CRM News: iPhone

The BBC's Olympian Streaming Ambitions
May 16, 2012

Today in international tech news: The BBC unveils plans to stream all 2,500 hours of the Summer Olympics. Elsewhere, Apple has reportedly engaged in talks with China Mobile, the world's biggest phone company, about teaming up to offer the iPhone; a criminal gets busted in Columbia for failing to log out of Facebook; and a report suggests most computer users in the world have acquired pirated wares.

Angry Birds, Mad Money
May 07, 2012

Today in international tech news: The makers of "Angry Birds" report crazy numbers. Meanwhile, Evernote seeks approval from Beijing to open up a data center in China, a step that could help the data-storage giant tap into the world's largest market but also -- if history is any indication -- subject it to government intervention.

The Sad 'Wake Up' Saga Just Gets Sadder
May 03, 2012

I'm often blown away by the pathetically misguided marketing campaigns that clearly out-of-touch executives in large corporations green light ... and then shell out millions of dollars to put into motion. But the "Wake Up" flashmob that tumbled out of a clearly expensive bus in Sydney, Australia, had me scratching my head while simultaneously clutching my belly to ease the pain of laughing so hard.

New Wireless Carrier? Apple Could Face Grueling Uphill Climb
May 02, 2012

Will Apple become a wireless service provider? Absolutely, contends Whitey Bluestein, writer of GigaOm's Apple blog. But that prediction has been met with widespread disagreement as well as some support. In his blog, Bluestein outlined what he believes will be Apple's roadmap for getting into the wireless business. First, it will start selling data packages for the iPad.

Samsung Rising
May 02, 2012

Apple revealed its latest quarterly earnings statement a week ago, and it was another period of strong sales for the company. That was thanks in part to customers in emerging markets buying iPhones. One report from Deutsche Bank this week said that Apple could sell as many as 25 million iPhones in China this year and could have 35 million iPhones there by 2013.

Sprint's Q1 Losses Come With Some Glimmers of Hope
April 25, 2012

Mobile carrier Sprint Nextel reported deep losses amounting to $863 million in the first quarter of this year, but the company's results actually beat Wall Street expectations. And since it began offering Apple's iPhone as of last October, Sprint added a net 263,000 subscribers. However, this has come at a price. To acquire the iPhone, Sprint agreed to a $15.5 billion deal with Apple to carry the handset over the next four years.

Apple Blows Wall Street's Mind Again
April 25, 2012

Apple announced yet another fiscal quarter that made Wall Street's head spin, sending shares skyward in after-hours trading. Revenue was up 59 percent for Apple, bringing in $39.2 billion compared to the $24.67 billion it reporter a year earlier. The tech giant reported quarterly earnings Tuesday of $12.30 per share.

Next-Gen iPhone May Be Baptized in Liquidmetal
April 19, 2012

Apple will use so-called Liquidmetal for the casing of the iPhone 5, which will be launched in June, according to a report. Liquidmetal is the commercial name of an amorphous metal alloy developed by researchers at the California Institute of Technology and marketed by a company they set up called Liquidmetal Technologies.

Why iPhone Users Hate Mobile WiFi Slightly Less Than Android Users Do
April 12, 2012

A cool study caught my attention recently. It says that iPhones have significantly higher rates of WiFi utilization than Android phones in the U.S. and the UK. I immediately found that point weird, because after all, most Android smartphones also come with contracts that require users to pay for a data plan.

iPhone Lucre and iPad Cash Form Raging River of Revenue
April 11, 2012

Apple's market capitalization passed the $600 billion milestone Tuesday, a first for the company. Shares of the stock went as high as $644 on Tuesday, putting Apple's market cap at $600.2 billion. The company is riding on record product sales, especially with its iPhone 4S and new iPad, as well as the announcement that an investor dividend is coming.

How Amazon and Nokia Are Channeling Jobs to Unseat Apple
April 09, 2012

The top technology company of the 80s was IBM, 90s was Microsoft, last decade Apple. No company made it across more than one decade as the top company and the trend was away from IT -- IBM -- and toward the consumer/buyer, suggesting that RIM's refocus on IT is clearly pushing upstream. What is also interesting is that the 80s' IBM and last decade's Apple were vertically integrated companies, while Microsoft's world was like what founded the industrial revolution.

Apple and Samsung: Bad Blood Gets Badder
April 04, 2012

The smartphone war is often depicted as a battle between iOS and a world of Android phonemakers, but a report released this week suggests that in terms of profit, Apple really has one main challenger -- Samsung. The South Korean manufacturer and Apple together account for 95 percent of the Q4 2011 profit in the handset industry, according to a report from Canaccord Genuity.

iPhone Beats BlackBerry in Its Own Backyard
March 23, 2012

Sales of Apple's iPhone are beating out those of Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphones in RIM's home turf of Canada, according to data from Bloomberg and IDC. RIM shipped 2.08 million BlackBerry devices in Canada over 2011, compared to the 2.85 million iPhones that Apple shipped during the year.

iPhone Gamble May Send Sprint Into Financial Shock
March 19, 2012

Sanford C. Bernstein has downgraded Sprint Nextel to underperform from market perform, citing concerns it won't sell enough iPhones to pay for its "punishing" commitment to Apple. Worse, from Sprint's perspective, is that there's a strong chance Sprint may have to declare bankruptcy at some point, Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said in a research note.

What the New iPad Tells Us About the Next iPhone
March 09, 2012

For the most part, new features for Apple's mobile products usually appear in the iPhone before they make it to the iPad, but that's not the case with this latest release of the tablet. Support for LTE mobile phone networks and a new muscular processor, the A5X, are two features found solely in the new iPad, which is why they could be headed for the next iPhone, expected to be released this summer.

Shifting Sands in the Smartphone Market: What's an Etailer to Do?
March 06, 2012

Online retailers that have committed to supporting consumers on their mobile phones are bracing themselves for a challenging year. Just as they thought it was a two-horse race for smartphone dominance between Apple and Google -- which enabled them to establish a neat mobile Web and app strategy -- a rejuvenated smartphone market is set to spoil their plans.

The Whens, Whats and Hows of iPad 3
February 11, 2012

A Wall Street Journal report on Thursday gave Apple fans all the excuse they needed to indulge in some more speculation regarding the iPad 3 -- if that is its real name, and if whatever it is even exists. Apple's kind of tight-lipped about this stuff. At this moment in the tablet universe, it's hard to guess what kind of grand and monumental new features Apple would want to add to the iPad.

Sprint Groans Under iPhone Subsidy Weight
February 08, 2012

Sprint Nextel delivered its Q4 and full year 2011 financial results on Wednesday. The third-largest wireless carrier reported an adjusted OIBDA of $842 million for the fourth quarter and nearly $5.1 billion for the full year 2011. The company's stock price fell after it posted an overall fourth-quarter loss.