Apple Among Highest-Ranking Brands in Latest Workers’ Rights Report [Mac Blog]
International aid organization Baptist World Aid Australia released its Electronics Industry Trends report that examines working conditions for employees throughout the technology supply and manufacturing chain (via ZDNet). Apple was one of the highest-ranking brands in the report, which includes suppliers in all facets of the supply chain starting with mineral extraction and extending to the end stage of product assembly.
According to the report, Apple scored a B+, placing it just below Nokia, which was the leader with a B+ score on the basis of being able to prove it was paying workers a living wage. Paying a living wage was a key metric, with most of the surveyed companies (97 percent) not able to confirm they were paying workers at a rate that would meet their basic needs for food, water and shelter.
“Apple’s inclusion in the top tier may come as a surprise given the public attention it has received for poor working conditions and child labour at Chinese suppliers like Foxconn and Pegatron. In fact, Apple itself reported finding eight facilities using child labour in 2014,” said the report.
Apple has made significant progress in addressing poor working conditions in supplier factories, following several high-profile reports of labor violations at manufacturers such as Pegatron and Foxconn. Apple now routinely audits supplier factories and documents working conditions in a yearly report published on the company’s Supplier Responsibility section of its website.
Apple has pledged to prevent excessive work hours, unethical hiring policies, and the hiring of underage workers at the factories that supply Apple with parts. The company takes this commitment seriously, dropping suppliers when they are found to be violating its Supplier Code of Conduct.
U.S. Customers Unsurprisingly Delaying New iPhone Purchases as iPhone 6 Launch Nears
A study from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster unsurprisingly shows that interest in the iPhone is waning as the current lineup ages and users are increasingly looking toward an expected fall launch for the iPhone 6. The survey asked 1,016 U.S. consumers about their plans to buy a new smartphone in the next three months.
According to Munster, only 34 percent of surveyed consumers plan to buy an iPhone in the coming months, down from the 50 percent reported shortly after the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launch in September of last year. While interest in the iPhone wanes, consumer attention towards Android has increased as the balance shifts toward the newest handsets. Leading Android vendor Samsung introduced its latest flagship Galaxy S5 handset in February ahead of a launch last month.
This declining interest in the iPhone is not surprising, given the cyclic nature of product launches. With the iPhone midway in its product cycle, consumers may be delaying their purchase of a new iPhone due to rumors that suggest Apple’s iPhone 6 is likely to arrive this fall. The effect of rumors on a consumer’s purchasing decision is nothing new — Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer blamed rumors for declining iPhone sales in the months preceding the launch of the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 6 also appears set to bring a larger than normal upgrade spike as the device moves to a significantly larger display.
Even with U.S. customers delaying their purchases, Piper Jaffray still sees reason for optimism with continued strong international sales and even U.S. planned purchase rates remaining as high as 34 percent.
The Mar-14 quarter showed 17% y/y iPhone growth, which was significantly ahead of Street expectations for low single digit y/y growth. We believe that the iPhone showed significant strength in overseas markets, in addition to the China Mobile launch, that enabled it to grow meaningfully higher than expectations. While our survey is US focused, we believe the data suggests that the iPhone, particularly the highest-end 5S model, continues to have staying power given about a third of US smartphone consumers expect to purchase an iPhone in the next three months. We view the stronger March quarter in addition to our survey as an indication that iPhone can remain healthy into the iPhone 6 upgrade in September.
Apple’s next-generation iPhone is expected to launch this fall with a 4.7-inch display, a faster A8 processor, and an upgraded rear-facing camera with image stabilization. It may also feature a thinner profile with a new power button layout and elongated buttons to accommodate the changes in form factor. An even larger 5.5-inch model may also be in the works, although it could launch several months later than the 4.7-inch version.
Bounden is an iPhone dancing game that gets better when you hold hands
You met on Tinder, you romanced on Snapchat, and now your smartphone can also help you to get physical. (No, not in that way, pervert.) An iPhone game called Bounden has just arrived at the App Store and it’s designed (in partnership with a ballet company, no less) to instruct you on how to make beautiful shapes with another person. As demonstrated in the video below, you both hold onto the phone and then try to move some gyro-responsive dots around the screen. Get it right, and you end up with some nice twirls, a high score and a partner for life. All for $4.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple
Via: Eurogamer
Source: Apple App Store
Lenovo overtakes Apple in US PC sales for the first time
Apple has rightly made a big deal of the fact that its Mac sales have continued to grow, in spite of a contracting PC market. But Cupertino certainly isn’t alone in having figured out how to win at desktops and laptops: Lenovo has just reported big gains in its full-year revenue and profits, and it claims that its PC shipments in the US overtook Apple’s for the first time, grabbing the No. 3 spot behind the more stagnant giants, HP and Dell. This claim is based on data for the last three months, likely with a bit of help from analysts at IDC, although it’s worth pointing out that Gartner still had Lenovo in fourth place in the US as recently as April. Whichever pundits you listen to, Lenovo has now dominated the PC market globally for around a year, thanks to its ever-expanding ThinkPad line, while also growing its non-Windows tablet and smartphone sales — with the latter soon to become a lot more prevalent in the US now that the company owns Motorola.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, Lenovo
Source: BusinessWire
Southwest Airlines Updates iOS App, Enables Mobile Boarding Pass Feature at 28 Airports [iOS Blog]
Southwest Airlines has updated its official iOS app to include mobile boarding pass support at 28 total airports following a rollout of the feature in Austin, Texas last year. In addition to expanded mobile boarding pass support, the app also now includes upcoming trip cards that contain flight infomation such as boarding position and gate location, as well as access to flight tools like mobile check-in from the home screen.
Airports that now support Southwest Airlines’ mobile boarding pass feature include:
– Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ)
– Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
– Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)
– Baltimore–Washington International Airport (BWI)
– Nashville International Airport (BNA)
– Bob Hope Airport (BUR)
– Dallas Love Field (DAL)
– Denver International Airport (DEN)
– Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
– William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)
– McCarran International Airport (LAS)
– Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
– Kansas City International Airport (MCI)
– Orlando International Airport (MCO)
– Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
– General Mitchell International Airport (MKE)
– Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
– Oakland International Airport (OAK)
– Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
– Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
– Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
– San Diego International Airport (SAN)
– San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
– San Jose International Airport (SJC)
– Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
– John Wayne Airport (SNA)
– Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL)
– Tampa International Airport (TPA)
The official app of Southwest Airlines saw its last major update in November, which brought a new unified actions sidebar and airport information content pages in addition to initial mobile boarding pass support.
Southwest Airlines is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]
Apple’s iWork for iCloud now lets you collaborate on projects with 100 friends
If you’re using Apple’s iWork for iCloud to get stuff done, now you can collaborate on projects with even more people. Before if you wanted to get your co-workers input on your big plans for the company retreat (Laser Tag definitely promotes synergy) you could only have 50 contributors. Now 100 people can work on the same Keynote, Numbers or Pages file at once, and those projects can also be a lot larger. Previously you were limited to 200MB per file, with a 5MB cap for included images. Now there’s 1GB of space to fill with details about your group-cooking class plans, complete with images of up to 10MB each — that’s a lot more fancy dessert photos
More than just additional space and people, today’s update also brought support for 2D and interactive charts. You can now export Numbers projects as CSV files (for easy importing into Excel), and budding authors can transform Pages documents into ePub files. Despite all the updates, Apple is still listing the cloud versions of all three applications as beta, but that might not last long. We’ll likely hear more about all three (and their iOS and OSX counterparts) during Apple’s developer’s conference, WWDC, next month.
Via: 9to5 Mac
Source: iWork for iCloud
Google Beats Out Apple as World’s Most Valuable Brand [Mac Blog]
Google has usurped Apple as the world’s most valuable brand in Millward Brown’s annual BrandZ study of global brands (via The Telegraph). This comes after the survey had named Apple the top brand for the past three years.
The study saw Apple’s brand value decline 20%, from $185 billion to $147 billion, while Google saw a 40% increase, from $113 billion to $158 billion. Samsung also grew, going from the 30th most valuable brand to the 29th with a 21% jump, growing from $21 billion to $25 billion.
The big question for Apple, according to Millward Brown, is whether Apple is still redefining technology:
Google has knocked Apple off its perch after three years at the top. Apple is performing well but is it still redefining technology for consumers?
Overall, Brown noted that the study, which has four technology brands in the top five, reiterates how integral technology is to the lives of people.
Among other technology brands, Microsoft jumped into the top five with a 20% increase, going from $69 billion to $90 billion, while IBM stayed put at number three with a 4% decrease. The largest increase in technology came from Facebook, who jumped 10 places to 21 with a 68% increase, going from $21 billion to $35 billion.
While “brand value” studies can be difficult to compare, because of the use of differing methodologies used by those who gather the data can lead to much different results, they can be a good look at marketing and branding trends.
Sales Ban of Older Samsung Galaxy Phones Upheld by Dutch Court [iOS Blog]
A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday night upheld a lower court’s sales ban of some older Samsung Galaxy phones, reports Re/code. It’s yet another chapter of Apple and Samsung’s worldwide patent battle.
The order applies specifically to the Galaxy SII and Galaxy Ace, but could possibly be extended to other Samsung devices found to similarly infringe on a European Apple patent.
Initially, when Apple filed an infringement claim against Samsung and requested the ban in 2011, the company had requested a ban on all Samsung devices. Apple did not see its request fulfilled, however, and only saw the Galaxy S, Galaxy SII and Galaxy Ace banned.
Last week Apple and Google/Motorola Mobility agreed to a settlement and will dismiss patent litigations between the two companies. As part of the agreement they will also work together “in some areas of patent reform”. Following that news, it was reported that Samsung and Apple were in early negotiations to settle their patent disputes out of court as well, although some key royalty payment terms are under negotiation.
Verizon Debuts XLTE, Doubling Bandwidth for iPhone 5s, 5c [iOS Blog]
Verizon yesterday introduced its XLTE service, doubling the LTE bandwidth in some select markets to improve peak speeds on a range of devices, including the iPhone 5s, the iPhone 5c, the iPad Air, and the Retina iPad mini.
XLTE is the name given to Verizon’s AWS spectrum, which the company initially purchased back in 2012. Akin to opening another lane on a congested freeway, XLTE will open up new bandwidth for those using an AWS-compatible device, which includes the iPhone 5s and the 5c, ultimately resulting in faster LTE speeds. XLTE simply refers to LTE on the AWS spectrum, with Verizon’s described speed increases resulting from more available bandwidth.
While not directly beneficial to users of older iPhones, XLTE does have the potential to result in increased bandwidth on the standard 700MHz spectrum used by those devices, as newer devices will automatically take advantage of the AWS spectrum.
XLTE delivers faster peak data speeds and a minimum of double the bandwidth to 4G LTE customers in high traffic areas in markets nationwide where AWS spectrum has been activated.
While XLTE network enhancements are invisible to the customer, the mobile experience is not. XLTE Ready devices automatically access both 700 MHz spectrum and the AWS spectrum in XLTE cities. Customers with 4G LTE devices operating solely on the 700 MHz spectrum in XLTE markets also benefit from the extra capacity created by XLTE Ready device traffic moving to the AWS spectrum.
XLTE is currently available in multiple cities across 44 different states, which can be found on Verizon’s website [PDF]. According to Verizon’s estimates, the newly available AWS spectrum will improve LTE speeds for approximately 35 percent of the active devices on its network.
It is important to note that XLTE is simply a marketing term for LTE on Verizon’s AWS spectrum rather than a new wireless standard. It is similar to AT&T’s move to call HSPA+ 4G back in 2012 in order to distinguish it from standard HSPA 3G speeds.
Verizon has also announced VoLTE — or Voice over LTE — which is set to roll out to its network later this year. VoLTE, much like AT&T’s HD Voice, will improve voice quality by allowing users to make calls over LTE.
OS X 10.9.3 Boosts Maximum VRAM of Recent Retina MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Models [Mac Blog]
OS X 10.9.3, released last week, boosted the maximum VRAM used by the Intel HD 5000/5100/5200 graphics chips used in the most recent 2013/2014 MacBook Airs and Retina MacBook Pros.
First noticed by French site Mac4Ever [Google Translation], updating to 10.9.3 increases available VRAM from 1024MB to 1536MB, boosting the size of the shared memory, possibly to further improve 4K performance on certain machines.
The change can be seen in the Graphics/Displays section of the System Report accessible via About This Mac. Apple has not yet updated its support page to reflect the new VRAM limits, continuing to list 1GB of system memory as the maximum. The update was also not mentioned in the 10.9.3 release notes.
The 10.9.3 update, available via the software update tool in the Mac App Store, also included enhanced support for 4K displays and restored the ability to sync contacts and calendars between Macs and iOS devices over USB.
(Thanks, Peter!)
