Steve Jobs Passed on Building Apple Car in 2008 to Focus on iPhone
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who passed away in October 2011 following a lengthy battle with a rare illness, contemplated building a so-called “Apple Car” as recently as 2008, according to his former advisor Tony Fadell.
Tony Fadell discussed an Apple Car with Steve Jobs in 2008 (Image: Bloomberg)
In an interview with Bloomberg, Fadell, who led Apple’s iPod division between 2001 and 2010, said he had discussions with Jobs on multiple occasions to hypothesize about what features an Apple-branded vehicle could have.
“We had a couple of walks,” Fadell said in an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang. The pair posed hypothetical questions to each other, such as: “If we were to build a car, what would we build? What would a dashboard be? And what would this be? What would seats be? How would you fuel it or power it?”
Jobs, who drove a Mercedes, decided not to move forward with the idea at the time, said Fadell, instead focusing Apple’s efforts on the iPhone, which accounted for about two-thirds of the company’s net revenue last year according to SEC filings.
Fadell, who now serves as Nest Labs CEO at Google parent company Alphabet, said he does not have firsthand knowledge about Apple’s car plans, but he did reflect on the similarities between smartphones and modern vehicles.
“A car has batteries; it has a computer; it has a motor; and it has mechanical structure. If you look at an iPhone, it has all the same things. It even has a motor in it,” said Fadell, who’s now the chief executive officer of Alphabet’s Nest home appliances company. “But the hard stuff is really on the connectivity and how cars could be self-driving.”
Apple has considered building a car before 2008, Bloomberg noted. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller disclosed in 2012 court testimony that Apple discussed building a car before the original iPhone launched in 2007, while former Apple board member Mickey Drexler has also said Jobs wanted to build a car.
Apple faces growing competition from tech rivals such as Tesla and Google, and traditional automakers, if it chooses to enter the electric vehicle market. Recent rumors suggest Apple has assembled a team of hundreds of employees to develop an electric vehicle that could enter production as early as 2020.
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Microsoft Begins Sign-Ups for ‘Cortana for iOS’ Beta Program
Microsoft this week began the sign-up process that will let a few iOS users test out an early beta version of its Cortana personal assistant ahead of its wide release sometime next year (via The Verge). Specifically, the company said it’s looking for a “limited number of people” in the United States and China, with updates rolling out over the next few months to tweak features and provide any fixes to bugs found by the beta participants.
In the spirit of the Windows Insider Program, we’re looking for a limited number of people to get their hands on an early version of the app. It’s important to keep in mind that this is the first public release of the Cortana for iOS beta. And that for now, Cortana for iOS is only available in the U.S. and China. Over the coming months, we’ll continue to deliver frequent updates to the app to expand the features and functionality.
The company reiterated that Windows is where Cortana “really shines,” thanks to a few hardware-specific features, but promises that iOS users can expect a robust personal assistant that makes a “perfect companion” to the Windows experience. Those who are interested in testing out Cortana for iOS can complete a short survey on Microsoft’s website to possibly become one of the limited access users of the beta, who will begin receiving download links in their email over the next few weeks.
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Here’s a physical emoji keyboard that costs $100
Emoji are now deeply embedded in our collective psyche, and yet, they’re always out of reach. On your phone, they’re hidden behind at least a single tap, and on your Mac or PC, they’re obfuscated further, often inside an archaic symbol or special character menu. EmojiWorks aims to fix that with a full QWERTY keyboard that doubles as an emoji machine. It’s not the first attempt at an emoji keyboard by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an all-in-one solution that you can actually buy.
Via: The Next Web, Gizmodo
Source: EmojiWorks
Why an analyst thinks Samsung will stop making smartphones in 5 years, and why I disagree.
Ben Bajarin
As the market leader for Android, Samsung – both the company and the devices it makes – receives the lion’s share of attention from the media and many consumers. The world waits with bated breath for the next big thing to arrive, though some are lining up waiting for it to “fail”. The smartphone market has changed dramatically in the past couple of years however, and it is the latter sentiment which seemingly grows greater with each passing month. One analyst has now gone as far with the doom and gloom predictions to suggest Samsung will exit the market in 5 years time.
Specifically, Ben Bajarin, head of research at market research firm Creative Strategies, decreed that “Samsung will be out of the smartphone business within five years.”
His argument is largely centered around the idea that, essentially, the smartphone market has commodititized:
“Android’s new premium price point is between $300-$400 and the new mainstream Android smartphone price point is under $300. No other Android OEM, Samsung included, will sell in volume anything above those prices. At those prices, cutting edge innovation will be void, meaning the gap between iPhones and Android will grow.”
And:
“If you are not familiar with the Innovator’s Dilemma, it is that, as a market matures, the early innovators get disrupted by competitors who come into their space with lower priced products, similar specs (the specs that matter), and eat into the market share of the early innovator in the category. Once the market embraces good enough products, the innovator can no longer push premium innovations as their value is diminished once a good enough mentality sets in. Android devices in the $200-$400 range are good enough for the masses leaving Samsung’s $600 devices and above stranded on an island.”
Personally, it is difficult to believe that Samsung will ever “abandon” the smartphone market, as Bajarin suggests. Here’s why.
- Apple’s continued success is clear evidence people will pay premium prices. Bajarin’s thesis centers around the belief that Android smartphones have – on average – dropped in price point. Yet clearly, smartphone prices have not really changed. Apple not only managed to charge the same amount for this year’s 6S hardware refreshes, it actually sold more units than last year. Bajarin fails to account for the simple idea that customers who want to save money could just buy a cheap Android as an alternative.
- Bajarin’s thesis is largely centered around the idea that the smartphone market has essentially fallen into the same hole as the PC market. Most laptops now cost between $300-700 whereas they used to sell on average for almost three times that if not more. And yet. Microsoft’s Surface line is expensive. The Surface Book is super expensive. VAIO has an even more expensive product. The idea that the entire world will collectively have the same definition of pricing standards is both erroneous and narrow-minded, and is the exact reason why choice exists.
- Samsung has been making mobile phones for how many decades now? Bajarin explicitly mentions how the market has changed so much recently, yet fails to appreciate the fact that the market exists period. Jump back to 1998, or even 2004: were mobile phones the sensational tech-fest they are today? Nope. And yet Samsung – along with countless other OEMs – made, and continued to make devices even back then.
- Let’s be realistic here: Samsung, with all of its industries and divisions, is quite capable of competing directly with rival OEMs, the ones who are lowering prices. There is nothing actually stopping the company from lowering its prices, it just isn’t. This is exactly what Sony refused to do, however unlike the Japanese corporation, Samsung has been extremely aggressive about remaining competitive with new ideas and products. Why does Samsung continue to charge $800 for the Galaxy S line? Because it can. It’s the same reason Apple charges a small fortune for its products. If devices like the OnePlus 2, for example, can do high specs at a low cost, then why couldn’t Samsung as well? It certainly could, and at the very least – given the fact shareholders want results and not write-offs – the company would seemingly, sooner cut prices than exit the market entirely, thereby admitting defeat and sending investor confidence spiraling.
- Bajarin also mentions the idea that Samsung missed estimates this past quarter. It missed estimates, the likes of which are in part fueled by speculators such as himself. People who make bold claims about what might happen to any given company based on data that is often mathematically sound, yet fails to account for any kind of sudden change or unexpected occurrence.
Ultimately only time will tell how accurate this “death watch” proves to be. Just yesterday Samsung’s Vice Chairman had some very bold words to say about his company’s future, and indicated that significant, major changes were needed to continue on and survive.
Apple cuts a deal with failed sapphire screen supplier
Apple and GT Advanced Technologies Inc. agreed to part ways back in 2014, after the latter filed for bankruptcy. Now the two have reached a deal that will eradicate GT’s $439 million loan from Cupertino, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple originally tapped GT to make sapphire screens for its devices, but it became obvious that trouble was brewing when the iPhone 6 launched without one. It’s unclear what really happened behind the scenes, but GT accused Apple of shifting specs and requiring the company to manufacture millions of units the iPhone-maker wasn’t obligated to buy. Apple, on the other hand, said GT couldn’t meet its goals. Either way, GT ended up not having any clients that can sustain its business. Under the terms of the deal, the manufacturer will have to auction pieces of equipment, including some of its 600 sapphire-making furnaces, by November 23rd. It will then hand everything it couldn’t sell to Apple, which promised to nuke its debt completely
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Apple Predicted to Launch A9-Based 4-Inch iPhone in Early 2016, iPhone 7 Plus to Carry 3 GB of RAM
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a new research report outlining his expectations for Apple’s 2016 iPhone launches, including several interesting tidbits about the upcoming devices.
First, Kuo believes Apple still has a new 4-inch iPhone in the works that “resembles an upgraded iPhone 5s”. The device is said to be targeted for launch in the first half of next year and will come equipped with an A9 processor.
As there is still demand for a 4-inch iPhone, we believe Apple will upgrade this product line. Because the iPhone 5s is more popular than the iPhone 5c, we think Apple is likely to launch an upgraded iPhone 5s. We predict Apple will mass-produce this new 4-inch iPhone in 1H16 with metal casings. In order to make the current iOS 9 or next-generation iOS 10 run smoothly, Apple may adopt an A9 chip for this new phone.
Kuo believes this new 4-inch iPhone will not include 3D Touch support as part of an effort to keep it differentiated from the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. He also projects Apple could ship 20-30 million units of this new iPhone through the end of 2016.
Looking ahead to the next full refresh with the iPhone 7, Kuo expects the usual third-quarter launch in 2016 with an unsurprising upgrade to a new A10 chip to offer increased performance. He does, however, believe Apple will opt to differentiate between the two sizes of the iPhone 7 when it comes to RAM, with the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 carrying the same 2 GB seen in current iPhones while the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus will include 3 GB of RAM for performance reasons.
Kuo believes major winners for the 2016 iPhone cycle include Foxconn, which he expects will be the exclusive supplier for the new 4-inch iPhone, and TSMC, which he expects will be the sole provider of the A9 chip used in that phone as well as the A10 chip used in the iPhone 7.
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iOS 9 Adoption Jumps to 66 Percent After iOS 9.1 Emoji Update
Since launching in September alongside the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, iOS 9 has seen its adoption rate grow to 66 percent of active iOS devices, according to numbers on the Apple Developer Support page. Two weeks ago, iOS 9 adoption sat at 61 percent.
After 24 hours, iOS 9 adoption was in line with the adoption rate of iOS 8. However, in late September Apple announced that the newest version of iOS had the fastest adoption ever and was on pace to be downloaded by more users than any other version of the mobile operating system. iOS 8 only achieved a 64 percent adoption rate by December 23 and a 68 percent adoption rate by January 7, ending up with a high of 87 percent on the eve of iOS 9’s launch.
Apple released the first major update to iOS 9 two weeks ago with iOS 9.1, which featured a slew of brand-new emojis. Since that update, iOS 9 adoption has grown by 5 percent. Earlier today Apple seeded the second beta for iOS 9.2, the second major update to its newest mobile operating system.
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Apple and GT Advanced Reach Settlement on Remaining Sapphire Debt
Apple and its former sapphire supplier GT Advanced have reached an agreement that will allow GT Advanced to absolve itself of the remaining $439 million that it owes Apple, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Under the settlement, GT Advanced will host an auction on November 23 to get rid of the equipment that it contributed to the sapphire making process, with the proceeds being split between the two companies. Equipment that does not sell during the auction will be given to Apple.
While GT intends to hang on to some of the equipment–as many as 600 sapphire-making furnaces–it is prepared to auction what it can and abandon what it can’t cart off, court papers say.
Anything not sold will be handed over to Apple, which has agreed to scrap the equipment and extinguish the loan it made to transform GT from an equipment manufacturer into a supplier of smartphone-screen material.
Following the dissolution of the relationship between GT Advanced and Apple, GT Advanced agreed to sell off its sapphire furnaces to repay the loan Apple had provided to buy the equipment in the first place. Over the course of the past year, GT Advanced has been unable to find a buyer for the sapphire furnaces.
GT Advanced and Apple originally partnered up to produce sapphire displays for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s Plus, but the deal soured when GT Advanced was unable to meet deadlines and produce sapphire that met Apple’s standards. GT Advanced filed for bankruptcy in October of 2014, laying off more than 700 employees and shuttering the Mesa, Arizona factory, which Apple is repurposing as a data center.
Apple and GT Advanced’s new agreement is set to be finalized following the approval of a bankruptcy judge.
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Actually read the iTunes TOS with this graphic adaptation
It’s a little lie you tell every single time you sign up for anything on the internet. “I have read and agree to the terms of service.” You haven’t read them and everybody knows it, but maybe you should read the iTunes Terms and Conditions, just once. Not for legal reasons of course, or on Apple’s website — that would be boring — but in R. Sikoryak’s ‘Unabridged Graphic Adaptation: iTunes Terms and Conditions.’ It’s exactly what it sounds like: two volumes of unwieldy legal jargon juxtaposed with gorgeous comic imagery.
Via: BoingBoing
Source: Bird Cage Bottom Books
Tweetbot 4 for iOS Updated With Support for Apple Watch
Tapbots today released a significant update for its latest Tweetbot 4 Twitter client, adding support for the Apple Watch. On the Apple Watch, the default view is the Activity Feed, which includes Mentions, Favorites (soon to be likes), and Follows – the content you’d most likely want to view on a small screen.
From the Activity Feed, it’s possible to tap to view individual tweets to Reply, Retweet, or Favorite, and tapping on a name also leads to a profile where a Direct Message can be sent to a user or someone can be followed. A force press on the Apple Watch within Tweetbot will bring up the option to send a tweet, and composing a message is done via voice dictation.
Today’s update is the second major update to Tweetbot 4, which Tapbots released a month ago. Tweetbot 4, a newly universal app for the iPhone and the iPad, introduced a redesigned look, new Statistics and Activity Views, and support for features like split-screen multitasking on the iPad. A later update also brought support for 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
Tweetbot 4 can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]
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AIVAnet 