Intel has been searching for a new CEO since Brian Krzanich resigned nearly seven months ago, and Axios now reports that the chipmaker's list of candidates includes Johny Srouji, Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies at Apple.
Srouji joined Apple in 2008 to lead development of the A4 chip, the first Apple-designed system-on-a-chip in the iPhone 4, and now oversees custom silicon and hardware technologies including batteries, application processors, storage controllers, sensors silicon, and other chipsets across Apple's entire product line.
It's unclear if Srouji is interested in leading Intel, where he worked between 1990 and 2005 in both his native Israel and the United States, according to his LinkedIn profile. Srouji also worked at IBM between 2005 and 2008.
Apple's custom A-series chips lead the mobile industry in terms of performance, so losing Srouji would certainly be a major blow for the iPhone maker, although the company obviously has a larger team of engineers working on the silicon. Back in 2017, Srouji said his team was already working on chips for 2020.
Netflix today announced that it will raise the prices for all of its subscription tiers, the latest price hike since November 2017. Specifically, the cheap "Basic" tier will rise from $8 to $9/month, the popular HD "Standard" tier will rise from $11 to $13/month, and the 4K "Premium" tier will rise from $14 to $16/month.
According to CNBC, the changes take effect immediately for new customers signing up for Netflix, while current subscribers will be grandfathered in to their existing prices for now, and see the price hike emerge over the next three months. The increase represents a jump of between 13 percent and 18 percent, which is Netflix's biggest price increase since it launched streaming 12 years ago.
Today's report says that the extra cash will be used to pay for Netflix's lofty investment in original shows and films, as well as finance the debt it's recently taken on to "ward off streaming threats" from Apple, Disney, and others.
Netflix is boosting its original catalog of shows and movies as more companies remove their content from its service and build their own platforms, just like Disney will do with Marvel and Star Wars movies sometime this year. After they're removed from Netflix for good, Disney's streaming service "Disney+" will be the exclusive streaming home of these franchises.
Netflix is also gearing up for new competition in the streaming market, particularly from Apple's upcoming original television shows. Apple is planning to debut its first string of shows at some point in 2019, and they'll reportedly be free for Apple device owners in the company's TV app, likely taking some streaming time away from Netflix for users who stream on Apple TV.
In total, this is the fourth price hike for Netflix subscribers in the streaming service's history. The HD Standard tier was priced at $10/month in 2017 before it rose to $11/month in November of that year, and now it will be priced at $13/month.
During one of the first price hikes in 2016, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings noted that the company saw an "unexpected" loss of subscribers when raising the Standard tier from $8 to $10/month. "Whatever the price is for something, people don't like for it to go up," Hastings admitted at the time.
Verizon subscribers with an iPhone or Android smartphone and a Beyond Unlimited or Above Unlimited data plan will soon have unlimited access to Apple Music at no additional cost, according to documentation obtained by 9to5Mac.
The report claims the free Apple Music subscription is not simply a trial but rather will be offered on an ongoing basis. Verizon's lower-priced Go Unlimited plan with reduced data speeds will continue to offer a six-month Apple Music trial, as the Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans currently do.
The perk will be available to both new and existing subscribers starting this Thursday, January 17, the report adds. Verizon's documentation suggests there is no catch, with the monthly prices of Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans expected to remain unchanged, but we'll know for sure in a few days.
The perk will compete with T-Mobile's offer of free Netflix to subscribers who have two or more unlimited data lines with the carrier.
An individual Apple Music subscription typically costs $9.99 per month.
Update: Verizon has confirmed that Apple Music will be included as a perk for its Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans starting on January 17.
Kano, the company known for its range of products designed to teach coding to kids and adults alike through innovative coding projects, today announced a new two-year partnership with Disney.
Under the terms of the partnership, Kano plans to develop a Star Wars themed experience and product system, which is set to launch during the second half of 2019. Additional details will be forthcoming.
"Our goal at Kano is to take you on a journey, unlocking powers in yourself and others, through the medium of technology – from wands that really work, to computers you make yourself, and more" said Alex Klein, co-founder, and CEO of Kano, "Collaborating with Disney is a blessing. We can combine connected, creative technologies with some of the most memorable stories ever told."
Kano is also planning to incorporate additional Disney intellectual properties into its products during the length of the partnership, so we could be seeing additional Disney-themed coding projects.
Kano is known for devices like the Harry Potter Kano Coding Wand, which uses the Harry Potter universe to teach coding techniques. With the Harry Potter kit, kids and adults build their own wand and then use it within the Kano coding app to create magic.
Kano customers who are interested in the upcoming Star Wars products can visit the Kano website for additional details.
Following in the footsteps of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, Pandora today launched its own voice assistant available within its iOS and Android apps. When the app is opened, users can turn on "voice mode" and say "Hey Pandora," asking the assistant to play their music, podcasts, radio stations and more connected to the streaming music service.
Similar to Siri, Pandora will also be able to respond to more vague commands to play music, like asking to "play something new," "play more like this," "play music I like," and more. According to Pandora chief product officer Chris Phillips, voice searches will be personalized for each user and informed by their listening habits on the service.
“Pandora is the leader in personalized audio entertainment, and millions of our listeners are already loving the experience we’ve created on smart speakers and other voice-enabled connected devices,” said Chris Phillips, Chief Product Officer, Pandora.
“With Voice Mode, we are introducing an even more natural and conversational way for listeners to discover new music and enhance their experience directly in the Pandora mobile app, like getting recommendations from a friend who really knows you.”
This means that when users ask to "play something new," each person will see different results, and the assistant will showcase these recommendations in various forms. Some listeners might see a playlist, while others will get an album, singular new song, or a radio station.
All voice mode features can be found in the Pandora app's search bar next to the magnifying glass.
Types of requests include:
Control requests to change stations, control volume, skip or pause music, and other basic navigation commands. Thematic requests delivering personalized music based on each user’s unique tastes, moods, and favorite activities like “play something for my workout” or “play music for relaxing.” Open-ended requests like “play something different,” “play something I like” or “play more like this.” Basic requests for a specific artist, song, station, podcast or playlist like “play new music by…” or “play my happy jams playlist.” Interactive requests like “what song is this?” or directional requests like “add this song to my party playlist” or “I like this” to give a thumbs-up.
Voice mode will be available for all Pandora users, both those on its free tier and those paying for Pandora Premium. The feature is launching today for some users on the Pandora iOS and Android apps, and it will continue to roll out for more users over the next few months.
Nike today introduced new iPhone-controlled self-adjusting basketball shoes based on its latest FitAdapt technology.
The new Nike Adapt BB shoes feature an advanced power-lacing system with a custom motor that senses the tension needed by the foot and adjusts accordingly to ensure a snug fit. Using buttons on the shoe or the Nike Adapt app for smartphones, basketball players can adjust the fit on the fly during a game.
For example, during a timeout, a player can loosen the shoe before tightening it up as they re-enter the game. In a forthcoming feature, Nike says players will also be able to prescribe a different tightness setting for warm-ups.
The shoes are equipped with a 505 mAh battery that can last between 10 and 20 days and charge wirelessly on Nike's shoe-sized Qi-compatible mat in three hours.
Nike says its new Adapt BB shoes are an evolution of its HyperAdapt 1.0 shoes from 2016, the athletic wear company's first multipurpose performance shoe to feature power lacing. The Adapt BB shoes will also be Nike's first continually updated performance product, as they will receive opt-in firmware updates.
A German court on Tuesday threw out a new patent lawsuit filed by Qualcomm, which the U.S. company claimed was violated by the use of its chips in Apple's iPhones (via Reuters).
The regional court in the city of Mannheim dismissed the Qualcomm suit as groundless in an initial verbal decision, saying the patent in question was not violated by the installation of its chips in Apple's smartphones.
This is just the latest in a string of lawsuits from Qualcomm, which remains locked in a worldwide patent battle with Apple. The chipmaker said it would appeal today's decision, after winning a separate case before a German court in December that enabled it to enforce a ban on the sale of older iPhones in the country.
"Apple has a history of infringing our patents," said Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm's executive vice president and general counsel.
"While we disagree with the Mannheim court's decision and will appeal, we will continue to enforce our (intellectual property) rights against Apple worldwide."
Apple is appealing the preliminary injunction which blocks the import and sale of infringing iPhone models in Germany, but it has already been forced to pull the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus from sale in the country.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm has put aside €1.34 billion in security bonds in order to enforce the preliminary injunction. The bonds will be put towards the cost of the lost sales if Apple successfully appeals the verdict.
Later this month, Samsung will launch its new mid-range Galaxy M series. These are the first smartphones to feature the company's Infinity-V display, so-called due to its centered teardrop-shaped notch housing the front-facing camera.
Samsung has teased the Galaxy M Series launch on Amazon India
In another first for Samsung, the devices will be launching exclusively in India on January 28 ahead of a global release, in an attempt to regain ground lost to Chinese rivals like Xiaomi in the world's second biggest smartphone market.
The popularity of Xiaomi's budget Redmi smartphones among younger consumers is believed to be a factor in declining sales of Samsung devices in the country. According to data from Counterpoint, Xiaomi overtook Samsung's share of the Indian market in Q4 2017, and maintained a five point lead over the company as recently as Q3 2018.
The Galaxy M series is being seen as a direct counter to Xiaomi Redmi, and the Korean company has indicated as much. "The M series has been built around and incepted around Indian millennial consumers," said Samsung India's senior vice president Asim Warsi, speaking to Reuters.
The line-up is thought to include three models, the M10, M20, and M30, which feature one, two, and three rear-facing cameras, respectively, a USB-C port, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a headphone jack. The M-series phones, which Samsung plans to sell only through its website and Amazon India, also promise fast charging, long battery life, and high performance, all for a price of between $140 and $280.
With smartphone sales flattening in saturated markets like the United States, Apple is said to have turned to India for new growth, but with little success so far, according to a report published late last year.
Just one in four Indians are said to own a smartphone, providing Apple with an opportunity to sell iPhones to millions of new customers in the country. According to the report, Apple's problem is that India is a very price-sensitive market, with more than 75 percent of the smartphones sold in the country costing less than $250.
However, so far Apple has been reluctant to change its traditional business model for selling iPhones, which prioritizes a limited number of coveted products sold at high prices. In that sense, by offering a range of handsets with affordable high-end options, Samsung appears to be attempting a level of regional flexibility that Apple has yet to chance.
Apple replaced a total of 11 million iPhone batteries under the $29 battery replacement program that was introduced at the end of 2017 and ran through 2018 before ending on December 31, 2018.
The tidbit was shared by Tim Cook at a recent all-hands meeting with Apple employees and relayed by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, who heard the information from an unnamed source.
Apple replaced approximately 9 to 10 million more batteries than it would have during a normal year, said Cook. Apple normally replaces 1 to 2 million batteries each year.
Cook cited the battery replacement program as one of the reasons why Apple's Q1 2019 guidance was cut earlier this month after poorer than expected iPhone sales. Apple now expects revenue of $84 billion, down from a November estimate of $89 to $93 billion.
It's not entirely clear why Apple didn't know how the battery replacement program would impact sales earlier in the year given that it ran throughout 2018, but Gruber speculates that while Apple knew battery replacements were higher than normal, the true effect of the replacement program did not become known until the new iPhone XS and XR models were released and fewer people upgraded.
Apple initiated the $29 battery replacement program after outcry over an iOS 10 update introduced a power management feature that slowed the performance of some older iPhones with degrading batteries. The power management features were designed to prevent unexpected shutdowns and prolong the iPhone's life, but some customers saw it as proof of planned obsolescence.
Apple apologized for the misinformation and introduced the discounted battery replacement program to appease customers. In a device with a degraded battery that is experiencing slowdown issues because of performance management software, replacing the battery restores full functionality, which undoubtedly led some customers to stick with an older iPhone rather than upgrade.
In February 2018, Cook said that Apple had not considered how the battery replacement program would impact iPhone upgrade rates, but it's clear it ultimately had an impact on Apple's bottom line.
"We did it because we thought it was the right thing to do for our customers," said Cook at the time. "I don't know what effect it will have for our investors. It was not in our thought process of deciding to do what we've done."
Apple could have a 7th-generation iPod touch in the works, according to new information shared today by Japanese site Mac Otakara.
Several suppliers at CES 2019 reportedly told Mac Otakara that a 7th-generation iPod touch "might" be in development as a replacement for the 6th-generation version.
The site did not provide details on when an updated iPod touch might launch, nor what features it might include.
Apple last updated the hardware in the iPod touch in July 2015, introducing an A8 chip, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and six color options.
The iPod touch lineup was last tweaked in July 2017 when Apple streamlined the available capacity options (32 and 128GB) and introduced new pricing tiers. Right now, the iPod touch costs $199 for the 32GB version and $299 for the 128GB version, with the higher-capacity model's pricing not too far off from the $329 9.7-inch iPad.
With the iPod shuffle and iPod nano having been discontinued in 2017, Apple's plans for the iPod touch and the iPod family in general have been unclear.
The iPod has seemed to be on its last legs as Apple customers shift to other devices like the iPhone and the iPad, but it's not out of the question that the iPod touch could be updated with more modern hardware like an improved rear camera and a faster A-series chip.
Mac Otakara's report also suggests that the next-generation iPhone coming in 2019 could potentially include a USB-C port. According to "those who are working on it," though, it has not reached a design reference step and whether or not the new iPhones will use USB-C over Lightning is not yet fully established.
This is not the first time we've heard that USB-C could be a feature included in the 2019 iPhone lineup. Atherton Research analyst Jean Baptiste Su recently said that he believes Apple will transition away from Lightning, introducing a USB-C port for the iPhone like it did on the 2018 iPad Pro models.
DigiTimes has also suggested in a vaguely worded report that 2019 iPhones could feature USB-C ports instead of Lightning ports, though it was difficult to tell if it was referring to the ports or a USB-C to Lightning cable for the iPhones.
A swap to USB-C from Lightning has been rumored for years, but the fact that Apple made the transition in the iPad Pro lends more credence to new rumors suggesting the same transition for the 2019 iPhones.
Law enforcement officials can't force smartphone users to unlock their devices using fingerprints or other biometric features such as facial recognition, according to a Northern California court ruling from last week.
The ruling, which was shared this morning by Forbes, was the result of an Oakland investigation into possible extortion. Police officers asked the court for permission to seize multiple devices and then compel the suspects to unlock the devices using biometric authentication.
The court said that there was indeed probable cause to grant a search warrant, but that it was denied because the request to force the suspects to unlock their devices using biometric authentication "funs afoul of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments." From the ruling:
The Government, however, also seeks the authority to compel any individual present at the time of the search to press a finger (including a thumb) or utilize other biometric features, such as facial or iris recognition, for the purposes of unlocking the digital devices found in order to permit a search of the contents as authorized by the search warrant.
For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds that the Government's request funs afoul of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments and the search warrant application must be DENIED.
In further analysis, the court equated biometric authentication to a passcode rather than something like submitting to a DNA swab. It has been previously established that under the Fifth Amendment, a suspect cannot be compelled to provide the passcode of a device.
Biometric features like Touch ID and Face ID, said the court, serve the same purpose as a passcode, securing the owner's content, "pragmatically rendering them functionally equivalent."
The ruling also made an interesting point about the urgency with which law enforcement officials attempt to get a suspect to unlock a device biometrically, because after a device is passcode locked (iPhones will passcode lock after a short period without a biometric unlock), the government can't compel a person to enter the passcode. This urgency essentially confirms that a passcode and a biometric lock are one and the same.
This urgency appears to be rooted in the Government's inability to compel the production of the passcode under the current jurisprudence. It follows, however, that if a person cannot be compelled to provide a passcode because it is a testimonial communication, a person cannot be compelled to provide one's finger, thumb, iris, face, or other biometric feature to unlock that same device.
Biometric authentication measures have been a hotly debated topic, and previous rulings have suggested that Touch ID and Face ID are not equivalent to a passcode, though most rulings have pertained to Touch ID as Face ID is newer.
This has allowed law enforcement to force suspects to unlock their iPhones and other devices using biometric authentication. In October, for example, the FBI was able to force a man accused of child abuse to unlock his iPhone using Face ID.
The California court's most recent ruling could potentially have an impact on future court cases of this type, perhaps putting an end to the practice of forced biometric smartphone unlocking and the belief that a passcode is not equivalent to a biometric lock.
For now, though, Apple has implemented a method to quickly and temporarily disable Touch ID and Face ID by pressing on the side button of recent iPhones five times in quick succession.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Apple-owned company FoundationDB today announced the open source release of the FoundationDB Record Layer, which it says offers up relational database semantics on top of FoundationDB with schema management, indexing facilities, and a "rich set of query capabilities.
Apple uses the Record Layer to support applications and services for hundreds of millions of users, and combined with FoundationDB, it forms the backbone of Apple's CloudKit service.
Built on top of FoundationDB, the Record Layer inherits FoundationDB's strong ACID semantics, reliability, and performance in a distributed setting. The Record Layer also uses FoundationDB's transactional semantics to provide features similar to a traditional relational database, but in a distributed setting. For example, the Record Layer's secondary indexes are maintained transactionally, so they're always up-to-date with the latest changes to the data. Transactions reduce the number of bugs in application code and greatly simplify application development.
FoundationDB also wrote a full paper describing how the Record Layer was built to run at a massive scale and just how CloudKit uses it. That paper is available in PDF form here.
In a nutshell, CloudKit uses the Record Layer to host billions of independent databases, and its feature set lets CloudKit provide rich APIs and strong semantics with improved scalability and reduced maintenance.
FoundationDB has also written a getting started guide designed to walk users through creating an application that uses the Record Layer, along with a detailed overview and a forum, all of which is available via the open source announcement.
Apple late last year began allowing third-party companies to produce Made for iPhone or "MFi" certified USB-C to Lightning cables, and as a result, multiple companies have been announcing the upcoming launch of new USB-C to Lightning cable options.
Anker today said that it plans to launch its first USB-C to Lightning cables in March 2019. Anker's Powerline+ USB-C to Lightning cables will feature an aluminum shell and protective braided nylon for durability, while the Powerline version will feature aramid fiber for improved strength.
The cables will be available in both three and six-foot lengths, with pricing to be announced at a later date.
Anker is also coming out with a USB-C to Lightning Audio Adapter, designed for Macs with USB-C ports and the new iPad Pro. The adapter will allow Lightning headphones to be plugged into a USB-C port. The USB-C to Lightning Audio Adapter is set to launch in April 2019.
Starting tomorrow, Anker is launching its Powerport Atom PD 1, the smallest 30W charger on the market. Priced at $29.99, it uses gallium nitride, a new material that's being used in ultra small chargers for heat dissipation purposes. Anker's new Powerport Atom PD 1 and the upcoming cables will be available on Amazon.
Along with Anker, several other companies are coming out with USB-C to Lightning cables in the near future. Belkin and Griffin both have Lightning to USB-C cables coming in the near future at prices starting at $24.99 and $19.99, respectively.
Prior to 2019, Apple made the only official USB-C to Lightning cables available for purchase, which are priced starting at $19.
Comcast's NBCUniversal is planning to launch its own ad-supported streaming television service in the first quarter of 2020, the company announced today.
The upcoming service will be available for free to anyone that subscribes to a traditional pay-TV service, including TV service from Comcast and its competitors, like Charter, AT&T, Cox, and Dish.
Customers that do not subscribe to a paid television service will need to pay a fee that's right around $12 per month to access NBC content.
Content will include 1,500 hours of NBC TV shows, like "Saturday Night Live" and "Parks and Recreation, hundreds of hours of Universal movies, and live TV-like news and sports. NBC plans to air between three to five minutes of ads per hour of programming, with the aim to make $5 per month for every user on advertising alone.
"One of the interesting things about this that makes it different and innovative is that we'll have a big emphasis on free-to-consumer," Burke said. "We want to create a platform that has significant scale and can scale quickly. The best way to do that, is make it free to consumers and leverage the fact that NBCUniversal's sister company is a cable company and now owns Sky."
NBC still needs to sign deals with other pay-TV providers, something that it hasn't yet accomplished. Since it will be free for subscribers, though, NBC doesn't foresee issues with negotiations.
Though NBC is planning its own streaming service, the company says it will not be "aggressively" pulling back shows and movies it has licensed to other streaming services.
Toyota today announced that its all-new 2020 Supra sports car, introduced at the annual Detroit Auto Show this week, will feature wireless CarPlay.
2020 Toyota Supra
The upgraded 3.0 Premium trim, starting at $53,990 in the United States, will feature an 8.8-inch wide-format touchscreen display with wireless CarPlay, a premium 12-speaker JBL audio system, and Qi-based wireless smartphone charging. No further details about the system were shared at this time.
Wireless CarPlay enables drivers to use Apple's in-car software platform without connecting an iPhone to the system via Lightning to USB cable. Toyota will join BMW in offering wireless CarPlay as a factory-installed feature, while Mercedes-Benz has also indicated it plans to offer the feature.
This will be the first new Supra sold in the United States in over two decades. The vehicle will go on sale at Toyota dealerships in the first half of 2019.
Also at the Detroit Auto Show, Kia introduced its all-new 2020 Telluride midsize SUV with wired CarPlay compatibility on an available 10.25-inch touchscreen. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also expanded its CarPlay vehicle lineup with the new 2019 Ram Heavy Duty, equipped with a 12-inch reconfigurable touchscreen.
2020 Kia Telluride
Kia and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles did not disclose pricing or exactly when in 2019 the new Telluride and Ram Heavy Duty will be available.
The busiest shopping mall in North America for the past several years will finally be getting a brand new Apple Store in the not too distant future.
Apple's new store will take over this Abercrombie & Fitch location via Pedro Marques
A new building permit for the Eaton Centre shopping mall in Toronto, Canada was applied for three days ago, proposing interior alterations to unit 2105A. The space is currently occupied by apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, which will be relocating to a new store directly across the hall in spring 2019.
When finished, the unit will be a new "ground floor Apple Store," according to the building permit. Abercrombie & Fitch is currently located on "Level 2" of the Eaton Centre near the south Queen Street entrance to the mall. Apple will "move" its existing store into the space, the application confirms.
The biggest benefit of Apple's planned move will be additional space. Abercrombie & Fitch currently has a 10,680-square-foot unit, more than twice the size of Apple's current 4,977-square-foot store, according to an Eaton Centre floor plan.
Not only is the Eaton Centre the busiest shopping mall in North America, but it is home to Apple's only store in Downtown Toronto. An expansion would be a sigh of relief for not only customers but the team staffing the busy store, as the location has developed a reputation for being frequently overcrowded.
Apple's current store at the Eaton Centre
Toronto-based photographer and urban planning aficionado Pedro Marques has informed MacRumors that two stores next to Abercrombie & Fitch will soon be vacating, including Scotch & Soda and Baby Gap, potentially giving Apple up to 15,000 square feet of space for its new store — triple the size of its current store.
The new store would feature Apple's updated retail aesthetic, which typically includes large glass doors, massive video screens for Today at Apple sessions and product marketing, and wall-mounted sequoia wood shelves called Avenues that display Beats headphones, iPhone cases, and other accessories.
Depending on how long the City of Toronto's zoning and safety reviews take, the new store could potentially open in time for the 2019 holiday shopping season. However, no timeframe has been specified as of yet.
Apple and the Eaton Centre's owner and property management company Cadillac Fairview did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple has four existing stores in Toronto at Yorkdale, Sherway Gardens, Fairview, and the aforementioned Eaton Centre, but all of them are within shopping malls. Rumors suggest Apple also plans to open a new street-facing store at The One, an upcoming condominium bordering Downtown Toronto slated to open by 2022.
As the FTC's antitrust trial against Qualcomm continues, Apple's chief operating officer, Jeff Williams, has taken the stand to share details on the terms of Apple's contracts with Qualcomm.
There's no live feed of the trial, but reporters including CNET's Shara Tibken and Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents are attending and sharing details on what Williams has to say.
Most interestingly, Williams says that Apple had wanted to use both Qualcomm and Intel chips in the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR despite the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm, but Qualcomm ultimately would not sell it the modems because of the fight.
"The strategy was to dual source in 2018 as well," said Williams. " "We were working toward doing that with Qualcomm, but in the end they would not support us or sell us chips."
Williams went on to explain that after Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf refused to sell Apple the chips, Apple had to contact Intel CEO Brian Krzanich to supply LTE chips for all of the 2018 iPhones. "We would have loved to continue to have access to Qualcomm's tech," said Williams.
Williams also detailed many of Apple's past interactions with Qualcomm. In 2011, when Apple negotiated a contract to use Qualcomm as a supplier for modems instead of Infineon because of Apple's need for CDMA-compatible chips, Qualcomm demanded a percentage of the iPhone's cost.
The two companies ultimately negotiated a rebate that brought the total royalty fee down to $7.50 per iPhone, though Apple had wanted to pay $1.50 per phone, equivalent to 5 percent of the value of the baseband chip, which was $30. Under the terms of that deal, though, Apple had to agree to a "marketing incentives agreement" to speak out against the WiMax standard that was popular at that time.
With the "marketing incentives agreement," rebates Apple received from Qualcomm would need to be reimbursed should Apple ship a device with a baseband chip from a Qualcomm competitor.
When it came time to renegotiate contracts in 2013, Qualcomm wanted to increase the $7.50 fee by an additional $8–$10, which would have cost Apple upwards of a billion dollars in annual licensing costs. To lower that fee, Qualcomm wanted exclusivity, which Apple accepted because it needed Qualcomm's chips.
Apple accepted the deal, which also prevented the company from challenging the fairness of Qualcomm's royalty rates or inducing others to challenge Qualcomm's licensing terms, which is the position Apple has been stuck in for several years.
Apple was finally able to diversify with the launch of the iPhone 7, the first iPhone to use chips from both Qualcomm and Intel, and it challenged Qualcomm's licensing terms in January 2017 with the launch of the initial Apple v. Qualcomm lawsuit.
Apple and many other Qualcomm partners are involved in Qualcomm's legal battle with the FTC, with the FTC suggesting that Qualcomm has been using anticompetitive tactics to remain the main supplier for baseband processors for smartphones.
The FTC v. Qualcomm trial will be continuing through most of January, so we are likely to hear additional details about Qualcomm and Apple's business practices.
Facebook has revealed plans to start testing a way for users to "share the events" they are interested in and "coordinate to meet up with friends" using its Stories feature, according to The Verge. The test will roll out to Facebook users on iPhone and Android smartphones in the United States, Brazil, and Mexico.
The report outlines how the feature will work:
The stories will come with tappable stickers for revealing event details, and friends can toggle themselves as “interested” or “going” to the event right from within the story. There’s also a link to the event page built in and a way to start a group chat on Messenger with friends who responded.
Facebook Stories have a reputation of being unpopular, but Facebook remains a popular platform for planning events like birthday parties, so this test could attract more people to start using Facebook Stories.
Back in September, Facebook did say its Stories features have a combined 300 million daily users across its Facebook and Messenger apps, which is quite a surprising stat, as Facebook Stories appear to be far less popular than Stories on Instagram or Snapchat based on our anecdotal observations.
