Breaking
T-Mobile parent company reportedly close to a deal with MetroPCS
T-Mobile parent company reportedly close to a deal with MetroPCS
MetroPCS, one of the top bargain wireless carriers in the United States, may soon be acquired by T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom. Unnamed sources told Bloomberg on Tuesday that the German telecom company was “nearing a deal with MetroPCS Communications Inc. to bolster its T-Mobile USA division,” implying that MetroPCS and T-Mobile could soon merge to create a large wireless carrier more capable of competing with rivals Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T) and Sprint (S). The sources told Bloomberg that “Deutsche Telekom’s board is scheduled to meet in Bonn tomorrow to approve a transaction and the German company may make an announcement as early as tomorrow.” The Bloomberg report doesn’t specifically say the two companies will merge but the news service reported last week that MetroPCS has been meeting with “suitors” interested in buying it.
CEO Tim Cook apologizes for Apple’s awful Maps app, recommends Bing and other alternatives
CEO Tim Cook apologizes for Apple’s awful Maps app, recommends Bing and other alternatives
Tim Cook on Friday issued a statement to iOS device owners apologizing for the quality of its Maps app in iOS 6. In the letter, Cook admitted that Apple (AAPL) “fell short” on its commitment to deliver the best experience possible to its customers. He also recommended that while the company works to fix its mapping experience, users can take advantages of alternative options for iOS including MapQuest and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing app. Cook’s letter follows below. More →
RIM posts narrower than expected Q2 loss despite stalled BlackBerry sales
RIM posts narrower than expected Q2 loss despite stalled BlackBerry sales
Research In Motion (RIMM) is trapped in a holding pattern as it rushes to launch its next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform. The first smartphones powered by RIM’s new software won’t launch until the first quarter next year at the earliest, however, and the Canadian vendor’s current lineup is getting stale in the meantime. Recent reports suggested that some U.S. carrier stores haven’t sold a single BlackBerry handset in more than a month, and although company CEO Thorsten Heins put concerns surrounding potential subscriber declines to rest earlier this week when he announced RIM added two million net subscribers in the second fiscal quarter to reach 80 million total global users, the vendor still reported its third consecutive net quarterly loss on Thursday.
Apple: iPhone 5 sales top 5 million in debut weekend, 100 million iOS 6 upgrades
Apple: iPhone 5 sales top 5 million in debut weekend, 100 million iOS 6 upgrades
Shocking no one, Apple (AAPL) announced on Monday that its brand new iPhone 5 smartphone set a new record for opening-weekend sales. The company confirmed that during the device’s first three days of availability, Apple and its retail partners managed to sell more than 5 million iPhone 5 handsets including preorders. Apple also said more than 100 million iOS device owners updated to iOS 6 since the new OS was released last week. More →
Apple: iPhone 5 preorders top 2 million in 24 hours
Apple: iPhone 5 preorders top 2 million in 24 hours
Apple (AAPL) announced on Monday that iPhone 5 preorders topped 2 million units in the smartphone’s first 24 hours of pre-sale availability. That figure doubles Apple’s first-day iPhone 4S sales last year, making the iPhone 5 Apple’s fastest-selling smartphone ever. “iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” Apple marketing boss Philip Schiller said. “iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do.” Apple’s iPhone 5 became available for preorder this past Friday at 3:01 a.m. EDT. By 4:00 a.m., Apple had sold out of launch-day inventory and by the early afternoon, Verizon Wireless (VZ), AT&T (T) and Sprint (S) had sold out of launch-day preorder stock as well. Apple’s full press release follows below. More →
Nintendo Wii U launches in North America on November 18th starting at $299.99
Nintendo Wii U launches in North America on November 18th starting at $299.99
Nintendo (NTDOY) announced on Thursday its upcoming Wii U console will launch in North America on November 18th starting at $299.99. Nintendo’s Wii U will be sold in two sets. The first is an all-white “Basic Set” that includes the Wii U console, GamePad, AC adapter for each, HDMI cable, Wii U sensor bar and 8GB of storage for $299.99. The second bundle is the “Deluxe Set,” which has everything the Basic Set has along with a GamePad charging cradle, console stands for the the console and GamePad, 32GB of internal storage and a copy of Nintendo Land. The Deluxe Set will be available with a black paint job for $349.99. Another reason to pick up the Deluxe Set is that it’ll also include something Nintendo calls “Deluxe Digital Promotion” — coupons that can be used toward downloading digital games.
iOS 6 GM download now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
iOS 6 GM download now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Alongside the unveiling of the new iPhone 5, Apple (AAPL) it was assumed that the final “Gold Master” version of its iOS 6 software would be made available for download on Wednesday. Moments ago, the iOS 6 GM files went live on Apple’s developer site. The Gold Master build of iOS 6 is effectively identical to the version that will be released to consumers, and is available for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad (third generation), iPad 2 and fourth-generation iPod touch. The consumer-ready version of iOS 6 will become available to users on September 19th.
iPhone 5 launches on September 21st starting at $199, preorders begin on the 14th
iPhone 5 launches on September 21st starting at $199, preorders begin on the 14th
Apple (AAPL) on Wednesday announced during its press conference in San Francisco, California that the next-generation iPhone 5 will become available starting Friday, September 21st, and preorder availability begins on September 14th. The handset will start at $199 with 16GB of memory, and it will be available in both black and white. The 32GB version of the iPhone 5 will retail for $299, and the 64GB model will cost $399. Pricing aligns with Apple’s previous-generation iPhone 4S, and all prices require a new two-year contract. The iPhone 5 will be available from Verizon Wireless (VZ), AT&T (T) and Sprint (S) in the U.S. Apple also confirmed that the iPhone 3GS will no longer be sold following the launch of the iPhone 5; the iPhone 4S will be $99 on contract and the iPhone 4 will be free. iOS 6, the latest version of Apple’s mobile platform, will become available on September 19th for current iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users. Apple’s full press release follows below. More →
Apple iPhone 5 announced, thinnest smartphone in the world
Apple iPhone 5 announced, thinnest smartphone in the world
Just moments ago Apple (AAPL) finally announced the company’s new iPhone, the iPhone 5. It’s just as had been rumored. Apple VP of Marketing Phil Schiller introduced the device and told the world that it again sets the bar for a smartphone. It’s 18% thinner than the iPhone 4/4S at 7.6mm thin, and Apple is claiming it is the world’s thinnest smartphone. It is also 20% lighter than the previous model, and is made out of all aluminum and glass. Since the display is taller with a 1136 x 640 resolution, there’s an extra row of icons and the pixels per inch are 326. Since the display is a different size as the previous phones, all of Apple’s apps are updated to support the larger resolution, and apps that aren’t yet updated will simply run at normal resolution with small black bars surrounding them.
The iPhone 5 supports almost every cellular and Wi-Fi band known to man with GSM/GPRS/EDGE/CDMA/EV-DO/HSPA/LTE and Wi-FI a,b,g,n with dual-band. It also features a new Apple A6 processor that’s twice as fast as before, and offers twice the graphics performance with 22% less physical footprint. What about battery life? The iPhone 5 will offer better battery performance than the iPhone 4S. 8 megapixel camera with improved low light, color processing and lens, and, panorama mode. It will be available starting at $199 starting September 21st in the U.S. and 7 other countries.
Apple’s iPhone 5 event is underway: 7M Mountain Lion downloads, 400M iOS devices sold, and more
Apple’s iPhone 5 event is underway: 7M Mountain Lion downloads, 400M iOS devices sold, and more
The press conference the world has been anticipating for months finally kicked off on Wednesday, and Apple (AAPL) didn’t waste any time getting the show on the road. Tim Cook took the stage at the Yerba Buena center in San Francisco and started with some numbers. After announcing that OS X Mountain Lion has been purchased more than 7 million times to date, the Apple chief noted that his company has sold more than 84 million iPad tablets and more than 400 million total iOS devices to date. Cook also noted that Apple is responsible for 68% of all tablets shipped in 2011 and 91% of all Web traffic from tablets, suggesting that sell-through among Apple’s competitors has not been anything close to what Apple has seen with its iPad. Cook went on to confirm that there are now more than 250,000 apps tailored to the iPad in the iOS App Store, and iPad users download more than 100 apps each on average.
iPhone 5 photos leak before Apple event
iPhone 5 photos leak before Apple event
Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 5 announcement is happening in just over 30 minutes, but it seems that french blog nowhereelse.fr has leaked what they are calling final photos of the actual iPhone 5. In these latest photos, which appear to show an assembled iPhone 5 with front panel, there’s a more pronounced antenna cut out on all four corners, as well as a much darker anodized aluminum casing. We’ll know exactly how real these are in just a short half an hour.
Verizon and Motorola announce the DROID RAZR HD and DROID RAZR MAXX HD
Verizon and Motorola announce the DROID RAZR HD and DROID RAZR MAXX HD
Motorola on Wednesday announced the DROID RAZR HD and DROID RAZR MAXX HD during its press event in New York City. Both smartphones are equipped with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 4G LTE, 1GB of RAM, NFC, a microSD slot, an 8-megapixel rear camera, on-screen navigation keys and a 4.7-inch 1196 x 720 resolution display with ColorBoost technology and a pixel density of 331 ppi. Both devices are powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and feature the latest version of the MOTOBLUR user interface. The RAZR HD comes with a 2,500mAh battery and 16GB of internal storage, while the RAZR MAXX HD is equipped with a massive 3,300 mAh battery and 32GB of storage. Motorola’s latest smartphones will be available on Verizon Wireless (VZ) this holiday season. Motorola’s press release follows below. More →
