Apple News

Defeating Apple's iPhone-5, Samsung's Galaxy S-III has topped the customer satisfaction index, followed by Galaxy Note-II, according to The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) research. The iPhone-5 and iPhone-4 has been ranked 3rd and 5th respectively. However, the ACSI said that in terms of overall rankings, Apple is still at the top spot.

Apple on Tuesday announced a lower-cost smartphone, iPhone 5C worth $99 (in US for 16GB model) and its new flagship device, iPhone 5S with first-ever 64-bit A7 processor for highly improved performance. iPhone 5C, which have same physical dimension as iPhone 5, is made of soft silicon rubber rather than anodized aluminium and comes in different colors like iPhone 5S.

Chaos Computing Club, a group of German-hackers, claimed to have cracked the iPhone fingerprint-scanner, only 2-days after Apple launched the technology. The group posted a video on its website that appeared to show somebody accessing an iPhone 5S with a fabricated print. Apple representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Creating a new record, Apple sold 9 million handsets of its latest smartphones, iPhone 5s and 5c, during the first 3 days of their availability. The cheaper 5c and availability in Asian markets have led to increased sales. Their new operating system iOS 7 was also received well, with 200 million devices running it.

According to report from Interbrand- a corporate identity and brand consulting company, Apple(brand value $98.3 billion),Google(brand value $93.2 billion) and Coca-Cola(brand value $79.2 billion) acquired respective first,second and third places as world's most valuable brands. Apple broke Coca-Cola's 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands. In the rankings, technology accounted for five of the top 10.

At an event on Tuesday, Apple launched iPad Air and iPad mini, with the much-awaited Retina Display. The 9.7-inch iPad Air, claimed to be the thinnest full-sized tablet, will start at $499 (16GB-variant) while the 7.9-inch iPad mini will start at $399 (16GB-variant). The company also announced the availability of its latest operating system OSX Mavericks as a free download.

A report has declared Apple Maps to be a huge success on iOS devices like the iPad and iPhone in the US, moving ahead of Google maps. Introduction of a new search API by Apple, earlier this year, offering map-based addresses (location) and points of interest (POI), is considered to be a factor contributing to its increased usage .

After tasting success with the buyback offer for iPhone 4 earlier this year, Apple has re-started the exchange offer. Under the scheme, users will get a minimum discount of Rs. 13,000 in the price iPhone 5C and 4S in exchange of iPhone 4. The buyback offer is also valid for select other smartphones including BlackBerry Z10, Lumia 925, Galaxy S3.

A Silicon Valley jury on Thursday held Samsung Electronics guilty of copying Apple's vital iPhone and iPad features and ordered it to pay $290 million to Apple. The verdict covered 13 older Samsung devices that infringed Apple patents. A next trial is scheduled for March to consider Apple's claims that Samsung's newest devices on the market also copied Apple's technology.

According to Forbes, Apple with a brand value of $104.3 billion is the world's most valuable brand followed by Microsoft($56.7 billion), Coca-Cola($54.9 billion), IBM($50.7 billion) and Google($47.3 billion). US-based brands dominated with over fifty spots in the list of 100, far ahead of Germany(9 brands), France(8) and Japan(7). Unfortunately, no Indian company featured in the list.

According to a report by Mobiles Unlocked, iPhone 5S costs Indians the most globally when compared with their purchasing power i.e. Indian buyers have to shell out 22.3% of the national gross domestic product per capita (GDP PPP). Despite this, Apple enjoys its best-ever sales for iPhone 5S in India. China, another Apple's fastest-growing market, stands fifth in the list(10%).

A Seoul court on Thursday denied Samsung's claim that Apple violated three of its patent related to SMS. The court said, Samsung patents lacked 'progressiveness' and can be easily developed by others. Samsung had sued Apple in March 2012. The ruling is the latest blow to Samsung, which owes Apple $930 million from two jury verdicts in Silicon Valley.

Almost after three months of launch, iPhone hacking group 'evasi0n' announced Sunday that it has completed an untethered jailbreak for iOS 7. It is now available for installation on any iOS device that's capable of running iOS 7.0. Remarkably, the jailbreak took much more time compared to the previous jailbreaks, which only took a few weeks to appear.

After years of negotiation, Apple on Sunday unveiled a deal with China Mobile to bring the iPhone to the huge Chinese market dominated by low-cost Android smartphones. Under the agreement, iPhone 5s/5c phones will be available at China Mobile and Apple retail stores across mainland China. Notably, China Mobile is the world's biggest wireless carrier (approx. 760 million subscribers).

According to Chinese technology website Digitimes, Apple is all set to unveil its big screen iPhone in May 2014. The website, which has leaked Apple gadgets accurately in the past, also reported that a big screen iPad (12.9 or 13.3 inch display) would be launched in October next year. Apple is working with Taiwan's Quanta Computer to manufacture this tablet.

With nearly 1,24,000 media mentions during 2013, Google has dethroned Apple (1,20,500 mentions) to become the most talked-about company of the year, according to a report by Dow Jones. Microsoft and Bank of America were ranked third and fourth with 84,000 and 71,000 mentions, respectively. Google's highest month of mentions came in May, while for Apple, it was in September.