Tim Cook: China Mobile deal a 'watershed,' and more news for January 15, 2014
This Friday, the iPhone goes on sale at China Mobile -- the largest mobile carrier in the world. And it seems everyone is very, very happy about that. Speaking to CNBC in Beijing where Tim Cook is for the launch, he said this Friday's launch "is a watershed day ... It's a huge announcement ... we're incredibly impressed with them; we have deep respect for them. We see this as bringing the world's best smartphone to the very largest and now the fastest network in China."
Since China Mobile preorders began in December, the mobile carrier is selling a whopping 60,000 units a day, which equals more than 1.3 million iPhones sold between December 25 and January 13. With the China Mobile deal, Apple will be able to sell iPhones in more than 3,000 new locations in China, including many new cities where the iPhone just isn't available now.
Going on further press rounds about the China Mobile launch, Cook told The Wall Street Journal that he is "incredibly optimistic" about the launch and said of the carrier: "We've gotten to know each other ... today is a beginning, and I think there are lots more things our companies can do together in the future."
In other news:
Black Sabbath's 1970's albums are now available on iTunes. Warner Brothers has brought eight of the band's albums from the 1970s exclusively to iTunes this week. Previously only the bands later albums were available. You can view the albums here.
An anti-poaching class-action lawsuit against Apple, Google and others will proceed. The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that more than 64,000 workers will be able to sue Apple, Google, Adobe, Intel and other tech companies for allegedly conspiring to keep pay down so workers wouldn't jump ship from one company to the next.
A hacker group called The 1775 Sec has said they've breached an Apple database and posted user's personal information to the web. However, this is the same group that claimed responsibility for Dropbox's downtime earlier this month -- something which was found to be untrue.
Finally, is it a Mac Pro or is it a trash can? Whatever it is, it's got amazing reviews.
