| WWDC kicks off June 10 with Apple hinting at iOS 7 reveal Apr 24th 2013, 13:23 
Get your diaries out: Apple has confirmed that WWDC 2013 will take place June 10-14 in San Francisco. The annual Worldwide Developers Conference is aimed at developers but is often used to showcase new tech and, particularly, software. This year's no exception, with Apple promising to give devs "an in-depth look at what's next in iOS and OS X" - we're hoping this means our first official glimpse at iOS 7. A hard day's nightWhether we'll see any hardware at the conference keynote is another story; with the iPad 4 and iPad mini unveiled last October alongside the iPhone 5, we're not really expecting any mobile devices until later this year. Mac refreshes are a possibility though, and we're hoping to see the successor to Mountain Lion shown off too. Hopes are high for iOS 7 as Apple's mobile software has long started to feel a little dated. Can we glean anything from the company's small but perfectly formed new WWCD logo? Formed of wavy app-esque tabs in an array of eight bright colours, we can't tell much beyond the fact that it will take place in MMXIII (that's Roman for 2013, fact fans). But wasn't there a rumour about the so-called budget iPhone coming in up to five colours? Okay, it's a stretch - but with Apple you just never know… Tickets for the show go on sale to iOS and Mac developer programme members on April 25 at 10am PDT at $1599 (around £1050 or AU$1550) a pop.     |  | Gary Marshall: Falling profit? Yep, Apple must be doomed Apr 24th 2013, 09:41 
When I got up this morning, one of my dogs had crapped on the kitchen floor, my mobile was showing No Service and the coffee machine spat out hot water instead of coffee. "This can only mean one thing," I said to myself. "Apple is DOOOOOOMED!" Well, it's about as scientific as any other "Apple is DOOOOOOMED!" analysis. Instead of facts and figures, Apple could have released nothing but a picture of a small dog during yesterday's earnings call and we'd have endless reports explaining that the dog was smaller than Wall Street expected, and that the diminutive dog doodle proves that Apple is DOOOOOMED! Is it? Here's the short version: No. Here's the long version: Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnno. Paging Doctor DOOOOOOOOOM!Revenues are up. iPhone sales are up. iPad sales are up. iTunes sales are up. Yes, Mac sales are down very slightly, but they're still doing pretty well compared to the wider PC industry: Horace Dediu estimates that Apple's raking in 45% of the profit in the PC market. What's causing the doom-mongers to break out their widows' weeds isn't that Apple is losing money, or that people aren't buying its products. It's that Apple's profit margins have fallen. Previously Apple's profit margins were WTF*. Now, they're just OMG**. The profit margins are down because Apple's doing exactly what analysts clamoured for: it's making more affordable products such as iPad minis, and it's keeping older iPhones on sale at lower prices. Apple said it was doing that, and it told analysts earlier this year to expect profit margins of between 37.5% and 38.5%. So of course when Apple announced profit margins of 37.5%, analysts went crazy. "Apple is rubbish, and also DOOOOOMED!" they cried. Like stopped clocks the analysts will be right eventually - all empires fall - but predicting Apple's demise based on a single set of financial results is ridiculous, and claiming that Apple doesn't have anything in the pipeline is even more ridiculous. There were six years between the iPod and iPhone. We're supposed to write off Apple because it's been a whole six months since the iPad mini? Then again, we're talking about the same kind of level-headed long-term thinkers who, er, freak out over a single fake tweet. What we're seeing here is the tail end of a wave. The last few years have largely been about the iPhone, its astonishing sales and its incredible profit margins, and now that growth is slowing - just as the iPod's growth slowed before it, and just like the iPad's growth will also slow. When you're the only game in town you only get so long before the competition catches up and the market matures. What's surprising isn't that the iPhone is being squeezed. It's that Apple has been able to maintain such extraordinary profit margins for so long. * 47.4% ** 37.5%     | | Nokia launches Asha 210 WhatsApp phone Apr 24th 2013, 09:30 
After dropping a few subtle hints earlier this week, Nokia has unveiled its budget Asha 210 handset, complete with full Qwerty keyboard and dedicated WhatsApp button sat on the front. The 210 comes selling itself as "the most social Asha yet," placing its social networking features, including Facebook and Twitter, at the heart of the handset. Owners will also get free lifetime services from WhatsApp - saving you $1 (about 66p) a year. Meanwhile, the phone's 2-megapixel camera isn't anything to get excited about - not unexpected for a budget handset of this calibre. WassupBy putting WhatsApp front and centre, the new Asha is clearly looking to go down the route of the Facebook Phone, taking on the lower-end Blackberries and bridging the gap between feature phone and smartphone. Posting the new details on its website, Nokia says the phone will offer 46 days of battery life on the single-SIM version and 24 days on the dual-SIM. Expect to see the Asha 210 on sale by June 2013, landing with a $72 (around £50/AUS$70) price tag.     | | BBC iPlayer Radio for Android launches, is 'better than iOS version' Apr 24th 2013, 08:52 
The BBC has launched its iPlayer Radio app for Android devices and the broadcaster's executive producer for mobile insists that it is better than the iOS version. Android users have long been frustrated that apps often launch first for Apple products, but in this case there may be a benefit with the BBC's James Simcock explaining that iPlayer Radio for Android is superior. "This app has all the features of the iOS app as well as some improvements that, as an Android user myself, I think make it even better," he said. Alarming newsThe iPlayer Radio will not only give access to the BBC's radio stations but also to set the alarm to wake up with your favourite programme, swipe to access on demand content and videos and set programme reminders. Last, and definitely least, you can discover what tracks are playing and share/inflict them with/on your friends. So, Android users, you had to wait a bit longer but at least the extra time brought extra functionality. But exactly WHAT new functionality? According to the BBC's blog, all of the usage date gathered from iOS has been used to streamline the design of the App for Android, a notification panel has been included and the alarm clock works even when the app isn't active.     | | Australia's cheapest Samsung Galaxy S4 Apr 24th 2013, 00:57 
Samsung's Galaxy S4 World Tour landed in Sydney last night, with the electronics giant announcing that the handset will be available in Australia from Saturday April 27. It will be available at Samsung stores and the big electronics chains outright for $899 for a 16GB model. All of the major local telcos will be ranging the phone too. With so little time to make a decision, we're done the legwork in helping you find the best value plans for what will surely be one of this year's most popular phones. We'll look at the middle rate plans for each of the carriers, which sits at about $60 a month. But, remember that the telcos also offer the phone at plans at both ends of this price: cheaper plans with fewer inclusions and more expensive plans with more data and unlimited calls and messaging. Virgin Mobile: as the underdog in this race for your GS4 dollars, Virgin has the most competitive rates. $66 a month will cover the plan and handset repayments for the GS4, and buy you 3GB of data a month, $700 worth of calls (at $2.38 for a 2-minute call) and unlimited text messaging. And, in case you've forgotten, Virgin is owned by Optus and shares its network, so you get the same coverage as with Optus, including 4G services. Vodafone: with 4G services starting in just a few months, the GS4 is bound to be a big deal to the folks at Vodafone. As such, they are offering an extra 1GB of data for the first 12-months on plans of $60p/m or higher. Including handset repayments you'll pay $65 and get 2.5GB of data for the first 12-month, 1.5GB thereafter. You also get $650 worth of calls (charged at $2.36 for a 2-minute call), unlimited calls to other Vodafone customers and unlimited text messaging. Optus: for one reason or another, Optus isn't choosing to be particularly persuasive with its GS4 pricing. You'll pay $67 per month for a GS4 plan, with 1.5GB of data each month, $650 worth of calls (charged at $2.15 per 2-minutes) and unlimited text. You can also make unlimited calls to other Optus phone numbers. Telstra: with the bulk of Australia's mobile subscribers on its network, Telstra probably doesn't need to be that competitive. And, it isn't. We haven't seen the telco's $60 plans for the GS4, but for $87 (including the handset repayment) you're getting similar inclusions to the plans from the competition: 1.5GB data, $800 worth of calls and unlimited text. Telstra is also selling the phone outright for $816, which is a fair bit cheaper than the official price from Samsung. There are better deals still if you shop online for an unlocked handset. Kogan is selling the GS4 (16GB, Black) for $799. Mobicity is advertising the Octa-core version of the phone for the same price, or the 4G version (the same as the model sold by the telcos) for $829.     | | BlackBerry patent filing shines a light on potential Torch-style BB10 handset Apr 23rd 2013, 23:47 
BlackBerry may be planning to launch a sliding BB10 handset akin to now defunct Torch range, judging by a patent filing unveiled this week. The filing shows a handset that appears to be a cross between the all-touchscreen BlackBerry Z10 device and the sliding BlackBerry Torch handset which combined a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard. The Canadian smartphone giant filed for the patent back in December 2011, but have finally had it approved, Engadget reports. So far BlackBerry is experimenting with just two form factors for its all-important BB10 handsets, the Z10 and the Bold-alike BlackBerry Q10 device, due to go on sale this spring. BlackBerry Live launch?The company's annual showcase BlackBerry Live (formerly BlackBerry World) is up next month so it's certainly a possibility that we may see this third form factor break cover at the event. Would you like to see BlackBerry offer a full-touchscreen BB10 device with the added bonus of a physical keyboard? Let us know in the comments section below.     | | Android Jelly Bean 4.2 update may mark end of the road for HTC One X Apr 23rd 2013, 22:59 
2012's HTC One X will be boosted to Android 4.2, before too long but chances of a further upgrade to Android Key Lime Pie lie somewhere between 'slim' and 'none', according to reports. GottaBeMobile brings word from a notorious HTC tipster that the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update will be joined by the latest version of Sense 5.0, but that'll be the end of the road for the handset. Developer and HTC tipster @LLabTooFeR wrote on Twitter: "No ETAs at the moment...4.2.2 will be last update for One X" HTC has yet to confirm an update schedule for the 4.7-inch handset, which shipped with Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but was refreshed with Jelly Bean 4.1 in November. HTC One implicationIf the HTC One X isn't to get Key Lime Pie than it seems unlikely that its 2012 stablemates, the HTC One X+, HTC One S and HTC One SV will get it either. However, HTC One X isn't the only phone that'll be expecting an Android 4.2.2 update sooner rather than later. Even the flagship HTC One that recently went on sale around the world is only shipping with Android 4.1, but it's perfectly conceivable that it'll skip 4.2 and go straight to 5.0. Key Lime Pie is thought to be the latest version of Android, but Google is yet to officially announce it. That's expected at Google I/O next month.     | | Apple says to look at fall, 2014 for 'amazing' product developments Apr 23rd 2013, 20:52 
Tim Cook and Co. probably did a collective "nah nah nah nah nah" with their thumbs near their ears after Apple's earnings report came out today, besting analyst predictions and showing that those calls for the CEO's head may have been premature. By the numbers, the firm sold 37.4 million iPhones during the three-month period ending March 30, up from 35.1 million the same quarter one year ago. It's a relatively modest bump, but another iDevice was ready to pick up the slack. The iPad bounded through the quarter, with sales amounting to 19.5 million, topping 11.8 million units sold the same time last year. All told, the company posted $43.6 billion (around UK£28.6 billion, AU$42.5 billion) in revenue and a net profit of $9.5 billion (around UK£62.3 billion, compared to revenue of $39.2 billion (around UK£25.7 billion, AU$38.2 billion) and $11.6 billion (around UK£7.6 billion, AU$11.3 billion) in profit from last year. And Cook left listeners on the company's earnings call with this teaser: "Our team is working hard on amazing hardware and software developments we can't wait to introduce in the fall and into 2014." Gold medal daysWe've heard it many (many) times before, but this proved to be a record-setting quarter yet again. The iPhone and iPad set new sales records for the period while iTunes set a new all-time revenue record, the gathered Apple-ites bragged. 'Tunes saw quarterly billings of more than $4 billion (around UK£2.6 billion, AU$3.9 billion) with revenue rising 28 percent year-on-year. More iPad minis were sold during the March quarter than in the previous quarter, with the vast majority being first time iPad buyers. On the product side, the biggest blemish was a drop of 2 percent in Mac sales. The company sold 4 million in the same quarter last year but failed to breach that number on this go around. "The reason we were down 2 percent is that the market for PCs is incredibly weak," Cook offered by way of explanation, citing recent research that the market as a whole contracted sharply. "It's the largest decline that I can remember from being in this industry for a long time." Could cannibalization from the iPad be to blame? "At the same time [as Mac sales fell], we sold almost 20 million iPads," Cook said. "It's certainly true that there is some cannibalizing of Macs ... but I don't think it's a huge number. Some people are probably extending their upgrade cycles. "That said, I don't think this market is a dead or dying market by any means. We think it's an alive market and that the iPad could actually end up benefiting the Mac because people think about the product they're buying in a different manner. "Our strategy isn't changing. We're going to continue making the best personal computer ... we have more great stuff planned." On the App Store side, CFO Peter Oppenheimer revealed the company pays $1 billion (around UK£655 million, AU$976million)to developers every quarter as customers have helped download 45 million items. Take noteSpeaking of upcoming offerings, as noted earlier Cook signaled that the fall and next year are where folks need to pay attention for major announcements. "I don't want to be more specific," Cook said as to whether there won't be significant product introductions between now and September. "I'm just saying we have some really great stuff coming in the fall and across all of 2014." The company is exploring "exciting new product categories," though Cook declined to give specifics. Reports point to Apple coming up with its own wearable tech in the form on an iWatch, though again, no specific categories were named. Cook also touched on confidence in the company's supply chain, a relationship structure that can seem shaky at times. "The work that we do to create truly innovative products is very hard," he said. "But we are working very hard with our manufacturing partners to execute what we feel is a very exciting roadmap." Unsurprisingly, Cook's attitude towards 5-inch iPhones hasn't changed since last quarter, with the CEO explaining that there are too many tradeoffs in making a larger screened device than what Apple is willing to sacrifice. "Our competitors have made some significant tradeoffs in order to ship a larger display," he said, ticking off features like resolution, color quality, portability and compatibility with apps. "We would not ship a larger iPhone while these tradeoffs exist." Despite what are certainly strong figures, Cook cautioned that going into the current quarter, the company's growth rates have slowed and its margins have dropped markedly from the heady days of 2012. We don't doubt the company will continue to bring in billions, but there are wolves circling the company's market share. Apple, however, trusts it can keep them at bay. "Samsung is the top competitor and, married to Google on the operating side, obviously that's our top competitors," Cook said. "But we feel we have the best products by far."     | | Mozilla 'thrilled' at demand facing first Firefox OS phones Apr 23rd 2013, 18:55 
Update: There's been a tweak to the Geeksphone store message, one that better addresses what's caused it to be temporarily down. "Due to the great demand for our phones...the shop is currently out of stock," the new message read. "The online sale wil restart in the following hours." Original article... Phones running Mozilla's Firefox OS are making it into the wild today. Spain-based Geeksphone opened orders for two dev preview handsets this morning and within hours the Keon and Peak sold out. The startup OEM's online shop is currently displaying a two-line message that it's temporarily shut down for maintenance, an indicator it's reached maximum order capacity. Mozilla, for its part, is well aware of the situation at Geeksphone. "Mozilla is thrilled to see such high demand for the Firefox OS developer preview devices, made available today by Geeksphone," Stormy Peters, director of websites and developer engagement at Mozilla, said in a statement sent to TechRadar. "The support for these devices has been overwhelming, and we are pleased to see the development community excited to create content for the open web on mobile. We believe developers working with Firefox OS will help to bring the next 2 billion users online, through the power of the open mobile web." 
Scorching While Mozilla stayed high-level as to why developers are flocking to the phones, one very terrestrial factor may be playing into demand. Geeksphone priced the Keon at $119 (around UK£77, AU$115 ) and the higher-end Peak at $194 (around UK£127, AU$189). Devs will get to play around with the Linux-based, open-source OS before retail units start shipping in June. Mozilla plans to offer Firefox OS devices in five countries then, with more added by the end of the year. Neither device is a barnburner, but that's not really what Mozilla is after. The burnt orange Keon is home to a single-core 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 3MP camera and a 1,580mAh battery. The Peak struts in white with a 4.3-inch qHD IPS display, 1.2GHz dual-core chip, 2MP front camera 8MP rear snapper complete with flash, 1,800mAh juicer and the same RAM and internal storage as its little brother. Geeksphone is reportedly looking to get orders out at a rate of about 5,000 per day, though it's unclear when the first units will start shipping. It's also unknown exactly how many units were sold today, but we'll update this story when we find out more. The hope is to have the handsets back on sale before the week is up, so if you're holding on for a dev unit, sit tight. Neither Mozilla nor Geeksphone seem eager to disappoint.     | | Blip: Justice is served: Measly payday for 'Antennagate' finally in the mail Apr 23rd 2013, 17:37 
A DVD. Dinner for one. Parking five miles from any event in San Francisco. There are a number of things you can buy for $15, and those of you affected by "Antennagate" will soon be flush with dinero. Well, $15 (at little less than £10, and $14 australian dollars) of dinero. Reports indicate that Apple has started paying out settlement checks for the iPhone 4 scandal that broke in 2010. Some phones had antenna and reception issues, and while Apple gave a number of free bumpers to quell customer fury, those who didn't receive one will now start "rolling" in class action dough. The $15 is only for U.S. customers as per iPhone4settlement.com, the case's dedicated website. Those of you crouched by your mail slot can start daydreaming about the settlement's possibilities. More blips!Digest the news with ease with more of our bite-sized Blips. They're quite tasty.     | | Microsoft man emphasises phones' future Apr 23rd 2013, 16:37 
One of Microsoft's UK based thought leaders has indicated that smartphones will be the pivotal member of the trinity of devices with tablets and PCs in coming years. Dave Coplin, Chief Envisioning Officer for Microsoft, told an audience at the Internet World conference in London that, although smartphones are now becoming ubiquitous, they will change the way people behave. "We will have more and more access to information that will challenge what we do inside and outside of our organisations," he said, adding: "They will not be phones any more; they will be our windows to the digital world." Their role in providing the quickest way to access information will be crucial, although tablets will also be important for functions that work effectively on touchscreens, and keyboard computers for work that needs a lot of typing and data input. Coplin also stood by Windows 8 as a disruptive technology and argued that in the long term it could help users to become more creative. The operating system has had generally positive reviews but there have been criticisms, some expressed at the conference session, about the way the user interfaces work with a keyboard. "We want to disrupt the way that people work, to get them doing more on touch enabled devices, but we're in a period of pain at the moment," he said. He portrayed Windows 8 as part of a change that will make people more creative in the long term, and said that over three years they can change the way they think about technology. The comments came towards the end of a presentation in which Coplin championed the cause of flexible working, suggesting that the traditional office space often hampers creativity and that people should have more freedom to find a place where they can best get a job done.     | | More supply woes for HTC One as Nokia wins ban on mic Apr 23rd 2013, 14:06 
Nokia has won an injunction in the Netherlands that will ban HTC from using the current microphone components found in its HTC One phones around the world. The injunction is effective immediately and will last until March 2014. It prevents supplier STMicro from selling its microphones to HTC, meaning HTC must now scramble to find a new source for the tech. Nokia's engineers found that the audio capture components inside the HTC One were those allegedly invented by Nokia, made exclusively for the Finnish company's phones, and featured in the Lumia 720. "HTC is disappointed in the decision," it told TechRadar in a statement. "We are consulting with STM and will decide whether it is necessary to explore alternative solutions in due course." Deep impact?However, HTC told us that it did not expect the ruling to have any "immediate" impact on sales. On whether it will lead to a delay in the release of the black model of the HTC One however, the company refused to comment. The HTC One was originally meant to go on sale in March but faced a series of setbacks due to camera shortages, leading to a delay in a number of countries. This, of course, led to a big hit on HTC's financial results.     | | Excite Mobile busted for creating a fake debt collector and dodgy complaints company Apr 23rd 2013, 04:37 
In the list of "things not to do as a telecommunications company", creating a dodgy "independent" complaints hotline and fake debt collectors who threaten to take away children's toys as payments are at the top of the list. But it looks like Excite Mobile didn't get the memo, as the Federal Court of Australia has just busted the telco for doing just that. The company, which ran on Optus' mobile network, preyed on lower socio-economic customers, particularly in indigenous communities in remote parts of the country. With contracts that locked customers in for two years, and only allowed customers to make two minutes worth of calls a day before excess charges kicked in, often in areas without Optus coverage, things were never above board with the MVNO. There was also a $75 cool off fee and a $195 fee for returning a phone, even if nothing more than the box was damaged. If that's not enough, also among the laundry list of questionable acts was the creation of its own complaints department, which it called "Telecommunication Industry Complaints". While dealing with complaints is perfectly fine, Excite Mobile did its best to convince its unhappy customers that the organisation was an independent body in the same vein as the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO). The Ballad of Jerry HastingsWorse than the complaints situation though was the creation of a fictitious debt collector named Jerry Hastings. Excite Mobile used the character or Jerry Hastings to send threatening letters to at least 1074 customers. The letters were misleading, and went so far as to demand additional late payments of 20 per cent of the original debt as well as the repossession of assets, going so far as to actually demand children's toys. The Federal Court found that Jerry Hastings was in fact a fictitious character, and every demand he sent came directly from Excite Mobile. The PenaltyWhile the penalty is yet to be handed down, Excite Mobile does face a $1.1 million fine for every breach of the trades legislation. In addition, the ACCC is hoping that the company's directors be barred from running a company for at least five years.   | | Telstra shares its plan for data sharing plans Apr 23rd 2013, 03:33 
A recent post on Telstra's Exchange blog points to the telco planning to incorporate shared data plans into its range, which would let customers use a combined data allowance across several different devices. The blog post doesn't elaborate on when Telstra will launch these plans, or whether it will charge a premium for the privilege. Data sharing is a feature that customers have been wanting for some time, but it is something only a few telcos around the world have implemented. It's rare to shareTelstra will be the first telco in Australia to offer shared data plans, but not the first in the world, with telcos like Orange in France offering a shared option for some time. Verizon in the U.S. offers shared plans too, with a single fee for the data and an extra "line rental" fee for each device added to the account. Each smartphone adds US$5 per month to the bill, each tablet is US$10 and a USB modem is an addition US$20 per month. Demand for data services has never been higher, with Australian telco analyst Telesyte estimating there is in excess of 30-million data-enabled devices active in Australia -- a 133-percent market penetration.   | |
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