features including: the all new Maps app with Apple-designed cartography and turn-by-turn navigation; Facebook integration; Passbook® organization; and even more Siri® features and languages.

“iPhone 5 is the most beautiful consumer device that we’ve ever created,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We’ve packed an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thin and light, jewel-like device with a stunning 4-inch Retina display, blazing fast A6 chip, ultrafast wireless, even longer battery life; and we think customers are going to love it.”

iPhone 5 is the thinnest smartphone in the world, with an all-new 7.6 mm anodized aluminum body that is 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than iPhone 4S. Designed with an unprecedented level of precision, iPhone 5 combines an anodized aluminum body with diamond cut chamfered edges and glass inlays for a truly incredible fit and finish.

The new 4-inch Retina display on iPhone 5 delivers even more pixels than iPhone 4S, making the already incredible Retina display even better. By making the screen taller, not wider, iPhone 5 is just as easy to use with one hand so you can tap, type and scroll the same way you always have, while enjoying even more of your content including amazing apps optimized for the larger Retina display, widescreen HD video, a full five days of your Calendar and more of every web page.

iPhone 5 supports ultrafast wireless standards including LTE and DC-HSDPA, so you can browse, download and stream content even faster. To support the latest LTE technology, Apple has pioneered a unique single-radio LTE solution that provides blazing fast speeds while fitting perfectly into the new remarkably thin design. iPhone 5 features dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi support for a wireless experience up to 150 Mbps.***

The all-new A6 chip was designed by Apple to maximize performance and power efficiency to support all the incredible new features in iPhone 5, including the stunning new 4-inch Retina display—all while delivering even better battery life. With up to twice the CPU and graphics performance, almost everything you do on iPhone 5 is blazing fast for launching apps, loading web pages and downloading email attachments.

The 8 megapixel iSight® camera is the most popular camera in the world and with iPhone 5, it’s even better. The new camera is completely redesigned with incredible optical performance, yet amazingly it’s 25 percent smaller than the camera in iPhone 4S.

The new iSight camera in iPhone 5 features a sapphire crystal lens cover that is thinner and more durable than standard glass with the ability to provide crystal clear images. The new panorama feature lets you capture jaw-dropping panorama images of up to 28 megapixels by simply moving the camera across a scene in one smooth motion.

New video features include improved stabilization, video face detection for up to 10 faces and the ability to take still photos as you record. A new FaceTime® HD front facing camera makes FaceTime calls incredibly clear and can also be used for self portraits and recording 720p HD video. iPhone 5 also allows you to share photos with friends and family using iCloud’s Shared Photo Streams.

iPhone 5 features the new Lightning™ connector that is smaller, smarter and more durable than the previous connector. The all-digital Lightning connector features an adaptive interface that uses only the signals that each accessory requires, and it’s reversible so you can instantly connect to your accessories. The Lightning-to-30-pin Adapter is also available to connect iPhone 5 to legacy 30-pin accessories.****

iPhone 5 introduces new enhanced audio features including a new beam-forming, directional microphone system for higher quality sound, while background noise fades away with new noise canceling technology. iPhone 5 now includes support for cellular wideband audio for crisper word clarity and more natural sounding speech. Wideband audio will be supported by over 20 carriers worldwide at launch.

iPhone 5 comes with the new Apple EarPods™ featuring a breakthrough design for a more natural fit and increased durability, and an incredible acoustic quality typically reserved for higher-end earphones.

iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new user features including: an all new Maps app with Apple-designed cartography, turn-by-turn navigation and an amazing new Flyover™ view; Facebook integration for Contacts and Calendar, with the ability to post directly from Notification Center; Passbook, the simplest way to get all your passes in one place; new Siri features, including support for more languages, easy access to sports scores, restaurant recommendations and movie listings;*****

Siri and Facebook-enabled apps like Photos, Safari® and Maps; and Shared Photo Streams via iCloud®. Pricing & Availability iPhone 5 comes in either white & silver or black & slate, and will be available in the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model. iPhone 5 will be available from the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores, and through AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

iPhone 5 will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK on Friday, September 21, and customers can pre-order their iPhone 5 beginning Friday, September 14.

iPhone 4S will also be available for just $99 (US) and iPhone 4 will be available for free with a two-year contract.******

iOS 6 software will be available on Wednesday, September 19 as a free software update. iPhone 5 will roll out worldwide to 22 more countries on September 28, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

*LTE is available through select carriers. Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks, check with your carrier for details. ** Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary. *** Based on theoretical speeds, actual speeds may vary. **** Sold separately. ***** Not all features are supported in all countries. ****** Availability varies by carrier.

iPhone App Development – Could You Do It?

Posted by James in Apple, Technology

iPhone app development seems like a difficult thing todo, but is it really? With $millions being made in mobile applications development we thought we should find out how to make an app.

We reported the other day that the game that made it’s name on the iPhone, Angry Birds, has now hit 1/2 billion downloads.

Now the game is cheap, being an iPhone app, at less than a $1 (and could be considered an absolute bargain when you think how much console & PC games of a similar standard are), but at 1/2 billion downloads it’s easy to do the maths & come up with a figure of $kerching$.

Yes, there is a free version but there are also upgrade options & cross selling going on so which ever way you slice it it’s good business. The market agrees too, valuing the parent company at about $1 billion.

So, is it possible for mere mortals to enter this lucrative market? Can someone without ninja programming skills learn how to do it?

iPhone App Development without Programming?

We looked around locally for a course that might be able to do just that but the answer was always the same. All the courses we have checked out, including classroom led courses and books, all state that you have to have programming experience before you even start thinking about iPhone app development.

“iPhone app development? You need to know programming mate.” as one helpful instructor put it.

Then we came across Mike on the rather less local internet, he told us that it is possible and he teaches people just how todo iPhone app development the easy way. We were curious to find out more.

How to Make an App

Mike is a developer and in his presentation video he shows his developer account paid out $63,896 in September 2010 as well as $80 a day in earnings from ads within his apps.

Mike says that iPhone app development and mobile app development in general doesn’t have to be as complicated as you think. He started with no programming experience,

” [iPhone app development courses] assume you are at least expert in C++ before you start learning XCode and other iphone development stuff. I decided to change this approach completely.

You know I had no programming skills at all when I started out so I don’t expect you to know anything about programming. You don’t have to have any technical knowledge. If you can operate your iPhone and basic computer software – that’s all we need to start.”

Mike says that his iPhone app development course starts off with the basics and general app development. This moves on to specific iPhone app development tools and the ‘cheating’ tips and tricks that cut down development time and cuts out the need for any serious programming skills. There are even details for iphone development on windows.

In the final part of the course there are specifics about marketing your newly created app, probably the most important area that usually gets overlooked by most traditional courses. After all, if no one knows your app exists, how are you supposed to make your money?

There is also a useful case study of a space invaders game that Mike created. You may want to check the copyright on that one though Mike!

One of Mike’s customers said of his training course,

“Hey mike! You know I had no programming skills but I have been dreaming about creating my game since childhood! Your course was an eye opener for me! i not only created my first game but sold over 2500 copies last month!! thanks a lot man!

Hans, Germany”

A $1 trial of his training course is available here.

The truth is that if you wanted to create something as polished as Angry Birds you will need some serious skills and a decent sized developer team.

But other iphone apps are not so complicated & could be the result of following a course such as Mikes. And at the end of the day, even Angry Birds is a very simple concept wrapped in some pretty packaging.

Overall it is an intriguing prospect, iPhone app development without being a programmer or graphics designer. Now where did I put that game design that I did when I was 13?

Angry Birds Hits 500 Million Downloads

Posted by James in Gaming, Technology

Angry Birds has hit an amazing 500 million downloads just 2 years after it’s launch.

The number is an astonishing result for Rovio, the games company that produces the addictive mobile games Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio and Angry Birds Seasons.

The Angry Birds franchise now also has it’s own merchandising range and retail outlet. Over 10 million items have already shipped to fans who can’t get enough of the squawking birds.

With massive interest in the the game from China and other areas outside Europe and the US, it seems that the billionth download is probably not very far away (see here if you are interested in how to make an app.)

Estimates are that Rovio are now worth about $1 billion after a recent round of funding and a flotation is looking likely.

Further exploration of the Angry Birds brand will likely be a feature length animation or animated series.

Its along way from the humble beginnings of the previously small Finnish iPhone app developer. Angry Birds was a great game when it launched but has achieved it’s growth with the help of some great marketing and branding.

After all, there are many great mobile games on the market but none have come close to the sales of Angry Birds.

To put it in perspective, Angry Birds now gets the equivalent of 300 million minutes of gametime a day. Now that’s a serious game of…well…skittles?

Angry Birds in Numbers

Steve Jobs Biography

Posted by James in Apple, Biographies

Steve Jobs biography: The man in the black turtle neck who made technology cool.

Steve Jobs was an inspiration person who sadly passed away this week. In tribute to him and his legacy we have compiled this biography that only scratches the surface of Steve Jobs life.

If you would like to know more then we recommend a forthcoming book by Walter Isaacson Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Steve Jobs Biography: The Early Years

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in February 1955 to unwed parents who put him up for adoption. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs and was brought up in what would become the centre of the computing world, Silicon Valley.

Perhaps naturally growing up in that environment, Steve Jobs was fascinated by the fledgling electronics industry and spent time at companies such as HP and Atari. It was during this period that he met Steve Wozniak who would later join him in founding Apple Computers.

Steve Jobs is well known for dropping out of college and he only attended in Oregon for a short period. He did however, allude to the fact that his time there contained some great insights for him. For instance, he attributes the inspiration for Apples famously clear font styles and user interface (UI) designs to events such as attending calligraphy and typeface printing classes.

After dropping out Steve Jobs spent time on a spiritual journey, learning about Eastern mysticism and taking a journey to India to learn meditation and find out what he wanted out of life.

Steve Jobs Biography: Apple Computers

When he returned to Silicon Valley it seemed as though he had gained a clear perspective on what he wanted todo and a determination to achieve it. He teamed up with his friend and electronics wiz Steve Wozniak who had just designed and built his own computer board.

Steve Jobs saw the potential of an idea and formed Apple Computers in 1976 with Wozniak, selling the computer boards to local computer stores.

Meanwhile Wozniak had been working on what would become the most advanced personal computer of the time, the Apple II. It had color graphics and the worlds first commercial spreadsheet program.

After getting funding from an ex-Intel executive, the Apple II was a sensation and Apple Computers went public soon after in 1980. Steve Jobs assets were now valued at $200 million.

Increased competition, including IBM entering the market, meant that the early 80′s were tough on Steve Jobs and the Apple company.

They were still innovators though, they brought the first graphical user interface (GUI) to market and we saw the first Macintosh computer in 1984.

It was also a time of internal strife, Steve Jobs was considered by some in Apple as arrogant and temperamental. Poor sales meant that internal pressures could not be swept under the carpet as Apple began to look like a company in trouble.

Apple CEO John Sculley, whom Steve Jobs had brought in to help him run the company, fell out with Jobs and the resulting shakeup meant that Steve Jobs was sidelined at Apple and absolved of his responsibilities.

Steve Jobs Biography: Pixar & NeXT

Apple may have been his life up to that point, but the phrase “when one door closes another one opens” could have been written for Steve Jobs.

George Lucas had been working with a team of computer animators and for some reason (I can never find a satisfactory answer to this one), decided that he didn’t have the means to take them forward.

He introduced them to Steve Jobs who decided that he could. He turned them into another company you might know called Pixar, although it would be many years before they would become the company we know today.

Steve Jobs had also been working on another idea, he wanted to build high end computers for research projects and universities. He also wanted some of Apples best people to join his team.  Another argument ensued prompting Steve Jobs to finally resign and sell most of his Apple stock in protest.

NeXT computers was finally born in 1986 with Steve Jobs at the helm after Apple dropped its threats of legal action. It wasn’t a great success and although they tried to expand into the business market the company was losing money.

With Pixar also struggling  the early 90′s were a bleak and humbling time for Steve Jobs and his ambitions.

In his personal life things were better. He married Laurene in 1991 and had a young son, the up side of his current business circumstances meant that he could spend time at home with his young family.

Wiser men than me have suggested that mans greatest triumphs often come on the heals of their greatest defeats and so it proved with Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs Biography: Zero to Hero

Pixar had initially been commissioned by Disney to produce the worlds first full computer animation movie back in 1991, but it was 4 years before the phenomenon that was Toy Story was released.

Never one to overlook perfect timing Steve Jobs took Pixar public a week after the Toy Story release in 1995, instantly seeing his net worth rocket to $1.5 billion.

His other major venture, NeXT, would also take a dramatic turn.

With the release of Windows 95 Microsoft had really turned up the heat on Apple computers. Since Steve Jobs had left they had failed to produce anything new or innovative and their market share was in freefall. Their once elegant operating system had become bloated and was no match for Microsofts new Windows 95 software.

As with Apple, Steve Jobs had always stayed true to his original vision of simple design and powerful features in whatever NeXT produced. This was true of their operating system called NeXTSTEP and it was this software that persuaded Gil Amelio, then CEO of Apple Computers, to buy NeXT and bring Steve Jobs back into the Apple fold.

Gil Amelio may have brought Steve Jobs back to Apple but he wouldn’t be shown any mercy by Jobs when he announced huge Apple losses in 1997. Steve Jobs showed his ruthless side and promptly took his job.

Steve Jobs undertook a complete review of the company from top to bottom and streamlined every area of operations.

He also started to undertake what would perhaps become the biggest achievement of his career, the branding of Apple, headed by the slogan ‘Think Different’.

He was telling people what he always believed, that you don’t have to be like everyone else, you can change the world and Apple are there to help you.

Within the year Apple were back in profit with products such as the Apple Powerbook (I used to support these by the way, their reliability was shall we say… debatable).

Steve Jobs Biography: The Modern Era

The modern era of Apple can really be traced back to one event, the launch of the iMac in 1998.

Something that Apple would do again and again over the coming years happened for the first time since the launch of the original Apple II, the challenging of conventional wisdom and assumptions through great design.

In the case of the iMac, a riot of colorful plastic, it was the assumption that computers had to be boring grey boxes. It was a massive success with the public and changed the personal computer industry almost overnight.

Steve Jobs began to formulate the plan that would sow the seeds of success for Apple over the next decade, he saw the future of the personal computer as a digital hub for the new digital age. Seamlessly linking to other digital devices and he wanted Apple to be at the heart of it all.

The first creations to come out of this strategy were the so called iApps such as iMovie and iTunes. It was the hardware though that would really change the game.

In the early 2000′s there was a music site called Napster that allowed the downloading of music from the internet in MP3 format and the attention it was getting didn’t pass Steve Jobs by.

He wasn’t going to restrict Apple to just building computers and with some outside help, he turned their attention to building their own MP3 player and launched the iPod in 2001.

Steve Jobs Biography: The iPod

They weren’t the first but with Apples trademark good design and simple interface, the iPod became the de-facto MP3 player in what would become a massive market. The iPod and iTunes combination changed the music industry almost overnight.

Steve Jobs also decided to sell the iPod and other Apple hardware through their own retail stores. With very low key selling going against the retail grain, original fittings and inhouse product classes and training, they were a continuation of the Apple branding and their massive success is still influencing how other retailers operate.

In 2003 Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent surgery in 2004. After the surgery people thought that he had beaten the disease but as we now know that was not going to be the case.

Revenues from the iPod range, which by now included several versions including the nano and shuffle, actually surpassed those of it’s computers in 2006 and they pretty much had the MP3 market sown up. Even today, iTunes is still the largest retailer of music in the world.

Also announced in 2006 was the merger of Pixar and Disney. The move made Steve Jobs the largest single shareholder of Disney stock, a fact that was still true when Steve Jobs passed away this week.

Steve Jobs Biography: iPhone

Still pursuing his digital hub strategy laid out at the start of the decade, Apple would go on to launch Apple TV and the next real step change in technology in 2007. The iPhone. It changed the mobile phone industry overnight.

When he launched it Steve Jobs said that the iPhone was light years ahead of the competition and I don’t think anyone at that time would have disagreed. Nothing else came close, only with the launch of Googles android software years later did that change.

What is interesting is that Steve Jobs was effectively sealing the fate of his iPod range with the launch of the iPhone. How many other CEO’s would sacrifice a product range that produced around half their revenue?

I think that fact and the iPhone itself sums up more than anything else why many are calling Steve Jobs a visionary, he always looked beyond the short term.

In 2009 Steve Jobs shocked the Apple community by finally admitting the rumoured health problems and taking 6 months off for another operation that would see him undergo a liver transplant.

Steve Jobs Biography: iPad

With Steve Jobs back as CEO in 2010 he announced another ground breaking product that would enhance his ‘visionary’ status and once again change the computer industry almost overnight. He launched the iPad.

Again, other manufacturers had tried tablet computers and failed miserably, so Apple were not the first. They were however, the first to get it right.

The same skilled design that made the iPhone so brilliant did the same for the iPad. A whole new market of the personal computer industry was created with the iPads launch.

In 2011 it was obvious when Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO that his health was deteriorating, but the news that he had died this week still came as a shock to many. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his family.

Steve Jobs Biography: Summary

Count how many times I have said “changed the ……  industry almost overnight” and you will instantly gauge what Steve Jobs has brought to the technology industry that now rules every area of our lives in practically every country in the world.

He changed the computer industry with the Apple II, iMac and iPad.

He changed the music industry with iTunes and iPod.

He changed the phone industry with iPhone. He changed the movie industry with Pixar.

How many people can say they built a billion $ company? How many people can say that they did it on 3 different occasions in 2 different industries?

Of course he didn’t do it all on his own, he worked with other great people such as British design genius Jony Ive. But he set the tone, strategy and branding. He had the drive, the vision and the management skills to inspire his colleagues and his many customers.

The fact that the passing of Steve Jobs this week made front line news around the world, that people set up shrines for him as they might a pop star or movie actor, that Presidents paid tribute tells you alot about the man.

How many other business people around the world can say that they will get the same treatment when they pass away? It is difficult to name even one.

Photos: Robert Scoble, Ed Bierman, Tom Newby Photography, Marcin Wichary, Yutaka Tsutano, Apple

Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO

Posted by Jeff in Apple, Business

Steve Jobs has resigned his position as the Apple CEO with immediate affect leaving Tim Cook to take over his CEO duties.

The 56 year old Steve Jobs has been suffering serious health problems over the past year and has been on medical leave since January.

We have seen Steve Jobs return to the spotlight occasionally to help launch new Apple products and make company announcements.

Tim Cook will now officially take over the reigns at Apple just as the latest iphone 5 news suggests it is on it’s way soon. Although in practice this has been the case for some time as Steve Jobs has been away for health reasons. What those health problems are have, understandably, been kept private by his family and Apple themselves.

In a letter to the Apple board, and the world at large, Steve Jobs writes that he no longer feels that he can carry out his duties as Apple CEO in the way he would like. He is therefore handing in his resignation.

You can read Steve Jobs letter below.

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

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

It is hoped that Steve Jobs will take on an advisory role in the company but Apple shares still dived on the surprise, although not unexpected, announcement.

Such is the force of Steve Jobs that shares in other competing mobile companies rose higher on the news.

Steve Jobs & Apple’s Achievements (Post 1997)

It is not surprising when you consider how much of an influence Steve Jobs has been, not only on the Apple company, but on the technology and music industries themselves.

In recent years it has been the Steve Jobs vision that has guided Apple, and where Apple has led everyone else has had to follow.

When computers were just bland grey boxes, Jobs redefined what they looked like with the launch of the colorful, all-in-one iMac.

Steve Jobs then redefined the portable music world with the iPod. There were certainly other MP3 players before hand, but none that looked this… well… sexy. It has challenged the Sony Walkman as the most influential music device in history.

iTunes then redefined a whole music industry, offering legal, downloadable tracks made up of just computer bits and bytes. It’s now the largest music retailer in the world.

Not satisfied with shaking up the music industry, the cosy world of the mobile phone manufacturers was about to get a wake up call.

The launch of the iPhone instantly changed what a mobile phone could be and do. Not to mention being incredibly desirable, merely as an object of design.

The app store created a whole new industry that other companies have struggled to match. It is not just Apple that have made a large fortune from that particular idea. Successful app makers are now worth $100′s millions in their own right.

Steve Jobs was not finished yet though. Other people had tried and given up making tablet computers. No one had been able to make it work.

Steve Jobs and Apple have never been just another manufacturer though. The launch of the iPad created another new industry virtually overnight. Tablet computing was back in a big way.

Steve Jobs and Apple

Steve Jobs co-founded the Apple company in the 1970′s with Steve Wozniak and it became one of the most successful technology companies of the fledgling computer industry in the 1980′s.

After leaving Apple in 1985, Steve Jobs returned to a company on it’s last legs in 1997 (after starting that little animation company called Pixar by the way!) and turned it into arguably, the biggest brand in the world today.

Many people are saying that Apple will be the first $trillion company ($1,000,000,000,000). Without Steve Jobs they may not now be so certain but still, who would bet against it ?

Photo: Apple Inc.

Google Buys Motorola Mobile Division

Posted by Clive in Business, Google

Google have announced that they are to purchase the Motorola mobile division known as Motorola mobility.

It’s a significant move for Google as up until now they have been a software provider (except for some speciality server technology and Google mugs & t-shirts!).

Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility, for $12.5 billion subject to shareholder and regulator approval, marks a significant shift in their mobile business model.

They are now able to produce the mobile hardware that can host their mobile Android software. It also allows Google to become a full service business as Motorola produce tablets as well as mobiles.

How this will affect Google’s current Android partners is yet to be ascertained, although Google produced a document signed by several welcoming the news.

With Microsoft’s new mobile OS snapping at the heals of Apple and Google as far as features go, some manufacturers might feel it is time to look elsewhere.

Google Patent Problems

Google have also had problems with technology patents, Apple is very active in the courts challenging other phone manufacturers that it says are infringing it’s patents. The most successful Android based manufacturer, HTC has recently lost a court battle with Apple that affects all it’s handsets.

It’s possible that this was a driving force for Google as it wants to insulate itself as much as possible against this kind of action by purchasing a hardware supplier they can then control to ensure supply. It also won’t have passed their attention that Motorola mobility owns well over 20,000 patents themselves.

Shares in Motorola Mobility jumped 57% when the news was announced and troubled phone manufacturer Nokia also had a significant share rise as they are seen as ripe for takeover themselves.

Before Apple came along with their iPhone and redefined the market, Nokia were the no. 1 mobile manufacturer, but it has since seen it’s market share trampled on by the iPhone and Android handsets.

Various Nokia operating systems have failed to deliver the required stability, function and features shown by Google or Apple’s software and now required in today’s competitive market.

Facebook Messenger App Launches

Posted by Jeff in Social Media, Technology

Facebook messenger app has launched this week for the iPhone and Android markets. What’s it all about?

Facebook messenger is a separate app from the main Facebook app that you currently use to access your profile and friends. It’s sole purpose is to get a message to one of your contacts, whether a phone contact or one that resides in Facebook.

Similar to the Blackberry messenger and perhaps gunning as a replacement for phone texting itself, the Facebook messenger app looks to plug a gap before Apple launches a similar product and Google+ gets enough traction.

Facebook messenger app delivers messages through notifications and SMS texts. The idea being that there is more chance that your message will be received quickly, there is no where for them to hide even if they are away from their phone as long as they are logged in somewhere.

You can also utilize groups to have a conversation en masse and you can utilize location data if you have it switched on to send your location or meeting point. All your messages and conversations are kept in one place so that you can see a full history of the conversation.

Facebook Messenger App Competition

Apple are rumoured to be integrating a similar facility when the new version of it’s operating system, iOS 5, is launched later this year. However, it is thought that this will be similar to their facetime application where it can only be used for messaging between Apple products. The Blackberry messenger app also has this same limitation.

Facebook messenger on the other hand is not tied to one type of phone, it can go cross platform and could give Facebook the USP that will attract it’s 750 million users to the app.

Apple Reports Record Earnings

Posted by Clive in Apple, Business

Apple have announced record earnings of $28 billion and a net profit of over $15 billion for the last quarter.

The profits are on the back of surging demand for the Apple iPhone and iPad products, sales of which have more than doubled.

It is interesting that this massive demand has occurred when competitors to both the iPhone and the iPad has become alot stronger. HTC, for instance, have started to match the iPhone for functionality and design with their Google Android based phones.

The results do mask however, a real downturn in the fortunes of the iPod product range which has slipped by 20%. It seams more and more of us now store our music collections on our phones.

Analysts had been concerned that the devastation caused by the Tsunami in Japan would have an negative impact of Apple‘s supply chain, but it seems that there were no adverse supply problems.

Shares in the company rose by over 5% on the financial news and the Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that he expected revenue of about $25 billion in the 4th quarter of 2011. Predictions from Apple tend to be conservative so it will be interesting to see if they can improve on this performance.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO said,

“We’re thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent. Right now, we’re very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall.”

They also have a new version of their operating system out this week, a new thunderbolt 27″ monitor and a rumoured launch of the iPad 3 and the iPhone 5 to come.

As you can see in our iPad 2 reader poll below, over 60% of you are waiting for the next generation iPad 3. Rumour has it that it will feature a display resolution that will make the Apple fans drool.

Are you waiting for the Apple Ipad 3?

Are you someone who is planning on getting / has bought the iPad 2 or are you willing to wait for the iPad 3 ? Cast your vote below.

Are Apple Tracking Your Movements?

Posted by James in Apple, Technology

In an unusual step Apple have replied to accusations by security researchers that alleged that Apple was tracking the movements of it’s iPhone and iPad users.

Security experts had said that they had found that Apple was storing the location of it’s iPhone and iPad products in an unencrypted file on the device, this file was also copied to the users computer via iTunes when the device was backed up.

In response to this accusation, Apple have made the unusual step of taking a question and answer session about the revelations.

Below are the main points that arose and Apple’s official answers.

1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone?
Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.

2. Then why is everyone so concerned about this?
Providing mobile users with fast and accurate location information while preserving their security and privacy has raised some very complex technical issues which are hard to communicate in a soundbite. Users are confused, partly because the creators of this new technology (including Apple) have not provided enough education about these issues to date.

3. Why is my iPhone logging my location?
The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it’s maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Calculating a phone’s location using just GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data to quickly find GPS satellites, and even triangulate its location using just Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data when GPS is not available (such as indoors or in basements). These calculations are performed live on the iPhone using a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data that is generated by tens of millions of iPhones sending the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple.

4. Is this crowd-sourced database stored on the iPhone?
The entire crowd-sourced database is too big to store on an iPhone, so we download an appropriate subset (cache) onto each iPhone. This cache is protected but not encrypted, and is backed up in iTunes whenever you back up your iPhone. The backup is encrypted or not, depending on the user settings in iTunes. The location data that researchers are seeing on the iPhone is not the past or present location of the iPhone, but rather the locations of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers surrounding the iPhone’s location, which can be more than one hundred miles away from the iPhone. We plan to cease backing up this cache in a software update coming soon (see Software Update section below).

5. Can Apple locate me based on my geo-tagged Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data?
No. This data is sent to Apple in an anonymous and encrypted form. Apple cannot identify the source of this data.

6. People have identified up to a year’s worth of location data being stored on the iPhone. Why does my iPhone need so much data in order to assist it in finding my location today?
This data is not the iPhone’s location data—it is a subset (cache) of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database which is downloaded from Apple into the iPhone to assist the iPhone in rapidly and accurately calculating location. The reason the iPhone stores so much data is a bug we uncovered and plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below). We don’t think the iPhone needs to store more than seven days of this data.

7. When I turn off Location Services, why does my iPhone sometimes continue updating its Wi-Fi and cell tower data from Apple’s crowd-sourced database?
It shouldn’t. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below).

8. What other location data is Apple collecting from the iPhone besides crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data?
Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.

9. Does Apple currently provide any data collected from iPhones to third parties?
We provide anonymous crash logs from users that have opted in to third-party developers to help them debug their apps. Our iAds advertising system can use location as a factor in targeting ads. Location is not shared with any third party or ad unless the user explicitly approves giving the current location to the current ad (for example, to request the ad locate the Target store nearest them).

10. Does Apple believe that personal information security and privacy are important?
Yes, we strongly do. For example, iPhone was the first to ask users to give their permission for each and every app that wanted to use location. Apple will continue to be one of the leaders in strengthening personal information security and privacy.

Software Update

Sometime in the next few weeks Apple will release a free iOS software update that:

• reduces the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone,
• ceases backing up this cache, and
• deletes this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off.

In the next major iOS software release the cache will also be encrypted on the iPhone.