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Jake Smith

Senator Tom Coburn says he’s ‘absolutely livid’ about Apple’s tax practices

Jake Smith May 1 2012 - 2:03 pm PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8bAEVhciCY&start=649]

Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma appeared on “Morning Joe” earlier this morning to talk the debt crisis. During the interview, a question came up about a piece The New York Times ran this weekend that discussed Apple’s tactics of legally skirting billions in taxes each year by using tax havens like Nevada, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Virgin Islands. Keep in mind: These practices are perfectly legal and other large companies are doing the same. However, when the Senator was asked about the topic, Coburn sternly replied that he’s “absolutely livid.”

As a solution to the issue, Coburn said that the nation needs to “reform the tax code,” which he said will lead to economic growth. The senator also said he has begun work with Michigan Senator Carl Levin to look into how Apple is doing this. The big thing it looks like the senator wants to do is bring the funds from these larger companies back into the United States to help put more money back into the economy—obviously through large taxes.

Apple currently has $74 billion of its money off-shores, and it is pushing, along with other companies, for a tax-holiday where it could bring its money back into the U.S at a cut tax rate. Apple responded to the NYT piece on Sunday:

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Apple to use Bloom fuel cells powered by landfill biomass for North Carolina data center

Jake Smith Apr 30 2012 - 2:41 pm PT

There were several new developments today about how Apple will help fuel its new North Carolina data center that powers iCloud. According to a filing today, and as first reported by CNET, Apple tapped Bloom Energy to provide fuel cells to power the data center. Each fuel cell can set off up to 200 kW of power by combining biogas with oxygen and other chemicals. Apple plans to build a 4.8 MW fuel cell farm for its data center that is set to consume a whopping 20 MW of power. Apple will get the other needed energy from an adjacent 174-acre solar farm that is said to bring 20 MW of power toward the plant, according to Apple’s latest numbers.

Bloom Energy announced today the opening of a new factory in Newark, Del., which will most likely manufacture some— if not most— of the fuel cells that would be used at Apple’s North Carolina data center. The new factory is set to create hundreds of jobs and open up Bloom Energy’s business out of California.

Since the Bloom Energy fuel cells require either natural gas or biogas, Apple will take an interesting approach by using trash from local landfills to produce the biogas, according to Data Center Knowledge.

Apple will use methane from landfills, which will be transported via a natural gas pipeline system, according to a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The raw biogas will be cleaned and separated to increase the methane content and remove unwanted components (including sulfide, chlorine and sulfur) before being injected into the natural gas pipeline.
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iTunes Match begins rolling out in Italy, Portugal, Greece, more

Jake Smith Apr 30 2012 - 12:30 pm PT

Apple has slowly rolled out its iTunes Match service worldwide over the past few months, but today it looks like more countries were added, because the music matching service began rolling out in Italy, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, and Austria. Users in these countries can now signup for the service that allows them to store all of their music to iCloud, and then sync the music to all of their iOS devices. MacStories first reported the news when it found a change in the Terms of Service, which now notes iTunes Match.

If you live in the countries listed above, make sure to let us know how the roll out is going in the comments below. The new countries are not yet mentioned on Apple’s iTunes Match page.

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Lengthy profile on famed jailbreaker Geohot from The New Yorker

Jake Smith Apr 30 2012 - 9:11 am PT

“I hack because I’m bored.”

The New Yorker published a very lengthy piece this morning that profiles the famed jailbreak George Hotz—a.k.a Geohot. This 22-year-old has seen a ton of publicity over the years for being the first to unlock the iPhone, getting sued by Sony, and working at Facebook for eight months.

The piece by David Kushner delves into many of Hotz’s projects, which have benefited the jailbreaking community in many ways. Kushner looked at Hotz’s first accomplishment of unlocking the first-gen iPhone to work on T-Mobile. He described the process:

He used a Phillips-head eyeglass screwdriver to undo the two screws in the back of the phone. Then he slid a guitar pick around the tiny groove, and twisted free the shell with a snap. Eventually, he found his target: a square sliver of black plastic called a baseband processor, the chip that limited the carriers with which it could work. To get the baseband to listen to him, he had to override the commands it was getting from another part of the phone. He soldered a wire to the chip, held some voltage on it, and scrambled its code. The iPhone was now at his command. On his PC, he wrote a program that enabled the iPhone to work on any wireless carrier.

The piece takes a closer look at Hotz’s work on the PS3, being sued by Sony, and his short stint at Facebook. You can read the full story over at The New Yorker.

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Tweetbot 2.3 adds new Gestures and Storify integration

Jake Smith Apr 30 2012 - 8:48 am PT

Tweetbot, the Twitter app that everyone seems to be raving about, was given a hefty update this morning with a slew of new features. The app now features integration with the story curation service Storify, a new tweet detail view, support for the file sharing service Droplr, high-resolution image uploads when on Wi-Fi, a load of new gestures, and more. At this rate, it seems the Tapbots team is releasing an update for Tweetbot every few weeks. The last update added iCloud timeline sync and DM read statuses.

All of these updates are great, but I think what we are really waiting for is Tweetbot for Mac. The Tapbots team is rumored to be working on such an application, and with all the success that the iOS app has seen, we can predict the same for the Mac app. Let’s hope it lands in the near future.

You can check out the rest of the new features for version 2.3 after the break. Tweetbot is available on the App Store for $2.99.

[tweet https://twitter.com/tweetbot/status/196984712777056256]

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Jailbreakers: Make Sparrow your default mail client with Sparrow+

Jake Smith Apr 26 2012 - 5:08 pm PT

If you use Sparrow as your email app of choice on the iPhone, I am sure you know by now that there is no way to set the app as the default mail client within iOS. This can be very frustrating when you click on an email in the Web, and then it opens Mail.app— especially when you really wanted Sparrow instead. Here’s how to set Sparrow as your default mail client while using a jailbroken iPhone. Jeff does this by using a jailbreak tweak called Sparrow+, which should be available on Cydia’s BigBoss repo soon.

Furthermore, Sparrow+ also enables push notifications, which is something that Sparrow lacks but claimed is coming soon. If you are a diehard Sparrow user (like me), I think this tweak is a no brainer… if you are jailbroken of course.

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Microsoft releases small update for Office for Mac 2011 to fix ‘critical issues’

Jake Smith Apr 26 2012 - 2:24 pm PT

A few weeks ago, Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for its Office for Mac 2011 product, which brought a myriad of fixes and new features. However, Microsoft quickly pulled the update from AutoUpdate last weekend due to the widespread issues users were facing— specifically in regards to Outlook. Do not get too bummed out though, because the folks up in Redmond were quick to release Office for Mac 2011 update 14.2.1 today. It brings fixes for the many “critical issues.” Microsoft said this update is “recommended for all users,” so go ahead and hop on over to Microsoft’s website to grab the 110MB update. You can check out the notes for the update after the break.

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Kindle Fire now over half of Android tablet market, as Amazon reports blowout earnings

Jake Smith Apr 26 2012 - 2:00 pm PT

It is apparent over the last few months that Amazon’s $199 Kindle Fire has been making rapid gains in Android tablet market. However, we did not think it was an all out domination. According to research firm ComScore, the Kindle Fire now makes up 54.4 percent of the total Android Market (as of the end of the month) after just six months on the market. Following behind is the Samsung Galaxy Tab series at 15.4-percent, Motorola Xoom at 7 percent, and Asus Transformer come at 6.3-percent.

The Kindle Fire has been selling very well on Amazon’s online store and at various retail stores. Priced at $199 and built on a custom version of Android 2.3, the Kindle Fire offers a tablet on the cheap for those looking to consume content. Of course, today’s news sounds a little better for Amazon than Google, as there is really no hint to the average consumer eye that the Kindle Fire is running Android. We are hoping Amazon will announce how many have been sold some day, but it hasn’t yet.

In further Amazon news this afternoon, the company just reported its Q1 2012 earnings. The Seattle-based company is reporting $13.18 billion in revenue for the first quarter, compared to $9.86 billion YOY, which blows out analysts’ expectations for the online marketplace. However, Amazon’s net income was down 35 percent to $130 million. You can read the full announcement after the break.

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AAPL Company

JC Penney poaches from Apple, hires retail store senior exec

Jake Smith Apr 26 2012 - 1:09 pm PT

In November, retail store JC Penney hired Apple’s former retail chief Ron Johnson as its CEO in the hopes of turning the company around. Johnson has continued to make new hires to his executive team at JC Penney, but he never went sniffing in Apple’s territory until today; although, he was rumored to have started. However, JC Penney announced this afternoon the hire of Benjamin Fay, the (now former) Senior Director of Retail Real Estate and Development at Apple. Johnson said in the press release (via MacRumors):

“Ben is an incredibly creative professional with extraordinary leadership skills. Having worked with him over the last 12 years, I am delighted to see Ben step into this new role at jcp,” said Johnson. “His design influence has made the Apple stores highly regarded retail destinations around the world, and I am excited to have Ben place his own mark on jcp as we re-imagine the jcpenney store of the future.”

Fay worked at Apple for eight years as the “worldwide head of retail store design and retail corporate office design and planning,” according to his LinkedIn page.

Apple is ranked as one of the No. 1 retailers worldwide, and it is apparent that such ranking has much to do with the team. Johnson, and presumably Fay, worked to make the Apple store not only a key asset of the company but also a place for consumers to buy products.

Dixons Retail CEO John Browett recently began his position at Apple earlier this month by taking over the job that Johnson left behind. While there have been two Apple losses to JC Penney, there is still a ton of great minds in Cupertino that will keep the company’s retail sector chugging along. You can read the full press release after the break.

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Apple replacing iMacs with iPads at the kids’ table in Retail Stores

Jake Smith Apr 26 2012 - 12:51 pm PT

With iPads becoming the new No. 1 gateway to Apple consumerism, why not hook them while they are young? According to Rene Ritchie of iMore, Apple is replacing iMacs with iPads at the kids’ table in Apple Retail stores. In the past, iMacs were loaded with kid-friendly games sitting on a table at children’s height. But with the switch to the iPad, not much has changed. According to Ritchie, the four iPads at the table are still loaded with kid-friendly apps that allow them to draw, read books, and more.

The move definitely makes sense on Apple’s part, because iPads seem much easier for children to handle. Instead of having to use a mouse to navigate on such a large screen, children can now touch the screen to navigate their favorite app—because, in the end, children love to touch everything.

This is not the first time Apple replaced something with the iPad in its stores. A few months ago, we exclusively brought news that Genius Bars were replacing MacBook Pros with iPads. It is clear that the iPad is Apple’s future; CEO Tim Cook even said it himself. It makes sense for Apple to get children hooked while they are young, so they can become customers for life.

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Analyst now says Apple will be a $1 trillion company…next year

Jake Smith Apr 26 2012 - 12:36 pm PT

On Tuesday, Apple announced another set of record earnings, which elevated the company’s stock price by huge numbers. Apple is continuing to boom as the company with the world’s highest market cap while it smashes analyst predictions. We have heard a few analysts claim that Apple could hit $1,000 per-share by the end of the year, but those estimates are being raised after Tuesday’s earning call. According to Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White (via AllThingsD), Apple will become a $1 trillion company in the next year.

To become a $1 trillion company, Apple would have to hit a stock price of $1,072. White is setting his target at $1,111 per share during 2013; although, White previously said $1,001 was his target. Apple is currently a $570 billion company, priced at $608 per-share.

With the announcement of the new iPhone, new Macs, and iOS 6 this year, I would not doubt that this is possible for Apple. It will be very interesting to see what this company can achieve over the next year.

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Apple posts record Q2 2012 earnings: $39.2B in revenue, net profit of $11.6B, 35.1M iPhones

Jake Smith Apr 24 2012 - 1:31 pm PT

First, here are the numbers:

35.1 million iPhones (up 88 percent YOY)
11.8 million iPads (up 151 percent YOY)
4 million Macs (up 7 percent YOY)
7.7 million iPods (down 15 percent YOY)

Apple is reporting another record quarter as the company releases its fiscal Q2 2012 earnings shortly before its earnings call with investors this afternoon. The company blew expectations out of the water and announced $39.2 billion in revenue with a quarterly net profit of $11.6 billion. As for device sales, Apple reported 35.1 million iPhones (88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter), 11.8 million iPads (151 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter), 4 million Macs (7 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter), and 7.7 million iPods (15 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter) sold.

“We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter,” said Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. “The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”

“Our record March quarter results drove $14 billion in cash flow from operations,” added Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer. “Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter, we expect revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.”

Wall Street is reacting as AAPL is up 37 points and climbing in after hours. You can check out the full press release below. Of course, do not forget to follow along in 9to5Mac’s live blog coming up at 5 p.m. EST. We are sure to hear more from Cook and the company about the launch of the new iPad, the growth of iCloud, and more.

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Live blog: Apple Q2 earnings call

Jake Smith Apr 24 2012 - 12:58 pm PT

Apple just announced is fiscal Q2 2012 earnings, and the company is set to hold an earnings call with investors to announce its fiscal Q2 2012 financial results at 2 p.m. Pacific / 5 p.m. Eastern time this evening. You can listen to the call on Apple’s Investor Relations page (QuickTime required) or you can follow along below.

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Apple seeds OS X 10.7.4 build 11E52 to developers [Release note included]

Jake Smith Apr 23 2012 - 6:48 pm PT

A few days after the last release to developers, Apple seeded OS X 10.7.4 build 11E52 to developers this evening. The update features no known issues and asks developers to focus on graphics, iCal, Mail, Printing, and Time Machine. If you are a registered Mac developer, you can grab the update from the Developer Center. Apple did not provide a public release date for 10.7.4. You can check out the full release note after the break.

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Majority of Facebook’s 900M users are mobile [500M]

Jake Smith Apr 23 2012 - 1:18 pm PT

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this afternoon, the social network giant Facebook hit 500 million mobile users (via Business Insider). Furthermore, the IPO-destined company also announced that it has 900 million total users, 500 million of which return to use the website on a daily basis.

Facebook is currently available on every major mobile platform through an app. Facebook also has a nicely done HTML 5 mobile website, so those without the app can still have access. With so many people using smartphones these days, it is obvious why so many people are accessing the social network through their mobile phone.

As for the company’s quarterly revenue, it climbed 45 percent year-over-year to a whopping $1 billion. As for net income, Facebook racked $204 million.

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Intel officially launches 22nm Ivy Bridge processors, will likely add improved A/V, USB 3.0, more to future Macs

Jake Smith Apr 23 2012 - 1:58 am PT

After months of talking about its features, Intel officially launches its new Ivy Bridge processor today. As we previously reported, this processor is undoubtedly headed to the next line of Macs, and it will help provide some significant feature updates. The processor is a 22-nanometer 3D transistor chip that will be more efficient than the bigger Sandy Bridge processors it replaces. It is initially available in 13 quad-core models in both the i5 and i7 versions. According to Intel, lower-end i3 and i5 models will launch later this spring.

One big aspect to note is that the Ivy Bridge also features on-chip USB 3.0 – a technology Apple is long-rumored to adopt. While may Apple not choose to take that route, the likelihood of it using the now built-in USB 3.0 tech has grown exponentially.

Intel’s Vice President and General Manager of the PC Client Group Kirk Skaugen told the crowd at the Intel Developer Forum earlier this month that the Ivy Bridge Processor is built for Retina display computers, “if OEMs choose to use it.” This is especially interesting, because Apple is rumored to include a Retina-like display thanks to a slue of hints in the developer preview of Mountain Lion. Retina would be a game changer on the displays of Apple’s Pro/Air. Intel’s new 4000 chipset supports up to 4K resolutions natively, and it supports improved audio and security functions that Apple may or may not choose to take advantage of.

With the official launch of the Ivy Bridge processor, the launch of new Macs does not seem to be that far off. The new processor will most likely be found throughout the Mac line, including the MacBook Air, iMac, Mini, and MacBook Pro.

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Microsoft pulls ‘Office for Mac 2011’ SP2 from AutoUpdate

Jake Smith Apr 22 2012 - 3:26 pm PT

A few weeks ago, the boys up in Redmond released a big update for “Office for Mac 2011” that features a load of fixes and new features. However, Microsoft made the move of pulling Service Pack 2 from Auto Update today while it works to find a fix. According to Microsoft, only a small percentage of users are experiencing issues, specifically with the Outlook for Mac database.

While the update was pulled from Auto Update, it can still be downloaded from Microsoft’s download page—if you so choose. You can read the full post after the break for more information.

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‘Instagram’ updated to version 2.4.0

Jake Smith Apr 21 2012 - 4:09 pm PT

Here is an update Apple’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller will not have to worry about: “Instagram” for iOS was updated to version 2.4.0 this weekend. It features speed improvements, minor user-interface tweaks, bug fixes, and improved accessibility support. Visit the App Store to grab the update.

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Apple shows off iPhone’s use in the enterprise world

Jake Smith Apr 20 2012 - 2:28 pm PT

If you need more convincing before ditching your BlackBerry, Apple just posted a new page on its website that highlights the iPhone’s use in the enterprise market. The info-packed page shows how the iPhone is used in the business setting to organize days, manage projects, setup meetings, read mail, set calendar appointments, keep contacts organized, and more. In typical advertising fashion, Apple highlighted specific apps on the App Store like “MicroStrategy,” “OmniFocus” for iPhone, “GoToMeeting,” “TripIt,” and much more.

Over the last year, Apple made a dent in the enterprise market—a place formerly dominated by Microsoft and RIM. Apple has continued to offer better working tools than the competitors do. For example, Apple’s new iMessage provides BBM-like messaging, which is a service highly adored on the BlackBerry. However, the iPhone’s ease of use is starting to make it a No. 1 choice for IT departments.

Apple also provides a page showing the businesses that have chosen to use the iPhone. Lowes, for example, opted to use the iPhone for its payment service, as we exclusively told you last year. World Wide technology, GE, Gap Adventures and more are also highlighted on the page.

At the end of the day, I think more and more businesses are starting to realize where they need to put their money. Apple’s new page should help IT heads to choose the products from Cupertino, rather than the plastic phones from up north.

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iPhone lands on five more US regional carriers today, iPad launching in 12 more countries

Jake Smith Apr 19 2012 - 9:00 pm PT

As we mentioned earlier this month, the iPhone launches on five additional regional carriers today: ALASKA COMMUNICATIONS, CELLCOM, MTA SOLUTIONS, GCI, and APPALACHIAN WIRELESS. Regional carriers allow residents in more rural areas to use the iPhone without any service disruption and actually pay a little less for the device. The carriers will offer the iPhone 4s for $50 less than the big boys will, and they will offer the iPhone 4 for $99. You can grab the iPhone over at these carriers at their retail stores later this morning or on their respective websites starting shortly. Check out a few of the plans after the break.

Furthermore, the third-generation iPad is also currently launching in South Korea, Croatia, Brunei, Cyprus, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, St Maarten, Venezuela, and Uruguay today. Is anyone lining up?

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Apple throws MobileMe users a free version of Snow Leopard to update to iCloud

Jake Smith Apr 18 2012 - 9:07 pm PT

MacGasm reported that Apple is giving away free copies of Snow Leopard to MobileMe users to ease their move to iCloud. iCloud only works on Lion. Apple is offering MobileMe users without Snow Leopard a free copy, so they will pay $30 to upgrade to Lion. Once on Lion, they can ditch MobileMe to start using iCloud.

Apple posted a page where MobileMe users can register for their free copy of Snow Leopard. They had better act fast, because Apple is set to close the service in June to focus on iCloud in the future. iCloud plays a major role in Mountain Lion, which is currently seeded to developers for beta testing. Throughout the OS, there are several instances where iCloud becomes a very practical feature. Furthermore, I am sure you are all familiar with the iCloud integration throughout iOS. Expect iCloud to be a technology Apple is invested in for a long time to come.

Apple is essentially cutting behind users a $30 break. If you have not done so, it is about time to upgrade to Lion and join the roughly other 100 million iCloud users currently out there. What are you waiting for?

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Apple seeds Safari 5.2 update 3 to developers

Jake Smith Apr 18 2012 - 3:51 pm PT

On top of Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3 earlier this afternoon, Apple has seeded Safari 5.2 update 3 to developers this evening. The update is available on the Developer Center for those registered and can be downloaded in a 40MB update. Cheers, Ralf!

You can check out the release note after the break:

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Huffington Post plans to release new ‘Huffington’ iPad magazine later this month

Jake Smith Apr 18 2012 - 3:05 pm PT

Huffington Post cofounder and leader Arianna Huffington announced today the publication’s plan to release a new iPad magazine called the “Huffington.” The Huffington will take the content from the publication’s 500 editors and reporters and allow readers to interact with it on the iPad in a more natural magazine-like experience. Readers will also be able to comment on the content, much like on the Huffington Post website.

Huffington’s content will emphasize the rich — and richly rewarding — interactions that come from uninterrupted time spent in the company of creative minds. We now have nearly 500 editors and reporters and produce between 70 and 80 original reported stories each day. We have plenty of jewels on the site, and Huffington is our way of selecting among those jewels and putting them in the perfect setting. That means sophisticated design, stunning photographs and video, and typography that’s sharper than any print publication could provide. And it includes rich, colorful full-screen ads that are far away from the maddening crowds of banner ads, pop-ups, and drop-downs.

There’s already an official “Huffington Post” app on the iTunes App Store; although, this version sounds more like a magazine with higher quality pictures and typography. Nonetheless, the Huffington sounds a lot like The Daily.
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Apple wants to go to trial in eBook price-fixing, no settlement planned

Jake Smith Apr 18 2012 - 2:59 pm PT

An Apple lawyer told Reuters today that the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company wants to go to trial over allegedly working with five other publishers to raise the prices of eBooks. A few analysts already said that Apple has a good chance of winning in court, which is most likely why Apple will not choose to settle and will instead fight it out. An Apple lawyer told Reuters: “Our basic view is that we would like the case to be decided on the merits. We believe that this is not an appropriate case against us and we would like to validate that.”

Three of the five accused eBook publishers already settled with the U.S. Department of Justice, but Macmillan and Penguin chose to also fight the Department of Justice. All five publishers are accused of meeting in a London hotel to discuss raising the price of eBooks.

Apple may have a strong case, because it did not participate in the meeting and it does not set the price of publishers’ eBooks. The civil antitrust suit alleged, however, that Apple’s move to let publishers set their own prices—and it is a requirement that publishers do not sell their digital books for cheaper elsewhere—forced consumers to pay millions more for eBooks than they should have.

Apple was also accused of setting a monopoly over the eBook market, but the company would like to think otherwise.

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