Apple

After a long wait, the white version of Apple's iPhone 4 finally went on sale today. Color aside, it's the same device, just with a white front and back. However reports are coming in that there is, in fact, a difference between the two versions.

A MacRumors reader, iLounge, and Ryan Cash of Marketcircle who posted pictures of the two side-by-side, have found that the white version of the device is ever so slightly thicker than the black version. How much? "A hair," Cash said. Blog TiPb got a little more precise, measuring the difference at "roughly 0.2 mm."

Apple lists the depth of both devices at an even 9.3 mm on its iPhone 4 specs page. TiPb, which measured the difference, listed the white version at 9.5 mm. The depth ... Read full post & comments

Adding to its lawsuits against Apple in three other countries, Samsung has filed another against the iPhone and Mac maker, this time in the U.S.

The suit, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California San Jose division, and picked up by Bloomberg, accuses Apple of infringing on 10 of its patents. One of those patents includes the capability to use the Web while on a phone call, a feature Apple's touted in its advertisements for the GSM version of the iPhone.

The suit targets iPhones going all the way back to the 3G, as well as the iPod Touch, and first- and second-generation iPads. Samsung is seeking damages caused by Apple for its alleged infringements in these devices.

Apple launched a multi-prong lawsuit against Samsung earlier this month, claiming the company was infringing on its patents, as well as copying Apple'... Read full post & comments

With Microsoft's third fiscal quarter results out, it's time to compare the company to its longtime technology rival: Apple managed to come out on top of Microsoft in terms of sales and profits.

Apple, which reported its second fiscal quarter earnings last week, posted revenues of $24.67 billion with a net income of $5.99 billion. By comparison, Microsoft's just announced results put it at $16.43 billion with a net income of $5.23 billion.

Apple's most recently completed fiscal quarter ended March 26, 2011. Microsoft's ended March 31, 2011.

Apple made waves back in May, passing Microsoft in market capitalization. In October, Apple went on to pass Microsoft in revenues as well.

Some of Apple's biggest sales over the quarter were iPhones, with the company selling 18.65 million units. That number amounted to half of the company's revenues. Apple ... Read full post & comments

Three employees of Foxconn, which manufactures Apple products and other electronics, are said to have been charged for violating the company's trade secret agreement by allegedly leaking design details of Apple's iPad 2 ahead of its release.

Citing reporting from Chinese-language source Sznews, Digitimes says the three employees were arrested by local police in Shenzhen, China near the end of December of last year, and were formally charged last week.

The alleged leaks gave several accessory makers time to draw up designs ahead of the iPad 2's unveiling. While some of those designs did not match up to what Apple eventually unveiled on March 2, a handful nailed features like the cameras, rounded back, relocated speaker and microphone, and thinner enclosure.

Foxconn, which is part of Hon Hai Precision ... Read full post & comments

As Apple and Verizon's quarterly earnings noted, iPhone 4 sales have been brisk. How brisk? A new report put out by the NPD Group earlier today put Apple in third place in U.S. smartphone sales during the first quarter of this year.

Apple came in behind Samsung and LG, but did better than HTC, Motorola, and Research In Motion. During the quarter, NPD says Apple nabbed 14 percent of sales, due in large part to the launch of the iPhone on Verizon's network in February.

"Apple and Verizon had a very successful launch of the iPhone 4, which allowed the iPhone to expand its market share that was previously held back by its prolonged carrier exclusivity with AT&T;," said Ross Rubin, NPD's executive director of industry analysis in a statement.

Rubin said some of that growth "came at the expense of ... Read full post & comments

A cloud-based music service wouldn't be anything without a name. And Apple might have found a suitable choice.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has acquired domain name iCloud.com from Sweden-based "hybrid cloud computing" provider Xcerion, GigaOm is reporting, citing an anonymous "tipster." The publication's source says Apple paid $4.5 million for the domain name.

Neither Xcerion nor Apple has confirmed a sale, and it's worth noting that the site's Whois data shows that Xcerion still owns the domain. However, Xcerion used to operate its cloud-based storage service on iCloud.com but, earlier this month, moved it over to CloudMe.com.

Speculation abounds that Apple is nearing the launch of a cloud-based music service that would allow people to store their music libraries on the Web for access anywhere they can connect to the Internet. Last month, Amazon.com launched its own digital music locker, ... Read full post & comments

If it weren't for tablets, the global PC market wouldn't be as healthy as it seems to be, a new report from research firm Canalys has found.

Worldwide PC shipments in the first quarter of 2011 reached over 88.6 million units, representing a 7 percent gain compared to the first quarter of 2010, when 82.8 million PCs shipped, according to Canalys. Hewlett-Packard once again led the way in the first quarter of 2011, shipping more than 14.6 million PCs for a 16.6 percent share of the market. However, its total shipments were down 5.8 percent year over year, Canalys found. HP was followed by Acer and Dell, which shipped 11.3 million and 10 million PC units during the first quarter, respectively. Acer's shipments slid 6.5 percent on the quarter, while ... Read full post & comments

Apple has come under fire following a researcher's report that iOS version 4 software for the iPad and iPhone stores users' location data.

Congressman wants FTC probe of iPhone tracking

Apple's explanation for location tracking, and promise of a fix, doesn't satisfy Rep. Jay Inslee, who still wants a Federal Trade Commission investigation, CNET has learned.
(Posted in Privacy Inc. by Declan McCullagh)
April 28, 2011 4:00 AM PDT

Apple: We'll fix iPhone tracking 'bug'

The iPhone maker breaks its silence and says an iOS update coming soon will address a location-tracking furor involving a "crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database."
• Jobs, Apple execs discuss iPhones and location (Q&A;)
• The white iPhone arrives tomorrow--finally!
(Posted in Signal Strength by Marguerite Reardon)
April 27, 2011 6:24 AM PDT

Privacy panic debate: Whose data is it?

commentary The recent privacy ... Read full post & comments

Apple frequently touts the number of applications available to iOS users, which now sits north of 350,000. But that number could be in danger of coming in second place to rival Google in just a few months time.

In a new report by market research firm Distimo for the last month of activity on Apple's various App Stores, the BlackBerry App World, GetJar, Google's Android Market, Nokia's Ovi Store, Palm's App Catalog, and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, the group found Google and Microsoft's efforts to be growing the fastest.

"If all application stores maintain their current growth pace, approximately five months from now Google Android Market will be the largest store in terms of number of applications followed by the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, BlackBerry App World and Nokia Ovi Store," the firm ... Read full post & comments