Thursday, March 28

Tag: Apple

News

Apple releases first Arabic version of Siri

Reuters- Apple Inc on Tuesday released a version of its virtual personal assistant Siri for Arabic speakers in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, potentially making its iPhones more attractive in a largely affluent market of more than 30 million people. The move, part of Apple's latest software updates, means people in those countries will be able to use Siri in their native tongue on iPhones, iPads and the Apple Watch. It follows Google, whose Android phones' voice search function already offer some support in Arabic. "This is part of the consumerisation and personalisation of IT-based services that we're seeing at all levels of the industry," said Paul Black, director of telecoms and media at IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa. Apple and its primary smartphone competitor...
Video: If today were the last day of my life-Inspirational speech by Steve Jobs
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Video: If today were the last day of my life-Inspirational speech by Steve Jobs

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories. The first story is about connecting the dots. I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a...
Steve Jobs Knew How to Run a Meeting: Here’s How He Did it
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Steve Jobs Knew How to Run a Meeting: Here’s How He Did it

Brilliant. Passionate. Overbearing. Impatient. Steve Jobs's management style has been described in many ways, both positive and negative. Love him or hate him, there's no denying what he accomplished: Within a short time, he built the most successful company on the planet. Before that, though, Jobs was actually forced out of Apple (in 1985). A few months later, he founded another company. This startup, appropriately named NeXT, focused on producing high-powered computers for the higher education industry. A talented team left secure positions at Apple and followed Jobs to his new endeavor--evidence of how much people believed in him. The following video shows excerpts of a company retreat that Jobs orchestrated during the first three months of the company. And it's fascinating. (m...
Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in China by February
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Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in China by February

Apple Inc plans to launch its mobile payment system Apple Pay in China by early February, the Wall Street Journal reported. The iPhone maker has struck deals recently with China's big four state-run banks, the newspaper reported late Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions. When launched, Apple Pay will mainly compete with Alipay, the online payment platform run by Alibaba Holding Group Ltd affiliate Ant Financial, and UnionPay Co, a state-controlled consortium that has a monopoly on all yuan payment cards issued and used in the country. Apple's plans could still face regulatory hurdles in China, where banking and e-commerce are overseen by a number of government agencies, WSJ said. Launched in the United States in October last year, Apple is bringing its payment se...
Apple's iPad Pro to go on sale Wednesday
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Apple's iPad Pro to go on sale Wednesday

Apple Inc  said its iPad Pro will be available to order online on Wednesday and arrive ga naar at stores later this week. The 12.9 inch-screen tablet, which starts at $799 but costs more than $1,000 if buyers also want a keyboard and an optional stylus, will be available in more than 40 countries, including the United States, the UK, China and Japan. Sales of iPads have been falling for several quarters as big-screen iPhones appeal to more consumers. Apple sold 54.86 million iPads in the year ended Sept. 26 – a drop of 19 percent from a year earlier. Since launching iPad with a 9.7-inch screen in 2010, Apple has released a mini version in 2012 with a 7.9-inch screen. Apple unveiled the larger iPad Pro on Sept. 9, hoping to rival Microsoft Corp's 12-inch Surface Pro 3 in at...
China to go after online retail sales in fight against fakes
CHINA

China to go after online retail sales in fight against fakes

China plans to crack down on the sale of fake goods online by using cloud computing, big data and tighter rules on user identity in its latest moves to quash counterfeiting. China has been trying to reign in its counterfeiters, who have copied everything from Apple iPhones to Louis Vuitton handbags, since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 and was required to adhere to global standards on intellectual property rights. The country plans to eradicate intellectual property rights infringement on the internet within 3 years, it said in a posting by China's cabinet on its official website on Saturday. China will promote the use of a "real-name system" on the internet and electronic tags to make it easier to track goods and the identities of offenders, the statement said. ...
5 Ways to Grow Your Startup by Focusing on Mindshare- John Ruhlin
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5 Ways to Grow Your Startup by Focusing on Mindshare- John Ruhlin

While growing your startup, metrics serve as your markers for success. When you can command a sizable market share, you know you’ve made it. Right? Not exactly. Many entrepreneurs fall for this flawed thinking and get distracted from the metrics that really matter. To build an amazing business, you may only need 100 of the right people to know and love you. If you can grow to become a $10 million company with 20 percent net to the bottom line, who cares if you’re only reaching 1 percent of the market? Instead, you need to refocus your thinking on staying top of mind with those 100 key relationships -- or gaining mindshare. Often, this is when companies really take off. Prioritizing mindshare over market share doesn’t mean you have to ditch your metrics mentality. Mindshare focuses...
Apple TV challenges developers to take apps to the big screen
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Apple TV challenges developers to take apps to the big screen

Apple's loyal army of software developers is joining the tech giant in its bid to conquer the living room with a new version of Apple TV, creating apps for the big screen that they hope will attract users and unlock a rich source of revenue. A long-awaited update to Apple TV, which launched in 2007, will start shipping in 80 countries on Friday. Apple views apps as the future of television. An App Store is the centrepiece of the new device, and hundreds of apps will be ready at launch, including gaming, shopping and photography. Although developers have already been able to make apps for smart TV rivals, Apple's vast base of developers will set the device apart, analysts say. And developers say they relish the opportunity to reach users in a more intimate setting. “It’s a pheno...
Apple Music hits 6.5 million paid users: Tim Cook
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Apple Music hits 6.5 million paid users: Tim Cook

Reuters- Apple Inc's new music streaming service has netted more than 6.5 million paid users, the tech giant's Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said on Monday.   Speaking at a technology conference organized by The Wall Street Journal in Laguna Beach, Calif., Cook said that an additional 8.5 million people are participating in a free trial of the Apple Music service. That gives it more than 15 million users in total, which Cook described as a successful debut. "I'm really happy about it, and I think the runway here is really good," Cook said. Released in June, Apple Music is the company's attempt to carry its dominance of digital music through its iTunes store into the era of music streaming pioneered by Spotify and others. Apple is allowing users to test its service with ...
Why Steve Jobs is Unique and Why His Personal Life is Irrelevant – Geoffrey James
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Why Steve Jobs is Unique and Why His Personal Life is Irrelevant – Geoffrey James

The U.S. celebrity machine thrives on a set-em-up-and-knock-em-down cycle so it's not surprising that the latest film about Steve Jobs is highly negative. However, perseverating on Jobs's problematic personal relationships is completely missing the point. CEO's that treat people like crap are dime-a-dozen. There was nothing unique about Jobs's management style. What was unique about Steve Jobs was that he pushed technology towards simplicity rather than complexity. The overwhelming obsession of the high tech industry is to push towards greater complexity by adding as many customer-requested features as possible while still maintaining backward compatibility. The entire high tech industry--from engineers to marketers to management-values complexity and therefore tends to create products ...