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Rumor: Retina Display iPad to Launch in February

Sébastien Page ∙ December 8, 2011

Citi analyst Richard Gardner claims in a note to clients today that the iPad 3 (or whatever its name may be) will launch in February of 2012 and will feature a Retina display:

According to "several sources" the next iPad will launch in February, and it will sport a screen with double the resolution of the current model.

As usual, these analysts' predictions should be taken with a grain of salt, as they rarely rely on any evidence. But looking at the past two years, it seems clear that the next iPad will probably launch between February and April.

Samsung Denied iPhone 4S Ban Request in France

Sébastien Page ∙ December 8, 2011

In a new episode of the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung, the Korean electronics giant saw its request for a ban of the iPhone 4S in France denied, as reported by AllThingsD:

Describing Samsung’s plea for an injunction as a “disproportionate” measure, the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris ruled Samsung must reimburse Apple $134,100 for its legal fees. But it also denied Apple’s request for damages and said Samsung’s infringement lawsuit against its rival can move forward.

Next episode will be in Milan next week, where the Milan court will be holding a hearing of Samsung's request to ban the iPhone 4S in Italy.

Rumor: Next iMac Will Have Built-In Apple TV

Sébastien Page ∙ December 7, 2011

Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair chimes in on the Apple TV rumors by sharing his own predictions. According to Blair, the next-generation iMac for 2012 will integrate the Apple TV and iCloud, turning it into a personal computer with TV capabilities. Blair says:

“We think this makes sense because while we typically think about the newest TV’s hanging on the wall in large form factors, Apple could effectively start with what they already have on the manufacturing line and slowly push their offering from 27 inches and scale up from there to 32 inches and then move on to the 42, 50 and 55 inch market,” he writes. “In short, we believe the initial Apple TV is their iMac computer that can function as a TV, over the iCloud platform.”

I fail to see the practicality of a Mac/TV, but who knows? What do you think?

Siri, the Disappointment

Sébastien Page ∙ December 5, 2011

Gizmodo's Mat Honan writes about Siri, which he calls Apple's broken promise. The whole article is worth a read, but here is the conclusion:

And for me, once the novelty wore off, what I found was that Siri is not so intelligent after all—it's simply another voice program that will obey very specific commands. If it knows those commands. If it can understand you. And if it has a network connection. Were this Google, or Microsoft, I'd shrug. But it's not, it's Apple. And Apple is the company that sells perfection. It's a company that usually keeps its promises, and in its Siri ads, it promises far more than what it actually delivers. That's not what any of us signed up for.

No, Siri is not perfect. Yes, it's unusual for Apple to release a public beta of a product. But at the end of the day, it's still pretty darn good, and we know it's only going to get better.

Apple Denied Preliminary Injunction Request Against Samsung in the US

Sébastien Page ∙ December 3, 2011

This is a big victory for Samsung in the US, which could change the course of legal battles between the two companies in other countries. Reuters reports:

Apple failed to convince a U.S. judge to block Samsung Electronics from selling Galaxy smartphones and tablets in the U.S. market, depriving the iPhone and iPad maker of crucial leverage in a global patent battle between the two companies.

I wish Apple and Samsung would reach an agreement so we can put this behind us once and for all.

Syria Bans the iPhone in Effort to Block Protesters From Exposing Violence

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

In a move aimed at preventing Syrian protesters from capturing photos and videos of the violence in the country to in turn share with the rest of the world, Syria has officially banned the iPhone, as reported by The Next Web:

Syrian authorities have banned the use of iPhones in the country, restricting the use of the device by activists to document government violence, Lebanese website Al Nashara reports.

Activists within the country are now being served with notices from the Customs Department of the Syrian Finance Ministry, stating that iPhones are now banned. The notice reads: “The authorities warn anyone against using the iphone in Syria.”

Over 4,000 civilians have died since the beginning of 2011 in Syria, all of them killed by their own government.

Australian Court Extends Galaxy Tablet Ban One Week

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 27, 2017

A week after overturning a Samsung tablet ban ruling in Australia, a judge has now extended the ban for one more week, as reported by Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. (AAPL) won a one-week extension of a ban on Samsung Electronics Co.’s sales of its latest tablet computer in Australia, delaying pre-Christmas sales, in a battle that began in April in the U.S. and spread to four continents.

High Court Justice John Dyson Heydon today extended the ban on the release of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 to Dec. 9. On that day, the country’s top court will consider Apple’s request for permission to appeal a lower court’s order issued earlier this week, which lifted a ban on the product that has been in place since mid-October.

Drama down under!

Apple Speaks Out About Carrier IQ and iOS

Sébastien Page ∙ December 1, 2011

Following the carrier IQ debacle, Apple was relatively quick to comment on the matter, when it issued a statement a few minutes ago:

We stopped supporting Carrier IQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update. With any diagnostic data sent to Apple, customers must actively opt-in to share this information, and if they do, the data is sent in an anonymous and encrypted form and does not include any personal information. We never recorded keystrokes, messages or any other personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so.

Move along. Nothing more to see here.

Kindle Fire Becomes One of Best Buy’s Top Selling Tablets… But Wait…

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 16, 2017

TechCrunch is reporting that the Kindle Fire is becoming Best Buy's best -selling tablet.

Amazon’s first foray into the tablet world seems to be a runaway success. The Fire has occupied the top spot on Amazon’s best sellers list for weeks even prior to the device shipping. Now, at Best Buy, the $199 Fire sits higher the 16GB iPad as the top selling device in the hot category. Yep, it’s safe to say that Amazon is well on its way to officially winning the Android tablet wars.

So yes, if you look at it, the Kindle Fire holds the #1 spot. The reality is that there is only one Kindle Fire and there are 12 different iPad 2 models. Mind you, out of the 10 best selling tablets at Best Buy, 5 of them are iPads. At any rate, it's good news for Amazon.

Microsoft Office Coming to the iPad Soon

Sébastien Page ∙ November 29, 2011

The Daily reports that Microsoft is working on an iPad version of their popular Office software suite.

Microsoft is planning a version of its Office business app for the iPad, The Daily has learned.

According to sources, the tech giant is actively working on adapting its popular software suite for Apple’s tablet. With the iPad making up over 80 percent of the tablet market and millions of people worldwide using Office, that could mean big bucks for the tech giant based in Redmond, Wash.

It's unclear when Office for iOS will be released, but it should be sometime next year.

Brazil Sells the Most Expensive iPhone 4 in the World

Sébastien Page ∙ November 28, 2011

The new 8GB iPhone 4 was supposed to be a low cost iPhone. At least that's what it's like here in the US. It's a whole different story in Brazil, where the device is selling at a hefty price, making it the most expensive iPhone in the world, as reported by TNW.

Indeed, carriers Vivo and TIM just started selling the iPhone 4 8GB in Brazil for a whopping R$1,799 (US$970) without a data plan. [...] As for their competitor Claro, it only does slightly better with a Rs$1,650 price tag (US$888). [...] While subscriptions make smartphone prices go down dramatically in most countries, it is not the case there either; at Claro, subscribers will have to pay no less than R$270 per month (US$145) to get their phone for free.

That's even more expensive than India's iPhone 4S!

The AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Ain’t Looking Good

Sébastien Page ∙ November 22, 2011

Besides Verizon, it looks like no one is in favor of the $39 billion AT&T/T-Mobile merger. According to AllThingsD's Ina Fried:

You can add the chairman and staff of the Federal Communications Commission to the list of those who believe AT&T’s deal to acquire T-Mobile USA would hurt competition. [...] FCC officials said on Tuesday that the agency found in its review not only that the deal would hurt competition, but also that it represents an unprecedented reduction in competition. In every market except Omaha (where T-Mobile does not offer service), the agency found that the merger would reduce competition to a meaningful degree.

Obviously AT&T is not giving up and they'll use every possible mean to have the deal go through. Some lawyer firms are about to make a lot of money!