As Business Insider points out, Apple’s renewable energy efforts have ranked it well on Greenpeace’s “Clicking Clean: How Companies are Creating the Green Internet” study. Apple scored an “A” rating in ‘energy transparency’, ‘renewable energy commitment & siting policy’, and ‘renewable energy deployment & advocacy’, while it scored a “B” in ‘energy efficiency & mitigation’. Facebook and Google both averaged well in the same categories, while Amazon, Microsoft, and Twitter all scored poor to dismal ratings in each category. Full report card below: Expand Expanding Close
The company has started notifying existing customers that they can get the new Square reader for free by signing into their web dashboard.
Square, which was co-founded in 2010 by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, allows iOS and Android users to accept credit card payments directly from their mobile devices.
The Typo iPhone case has been blocked from sale by BlackBerry, according to a report from Reuters. The smartphone maker sued over the design of the case earlier this year, saying that it infringed on several of the company’s patents and its “iconic” keyboard design. The case is designed to add a BlackBerry-like keyboard to the iPhone 5 and 5s.
The injunction blocks the sale of the Typo, which is made by a company co-founded by TV personality Ryan Seacrest. A San Fransisco federal judge ruled that BlackBerry had established a “likelihood” that the Typo case infringed on its patents, while the case maker was unable to prove that it had not.
Sure, you could argue that Microsoft’s shiny new Office apps for iPad are only ranking so well because they’re freemium apps since they’re listed for free but require a subscription to fully function, but they are taking up the top four spots nonetheless. Expand Expanding Close
WD today announced immediate availability of the My Passport Pro, which it bills as the first Thunderbolt-powered portable dual-drive. The two internal 2.5-inch hard drives and an integrated Thunderbolt cable are packed in a svelte aluminum enclosure that weighs just 1.59 pounds. Users can easily choose between a RAID 0 setup for increased performance or RAID 1 for data redundancy. It’s capable of speeds up to 233 MB/s and to help put that in perspective, it is capable of “copy[ing] a 22 GB high-definition video file in half the time typically required by a USB 3.0 drive working in RAID 0 format.” Combined, it is about half the speed of an SSD but with much more space/$.
Connected Data has announced the third generation version of its 4-bay Drobo storage array. A completely new architecture along with USB 3.0 connectivity help make it “three times faster than the previous generation.” Speed is always a welcome upgrade, but the real crowd-pleaser in this announcement is that its MSRP has been chopped to $349, and previous generation Drobo owners are eligible for a $50 customer loyalty discount.
Current Drobo owners will find it easy to migrate their data to the new system because it’s also built on BeyondRAID technology:
The foundation that allows first and second generation Drobo customers to seamlessly upgrade to a new Drobo by simply removing the disk pack from their current Drobo, and moving it to their new one.
It also offers Apple users an easy way to limit the amount of space available to Time Machine. This prevents OS X from storing extremely old backups because it thinks it has access to the entire drive.
If you are in the market for some serious storage we recommend checking out Synology as we have had nothing but wonderful experiences with them.
BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit against one of its own executives over his decision to leave the company for a position at Apple, as noted by iMore. Sebastien Marineau-Mes is BlackBerry’s Senior Vice President of Software until Apple offered him a role as Vice President of Core OS last December. That’s when Marineau-Mes told BlackBerry he’d be quitting in two months for Cupertino.
But because Marineau-Mes had signed a contract that required him to give six months notice before leaving (rather than two), the company filed a lawsuit to keep him around for four extra months. The court ruled that Marineau-Mes would have to stay on with BlackBerry for the full six months before he would be allowed to vacate his post.
BlackBerry called the lawsuit “unfortunate” but said that it expected Marineau-Mes to fulfill the contractual terms he agreed to when he accepted his job.
During a call with investors today, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social network had reached over one billion mobile users. That’s up from only 945 million active users in the last quarter of last year, putting the total gain since then at about 55 million mobile users.
The Facebook-owned photo app Instagram also announced a milestone today on its blog as it passed the 200 million user mark. A quarter of those users joined in just the last six months. Instagram also announced that users have shared over 20 billion photos on the network since it launched.
HTC has just announced its 2014 flagship in New York. Dubbed the new HTC One (M8), the device is just as all the leaks have depicted it over the past few months. Most notably, HTC is touting the device’s high-quality metal construction, which it describes “like a premium watch.” (Remember when Jobs described the iPhone 4 as a “a beautiful old Leica camera”?) The device is available in a new Gunmetal Gray Hairline Finish that makes it look significantly more high-end than its predecessor. Taking a page out of Apple’s book, the device features a dual LED flash on the back, much like the iPhone 5s.
Via TwinCities.com, the first ever Apple authorized reseller is going to end business after over 36 years of trading. Located in Minneapolis, Team Electronics (which later changed its name to FirstTech) was shipped Apple’s first batch of computers in the late 1970’s. It has sold Apple devices for more than three decades, celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2012.However, on March 29th, the shop will close due to shrinking margins.
Finally some much needed smart appliance love for those without central air conditioning (and it’ll keep you cool): the Quirky Aros. Backed by GE, the New York-based start-up Quirky has combined the traditional window A/C unit with some very modern technologies to create the Nest (smart thermostat) of window air conditioners at a particularly reasonable price. On the surface, the Aros is an 8,000 BTU window A/C unit (rated to cool 350 square feet) with an almost Apple-like exterior (it looks as good as any window A/C unit I could imagine). Throw in touch capacitive buttons, Wi-Fi, and an iPhone and Android app for adjusting remotely and you’ve got your smart window air conditioner. The smartphone app doesn’t just let you control the temperature remotely…
According to a study uncovered today by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Apple is the most valuable brand in all of Silicon Valley. The study, which was conducted by a consulting agency called Brand Finance, compared the value of 500 different brands to determine which one was worth the most. Each brand’s value was determined by “estimating the royalty rate that would be charged for use of the brand and factoring in future revenue.”
Much to no one’s real surprise, Apple was ranked the most valuable brand on the list, followed by Google and Microsoft in the second and third spots. According to the results of the study, Apple’s brand is worth $104.7 billion, or about 23% of its market cap. Google, ranked second, has a brand valuation of only $68.6 billion.
Google also confirmed that it’s working with a handful of partners to bring Android Wear powered wearables to market by later this year: Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s former Vice President of Marketing Allison Johnson talked about her time at Apple during the 99U conference, as reported by Cult of Mac. Johnson now works with companies like Jawbone and Anki.
In the video, Johnson discusses her time working with Steve Jobs, including his response to the iPhone 4 “antenna-gate” issue. Johnson describe’s Jobs as being “so sad and so angry” about the problem, declaring that Apple would not be the kind of company that people regarded negatively.
She also talks about her role (and Jobs’) in marketing the original iPhone and other key events in the six years she was in charge of the company’s marketing.
The full twenty-five minute interview is included below:
From tomorrow, AT&T will cut the price of its 2GB data plan tier ‘Mobile Share Value’ from $55 to $40. In total, this plan will cost you $65 per month in data charges for one device, comprised of the reduced $40 data plan and a $25 device charge. As usual, there is a $25 charge for each device that shares the data allowance. For one device, this represents an overall reduction of approximately 20% of AT&T’s current offerings. Otherwise, the plans remain the same with unlimited talk and text service, unlimited international messaging in addition to the shared data.
Twelve South, makers of fine accessories for Apple products, debuted a new version of its popular SurfacePad case for the iPad mini today. The new case is very similiar to the existing iPhone version. It’s made of leather that covers both the front and back of the iPad. A built-in stand allows you to watch videos in landscape at a comfortable angle.
Like Apple’s own Smart Cover, the SurfacePad uses a set of magnets to automatically put the iPad to sleep and wake it up when the cover is opened and closed.
The SurfacePad for iPad mini is available for $69.99 on the Twelve South website. It comes in three colors: black, white, and red. The company says it is currently working on a version of the case for the full-size iPad Air which will be available this Spring.
ABC News reports that RadioShack will close 1,100 stores following a disappointing holiday season and generally unsuccessful attempt to rebrand the chain as the go-to retailer for smartphones and accessories. The number represents about 20% of the electronics shop’s locations. The company previously announced plans to close only 400-700 stores.
That doesn’t mean RadioShack will be disappearing completely, though. Around 4,000 stores are still expected to remain open. While the cell phone business hasn’t been able to keep the entire company afloat, it has apparently provided enough fuel to keep the majority of the stores functional… for now, at least.
Update: QNX confirmed to us the validity of their statement to N4BB.
Though you presumably won’t see the handset maker’s logo anywhere on your dashboard or in the CarPlay interface, BlackBerry-owned QNX’s software for smartphone and display compatibility is apparently present in Apple’s new automotive technology. Tech site N4BB speculated and later updated(viaiDownloadblog) with a statement from QNX that Apple’s existing partnership with the firm extends to implementing compatibility support for Apple CarPlay.
Connectivity to smartphones and other mobile devices is a key strength of QNX Software Systems’ platform for car infotainment systems, and many automakers and tier one automotive suppliers use our platform to implement smartphone/head-unit integration in their vehicles. We have a long-standing partnership with Apple to ensure high-quality connectivity with their devices, and this partnership extends to support for Apple CarPlay.
The move to work with QNX on CarPlay is interesting, not only because of the BlackBerry connection, but also for the approach used to launch CarPlay. Apple, of course, doesn’t manufacture vehicles so the service is dependent on partnerships with automakers, but the apparent QNX relationship on the software and hardware side illustrates Apple’s focus on getting the feature announced at WWDC last June into the hands of users and out of concept rather than building it in-house from the ground up. Expand Expanding Close
Apple has announced that its CFO Peter Oppenheimer is leaving Apple for retirement in September this year. Luca Maestri, vice president of finance, will take over as CFO. The transition will begin in June to smooth the changeover from Oppenheimer to Maestri.
Oppenheimer has been at Apple since before Jobs returned in 1997, as a senior director. He became Senior Vice President and CFO in 2004. Yesterday, it was announced that Oppenheimer would join Goldman Sachs as a board member. Oppenheimer was the lead of the Apple Campus 2 project; whether Maestri will take over this responsibility is currently unclear.
LG published an infographic this afternoon that details the history of smart- (and not-so-smart-) phones. The chart covers major jumps in cell phone technology from 1992 when the first SMS message was sent, all the way to 2013 when LG launched the G2 handset.
The chart also contains some interesting survey results about where people use their smartphones (an example of which is seen above), and a look at LG’s next-gen phone, the G Flex. The phone’s hardware is detailed and benefits like improved battery life and “more accurate selfies” are explained.
There does seem to be a pretty glaring omission on the chart, though: Apple’s massive contributions to the industry in the first iPhone are never mentioned at all. While LG may be able to accurately claim credit for the first touchscreen smartphone in 2007, it certainly wasn’t LG that drove the industry forward or inspired the modern touchscreen-focused versions of Android we know today.
Apple is on a mass hiring spree for Asian staff, beginning in the middle of last year, as noted by the Wall Street Journal. The Journal says that Apple is trying to speed up product development in China and Taiwan to help launch a larger lineup of devices. Apparently, the company is aggressively hiring away from HTC and other firms to form strong product teams in Asia.
Apple is attempting to open its own stores in India, as reported by the Business Standard. However, India has regulations that require companies to source 30% of its components from Indian companies. Apple is requesting that this restriction be relaxed so that it can set up stores legally…
Steven Spriggs, a Fresno man who was ticketed for using his iPhone while driving in January of 2012, won an appeal of his conviction today in a ruling that could potentially impact how drivers are allowed to use their phones while on the road.
Because Spriggs was using his phone’s mapping application when he was pulled over, the court overturned his conviction, stating that maps do not fall under the state ban on texting or talking on a cell phone while driving. Any drivers who were previously ticketed for a similar offense may be able to get their own tickets overturned.
Apple claims it was ignorant of any inter-publisher price fixing and that Apple setup iBooks through legal arrangements without knowledge of any behind-the-scenes collusion.
