Apple

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Apple hired Sally Cole as the Director of Employee Communications last month. Cole comes from cross-town rival Google, where she served as the Director of Internal Communications for almost six years. The Scarsdale native has a B.A. in history from Yale and a J.D./M.B.A. from nearby Stanford University, from which both companies hire liberally.

As someone intimately familiar with Internal Communications at Google, Cole’s experience could prove very valuable at Apple. Apple is rumored to be after Google Maps employees, for instance, where Cole’s Rolodex could prove “fruitful.” Google and Apple previously had a “no-poach” agreement instituted by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Clearly, that is no longer the case.

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A new report from the NYPD (via Gothamist) shows crimes involving Apple products in the city have increased 40 percent between Jan. 1 and Sept. 23, which is 10x the 4 percent increase that all crime in the city experienced over the same period. According to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and the NYPD, 11,447 incidents involving stolen Apple products were reported in comparison to just 3,280 the year before. We heard similar stats in the past, but Gothamist provided some of the NYPD’s numbers today to show how Apple-related crimes contributed to crime by category this year:

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If you missed purchasing an iPhone 5 this weekend, we might have some good news for you. We are hearing Apple expects to launch its in-store product reservation system, Personal Pickup, for iPhone 5 tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern. Customers can use the Apple Store app or website between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. nightly to pre-purchase available iPhone 5 inventory for the next day. Because customers are actually purchasing the iPhone, they will have upwards of two weeks to pick up the phone (when it becomes available).

This certainly seems to be the best way to get your hands on Apple’s newest phone as ship times at Apple.com are still delayed “3-4 weeks”. Demand has been extremely high for this phone, so we recommend logging on to the reservation system as it becomes available.

Update:  It appears Apple’s iPhone 5 Personal Pickup page has been updated ahead of the 10 p.m. launch.  It reaffirms the reservation process which we outlined early this afternoon.  All pre-purchased iPhone 5 units will be available for in-store pickup the next business day and any units not pre-purchased will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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It sounds like actor Jeff Daniels, of “Dumb and Dumber” and “Newsroom”, narrates the first iPhone 5 ads.

“Thumbs” shows how the 4-inch screen is tailored to the windshield-wiper motion of your thumb:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Rc4MDmr8o&feature=plcp

“Cheese” shows the new panorama feature with a comical “cheeeeeeee *breath* eeese”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtm4ySJQPOc&feature=plcp

Two more and a poll below:

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Unless Walt Mossberg or David Pogue knocked it last week, @Chpwn (Grant Paul) has the first jailbroken iPhone 5,which he posted to his Twitter account a few minutes ago. It is usually common courtesy to give Apple devices 24 hours before jailbreaking, but someone apparently could not help himself. More below:

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We were just sent what appears to be a legitimate internal memo floating around BestBuy’s systems. It confirmed the retailer would not fulfill all iPhone 5 pre-orders based on “current inventory allocation.” Originally expected for delivery by today, the memo confirmed BestBuy sent emails to some customers informing they will not receive the pre-ordered iPhone 5 by this weekend. Instead, BestBuy is promising to fulfill preorders by mid-October—”no later than 28 days from launch.” Shipping times for the device slipped to “3-4 weeks” even on Apple’s website, but this is confirmation from a major retailer that some pre-order customers promised delivery by this weekend will not get their device. We recently posted documents showing Walmart’s internal iPhone 5 launch plans, which confirmed the retailer will also not guarantee Sept. 21 availability for preorder customers.

We have a reader email below:

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[ooyala code=”BrOWh4NTpclZ6spl7Lv0IUL4nC19XOSe”]

Google UK Marketing Director Dan Cobley briefly spoke with Bloomberg TV today on Apple’s decision to remove Google Maps from iOS 6, but the most intriguing part about his statement concerned how people could continue to use Google Maps after updating.

Cobley noted folks on iOS 6 can still “use Google Maps by downloading them or going to the Google Maps website.” This is an interesting comment, however, as there is no Google Maps-related app from Google available in the App Store aside from the Google Earth app. It features 3D layers, including roads, borders, places, photos and more, but it is not an adequate Google Maps replacement. There is also no existing option to download a map from Google Maps in mobile Safari.

Therefore, it is currently unclear what Cobley meant by “downloading them.” SearchEngineLand asked Google today when iOS would get a new Google Maps app, though, and if it would feature turn-by-turn navigation. Google replied:

We believe Google Maps are the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps in the world. Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nf5-Prx19ZM]

Samsung just released its latest ad mocking iPhone line sitters—right on time for the release of the iPhone 5 this week. The ad is quite similar to its old “The Next Big Thing” Galaxy ads, as it bashes iPhone customers waiting in line at the Apple Store. This commercial is for Samsung’s latest device, of course, the Galaxy S III.

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We were recently forwarded an email where a reader reached out to Senior Vice President of Marketing Philip Schiller to ask if Apple planned to release a dock for the new iPhone 5.

Schiller apparently replied to the user’s email and said there were no plans to produce an iPhone 5 dock, as “most people who use docks use them with speaker or clock systems.” Based on the message header we received, we believe this correspondence is the real deal. Apple has released a dock for each iteration of the iPhone—it even included one with the original iPhone. We expect third-party accessory makers to seize this opportunity and fill the hole Apple has left; they are already reproducing Lightning cable adapters.

The best part of this email is quite possibly the fact that Schiller went out of his way to let recipients of his messages know he is using an iPhone 5. His signature stated, “Sent from my iPhone 5”.

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5mac/status/248054034156617728]

Engadget:

[viddler id=82e97344 w=545 h=307]

The iPhone 5 is a significant improvement over the iPhone 4S in nearly every regard, and in those areas that didn’t see an upgrade over its predecessor — camera, storage capacity — one could make a strong case that the iPhone 4S was already ahead of the curve. Every area, that is, except for the OS. If anything, it’s the operating system here that’s beginning to feel a bit dated and beginning to show its age.

Still, the iPhone 5 absolutely shines. Pick your benchmark and you’ll find Apple’s thin new weapon sitting at or near the top. Will it convince you to give up your Android or Windows Phone ways and join the iOS side? Maybe, maybe not. Will it wow you? Hold it in your hand — you might be surprised. For the iOS faithful this is a no-brainer upgrade. This is without a doubt the best iPhone yet. This is a hallmark of design. This is the one you’ve been waiting for.

The Loop:

Many of us have experience with LTE from using the iPad. I’ll tell you it’s great to see it on the iPhone. I actually use LTE more on the iPhone than I do on the iPad, simply because I use the phone a lot more. The speed is incredibly fast, especially when compared to what the iPhone 4S could do.

Like the faster processor and graphics, LTE gives you the feeling of never waiting for anything. Apps open fast and you are ready to work or browse the Web right away.

The Telegraph:

[ooyala code=”xweHZ3NTp9064-eacNLMRkmDFJNXZGhI”]

Specificationists will say that with the iPhone 5 Apple is now behind its rivals in terms of features but in truth it’s hard to think of a feature offered elsewhere that the average person – as opposed to the tech obsessive – really needs. NFC is not sufficiently widely used, wireless charging is nice but still requires a charger plugged into the wall and most people get along fine without removable storage. The iPhone 5 is a great smartphone made even better. It’s fast, lightweight and backed by the largest application store for any device. It’s also probably the most beautiful smartphone anyone has ever made.

More reviews below:

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image via reddit

When Apple demoed its new in-house, iOS 6 Maps app at WWDC in June, replacing the Google Maps backend used in previous versions of iOS, first impressions from many users raised concerns over whether it could compete with the old Google Maps iOS app they were used to. Apple has been steadily improving the Maps app with each beta release, including recently expanding coverage of 3D maps to new cities, but its limitations could be a source of frustration for upgrading iPhone owners in the coming weeks.

Macworld’s Jason Snell raised some alarm bells this week at the post-iPhone 5 roundtable (11:00 in), saying Maps did not feel ready and he was concerned that long-time Maps users would be disappointed. We received lots of comments and forum posts from users who refuse to update until transit times were included.

[tweet https://twitter.com/jon889/status/248130694319046657]

The move was not surprisingly viewed as a strategic one for Apple, and fueled by powerful technologies from Placebase, C3 Technologies, and Poly9 acquisitions, but will Apple be able to smooth iOS 6 Maps app enough to keep users happy when they update to iOS 6 and make the transition from Google Maps later this month?

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