Possible Third-Party ‘iPad Pro’ Case Shown in New Photo
Ahead of any major product release, we often see part leaks and case molds, which give us hints on the sizing, features, and design of the forthcoming product, and the “iPad Pro” is no exception. We’ve previously seen what’s said to be an iPad Pro dummy model for Apple’s upcoming large-screened tablet, and today, French site Nowhereelse.fr [Google Translate] has shared an image of a case that may be designed for the device.
According to the site, the image of the case originated from a reliable source that the site has been in contact with “for many years.” Though the case in the photo is not depicted next to an object to provide a size reference, it is clearly quite large and could fit a tablet in the range of 12.2 to 12.9 inches.
The case appears to have two speaker cutouts at both the top and bottom, which would accommodate the stereo speakers that have been rumored for the device. There are also cutouts for a headphone jack at the top left of the case, volume buttons at the right, a camera cutout at the back, a Lightning port cutout at the bottom, and a power button cutout on the top right, all of which is in line with previous iPad Air and iPad mini designs.
The one unknown is a cutout on the left side of the case, which could possibly be for a SIM tray, suggesting that this is a case for a Cellular iPad Pro. Previous design drawings have not suggested that there’s another port in that particular location.
Because case makers often create molds based on leaked design specs and information that may not be accurate in an effort to be the first to come out with accessories for a new product, some of the design elements could be slightly off. There have certainly been a few misses over the years when it comes to case design, mainly when rumors of a tapered iPhone were circulating, but for the most part, case leaks have been highly accurate.
The “iPad Pro,” as it has been named by the media, is rumored to include a 12.2 to 12.9 inch screen, an A8X or A9 processor, and a design that is similar in style to the iPad Air or iPad mini, with a thin body and a high-resolution screen. Recent rumors have suggested that it could be the first Apple tablet to ship with an included stylus due to its size.
A launch date for Apple’s larger iPad remains unclear, but rumors have suggested that it could be released in the second or third quarter of the year.
Facebook for iOS Gains Foursquare-Style ‘Place Tips’ Recommendations [iOS Blog]
Facebook for iOS is gaining a major new feature today, which is designed to provide Foursquare-style recommendations on the places that users visit. Called Place Tips, the tool will offer up posts and photos that a user’s friends have shared at the same location that’s being visited.
For example, when visiting a restaurant, if a Facebook friend has previously been to the same spot, Place Tips will display any photos and posts that were made at that location, letting users know what might be good to order or what to avoid.
From friends’ recommendations to information about the places and things that interest you, Facebook helps you connect with the world around you. To better show you this content at just the right place and time, today we’re launching a new feature called place tips. Place tips will show you fun, useful and relevant info about the place you’re at. Tapping on place tips won’t post on Facebook or show anyone where you are.
As of today, iPhone users may begin seeing Place Tips at the top of their news feeds within the iOS app. Tapping on a tip will display cards with information about the location as well as posts and photos from friends. Place Tips are sent out to users who have given Facebook permission to access their location, and it can be disabled in the Settings menu. The feature uses a combination of cellular networks, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Facebook Bluetooth beacons to determine user location and deliver information.
For the time being, Place Tips will be limited to specific areas where Facebook is testing the feature in New York. Users visiting areas like Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, and more will be seeing the notifications.
Facebook for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Google Play is greater in downloads but the App Store is where the revenue is at
Given the fact that Android hold a whole lot of market share and the massive amount of Android phones there are, it shouldn’t shock anyone that Google Play sees a whole hell of a lot more download activity than that of the App Store. You would think that because of this massive amounts of downloads the revenue would be greater, that’s were we would be wrong. It appears that revenue generated from the App Store far exceeds that of Google Play by more than 60 percent.
According to analysis by App Annie, both experienced considerable growth last year with the App Store revenues growing by more than $10 billion overall. The analysis also suggested that most of these revenues came from the US, Japan and South Korea. It also found that men were more likely to download gaming apps while women downloaded more social networking and photo apps.
To come up with these numbers App Annie analyzed data from over 90 of the top 100 app publishers with that information coming from more than 700,000 apps.
source: TUAW
via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: Google Play is greater in downloads but the App Store is where the revenue is at
iTunes Connect Issue Causing Developers to be Logged Into Wrong Accounts
A number of iTunes Connect developers have turned to Twitter and tipped us off about an ongoing issue where users are being shown someone else’s session after attempting to login into their own account. MacRumors has been able to duplicate this issue, which appears to be widespread and has been going on since at least 8 AM Pacific.
While other developer’s apps are displayed in the iTunes Connect dashboard, attempting to take further action results in an “unable to process request” error and a redirect to the proper account. Sales and payment information are also not accessible for the mismatched account. For some other users, iTunes Connect also appears to be experiencing issues with logging in. Apple has yet to comment on the matter. This post will be updated as further details become known.
Apple Launches Annual ‘Back to School’ Promotion in Australia and New Zealand [Mac Blog]
Apple’s annual “Back to School” promotion has returned to Australia and New Zealand, as spotted by 9to5Mac. The sale offers an Apple gift card worth between $25 to $100 to university students, students accepted to a university, parents buying for a university student and faculty that purchase a qualifying Mac, iPad or iPhone.
The list of qualifying products includes the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Eligible customers can combine the Back to School promotion with Apple Education Pricing for additional savings. The sale runs January 30 through March 19.
Apple holds a similar Back to School promotion in the United States during the summer months, offering Apple Store gift cards of equivalent amounts for new Mac, iPad and iPhone purchases. That sale typically runs from July through September and is also offered in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Increased Switcher Rate From Android to iPhone Appears Focused Outside the U.S. [iOS Blog]
Following Apple’s earnings call on Tuesday in which Tim Cook stated the company “saw more new customers to iPhone than we’ve ever seen before,” research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) today released (via Fortune) a report delving into the specifics of the Android-to-Apple switching statistics revealed by Apple.
Expectedly, the report – which surveyed 500 Apple device customers inside the U.S. only – notes most Apple iPhone users returned to the company with the newest iteration of the iPhone last year. But the rate of Android switchers migrating platforms to the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus wasn’t much changed.
CIRP notes that the rate of Android switchers has “varied seasonally, yet remained relatively consistent,” and this quarter’s U.S. numbers have the firm speculating the biggest rate of Android-to-Apple switching occurred outside of the U.S.
“Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus ‘experienced the highest Android switcher rate in any of the last three launches.’ The US switch rate for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch did increase relative to the iPhone 5S/5C launch a year ago, and was about the same as the iPhone 5 launch in 2012. This week, Apple emphasized the international strength of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch, so it appears that Apple enjoyed a much higher rate of Android switching outside the US than in the more mature US market,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP.”
Given Apple’s strong position in the smartphone market in the U.S., where there is a strong base of iPhone-to-iPhone upgrades and fewer from Android-to-iPhone, CIRP’s report probably isn’t too far off from fact. Apple’s smaller presence in emerging markets like China, where it has been seeing very strong growth thanks to a few notable partnerships and store openings in the country has likely fueled some overseas brand switching among previously loyal Android users.
Q4 2014 was a photo finish between Apple and Samsung
Research firms have been busy collecting data regarding smartphone shipments throughout 2014 and are finally ready to publish their findings. Although figures for Samsung vary by a tiny margin of error from firm to firm, the consensus is clear: 2014 was a tough year for Samsung, while Apple saw a surge in Q4 smartphone shipments.
Beginning with Apple, the company saw iPhone shipments soar to 74.5 million units in Q4 2014, a growth rate of 46.1 percent compared with Q4 2013, and saw a 25.6 percent increase throughout the year. The arrival of the iPhone 6 Plus as a competitor to larger Android phones is speculated as one possible reason for this uncharacteristic surge. It will be interesting to see is whether Apple can actually sustain this momentum this time around, or whether shipments will fall back towards Apple’s usual cycle.
Samsung, on the other hand, has been a little vaguer about its figures. The company stated that it has shipped around 95 million handsets in total last quarter and that smartphone sales accounted for a “high 70 percent” of that amount. Counterpoint Research has estimated Samsung’s smartphones shipments at 73.8 million, a smidgen behind Apple, while Strategy Analytics places the two companies neck and neck at 74.5 million each. Either way, there’s only a 1 percent margin of error between the figures, and both suggest that Samsung saw a slump in shipments last year.
On the positive side, the decline in Samsung’s smartphone shipments appears to be slowing. Volumes were down 14.9 percent between Q4 ’13 and Q4 ’14, but only 0.5 percent lower when comparing yearly totals.http://embed.chartblocks.com/1.0/?c=54ca26c2c9a61db46852f48e&t=e4b683fac02021bIt is probably worth mentioning that shipments aren’t quite the same thing as actual sales, especially given the usual surge in stock levels around the holiday season.
Other Android manufacturers fared much better in the fourth quarter, with both Counterpoint Research and Strategy Analytics awarding third place to Lenovo and Motorola, following the finalization of the merger. The new company secured 25.9 million shipments in Q4 2014, a gain of 43.9 percent year on year and 54.3 throughout 2014 over Lenovo alone. Huawei came in fourth with a similarly impressive 24.2 million smartphones shipped last quarter and a 47.6 percent growth rate throughout the year.http://embed.chartblocks.com/1.0/?c=54ca2962c9a61d386952f48e&t=5832926b5ab3070Xiaomi turns out to be the real success story last year though, despite landing in fifth place with 17.1 million Q4 shipments. Xiaomi’s shipments grew by an astonishing 167.2 percent over Q4 2013 and surged by a huge 227.3 percent throughout 2014, according to Counterpoint Research.
In terms of an overall market share, Samsung remains firmly out in front with 24.4 percent, followed by Apple on 14.8 percent, Lenovo and Motorola on 7.2 percent, Huawei with 5.8 percent and Xiaomi grabbing 4.7 percent of the global market.
Without a closer look at the regional figures, its difficult to say exactly what has contributed to Samsung’s slowdown and Apple’s surge. New product competition in the West and a growing Chinese presence in emerging markets are both likely to have contributed to varying extents. We’ll have to see if this is just a one off quarter or the start of a new trend.
2015 is going to be an important year for Samsung, the company clearly needs a new approach to mobile. This year will also no doubt present plenty of new opportunities for the fastest growing brands to further close the gap on the big two.
Microsoft Launches Outlook for iOS with iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo Mail Support [iOS Blog]
Microsoft today launched its official Outlook app for iOS, which allows users to easily view and organize their email inbox, calendars, attachments, and more under one unified view. The app works with Microsoft’s own Outlook.com and Office 365 services, while iCloud, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail are also compatible. Outlook for iOS also features quick gestures, as users can simply swipe to delete, archive or schedule messages.
Now, with Outlook, you really can manage your work and personal email on your phone and tablet – as efficiently as you do on your computer. And, because we know that everyone has their own, unique way to manage email, Outlook offers customizable swipes and actions, so you can tailor the experience just the way you like it. Beyond email, the new Outlook app offers integrated calendaring that makes scheduling a meeting or sharing your schedule a single tap away.
Outlook for iOS is the first app developed by Microsoft after its acquisition of email startup Accompli, which also previously developed an email client app for iOS and Android. Microsoft has stepped up its efforts in the realm of mobile productivity in the past year, bringing Office to iOS last March and launching updates that added printing capabilities and third-party fonts.
Microsoft Outlook is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through App Store. [Direct Link]
Apple and Samsung Tied as World’s Largest Smartphone Makers in Q4 2014
The latest numbers from Strategy Analytics reveal that Apple tied Samsung during Q4 2014 to become the world’s largest smartphone maker based on global shipments. According to the report, both Apple and Samsung shipped 74.5 million smartphones during the three-month period of October through December. Apple’s number is an official figure from its financial results, while Samsung’s number is an estimate since the company stopped reporting smartphone shipments a few years ago. The research firm adds that Apple and Samsung were last tied in smartphone market share in Q4 2011.
Apple experienced a record-breaking first quarter of the fiscal year because of strong demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The larger screen sizes of the two new smartphones were a major selling point for many consumers, attracting more new customers and Android converts than ever before. Meanwhile, Samsung reported a 27% quarterly decline in earnings earlier today amid tough competition from both Apple and up-and-coming Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi and Huawei.
Strategy Analytics claims that global smartphone shipments grew 31% annually to eclipse a record 380 million units in the fourth quarter. An estimated 1.3 billion smartphones were shipped worldwide in 2014, with strong growth in emerging markets such as China, India and Africa. Apple has experienced a lot of momentum in China, noting that its online sales in the region for 2014 were more than the previous five years combined.
Apple also surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s second largest mobile phone vendor on the strength of the United States and China. Apple’s 74.5 million smartphone shipments placed ahead of Microsoft’s 50.2 million units shipped, but were behind Samsung’s market leading 95 million units shipped. Apple and Samsung have global mobile phone market shares of 14.5% and 18.4% respectively.
Following Apple’s Record Quarter Announcement, Samsung Reports Profit Drop
On the heels of an earnings call that saw Apple announcing record earnings, rival phone maker Samsung today announced its own results for the October to December period, reporting a 27 percent year-over-year decline in profit.
Samsung saw net profit of 5.3 trillion won ($4.9 billion), compared to 7.3 trillion won last year, marking its first annual earnings decline in three years and its fifth consecutive quarter of decline. Apple, meanwhile, announced record earnings of $18 billion, largely due to the success of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Overall, Samsung’s 2014 profit was at 25 trillion won, down from 36.8 trillion won in 2013. Samsung did not announce mobile sales numbers, but Apple sold a record 74.5 million iPhones during the quarter.
Market research has suggested that Apple’s share of the smartphone market in Asia rose dramatically after the launch of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. According to a recent report, Apple gained significant share in Japan, China, and South Korea, countries where Samsung has previously dominated due to demand for big screen smartphones.
While Samsung’s mobile sales were down 64 percent year over year, its semiconductor division earned 2.7 trillion won due to high demand for the chips that it sells to companies like Apple, boosting earnings from the previous quarter and helping it meet guidance and beat analyst estimates.
Chip maker Qualcomm also reported its own earnings today [PDF], and noted the loss of a major customer thought to be Samsung. Samsung’s Galaxy S6 is unlikely to feature the Snapdragon 810 processor due to issues with overheating, and the South Korean company may opt to use its own chips instead.
Samsung expects continued growth in its mobile division in 2015 in emerging markets, and it also plans to introduce “new materials, innovative design, and differentiated features” in its devices to drive sales.
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