IDC just released their latest worldwide PC sales tracking report. Bottom line, Apple maintained their relative position at number five, behind Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Acer Group, but showed explosive growth, moving from a 5.8% share of the market in 4Q2013 to 7.1% in 4Q2014.
Apple
Apple’s defense against excessive refunds
Apple has implemented a new policy to prevent abuse of its EU no-questions-asked 14 day refund agreement.
Apple devices and a constant for battery life
Jason Snell offers an interesting analysis on the daily battery expectancy for iOS devices.
Robotic iPad covers in Apple display window
This Regent Street, London Apple Store window shows off a series of iPads with covers that automatically open and close, turning on and off the iPad with each cycle. Charming. Fascinating.
Makes me wonder how this works. There are no obvious wires or holes. There must be a motor underneath each iPad, but what’s the linkage that makes the cover bend over like that? Really well done.
iPhone separation anxiety
This study at the University of Missouri is making its way around the blogosphere. Not sure I agree with the science.
How an indie developer makes a living on the App Store
The developer of HoursTracker shares his numbers and his story.
Apple joins in solidarity with Je Suis Charlie
Apple adds Je Suis Charlie banner to their French language web site.
How Lego became the Apple of toys
Fast Company:
In the last 10 years, Lego has grown into nothing less than the Apple of toys: a profit-generating, design-driven miracle built around premium, intuitive, highly covetable hardware that fans can’t get enough of.
Marco’s regret
Marco Arment was the voice behind the “Apple has lost the functional high ground” blog post that has gone viral over the past few days.
With the benefit of hindsight, Marco updated his post with a link to “What it’s like to be popular for a day”:
You might think this is a dream come true for a blogger, but it’s horrible.
iOS 8 adoption now up to 68 percent
Apple updated their iOS adoption pie chart on Monday.
The year’s best user interface animations
Beautiful Pixels posted their annual look at the best user interface animations from apps and the web. My favorite, from Lush for iPhone, is below. So very delicious.
Monster sues Beats Electronics and founders for fraud
Wall Street Journal:
In a complaint filed in Superior Court in San Mateo County, Calif., Monster said Beats “fraudulently acquired” the Beats by Dr. Dre line of headphones through a “sham transaction” with HTC, which agreed to purchase a 51% stake in Beats for $300 million in 2011.
iPhone developer pays off his parents’ house
iPhone developer Joseph Riquelme (AKA, Joey Trombone) took the money he made from his popular iOS video editing app, Videoshop, and put it to good use. Watch the video. Fantastic!
On leaving the Mac App Store
Last May, Cabel Sasser, co-founder of Panic, announced that the team was pulling Coda, their highly regarded web development tool, from the Mac App Store, primarily due to sandboxing issues.
Yesterday, they published the results of this experiment.
On the iOS storage lawsuit
There’s been a lot of discussion about the lawsuit alleging that Apple is somehow defrauding its customers by selling a 16 Gig phone, which yields about 12 Gigs of usable space.
Predicting the future
In April of 2013, less than two years ago, Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins announced the Glass Collective, “an investment syndicate among our three firms, to provide seed funding to entrepreneurs in the Glass ecosystem to help jumpstart their ideas.”
Follow this link and take a look at the picture. Does this look like the future? Two years ago, it did, at least to some pretty smart people.
Breathe life into an old Mac
Joe Caiati, a long time IT pro, shares some tips for breathing new life into your old Mac.
Ad campaign filmed entirely on the iPhone 6 Plus
The iPhone 6 Plus slow motion feature was used to create the look for the ad campaign from luxury skincare brand Erno Laszlo.
Why your Mac’s firewall is off by default
The Mac firewall is designed to block incoming connections. This article digs into the process of working with a firewall and explains why the Mac firewall is not necessary for most users.
ITG report finds strong Apple Pay momentum
Apple Pay momentum is growing, and is a real threat to PayPal.
Six Colors lists their favorite iOS games
Jason Snell and Dan Moren of Six Colors put together a list of their favorite iOS games. The usual suspects are there, but there are plenty of games that were new to me. A nice little list.
Apple addresses allegations made in BBC documentary detailing working conditions In China
The Telegraph:
The BBC’s Panorama programme sent undercover reporters to Pegatron factories on the outskirts of Shanghai, where it claims to have uncovered poor treatment of workers and a breach of standards on workers’ hours.
In an email to around 5,000 staff across the UK, Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams said both himself and the chief executive were “deeply offended by the suggestion that Apple would break a promise to the workers in our supply chain or mislead our customers in any way”.
An interface exploration for the Apple TV
The Apple TV interface is designed to move one object at a time. Press the right arrow key on your remote, move to the next movie in your list.
Radu Dutzan had an idea for a more direct interface (think mouse instead of arrow keys) and built this conceptual prototype using an iPhone and AirPlay.
MacStories’ must have iPad Apps, 2014 edition
Federico Viticci, writing for MacStories, put together his annual list of must have apps, starting with those for iPad. This is a surprisingly comprehensive list and well worth the read.
This is where Apple’s money comes from
Business Insider posted an infographic showing the relative contributions to the bottom line from these sectors, in descending order: iPhone, iPad, Mac, iTunes & Software, Accessories, and iPod.
Judge keeps Steve Jobs video testimony from public release
The Verge:
A California judge has denied a request from a trio of media outlets to make video deposition of late Apple CEO Steve Jobs available to the public.
The state of Apple’s Mac software
Stephen Hackett, writing for 512 Pixels, takes a look at each of Apple’s individual Mac applications.
Samsung in talks to launch Apple Pay competitor
Re/code:
Samsung has discussed a deal with a payments startup that would help the smartphone maker unveil a wireless mobile payments system in 2015 to rival Apple, according to multiple sources.
Samsung at it again.
iOS 8 App Development Becomes a “Bring Me a Rock” Game
Adam Engst, writing for TidBITS:
The common thread that ties these disparate apps together is that all are trying to take advantage of iOS 8’s new Extensibility features. Those include custom keyboards, Notification Center widgets, custom Share actions and extensions, photo and video editing extensions, and document provider extensions — iMore has a comprehensive explanation of Extensibility.
The problem is that Apple has not published clear guidelines about what is acceptable.
There are a lot of issues related to the App Store that are troubling developers.
Dozens more companies sign up for Apple Pay
New York Times:
On Tuesday, Apple announced that in recent weeks the company had signed up dozens more banks, retail stores and start-ups to adopt Apple Pay, the company’s new e-commerce product, which allows customers to buy things with little more than a wave of their iPhone.
Lots of progress here.