RIM Might License Blackberry OS

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RIM CEO Thornton Heins via the Telegraph:

We don't have the economy of scale to compete against the guys who crank out 60 handsets a year. We have to differentiate and have a focused platform. To deliver BB10 we may need to look at licensing it to someone who can do this at a way better cost proposition than I can do it. There's different options we could do that we're currently investigating.

I call BS. Apple is leading the charge in Mobile and they only release one handset a year.

Samsung's Wishful Thinking

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Nilay Patel on Samsung releasing rejected trial evidence to the media:

That woud have been the end of it — except Samsung immediately emailed its rejected slides regarding F700 development and the "Sony-style" prototype to the press with a statement saying "The excluded evidence would have established beyond doubt that Samsung did not copy the iPhone design."

Samsung resorting to end-arounds aside, It's certainly wishful thinking that this evidence would have established anything "beyond a reasonable doubt".

Retina Microsoft Word

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Buster Heine:

The great news for Word fans is there’s a really easy work around that will force your Microsoft Word app to use your MacBook Pro’s Retina display, which makes the app look a lot better.

Just a quick 14-step process to make Word look like it belong on a Retina Display Mac. Office is Microsoft's cash cow, yet they won't update it for Retina MacBooks (more of which are expected in the future), and it's still not available on iPhone/iPad. I switched to iWork - and I love it.

"Market Share"

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Eric Slivka:

According to IDC, Samsung remains the number two tablet manufacturer behind Apple, but despite strong 117.6% year-over-year shipment growth still saw its tablets outsold by the iPad by a margin of 7-to-1.

Say it with me now, "Shipments mean nothing". I could not possibly care less how many Galaxy Tabs Best Buy purchased last quarter. How many of those ever made it off the shelf and out of the box? Apple is selling all those iPads... can the same be said for whatever else is being made? When I go to Best Buy there must be 25 tablets on display. No one ever uses them. But the iPad display is crowded every time I go there. I'd like, just once, to see "Market Share" numbers that reflect actual in-the-hands-of-end-users market share. Just once.

"Nearly 40 iPhone and iPad prototypes..."

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Dieter Bohn:

Today at the Apple vs. Samsung trial, Apple designer Christopher Stringer took to the stand as Apple's first witness. In the course of his testimony about Apple's design process, he showed dozens of rejected iPhone and iPad designs — including some he actually showed in person.

Samsung's Industrial Design team must be rubbing their hands together and licking their chops.

Apple's Grand Central Store

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Élyse Betters:

New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s latest audit suggested the Metropolitan Transportation Authority gave Apple an unfair advantage last year when the company bid for a spot in Grand Central Terminal.

I'm not saying this is true, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it is. Apple Stores make an unreasonable amount of money. And the possibility for some halo effect on other retailers and services certainly wasn't lost on the powers that be at Grand Central Terminal.

The End Of Apple: Part 72

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John Moltz:

I’m sure we’ll be treated to a host of opinions this week about how [the new Genius Ads are] another sign of Apple’s impending doom. Just like whatever happened last week was.

Personally, I like the ads. The world of computers is very confusing to the average consumer. I'm sure many consumers are talked out of Macs, iPads and iPhones by salesmen who make a larger commission on PC sales. I personally serve as tech support for many, many regular people who get confused by Software Update and Hot Corners. And even though I'm sure (picture an eye roll there) Steve is rolling in his grave I'll wait and see what the general consumer reaction to the new set of ads is. Don't forget, as John Pointed out earlier in his piece, we need to judge Apple against other ads, not Apple's own - that bar is too high to meet every time a new series comes out. Not everything is "Get A Mac" or "Think Different".

Overstating the Facts

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M.G. Siegler on the news that Apple TV outsold Xbox 360 last quarter:

When — yes, when — Apple adds apps to this thing, wonder what will happen? If they added them tomorrow, the Apple TV would instantly be the number one gaming console. Think about that for a second.

Ummm... this is comparing a decade-old console to a 3-month-old set-top box. I highly doubt Apple TV outsells a newly released Xbox console. IF that happens I'll be impressed.

Apple vs. Samsung: The Legend Continues

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John Paczkowski for some site:

Apple is seeking $2.5 billion from its Korean rival, which it argues illegally chose to compete by copying Apple. “Samsung once sold a range of phones and a tablet of its own design,” Apple wrote in its filing. “Now Samsung’s mobile 13 devices not only look like Apple’s iPhone and iPad, they use Apple’s patented software features to interact with the user.”

Popcorn, anyone?

Great Android Apps

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Aaron Souppouris:

In a statement on Facebook, [Dead Trigger] developer Madfinger Games says that even at $0.99, the piracy rate on Android devices was "unbelievably high."

So high, in fact, that they gave up and made the game free. I'm sure this story will go a long way in helping developers choose Android first, as predicted by Eric Schmidt:

Six months from now you’ll say the opposite. Because ultimately applications vendors are driven by volume. And the volume is favored by the open approach that Google is taking.

That deadline has come and gone. Developers aren't drawn to platform size, but to a sustainable business model. Developers will go where the money is. And it's, apparently, not on Android.