Jobs suggests that competitors’ device activation tallies may be inflated, Google quickly responds

Not satisfied to simply trump Google’s daily device activation numbers, Steve Jobs added insult to injury at the Apple press conference this afternoon, claiming that unspecified “friends” have been counting handset upgrades in their statistical totals and not just newly activated phones. As you might imagine, Google was not terribly pleased at this turn of events, and issued the following retort: “The Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services.” Now, we don’t honestly know who’s telling the truth here and we’d like to be able to take both companies at their word, but this isn’t the first time even during this particular Apple shindig that questionable claims were thrown out as fact.

[Thanks, Kamal]

Jobs suggests that competitors’ device activation tallies may be inflated, Google quickly responds originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Live from Apple’s fall 2010 event

We’re inside the event and getting ready to get underway — stay locked here for up the minute live coverage! Follow along after the break to see what’s what, and make sure you’re around at the times below for the start.

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (September 2nd)

Continue reading Live from Apple’s fall 2010 event

Live from Apple’s fall 2010 event originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s fall event happens today at 10AM PT / 1PM ET, and we’ll be there live!

So it’s just around the corner. What are we going to see? Some new iPods? A revamped Apple TV? Updates to iTunes? iOS 4 for the iPad? A fix to your heartbreaking antenna problem? New, brightly colored iShoes? Or all of the above? It’s hard to say, but luckily Engadget will be covering Apple’s latest event live with up-to-the-minute coverage. As usual, we’ll be providing the best liveblogging in the business, so you can just kick back with a cool drink and enjoy the show.

Tune in at this URL at the times below today for all the action!

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (September 2nd)

Apple’s fall event happens today at 10AM PT / 1PM ET, and we’ll be there live! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s fall event is tomorrow, and we’ll be there live!

So it’s just around the corner. What are we going to see? Some new iPods? A revamped Apple TV? Updates to iTunes? iOS 4 for the iPad? A fix to your heartbreaking antenna problem? New, brightly colored iShoes? Or all of the above? It’s hard to say, but luckily Engadget will be covering Apple’s latest event live with up-to-the-minute coverage. As usual, we’ll be providing the best liveblogging in the business, so you can just kick back with a cool drink and enjoy the show.

Tune in at this URL at the times below on Wednesday, September 1st for all the action!

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (September 2nd)

Apple’s fall event is tomorrow, and we’ll be there live! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ce-Oh no he didn’t!: Larry Ellison likens HP board to ‘idiots’ at Apple

Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO and regular tennis buddy of the disgraced (and now former) chief of HP Mark Hurd, has decided to share his thoughts on the matter of Hurd’s departure in an impassioned email to the New York Times:

“The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn’t come back and saved them.”

The communique, also obtained by the Mercury News, included other tasty tidbits such as Ellison describing HP’s disclosure of the apparently unfounded sexual harassment claim against Hurd as “cowardly corporate political correctness,” and dismissing the financial irregularities that forced the former CEO’s resignation as “petty expenses report errors.” So, in short, the world according to Larry is populated by messianic CEOs who shouldn’t be held up to the same petty standards as the rest of us.

Ce-Oh no he didn’t!: Larry Ellison likens HP board to ‘idiots’ at Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 04:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WSJ: Apple lost confidence in Papermaster months ago, Jobs accepted iPhone 4 antenna risks

We may never know the truth about the ousting of Mark Papermaster, Apple’s VP in charge of the iPhone and a direct report to Steve Jobs. However, a report in the Wall Street Journal co-authored by Yukari Iwatani Kane — widely considered to be Apple’s favorite go-to source when it wants to control a story in the press — is as close as we’re likely ever going to get, from Apple’s perspective anyway. Citing several anonymous sources familiar with Papermaster’s downfall, the WSJ says the following:

Mr. Papermaster had lost the confidence of Mr. Jobs months ago and hasn’t been part of the decision-making process for some time, these people said. They added that Mr. Papermaster didn’t appear to have the type of creative thinking expected at Apple and wasn’t used to Apple’s corporate culture, where even senior executives are expected to keep on top of the smallest details of their areas of responsibility and often have to handle many tasks directly, as opposed to delegating them.

In other words, it wasn’t just about the iPhone 4’s antenna. In fact, the WSJ claims that Jobs knew about the risks of the antenna design as much as a year ago and it was his decision, not Papermaster’s, to move forward with its development. Whatever the real story is, we’re sure that Steve, visibly agitated at having to host an antennagate press conference, wasn’t too pleased at having stood in front of the media promising an “end of July” ship date for the already delayed white iPhone 4 only to delay it again just a few days later. Straw, meet camel.

WSJ: Apple lost confidence in Papermaster months ago, Jobs accepted iPhone 4 antenna risks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 02:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yoko Ono regarding Beatles on iTunes: ‘Don’t hold your breath’

There are two great mysteries of the digital age: how did a Welshman become the most powerful man in Japan and when will the Beatles be available for download on iTunes? While the former will forever remain a mystery, speculation picked up on the latter in 2006 after Apple and Apple Corps — the record label owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison — settled a long running dispute. In September of last year, Yoko Ono apparently went so far as to whisper its imminent arrival only to be rebuffed by EMI which licenses the Beatles’ recordings. Unfortunately, things don’t look any closer to being settled today. Reuters is reporting an impasse, quoting Ono as saying, “Steve Jobs has his own idea and he’s a brilliant guy. There’s just an element that we’re not very happy about, as people. We are holding out.” She then added, “Don’t hold your breath … for anything,” presumably while cracking a whip and laughing maniacally. Fitting don’t you think, as legend has it that Lennon’s first encounter with Ono involved her passing him a card that read “Breathe.”

Yoko Ono regarding Beatles on iTunes: ‘Don’t hold your breath’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung joins the crowd, rejects Apple’s Omnia 2 antenna claims

Samsung joins the crowd, rejects Apple's Omnia 2 antenna claims

RIM and Nokia aren’t the only ones saying “WTF Steve!?” after last Friday’s press conference attempted to draw the competition into the Antennagate saga. Samsung has issued its own choice reaction about supposed problems with the Omnia 2, though this one is somewhat less sternly worded than the others:

The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone’s antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna. We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smartphones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future.

Why is Samsung being rather more polite? Because it’s full of really nice people? Or, is it because the iPhone 4 is stuffed with Samsung memory chips? We’ll let your level of cynicism be your guide here.

Samsung joins the crowd, rejects Apple’s Omnia 2 antenna claims originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple discussed Verizon switch ‘at least half a dozen times,’ and other stories about its AT&T relationship

“An iPhone, an iPhone, my carrier’s reputation for an iPhone.” Grab a cup of coffee and get yourself comfortable, fans of behind-the-scenes industry drama. Wired has published an exhaustive and fascinating expose on the “loveless celebrity marriage” that is Apple and AT&T — all from sources familiar with the matters but who cannot (or will not) be named, of course. In other words, don’t take this as gospel, but frankly, none of this sounds too crazy or outside the realm of what we’ve already surmised ourselves. In brief, the two companies have been contentious towards one another since just after the iPhone was unveiled. For AT&T’s part, the carrier was reportedly taken aback when its requests (delivered by Senior VP Kris Rinne) to restrict YouTube’s bandwidth usage (or make it WiFi-only) while the network infrastructure was built up fell on deaf ears in Cupertino. Word has it Apple also refused to allow its devices to be used in campaigns to combat Verizon’s Map for That ads: “It was [effective] because of AT&T’s network. We would have been letting them use the iPhone to put lipstick on a pig,” remarked one anonymous Apple exec.

What’s most interesting to us here is the ongoing reported discussion to drop AT&T in favor for Verizon. That chapter apparently begins just months after the original’s launch, with an investigative team (including Scott Forstall) ultimately concluding that Qualcomm‘s CDMA (or CDMA / GSM hybrid) chips would require a complete redesign of the device, not to mention a nasty lawsuit with AT&T over its exclusive contract (perhaps a minor issue, knowing Apple). Back then, Verizon wasn’t seen as a guaranteed improvement, and according to one executive privy to such meetings, the carrier switch has been discussed at least a half dozen times, with the general consensus always being that it would “cause as many problems as it solved.” We can’t imagine this is gonna help stem the perpetual VZW iPhone rumor mill.

Hit up the source link for the full tale, which does hit on a fundamental issue of the mobile industry going forward: as smartphone makers continue to push their devices’ capabilities, bandwidth concerns will continue to grow and carriers are likely to take the majority of the blame. If you ask us, David Fincher has just found his ideal follow-up to The Social Network — we’d especially love to see someone film the part where AT&T asks Steve Jobs to ditch the turtleneck and wear a suit when meeting with its board of directors.

Apple discussed Verizon switch ‘at least half a dozen times,’ and other stories about its AT&T relationship originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Live from Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference

Digg this! The event is set to start at the times below — so get ready!

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (July 17th)

Continue reading Live from Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference

Live from Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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