A sharp uptick in the sales of Apple’s iPhone 4S along with the status of “top app of 2011″ has turned this to be a year to remember for San Francisco-based startup, Instagram. The company saw a spike in new users and photo-sharing activity. Read more »
Apple has a track record of taking products that work but haven’t caught on and redesigning them to give them the appeal that makes them catch fire with the general buying public. Now, there’s a new patent that suggests Apple could tackle facial recognition tech next. Read more »
Tablets are set to be a hit with small- and medium-sized businesses in 2012, according to a new NPD survey, and Apple is set to take full advantage. The iPad has the advantage of being synonymous with “tablet” in enterprise, which is great news for Apple. Read more »
Apple is reportedly gearing up to unveil three different models of the iPad, including two brand-new offerings, on Jan. 26, according to new reports from supply chain sources on Thursday. There is plenty to like about the report, but I wouldn’t count on its coming true. Read more »
The past year in mobile has been even more eventful than most of us would have predicted. Our appetite for mobile data grew dramatically; Google’s Android continued its march to worldwide dominance; Amazon joined the tablet bandwagon; and AT&T tried and failed to acquire T-Mobile USA, among many other things. All of that activity lays the groundwork for a very promising — and very challenging — 2012. This research note serves both as a review of the major trends and events of 2011 as well as a forecast for the coming year. Companies mentioned in this report include Millennial Media, Quattro Wireless and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full research note, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple’s iPhone is no doubt a heavy contributor to the death of point-and-shoots at the hands of smartphones, but it still lacks some niceties of dedicated cameras. New accessories from Belkin, collected under the LiveAction brand, aim to narrow the gap even further. Read more »
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu thinks Apple needs to get into the content game to make the iTV a winner when it launches. But the bigger opportunity might be where Apple plays best — in allowing content creators to develop their own apps on its iOS platform. Read more »
As the rumor mill around the Apple smart television set kicks into overdrive, it only makes sense for analysts to chime in. Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee added his thoughts in a note to clients issued Wednesday. Wu thinks content and hardware choice are key. Read more »
Apple’s App Store is doing well thanks to the successful launch of the iPhone 4S. For the second month in a row, it posted record downloads among the top 200 free apps, with around 5.6 million per day, according to mobile app marketing firm Fiksu. Read more »
Hot on the heels of a report about Apple’s iTV plans on Tuesday, there are fresh stories about its potential components and supplier partners out on Wednesday morning. DigiTimes cites new supply-chain sources saying that Apple is entertaining chipmaker bids for the iTV’s processor contracts. Read more »
In its fight with Android hardware-makers, Apple almost seems to see itself as a noble hero fighting a nefarious villain bent on stealing its identity and reputation. But just or not, is the fight one that makes sense to Apple from a practical and business standpoint? Read more »
Traditionally, the Mac has made up an extremely small sliver of corporate PC purchases, but over the last few quarters, more and more of them have been incorporated into the workplace. And on the heels of this trend was an announcement from the analysts over at ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As 2011 comes to a close, I’m thinking ahead to what mobile technology trends I expect to see in 2012. While I formulate those thoughts for a post later this week, now is a good time to see how I did with my 2011 predictions. Read more »
Apple’s iTunes Match is a great, but potentially hard-to-grasp service, and many people have questions. That’s why it’s welcome that Apple introduced an instructional page detailing exactly what iTunes Match provides and how it works over the holiday weekend. Read more »
Apple will be launching 32- and 37-inch versions of a dedicated Apple television set in the second or third quarter of 2012, according to supply chain sources speaking to DigiTimes on Tuesday. Apple will be focusing on those two sizes initially, the sources claim. Read more »
Apple has run afoul of Italian authorities for providing misleading information about consumers’ rights in the country when it comes to product warranties. On Tuesday, the country’s Antitrust Authority announced it had placed a fine of €900,000 euros ($1.17 million USD) on the iPhone maker. Read more »
Apple’s iOS devices were popular gifts during the holiday weekend, as you might expect. According to a new study, there were 12.5 times more devices accessing games and apps using one major analytics platform than during previous weekends, in fact. Android fared almost as well, too. Read more »
Next year millions of consumers use fitness devices and apps designed to help them count their steps, calories, sleep and other personal metrics. But in the emerging world of connected wellness tools will newly aware consumers be using apps or devices? Read more »
The outsize growth in online spending this holiday season suggests that e-commerce as a sector of the economy has passed some kind of tipping point and that factors beyond simply convenience and price — both long-standing hallmarks of online shopping — are propelling the e-commerce sector ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
We already knew that mobile advertisements perform better on larger screened devices and now there’s evidence of when the best time of the year is for a these ad spots in apps. If you guessed the year-end holiday season, you’d be right according to this infographic. Read more »
Does the world really need another search engine? Trefis says yes at least for do-it-yourself and even professional investors. For them, Trefis is launching a new search option that will return only pertinent, rich data about the companies they follow. Read more »
Apple’s Siri ad featuring the jolly old elf was 2011′s most effective holiday advertisement according to viewer reaction as measured by Ace Metrix, a TV ad analysis firm. The Apple spot featuring Santa Claus using Siri also exemplified a trend this year: specifically, “Santa sells.” Read more »
f people are buying through online retail sites on mobile, they’re most likely doing so on Apple devices, according to a new report. iPads and iPhones accounted for over 92 percent of online retail not originating from a desktop device in December, according to the study. Read more »
Apple’s plans for a 7-inch iPad are a very hot topic heading into the new year, but they may not bear any tangible fruit for consumers in 2012. A Wedge Partners analyst doesn’t think it’s in the cards. Instead, Apple might offer a cheaper iPad 2. Read more »
Apple has finally made it very clear exactly which media content can be made available in the cloud in which countries for Automatic Downloads and Apple TV streaming, as well as listing the 17 countries where iTunes Match is available. Read more »
Which stories dominated the green GigaOM clicks in 2011? This year was filled with smart thermostats, a dream of Apple getting into solar, the bankruptcy of Solyndra, the efficiency of cloud computing, Google’s green data centers and Tesla’s Model S. Read more »
“Cloud first” markets — those where companies’ first serious engagements with information technology are in the form of cloud computing — are beginning to emerge. For the BRIC economies in particular, this might mean a chance to adopt low-cost solutions that will give companies a clear ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Analysis by Xyologic found that of the top 150 apps downloaded on each the iPhone and Android in 2011, Android leaned toward apps, with 85 of 150 being non-gaming apps, while 100 of the top 150 apps on the iPhone were games. Read more »
One thing iOS and Mac developers need to take more advantage of is the halo effect of Apple’s devices. Real Racing 2 for the Mac, is a perfect example of how to capitalize on that with value-added features. Read more »
Apple’s iPhone 4S has propelled Cupertino’s smartphone share back to growth in many markets, including Britain, according to new data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech released Thursday. But Apple’s latest smartphone isn’t leading to runaway success everywhere, owing in part to economic concerns. Read more »
According to a preliminary assessment from the Dusseldorf regional court in Germany on Thursday, Apple isn’t very likely to succeed in its attempts to get the redesigned Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N tablet barred from sale in that country via injunction. Read more »
Still more Wall Street-watchers are raising their estimates for Apple’s iPhone shipments in light of recent strong performance. In a note to clients released Tuesday, Susquehanna increased its iPhone shipment estimates for Apple’s fiscal first quarter of 2012 to 30.3 million devices, up from 27.3 million. Read more »
According to a new report from app market research firm Distimo, the App Store, which has traditionally been dominated by U.S. downloads, is seeing another major driving force on the rise as more and more Chinese shoppers pick up iOS devices. Read more »
Maybe you waited a little too long to get a gift for that special someone this year, but would still rather not hit the mall in the few days remaining. Apple has you covered, with free next-day shipping at the online Apple store on its major products. Read more »
Apple issued a recall for its first-generation iPod nano devices back in November. At first, it looked like Apple intended to replace all the recalled units with refurbished equivalent models, but new reports suggest at least some users will be getting current, sixth-generation devices instead. Read more »
Apple’s iTunes got a small but handy feature update on Tuesday, and also iTunes content partner Sony Pictures Television has provided an early Christmas gift that’s perfect for filling any downtime you may have as a result of the holidays. Read more »
App analytics firm Distimo said the iPhone App Store is generating about four times as much revenue for the top 200 apps compared to the top 200 apps in Android Market. The app revenue gap is prompting developers to look for creative ways to make money. Read more »
Apple is targeting Samsung in Australia with another series of patent infringement claims, this time related to at least 10 patents tied to the design of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Samsung’s smartphones. These patents might be easily sidestepped, but how many workarounds is too many? Read more »
Apple is reportedly just about finished acquiring Israeli flash memory firm Anobit. Last week, reports suggested that Apple was in the process of acquiring the company, and on Tuesday, Israel’s Calcalist reported that Anobit has now informed employees of the deal’s successful completion. Read more »
Asymco.com blogger Horace Dediu has come from no where and become one of the most followed Apple analyst. His accurate track record and his ability to sift through mounds of publicly available data has made him many fans, especially amongst those who follow the phone business. Read more »
