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Posts tagged with "apple"

Apple Grabs 26% Of U.S. Smartphone Market, Google Leads With 44%

According to Canalys’ latest report, Apple grabbed 26% of the U.S. smartphone market (still considered the biggest and most relevant in the world) but Google, thanks to its multitude of devices running Android, is still leading with nearly 44%.

The numbers, which refer to Q3 2010, also show that Apple really took the lead from RIM, stuck at 24%. Nokia is still leading the worldwide share with a resonant 33%, and Google’s share is expected to increase as more devices running Froyo and the future Android Gingerbread ship.

In the meantime, Apple somehow managed to obtain a 50% worldwide profit share with the iPhone. Not bad.


The iPhone 4 Becomes Japan’s Best Selling Cellphone In October

According to the latest numbers by GfK Japan (via Analytica1st), the iPhone has become Japan’s best selling mobile phone. The numbers refer to the week October 18-24 and are the result of a survey across 4,000 point of sales.

As you can see, the iPhone, both in the 16GB and 32gB edition, is the only Softbank device in the chart, which includes cellphones by NTT DoCoMo and KDDI au. The iPhone 4 came out in Japan on June 24th, but Apple –as usual – hasn’t released country-specific numbers of units sold.


“Jobs at Apple” Page Updated With New Positions, Introductory Video

Apple updated its “Jobs at Apple” mini-site to include additional information about the carrier possibilities at Apple Retail, new jobs positions and a video introduction to Apple’s retail philosophy.

Join us at the Apple Retail Store, the unique gathering place where people come to discover Apple products. Show your passion and expertise as you connect customers with our products and help integrate products into their lives. Be a part of our team and change the way our customers work, play, create, and communicate.

Both the revamped page and video focus on detailing the incredible experience that is working at Apple, being part of something that can “actually change people’s lives” and that can “connect customers with Apple products”.

The main page also features recently opened retail stores with positions available: El Paseo Village - Palm Desert, CA; Boise Town Square - Boise, ID; River Park Square - Spokane, WA; Summit Mall - Akron, OH; University Park Mall - South Bend, IN.


VLC for iOS May Soon Be Gone From the App Store Due To Videolan’s Complaint

VLC, the popular media player for Windows, Mac and Linux that landed on the iPad in September and on the iPhone last week, may soon be gone from the App Store. Rémi Denis-Courmont, one of the primary developers of VLC, explained that Videolan sent a formal notification of copyright infringement to Apple regarding the way VLC for iOS is distributed in the App Store. VLC for iOS is developed by French 3rd party studio Applidium.

Basically, here’s the problem: VLC is an open source program distributed under the GNU General Public License (also known as “GPL”) while VLC for iOS is, as you may guess, distributed under Apple’s iTunes Terms and Conditions, which don’t allow users to install both free and paid apps on more than 5 devices. This restriction is also known as “DRM” which stands for Digital Rights Management. So even if VLC for iOS is free, Videolan can’t accept the fact that Apple’s DRM goes against the original GNU license VLC’s code is based on. Read more


On iPhone, Android And People’s Perception

I was watching Chuck last night, and just like every episode recently aired I noticed there were many iPads and iPhones around. I don’t know if this is a trend amongst producers or Apple paying for product placement, but the thing is - Apple products are everywhere in today’s TV shows. I’m referring to “TV shows” as it’s the only kind of content coming from television networks I regularly consume nowadays.

So while I was watching and yet another iPhone showed up, my girlfriend - who is not exactly a “tech savvy” type - said: “Look, another iPhone 4”. The same happens every single time in the other shows we follow.

I also noticed, though, that there are other kinds of gadgets showing up every once in a while, namely non-Apple cellphones. They’re usually Motorola, HTC, Samsung Galaxy devices (I also spotted a Nexus One on Chuck) running, as you may guess, Android. I know those are Android devices, and when I see them I usually whisper “look, that’s an Android phone”. But I know those are Android devices, because I’m a geek who’s interested in technology and reads dozens of tech blogs every day. Do regular people notice these products at all? Read more


14 Hours Later, Ratings and Reviews Still Gone From The App Store

We noticed this last night and we thought it might be a temporary glitch, but 14 hours later reviews and ratings are still nowhere to be found in the App Store.

If you try to open an App Store app page, in fact, you’ll notice that ratings and user reviews have simply disappeared. The “Customers also bought” section is in there, and reviews are accessible through Apple’s web view for iTunes pages, but you can’t find them in the App Store.

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A Cloud Over The Mac App Store

Wayne Dixon over at Macgasm, about how app data will be backed up with the Mac App Store:

So this leads me to wondering something: how does the application’s data get backed up? Right now within the iOS App Store, your data is backed up when you sync your iOS device and this information is then backed up again when you backup your computer (you do backup your computer, right?). But if your application data is just stored locally and you do have to do a re-install of your computer, even though you are able to download the software itself again, your data may not be easily placed in the correct location, even with backups.

When Apple announced the iOS-like model for the desktop we didn’t really wonder much about how the backup model was going to be carried over to the Mac. Is it going to be carried over at all? On the current version of OS X (and on previous iterations as well) each app stores its data in various folders on the hard disk. Usually it’s the “Application Support” folder inside a user’s library, but preferences, caches and databases may be stored somewhere else. Not to mention the possibility to manually select a different destination for the main database in some applications, think of 1Password, Candybar and DEVONthink. Is the Mac App Store going to change this? Read more


Steve Jobs Is “Back to the Jet”

Steve Jobs is back in the air. Well not the Air (which apparently is doing great), but literally in the air with his private jet. Taking a look at Apple’s 10K form for fiscal year 2010, Fortune noticed a $93,000 reimbursement to Steve Jobs for private jet expenses in Q4 2010, namely fuel and pilot salaries.

Private jet expenses accounted to only $12,000 in Q3. Clearly Steve traveled a lot during the last quarter, and we can only speculate about the people he met and the deals he closed.

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