Sony is organizing a production ramp of 3D camera sensors for next year after seeing increased interest for the technology from major customers including Apple, a report from Bloomberg Quint explains.
The Japanese tech firm is allegedly ramping production of both rear and front 3D camera modules, while also working on separate software toolkits for developers to toy with generating 3D imagery.
A report from the Wall Street Journal today details how Apple (AAPL) lost $9 billion this past year due to a single “underperforming investment” — itself. The report explains that after the surplus of cash the company had through Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul, Apple bought back AAPL shares at peak prices, essentially overpaying for themselves.
Even though AAPL yesterday saw its best single-day performance in over five years, the ~$10 gains made on the share price pale in comparison to the significant losses the stock saw over the past weeks.
Instagram is beginning to widely roll out a major user interface overhaul which fundamentally alters the main feed design from standard vertical scrolling to a new horizontal, ‘Stories’-like design. The update comes after we reported on Instagram’s internal testing of the new design in October, first tried exclusively on the Explore page.
As the heated legal saga between Apple and Qualcomm only continues to intensify, the California chipmaker is now insisting that after asking Chinese courts to impose an all-out iPhone ban in the region, it won’t rule out imposing Chinese civil procedure to fine or detain legal representatives from Apple for disobeying the sales ban, according to Global Times China.
A lawyer representing Qualcomm said that under Chinese rules of civil procedure, Qualcomm has the right to ask a court to fine or detain Apple’s four legal representatives in China or bar them from leaving the country.
Further, the company is said to be dissatisfied with Apple’s flippancy towards the Chinese injunction as compared to the recent German one, which saw Apple immediately ban sales of iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 in the country.
There’s an app currently circulating around Apple’s App Store pretending to be the official set-up companion for Amazon’s Alexa, and it’s fooled its way to the top of the download charts. At the time of this writing, the fake app sits at #60 overall in the general “Top Free” apps section, while in an even more concerning top 10 place under the Utilities sections at #6.
Apple (AAPL) had its best single-day performance at the stock market today, seeing a 7.04% rise, the highest in one day since April 2014. The Dow Jones rose over 1,000 points, as the entire market — particularly FAANG stocks — rebounded after a tumultuous few bearish days.
Tesla (TSLA) also saw significant gains today, rising to over $300 a share after losing 21% of its value over the previous weeks.
A new poll by data research firm Toluna via Recode attempted to analyze the least trusted companies in the tech sector.
Conducted between December 9 through December 15, the poll surveyed one thousand online participants asking which company they believe to be the least trustworthy with personal information.
Apple has been sued by Texas company Fintiv, who describe themselves as a “new company created by experienced hands.” They are claiming Apple Pay infringes upon an acquired Korean patent that Fintiv owns.
Though touting “over 20 years experience”, Fintiv was founded in 2018 and employs somewhere between 11-50 staff members in the mobile payments and marketing industry.
After quickly releasing iOS 12.1.2 to the public just days after developers had a brief period to beta test the software update, user reports have trickled in about a bug which kills cellular data. While the issue is by no means widespread — no one from the 9to5 team has experienced it — it’s serious enough to merit a range of Twitter complaints and a Forbes article detailing the bug.
Chinese firms are rallying around Huawei after the tech giant has seen immense pressure over recent weeks, climaxing with the arrest of the company’s CFO. Chinese companies are now threatening employees by demanding they not purchase any Apple products whatsoever, going so far to withhold bonuses, garnish wages or even terminate an uncooperative employee.
A report from Nikkei Asian Review details how companies have even offered workers tremendous subsidies on Huawei purchases, with discounts ranging anywhere from 10% up to free devices.
Last week, Apple announced plans to invest in a new one billion dollar campus in Austin, Texas. The company further announced massive job expansions in New York, Pittsburg and Colorado.
When pressed on why North Carolina missed out on job expansions from the tech giant, Governor Roy Cooper was quick to dispel disappointment, replying that the state still had ongoing negotiations with the company.
New data from SensorTower today reveals 164 publishers generated their first million dollars in net revenue during 2018, an approximately 13% increase from 143 in 2017.
The interesting data point arises when comparing to Google’s Play Store, who saw 71 publishers last year net one million dollars, and just 88 in 2018.
A market research study by AppsFlyer details the ever-growing mobile advertising world, as $38.9 billion was reportedly spent in 2018, with 34% growth expected by 2020, reaching $64.1 billion, globally.
The study attributes the growth to the fact there are more smartphones than ever paired with an ever-growing app catalogue. Thus, more paid campaigns have resulted in more ad spend than ever.
With Christmas just days away, your chance to get gifts in time is running out fast. While 9to5Mac has got you covered for all your gift guide needs, you’ll need to act fast for December 24th delivery.
Further, Apple’s deadline for the discounted $29 out-of-warranty battery replacements is also ending right after Christmas, meaning there’s a handful of important deadlines you should be aware of.
Apple was granted a patent today for an augmented reality viewing system to display 3D flyover data from Apple Maps onto a desk or any other flat surface from an iPhone.
Filed initially back in May 2016, this feature may or may not ever make a debut. However, with Apple’s heightened push into AR, it could be more likely to become a reality than other patents.
Waze CEO recently sat down for an interview with Business Insider, and spoke about the company’s $1 billion acquisition by Google, self-driving cars, and why the company attributes Waze’s widespread success to Apple and celebrates an annual “Tim Cook Day.”
The reasoning dates back to 2012, when Apple Maps’ debacle proved a worst case scenario for the company, forcing CEO Tim Cook to write a public apology letter over the numerous Apple Maps shortcomings.
Apple was granted 37 patents today, notably receiving approval for AirPower’s primary selling point, “multi-device charging.” The company was also granted a patent related to an iPhone with a full-body display spanning the front through rear and sides.
The latter patent details having touch-sensitive input capabilities on the rear glass, with the patent specifying users could turn pages, scroll, and game while utilizing the rear input.
A report from the Wall Street Journal today details Apple’s minuscule success in India with iPhone, specifically highlighting Amit Rajput, who runs a counter selling iPhones in the country with a population of over 1.3 billion. Rajput spoke on how one iPhone sale a day is considered ‘lucky’, with his coworkers at the Samsung, Oppo and Nokia counters selling well over ten devices daily.
The sales decline comes as a stark contrast to 2013, where Rajput recalled selling 80 iPhones per day. He says today, most Indian consumers don’t spend more than $300 on a smartphone — reducing Apple’s presence in the country dramatically.
T-Mobile today announced the release of its eSIM app for compatible iPhone XS, XS Max and XR devices. The app serves as a streamlined portal to activate an eSIM line without the need to head to a store or call a hotline.
Once activated, users can remove their physical SIM, freeing up the slot for a secondary line.
Main FIFA competitor, Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) announced a major update to their mobile soccer game today for iOS. The game received a graphics engine overhaul, upgrading from Unreal Engine 3 to Unreal Engine 4, which should provide serious visual improvements over the previously featured third-generation engine.
France is set to impose a sweeping new law starting January 1 which is set to raise as much as 500 million euros in 2019 alone.
The tax, dubbed GAFA for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, is targeted towards high-profit internet tech giants who generally pay a lower effective tax rate than other corporations, reports AFP News.
Lead attorney for Apple assembly firm Foxconn reiterated statements similar sounding to ones made by Apple attorneys that neither company would seek a settlement in court with Qualcomm over the companies ongoing legal tug-of-war.
The statement comes just weeks after Apple attorney William Isaacson told reporters that a trial against Qualcomm “would be necessary”, despite conflicting comments coming from Qualcomm via its CEO, who implied a peaceful resolution was just “on the doorstep.”
A lawsuit has been filed against Apple this week by a man and women claiming prominent iPhone XS and iPhone XS marketing photos on Apple.com are overly deceptive in hiding the notch. The lawyer for the plaintiffs claims they pre-ordered an iPhone XS Max unaware there would be any “missing pixels,” bezel or notch of any sort.
Apple struck a deal today with DHX Media to produce new animated content with Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang for its upcoming video streaming service. The deal comes as Apple aggressively expands its in-house video content alongside the numerous television deals and rights acquisitions being made by the company recently.
Apple’s interest in animation is nothing new, as the company previously made deals with the creator of Bob’s Burgers and Irish-animation studio Cartoon Saloon for future TV and film content.