Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Steve Jobs Dies At Age Of 56
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and former CEO who invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56.
Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause. He died peacefully, according to a statement from family members who said they were present.
"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives," Apple's board said in a statement. "The world is immeasurably better because of Steve"
Jobs had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems. He took another leave of absence in January — his third since his health problems began — and officially resigned in August. Jobs became Apple's chairman and handed the CEO job over to his hand-picked successor, Tim Cook.
The news Apple fans and shareholders had been dreading came the day after Apple unveiled its latest version of the iPhone, just one in a procession of devices that shaped technology and society while Jobs was running the company.
Jobs started Apple with high school friend Steve Wozniak in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, was forced out a decade later and returned in 1997 to rescue the company. During his second stint, it grew into the most valuable technology company in the world with a market value of $351 billion. Almost all that wealth has been created since Jobs' return.
Cultivating Apple's countercultural sensibility and a minimalist design ethic, Jobs rolled out one sensational product after another, even in the face of the late-2000s recession and his own failing health. He helped change computers from a geeky hobbyist's obsession to a necessity of modern life at work and home, and in the process he upended not just personal technology but the cellphone and music industries.
Steven Paul Jobs was born Feb. 24, 1955, in San Francisco to Joanne Simpson, then an unmarried graduate student, and Abdulfattah Jandali, a student from Syria. Simpson gave Jobs up for adoption, though she married Jandali and a few years later had a second child with him, Mona Simpson, who became a novelist.
Steven was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs of Los Altos, Calif., a working-class couple who nurtured his early interest in electronics.
Jobs found his biological sister when he was 27. Through her, Jobs met his biological mother.
Jobs is survived by his biological mother, sister Mona Simpson; Lisa Brennan-Jobs, his daughter with Brennan; wife Laurene, and their three children, Erin, Reed and Eve.
Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause. He died peacefully, according to a statement from family members who said they were present.
"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives," Apple's board said in a statement. "The world is immeasurably better because of Steve"
Jobs had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems. He took another leave of absence in January — his third since his health problems began — and officially resigned in August. Jobs became Apple's chairman and handed the CEO job over to his hand-picked successor, Tim Cook.
The news Apple fans and shareholders had been dreading came the day after Apple unveiled its latest version of the iPhone, just one in a procession of devices that shaped technology and society while Jobs was running the company.
Jobs started Apple with high school friend Steve Wozniak in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, was forced out a decade later and returned in 1997 to rescue the company. During his second stint, it grew into the most valuable technology company in the world with a market value of $351 billion. Almost all that wealth has been created since Jobs' return.
Cultivating Apple's countercultural sensibility and a minimalist design ethic, Jobs rolled out one sensational product after another, even in the face of the late-2000s recession and his own failing health. He helped change computers from a geeky hobbyist's obsession to a necessity of modern life at work and home, and in the process he upended not just personal technology but the cellphone and music industries.
Steven Paul Jobs was born Feb. 24, 1955, in San Francisco to Joanne Simpson, then an unmarried graduate student, and Abdulfattah Jandali, a student from Syria. Simpson gave Jobs up for adoption, though she married Jandali and a few years later had a second child with him, Mona Simpson, who became a novelist.
Steven was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs of Los Altos, Calif., a working-class couple who nurtured his early interest in electronics.
Jobs found his biological sister when he was 27. Through her, Jobs met his biological mother.
Jobs is survived by his biological mother, sister Mona Simpson; Lisa Brennan-Jobs, his daughter with Brennan; wife Laurene, and their three children, Erin, Reed and Eve.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
October 4th - iPhone 5 Release Confirmed By Apple
After months, if not years of rumours and speculation, Apple finally appears to have set a date to reveal the iPhone 5 to the world.
Widely expected to also reveal a cheaper iPhone 4S model at the event, Apple has chosen to break with recent tradition by holding the "Let's talk iPhone" event at its Cupertino headquarters in California. New CEO Tim Cook will be at the reins of the presentation, beginning at 10am PT, which is also rumoured to involve to involve some special guests. While we hope that means a group of Samsung lawyers will be invited onstage to immediately hurl accusations at the new design, we have as yet heard no rumours to suggest this.
Sources at AllThingsD have suggested the new iPhone 5 will go on sale "within a few weeks" of the unveiling announcement, meaning US punters may get their mitts on the new device mid to late October. The UK will likely land its shipment of glassy slabs around a month later in November.
Some of the more likely features we could expect to see to the iPhone 5 include an 8MP camera, an aluminium case back, an expanded screen size and 1GB RAM. Wilder suggestions include finger print scanning, NFC payments technology, 4G connectivity and a (pfff) slide-out keyboard, but a dual core A5 chip like the one in the iPad 2 should also work its way into the new iPhone 5.
The final version of Apple's iOS 5 should also be revealed at the same event, replacing the limited beta version released to developers in the summer.
Widely expected to also reveal a cheaper iPhone 4S model at the event, Apple has chosen to break with recent tradition by holding the "Let's talk iPhone" event at its Cupertino headquarters in California. New CEO Tim Cook will be at the reins of the presentation, beginning at 10am PT, which is also rumoured to involve to involve some special guests. While we hope that means a group of Samsung lawyers will be invited onstage to immediately hurl accusations at the new design, we have as yet heard no rumours to suggest this.
Sources at AllThingsD have suggested the new iPhone 5 will go on sale "within a few weeks" of the unveiling announcement, meaning US punters may get their mitts on the new device mid to late October. The UK will likely land its shipment of glassy slabs around a month later in November.
Some of the more likely features we could expect to see to the iPhone 5 include an 8MP camera, an aluminium case back, an expanded screen size and 1GB RAM. Wilder suggestions include finger print scanning, NFC payments technology, 4G connectivity and a (pfff) slide-out keyboard, but a dual core A5 chip like the one in the iPad 2 should also work its way into the new iPhone 5.
The final version of Apple's iOS 5 should also be revealed at the same event, replacing the limited beta version released to developers in the summer.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
iPhone 5 Arriving By Mid-October
The New York Times ran a piece Thursday saying that the next iPhone is "just weeks away," citing "an Apple employee who asked not to be named because he was not allowed to speak publicly for the company." Meanwhile, according to TechCrunch, the CEO of France Telecom is saying the phone's launch date is Oct. 15 — for France at least.
Seth Weintraub at 9to5Mac says that he's heard there will be two phones, an iPhone 5 and an "aggressively priced" version of the iPhone 4, available by Oct. 7.
Our thinking has been that the unveiling event will probably happen on Oct. 3 or 4, and then the phone would be available within two weeks of that. These nuggets corroborate that assumption pretty nicely, especially since iPhone availability in France could easily be later than in the U.S.
The Times' Nick Bilton goes on to say that "an engineer familiar with the new iPhone" told him it would be "fairly different" than the iPhone 4, with an 8-megapixel camera and an A5 dual-core processor, as we suspected. Furthermore, Bilton writes that sources told him that either this phone or the next one will contain a telecom chip made by Qualcomm which includes near-field communication (NFC). This turns the phone into a so-called "digital wallet," that can be waved over a sensor to make a credit-card payment, for example. Google's Nexus S phone already has NFC built in.
Weintraub says that the new iPhone should be quite attractive:
While all the latest millings seem to match previous iPhone 5 rumors, there is some alleged production trouble. According to Weintraub, at least on one assembly line is "seeing continued design and production delays," which could cause delays or at least shortages "all the way into 2012."
So if you really want an iPhone, you had better check your camping gear, because you might end up sleeping outside your local Apple Store in the coming weeks.
Seth Weintraub at 9to5Mac says that he's heard there will be two phones, an iPhone 5 and an "aggressively priced" version of the iPhone 4, available by Oct. 7.
Our thinking has been that the unveiling event will probably happen on Oct. 3 or 4, and then the phone would be available within two weeks of that. These nuggets corroborate that assumption pretty nicely, especially since iPhone availability in France could easily be later than in the U.S.
The Times' Nick Bilton goes on to say that "an engineer familiar with the new iPhone" told him it would be "fairly different" than the iPhone 4, with an 8-megapixel camera and an A5 dual-core processor, as we suspected. Furthermore, Bilton writes that sources told him that either this phone or the next one will contain a telecom chip made by Qualcomm which includes near-field communication (NFC). This turns the phone into a so-called "digital wallet," that can be waved over a sensor to make a credit-card payment, for example. Google's Nexus S phone already has NFC built in.
Weintraub says that the new iPhone should be quite attractive:
The iPhone 5 itself is a sight to behold, we’ve been told. It is impossibly light, yet much firmer than Samsung Galaxy phones which are backed in plastic. The camera rivals point and shoot cameras and will be a major marketing point for this device.It's worth noting that while nobody seems to confirm or deny it, the new iPhone 5 name dominates the coverage, while the earlier rumored iPhone 4S name is nowhere to be found. Perhaps the lower end model will be renamed iPhone 4S, but that doesn't quite make sense because it's supposed to be cheaper than the current iPhone, so why would it be faster?
While all the latest millings seem to match previous iPhone 5 rumors, there is some alleged production trouble. According to Weintraub, at least on one assembly line is "seeing continued design and production delays," which could cause delays or at least shortages "all the way into 2012."
So if you really want an iPhone, you had better check your camping gear, because you might end up sleeping outside your local Apple Store in the coming weeks.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Sprint To Offer Unlimited Data With iPhone 5 ?
Apple's iPhone 5 is coming to Sprint, and when it launches, customers will be able to have access to unlimited data, a new report from Bloomberg claims.
Citing "people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg is reporting that Sprint plans to offer unlimited data plans with the long-rumored iPhone 5 in order to "distinguish" itself from AT&T and Verizon, the carriers currently selling Apple's iPhone 4. Those sources also told Bloomberg that the iPhone 5 will be available on Sprint's network in mid-October, though they didn't provide an exact date.
Rumors suggesting Sprint will be carrying the iPhone 5 have been swirling for months now. In July, Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen said that the time has finally come for Apple to offer up its smartphone to Sprint and even T-Mobile.
"While we remain uncertain regarding the next-generation iPhone's specs and features, we believe the most noteworthy change could be the device's ability to run on more networks, specifically Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S," Larsen said in a research note. His comments followed another note from Citadel analyst Shing Yin who said in July that Apple would start selling the iPhone to Sprint customers later this year.
The rumor mill started to heat up even more late last month when the Wall Street Journal cited its own sources who said that Sprint would carry the iPhone 5. Like Bloomberg, the Journal reported that the iPhone 5 would be made available to Sprint customers in mid-October.
report from Betaweek Magazine earlier this week further bolstered that claim. The Magazine said that its source had confirmed that Sprint has been installing network repeaters at Apple retail stores to ensure customers looking to buy an iPhone 5 from the carrier would have a strong signal to test out.
Will Sprint offer unlimited data?
Although most agree Sprint will carry the new iPhone 5 if and when it launches, there has been some question over whether or not the company will offer unlimited data with the device.
As of late, Sprint has gone out of its way to position itself as the sole unlimited-data provider in the wireless industry. Last year, AT&T announced that it was switching its service to tiered pricing, and Verizon followed it up this year with its own tiered options.
AT&T offers a $15 plan for 200MB per month, as well as a $25-per-month plan for 2GB of data. Verizon has a 2GB option for $30 per month and a $80-per-month plan for those who want 100GB of data.
iPhone owners are typically heavy data users, which means the carrier's network will face significantly more pressure if the device is made available on its service. And considering where the company already stands with mobile data usage, that might not be a good thing.
Last month, Validas, a company that analyzes consumer cell phone bills, reported that in June 2011, the average amount of data used per Sprint customer increased by about 381MB, compared to July 2010, easily outstripping Verizon's 308MB growth and AT&T's 282MB growth.
What's more, an earlier study from Validas found that the average Sprint customer users 779MB of data per month. The average AT&T and Verizon customers, on the other hand, use 425MB and 394MB per month, respectively.
Realizing that, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has publicly acknowledged that his company might not be able to keep its unlimited offer forever, and could eventually limit data usage.
Citing "people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg is reporting that Sprint plans to offer unlimited data plans with the long-rumored iPhone 5 in order to "distinguish" itself from AT&T and Verizon, the carriers currently selling Apple's iPhone 4. Those sources also told Bloomberg that the iPhone 5 will be available on Sprint's network in mid-October, though they didn't provide an exact date.
Rumors suggesting Sprint will be carrying the iPhone 5 have been swirling for months now. In July, Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen said that the time has finally come for Apple to offer up its smartphone to Sprint and even T-Mobile.
"While we remain uncertain regarding the next-generation iPhone's specs and features, we believe the most noteworthy change could be the device's ability to run on more networks, specifically Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S," Larsen said in a research note. His comments followed another note from Citadel analyst Shing Yin who said in July that Apple would start selling the iPhone to Sprint customers later this year.
The rumor mill started to heat up even more late last month when the Wall Street Journal cited its own sources who said that Sprint would carry the iPhone 5. Like Bloomberg, the Journal reported that the iPhone 5 would be made available to Sprint customers in mid-October.
report from Betaweek Magazine earlier this week further bolstered that claim. The Magazine said that its source had confirmed that Sprint has been installing network repeaters at Apple retail stores to ensure customers looking to buy an iPhone 5 from the carrier would have a strong signal to test out.
Will Sprint offer unlimited data?
Although most agree Sprint will carry the new iPhone 5 if and when it launches, there has been some question over whether or not the company will offer unlimited data with the device.
As of late, Sprint has gone out of its way to position itself as the sole unlimited-data provider in the wireless industry. Last year, AT&T announced that it was switching its service to tiered pricing, and Verizon followed it up this year with its own tiered options.
AT&T offers a $15 plan for 200MB per month, as well as a $25-per-month plan for 2GB of data. Verizon has a 2GB option for $30 per month and a $80-per-month plan for those who want 100GB of data.
iPhone owners are typically heavy data users, which means the carrier's network will face significantly more pressure if the device is made available on its service. And considering where the company already stands with mobile data usage, that might not be a good thing.
Last month, Validas, a company that analyzes consumer cell phone bills, reported that in June 2011, the average amount of data used per Sprint customer increased by about 381MB, compared to July 2010, easily outstripping Verizon's 308MB growth and AT&T's 282MB growth.
What's more, an earlier study from Validas found that the average Sprint customer users 779MB of data per month. The average AT&T and Verizon customers, on the other hand, use 425MB and 394MB per month, respectively.
Realizing that, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has publicly acknowledged that his company might not be able to keep its unlimited offer forever, and could eventually limit data usage.
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