WSJ

WSJ: Amazon preparing to launch 3D smartphone in September

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The Wall Street Journal added its weight to speculation that Amazon is preparing to launch a smartphone. The outlet reported late yesterday that the e-commerce giant has been showing off prototypes of the handset to developers, and it plans to take it public later this year.

What's really interesting about the device is that The Journal says its screen is capable of displaying three-dimensional images without the need for special glasses. And it accomplishes this by using retina-tracking technology that's embedded into four front-facing cameras...

Apple and Comcast mulling streaming TV service for next-gen Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple's $99 media-steaming box last year raked in more than a cool $1 billion in combined hardware and related content sales, prompting CEO Tim Cook to argue during Apple's annual shareholders meeting that "it's a little more difficult to call the Apple TV a hobby these days."

The company is reportedly updating the Apple TV hardware sooner than later with refreshed internals, allegedly adding gaming functionality via an Apple TV App Store for downloadable games and a built-in TV tuner to control your existing cable boxes and TV stations.

On the other hand, Apple thus far has been unable to obtain content rights for an a-la-carte TV service due to licensing negotiations and other issues. A report by The Wall Street Journal last night now claims that Apple is negotiating with Comcast using its infrastructure for optimal delivery of a streaming service for the next-gen Apple TV...

WSJ: Amazon launching its Apple TV competitor next month

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Building on previous reports, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Amazon is set to begin shipping its long-awaited video-streaming device next month. The device will thrust the e-commerce giant into a highly competitive space occupied by Apple, Google and others.

Citing sources familiar with the product, the outlet claims that the device will carry a variety of apps available on Roku and Apple set-top boxes and run on a version of Google's Android software. And like Amazon's other hardware devices, it will likely carry the Fire brand...

WSJ: Apple hiring engineers from HTC and other Asian firms to speed up product launches

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 5, 2018

Unlike the specs-obsessed technology industry which has always been dependent on frequent product refreshes, Apple continues to traditionally update its iPhone annually. Now, some industry peers - such as Sony - warned that the company may be "missing out" by not updating the iPhone twice per year.

Playing on this sentiment, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is now adding "hundreds of new engineers" and supply-chain managers in China and Taiwan. The company is hiring away these people from various tech firms, including rival HTC, reportedly in order to speed up product development and launch a wider range of devices...

Report: Google smartwatch made by LG, has Google Now, runs slimmed down Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 24, 2014

After Sarah Perez and Darrell Etherington over at TechCrunch ran a story last night detailing some of the aspects of Google's rumored smartwatch project, The Wall Street Journal and CNET on Monday reported that the device will probably be manufactured by LG Electronics. Google should detail its operating system in March and release a software development kit for third-party developers in June.

Apple is of course, rumored to be hard at work on its own wearable device, dubbed by the press the iWatch. A number of medical expert hires indicate that Apple's device may also include health-sensing capability such as tracking blood glucose and hydration levels, although not as advanced as previously speculated...

Tim Cook on bigger iPhones, ‘crappy’ Android experience, not making junk and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 7, 2014

Following notable excerpts from Daisuke Wakabayashi’s interview with Tim Cook in The Wall Street Journal, the financial newspaper has now posted the whole thing on its Digits blog.

The full interview gives us a more detailed insight into the mindset of Tim Cook's Apple as the CEO discusses recent topics of interest, including Lenovo's $2.9 billion purchase of Google's Motorola Mobility unit and additional information regarding Apple's share buyback program.

He also took time to touch upon the ongoing discussion concerning supposedly bigger iPhones in the pipeline, the current products not yet hitting the ceiling and lots more. I've included the best quotes and tidbits for your reading pleasure after the break...

Following 8 percent slide, Apple repurchases $14 billion in stock

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2018

Apple reported the financial results for its holiday quarter late last month, and for the most part they killed it—the company set records for revenue, iPhone sales, and iPad sales during the 3-month period. But all Wall Street saw was declining growth.

The Cupertino tech giant's stock dropped 8% that day in after-hours trading, falling from $550 per share to $500, and it has yet to rebound. But Tim Cook says Apple's taking advantage of the unexpected price drop by going on a major buyback spree...

Tim Cook: Apple working on ‘some really great stuff’ in new product categories

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 24, 2017

"There will be new categories," Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal in an interview regarding Apple's recent buyback of more than $14 billion in stock. "We're not ready to talk about it, but we're working on some really great stuff."

Now, Cook has alluded to Apple getting into new product categories before. But speaking with the Journal, the CEO seems more intent than ever on convincing worried investors that his company has some major things in the pipeline...

‘Haunted Empire,’ a scathing book on post-Jobs Apple by former WSJ editor, coming March 18

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 24, 2017

Reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane had enjoyed unparalleled access to Apple in her five-year tenure at The Wall Street Journal, during which time she published numerous scoops like the 2009 story about Steve Jobs's secret liver transplant.

She recently penned a new book on Apple that's coming out on March 18. Titled 'Haunted Empire, Apple After Steve Jobs,' it offers a scathing look at post-Jobs Apple and, in the author's view, the gloomy prospect the company is facing under Tim Cook's leadership...

WSJ: Apple looking to push deeper into mobile payments

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 24, 2017

The Wall Street Journal is reporting tonight that Apple is looking to develop a new mobile payment service. The outlet says that SVP of Internet and Services Eddy Cue has met with other companies regarding Apple's plans to use its iOS devices to handle payments.

With hundreds of millions of active iTunes accounts, Apple has one of the largest credit card banks in existence. And pundits have been saying for years that the company could leverage its mega user base by coming up with some sort of mobile payment system...

WSJ: two big iPhones this year, Apple to abandon plastic iPhone 5c design

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 24, 2017

Riding high on the iPhone 6 meme, The Wall Street Journal is reporting (or re-iterrating) that Apple will release two gaint-sized iPhone models this year and scrap the plastic iPhone 5c design. The new iPhones won't have curved-screens (thank God!) and shouldn't be expected this summer, as some misinformed analysts have said.

Contrary to some previous reports, the financial newspaper is expecting one of the big iPhones to include a screen measuring four and a half inches diagonally. The other phone should be what you'd call a phablet, a device featuring a five-inch screen...

Apple joins major U.S. tech giants in NSA surveillance reform push

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 9, 2013

The U.S. government's mass-scale surveillance program which has compromised the security and privacy of millions of domestic and foreign online users, the secret PRISM initiative, did not sit well with Apple and other technology giants. In response to the scandalous revelations by the NSA contractor Edward Snowden that also put the blame on Silicon Valley giants for bowing to NSA's request and providing the agency with hassle-free access to its users' data, the iPhone maker chastised the practice and published how it handles government requests to give up private information belonging to its users.

And now, in the aftermath of the ongoing snooping scare, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple along with seven other U.S. technology giants is making a joint appeal to reform government surveillance activities...