Apple's Stock Makes History: Surpass's Half-Trillion Dollar Market Cap!

Apple's stock made history in after hour trading as its valuation topped the over $500 billion mark.... yes, that's a whopping half-trillion dollars.... a half-trillion dollars!

As you can see in the Yahoo chart above, Apple's stock closed the day at $535.41, giving it a mind-blowing market cap of some $499.20 billion smackeroo's! However, as you can see in the chart below, Apple's stock is up a further $3.58 in after hour trading, meaning that with approximately some 933 million shares outstanding this adds another three billion buckeroo's to its market cap, making Apple one of only a few companies on the planet to ever do so.

As CNN's Money put it, that makes Apple worth more than the entire nation of Poland! They also pointed out that this historic achievement was achieved only four times previously by Microsoft, General Electric, Cisco and Exxon. At one time, however, Microsoft was worth a staggering $600 billion plus, a feat that has never been achieved before or since. Will, or can, Apple topple Microsoft's all-time record? That's hard to say, but it certainly seems doable, because as others have pointed out, Apple is not only big, but it is still achieving unbelievable growth rates and thus making it seemingly in defiance of the law of big numbers.

As the Guardian noted, there are presently only 20 countries in the world that have a gross national product higher than Apple's market cap! Now that is quite astonishing indeed!

In conclusion, despite problems with the iPad's name being contested by Proview, and the granting of a 'slide-to-unlock' patent to a Swedish company, with some $100 billion in the bank, rip-roaring sales and a new iPad 3 expected to be unveiled on March 7, Apple has never been looking better than it does now.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Is Google Building A 'FireWall' Between Android And Motorola?

Google's Andy Rubin might have championed the charge for his employer to buy Motorola, but he claims that he, Android's creator and boss, won't be having anything directly to do with Motorola once the deal closes.

In other words, more-or-less: Google is building a 'firewall' between the Android team and the Motorola team, but is it really?

Mr. Rubin went on to add, as far as Google's acquisition of Motorola goes, that he'll have,

"nothing to do with it.... I don't even know who's running it." .... "I don't even know anything about their products, I haven't seen anything," he said. "They're going to continue building Motorola branded devices and it's going to be the same team doing it."

So, again, is it really true that Google is building a 'firewall' between team Android and team Motorola, and if so, why would they do it in the first place?

Well, personally, I'm not saying that Mr. Rubin is lying or anything, because I really don't know for sure. However, I personally don't necessarily believe him either. The reason is that Google's acquisition of Motorola raises some pretty big red flags for Android's other partners, and especially to Samsung which now enjoys about 50% of all Android sales.

According to Mr. Rubin, when it comes to favoring anyone particular Android partner over another, he stated:

"physically difficult for me to advantage somebody," but he admitted that manufacturers selected to build Google's Nexus devices do receive special and early access to future versions of Android. When asked if Motorola was planning on building any unique skins for its phones he added that: "They're separate from me, and I'm going to continue to do my thing."

Well, the way I see it, Mr. Rubin can say anything that he wants to say, but I'm not buying it. Nope, not for one itty-bitty bit second. Google, after all, is willing to pay an incredible $12.5 billion to buy Motorola and that gives it 12.5 billion reasons, besides getting hold on those 17,000 plus crappy patents, for it to do anything and everything in its powers to ensure that the Motorola deal pays off. And this includes, if need be, giving Motorola favored status among the various other Android manufacturers, the very thing that Mr. Rubin wants to help reassure. This isn't to say that Google will do that, or anything, but it certainly would be tempting for them to do so if it had to. Nor, would it surprise if they did, nor could I really blame them either.

No, if I were HTC, Samsung, LG or any other Android OEM I'd be a little worried right now. In fact, I would be feeling a little ripped off right now. Ripped off because Google clearly used them to help build momentum for Android by flooding the market with hundreds of Android devices, and now that Android is the market leader all Google has to do, it ever wanted or needed to, is to either give Motorola the edge, or if it wished.... it could simply pull the plug on all of its Android's partners and do what Apple does... build and sell the whole widget all by its lonesome!

In conclusion, I don't know if Mr. Rubin words are designed to simply reassure Android's partners or not, but somehow I can't help but feel that this is the case indeed. The last thing Google really needs is to have its Android's partners jumping ship now, or at least not until Google feels it no longer needs them.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this snowy Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Andy Rubin's photo via: C/net

Rumor: iPad 3 Already On Its Way To The U.S.A.?

Not only is AppleInsider reporting that retailer Best Buy has begun offering $50 discounts on every new iPad 2, but that a Chinese blog is stating that Foxconn is already, based on an alleged shipping manifest, preparing to ship the iPad 3 to the United States any day now.

According to the shipping manifest, top secret and mystery orders should be arriving from Chengdu, China, and under high security, to the United States no later than March 9, with AppleInsider quoting that:

"Originally surfacing on a Chinese microblogging site, the purported shipping manifest is said to be from major international cargo charter flights originating from Chengdu International Airport. A source from Foxconn's Chengdu plant reportedly indicated that the shipment is for "Apple's latest products."

The shipments could imply that Apple is preparing for near-immediate availability of its third-generation iPad. That device is expected to be officially unveiled at a media event on March 7."

One of the most persistent rumors, and I hope like hell it's true, is that the new iPad 3 will also be including a new 'retina display', and even though the iPad 2's resolution, as far as I'm concerned is already pretty dang awesome, the iPad 3's retina display should put it, and every other tablet's screen, to utter shame.

Another hoped for feature would be that the next iPad will be including a new quad-core A6 processor, but apparently there are some rumors that suggest that this may not be the case. Rather than an all new A6 quad-core chip, rumors are now claiming that we'll be getting instead a modified A5 chip, the so-called A5X. However, my fingers are crossed that we'll be seeing the quad core rather than a bumped upped dual core A5C chip.

You can read up on more iPad 3 rumors here, which include in addition 4G capabilities, faster and beefier graphics (required by that retina display), but what I want to see the most is some type of new docking station, one where you could simply slide the iPad 3 into an iMac like docking station, complete with large touch screen, and a docking station that would give it far more ass-kicking performance than anything that we have seen thus far, and more along the lines of a full blown desktop.

In conclusion, the iPad 2 is already spanking Samsung's Galaxy Tab in its very own backyard so just imagine what the iPad 3 could do if it comes with that 'retina display', A6 or even the A5X chip, as well as that iMac like docking station? Tim Cook has already recently stated that Apple will be delivering some pretty amazing products in the near and long term, and products that "Will Blow Your Mind", so I'm hoping that the iPad 3 will be just the beginning of these mind blowing devices.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this so, so kind of day, Monday, February 27, 2012

iPad/iMac docking station illustration via: Gizmodo

Top Apple News Of The Past Week

During the past week, in Apple news, we saw ProView lose a court injunction against Apple in the great metropolis of Shanghai, and then only to turn around and surprise everyone after filing the same basic charges in California.

Needless to say, that is something that a lot of people never saw coming, myself included. Somehow, personally speaking, if they couldn't win in China then I just can't see, for the life of me, them possibly winning in California, but you never know, you know?

However, I was not surprised one bit that Apple's iPhone would end up sweeping the top selling smartphone category in the U.S. for 2011 in ComScore's annual "Mobile Future in Focus" report. As you can see in ComScore's charts below, via AppleInsider, the top selling smartphones for 2011 in the U.S., and the E.U.'s top 5, where:

Also, T-Mobile U.S. stated that it believes that not having the iPhone was directly responsible for it losing as many as 700,000 or more customers to competing mobile providers as reported here. As T-Mobile USA President and CEO Phillipp Humm stated:

"Not carrying the iPhone led to a significant increase in contract deactivations in the fourth quarter of 2011," ..... and, "In 2012 and 2013, T-Mobile USA will invest to get the business back to growth, including an incremental $1.4 billion investment in its network modernization initiative, which will total a $4 billion investment over time."

It was interesting that this week also reported that despite Android's market share lead, when it actually comes to the prices of its apps they were found to be on average 2.5 times higher than those of its iPhone equivalents. I would have personally thought that a app, let's say a racing game for instance, would be more-or-less the same price regardless of the platform, but apparently that's not always the case. Strike one up for the iPhone consumer I guess. This is especially interesting considering that developers are believed to make on average some 300 % more money selling their apps with their iOS versions than they do with their Android version.

This past week also saw Apple quietly make a $50 million purchase for Chomp, a new startup search company that it's believed Apple will use to help improve the discovering and purchasing of new apps from its APP Stores massive collection of over some 550,000 catalog of apps, the world's largest by far.

Gizmodo reported that:

"The current thinking is that Apple's App Store has become unwieldy. With over 500,000 apps, it's probably in need of a technical overhaul—and it makes sense to buy a start-up that's been performing so well that it already has an exclusive deal with Verizon to power all of its Android-based app searches. Expect some big changes at the iOS app store real soon."

Gizmodo also reported that newly filed Apple patents point to some wickedly thin Apple keyboards in the future. When it comes to ultra thin keyboards for its ultra thin products, Gizmodo stated:

"One of Apple's solutions is a single support lever keyboard mechanism. The system, it's suggested, would mean keys with a total travel range of as little as 0.2 millimeters. Given the number of complaints I hear about key travel on keyboards, I'm not sure how well that would work.

It also suggests that keys could be made of any material, listing potential materials that could be used as glass, wood, stone, and even "polished meteorite."

Well, I don't know about wanting a keyboard made out of some 'polished meteorite', but if you wish to gift me with one made out of solid 24K gold, well, I'll happily take it! Seriously, the thinner and lighter you can get a keyboard to be, than the more desirable it would be for inclusion in a product like the MacBook Air, a product who's basic design and form factor people are now expecting we'll be seeing in the next 15 inch MacBook Pros.

In conclusion, looking back at this week's top Apple stories, one of the more interesting ones was that concerning Apple's stock itself..... it's going up, up and up! As I write, it stands at $518, or up $1.61 in after hour trading. Earlier in the day it was up even higher, some $3, and at $518 per share, and with 933 million outstanding shares, Apple is easily the world's most valuable company with a net worth of over $481 plus billion! If or when it will ever top the half-trillion dollar mark I don't know, but it should, baring any major catastrophes, be soon.

And that's my 2 cents on this week's Apple news 4 this mild and beautifully sunny Friday, February 24, 2012

Opening Apple news logo via: Facebook/Apple News

Proview vs Apple: Apple Wins In Shanghai

The chaos surrounding the iPad trademark in China certainly is far from over, but Apple can report that it won another victory after a Shanghai court squashed ProView's attempt to ban Apple's now iconic iPad from sales in the great metropolis. Earlier the courts in the city of Shijiazhuang sided on the side of Proview.

ProView originally used the iPad trademark for its all-in-one version of the iMac, but to me it looked more like that of an old eMac, an educational version of the same as you can see here and with the photo on the right.

ProView's iPad moniker stood for "Internet Personal Access Device". Instead of being, however, a light and sleek tablet it actuallly featured a rather large, bulky CRT monitor, a mouse, a keyboard, and the rather hard to fathom slogan: "The iPad of development constructs on the dream of technology founded human spirit."

According to ProView they still hold the rights to the name even though Apple claims that it bought the rights from them some time ago. However, ProView has counter claimed that the name was sold illegally by one of its affiliates. They do admit, however, that its ProView Shenzhen unit indeed sold the name, but as Kotaku reported its sale was based on certain stipulations that they claimed Apple had violated, therefor Apple no longer has the legal rights to the iPad name in China.

In conclusion, the iPad trademark depute is far from over, and Apple still has to assert what it feels is its rights to the iPad moniker in China, but considering that the courts in the two great Chinese cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong have already ruled in its favor, then Apple has every reason to be hopeful that the chaos surrounding the use of the iPad in China is about to come to an end.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, February 23, 2012

ProView iPad photo via: Wall Street Journal China; Chinese Apple logo via: Technorotic

Will ABC's 'iFactory' Help Foxconn's Workers?

Like millions of people I watched ABC's 'iFactory', a news documentary about the life and working conditions in one of Foxconn's massive and mind-blowing huge factories, factories that churn out as many as 300,000 iDevices per hour!

The show, by the way, can be seen in its entirety on ABC's official site at the 'iFactory' link, at least in the U.S.

One of the more interesting facts about the construction of an iPad, for instance, is that they are basically all made by hand and not by mindless robotic machines. In fact, over three hundred different pairs of hands will have handled the iPad from the beginning to the end of its construction.

Another astounding fact to come from ABC's report is that in spite of all of those hands, very few of the hundreds of thousands of workers actually working on the production lines will ever get to actually see a fully working and functional iPad! One worker, however, wanted Americans to know:

"I want them to know me," one worker told ABC’s “Nightline,” speaking about Americans who use Apple products. "I want them to know we put a lot of effort in this product so when they use this, please use it with care."

The report, however, didn't paint a picture that was anywhere near as bad as some critics have suggested, an ugly picture that included underpaid, but overworked employees, so abused that they were committing suicide to the extent that Foxconn had to install suicide nets, or also the ugly picture of child workers laboring for 12 hour days, seven days a week.

Despite the lack of evidence for child workers, some employees insisted that was indeed the case, as they claimed that Foxconn rescheduled or otherwise hide their whereabouts within its massive facilities, with AppleInsider reporting that one Chan, a female worker, stated:

"Most of the time, the workers are aware of the presence of Apple's representatives inside the factories. It is not the problem that Apple doesn't know the real problems at their suppliers. They know, but it is only because they do not care," she added.

For her part, Chan said she hopes that Cook will work to improve working conditions among suppliers, but she also expressed doubts whether he has "any commitments to do so."

In conclusion, the 'iFactory' report was interesting to watch, but how factual or close to the truth it really was, that I can't say. Nor can I say if it will have any meaningful impact on improving the lives and working conditions of Foxconn employees, but it should be noted that, in the past, negative reports have resulted in increases to their wages, and, hopefully, if there are any remaining issues that Foxconn, Apple and the dozens of other companies that use Foxconn's services will promptly address them quickly. Let's hope so anyway?

And that's my 2 cents 4 this mild, cloudy and depressing Wednesday, February 22, 2012

More Upcoming Chinese Chaos Involving Apple As The iPhone 4S Officially Goes On Sale March 09

As the chaos surrounding the iPad trademark in China continues, another Chinese chaos involving Apple could be in the making come March 09, the date set for the official release of the iPhone 4S in China, and as the Chinese iPhone fans scramble to get their eager hands on the hot selling device. Just yesterday China Telecom had announced that it would be selling the much coveted smart phone and would be taking online reservations even earlier, on the second of March.

TheLoop is reporting that the iPhone 4S would start at RMB 0 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models on select contracts in China Telecom’s authorized stores as well as online.

Apple spokesperson Natalie Harrison, told The Loop:

“iPhone 4S has been an incredible hit with customers around the world,” and they they were..“We’re thrilled to be launching the iPhone 4S with China Telecom and can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers in China.”

China just happens to be Apple's second largest market, and the place where 99% of its much sought after gear is made, so it's kind of nice to see that the citizens of that great country that actually makes these iconic devices can finally be able to buy them without resorting to the black market or to the numerous iPhone counterfeit devices that are sold throughout the vast nation of 1.3 billion people.

In conclusion, the official introduction of the iPhone 4S into China could also be one of the biggest reasons that we could see Android's market share continue to fall even further. After all, this is exactly what happened after the iPhone 4S went on sale in the U.S. and elsewhere, so I don't see why this wouldn't be the case here as well.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this sunny Tuesday, February , 2012

iPhone 4S photo via: Infonerview.com via: HauteLiving.com

Siri On Macs, Sooner Or Latter?

Why Apple didn't include Siri in OS X Mountain Lion is the title of a recent post by CNN which goes into the reasons on why they believe Apple's highly touted Siri feature is glaringly absent among the many new features shown off recently for OS X Mountain Lion.

Some of the technical reasons they site are due to the problems associated with desktop and laptop 'Microphone Logistics'. Another reason they say is because Siri depends to a degree on 'Location Awareness' which they believe doesn't really apply to desktop and laptops, or that 'Hands-free voice control isn't really needed', among other reasons.

Even though CNN's list of reasons on why we might see Siri on traditional Macs later, but not sooner, have some validity, I nonetheless tend to think otherwise, because, quite frankly, I can think of several good reasons, if not even great reasons, on why we would want Siri on our Macs immediately, and some of them are as follows:

1 - Siri is cool! You betcha she's cool, and for that reason alone I would want her on my Mac.

2 - Dictation! Maybe it's not that big of a deal if your younger, but we older folks would sure appreciate the convenience and the ability to quickly dictate letters, emails, or what ever to be a real time saver.

3 - Internet search, because, like above, it's a lot quicker and a lot more convenient to simply be able to ask Siri to look something up on Google, Bing or Yahoo, etc., rather than type everything out.

4 - Reminders, and boy, oh boy could I use that one! Simply asking Siri to remind you of something while your doing something else is a not only a great convenience, but could be a real live saver at times to boot. Once I'm doing something I usually and easily get lost in what I'm doing, so having Siri to remind you to check the baby, or the stove, or what ever it might be, would be, as Billy Crystal would say: "Absolutely marvelous!"

5 - OS X commands. That's right, just think how great it would be if you could simply tell Siri to shut down your Mac down, dim or brighten the screen, lower or raise the sound output, open or close apps, check your email, etc., etc., etc.

In conclusion, the five small points above would be, in my estimation, really big features to have on any Mac and Siri has already proven herself to being very adapt at performing all of them already, so I say: pleaseeeee.... Apple, add Siri to OS X and do it soon!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this mild and absolutely marvelously sunny Monday, February 20, 2012

Ellis Hamburger's Siri-on-a-Mac illustration via: Business Insider

OS X Mountain Lion Video: The Best Is Yet To Come!

Above you can see The Verge's great video preview of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple's recently announced next major version of OS X. I was curious as to what Apple would end up calling the next version and now we know... Mountain Lion!

As the Verge also noted, it has only been a mere seven months ago since Apple release Lion onto the scene, so this is clearly a speeding up of OS X development releases. As the Verge also noted in the video was that Mountain Lion is a much bigger deal than was the upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion. Compared to the last two releases, Mountain Lion itself just happens to feature well.... a lot more features.

Mountain Lion more than ever is also a release that intertwines that of iOS with that of OS X. Personally, this is much the same idea behind Windows 8 as well, as it attempts to merge much of its Windows Phone 7 Metro U.I. into the next major version of Windows 8.

Mountain Lion will be, according to the Verge, a much more tweaked and enhanced version of OS X and will include major new features such as Notification Center, AirPlay mirroring, and iMessage. They, like several others are also noting how Apple is going out of its way to separate or to distinguish the software from the hardware. It's no longer Mac OS X, but simply OS X. The Mac now refers simply to the hardware side only.

With Apple now promising to release major OS X updates on a more regular and yearly basis, it will be interesting to see if this will enhance the Mac's already growing market share. Thus far, over the past 23 quarters, the Mac has been out growing Windows and I'm hoping that a major yearly update of OS X will go even farther in seeing the Mac gain significantly more share.

I must honestly admit, that when I first read about OS X Mountain Lion I wasn't really all that impressed with it until I got a good gander at Verge's beautifully done video. Now after seeing it running, well I can honestly say that this old bloke is now totally stoked! I can't wait until summer when Apple's finally releases it through the APP STORE.

Mountain Lion already looks quite promising as is, but knowing Apple it probably is deliberately holding back on some major new features until we get closer to its official release, and that has my curiosity peeked.

So, in conclusion, could Apple be holding back on more major Mountain Lion features?

Well, I'm afraid that is something that we're just going to have to wait out and see, but, in the meantime, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this mild, but cloudy Friday, February 17, 2012

The HP Z1: The Super Sexy Black 27" iMac Inspired All-In-One Desktop

What costs $1,899, comes with an i3 Intel core processor, 8GB of Ram, includes a 27-inch, 2560 x 1440, IPS display, and also comes with an easy to open back that allows you to easily upgrade it to a blisteringly fast quad-core Intel Xeon CPU and NVIDIA Quadro graphics, and not to mention your choice of a 160GB or 300GB SSD for storage, is also as black as black can be, and looks totally like a gorgeous 27 inch iMac, well at least in the front anyway?

It's the new HP Z1 business all-in-one.

The Z1 is mostly designed as a business version of HP's current consumer line, and, like the iMac, it's a little on the pricey side, but boy, oh, boy, on the other hand, you get should your money's worth when it becomes available this coming April.

Even though the Z1 looks remarkably like a blacken version of an iMac, as you can see it does have some advantages that the iMac doesn't. For one, the pedestal stand isn't quite as elegant or as stylish as the iMac's, but it is definitely more flexible and that's a good thing.

However, what I like best is how you can simply pop open the back and easily configure and update this machine more-or-less on the fly. I can only wish that the iMac was as easily configurable. However, I must say I find it amusing when HP, in its press release, stated:

"Designed like no other, the display of the new HP Z1 Workstation snaps open so users can easily swap out parts and make upgrades without any tools required."

That's amusing because, in fact, it is designed like another computer.... the iMac! I think you would either have to be blind, stupid or in complete denial to state otherwise, but marketing is marketing I guess? In fact, from the front at least it looks so much like a blacken iMac that it surely must border on infringing Apple's unique design, look and feel. Whether or not Apple will bitch about it, well that's another thing, but I wouldn't exactly blame them if it did.

As you can see in the above and below YouTube videos, the Z1 is just as gorgeous on the inside as it is on the outside, oh yeah bay..... hmmm..... yummy!

I must say that I'm really looking forward to getting more information on this elegant machine, because the HP Z1 is definitely one hell of a great looking, powerful, sleek and extremely desirable machine indeed. I just don't think, however, in my personal opinion, that its as great looking, sleek or as desirable as the 27 inch iMac. Its the original after all, the HP Z1 is just a another copy, a very good copy at that. Clearly the iMac is the very inspiration for the Z1 and even though it may be as powerful, or even more so, and as much as I like the HP Z1, I still think I prefer the iMac even more.

In conclusion, as much as I look forward to getting more info on the HP Z1, I'm even more interested and curious on getting information on the next and upcoming iMac itself.

I'm expecting an announcement on the next iMac almost any day now. Usually Apple updates the iMac sometime between the February to the April time frame and I'm not expecting any changes here, but I am expecting some significant changes to the iMac that will help make it all the more desirable yet, including having super fast Ivy Bridge processors for starters and that much rumored HD retina display.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, February 16, 2012

Opening HP Z1 photo via: HP.com ; source: V2.co.uk

The Number One Electronics Brand In The U.S. Is?

NPD released its U.S. electronic sales figures for 2011 yesterday that showed that consumers spent a whopping $144 billion for the year, which was down some one half of a percentage point.

And whom took the coveted, big number one brand for the year?

Well, of all of the companies selling electronics in the U.S. in the past year only one actually increased its sales, up some 36%, and that was Apple, which emerged once again, and for the second year in a row, as the number one brand in all the land, with the other top four biggies topping out as:

Number 2 - HP - down - 3 %

Number 3 - Samsung - down - 6 %

Number 4 - Sony down - a whopping - 21 %

Number 5 - Dell - down some - 17 %

When it came to retailers, however, Best Buy took the coveted first spot, followed by big old Walmart, with Apple coming in third, and followed by Staples and Amazon which both tied for the fourth place position.

In conclusion, with record breaking sales and record breaking profits, I'm not the least bit surprised that the Cupertino electronics giant not only fared well in 2012, but ended up taking the big, fat and predigest number one spot either, and I have to agree 100 % with The Verge when they wrote:

"Apple still has competition in global markets, but it's clearly time to stop talking about it as an underdog and recognize its place among the giants of consumer electronics."

And That's my 2 cents 4 this bitterly cold Tuesday, February 14, 2012

JP Morgans: UltraBooks Won't Help Drive PC Growth Or Challenge The MacBook Air

As PC makers are scrambling to do what Apple did three whole years ago, namely create a computer to match its ultra slim, sleek and ultra sexy MacBook Airs, it appears that their answer to the Air, their so-called UltraBooks, won’t be the answer to driving PC sales for the coming year as they...

Note: The above is a part of a story a wrote that can be read here.

Patents: The Four Horsemen Of The Apocolyspe!

The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse of patents are riding and are headed straight in the direction of Google, Motorola and Samsung, according to patent expert Herr Mueller from good-old Germany, who lists these critical patents as being:

1 - the "data tapping" patent based on which the ITC ordered an import ban against HTC

2 - a patent related to Siri and unified search, which must be of huge concern to Google with a view to its core business

3 - a new slide-to-unlock patent that even had the head of the Taiwanese government profoundly worried

4 - a word completion patent that provides major speed improvements for touchscreen text entry

What Herr Mueller points out that is of particular interest is that Apple's latest attempt to preliminary ban Samsung's latest Nexus, which uses the latest stock version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, puts Apple directly in conflict with Google, or as Herr Mueller writes:

"For every major version of Android, Google partners with one hardware company to develop an official lead device that comes with a time-to-market advantage for the vendor in exchange of the device maker's compliance with Google's rules. Those lead devices always contain the word "Nexus" in their name.

The version of Android that is installed on those devices is commonly referred to as "stock Android", meaning it's Android as supplied by Google, without vendor-specific enhancements on top. When companies like Apple assert patents against Android devices, some of the infringement contentions relate to features that reside at the level of extensions developed by OEMs. Google has sometimes refrained from implementing certain features in "stock Android" just to steer clear of infringement, knowing that some of those functionalities would be implemented by OEMs anyway.

In this case, stock Android itself is at issue. This means that Google cannot deny its undivided responsibility for any infringement findings." (emphasis mine)

Herr Florian Mueller describes as almost 'beyond belief' the legal abuse that Google and Motorola, as well as Samsung, are attempting to get away with. He also wrote an excellent post, that I highly recommend reading, on Apple's new U.S. 'antisuit lawsuit' against Motorola over its Qualcomm license. This is indeed 'almost beyond belief' that anyone, especially Google who hypocritically claims to believe in open source standards, would ever even think of thinking, let alone actually doing. Clearly, what we have here, as far as I can see, is a clear and utter case of 'being evil'!

As Computer World's Jonny Evans also noted:

"What those firms fighting Apple with what seem to me to be clear abuses of the standards of behavior which govern the FRAND licensing systems should be aware of its that Cupertino counts a horde of similar patents of its own.

Should Apple's enemies prevail in their FRAND fights, then what's to stop Apple beginning similar actions against them? And if that event were to transpire, what damage would it make to the many agreed industry standards on which we all depend in order to ensure devices from different manufacturers inter operate?

I believe it's important to stand up for transparent and un-prejudiced handling of FRAND licensing agreements, and feel those firms who are using FRAND patents as part of an attempt to combat Apple are setting in motion wheels which could imperil future evolution and technology advancement."

In conclusion, Apple is now going after Motorola, Samsung and Google with its legal guns blazing and if justice prevails, and I certainly hope and believe that it will, then this evil and blatant patent FRAND abuse should come back to haunt these pursuers of evil, and, hopefully, very, very soon.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this gloriously sunny, but bitterly cold Monday, February 13, 2012

Opening graphic via: Dice.com

Apple: Could It Really Become The World's First Trillion (Yes, Trillion) Dollar Company?

The iPhone all alone is now a bigger business than all of Microsoft put together, and with Apple's incredible rise in stock yesterday, over $16 per share, it is now being reported that Apple is now worth more than all of Microsoft and Google combined, or even more than: Google, Goldman Sachs, General Motors, Ford, Starbucks and Boeing together!

Apple's financial success has been so spectacular, however, that some are predicting that it could now become the world's first Trillion, as in a capitol T, dollar company!

But, could it really?

Well, for starters, one of the reasons why Apple is now the world's most valuable company is due to facts like its iPhone easily now commands up to 50% of all Mobile Revenue, and another 80% of all Mobile Profits, meaning that every other phone company, and I mean all of them put together, RIM, Samsung, MMI, HTC, etc., etc., only account for the remaining 20%!

After posting record revenue and profits recently, for example, MBAOnline did an interesting graphical representation showing just how much Apple was worth, and trust me it's a lot, but now it's even worth more then when that post came out. Apple's market cap is now so high, so huge, so mind boggling that one site said it was even higher than:

- The gross domestic product of Sweden ($458 billion)
- All the gold in the Federal Reserve, and then some. ($350 billion)
- All the illegal drugs in the world, and then some ($321 billion)
- Six and a half years of global coffee consumption ($70 billion/year)
- More than six years of U.S. beef consumption ($74 billion/year)
- More than five U.S. Civil Wars ($74-$84 billion each)
- More than 2.5 Apollo space programs ($145-$170 billion apiece)
- Three times the entire U.S. clothing industry ($150 billion)
- Fourteen National Football Leagues ($33 billion for all the teams combined)

Now that's what I call big, but it's still has a way to go before it can claim the title of being the world's first Trillion Dollar company.

In conclusion, however, I really don't know if Apple's incredible growth, both in the value of its stock and market cap, will continue, let alone if it will ever become the first true ONE TRILLION DOLLAR COMPANY, but if it does, one of the reasons that could make it happen would be simply the fact that the world's most populous country, China, happens to be a country that is absolutely head-over-heels crazy over its products! With over 1.3 billion people, and rising prosperity, who really knows, it might just happen after all, but we'll see.

And that's my 2 cents for this gloriously mild and sunny Friday, February 10, 2012

Apple money logo via: TonyMac86Forum

Apple's Stock And Market Cap Hits All Time High... Again!

Due to Greece's failure to get a consensus I expect that the world's stock markets could get hit hard later in the day, but just get a gander at where's Apple's stock sat as of yesterday..... at an all-time high of a whopping $476.68!

As you can see from the Yahoo Finance chart (click to enlarge), at one point Apple's stock hit a high of $476.79, and as of this writing it's up another $1.33 in early morning after hours trading. This means that Apple, as also shown by the chart, has a market cap greater than any other company on the planet, beating the former champ, Xxon, by over some $40 billion dollars! Xxon's $403.9 market cap, by the way, is nothing to sneeze at either!

In other words: Apple is now worth, as of yesterday, more than Xxon and Dell combined, or more than Microsoft and Google put together! Now that is what I call a very, very big and valuable combination indeed.

Speaking of Microsoft, it was also a former market cap champ, and its stock has been going upwards over the past little and its market cap now comfortably weighs in at a mind-blowing $257.26 billion. In the past, however, I believe it was once valued at over a staggering $500 billion, a high that Apple definitely is within close striking distance of reaching if all goes well.

In conclusion, Apple's stock is also within close striking distance of hitting and exceeding the psychological mark of $500 per share. The European debt problems could delay that, but hopefully not for long. It's truly amazing to think that Apple could reach such dizzying heights in such a short time, but it just goes to show what a company can do, like Apple, when it has the vision and the courage to follow its convictions, so congrats Apple you deserve them.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this cloudy, but mild Thursday, February 09, 2012

PS: As of 11:32 AM Eastern Standard time Apple's stock hit an all time high of $494.23 , up some$17.55 (or some 3.68%), giving Apple the world's largest market cap of $459.75 billion, about $50 billion more than oil giant Exxon, previously the largest market cap in the world! Some are even questioning whether-or-not Apple will become, in the next 36 months, the world's first Trillion Dollar Company!

Googarola's FRAND Patent Abuse 'Is Beyond Belief'

A new report says that Apple has asked the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to intervene and set new rules to help govern how companies license their patents. The idea is to bring some form of sanity to the table, a table that is becoming more confusing by the day.

It is hoped that new governing rules will help prevent companies, such as Motorola and Google, from using FRAND patents as a strategic weapon, or let's say like a 'bullet', to help kill off their competition!

So much about Google complaining about how others were using 'bogus' patents unfairly, instead of using innovation, in order to try and harm Android by making it more expensive to buy!

Google is now apparently, and very hypocritically, planning to use its Motorola FRAND patents much like that of a bullet, as in a bank robbery, to 'kill off' other companies, according to the great German patent expert Florian Mueller, which he states is something that he finds to be almost "beyond belief".

Motorola is demanding, for some strange reason no less than 2.25% royalties for use of its FRAND patents, which is a figure that goes way beyond what is perceived as being fair, reasonable, or non discriminatory, or as Herr Mueller so aptly put it:

"War analogies aren't unheard of in connection with patent litigation. I, too, have used such analogies as "mutually assured destruction" many times before. The willingness "to go thermonuclear war" on Android is perhaps the most-quoted statement from the official Steve Jobs biography. This is the first time that a company asserting patents in a lawsuit makes some kind of connection with a bank robbery, but it's debatable whether that's worse than those war analogies. But what is clearly outrageous here is that a holder of standard-essential patents presents an argument according to which the value of a FRAND-pledged patent is mostly based on one's ability to "kill" others with it.

That is the very opposite of what FRAND-pledged standards-essential patents should be used for."

I don't know about you, but if it's true that Motorola and Google indeed view their FRAND patents much like that of 'a bullet in which to kill' off its competition, than Google's often quoted mantra of 'Don't be Evil" is, as Jobs stated is: "A bunch of bull... !"

When it comes to Google and Motorola's using its FRAND patents against Microsoft for example, Herr Mueller, in another post, noted that if they get their way then Microsoft could end up paying as much as a whopping - and get this - a whopping 7,300 to 14,000 % more per unit than they would have otherwise, or as he stated:

"Motorola however, wants 2.25% of the price of such Microsoft products as Windows 7 -- not just the software but entire devices running such software. At the trial, Motorola's counsel came from the assumption of an average per-unit price of 250 euros. Let's use that figure for the sake of the argument. This means Motorola demands 5.63 euros, or based on today's exchange rate, $7.38 per unit: that's between 73 times (7,300%) and 146 times (14,600%) the per-unit MPEG LA rate. Is that discrepancy, which is even wider if one factors in the size of those pools relative to Motorola's portfolios, in line with Google's vision for FRAND licensing?"

Well, excuse me, I may not be a patent expert or anything, but I would definitely say the above was anything but fair, reasonable, accessible or non-discriminatory, wouldn't you? I would say, however, that it seems to be more a case of being down-right EVIL!

After reading the above, at least I'm now happy to see that Oracle will be able to use the Linholm email in its upcoming case against Google and its Android platform, because as Herr Mueller noted:

"If Oracle manages to inject the Lindholm email into the early stage of the trial, the jury will basically know that Google itself knows there's some infringement somewhere. Oracle might get a whole lot of mileage out of this piece of evidence."

In conclusion, "Steve Jobs Was Right: Google IS Turning Into Microsoft" and Google must be stopped before it cripples both the competition and innovation itself. Hopefully, now that the U.S. and the E.U. are both investigating Google for antitrust violations, they will prevent the buyout of Motorola by Google before it attempts to use it to help kill off the innovation of others, and lets all hope that Google itself will be reigned in before it's too late as well, because as Jobs pointed out, "Don't be evil" on Google's part is just a 'bunch of bull......", and nothing but a fairy tale, and nothing more.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this sunny and delightful Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Google image via: The Road To The Horizon

Rogers And Bell Labs Testing Apple TV Prototypes In Canada

Canada's Globe and Mail is reporting that Rogers Cable and Bell Labs are now both testing early prototypes of Apple's secret iTV in their own labs!

Considering how secretive Apple is, and how they even put new employees on dummy projects to test their ability to keep a secret, I find it rather hard to believe that Apple would give these, or any other company, its actual prototypes to test, so I'm a little skeptical about all of this.

According to the Globe and Mail, however, Apple is already in talks with both TV providers to carry what some are saying 'could be a revolutionary product,' and one which could theoretically turn Apple's new TV set into a type of gargantuan iPad!

Oh, lah, lah, a 40 t0 60 inch iPad, now how sweet would that be?

Further more, The Globe and Mail stated:

"While the iTV product remains cloaked in secrecy, sources say Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has approached Rogers and Bell as it actively pursues partnerships with Canadian carriers.

“They’re not closed to doing it with one [company] or doing it with two,” said one source who is familiar with the talks. “They’re looking for a partner. They’re looking for someone with wireless and broadband capabilities.”

Another source, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Rogers and Bell already have the product in their labs."

Apparently, not only will Apple's new iTV use its ever-so-cool Siri voice input feature, but would also incorporate an on-screen keyboard that would be controlled via hand gestures, and would allow one to easily surf the web, play games, most likely iOS games, and interact with social networking sites such as Tweeter and Facebook – all without any type of physical interface what-so-ever.

In conclusion, it's interesting to note that Canada's other major TV company, Telus, won't be joining Apple's party, because it too has its own and similar technology called OPTIX TV, which combined with an Xbox, would also give one the ability to control and program your TV via voice and gesture input.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this gloomy Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Apple iTV mock up via: 9to5mac, source; Guilherme M. Schasiepen.

Windows Classic Start Up Icon To Go Missing In Windows 8?

The Verge is reporting that Microsoft has removed, believe it or not, its classic and iconic Start Up icon from the consumer preview version of Windows 8!

What in hell gives?

After all, Microsoft's Start Up icon is a strategic component from its Task Bar, one of the biggest and best features from Windows ever, and a feature that hails all the way back from Windows 95 ...... over some 15 years ago!

Of course, when you really think about it, the Start Up icon was nothing more, nothing less than an Apple Menu icon turned upside down, but it allowed you to do some pretty nifty little things like previewing what was running on your desktop, etc. I have always liked that about the Task Bar, which I always considered to be an upside down copy of Apple's menu bar.

Amazingly, however, as you can see from Verge's photo at the beginning of this post..... it's not there, the Start Up icon, that is!

What ever is Microsoft thinking?

Personally, I'm not sure this is going to be a smart move on Microsoft's part or not, and I wouldn't be surprised one itty-bitty bit if consumers are going to complain bitterly about its removal, which is probably why Microsoft is bringing it out now in a consumer preview in order to better gauge the public's reaction.

However, as the Verge was able to confirm, even though the Start Up icon might be gone , its functionality won't be going anywhere, or as they put it:

"Fear not though, the Start button functionality isn't as dead as it seems. We have confirmed with sources close to Microsoft's Windows 8 development that a hot corner has replaced the Start button orb. A thumbnail-like user interface will appear in Metro or desktop mode, providing a consistent way to access the Windows desktop and Start Screen in Windows 8 regardless of touch or mouse input. The new interface is activated on hover from the lower-left corner of Windows 8 and includes a thumbnail preview of where you will navigate to after clicking on the new visual element. The same element will appear in touch mode, and we expect it will be activated by a swipe action. If you are in desktop mode then it will show a preview of the Metro mode and vice versa."

Still, in conclusion, I'm not that sure that I like the idea of removing the traditional Start Up icon. Oh, to be sure, I guess that we could always get used to its replacement, but that doesn't mean that we will like it. I never considered Windows to be quite as good as either OS X or Linux, but to quite honest it isn't really all that bad either, at least not like XP and all the preceding versions of Windows used to be, and, who really knows, maybe, just maybe the missing Start Up icon won't be all that missed after all?

And that's my 2 cents 4 this so, so cloudy Monday, January 06, 2012

Taiwanese Android Tablet Ad Mocks Steve Jobs: Claims He Loves Android In The After Life

Above is a parody ad for a new Android tablet, the Action Pad, and it is an ad that shamelessly features an angelic Steve Jobs look-a-like being thankful that he could now use a 'real' tablet alternative other than his own creation, the iPad.

The creators of the Action Pad say that it's just a parody, therefore Apple shouldn't be too upset, but considering Apple's reaction to producers of various Steve Jobs action dolls I wouldn't count on that, but I might want to count, however, on a visit from one of Apple's high-priced lawyers.

Regarding the ad, the Toronto Sun posted:

"In the ad, Taiwanese comedian and impersonator Ah-Ken, dressed in Jobs' trademark black turtle neck sweater and blue jeans and sporting white angel's wings and a halo, extols the virtues of Action Electronics Co.'s combined tablet PC and multi-language dictionary, which runs on Google Inc's Android."

Since we all pretty well know about Steve's absolute and intense hatred of everything Android, and his desire to kill it off, even if he had to spend every last penny of Apple's billions in the process, I especially find this ad offensive and in utterly bad taste, and especially since Mr. Jobs death was so recent.

In conclusion, the excuse that it's all ok since the Action Pad couldn't use iOS in the first place, which is kind of an acknowledgement that it's superior to Android, just doesn't cut it in the end, and particularly since Mr. Jobs considered that Android was basically "stolen property" to begin with. However, on the other hand, it doesn't surprise me one little bit that Android OEM's would stoop this low either.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, February 03, 2012

"Strange" Apple Event And "Crazy" French Fine Google For Giving Away Free Maps

Something "Strange" is coming our way this month, at lest according to one Japanese Mac blogger.

According to the blog Macotakara, Apple will be holding a very "Strange" non-product event, but he doesn't say anything about what it could be, but some are speculating, that if he's right, it could be an event something along the lines of Apple's recent affair with digital textbooks.

AppleInsider posted that the blogger claims that Apple will also be unveiling the upcoming iPad 3 sometime in March (Oh boy, do I hope that this one is true) which is in line with other reports that we've been hearing, so this one could be true, but I'm not too convinced about that so-called "Strange" event. Personally, I can't possibly imagine how a blogger in far away Japan could possibly be privy to such information, and especially considering Apple's pendent for secrecy.

However, the above "Strange" Apple event wouldn't be the only strange thing happening in the tech world either, as new reports say that the French courts have fined El-Google a cool $660,000 for, and get this..... giving away freebies, or in this case giving away free maps!

Yuppers, this is strange case is weird, like really, really weird, and personally I hope that the Mountain View firm wins on appeal as this is too strange to be true. It seems that Bottin Cartographes, a French mapping company, claims that Google is giving away free maps in an attempt to run other mapping companies, such as itself, out of the market, and then, once they are out of the picture, naturally, it would start charging for its maps once it became dominant. I say rubbish! First of all, Google technically doesn't exactly give away anything for free, but rather it simply trades its wares for your personal information so that it can turn around and sell it to advertisers.

In conclusion, I don't have any idea what an Apple "Strange" event could entail if true, but I do know that the crazy French fine of $660,000 (why can't the French be more like those clever Germans?) is indeed a very, very "Strange" case indeed!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this dreary Thursday, February 02, 2012

iPad 3 illustration via: PCMag

Demand For Apple Products Fuel Need For More Factories And Employees, As Well As A Growing Call For A Boycott

Considering Apple's last quarter of record breaking profits and sales it's not surprising that the manufacturers of Apple's iconic products would need to expand their facilities.

One of Apple's major suppliers, Foxxconn, is doing just that by building five more spanking new Brazilian factories in order to help keep up with the demand for all those sleek iPhones and iPads, etc.

These new Brazilian factories are believed to be in addition to the current Brazilian facilities that are already producing iPhones and it's expected that the new facilities will employee about 1,000 new workers, which is hoped will help the manufacturers to produce up to 400 million new devices per year.

The demand for Apple products is so huge, in fact, that in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou they are planning on doubling the number of workers needed to produce all of those iconic Apple products by, and get this...... some 100,000 new employees!

100,000 new employees is almost as many people that live in my hometown! Wow, now that is a lot of employees and it only goes to show just how huge is the appetite for Apple's products. No wonder Apple is making money hand-over fist. Apple's piggy bank now, in fact, totals almost 100 billion big ones, and amazingly Apple's stock pile of cash is now also worth more than the top 32 biggest banks in all of Europe combined!

However, as the demand and popularity of Apple products grow, so too is there now also a growing, and in my mind and many others, a bogus call for an Apple boycott. This they claim is because of so-call workers abuse issues. However, this hasn't seemed to have discouraged people in the thousands from seeking to work for those manufacturers of Apple products, and as M.I.C Gadgets stated:

"The long lines at the labour agency may have surprised some, considering the harsh working conditions at Foxconn’s factories. No matter how poor the working conditions are, we can still see lots of Chinese willing to work at the hell factory to assemble the tech gadgets we’re using today. God bless them."

In conclusion, Apple is now the world's most valuable company, and a company who's sales and profits have been growing so fast that the need for more factories, with more workers to run them, should naturally increase, just as will the people with an ax to grind increase and no matter how shallow, how untrue, or how bogus their demands for a boycott are.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this mild but snowy Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Opening photo via: M.I.C Gadgets