RIM Claws Back Against Apple and Google With Free Tablets
RIM’s battle is a long and tiring one against the predominant mobile platforms in the industry. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop put it best: “The industry has shifted from a battle of devices, to a war of ecosystems.” In other words, a smartphone or a tablet is only as good as the apps it runs.
This is good news for some — namely, Apple and Google. The two dominant mobile application platforms currently offer the majority of smart-device apps, boasting numbers in the hundreds of thousands. But for underdogs like RIM, it foretells a grim outlook on the future of the company’s mobile platform.
In an effort to claw its way back into the game, RIM has settled on a new strategy. Effective today until Feb. 13, every Android developer who ports an Android application over to the BlackBerry ecosystem will receive a free PlayBook, according to a recent tweet sent by RIM VP of developer relations Alec Saunders.
Apple removes standard Mac OS X 10.7.3 download due to bugs, offers combined download instead
February 4, 2012 at 9:26 am
Apple’s latest Mac OS X 10.7.3 release is a pain for some users due to its bugs surrounding CUI issues and the crashing of applications. Apple has already been investigating the issues with test groups, and it has apparently decided that the best thing to do at this point is remove the standard 10.7.3 update from its servers and provide users with the ability to only download the combined installation. This combo installer is not riddled with the CUI and app crashing errors as explained in our report from yesterday.
Apple removed its online download page for the standard (client) 10.7.3 download, and now that website forwards to the combo download link. In addition, clicking a saved link that directly downloads the standard 10.7.3 installation puts up an Apple 404 page. On top of this, Apple removed the ability to download 10.7.3 (client) directly from software update, and it is now providing users with the combo installation. This combined installer is typically a few hundred megabytes larger than the standard installer, but users will not face the annoying bugs. This new build is reportedly showing up as “11D50b” instead of the client’s “11D50″ labeling.
Users who installed the client 10.7.3 download will need to manually download the combined update from Apple’s website.
Apple modifies EULA for iBooks: Lays no claim to content, allows authors to distribute elsewhere
February 3, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Apple just updated its End User License Agreement for the iBooks Author application, and the changes clearly outline the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company only requires .iBooks formatted products created in iBooks Author to sell through the iBookstore.
With that said, Apple aims to sell the packaged format without claiming the content nor restricting where else authors can distribute the content.
iBooks Author released alongside iBooks Textbook last month and controversy immediately brewed over its terms and conditions, which many claimed infringed upon software rights and imposed unjust requirements…
The uncertainty stemmed from Apple’s language in the agreement, with critics convinced that Apple tried to claim content rights to all books created for iBooks Textbooks. Questions also arose concerning whether Apple intended to control books from publishing elsewhere in another form.
The modified license agreement simplified complex wording— especially in Section 2, which originally stated:
Apple overturns German online sales ban on iPhone, iPad
Germany appears to be a hotbed for patent war activity at the moment with Apple now overturning an on the web sales ban on several of its 3G gadgets.
Just this morning we reported on an injunction won by Motorola stopping Apple promoting the iPad 2, iPhone 3GS and iPhone four on it is official on the internet shop due to its alleged infringement on a 3G patent.
Nonetheless, the wheels of justice move swiftly in these matters and Apple has been able to strike down the injunction with haste.
Moto becoming unreasonable?
The Cupertino-based business says that the legal see-saw was in a position to occur due to Motorola Mobility’s refusal (no doubt backed by its new pals at Google) to "reasonably" license the patent to Apple.
An Apple spokeswoman told AllThingsD: "All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale by way of Apple’s online store in Germany shortly.
Apple Now the World’s Third Largest Cellphone Maker, IDC Says
Apple’s iPhone 4S helped enhance it up the ladder of mobile-telephone marketplace share.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired 
Apple has moved past LG in the worldwide rankings of mobile-telephone unit sales. According to IDC, Apple is now the world’s third biggest mobile-telephone manufacturer, behind Nokia and Samsung.
Apple jumped two spots over the course of 2011. This time final year, Apple held fifth spot amongst the world’s top rated phone producers.
Nonetheless, there nevertheless remains a massive gap in between Apple and the twin forces of Samsung and Nokia, which dominate the mobile-telephone marketplace thanks to the reputation of their inexpensive function phones. For Q4 2011, Nokia owned 26.6 percent of the worldwide mobile-phone industry, Samsung held 22.8 percent and Apple had 8.7 percent. For the year overall, the stats were slightly diverse: Nokia had 27 percent of the market, Samsung had 21.3 percent and Apple had 6 percent, just beating out the 5.7 percent of LG Electronics.
iPad 3 to be announced in March following ‘unusual’ Apple event this month
Apple is planning to unveil its subsequent-generation iPad 3 at a media occasion in early March and it will launch the new tablet later that month, Japanese weblog Macotakara reported on Thursday. Prior to that press conference, nevertheless, Apple is mentioned to be arranging a separate “unusual” media occasion in early February. The subject of Apple’s supposed February event is unknown, even so Macotakara states that it will not be product-focused. The iPad three is widely expected to function a slightly thicker case than its predecessor to accommodate an upgraded high-definition display and a bigger battery pack that will reportedly double the battery life of the iPad 2. BGR published evidence on Wednesday that Apple’s next-generation iPad will also function a quad-core A6 processor and embedded 4G LTE connectivity.
[By way of MacRumors]
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iPad 3 Event in March, An ‘Unusual’ Apple Event in February?
Japanese blog Macotakara has posted a follow-up to their earlier claim of a February iPad three media event.
The original report had claimed that Apple would hold an iPad 3 media event in February with item launch in March. We had expressed some doubts about the lengthy lead time in between occasion and launch. Macotakara has had a mixed track record in the past, but has had enough hits that they continue to warrant attention.
The site is now reporting that although there will be an event in February, that it would be a “strange” event rather than the usual product announcement occasion:
I reported that Apple was going to hold Unique Occasion in early February according to Asian supplier and source from united states, but this report told a half-side of truth. Apple will hold “Strange” event at February instead of Particular Event.
Meanwhile, they now report that the iPad three announcement and launch will both take places in March.
Appleinsider contacted the author for clarification but was only told that the February occasion would not be a product event.
Report: Apple Reaching Out to TV Component Suppliers
Apple is purportedly operating on its personal Television set, rather than just a set-top rated box like Apple Tv.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Rampant speculation says Apple has a complete-fledged, big-screen Television project in the works — an iTV, if you will. Now Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Apple has been contacting component makers for its set, top him to believe it will almost certainly land in 2012.
In a note to investors on Tuesday, Munster wrote that a “major Tv component supplier” told him Apple has been in touch with them relating to Tv components. Nonetheless, Munster also conceded that Apple may possibly in no way in fact release a Tv at all.
“We believe that Apple only enters mature markets with the goal of revolutionizing them, as it did with the smartphone,” Munster wrote in his note. “Without a revamped Television content material remedy, we do not think Apple enters the Television industry.”
