2018 saw Apple finally update the computer some multi-display desktop fans have long been holding their breath for: Mac mini. As 2019 begins, the professional market is looking towards a massive refresh of the Mac Pro and native display offerings from Apple.
However, with CES these past two years showing off so many OLED and 8K displays, the question begs, how can Apple truly innovate in the pro monitor space this year?
New reports from The New York Times detail some of the mind-boggling statistics and gravity that the sensationally popular WeChat messaging app yields across China.
In a separate report, the paper details a government led initiative to silence Chinese Twitter users via family related threats to even go so far as physically detaining violators.
At CES this week, we’ve seen a wide array of unique gadgets, some great electric vehicles and whatever this thing is. Shrinking bezels with more screen are certainly all the rage this year, and 17-inch laptops are back in the limelight.
At CES 2019, we saw more computer manufacturers flaunt luxury models with OLED displays. While they still remain far pricier than their LCD counterparts, it’s exciting to see mainstream manufactures at least entertaining the option.
Both Dell and subsidiary Alienware have announced new OLED offerings this week for their notebooks, however specific pricing is yet to be confirmed. Ultimately, we know they won’t come cheap, and the only question is, how much more are you willing to pay?
Instagram is rolling out a new feature today, which will allow users who manage multiple accounts to post the same content to all feeds more directly. Previously, users were required to either manually repost the content on the desired accounts or utilize a third-party repost app.
A report from China’s National Business Daily says Chinese iPhone vendors received word yesterday regarding price cuts to iPhone 8, 8 Plus, XR, XS and XS Max.
The biggest price cut comes to the iPhone XR, which allegedly is seeing a 450 yuan (~$66) discount, bringing the total XR price to 5250 yuan (about $770). Generally though, most iPhones are seeing a 400 yuan (~$59) reduction.
Former Facebook privacy and policy employee Sandy Parakilas has been hired by Apple, according to a report by The Financial Times. Parakilas left Facebook six years ago following less than a year and a half with the company after his user privacy concerns fell on deaf ears internally.
On Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with CNBC and spoke all-things Apple, including a defense of the company’s recent rare earnings miss, calling out reports of a failing iPhone XR and the future of Apple’s services business. During the interview, Cook was quick to address the ongoing lawsuit with California-based chipmaker Qualcomm.
NVIDIA is having a strong CES. After announcing powerful new RTX 2000 series GPUs last year, the company took to Las Vegas this week to show off an array of new laptops featuring the accompanying mobile RTX series.
Powerful gaming laptops are getting thinner and increasingly more capable, and these new chips are certainly the best on the market. The only question left is, will we ever see these featured in a Mac?
Citron Research took to Twitter today with a decisive message: “ROKU stock is uninvestable now”. Immediately after, the stock plunged nearly 10%. This comes after a tremendous 25% gain just 24 hours prior, when newly released strong Q4 streaming numbers boosted the stock drastically.
Analysts from Bank of America Merrill Lynch have suggested that Apple is facing a potentially worrisome “informal boycott” from consumers in China and India. A survey conducted by the bank’s equity research team, cited by Bloomberg, shows user interest in upgrading to iPhone dwindling, with most of the excitement coming from Samsung or Huawei products.
New data from market research firm Counterpoint shows iPhone sales are down 20% YoY based upon November 2018 numbers versus 2017. Further, the firm shows that last November, the $999+ iPhone X was the best selling phone in November, while this year it is the iPhone XR, which starts at $749.
Since 2008, Apple has implemented the same 70/30 revenue split on all App Store purchases. Recently however, companies have been actively fighting against the cut.
The matter has even wondered near the US Supreme Court, with arguments being heard by the court last November.
President Trump’s Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, spoke with CNBC today and claimed Apple’s current earnings struggles have nothing to do with ongoing trade tensions in China.
Thurott reports Microsoft has updated its 365 product roadmap with mention of Files On-Demand finally rolling out to macOS users. Initially offered as a preview in September of last year to Mac users, no formal word was made by the company as to when users should expect a widespread release.
While the site reports not all users are seeing the macOS version available, the rollout (which began yesterday), should hit most users in the coming weeks.
A Chinese cyber researcher has told Reuters that he has canceled an upcoming appearance at the prestigious Black Hat Asia hacking conference at the request of his employer. The researcher, Wish Wu, was preparing a presentation entitled “Bypass Strong Face ID: Everyone Can Deceive Depth and IR Camera and Algorithms”.
New data from Thinknum shows how hiring for Amazon’s Alexa platform is currently outpacing Apple’s attempts to grow the Siri team, at a rate of nearly 5:1. As of writing, there were about 750 job openings mentioning “Alexa” from Amazon, with just under 170 from Apple with specific mention of “Siri“.
Huawei is among the many companies wishing us best endeavors upon the New Year, however, most probably weren’t posting to social media via their main competitor. Like Samsung numerous times before, Huawei has been spotted using Twitter for iPhone.
Beats 1 radio host and DJ Zane Lowe recently spoke with The Globe and Mail in a recently released report on the state of Apple Music as compared to its main competitors. The article details how generally, Apple quickly and confidentially dominates any given market it enters. However, the same hasn’t necessarily held true for the company’s music and radio service as rapidly as Apple might have hoped.
Austria is the next European nation looking to impose a specialized ‘tech tax’ on internet giants such as Amazon, Apple, and Facebook. This move follows in the footsteps of France and Germany to take action on a national level rather than awaiting an EU-wide agreement.
Just two weeks ago, French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced the new GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) tax would take effect starting January 1. The country hopes to generate as much as 500 million euros in the tax’s first year in effect.
A man from Columbus, Ohio claims that his less than one-month old iPhone XS Max caught fire and exploded in his pants pocket around December 12, iDropNews reports. The man, Josh Hillard, says he initially noticed a strange smell emanating from his rear pant pocket, before feeling a “large amount of heat” allegedly burn his leg.
While the man says he’s already been in contact with Apple regarding the matter, their offer of a replacement hasn’t seemed to bode well, who says he’s already exploring his legal options against the company.
New data from Best Buy via Thinknum shows that iPad Pro sales remain consistently strong despite widespread media coverage of the alleged bending issues ailing the tablet.
Though the data doesn’t conclusively paint the entire picture of how well iPad Pro has faired in the sales department, it does indicate that niche bending coverage hasn’t critically affected the general consensus of the device — at least not so far.
An Israeli broadcaster behind the voice of Hebrew Siri is suing Apple for NIS 250,000 (approximately $67,000), claiming the company never sought permission to use her voice before the localized virtual assistant launched in 2016.
Sony is organizing a production ramp of 3D camera sensors for next year after seeing increased interest for the technology from major customers including Apple, a report from Bloomberg Quint explains.
The Japanese tech firm is allegedly ramping production of both rear and front 3D camera modules, while also working on separate software toolkits for developers to toy with generating 3D imagery.
