According to a report from The NPD Group, Apple's iPhone 5 was the top selling phone during the final quarter of 2012, comprising 43 percent of all iPhone sales and accounting for nearly two thirds of all post-paid smartphone sales above $199.
Samsung's Galaxy S III was the second most popular smartphone in Q4 2012, while Apple's iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 also sold well, taking the third and fourth spots on NPD's list of top-selling mobile phones in the U.S. The SIII's predecessor, the SII, was the fifth best selling phone during the holiday quarter.
A report earlier today from Strategy Analytics ranked Apple as the largest mobile phone vendor in the U.S. during Q4 2012, which is in accordance with NPD's data, which places Apple with 39 percent of overall smartphone sales, compared to Samsung's 30 percent.
Combined, Apple and Samsung accounted for almost 70 percent of smartphone sales, with Motorola, HTC, and LG lagging behind.
The second week of Apple's 'Get Stuff Done' Mac App Store promotion began today, dropping the prices on a new set of productivity apps. Last week, task management apps like Clear and Things were discounted as part of the three week long promotion.
This week's category is Organize, featuring organizing and cataloging apps like Gemini, which removes duplicate files and Compartments, which is used for home inventory. Here's a full list of this week's sale apps along with pricing information:
Earlier this week, TechCrunch shared data from touch-based website developer Onswipe showing that, based on its user base of over 13 million monthly active users, over 21% of iPhone and iPad users had updated to iOS 6.1 in the first two days of availability.
We've since followed up with Onswipe to see how the share of users on iOS 6.1 has moved over the past several days, and the firm tells us that it is now seeing over 26% of users running iOS 6.1 just four days after its debut.
Onswipe CEO Jason Baptiste noted earlier this week that the rapid rate of adoption for iOS 6.1, which appears to be the fastest in history for Apple, is likely due to user comfort with the company's over-the-air updates, introduced with iOS 5 in October 2011.
The rapid uptake of iOS updates contrasts strongly with Android devices, where mobile networks are responsible for updates and just 10% of users are on the latest Jelly Bean versions, first introduced last July. The majority of Android users are still using Gingerbread, which dates to December 2010, or earlier versions of the operating system.
Early last year, the popular iOS app Pathcame under fire for uploading users' entire address books to company servers without alerting users or asking for authorization.
The scandal resulted in Apple locking down user data in iOS 6, requiring explicit permission before apps could access a users location, contacts, calendars, photos, and reminders.
Today, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that it has reached a settlement with Path. The agreement requires Path to establish a new privacy program, obtain independent privacy assessments for 20 years, and pay an $800,000 fine.
"Over the years the FTC has been vigilant in responding to a long list of threats to consumer privacy, whether it’s mortgage applications thrown into open trash dumpsters, kids information culled by music fan websites, or unencrypted credit card information left vulnerable to hackers," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “This settlement with Path shows that no matter what new technologies emerge, the agency will continue to safeguard the privacy of Americans."
The FTC alleged that Path's app was misleading and failed to offer the consumer any choice in whether his data was uploaded, and that Path violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal information from children without getting parents' consent.
As reported [Google translation] by Turkish blog Elma Dergisi, Apple executives including vice president for education John Couch met with Turkish president Abdullah Gül today to discuss several issues. The office of the Turkish president has also posted a photo and a brief video from the meeting.
Turkish president Abdullah Gül at far left, Apple VP John Couch at far right
Among the primary topics addressed during the meeting was Turkey's tablet initiative, a $4.5 billion program to provide as many as 15 million tablets to Turkish schoolchildren. Apple has reportedly been pushing for the contract, but negotiations are said to still be underway.
Also discussed was the layout of the older Turkish "F-keyboard" on iOS devices, which has several keys located in the wrong positions.
Apple has been making a significant push in Turkey, launching the iTunes Store for music and movies there in December and hiring for future retail stores in the country. Gül had visited Apple headquarters last May and discussed many of the same issues included in today's meeting with Couch and other executives.
Apple is better placed than Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo to take a lead in the games console market, said Gabe Newell, founder of the games-distribution hub Steam in a speech at the University of Texas.
As noted by Polygon, Newell argued that games served from a PC in the home direct to a TV, rather than from a games console, are the future of the market. But if the PC industry does not move quickly enough to establish itself in the living room, Newell sees an opportunity for Apple to seize the market.
"The threat right now is that Apple has gained a huge amount of market share, and has a relatively obvious pathway towards entering the living room with their platform," Newell said. "I think that there's a scenario where we see sort of a dumbed down living room platform emerging — I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily. The question is can we make enough progress in the PC space to establish ourselves there, and also figure out better ways of addressing mobile before Apple takes over the living room?"
Newell's full one-hour session
While Apple has not made any noises about a fresh entry into the games market, it did file patents for a Wii-style wireless controller back in 2008, and has been rumored to be working on a gesture-based user interface for the Apple television set which has obvious potential gaming applications.
While a prediction that the next-generation iPad will be thinner and lighter than the current one may not seem an overly ambitious one, Digitimes claims to have details, suggesting that the iPad 5 will borrow the G/F2 (DITO) thin-film type touch screen technology used on the iPad mini.
Digitimes cited an un-named industry source as reporting that the screens would use a similar mix of suppliers to the iPad mini screen.
The supply chain for Apple's next-generation 9.7-inch iPad will be similar to the iPad mini's, with Japan-based Nitto expected to supply thin-film materials and Nissha Printing touch screen modules, noted the sources. Taiwan-based TPK will be responsible for the device's lamination while LG Display (LGD) and Sharp will provide panels.
The DITO thin-film technology is believed to have been behind supply constraints on the iPad mini, but these issues have now been solved, claims Digitimes.
Just last week, iLounge shared details on the fifth-generation iPad, noting that it would be smaller in every dimension than the current model and suggesting that a change to the display technology would be necessary to achieve that reduction.
Apple overtook Samsung as the market leader in mobile phones in the United States for the final quarter of 2012, reports Strategy Analytics, though Samsung still led for the year as a whole. The development marks the first time Apple has held the top spot in overall mobile phone shipments.
The technology analysts estimate that a total of 52 million mobile phones were shipped in the U.S. last quarter, with Apple accounting for 17.7 million of them, Samsung for 16.8 million and LG a distant third with 4.7 million. Samsung had held the top spot since 2008 before being dethroned by Apple.
Strategy Analytics Executive Director Neil Mawston said:
We estimate Apple shipped 17.7 million mobile phones for a record 34 percent share of the United States market in the fourth quarter of 2012. This was up sharply from 12.8 million units shipped and 25 percent share in Q4 2011. Apple has become the number one mobile phone vendor by volume in the United States for the first time ever. Apple’s success has been driven by its popular ecosystem of iPhones and App Store, generous carrier subsidies, and extensive marketing around the new iPhone 5 model.
The firm believes, however, that Samsung may retake the title when it launches its rumored Galaxy S4.
Meantime, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit yesterday rejected Apple's renewed attempt to ban sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as noted by AllThingsD. Apple was initially awarded an injunction which prohibited sales of the Nexus in the long-running patent battle between the two companies, but this was overturned in October. This now exhausts Apple's appeal options, making the latest decision final.
At Macworld/iWorld this afternoon, one company was demonstrating an archery-based iPhone accessory, the BowBlade, which was inspired by movies like The Hunger Games.
The BowBlade is designed to look and feel like a traditional bow and arrow with one caveat - there's an iPhone attached. The iPhone goes at the front of the device, the bow is extended, and a trigger at the back fires a shot. When the trigger is fired, a stylus tip touches the screen.
Various games incorporate extra features like the iPhone's camera and augmented reality to create real world targets, or the iPhone's gyroscope and accelerometer for aiming and firing. Our sister site TouchArcade has a video of the BowBlade in action:
The four pound version of the BowBlade being demonstrated at Macworld was a prototype, but the company has pre-orders available for $185. Shipping will begin in April.
Mauz is a Kickstarter project that is designed to attach to the iPhone's dock, turning it into a device that is able to control computers using gestures and visual cues.
In other words, the Mauz morphs an iPhone into a computer mouse. The main product consists of a small dongle that plugs into the phone to function as a laser sensor.
The dongle links to the Mauz app, which turns on the iPhone's front-facing camera to allow for gestures. For example, swiping a hand over the camera translates to a scroll, allowing for browsing without physical touch. Mauz also uses the iPhone's gyroscope, which allows it to function as a 3-D mouse, and in practice, it turns out that it works similarly to the Nintendo Wii remote.
Though the Mauz can be used in mid-air, it is also designed to work as a standard mouse. Set on a desktop, it has a left/right button and a scroll wheel.
Mauz connects to the phone using Wi-Fi, but the company behind the device, Spicebox, is currently working on a Bluetooth version as well. Mauz comes with an SDK that will allow developers to integrate Mauz into different apps.
Though the Mauz is designed solely for the iPhone 4/4S, Spicebox is planning to release an iPhone 5 version. Mauz is still very much in development, as an active Kickstarter project. Currently, the company has earned 10 percent of its 150,000 goal.
Backers who pledge at least $45 can get a Mauz. The Kickstarter page lists June 2013 as a ship date, but Spicebox expects the unit to enter beta in April. The iPhone 5 version of the Mauz has a listed ship date of August 2013.
Apple is in talks with HBO to bring that company's HBO Go video streaming service to the Apple TV, reports Bloomberg. HBO Go is a streaming service that allows HBO subscribers to watch HBO content on PCs, tablets, consoles, and other platforms.
Apple Inc. is in negotiations to start carrying Time Warner Inc.'s HBO Go application on Apple TV by mid-2013, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Cable and satellite subscribers who pay for HBO will be able to watch more than 600 hours of films and television shows on Apple TV, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
Currently, Netflix and Hulu Plus are the only subscription service that Apple allows on its Apple TV box, while HBO Go is available on the iPhone and the iPad.
There have been numerous rumors in recent years about Apple's plans for the television, but CEO Tim Cook has been cagey about details other than repeatedly saying that television is "an area of intense interest" for the company
Amid rumors of a significantly larger "iPhone Math", Instapaper developer Marco Arment has spent time developing some speculation and a few mockups showing how Apple could achieve an iPhone with a nearly 5-inch without disrupting the existing app ecosystem.
The recently rumored, larger-screened “iPhone Math”, or more likely “iPhone Plus”, is plausible as an additional model (not a replacement) alongside the 4” iPhone. And there’s a good chance that it would have a 4.94”, 16:9 screen.
The theory is easy to understand: perform John Gruber’s Mini-predicting math backwards. The iPad Mini uses iPhone 3GS-density screens at iPad resolution. What if an iPhone Plus used Retina iPad screens with iPhone 5 resolution, keeping the rest of the design sized like an iPhone 5?
In the scenario put forth by Arment, an 1136x640 screen matching the iPhone 5's resolution but blown up to the Retina iPad's 264 pixels-per-inch resolution would measure 4.94 inches diagonally.
Left to right: iPhone 5, Galaxy S III, "iPhone Plus", Galaxy Note II
Arment notes that such an iPhone Plus maintaining the same relative proportions as the iPhone 5 but with the larger screen would measure somewhere between the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II, but that Apple would likely be able to trim down the chin and forehead of the device somewhat to bring the device closer to the Galaxy S III's overall size.
At an iPad-like pixel density of 264 ppi, Apple could have a hard time positioning the iPhone Plus as a Retina device given that a phone is assumed to be held closer to the eye than a tablet, but some consumers may still prefer the option of having a larger screen to offer more flexibility such as being able to zoom out further on text or view small text with the device held further from the eye.
Arment offers several other mockups showing what Apple's iOS device lineup would look like with a larger iPhone in it, as well as how users could take advantage of smaller font sizes on the larger screen to show more text.
Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad kicked off the Macworld/iWorld conference in San Francisco this morning, talking about their new feature film 'Jobs' that premiered at Sundance. Kutcher plays the iconic Jobs, while Gad takes on the role of Steve Wozniak.
The Next Web wrote up much of the conversation, including this part about how Steve Jobs affected Kutcher:
“Steve believed it was possible to do something impossible,” says Kutcher, alluding to the third thing that he took away from the film. He made reference to [a] famous quote that Jobs gave in an interview.
Kutcher says that this stuck with him. “When I heard that,” says Kutcher, “he was talking to me, and he was talking to you. He was saying ‘don’t settle’ for what life gives you, make life better.”
“There will always be debates about what we got right and what we got wrong,” says Gad, “but if I had a chance to sit down with him I’d explain that it was done with the utmost love, admiration and respect. And I hope when he sees it…in its entirety, that he can understand that.”
“We weren’t there,” says Kutcher. “Part of it is, in filmmaking, you have to make a narrative that plays. If you look at the events of these guys’ journey together, there were probably a lot of moments where there was nobody else there. You have to ride the arc of entertainment of the film and stay true to who the people were, how the people were and what the intent was.”
Canadian firm Maya-Systems today announced that it has sold a group of 18 user interface patents to Apple. The patents appear to be related to Maya-Systems' work with axis-based interfaces in which documents and other files can be automatically grouped into timelines based on tags or other attributes and made accessible via the cloud.
Maya-Systems' technology offers an intuitive way to display any virtual content in a superior manner. This transaction attests that Maya-Systems axis-based user interface is ahead of the growing demand for axis-based user interfaces.
"We dealt with a significant number of sophisticated buyers," noted Mathieu Audet, founder of Maya-Systems and patent agent. "We are pleased to have secured the transaction with Apple." "Our patents have been analyzed thoroughly by many potential buyers. We are confident that they are strong assets."
Maya-Systems' key product is I am Organized, a platform for organizing, viewing, and sharing files.
IamOrganized’s uniquely distinctive, patented feature is its axes-based interface. Intuitive and elegant, axes herald a new era in content management. They show and manage content more meaningfully than ever.
Unlike folder trees based on file location, axes group files by subject (any attribute, really) and display them along a timeline. Scroll an axis to view more files. Zoom in. Zoom out. Navigate swiftly between projects by displaying several axes on your screen.
Attribute-based, orderly and relational, axes give users a meaningful and integrated view of their files.
It is not entirely clear exactly what aspect of Maya-Systems' patent portfolio Apple was interested in controlling, but Apple has been making a significant push into cloud-based document and file storage and sharing, including such features Documents in the Cloud and Photo Stream.
The previous fastest downloaded game was Angry Birds Space, selling 50 million copies in under six weeks -- though Angry Birds Space was a pay app, not a free download like Temple Run 2.
Temple Run 2 originally launched exclusively on the App Store on January 17 and quickly rose to the #1 slot in Free Apps, earning over six million downloads in less than 24 hours. Following a release on Google Play and Amazon Marketplace, the sequel continued its record-breaking success, racing to the #1 spot, respectively, in each store. Following in the footsteps of Temple Run, which has been downloaded over 170 million times, Temple Run 2 has cemented itself in mobile gaming history.
“Temple Run has evolved into something so much bigger than us,” says Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi. “The game has performed beyond our wildest dreams, and we are thrilled that gamers and fans have embraced Temple Run 2 in such a short period of time.”
Apple today issued a notice to European distributors indicating that it will halt sales of the Mac Pro in Europe and select other countries as of March 1 due to new regulatory requirements going into effect on that date. The move will affect all European Union countries, as well as EU candidate countries and the four European Free Trade Association countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
As of March 1, 2013, Apple will no longer sell Mac Pro in EU, EU candidate and EFTA countries because these systems are not compliant with Amendment 1 of regulation IEC 60950-1, Second Edition which becomes effective on this date. Apple resellers can continue to sell any remaining inventory of Mac Pro after March 1.
Apple will take final orders for Mac Pro from resellers up until February 18th for shipment before March 1, 2013.
Countries outside of the EU are not impacted and Mac Pro will continue to be available in those areas.
It is currently unclear exactly what aspect of the regulation the current Mac Pro will fail to meet.
Apple has uncharacteristically announced that a redesigned Mac Pro is due in 2013 after a lackluster update in June 2012 that included still-outdated processors and no other seemingly obvious improvements like USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt.
[U]nfortunately for EU customers, the Mac Pro does not comply with this standard, due to issues with power provided to its I/O ports and the placement of its fan guards. The Pro is the sole Apple product to fall under this ruling, likely due to its build - the desktop computer hasn’t had an overhaul since 2010, with a minor speed bump last June.
Update 10:21 AM: Apple has issued a statement to The Loop confirming the halt for Mac Pro sales, but not offering any additional detail on the situation.
"Due to evolving regulatory requirements, Apple will stop selling Mac Pro in EU, EU candidate and EFTA countries on March 1, 2013," an Apple representative told The Loop. "After that date, resellers can sell existing inventory but Apple will no longer ship Mac Pro in those countries."
"The Mac Pro met the previous standards prior to the amendment 1 addition. Obviously it's a very safe and very reliable product," added the company.
At issue are the large fans within the Mac Pro. Since they are unprotected, it would be possible to touch the fan blades.
"The new requirements necessitate fan guards and some increased protection on the ports on the electrical system," explained Apple.
Apple representatives also confirmed to Macworld UK that the company will continue supporting existing Mac Pro machines after March 1, including replacement parts.
The excellent iPad notebook app Penultimate has received its first major update since it was purchased by Evernote in May of last year.
The update adds Evernote integration, as well as a new feature to make handwritten notes in the app searchable. The app uploads notes to Evernote, which does all the handwriting recognition server side.
One of Evernote’s magic features is its ability to make handwriting searchable. We’ve applied this to Penultimate to help you find the notes you’re looking for. Just tap on the new magnifying glass icon in the top right corner of your screen to begin searching your notes. Search results fly in with either a yellow rectangle around the identified words or yellow highlighting in the note title.
Research firm IDC today announced its preliminary estimates of worldwide tablet shipments for the fourth quarter of 2012, finding that Apple's share of the market slipped to 43.6% even as the iPad mini drove a nearly 50% growth in units for the company. Apple had held a 50.4% share in the previous quarter and a 51.7% share in the year-ago quarter.
"We expected a very strong fourth quarter, and the market didn't disappoint," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Tablets, at IDC. "New product launches from the category's top vendors, as well as new entrant Microsoft, led to a surge in consumer interest and very robust shipments totals during the holiday season. The record-breaking quarter stands in stark contrast to the PC market, which saw shipments decline during the quarter for the first time in more than five years."
Apple's iPad once again led the market, and the firm's shipment total of 22.9 million units was exactly in line with IDC's forecast for the period. A strong iPad mini launch, plus availability of the fourth generation full-sized iPad, led to solid 48.1% shipment growth over the same quarter last year. However, strong competition in the market led to Apple's market share declining for a second quarter in a row (down to 43.6% from 46.4% last quarter).
Samsung and Asus were the biggest winners in the surging tablet market, with Samsung seeing 263% year-over-year growth to seize 15% of the market. Samsung's share was, however, down from 18.4% in the third quarter.
IDC notes that Microsoft did not qualify for the top five vendors in the fourth quarter, but the company did ship 900,000 units of its Surface tablet with Windows RT. It remains to be seen, however, whether those shipments and the upcoming Surface Pro tablet will translate into strong sales for the company.
Early last year, the popular iOS app Path 
At Macworld/iWorld this afternoon, one company was demonstrating an archery-based iPhone accessory, the 
In the two weeks since Temple Run 2 
The excellent iPad notebook app Penultimate has received its first 
