Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: What Apple et al are up to with Nortel’s patent trove, why iPhone subsidies won’t be lowered any time soon, a contract-free iPhone 3GS and Tim Cook’s compensation. Read More »
If the speculation is true that Microsoft is prepping Office for the iPad, it’s worth asking where it will save documents. Would Office for iPad save docs to Apple’s iCloud? Or would it use some Microsoft technology like SkyDrive, Office365 or Sharepoint servers? Read More »
Microsoft may have launched its companion app for Xbox consoles on Windows Phone 7 devices exclusively, but it isn’t leaving iOS users completely out in the cold. The official My Xbox LIVE app, which works on both iPhone and iPad, is in the App Store now. Read More »
Microsoft, lumbering giant that it is, is reportedly arriving late to the iPad party with a version of its Office document editing suite in 2012. At this point, I’m wondering whether iOS users would covet an official Office solution, or whether the possibility leaves you indifferent. Read More »
Skype released new beta clients for both Windows and Mac on Thursday that introduce the ability to make video calls to your Facebook friends from within Skype itself. We went hands-on with the new feature using Skype for Mac 5.4 Beta to see how it handles. Read More »
While some may have bristled at Steve Jobs calling Bill Gates an unimaginative copycat in the Jobs biography released last week, Gates says he was not one of those people. In fact, Gates says he gets why Jobs said disparaging things about him. Read More »
Apple was saw the biggest gain in this year’s annual Interbrand report of the world’s most valuable brands, with an estimated value of $33.5 billion and growth of 58 percent when measured year over year. The iPhone 4 and iPad were major contributors to Apple’s success. Read More »
Thanks to content and applications, iOS and Android will remain at the top of the tablet heap until at least 2017, a new report claimed Monday. Trends indicate that iOS and Android tablet devices will make up 90 percent of the market six years from now. Read More »
Google wants to “supercharge” Android with its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, but what exactly does that mean? Some think we’ll see Google try to provide a hardware/software platform combo to rival Apple, but there are a few big reasons why that won’t happen anytime soon. Read More »
Smartphones were up 74 percent in the second quarter of 2011, accounting for a fourth of all mobile device sales, versus just 17 percent last year. The companies benefiting most from increasing smartphone sales are clearly Apple and Google, but which is benefitting the most? Read More »
Apple’s got a lot of money to throw around, to the tune of $76.2 billion. Is it interested in spending a chunk of that on Hulu? According to Bloomberg, Apple could make a bid for the online video service. Read More »
It turns out Apple wasn’t just a participant in the consortium that won the auction for Nortel’s patent portfolio: It contributed more than half of the $4.5 billion purchase price. Read More »
More Must Reads
Skype 5.2 for Mac, released Tuesday, introduces group screen sharing in addition to group video calling, which has been available since the Skype 5.0 beta for Mac. It’s a good update for pro users, but others might not find it so appealing. Read More »
Amazon unveiled its Mac Download Store today: a web-based competitor for the Mac App Store. The store provides direct downloads of Mac software directly from your browser, and ships with some marquee titles that aren’t yet available in Apple’s own marketplace. Read More »
Apple’s App Store trademark is under siege, and four more companies joined the fight to have it declared invalid in the European Union Thursday. Microsoft, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and HTC all filed applications separately with the EU trademark agency yesterday in pursuit of that goal. Read More »
Microsoft announced today that it will acquire Skype for $8.5 billion in cash and that Skype will form a new business division within Microsoft. Despite Microsoft’s position as a longtime Apple competitor, this deal could improve the state of video chat on Apple devices. Read More »
Apple is now the most valuable brand in the world, according to a new report. Apple surpassed Google, ending that company’s four-year reign as the top brand, thanks to an 84-percent increase in value. The single most likely suspect for the change? Apple’s iPad. Read More »
Early this morning, Microsoft and Nokia announced a partnership that will see Windows Phone 7 become the primary platform for Nokia’s high-end smartphones. But is it enough to seriously challenge Apple and the iPhone, arguably the two companies’ most entrenched competition? Read More »
The Financial Times reports today that software publishing behemoth Microsoft has filed a motion with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week, objecting to Apple being awarded the trademark “App Store.” But upon what ground does that claim really rest? Read More »
The New York Times is reporting that two companies with good reason to fear Apple’s growing influence in the tech industry recently got together to talk business. The hour-long meeting saw Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer meet Adobe chief Shantanu Narayen at Adobe HQ. Read More »
The official Office for Mac blog announced yesterday that Office for Mac 2011 will be available for purchase starting Oct. 26, so roughly a month from now. You can pre-order your copy now at Amazon, too. This is what I think about the beta so far. Read More »
The Apple Store went down this morning. When it came back up, what should we find but a new 27-inch Cinema Display? The last time Apple refreshed the Cinema Display was 2008 when it unveiled the 24-inch LED model, so it’s been a long time coming. Read More »
Apple, for a long time, was the David to Microsoft’s Goliath. Until now. Thanks to the iPod, as of yesterday’s market close, Apple is worth more in terms of market value than its longtime rival. Read More »
An Australian tech website has started running ads featuring Mac Pros and MacBook Pros whose entry-level prices are noticeably higher than those in the current Mac lineup. So what, right? The ads are probably incorrectly labeled, or something. But the word on the street (well, the … Read More »
It may be a little early to say this, but to me it seems like Microsoft took all the disappointment and fear resulting from Apple’s dominance of the mobile devices category over its own products through the years and used that energy to create Read More »
The thought of your iPhone or iPod touch falling into the wrong hands is enough to scare anyone. The iPhone does have the passcode function to keep prying eyes out, but what if that’s not enough? In a corporate environment, the loss of a device like this … Read More »
In addition to our own coverage of the recently launched iPad, our fellow GigaOM sites have also been writing up their fair share of great perspective on Apple’s latest product launch. Video on the iPad: HD, But No Flash Will the iPad Kill the … Read More »
Maybe I am too set in my ways, but I never even really tried using Bing all that much when it was released. I also found it too busy. Sure, I’m all for beautiful sweeping nature photography, but not on my search page. So I stuck … Read More »
Do you know what tablet computers and jetpacks have in common? It’s not a kerosene-burning jet engine strapped to your back, though Adobe Flash on a MacBook can feel like your pants are on fire. The shared problem is that the present reality of future technologies … Read More »
So, Microsoft has unveiled a new tablet PC — a prototype made by HP, dubbed (not coincidentally) a Slate. Fake Steve Jobs suggests it ought to be called the “meh,” and he’s dead right, while the UK’s Telegraph said it could be a … Read More »
According to the New York Times, tonight at Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s CES keynote address, he will unveil an ambitious new tablet device that’s the result of a partnership between Microsoft and HP. Citing people familiar with Redmond’s plans, the NYT describes the tablet … Read More »
Autoblog picked up on an interesting story about Ford Motor Company’s efforts to create middleware that will let future cars interact with mobile devices, including iPhones. Sync, developed in conjunction with Microsoft, aims to not only give you access to your phone book … Read More »
Windows Mobile, Microsoft’s increasingly embarrassing single entrant in the smartphone OS field, can’t seem to hold onto the attention of the world’s consumers. A new survey by market research firm comScore sees Windows Mobile dropping one place in the overall rankings, and Apple’s iPhone gaining … Read More »
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I used to use my Mac at my day job. However, a combination of not-so-subtle hints from our Information Security folks as well as the general pain in the posterior of managing a SharePoint site on the Mac … Read More »
It’s been a double-edged sword, this no-Flash-on-the-iPhone business. On the one hand, we don’t get the complete Internet. On the other hand, the web pages we do get are less likely to crash or drag-along at a snail’s pace. And really, who wants to see yet … Read More »
We usually love our Apple products. They work well, are easy to understand and when we have a problem, Apple works quickly to resolve it. Most of the time. What happens when Apple simply won’t play ball? Read on and find out how to work Apple’s … Read More »
According to a report this week on The Mac Observer, Apple and AT&T have been presented with a class action lawsuit by a customer who accuses them of misleading the public by advertising the MMS capabilities of the iPhone 3GS despite not making those capabilities … Read More »
Microsoft may have only just launched Windows 7, but Apple isn’t sitting back and letting Redmond enjoy its time in the spotlight. Instead, last night it revealed three new ads in the popular “Get a Mac” series featuring John Hodgman and Justin Long, all … Read More »
Talk about biting someone else’s style. Not only is Microsoft trying to add some cool factor to its brand using celebrity influence, a game which Apple has long had in the bag, now it’s also opened its first official brick-and-mortar retail store, and it … Read More »
Apple did pretty much everything they could to steal some of Windows 7′s thunder by announcing some pretty major hardware changes earlier in the week, but Thursday is here nonetheless, and that means Microsoft’s latest OS is on store shelves now, ripe for the picking. Question … Read More »
From Computerworld, the ponderings of Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall may state the obvious, but nonetheless bear repeating: Windows 7 is no threat to the Mac. Having looked at the data on Windows release dates, Marshall “found no negative correlation between them and Mac sales.” Further, … Read More »
Mary Jo Foley reports on her ZDnet blog that Microsoft is seriously considering making Zune services, such as the subscription-based Zune Pass, available to other platforms — and that includes Apple’s very own Mac OS X. It’s early days though, as Foley admits, “There’s no guarantee … Read More »
It took the designer-store concept from Apple. It took the Genius Bar concept from Apple. What’s left for Microsoft to take from Apple as it gears-up to the launch of its first brick-and-mortar retail stores? Well, the staff, of course. According to The Loop, Microsoft is poaching … Read More »
Have you been checking the App Store on your iPhone for that lovely little red badge that signals available updates? I have. I want the Facebook app update that might – finally – prompt me to want to use Facebook regularly. Y’know, like the kids these … Read More »
On August 6th, 1997, Steve Jobs stood on a stage in Boston and announced that Microsoft had purchased $150 million in non-voting stock and promised to continue to develop Office for five years. While the crowd reacted as if had he announced his love of … Read More »
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