iPhones
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Fake iPhones seized from LA warehouse
Police in the port of Los Angeles have seized what they say is over $10 million worth of counterfeit Apple devices from a warehouse. The fake iPods, iPhones and iPod touches were reportedly brought in from Asia recently, and they were supposedly going to be sold around CES this past year, duping customers into thinking they were buying real Apple products for cheap. Not that cheap, though -- the cops also reportedly found receipts in the warehouse, along with other stolen and counterfeit merchandise, that pointed to the whole facility bringing in around $7 million in profit. Two brothers have been arrested, and the two of them face a total of four felony counts for the sale of counterfeit goods. The seizure was the result of an ongoing stolen cargo investigation that had the Port Police looking around warehouses in Los Angeles and Vernon, CA late last year.
Apple sells 250k Apple TVs in six weeks
While Apple TV sales were apparently not published in Apple's quarterly earnings release, during the much-ballyhooed investor conference call yesterday, Steve Jobs noted that as many as 250,000 Apple TVs have been sold since its debut last month. To put that number into perspective, in the first month of sales of the original Apple TV (January 2007), Apple took orders of around 100,000 units. Also, prime contender Roku has reported sales of about 500,000 of its devices after being on the market for a year-and-change. Although Apple stands a good chance of taking the lead over Roku in sales at some point, as far as the company is concerned, those numbers still put the Apple TV in the "hobby" category. iPads and iPhones still reign supreme in terms of sales for the company's fourth quarter.
Report: Foxconn making 1.5 iPhones per second
137,000 iPhones per day. That's how many manufacturer Foxconn is reportedly making these days, its chairman tells the press. That's an amazing figure adding up to 50 million iPhones every single year, even as Apple struggles to keep enough hardware in stock. And the process isn't easy, either -- chairman Terry Gou says that the company found out it needed a certain machining rig usually designed only for prototyping in order to stay in line with Apple's strict manufacturing standards. Foxconn ended up buying over 1,000 of the machines at $20k each, even while other manufacturing companies are buying just one. It's crazy to think about the scale of the operation over there -- not just the equipment, but the workers and organization required to churn out that kind of product. And sadly, it appears the pressure is still on for the company, as we've seen multiple times before. Apple is setting records over here on this side of the world with the iPhone's sales numbers, and it's sometimes easy to forget that behind all of that, there's an industrial machine churning out product by the millions. [via HardMac]
Cops hacking iPhones for information
I used to think that if I ever got hit by a car while out and about (God forbid, of course), the most useful place to find identifying information would be in my wallet. But that's not really the case any more. As cops are learning these days, the best place in a person's pockets to learn about them is their iPhone. Not only is the phone full of contact information (and indeed, I've included an "ICE" number on every phone I've ever had), but it's also got lots of other information about me, including where I've been lately, what kinds of things I've searched for, and even what apps I've used and how often. Besides the obvious places (in the apps themselves), there's a lot of information that you as a user don't have access to. iOS apparently caches both screenshots and text used while multitasking and spell checking, so even if you don't actively save information on your iPhone, odds are it's there anyway. Before you panic and decide to ditch your iPhone for privacy's sake, keep in mind that whoever's trying to get this information needs to have direct access to the iPhone itself. At this point, hackers can't dive into your phone over the air and steal your secrets (most of them, anyway). But this type of "iPhone forensics" is very useful for cops trying to figure out what anonymous victims have been up to lately. Thanks, Colin!
Apple to stream video of tomorrow's live event
It looks like Apple has decided that it's finally time to let the public in on their press events -- the company will be streaming live footage from the event tomorrow on its website. Traditionally, the company has depended on third parties (like, ahem, us -- we'll still be metaliveblogging the event here on TUAW, don't worry), but it looks like tomorrow's event is free for everyone to watch. That's assuming things all go to plan, of course -- it'll likely be tough for even Apple to keep up with the demand of streaming out live video to what must be millions of people around the world. Apple's PR release says that the stream will be up on Apple.com tomorrow at 10am PDT, and that it will be viewable on Macs with Safari and Snow Leopard installed, or iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads running iOS 3.0 or higher. So tune in tomorrow morning -- we'll see if Apple can handle the demands of its hungry customers on live streaming day. And even if not, we'll be here with all of the information you need anyway.
Many Verizon customers suffering from "extreme" interest in iPhone, BMX biking
A report over on Digital Daily this morning reveals something that may not come as much of a surprise -- people on other carriers (in this instance, Verizon) want the iPhone. Recent research out of Morgan Stanley shows there is "significant" demand for Apple's cellular delight -- with about 16.8 percent of Verizon's subscribers having "extreme interest" in the product compared to 7.5 percent in the overall population. What does this mean? It means that, if given the chance (i.e. if the iPhone came to Verizon), about 17 percent of current users would switch. That's a pretty high number, to be sure, and Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty estimates that such a deal could move around 7 or 8 million iPhones annually. Of course, all of this comes from an analyst, and it's based on an unscientific survey, so take it with a grain of salt. Still, what's the deal, Steve? We know you love money -- make it happen!
Rumor: Apple buys Intrinsity
We've heard a few times now that Apple was ready to pick up some smaller, innovative hardware companies, and the rumor mill now says that chipmaker Intrinsity was purchased by Apple late last week. Rumors first hit on April 1st about the company being sold to a bigger buyer, and on Friday at least one employee was saying the buyer was in fact Apple. There's still no official word of a sale, as far as we can tell, but maybe Apple is waiting for a certain press conference to reveal that a new company will be providing chips for future, oh I don't know, iPhones. Intrinsity certainly fits the bill for the kind of company that Apple would want to buy with all its cash -- it's behind some of the fastest mobile processors out there, and that's certainly what Apple is looking for. It's also unencumbered by other ownership (which means Apple can pick it up outright), and it's got that nice mix of innovation and quality that Apple usually looks for. In short, even before the event on Thursday, we can probably expect to see Intrinsity behind some of Apple's processors in the future -- if they haven't made a few already. [via Engadget]
Analyst: There's a market of four to five million iPhones a year in China
I thought Apple sounded a tad bit defensive about China on the conference call Monday, but Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty says there's nothing to worry about: she expects Apple to sell up to four or five million iPhones in China per year. Apple told us on Monday that they've activated about 200,000 iPhones in China so far, but Huberty claims that there's a market for maybe 50 million iPhones over there, and echoes Tim Cook's assertion that price is the main issue. "Hardware pricing, service plan pricing and the large up-front payment," she says in her report, "were cited by 85%, 66% and 56% of respondents respectively, as reasons they were not likely to purchase an iPhone." Keep in mind that the four to five million figure is a top end -- in the first year, Apple has said that they're aiming for more like one or two million. But there is definitely a solid market to be found in China, and significant sales there could help buoy Apple earnings reports over here for sure.
Ski resorts busted by iPhone app
Want to see past a ski resort's lies? There's an app for that. The iPhone's ability to track snowfall at ski resorts has been well publicized (it even showed up in an official Apple commercial), but apparently there's been an unintended consequence: ski resorts are actually losing money. The UK's Globe and Mail reports that before iPhones existed, people would just call up to the slopes to ask them if there was snow on the trails -- and the ski resorts would more often than not reply that there was, in order to pull in some more weekend customers. It was usually just white lies (no pun intended) -- they'd usually say there was about 20% more snow than actually existed. But now that the iPhone provides a much more objective look at exactly how much powder there is up there, resorts are finding that they can't push that weekend boost any more. And that's cutting into their yearly profits as a whole. Now, you may argue that resorts being held accountable is a good thing, and according to the article, most of the resorts themselves would agree with you: they weren't in it to outright lie to people, because telling people that there was a foot on the ground when you can see grass would have an even worse effect on their business. But hearing from someone on the phone that the slopes are plentiful is a much different experience than seeing a number in an iPhone app, and it's interesting that the difference is directly affecting resort profits in many cases. Not that resorts have too much to worry about, especially the ones who have plenty of snow anyway. It just shows you how much the iPhone is still changing all kinds of industries in strange ways.
Apple seizes 16 domain names from squatter
Apple dropped the hammer on a domain squatter the other day, reclaiming sixteen different domain names in one fell swoop. The company filed a complaint a while back against a guy named Daniel Bijan, who didn't bother to fight his case at all (not that he has one), and the result earlier this week gives them the rights to all of them. They run the gamut from iphonecheap.com to macbookpro.com (how did Apple not own that one?), and as of this writing, we couldn't find any that were actually being used by Apple yet -- they all seem to point to either a blank Apache page or a simple domain placeholder. And as you may have noticed, there are no secrets here -- macfriend.com is probably just a stab in the dark on the part of the domain squatter, and ipodsbaratos.com means "iPods cheap" in Spanish. Just Apple reclaiming some of their rightful web space.
Engadget meets Woz
Engadget's Josh Topolsky got to chat with none other than Woz recently, and they've finally shared a great video of their meeting. Woz says a lot of interesting things in the video (he runs six navigation systems at a time in his car just for comparison's sake, and carries two iPhones nowadays, just in case the battery life runs out), but the most intriguing thing about this video is just seeing the great Wozniak thinking machine race along at the speed of Woz. For example, those two iPhones he carries are the two different colors available. Why? "White and black, black and white. Resistor color codes: zero and nine. Those are the digits they end in!" Gosh, we love Steve Wozniak. You can watch the whole video after clicking the link below.
$10,000 worth of iPhones stolen from Lancaster, PA Apple Store
Apple Stores continue to be sizable targets for theft, it seems -- the local paper in Lancaster, PA reports that four young men stole 17 iPhones from the displays at an Apple Store recently, resulting in almost $10,000 worth of losses. The robbery took place during the day; at around 1:30pm, the young men just started grabbing, and walked out of the store with as many iPhones as they could carry. Not that it'll probably do anything but get them in trouble. All of the phones are already entered in a crime database, and they were removed from the store without SIM cards, so any attempt to officially activate them will probably raise flags somewhere. Of course, from my time in retail I know that most retailers just usually write losses like this off, as it's just cheaper to eat the loss than deal with going after whoever stole the units. But you never know -- the police apparently have video and everything, so if the kids are caught, maybe they will face the music. Moral of the story: don't leave your iPhone lying around an Apple Store? On the other hand, the warehouses aren't safe either, at least not in Belgium... [ via @esposimi]
Steve Jobs helping overhaul Disney retail
The New York Times has posted about a new project that our own Mr. Jobs has taken on: he's now helping out Disney Stores with their retail business. You have to hand it to Disney, no matter what you think of the Mouse House -- when they have a problem with part of the business, they bring in the experts. First they have Pixar's John Lasseter come in and take over animation (and they're about to release what looks like the best 2D movie in ages), and now they've got Steve Jobs himself sprucing up their retail spaces. Sounds like they're making the store more interactive (walking by some displays with certain products will create an audiovisual reaction), and taking some of the tech as well (employees will be able to check out items on mobile units, and control certain displays in the store with iPhones). They also borrowed another page from Jobs' playbook: they've apparently created a prototype store (just like Apple did way back when), not only to test out what everything might look like, but to give a charge to executives and investors who get a tour. Sounds interesting, but then again, it makes sense. What else is an Apple Store, but a toy shop for big kids? [via MacUser]
CNN: Our iPhone app is "not a hobby"
CNN chatted with our good friends at DLS about the news network's iPhone app (scheduled to hit an App Store near you very soon), and it actually sounds pretty premium: in-app video, breaking news live video streaming, a Coverflow-style way to browse news information, the ability to store news to read later, and social sharing through Facebook, Twitter, and the usual suspects. CNN even says they want to add more to the app in the future, including some iReport-style news delivery functions, so people with iPhones out in the world can send news in as quickly as possible. Ok, CNN, we get it -- you care about this one. It does sound like they're making a major push in terms of making their content interactive on the iPhone, but on the other hand, maybe they're just trying to sell you on the "premium" price: $1.99, with (we're told) non-intrusive advertising included. Obviously, $2 is cheap, but on the other hand, especially with advertising both from the network itself and outside clients, the crankiest of App Store browsers will probably flinch at it a little bit. If you are interested, however, CNN would love to take your money: their app should be available in the App Store as soon as Apple lets it through.
Apple: "Exploding" iPhones succumbed to external pressure
There's been much news of "exploding" iPhones lately. If you're unfamiliar with the story, the European Commission formally asked Apple to investigate a series of reports that users' iPhones were abruptly cracking and/or catching fire. According to the French periodical Les Echos, an iPhone in Aix-en-Provence, France, started to "crackle and pop like a deep-frier" before breaking violently apart. This past Friday, Apple said that, in all cases, the iPhones in question were damaged by an "external force," not a faulty battery or glass screen: "To date, there are no confirmed battery overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits. The iPhones with broken glass that we have analyzed to date show that in all cases the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone."It does seem odd that at least four cases have been reported in France in short order. Still, it's even stranger that iPhones would suddenly turn into Molotov cocktails. We'll keep you updated on this story.
Best Buy selling iPods in a vending machine
I was in Anaheim, CA over the weekend (covering BlizzCon for our sister site WoW Insider) and while Macs were in short supply for most of the time, I did notice something Apple-related in LAX on my way out of the city yesterday. Best Buy recently started up a vending machine program which allows you to buy their electronics from staffless machines in various airports around the country, and lo and behold, right there next to the Nintendo DS games and spare USB hubs and mice, were Apple's very own iPods. Which makes sense -- Apple has long sold their stuff inside Best Buy stores, so why wouldn't Best Buy Express do the same?It was a little strange, though -- at first, I thought there was an iPhone in there, which just would have made the whole activation process even more confusing. But no, it's an iPod touch, in both memory sizes. I also wondered just what you'd do with an empty iPod on a trip, business or otherwise, but I guess people who would really buy their iPods from airports probably don't worry too much about when they'll find the time to get music on there. Not that it mattered much yesterday -- as you can see in one of the pictures, the console's IE version was bugging out, so no one was buying anything anyway (and I couldn't check prices). Still, very strange.%Gallery-34384%
Keeping it real fake, part CXII: Is the DaXian X999 the ultimate fake iPhone?
iPhone cloners: meet your new king. We're not kidding when we say we even tried fake names and disguises at CES to score an early picture of the DaXian X999 you see here, only to be shot down by the eagle-eyed vendors in the International Pavilion -- but it's out now, baby, and never has KIRFdom been so thoroughly rocked. Not only does the hardware ape the iPhone -- 3.2-inch single-touch QVGA screen, dual 2MP cameras, motion and proximity sensors -- the UI is actually a TouchFLO clone running on what is surely an unlicensed copy of Windows Mobile 6.0. That's a hat trick, people -- and to top it all off, the list price is a staggering $369. It's like we don't even have to make the jokes -- except to say that if your love / hate relationship with Apple compels you to buy this thing, you should probably seek therapy. Random dramatic video of the UI in action after the break.[Via thegadgetsite]
Keepin' it real fake, part CXII: Is the DaXian X999 the ultimate fake iPhone?
iPhone cloners: meet your new king. We're not kidding when we say we even tried fake names and disguises at CES to score an early picture of the DaXian X999 you see here, only to be shot down by the eagle-eyed vendors in the International Pavilion -- but it's out now, baby, and never has KIRFdom been so thoroughly rocked. Not only does the hardware ape the iPhone -- 3.2-inch single-touch QVGA screen, dual 2MP cameras, motion and proximity sensors -- the UI is actually a TouchFLO clone running on what is surely an unlicensed copy of Windows Mobile 6.0. That's a hat trick, people -- and to top it all off, the list price is a staggering $369. It's like we don't even have to make the jokes -- except to say that if your love / hate relationship with Apple compels you to buy this thing, you should probably seek therapy. Random dramatic video of the UI in action after the break.[Via thegadgetsite]
NYT on gray market iPhones
The Gray Lady has published a piece examining the so-called "gray market" for iPhones in China -- legitimate products transferred through not-so-legitimate channels. Though we of course have no idea how prevalent this was before the rise of the 'Net, I have to think that the shrinking global neighborhood contributes to this a lot -- it's much easier to ask someone in another country to buy something for you when you talk to them every day on Twitter.The NYT puts the number of non-AT&T iPhones at a whopping 1.4 million, but of course that includes unlocked phones all over the world, and people who are using iPhones without actually activating them. So we're not exactly sure of the number of iPhones floating around China (where Apple hasn't made a deal to provide official service yet). Analyst Charles Wolf says that Apple definitely enjoys listing the gray market iPhones in their sales numbers, but that the lack of an AT&T agreement with the phone sales undermines their contract plan.However, he admits also that making the decision to sell the phones unlocked would have earned Apple more demand in the first place, so it's six in one, half-dozen in the other. There's no word on how the impending release of the SDK might affect the sale of phones for unlocking, either. But for now, it's clear that the gray market is a substantial and yet very much unknown quantity of Apple's iPhone business.
One dollar iPhones hit Canada
Merry Christmas. We're breaking up.[Via iPhoneWorld.ca]
