Edible Apple

Woohoo! Thanks to various regulatory rules, the iPhone 5 on Verizon is GSM unlocked.

iDownloadBlog reports:

I can confirm that the Verizon iPhone 5 is indeed GSM unlocked. Even though I bought an iPhone 5 from Verizon under contract, I was able to cut down my AT&T Micro SIM, and use it in my Verizon iPhone 5 to pick up an AT&T signal. By doing so, I was able to hop onto AT&T’s HPSA+ network, or “4G” as they so ridiculously name it.

Cut your SIM card down at your own risk!

Strange, strange, and strange! And to think that this video wasn’t put together by Samsung.

via Boing Boing

There have been a lot of conflicting reports regarding a standalone Google Maps app that may or may not have already been submitted to Apple’s review team for submission into the iTunes App Store. A few days ago, 9to5Mac reported that the app had been submitted and was simply awaiting the green light from Apple. This however was soon discounted by in-the-know Apple blogger Jim Darlymple.

What’s funny is that Google Executive Chairman, and former CEO, Eric Schmidt has even spoken on the matter and we still aren’t quite sure what the hell is going on.

Earlier today, Reuters reported that Schmidt indicated that Google has made no moves towards submitting a Maps app to Apple.

While speaking to a group of reporters in Tokyo, Schmidt reportedly said, “We think it would have been better if they had kept ours. But what do I know? What were we going to do, force them not to change their mind? It’s their call.”

And while noting that Apple and Google are in communication with each other constantly, he said that “We have not done anything yet” when asked about whether or not Google Maps would find its way into Apple’s App Store.

So you think that would clear the air, wouldn’t you?

Only thing is it’s hard to get certain phrases down pat when Schmidt was informally talking to a group of reporters.

That being the case, Bloomberg has a slightly different take on Schmidt’s point of view.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said the company will need Apple’s approval to offer its maps application for the iPhone, after the software was replaced by an Apple program that’s been criticized by reviewers.

We haven’t done anything yet with Google Maps,” Schmidt told reporters in Tokyo today. Apple would “have to approve it. It’s their choice,” Schmidt said, declining to say if the Mountain View, California-based company submitted an application to Apple for sale through its App Store.

Oh Google, you’re so coy.

Until then, users who are needlessly panicking over Apple’s new Maps app can simply add maps.google.com to their iPhone home screen and, just like that, you have Google Maps right back on your phone and ready to roll.

Lastly, our take is that Google will eventually release a dedicated Maps app. Clearly, Apple’s Maps offering is only going to get better and with more than 5 million iPhone 5s already sold, it’s not as if people will be abandoning the iPhone in favor of other devices solely because of Maps. Indeed, the allure of the iPhone is such that people are snatching them up in record numbers in spite of a less than fully baked Maps application. Instead of leaving iPhone users to “deal with” Apple’s own offering, it’s in their interest to show iOS users just what exactly they’re missing out on.

Keeping the discussion going regarding Apple’s iPhone 5 sales figures, Bloomberg notes that yield rates on the iPhone 5s displays which utilize new in-cell screen touch technology may be behind supply that can’t quite keep up with demand.

Apple used the technology in the first major iPhone overhaul since 2010 to make the device more svelte, an attribute that helped lure a record 5 million buyers in three days. Yet producing in-cell screens is also more painstaking than earlier screen types, contributing to bottlenecks.

“This is like the opening weekend for the summer blockbuster movie,” said Tom Dinges, senior principal analyst at IHS ISuppli. “They needed to get a lot of products in the door during a tight window, and these supply constraints that were talked about probably did have some impact.”

To churn out these displays Apple relied on LG and Sharp, though the latter reportedly had a number of quality control issues that they weren’t able to get ahead of up until about two weeks ago.

The in-cell screen technology enables Apple to roll out thinner screens because the technology embeds the touch sensors onto the LCD itself, thereby making it unnecessary to have a separate touchscreen layer. The end result is a much thinner screen, as evidenced by the radically svelte iPhone 5.

via Bloomberg

There’s been a lot of discussion surrounding Apple’s 5 million sales figure for the iPhone 5 this past weekend, and the narrative seems to be focused on Apple selling fewer devices than analysts were expecting. And while it’s easy to lambast analysts for being, well, analysts, remember that expectations were arguably set when the number of pre-orders for the iPhone 5 was twice as high as it was for the iPhone 4S.

So what gives?

Some analysts are astutely pointing out that Apple’s 5 million sales figure doesn’t take into consideration pre-orders that have yet to be delivered to customers. As such, some estimate that there may be 1 million devices, if not more, still in transit and awaiting customer signatures before being added to the iPhone 5 sales tally.

Further, there have been reports that Apple retail stores were fully stocked with iPhone 5s while other retailers – such as Radio Shack and Best Buy – had exceptionally low quantities at launch.

Assuming that these reasons are, in fact, behind the lower-than-expected 5 million sales figure, why is this the case? How did Apple find itself in this situation?

Addressing that very question, Horace Dediu of Asymco has a pretty cogent explanation.

Some channels like Apple Stores may have gotten too many units while other channels like their on-line store, operator stores or retail partners did not get enough.

In other words, we have a situation of over- and under-supply (or over- and under-demand) simultaneously because the product is misallocated.

…

It’s possible that this year a larger group of consumers decided that braving long lines is not their cup of tea. Instead, this larger proportion could have chosen to bravely endure waiting for a package at home rather than the companionship of their fellow man. Maybe the population of buyers is broader this year as one would expect from such a large base, and there are fewer who have the time or inclination to queue for a device.

If the shift to online from in-store was unforeseen, the company could easily have allocated too many units to retail and not enough to online resulting in weeks-long waits for orders placed online and relatively short waits in queues.

At the end of the day, this is hardly a problem or a cause for concern for investors. Launch day sales figures for the iPhone 5 were 25% higher than they were for the iPhone 4S and the crux of the problem is that Apple is having trouble meeting surging demand.

Truthfully, that’s a problem that any other smartphone manufacturer would absolutely love to have. And besides, Apple’s international rollout of the iPhone 5 is much more expansive than it’s been for previous iPhone models, with Dediu noting that the 4S launched in 7 countries in 2011 with a combined population of 703.7 million people and sold 4 million units. “The iPhone 5,” Dediu points out in comparison, “launched into nine countries in 2012 with a total combined population of 709 million and sold 5 million in the same amount of time.”

“That means that 0.57% of the addressable market bought an iPhone 4S in three days and 0.71% bought an iPhone 5,” Dediu adds.

The takeaway is that there’s absolutely nothing to worry about, and if a company can sell 5 million units of anything in one weekend and have that looked upon as a failure, well, we’d venture to say that they’re doing things exactly right.

Apple’s 5 million iPhone 5s sold this past weekend represents a new launch record for Apple, and is impressively more than double the opening weekend sales for the iPhone 4. Of course, it helps that the iPhone is now available on more carriers than ever before, not to mention the fact that Apple’s international rollout for the iPhone 5 launch was more expansive than it has been in years past.

That said, here’s a chart courtesy of Gigaom which charts the opening weekend sales of the iPhone across each and every model. Remember that it took Apple 74 days to sell 1 million units of the original iPhone. Apple has sure come a long ways.

In case you haven’t heard, Apple has finally (thank god!) updated its wretched, and yet iconic, white headphones that have shipped with every iPhone and iPod since the beginning of time. Apple touts the new headphones, which it has dubbed “EarPods” as having much better sound quality and being much more comfortable to wear.

So far the reviews of Apple’s new EarPods have been overwhelmingly positive, but if you want a detailed and absolutely thorough rundown of what Apple’s EarPods bring to the table, look no further than the review from the newly created audiophile website Veven. And when we say it’s detailed, we mean it, to the tune of 4000 words!

Here’s a brief recap:

During the casual listening phase,. I tend to listen to more quiet music, often including acoustic instruments.  At some stage in this listening, I had to do a double take, because I was wondering if I’d accidentally turned my studio monitors on. Because, I could swear that there was flesh and blood musicians sitting behind my desk.

I don’t know how on earth Apple has pulled this off.  Knowing Apple, they probably have multiple patents in the area.  Dear Apple: Please license your patents to other manufacturers. Cheaply.

In my over 25 years of having audiophilia as a hobby, I’ve had a few moments I’ll just refer to as “Martin Logan moments”, which is when I have heard something that completely defies belief, and it stems from the first time I, as a 13 year old paperboy, walked in to the local high-end asylum who had a pair of Martin Logan CLS electrostatic speakers set up.

This EarPods are, in two senses, a Martin Logan moment.  The sound stage I was presented with in the demo room (It was nice of the owner to indulge a eyeglass-wearing complete nerd’s curiosity) was that of flesh-and-blood musicians sitting in a room when clearly they weren’t. It made me understand that music could be reproduced in better ways than a mono speaker.  The EarPods are the same. I now have hope that headphones will not remain a facsimile of real music reproduced live or on terrific speakers.

As an aside. The asylum owner ended up getting the newspaper for free every single day.

And he gave me a lifelong hobby in return for that.

Nice. I like it.

And at the end of the day, the audiophile – whose name I couldn’t find – says that the EarPods are absolutely worth the $29 asking price. He also adds in an interesting tidbit in saying that music producers have absolutely no choice when it comes to getting the EarPods or not.

If you produce music: You have absolutely no choice.  Since 2001, 600 million people have purchased a device with the old device.  You’re going to need these to do a fact check on your mix, much like you need to test on an average mono speaker.

If you don’t really care about audio quality: I don’t know how you got this far in this review, but yes: Buy them. They’re worth $29.

All in all, you’ll never read more about headphones again in your life, most likely. This article, though, is worth a read.

PC Mag deems it the fastest smartphone in the land.

With its mysterious, Apple-designed A6 processor, the iPhone 5 is unique in the world of smartphones. Most high-end phones nowadays run on one of two architectures: ARM’s Cortex-A9, which is used by Nvidia, Texas Instruments and others, and Qualcomm’s Krait. But the A6, asAnandTech discovered, is something completely different—an ARM-compatible system-on-a-chip designed, top to bottom, by Apple.

Who’s to say how legit this is, but here’s what Gizmodo is claiming is video footage of NBA and New York Knicks Point Guard Iman Shumpert dunking (yes, dunking) the brand new iPhone 5.

Seems like an absurd waste of money, of course, but when you’re a millionaire I guess you can do stuff like this. Incidentally, Shumpert is in the second year of a 2 year contract worth $3.34 million so it’s not like he’s exactly ballin’ by NBA standards.

In spite of user complaints about Apple’s new Maps application, Tim Cook and co. managed to sell upwards of 5 million iPhone 5s this past weekend. Pretty good considering some folks thought the company was toast following the resignation and subsequent passing of Steve Jobs.

But despite the impressive sales figures, the fact remains that Apple really has a lot of work to do with its Mapping application and that it may simply not have the resources and personnel to roll-out significant Mapping improvements as fast as the public would like.

That said, TechCrunch is reporting that Apple is now aggressively recruiting Google employees with Mapping experience to help Apple enhance their own offering. What’s more, the report claims that Google employees are rather interested in hopping on board Team Apple as it represents an opportunity to build a Mapping application from the ground up as opposed to implementing “tedious updates” for Mapping program that’s already fully baked.

TechCrunch’s source notes that folks at Google Maps began to get a little bit bored once the company started to focus on indoor mapping.

Many of my coworkers at Google Maps eventually left when their contracts ended or on their own accord. One guy looked around for other GIS work and ended up at Apple when a recruiter contacted him. He had heard rumors for a while that Apple was going to develop its own in-house mapping platform, and given his experience at Google, he was an easy hire. Apple went out of their way to bring him down to Cupertino and he’s now paid hansomly [sic] as a GIS Analyst. Another coworker that was a project lead at Google Maps, left for the East Coast after his contract ended, and was recently contacted by an Apple recruiter. The position sounds like a product development manager position, and will pay him $85k+ and all the moving expenses from the East Coast.

So can Apple eventually catch up with Google, a company that has had Mapping as a priority for years now? TechCrunch’s source notes:

Apple has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to build a robust mapping platform to counter Google Maps, so it doesn’t surprise me that it’s going out of its way to lure former and current Google Maps employees. At Google Maps, we know what data’s important, rendering priorities, keyword searches, and how the user experience is suppose to be. However, Apple needs to find a way to get its own 5 million miles of street view data, partner with the right folks, and spend a fortune on licensed data – which it can.

A tall order no matter how you slice it.

Lastly, Apple has also put up job postings for software engineers at its Santa Clara Valley, California offices for positions specifically relating to Maps.

Some of the new hires will be looking at improving how the app renders 3D flyover models, generates terrain, and renders roads. According to the job description, doing so will require knowledge of C++ and “advanced shader techniques,” with an emphasis on getting maps to work on different hardware platforms.

Others will be working on “implementing real-time rendering techniques, creating new and innovative features, solving challenging algorithmic problems, and fixing problems.”

Another role listed “finding/fixing performance bottlenecks, creating performance-measuring tools, monitoring performance over time, and solving challenging performance problems” as some of the tasks involved.

Additional success factors for candidates included familiarity with location-based technologies and mobile, and curiously, “a special affinity for teapots and bunnies.”

Navigation is also receiving some attention, with Apple hiring developers to help fix issues and enhance performance. In particular, they’ll need to have experience implementing routing algorithms, such as Dijkstra and A*, and matching maps with GPS and other location data.

via ZDNet

Apple’s announcement that they had sold 5 million iPhone 5’s this past weekend is certainly impressive, but is well below the 6-8million estimate some analysts were initially anticipating. And even though initial iPhone 5 sales are 25% higher than iPhone 4S sales were, shares of Apple have tumbled in early Monday morning trading.

Now that analysts have had some time to digest Apple’s announcement, they’re re-staking their claim as it pertains to iPhone 5 sales estimates.

MacRumors points us to a blurb from ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall who speculates that Apple’s 5 million figure is actually under-representative of what the actual sales figures are due to delayed iPhone shipments.

[R]ecall the 5mil+ iPhone 5 reported sales only takes into consideration: 1) what was sold into partners (e.g., retail outlets, carriers, etc.), 2) sold in AAPL retail stores, and 3) direct to customers only if they signed for the device. Importantly, this doesn’t take into consideration units in delivery direct to customers (i.e., AAPL must have signature of acceptance by customer before it is counted as a sale) and we estimate units in transit could be in the millions currently.

Interesting take on things, and Gene Munster, who got the iPhone expectation ball rolling with his best-scenario sales estimate of 10 million iPhone 5s agrees.

We believe there are two factors that negatively impacted the number. First, our sales expectation assumed that Apple would include all phones pre-ordered online. We believe that this may have been up to 1 million additional units as units pre-ordered after the middle of the first day were projected to be available in October. Second, we noted 1.25 days of Apple Retail inventory compared to 2.5 days during the 4S launch. Our 8 million estimate assumed full weekend availability and the counting of all online pre-orders. We believe that if supply were not a constraint and Apple included all pre-orders, the launch weekend number would have been closer to 7-8 million, assuming ~1 million October pre-order sales and an additional 1-2 million units at retail.

Either way, Apple’s December quarter is poised to be an absolutely blowout quarter that should even trump Apple’s earnings from the December quarter of 2011. During that time frame, Apple posted an all-time record of $46.33 billion in quarterly revenue along with profits of $13.06 billion, another quarterly record.

Too funny.

Perhaps the man in [the] black [turtleneck] was Steve Jobs all along.

via Reddit