Ed Sutherland

How secret China flights bring iPhones to Apple Stores

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

Apple's fine-tuned supply chain is legendary, but we are just now getting a glimpse into its inner workings. As supply side wonk turned CEO Tim Cook Tuesday unveiled a new line of iPhones, an intriguing report revealed the coordination required to get the handsets to your local Apple store.

Using mammoth chartered jets and schedules so elaborate they almost make D-Day seem like a Girl Scouts delivery route, iDevices designed in California and built in China arrive in the US without a second to spare. A former FedEx executive likens it all to a Hollywood movie premiere...

Apple patent shines new light on potential iDevices made of sapphire

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

A newly-published patent suggests Apple is serious about bling. Not for diamond-encrusted gadgets, but iDevices made of sapphire, the second-hardest material on earth. The iPhone maker envisions smartphone screens able to resist scratches and breakage with bodies tough enough to withstand drops and spills.

Although up till now sapphire has been used for smaller items, such as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5s, the patent application outlines much wider application, according to a Thursday report...

Jumbo-sized ‘iPhad’ would be huge in China, but…

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

In astronomy, it is known as the 'Goldilocks Principle,' where Earth is located not too close to the Sun but not too far away. The 'just right' thinking needs to be applied to calls for a larger-screen iPhone, according to one analyst. While an iPhone with a larger screen is needed to increase demand in China, anything larger than a five-inch display risks creating an 'iPhad' that's part iPhone and part iPad...

Apple’s Find My iPhone helps recover 5-year-old in stolen SUV

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

Here's a use for the iPhone Apple may not have considered: do-it-yourself lojack. Thanks to the company's Find My iPhone app for iOS devices, Houston, Texas police Monday night recovered a five-year-old boy. Police say the father used his iPad to track the Apple smartphone that was in a stolen SUV which held the child. According to ABC 13, Houston police then used the information to track the family vehicle, stolen while the father went into a Houston liquor store Monday...

Apple stock takes a hit after Wall Street hammers iPhone 5c ‘iPhlop’

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Wall Street is a curious bunch. Apple shares dropped by five percent Wednesday morning after analysts piled on with disappointment over the iPhone 5c.

Expecting an inexpensive smartphone costing $400 without a contract, Apple instead unveiled a device priced at $549 unsubsidized.

The departure from the expected script caused some industry observers to downgrade Apple's shares, citing worries the iPhone maker may have shot itself in the foot when it comes to inexpensive Android alternatives selling in places like China...

iPhone 5c approved for China Mobile, to cost ‘significantly more’ than expected

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Recall how the iPhone 5c was thought to be Apple's answer to China's smartphone market dominated by inexpensive handsets? Turns out, the handset costs "significantly more" than expected and nearly as much as the full-featured iPhone 5s, also unveiled Tuesday. At $733 without a subsidy (in China), the iPhone 5C may not be so cheap after all.

"By any standards, it's a premium price," one analyst told the New York Times Wednesday morning. However, there still could be good news for Apple, as China approves the iPhone for China Mobile, the world's largest wireless carrier...

Walmart launches smartphone trade-in, but you’ll have to wait until September 21

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As everyone waits to learn what iPhones Apple will announce later today, the urge to trade-in current smartphones will surge. Hoping to take advantage of that last-minute push is Walmart, adding the world's largest retailer to the list of firms offering deals on older iPhones and other used smartphones.

But is Walmart offering the best deal?

There are some differences which could make offers by smaller firms more attractive, starting with kick-off time...

1 out of each 4 US smartphones users has an iPhone

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 9, 2013

America is now a smartphone nation and the iPhone is increasingly becoming the favored device. Smartphones now account for 56 percent of cell phones in the United States. That's up nearly ten points from a year ago, according to a new Pew Research poll. Additionally, the iPhone is used by 25 percent of US smartphone owners - or one out of each four smartphone owners in the country.

That's a notable six-point increase from nineteen percent a year ago. The rise in US smartphones mirrors a drop in feature phones, which fell to 35 percent. Just nine percent of US adults do not own a cellphone...

Apple’s design guru Jony Ive lends his touch to Sotheby’s charity auction products

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Apple's senior vice president for design, Jony Ive, has joined a designer friend to contribute special creations for a charity auction at Sotheby's benefitting Bono's PRODUCT (RED) campaign. Among the items is a pair of rose gold Apple EarPod headphones.

Ive, along with designer Marc Newson, represents a "design which is both iconic and sublime," the musician said in a statement. Other items which received the Ive touch which will be part of the November auction: a Leica Digital Rangefinder Camera, a Steinway & Sons Grand Piano and a 2012 Range Rover...

NFC/fingerprint sensor patent tips off exciting iPhone 5S Home button potential

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 9, 2013

Much has been made about the highly-expected iPhone 5S containing a fingerprint sensor within the Home button. Other talk has surrounded the promise of Near Field Communications (NFC) and Apple's off-and-on interest in the technology. It appears both a fingerprint sensor and NFC may join together to turn the next iPhone into an electronic wallet and more.

According to a new Apple patent that's surfaced in Europe, the iPhone 5S may include an updated Home button encircled by a ring which detects your finger. But this super-charged Home button also adds NFC, potentially replacing passwords and enabling secure wireless e-commerce, next-generation docks and other exciting opportunities...

Apple’s budget-minded iPhone 5C will fit T-Mobile ‘like a glove’

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 9, 2013

Apple's much-expected iPhone 5C, noted for its multi-colored plastic body and inexpensive price, could become known for something more: mortally wounding cellular contracts. The test could come this month as Apple unveils the less-expensive iPhone at around what analysts believe will be $400-$500, unsubsidized. For the first time, US carrier T-Mobile - which doesn't require subscribers sign a two-year contract - will go head-to-head against traditional carriers AT&T and Verizon.

Both carriers may lose customers to T-Mobile as all four domestic carriers offer the new iPhones simultaneously, analysts say. While both AT&T and Verizon provide a subsidy on the iPhone's price in return for a two-year contract, T-Mobile lauds its absence of such a requirement. T-Mobile began selling the iPhone in April of 2013...

Apple can keep 30 percent cut on sales, injunction in DOJ ebooks case confirms

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 6, 2013

Like a prisoner on Death Row, Apple has delayed its penalty for weeks, offering up objection after objection to a proposed Department of Justice ebook antitrust settlement. Friday, federal judge Denise Cote issued an injunction, giving federal lawyers much of what they wanted.

Among the prohibitions against Apple: a five-year ban on so-called 'most-favored-nation' clauses in publisher contracts that would prevent ebook sellers from using rival services, such as Amazon. Also part of the penalty package was a requirement that Apple stagger contract negotiations with the five publishers that had already settled...