Want all the detail of yesterday’s call?
Here’s a link to Macworld’s edited transcript, focused on Tim Cook’s comments.
And here’s a more complete transcript from Seeking Alpha (free reg-wall). The Seeking Alpha transcript includes Tim’s comments, as well as those from Nancy Paxton (Senior Director, Investor Relations) and Luca Maestri (VP of Finance and Corporate Controller) as well as the Q&A that followed.
The Verge:
After weeks of playing defense against five Apple patents, Samsung this week went after Apple with two of its own patents: one it says is infringed when people make FaceTime calls, and another that covers the photo gallery feature found on iPhones, iPads, and some iPods.
Trouble is, the five Apple patents are actually Apple patents. Samsung’s two patents are both purchased patents, not Samsung innovations.
Clearly, this is worthwhile stuff. I think this will be incredibly difficult to implement, but I applaud the effort.
Have an Airport Extreme or Time Capsule? Grab the firmware updates and apply them.
[VIDEO] I love the construction of this video (embedded in the original post). Lots of little pieces, all tied together to support Gigantic, by The Pixies. So well done. Be sure to check out Apple’s Powerful iPhone 5s web page, which showcases some of the apps used in the video.
Yum.
The call is tomorrow at 2p PST. You can dial in or watch the live webcast.
Tim Cook does a terrific job narrating this heartfelt video (embedded in the original post). You can feel the passion in his voice.
At Apple, we strive to reduce our impact on climate change, find ways to use greener materials and conserve resources for future generations. This video was shot on location at Apple Facilities. Now more than ever, we will work to leave the world better than we found it.
Amen, Tim.
If you’ve ever been to WWDC, give this a read. I feel your pain, James.
Yesterday, USA Today ran the linked article discussing Samsung slugging it out with Apple for customers. To me, it read almost like a love letter to Samsung, full of appreciation for a scrappy underdog. For example:
In this escalating slugfest, Samsung has become tech’s Joe Frazier to Apple’s Muhammad Ali, less flashy but tenacious in battering its opponent with a flurry of new products. Apple’s product arsenal remains select — by design.
I find this sort of assessment hard to digest. Did Samsung copy Apple’s design efforts? A federal jury certainly ruled that to be the case. And based on what I’ve read, this seems to be a fair finding.
So why the love for Samsung? Where’s the indignation? I just don’t get it. Samsung as Joe Frazier? Really? Yeesh.
While there are probably some people who go out to shop for the best Android phone, I suspect that most people want to know which phone is best of all, whatever operating system it runs. In other words, how does the Galaxy S5 compare to the iPhone 5S, Apple’s six-month-old flagship device and the champion to beat?
The answer: Not very well. I’ve been using the new Samsung for about three weeks, and while I do think it is the best Android phone you can buy, it sure isn’t the best phone on the market. By just about every major measure you’ll care about, from speed to design to ease of use to the quality of its apps, Samsung’s phone ranks behind the iPhone, sometimes far behind. If you’re looking for the best phone on the market right now, I’d recommend going with the iPhone 5S.
No surprise there.
Follow the link to learn about Lost Mode and how to turn it on for your iOS device.
iAd case study, complete with numbers.
Nikkei.com:
While a slew of carmakers will soon start offering vehicles that come standard with a CarPlay interface built in, the Japanese company’s device is to be the first aftermarket product compatible with the system. It will first be available in the U.S. and Europe and likely cost around $500 to $700.
The device will connect to an iPhone 5 or later by wire. Drivers will be able to view maps on its screen, likely 7 inches, and use voice commands to access messages, make calls and play music. The system will be able to read messages and directions aloud.
This looks pretty cool. A real boost for CarPlay.
Asking a user for permission to send them push notifications or to access their private data can be a little bit of a minefield.
For many apps, not getting access to a phone’s sensors or data can change the entire user experience. For example, if an app depends on where the user is standing, declining access to location could render the app useless. More subtly, if push notifications play a critical role in getting your user to form a habit of using your app, declined access could lead to you losing them forever.
Making it all worse is that when a user taps “Don’t Allow”, there is no easy way for them to reverse that decision.
If you are interested in user interface/experience, this is some good food for thought.
It’s definitely getting there.
As you can see from the pictures below, the demolition part of the work seems to be complete. There are no buildings left standing. There is a lot of work being done by heavy construction machines throughout the field.
Great pictures.
Bloomberg:
Microsoft Corp. is going Hollywood with a cast including comedians Sarah Silverman and Seth Green, aspiring World Cup players and eerily human robots.
All are involved in shows that Microsoft’s new Xbox television studio plans to roll out globally starting in June. Helmed by former CBS Corp. honcho Nancy Tellem, who Microsoft hired 19 months ago to build a TV powerhouse from the ground up, the studio now has six series lined up — including a science-fiction thriller called “Humans” about humanoid robot workers — and more than a dozen projects in development.
This is Microsoft’s not-so-Trojan horse into the living room, building dependence on the Xbox One for accessing web-based programming on your TV, competing with Apple TV, Fire TV, and Google’s evolving TV solution.
Am I in? Am I in?
Dear Developer,
Thank you for registering for the random selection process to attend WWDC 2014.
Unfortunately, you were not selected to purchase a ticket. However, you can still take advantage of great WWDC content. We’ll be posting session videos, slides, and sample code throughout the week for all Registered Apple Developers.
We appreciate your support.
Best regards, Apple Developer Program Support
Pheh. If you put yourself in for the lottery, hopefully your luck was better than mine. The good news is, Apple has been great about putting everything on line quickly.
Well written, easy to follow.
If you in any way make your living, or hope to make your living, via the App Store, I think you’ll find this fascinating. For example:
I ran a simple query on my data to determine the distribtion of user ratings. I found that 60% of apps do not have any user ratings
I’m surprised by this. Zero ratings. Not one person took the time to rate 60% of the apps. To me, that means 60% of the apps never get found, never find an audience.
Follow the headline link for a wealth of data on app sales from the iOS and Mac App Stores, Google Play, Amazon, Windows Phone and PC. For eBooks, there are numbers for Apple iBooks and Kindle. This data has been available for years and is well known in the developer community, but not so well known in the general tech community.
When Amazon introduced the Fire TV yesterday, much was made about the ability to do voice search on the device. In the linked post, Kirk McElhearn walks through the process of doing the same thing on Apple TV, using the iOS Remote app. Cool beans.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicks off on June 2nd, runs through June 6th, at its usual spot in Moscone West in San Francisco. Sign up. Hope to see you there!
Good side-by-side comparisons in this LA Times piece. You might also want to take a look at this comparison from Forbes.
The upgrade fixes a number of issues, including notification handling and security issues.
When the Mac Pro was first introduced, there was a lot of discussion about the potential for user upgradeability. Back in January, Other World Computing (OWC) confirmed that they were able to upgrade a Mac Pro in-house. Now they are making processor and memory upgrades available to the rest of us.
If you know the difference between the Apple A6 and the A7, and if the term ARMv8-A means anything to you, then this read will likely bring you great joy. Anand Lal Shimpi is one smart guy.
For the UN’s International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action taking place on April 4, New Museum in New York City will host an exhibit that uses iBeacons to simulate a virtual minefield and let anyone experience the danger of land mines.
Fantastic use of iBeacons.
New York Times:
Some features in Samsung devices that Apple objects to are part of Google’s Android operating system, by far the most popular mobile operating system worldwide, running on more than a billion devices made by many manufacturers. That means that if Apple wins, Google could have to make changes to critical Android features, and Samsung and other Android phone makers might have to modify the software on their phones.
[VIDEO] Steve Wozniak is such an incredibly nice, down-to-Earth person. This happened a few years ago, but the video was just put up on Saturday.
A few years ago, Steve and Janet Wozniak came to town to help us have a little fun with our kid Emma. Emma’s dad met them around the back of the block to give them Emma’s new iMac, and then they drove back around and rang the doorbell to deliver it…and shocked the heck out of Emma and her sister (who as Apple fankids immediately knew who he was) and friends (who only knew of him from “Dancing With The Stars”). Little sister Elizabeth got the iPod Touch as a “one more thing,” and Janet shot the video.
Steve’s known to be quite the practical joker, and it was very kind of him and Janet to spend the time to do this…and make a great memory for all of us.
He gave permission to put this up. We all hope you enjoy it.
Her reaction starts at about 2:30 in. Just a nice thing to do. You rock, Woz!
Qi Lu is an Executive Vice President at Microsoft and runs Bing Search, Skype, and Office. Office for iPad was the result of his group’s efforts. This interview was interesting, but I thought the real value was to get to know him.