Google, as reported in the Wall Street Journal,has agreed to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings. The WSJ reports that Google is mainly doing this to have a larger pool of patents, mainly related to the world of mobility.
However, there’s definitely more to just patents. It’s about Apple.
The big problem with the world of personal computers is that the hardware, operating system and software are all fragmented. Dell makes great PCs, but Microsoft Windows makes the operating systems and yet thousands of other vendors make the softwar that runs on Windows. overall businesses have succeeded quite well with this troika of confederates – but it’s been a struggle. call one vendor for a problem, they then point you to Microsoft and Microsoft tells you to call Intuit (for quick Books support) for example.
However, Apple users will tell you that their platform – of hardware (by Apple), operating sytem (by Apple), and tightly controlled software applications works very smooth and quite well.
The only way Google is going to compete head to head withApple, through and through in the mobile marketplace is to have a tight contorl of the operating system (which it does), the hardware (which is hopes to have) and applications (with web apps its getting there).
How does this affect your business?
1. You’ll see a bigger consolidation in the hardware market – so that’s not so great – less choice for your business.
2. You’ll see more companies offering a better user experience. if you like Apple’s overall design and integration, you MIGHT like the new crop of Google mobile products coming out in a year or so.
3. as Google and Apple duke it out in the marketplace you’ll see other mobile companies continue to innovate and get better and better. this includes Microsoft and RIM.
4. Google will continue to invest and foster the mobile ecosystem – social media, applications, hardware, accessories and more.
5. Developers will continue to be the valued front line warriors programming new software and creating new products for fun but also for business (such as the iPad, Angry Birds, Twitter and more)
6. Current Google Android partners Samsung, HTC (and others) will re-evaluate their Android offerings now that it looks like Google is competing with them. No direct affect on your business but possibly an indirect affect.
Don’t forget about “content” – Google and Apple are both deeply invested in apps, music, movies, books and other online consumer and businesss content (Amazon.com is not sitting still).
Apple will revamp the iPhone in 2012, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Report: Buy an iPhone 5 in 2011, or a ‘Revamped’ iPhone 6 in 2012?
Apple will revamp the iPhone in 2012, the Wall Street Journal reports.
More here:
Report: Buy an iPhone 5 in 2011, or a ‘Revamped’ iPhone 6 in 2012?
Apple plans to launch its next-generation iPhone during the third quarter of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Excerpt from:
Apple to launch new iPhone in third quarter: WSJ
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 will be “thinner and lighter” than the iPhone 4 and also sport an 8-mega pixel camera, according sources who spoke to official Apple leakbucket the Wall Street Journal . Previous rumors have come from all over, but we suspect the WSJ may have become the preferred channel for Apple since it can control expectations and hype in the weeks before a new product arrives …
See the original post here:
iPhone 5 Details Kinda, Sorta Leak
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 will be “thinner and lighter” than the iPhone 4 and also sport an 8-mega pixel camera, according sources who spoke to official Apple leakbucket the Wall Street Journal . Previous rumors have come from all over, but we suspect the WSJ may have become the preferred channel for Apple since it can control expectations and hype in the weeks before a new product arrives …
Originally posted here:
iPhone 5 Details Kinda, Sorta Leak
The Wall Street Journal says the next iPhone, which its sources say, will launch in the third quarter, will come with a new design and an 8-megapixel camera. Originally posted at The Digital Home
Read more here:
Next iPhone: 25 million by year’s end, WSJ says
Research firm IHS iSuppli yesterday issued a report estimating the potential iPad 2 production loss due to the explosion at its Chengdu, China plant at up to 500,000 units. The estimated shortfall comes after Foxconn reportedly reassured suppliers that production will continue.
While most iPad 2 production takes place at another Foxconn facility in Shenzhen, that plant may not be able to compensate for all the lost output in the second quarter at the Chengdu site. The Shenzhen facility at present has capacity to produce 7.5 million units in the second quarter – iSuppli forecasts 7.4 million iPad 2 units will be shipped out during this period. To support these shipments, Foxconn must manufacture a larger quantity of devices, at between 7.8 and 8.1 million units during the second quarter. This means that Foxconn’s shipments will fall short of expected levels by between 300,000 and 600,000 units in the second quarter.
Preliminary investigations into the cause of the blast have pinpointed a buildup of combustible dust in the facility’s ventilation system, and The Wall Street Journal reports that Foxconn has temporarily shut down polishing workshops at all of its facilities for testing in order to ensure that similar explosions do not occur elsewhere. Three workers were killed and over a dozen others were injured in the Chengdu blast.
A spokesman for Hon Hai said the company’s tests at the affected workshops could last two days. “The workshops could be back online as soon as they pass the test,” he said.
Foxconn has indicated that it has ample supplies of polished parts to carry it through the brief shutdown, suggesting that the testing will have little impact on the company’s production capacity. The same can not be said for the damaged Chengdu production lines, as it will undoubtedly take time to sort out the events and restart production. The company does, however, have significant flexibility with its huge number of production lines at a number of different facilities, and its ability to move quickly on construction projects means that it could have the Chengdu plant back up and running in relatively short order.
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Earlier this year, reports surfaced claiming that Apple was pursuing a potential new retail store location in the historic Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, a hub for both commuter and tourist activity. Claims had even suggested that the store could be the company’s largest. But a few weeks later, word appeared claiming that Apple had backed out of its plans.
But according to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is indeed in discussions for a space in the terminal checking in at around 15,000 square feet, a fairly large store although not the company’s largest.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking for new tenants for a marquee space in Grand Central Terminal, and computer giant Apple Inc. has expressed interest in putting a store there.
The agency is looking for a single renter for two adjacent balconies on the north and east sides of the terminal. It will issue a request for proposals Monday.
According to a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the agency has spoken to Apple about the opening and is hoping that the company bids on the space.
The report hints that the MTA may be working specifically to find space for Apple, as successful restaurant Metrazur is one of the businesses closing to free up the space and the restaurant’s owner suggests that he will be receiving a substantial buyout for agreeing to end his lease well before its 2019 expiration.
A new tenant would be required to pay Mr. Palmer a substantial sum of money to vacate his lease.
“It’s an offer that’s hard to refuse,” said Mr. Palmer, who declined to put a number on it. “It’s hard to compete with whatever that company might be that’s taking the space.”
Retail space in Grand Central Terminal is awarded through an open bidding process, meaning that Apple’s official intent to bid on the space should become public as the selection process moves forward.
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There has obviously been a lot of discussion about last week’s disclosure that iOS devices are maintaining an easily-accessible database tracking the movements of users dating back to the introduction of iOS 4 a year ago. The issue has garnered the attention of U.S. elected officials and has played fairly heavily in the mainstream press.
One MacRumors reader emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs asking for clarification on the issue while hinting about a switch to Android if adequate explanations are not forthcoming. Jobs reportedly responded, turning the tables by claiming both that Apple does not track users and that Android does while referring to the information about iOS shared in the media as “false”.
Q: Steve,
Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.
A: Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.
Sent from my iPhone
As is Jobs’ usual style, his brief comments provide little detail or information to support his claims, and his vagueness leaves things rather open to interpretation.
Android has been shown to also gather location information, but the database is limited to a much smaller list of entries and is regularly wiped by the system. Jobs’ email seems to explicitly claim, however, that Google’s location information is used to track users while Apple’s is not.
Apple responded to some questions about location tracking and privacy last July, noting that users have the ability to turn off location services entirely and that all location features require explicit authorization from the user. The Wall Street Journal has found, however, that this newly-publicized database is constructed even when location services are turned off entirely.
The Journal tested the collection of data on an iPhone 4 that had been restored to factory settings and was running the latest version of Apple’s iOS operating system.
The Journal disabled location services (which are on by default) and immediately recorded the data that had initially been gathered by the phone. The Journal then carried the phone to new locations and observed the data. Over the span of several hours as the phone was moved, it continued to collect location data from new places.
As many observers have noted, the iOS location database does not record exact GPS data, instead seeking to pinpoint the locations of Wi-Fi access points and cell towers that the device comes within range of, although the database does offer a clear general track of a user’s movements.
In the meantime, government agencies in a number of countries have launched investigations into the situation, seeking explanations from Apple and details on how users can protect their privacy.
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