US consumers losing interest in smartphones, but Microsoft 'delights'
Despite the introduction of some impressive smartphones in the past year it appears that the market is showing signs of contracting in the US.
According to a new report from Argus Insights, following a strong holiday season, US smartphone demand in Q2 (ending June 30 2015) dropped steadily and is down 8 percent compared to June 2014. While Samsung and Apple remain the top smartphone brands, Samsung appears to have failed to woo consumers with its two new flagship devices, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
Apple's App Store is host to 1.5 million titles
Apple’s App Store has passed another huge milestone, 1.5 million total apps.
It is an enormous amount of active projects on one platform, considering Apple’s Mac OS X store only has 25,000 apps. The only platform to rival iOS is Android, which has a large app library but lower revenue.
Think the iPod is dead? Apple disagrees, revamps range with new colors, and 'best iPod touch yet'
There has been talk over the past few days that Apple was planning to release updated iPods, and today the rumors are proved correct. As well as a new lineup of colors for all iPod models, including space gray, silver, gold, pink and blue, Apple has unveiled what it’s calling "the best iPod touch yet".
The new iPod touch features the same A8 chip as in the iPhone 6, delivering 10x faster graphics performance, an 8 megapixel iSight rear camera, and improved FaceTime HD front camera for selfie lovers. Fitness tracking is improved too thanks to the inclusion of the M8 motion coprocessor.
'Hey, Siri, play the sound of farts'
Apple Music can be used for more than just streaming songs to your iPhone or iPad. It can also be used to play sound effects. Who hasn’t wanted to have their endeavors greeted by a round of applause, or their jokes met with howls of hysterical laughter?
Sure, you have to summon Siri to use the trick, which reduces the spontaneity somewhat, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had.
Apple owns the smartphone market
There are over 1,000 smartphone manufacturers in the world, but Apple is still taking the lion’s share of profit from the smartphone industry. A report from Canaccord Genuity claims Apple took 92 percent of all profit in Q1 2015, with Samsung the only other manufacturer hitting 15 percent profit.
This is a big worry for the industry as a whole and shows how volatile the smartphone business is for new and old manufacturers. The report does not include private companies, meaning upstarts like Xiaomi and Micromax -- two of the most interesting manufacturers -- are not relevant in the discussion.
FTC could probe Apple Music over legality of 30 percent cut from streaming rivals
The launch of Apple Music has been one of the most controversial for some time. After complaints about the free trial period not generating income for record labels -- a problem seemingly sorted out by the intervention of Taylor Swift -- attention turned to how little the music streaming service paid artists the rest of the time.
Now Apple has a new problem, bringing Apple Music into the limelight for the wrong reasons once again. The Federal Trade Commission is currently considering whether to probe the company for antitrust violations. Reuters reports that the FTC could be on the verge of launching an investigation into the legality of the 30 percent cut Apple takes from other streaming music services such as Spotify.
First look at iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan public betas
Apple has released the first public betas of iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan, allowing anyone with a compatible device -- iPhone and/or Mac -- to become a tester. Having signed up for the beta program last month, I immediately wanted to experience what is new in the upcoming versions of the two operating systems.
There is huge demand for the first public betas, proof being that Apple's servers were quickly overloaded during the first hours of availability. You can thank the media frenzy for this. Nonetheless, I have managed to install the iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan public betas on my iPhone 6 Plus and 13-inch MacBook Air, respectively. And here are my first impressions.
iOS 9 beta 3 adds dedicated folders for selfies and screenshots
Little things matter in life. With iOS 9, Apple is offering many such tiny little conveniences to its mobile operating system. One such feature that is ought to please a vast majority of iPhone and iPad users, if not all of them, is a dedicated folder for screenshots! Finally!
The Cupertino-based company released the iOS 9 beta 3 earlier today. In it, the company has introduced many new features including Apple Music. But the feature that will excite the average Joe is new folders for screenshots and selfies.
Apple Watch sales are a disaster
While no official sales figures have been released, analysts suggest that Apple Watch sales figures are dire. The suggestion comes from analysts at Slice Intelligence, with figures pointing to sales now sitting at a fraction of what they were three months ago.
The excitement surrounding any Apple launch means that sales are likely to be high immediately after release, but by anyone's standards Apple Watch sales appear to be a disaster. From a high of around 44,000 sales per week in April, Apple is currently shifting fewer than 5,000 of its wearables each week.
Apple wants to control the look of third-party accessory packaging
Any company wanting to sell its accessories in Apple stores may as well fire some of its designers. Continuing its image-control efforts, Apple is to phase out accessories that are supplied in ugly, non-conforming boxes. Only those accessories that are packaged in boxes co-designed with Apple will be guaranteed shelf space in a store.
Many manufacturers already go to some lengths to mimic the look of official iPhone and iPad packaging, but it won't be long before this is compulsory. A memo sent to retail store staff reveals that accessories from the likes of Incase, Logitech, and Mophie will soon feature the cookie-cutter look that has become synonymous with Apple packaging.
Report suggests Samsung is more reputable than Google, Microsoft and Apple
A company's reputation can make or break it. No matter how good the product, a poor perception of the brand can negatively impact it. Sony, for example, is still recovering from its numerous blunders, such as installing rootkits on Windows machines and having its PlayStation network hacked. The company was not particularly open about both situations at first, leading many people -- myself included -- to be hesitant to trust it.
Samsung, however, seems to be the darling of the tech sector lately. Its smartphones and tablets are wildly popular, despite pundits constantly looking for it to fail. Guess what? According to a new study, the company is more reputable than Google, Microsoft and Apple. The study looked at "social responsibility, innovation, product and services excellence, and creating a great workplace environment".
DJs and music fans warned iTunes 12.2 could corrupt music libraries and add DRM
With the launch of Apple Music came a new version of iTunes. Apple's new streaming music service initially hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons thanks to Taylor Swift, and now it is the turn of iTunes. It's an app that many love to hate, and now there is another reason to dislike the music management tool.
It's not just runners with iPhone and iPod users looking for a musical accompaniment to their daily exercise who use iTunes to organize their music collection, it is also used by professionals. The software is used by DJs to keep their music collections in check, but anyone who relies on their music library might want to heed the warning of website Digital DJ Tips -- "Warning to DJs: Do not upgrade to iTunes 12.2!"
Your online payments could soon be authorized with a selfie
Make an online payment with your credit card and you're probably used to having to enter a password or PIN. But if a trial scheme by MasterCard takes off, this could become a thing of the past. The finance company is testing out a new payment authorization technique including fingerprint scanning and facial recognition.
MasterCard is working with Apple, BlackBerry, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung to introduce the biometric checks. The initial plan is to trial the system with 500 participants before possibly rolling it out on a larger scale. It's something that MasterCard believes will be welcomed by millennials and should simplify the process of making payments from a smartphone.
Could 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Display with Force Touch trackpad be right for you? [Review]
Reviewing most any MacBook Pro is a pointless exercise, because this year's model isn't much different from the previous—or the one before. That's why I typically buy refurbished rather than new. But I broke with that practice last month, after a sudden electrical calamity laid my wife's laptop to rest. Fried and died it is. With Apple releasing new versions of iOS and OS X and launching a streaming music service, a summer sojourn seemed opportune.
I considered going Windows 10, which arrives later this month. But most of my BetaNews colleagues are headed that way, so I set out down the Apple reviews track. Again, I probably wouldn't have done so if not for my wife's computer catastrophe. I lent her my Chromebook Pixel LS and purchased a new MBP. She will never give up the Google laptop, BTW.
Battery drain on iOS 8.4? Blame Apple Music
The latest update to Apple’s operating system may have only been available to the public for a couple of days, but complaints are already starting to emerge.
Reports are circulating that iOS 8.4 is a huge drain on the user’s battery life and apparently Apple Music is to blame.
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