Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be facing a snag in launching its smartwatch in the birthplace of luxury watches due to a patent issue.

According to reports by Swiss broadcaster RTS and business publication Business Montres, local watch company Leonard Timepieces owns a trademark that gives it the exclusive right to use the word “Apple” and any imagery of an Apple in the watch and timepiece market.

The patent was filed in 1985 and expires on December 5, 2015. Switzerland isn’t a targeted market in the first tier of country launches, but no doubt Apple will want to launch its smartwatch there soon as it’s a high-income economy with a taste for luxury goods.

Neither Apple nor Leonard Timepieces is talking to the press about the issue. It’s unclear whether Apple will wait until the patent has lapsed, or will choose to launch the watch anyways and either move to reach a settlement with Leonard or just fight the company in court.

This isn’t the first time Apple has encountered a naming snafu when trying to launch a product. Shortly before Apple launched the first iPhone in 2007, it discovered that Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) already had rights to the name as it had used it for a line of VOIP desktop phones in the 1990s. While Cisco had the legal rights to the name Apple wanted it — badly — and used some fairly aggressive tactics to make it its own.

According to an excerpt of the book Inside Apple reprinted by the blog Cult of Mac Steve Jobs fought Cisco hard to get the rights to use the name. In the end Jobs reached a deal with Cisco’s Charles Giancarlo, an executive, which amazingly didn’t involve and monetary compensation for Cisco. Only a promise to cooperate in areas of “mutual interest”.

Giancarlo fielded a call directly from Steve Jobs. “Steve called in and said that he wanted it,” Giancarlo recalled. “He didn’t offer us anything for it. It was just like a promise he’d be our best friend. And we said, ‘No, we’re planning on using it.’ ” Shortly after that, Apple’s legal department called to say they thought Cisco had “abandoned the brand,” meaning that in Apple’s legal opinion Cisco hadn’t adequately defended its intellectual property rights by promoting the name. To Apple’s way of thinking this meant the name iPhone was available for Apple’s use. Giancarlo, who subsequently joined the prominent Silicon Valley private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners, said Cisco threatened litigation before the launch. Then, the day after Apple announced its iPhone, Cisco filed suit.

The negotiation displayed some classic Steve Jobs negotiating tactics. Giancarlo said Jobs called him at home at dinnertime on Valentine’s Day, as the two sides were haggling. Jobs talked for a while, Giancarlo related. “And then he said to me, ‘Can you get email at home?’ ” Giancarlo was taken aback. This was 2007, after all, when broadband Internet was ubiquitous in homes in the US, let alone that of a Silicon Valley executive who had worked for years on advanced Internet technology. “And he’s asking me if I’m able to get email at home. You know he’s just trying to press my buttons—in the nicest possible way.” Cisco gave up the fight shortly after that. The two sides reached a vague agreement to cooperate on areas of mutual interest.

It’s not known if Apple will use the same negotiating tactics with Leonard Timepieces. It may be that Apple has a better case of the company abandoning the trademark than it did with Cisco, but this same tactic could backfire in a foreign court.

The Apple Watch goes on sale in nine countries around the world on April 24. Pricing starts at $349 and climbs to $17,000 for the luxury edition made of 18-karat gold.

The post Patent Woes May Delay Apple Watch Launch in Switzerland appeared first on VR World.

In another run of the rumormill, Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) is slated to release three new Apple iPhone models later in the year according to a report.

With a much discussed refresh of the  sixth generation of its popular phone, Apple is going to add another sized mobile device to its lineup. Apple will probably show the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and a 4-inch device currently being referred to as iPhone 6s Mini or 6c later in the year, adding the much desired smaller model to its product range.

This has been revealed in a report by DigiTimes, scheduling the releases for latter parts of the year as per their sources. All three models will receive Gorilla Glass, an aspect much desired by Apple owners worldwide due to its resilience to scratches, breaks and other physical damage. Furthermore, the devices will see hardware updates, where the 6S series will use A9 chips and the 6C A8 chips. All of the devices will come equipped with NFC and fingerprint scanning technologies.

According to that report, the companies involved in the production for the phones are Wistron who will build the iPhone 6C while the 6S series will be assembled by Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) (TPE:2317) and Pegatron (TPE: 4938)

The pricing has not been revealed, nor have the potential colors. Maybe Apple answers requests from would-be owners, where they could possibly return an all-white exterior Apple iPhone to the lineup too.

The post Report: Apple to Release Three New iPhones in 2015 appeared first on VR World.

On March 23 Pegatron (TPE: 4938) reported its yearly earnings which were double-digit gains over last year.

Pegatron, which shared responsibility for assembling the iPhone 6 with Hon Hai Precision Industry (TPE:2317), reported a 53.4% jump in profit year-over-year to $466.8 million. An earnings guidance recently released by Hon Hai shows that the company also expects a double-digit profit increase (it will report its earnings when the market closes on March 30).

But both Pegatron and Hon Hai (the parent company of Foxconn) — which compete in some sense — have an underlying problem: the double-digit growth that they have become accustomed to is based on the success of Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) products. Both companies have other lucrative contracts with other vendors, but no other vendor orders the sheer volume that Apple does.

Pegatron’s CEO acknowledges this. When Pegatron reported its earnings earlier this week it acknowledged that nearly 60% of its revenue came from Apple.

“It’s definitely not a good thing to be too concentrated on just a few clients. But you can’t avoid the fact that mobile phones have been fast sellers,” Chief Executive Jason Cheng is quoted as saying. “When good business comes your way, how can you not take it?”

Lessons from Hon Hai

Hon Hai was in a similar situation until last year, and has taken some steps to reduce its dependence on Apple. In 2012, 40% of Hon Hai’s revenue came from Apple as it had the sole responsibility to manufacture the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5s.

Since then Hon Hai has acquired controlling shares in Taiwan’s Asia Pacific Telecom (TPE: 3682) and has made plays to expand into automotive. In late December it had publicly announced it had taken a 10.5% in China Harmony (HKG:3836), a major luxury car dealer in China. Recently it announced that it was partnering with Tencent (HKG:0700) to build electric vehicles that were connected to the Internet of Things. It says it can build electric vehicles for under $15,000 — a significant discount when compared to current models from major manufacturers.

Hon Hai hasn’t publicly stated how much of its overall revenue Apple accounted for, but it’s believed to be in the 25-30% range.

What can Pegatron do?

Hon Hai’s plans to diversify into electric vehicles is very ambitious, and comes at exactly the right time. Choked by smog, China is incentivizing the research and development and production of electric vehicles. Hon Hai already has considerable manufacturing infrastructure in China’s Guangdong province and in Taiwan, and the governments of both countries would be happy to provide subsidies to incentivize scaling up production and creating a supply chain.

But Pegatron lacks the scale of Hon Hai and cannot as easily scale and shift its manufacturing capacity. Instead, Pegatron should adopt just one of Hon Hai’s strategies and invest in allied firms in the same industry. Pegatron could make investments into mobile telecoms, and even finance companies: these are two things that would assist it in becoming a major IoT player. There are also dozens of wearables firms in Taiwan that Pegatron could take a stake in.

Apple will always make up a considerable amount of Hon Hai’s and Pegatron’s revenue. But both companies can become less dependent on Apple through a few smart investments.

The post How Can Taiwan Manufacturers Reduce Their Dependence on Apple? appeared first on VR World.

The launch of Apple’s (NASDAQ: APPL) Watch, scheduled in approximately a month, will be a pivotal moment for the company. The Apple Watch will be an entirely new product line for Apple, the first for the notoriously cautious and conservative (when compared with its competition) company since the passing of Steve Jobs in April 2011.

Compared to the competition Apple is late to the game in the smartwatch field. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as Samsung’s (KRX:005930) first smartwatch was launched nearly a year and a half ahead of the Apple Watch. Apple has had plenty of opportunity to learn from its failures, and also the success of the Pebble Smartwatch and demand for the Pebble Time.

There will be two factors that drive consumers to buy the Apple Watch: pure aesthetics, and its practicality to enhance productivity.

The Apple Watch comes in a huge variety of flavors and styles, with customizable faces.

There will be a large subset of consumers that buy the smartwatch simply because of its aesthetic. Apple is considered to be a fashionable brand, and there are many consumers who will simply line up to purchase it because of the brand and style. This holds particularly true in China, as demand for Apple’s iPhone 6 was record breaking leading to an underground economy of re-sales from Hong Kong (where it launched well it advance).

But many consumers will be unconvinced that the Apple Watch is a worthwhile purchase unless the device’s App store can prove to be viable, and full of useful, sustainable apps. Consumers that purchase the Apple Watch based on the strength of the app library will make up a larger subset of consumers that purchase the device beyond the initial hype phase.

Apple has already shown off a compelling library of apps at the device’s launch event in early March. At launch there will be apps that let the watch double as a boarding pass, a hotel room key, and even an Uber-hailing device. This is a good start, as when the iPhone launched in 2007 users had to wait months for the corresponding app store to launch.

Given the limitations of the Apple Watch, the majority of the apps that launch on the platform will simply be extensions of existing iPhone apps. For now that’s acceptable, as the Apple Watch is essentially tethered to the iPhone but as the platform matures developers will figure out use cases that are less dependent on the iPhone.

Success is already written, just add the apps

Many naysayers have pointed to Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Glass as reason that the wearable market as a whole is doomed. But, pardon the pun, this is comparing apples to oranges.

Google’s Glass was cursed from the get-go because of privacy concerns and the lack of practicality. At the end of the day, the Apple Watch is still a watch — a tried and true product line. It will still sell partially because of that alone. In contrast, Google’s Glass was something nobody could figure out how to practically use: the idea of strapping a computer to your face didn’t resonate with many.

The Apple Watch just needs a sustainable and in-depth app store. This alone will ensure that different waves of consumers buy the device, guaranteeing its success, not just those looking for a fashionable wrist piece.

The post The Strength of the Apple Watch App Store Will Determine Its Success appeared first on VR World.

The newest  iPhone has been one of Apple’s (NASDAQ: APPL) best-selling smartphones yet. We didn’t have to wait long for fully customized Apple iPhone 6 models to come out. This one, coming from Vorsteiner features a pure gold outer skin created by Gold & CO London. The fully functional mobile device now features a highly luxurious exterior added, allowing the owners in the higher income ranges to even further adhere to their personal choices and requests.

Working with several prominent luxury companies, the London based customizer has created some rather stunning showcases of their work (remember the modified BMW F82 M4 we wrote about a few weeks earlier). This, done for a high-performance and high-quality aftermarket aero parts company Vorsteiner, features the same level of expertise and allure as their other work. Gold & Co. London’s 2014 iPhone 6 range is available for order in multiple finishes ranging from 24kt Gold, rose gold, black gold, Platinum and carbon fiber.

The iPhone does look remarkable with the golden exterior, but some may find it over-the-top in certain ways. Regardless of personal opinions, the phone seen here is a clear-cut example of where the world of luxury hand-held devices is going and we’ll be there to report these to you right away. Check out the media gallery showcasing this device right below.

The post Vorsteiner Launches Gold Plated Apple iPhone 6 appeared first on VR World.

When it comes to marketing proneness, Taiwanese (and other Far Eastern) vendors often were afraid of their own shadow, not to interfere with lucrative OEM deals that western vendors utilized to the full extent: you may build your own stuff, but we contract you to build our stuff and you shall not interfere with that.

For good portion of it, the said mantra is true to this date, with Far Eastern industry giants still afraid to speak out, even though they now do almost everything for Western vendors such as Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) – without Foxconn (TPE: 2354) (iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro), Pegatron (TPE: 4938) (iPhone), Asustek’s (TPE: 2357)  China facility, Flextronics (NASDAQ: FLEX) and Quanta (TPE: 2382) (MacBook an MacBook Air) – you would not be able to buy your favorite product from Cupertino (Designed in California, Made in China / Taiwan).

Not anymore – Asustek recently found balls of steel (that corporate move to Singapore seems to have helped) and decided to ditch the fear of the West and go for the jugular.

In two infographics, Asus attacked Apple’s products, pushing its design and manufacturing capabilities.

First ad attacks the MacBook and pitches its Zenbook:

ASUS North America tries to prove ZenBook is a thinner (and better) product than Apple MacBook. And 50% cheaper.

Second picture goes for the Golden jugular, pardon, Apple:

Golden Apple (Watch) is not the solution. We (our ZenWatch) is.

Who knows, perhaps Asian tigers will start challenging its former and current customers on more fields than just the price. After all, the key to selling a product is something that Far East still has trouble understanding – it’s not about the physical product, it’s about the experience.

Still, a ballsy move Asus. Ballsy indeed.

The post Asus’ Balls of Steel vs. Apple’s Golden MacBook and Watch appeared first on VR World.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) hasn’t been as successful as Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) in the LTE modem segment, but that may all change in 2016 as it is being rumored that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is leaning toward the chip vendor’s XMM 7360 LTE modem in lieu of Qualcomm’s offerings, which have been in use in iPhones for several generations now.

Venturebeat, citing anonymous sources, revealed that a variant of the next-generation iPhone — aimed at Asian and other emerging markets —  will feature Intel’s new XMM 7360 modem:

Intel has been gunning hard during the past year for a place in the iPhone and now appears to have succeeded, at least partly. The 7360 chip will ship inside a special version of the iPhone that will be marketed to emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, the sources said.

Like Qualcomm’s X12 modem, the Intel XMM 7360 offers LTE Category 10 connectivity, which is achieved through 3x carrier aggregation. The cellular modem can attain download speeds of 450 megabits per second. The modem was announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this month, with commercial availability slated for the second half of 2015. Apple engineers have allegedly traveled to Intel’s R&D facility in Munich, Germany to work with the chip vendor on the modem.

One of the major issues with Intel’s LTE offering in 2014, the XMM 7260, was finding manufacturers that were willing to use the modem in their SoCs. Samsung and LG used the modem in a few of their products, with a few versions of the Galaxy Alpha and Galaxy Note 4 featuring the XMM 7260 module, as well as LG’s first in-house SoC — Nuclun.

Managing to get its cellular modem on the iPhone will be a major win for Intel, and will be yet another blow for Qualcomm, which has already lost Samsung as a customer for its Snapdragon SoCs — at least in high-end devices — this year. Intel is readily acknowledging that it is far behind Qualcomm in the mobile application processor segment, but by making power efficient LTE modems and offering integrated solutions for mid-tier devices aimed at emerging markets, such as the Zenfone 2, it is turning into a credible threat in this space.

The post Next iPhone May Feature Intel’s Blazing Fast XMM 7360 LTE Modem appeared first on VR World.

USB has always been a universal standard, but it also has always had its competition, chiefly from Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) with its Lightning protocol for mobile devices and Thunderbolt for desktop. But with USB Type-C, things will be a little different.

At Apple’s recent unveiling of its new 12-inch Retina Macbook Air, many noticed the notebook’s ports — or lack thereof. The new Macbook Air ships with only one port: USB Type-C. Apple decided just to include this version of USB, nothing else, with the notebook. The USB port will handle charging, data transfers, and display output.

This strong endorsement of support from Apple is likely the beginning of the end of USB Type-C’s competition.

Apple once pitched Thunderbolt to the PC ecosystem, which was co-developed with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), as everything USB Type-C is going to be. While many vendors ended up including Thunderbolt on their motherboards, the hardware wins just didn’t add up. When it came down to licensing royalties, cost-comparison issues just meant that Thunderbolt wasn’t as competitive. It had a place with those who needed a connector to do high-end video and graphics work, but the mainstream market wasn’t just that enthusiastic about it.

Support from everyone

The remarkable thing about USB Type-C is the broad support it is getting from both Apple and vendors in the PC space. Though the USB 3.1 protocol, which is the standard behind USB-C, isn’t expected to be fully phased in to later this year, support is rising fast from vendors. MSI (TPE: 2377) launched a USB 3.1 compliant motherboard, the Z97A, in early March and SanDisk launched the first flash drive with support around the same time.

This is only going to grow. Dozens of companies have already stated publicly their support for the protocol, and many more will be in the coming weeks.

How big will USB Type-C grow? Only time will tell. Will its growth come at the expense of Apple-centric connectivity ports? Definitely.

The post Apple’s Support For USB Type-C Shows it’s the Future of Connectivity appeared first on VR World.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has announced several new features for its upcoming smartwatch, the Apple Watch, during the manufacturer’s Spring forward event.

Tim Cook called the smartwatch “the most advanced timepiece ever created,” detailing how the device is a “comprehensive health and fitness companion.” The smartwatch is accurate within 50ms of the Universal Time Standard, and comes with many different watch faces and offers users the ability to customize watch faces.

Apple showcased a Glances feature that is accessible by swiping out from the bottom of the watch face. Glances allows users the ability to check heart rate, weather and other information that can be customized. With the built-in speaker and microphone, you can answer calls through the watch directly.

Apple Pay integration was also mentioned, as well as interaction with Siri, and the ability to receive notifications from iPhones on the watch.

Given that the Apple Watch SDK has been available to developers for months, app functionality was also highlighted. For instance, Apple Watch can be used as a digital boarding pass, and can be used to book a cab directly through services such as Uber.

If you’re traveling, hotel information — such as confirmations as well as room numbers — are available directly from the watch. You even have the ability to bypass a hotel’s front desk entirely by using the watch to unlock your room. There will be a dedicated section on the iTunes Store that will allow you to browse apps tailored for Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch comes with a new magnetic connector that automatically clicks into place upon brining the watch in the vicinity of the connector. The watch itself has a battery life that is touted to last 18 hours on a single charge.

There are all-new ways of communication, with the side button coming with the ability to connect your Apple Watch with another Apple Watch through a feature called Digital Touch.

In terms of fitness tracking, the Apple Watch tracks your daily movements and comes with a reminder feature that lets you know if you’ve been idle for too long. There are also weekly statistics that highlight your activity, and based on the amount of exercise you’ve received, the following week’s schedule is set.

Apple Watch Sport edition features anodized aluminum, with prices starting at $349 for the 38mm model and $399 for the 42mm variant. The stainless steel model comes in 38mm and 42mm, will cost $549 and goes up to $1,049 based on the band.

Apple Watch edition — with 18-carat gold cases — comes with custom designed bands that are also made of solid gold. The Apple Watch edition will be sole in limited quantities, and will be priced starting from $10,000. Pre-orders begin April 10, with the devices available at retail locations for customers interested in viewing the watches on display.

The post Pre-orders For The Apple Watch Start In April, Prices Start At $349 appeared first on VR World.

During its Spring forward event, Apple announced that it will be acting as the launch partner for HBO’s streaming service. In addition, the Cupertino giant stated that CarPlay will be available with “all major car brands”, with over 40 models set to launch by the end of the year.

ResearchKit

Apple highlighted the changes introduced in the health sector thanks to the launch of a ResearchKit program. The open source initiative will give users the ability to lead “better and healthier lives,” and works in conjunction with an iPhone.

Users will be able to make use of sensors built into the iPhone to gauge their vitals and conduct basic tests. Talking about iPhones, Apple has mentioned that over 700 million devices have been sold since the launch of the first generation model back in 2007.

Apple TV

Coming onto Apple TV, the vendor announced that the price of the entry-level model is being slashed to $69 following sales in excess of 25 million units. HBO’s streaming service — HBO Now — will be available exclusively on Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. The service will launch sometime in April, and will cost $14.99 a month. Customers registering in the month of April will be able to watch episodes for free during the first month.

All of HBO’s catalog of TV shows and movies will be available for streaming on-demand to subscribed customers.

CarPlay

Coming over to CarPlay, Apple has announced that the infotainment system will be available in over 40 car models in the US. The car vendors that will be offering the service as standard were not mentioned, although Tim Cook said that all major car companies were on board.

Apple Pay

After launching the Apple Pay NFC-based payments service last year, Apple has announced that the service has over 2,500 banks participating, with over 700,000 retail locations accepting the touchless payments method. The next move for Apple Pay is into vending machines, with Coca-Cola integrating the service in its vending machines.

The post Apple Spring Forward Event: Apple TV, CarPlay and Health appeared first on VR World.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has launched its “most efficient” notebook ever: the Retina MacBook Air. At 2 pounds in weight and a thickness of just 13mm, the new MacBook Air is 20% thinner than the current-gen 11-inch MacBook Air.

The 12-inch full edge-to-edge cover glass features a Retina display with a resolution of 2304×1440 pixels, which is also the thinnest display to be featured on a MacBook. Each light comes through each pixel, making the new MacBook Air consume less energy at the same level of brightness as the current MacBook Air.

The new MacBook Air features an all-metal construction, with the antennas embedded into the body of the notebook. Apple stated that the keyboard for the new MacBook had to be reinvented owing to the thinness of the notebook. The new “butterfly mechanism” is 40% thinner than the conventional scissor mechanism that is currently in use.

The changes continue on with the trackpad as well, which is now called a force touch trackpad. The trackpad now features a taptic engine and comes with an adjustable click feel. There are four pressure sensors underneath the trackpad, which allows for pressure sensitivity based on the intensity of the click.

Under the hood, the logic board in use is the same one featured on the 11-inch MacBook Air, but this time around, the notebook features a fanless design. In terms of specs, the Retina MacBook Air comes with Intel’s fifth-generation Core M processor clocked at 1.3GHz.

The battery technology also sees a change, with the Retina MacBook Air featuring sheet batteries that have a countered shell. Apple has stated that this allows the vendor to fit a battery that is 35% larger. Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 4.0 are built in for all your connectivity needs.

And in terms of ports, the Retina MacBook Air has just a single port: USB Type C. The port allows you to charge as well as drive screens with the USB port. In terms of color variants, the Retina MacBook Air comes in gold, silver and grey, same as the iPhone and iPad. A lot of the technologies Apple invented in building its mobile devices have carried forwarded to the Retina MacBook Air, and it is evident in the amount of features and similarities the notebook shares with iPhones and iPads.

Every year since the last decade, MacBooks have outgrown the industry. In 2014, MacBooks grew by 20%, which was considerable given that the industry as a whole witnessed a decline. That is set to continue with the extreme portability on offer with the Retina MacBook Air.

Prices start at $1,299, and the new MacBook Air will be available from April. MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are getting upgrades as well, with both devices getting Intel’s fifth-generation cores. The MacBook Pro will also feature the new sensor-laden trackpad.

The post Apple Launches 12-inch Retina MacBook Air appeared first on VR World.

Apple’s (NASDAQ: APPL) smartwatch isn’t expected out until later this spring, but it has already picked up a prestigious design award from the Germany-based iF International Forum Design group.

The Apple Watch received the group’s gold award, with the jury calling it “an icon”. The smartwatch field is becoming increasingly crowded — with a healthy showing of devices at this week’s Mobile World Congress in addition to the Pebble Time on Kickstarter — and this award is just another way Apple’s watch stands out against the competition.

“The idea of combining classic materials such as leather and metal with state-of-the-art technology to create a very individual fashion accessory has resulted in a delightful product offering a holistic user experience. The Apple Watch scores highly for each design detail and is an altogether extraordinary piece of design. For us, it is already an icon,” the group said in a press release.

The awards jury from the iF group judges entrants includes workmanship, choice of materials, environmental friendliness, design quality, safety, brand value, ergonomics, workmanship, degree of innovation and functionality.

The Apple Watch comes in a huge variety of flavors and styles, with customizable faces.

Apple is no stranger to winning awards from the iF group. Its iPhone 6, iPad Air and iMac are amongst some of the high-profile wins.

The entry Apple Watch is expected to cost $349.99. The luxury version of the watch — which will be encased in 18-carat gold — is expected to cost a whopping $5,000. Will this design award translate to sales for Apple when their Apple Watch launches?

More details on the Apple Watch are expected during an Apple event on March 9, 2015.

The post Yet-To-Be Released Apple Watch Wins Design Award appeared first on VR World.

Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) announced Monday that is plans to construct two data centers in Europe and Denmark to power iTunes and iOS services for customers across Europe.

These two data centers are to be powered by 100% renewable energy, and will create thousands of new jobs during the process.

“We are grateful for Apple’s continued success in Europe and proud that our investment supports communities across the continent,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a press release. “This significant new investment represents Apple’s biggest project in Europe to date. We’re thrilled to be expanding our operations, creating hundreds of local jobs and introducing some of our most advanced green building designs yet.”

Apple’s decision to build these data centers in Europe comes with two sets of advantages. First, having servers outside of US soil keeps data away from the quickly expanding surveillance state. While there are court rulings which state that US firms must hand over data even if abroad, these may not survive the court circuit of continuous appeals. Because of this trend, Europe has seen an uptick in data center construction as firms opt to harbor data in jurisdictions with less intrusive laws on state surveillance.

This also gives Apple a chance to tap into its massive cash reserves that are stored outside the US. Should Apple repatriate that cash to the US it would need to pay tax on it. Keeping it outside the US both puts the cash to work and also saves Apple from the tax burden.

Apple says that both centers will be operational by 2017.

The post Apple Building 100% Renewable Energy Powered Data Centers in Europe appeared first on VR World.

Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) has in its patent library a smartphone-based VR headset, nearly identical to Samsung’s (KRX: 005935) Gear VR headset.

While it may seem that Apple is trying to beat Samsung to the punch in patenting a smartphone-based VR headset, this is actually not the case. According to Apple Insider, Apple actually filed a patent for such a device in 2008. US Patent No 8,957,835, filed in September 2008 and granted February 17, 2015, describes a “head-mounted device that is worn on a user’s head and configured to integrate with a removable portable electronic device.”

“For example, a user may couple a personal electronic device, such as the iPod … available from Apple Inc of Cupertino, Calif, or the iPhone … also available from Apple Inc of Cupertino, Calif, to the head-mounted device via a cable or wire,” the filing reads.

As you can see from the illustrations, the headset has a separate hand-held controller that looks like an older iPod unit.

What are Apple’s intentions?

For its part, Apple has not shown much of an interest in the emerging virtual reality market. While other consumer electronics companies have made inroads to developing their own headsets and supporting ecosystem the same can’t be said from Apple.

It could be that at one time Apple was exploring developing such a device, but plans were killed at the executive level. In response to press inquiries about Apple’s VR ambitions, the company has said that it not everything it patents will go to market.

A more cynical analysis of the situation might be that Apple sensed the coming VR wave and decided to expand its patent library before its competitors to bring products to market with hopes launching patent related lawsuits against them. However, courts are becoming more hostile to companies that choose to patent troll so this may not be the most likely scenario.

The post Apple Patented a Smartphone-Based VR Headset — in 2008 appeared first on VR World.

Apple’s (NASDAQ: APPL) market cap continues to grow and shows no sign of slowing down.

The tech giant hit a record valuation of $700 billion in November, and posted the most profitable quarter in the history of corporate America in January. By the time the Wednesday trading day wound down in the United States, Apple was at the $123 mark putting its market cap at $719 billion.

Some analysts believe it’s set to go higher. Polling of analysts done by Bloomberg puts its target price at $132 a share. One analyst firm from China, First Shanghai Securities, believes the value will hit $165 putting the company at a market cap of $960 billion.

Activist investor and Apple shareholder Carl Icahn thinks the value will go even higher. In an interview with Reuters he said he believed Apple’s real value is $216 a share which would put the firm’s market cap at $1.3 trillion — roughly the size of South Korea’s GDP. Icahn based this spike in value on his belief that Apple’s smartwatch will be a success and it will introduce a TV within the next two years.

To keep growth constant Apple is expanding fast in China, its biggest market, opening stories in second tier cities — away from the glitz and glamor of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. China’s telcos are rapidly rolling out 4G, which should only increase sales of high margin 4G enabled phones. Keep in mind that the likes of Xiaomi cater to a different market, and the company’s business model doesn’t allow for the generous margins.

Will Apple’s growth ever stall? Of course it will, but at this rate not in the near future.

The post When Will Apple’s Growth Slow Down? appeared first on VR World.

Rumors refuse to die that Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) is considering dumping Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) silicon for ARM (LON: ARM), and Intel executives are forced to continue on their debunking offensive.

Apple first announced that Intel silicon would power its desktops and laptops in 2005. As ARM architecture matured throughout the later part of the decade and into the next, many vendors in the PC space have considered — and attempted with varying degrees of success — putting ARM based chips into their notebooks and desktops (think All-in-Ones not big towers).

Speaking to Business Insider late last week, Intel CFO Stacy Smith said that Intel is so far ahead of the competition that Apple simply couldn’t consider anyone else.

“For a customer like Apple you’d have to take a big step off performance to step off our architecture,” Smith said to Business Insider. “That is what in essence enables us to win across different customers.”

Even though rumors hold that Intel’s next-generation architecture, which Apple would be keenly interested in, is delayed Smith brushes off concerns that this might cause vendors to jump ship.

“Our leadership over the rest of the industry is extending. We’re not delayed relative to the industry. We’re actually ahead of the industry,” he continued.

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A latest research by TrendForce said that the worldwide tablet market has entered its maturity as the total global shipments for 2014 declined 2.2%, to compare with the same figure for 2013.

TrendForce’s study said that the total worldwide tablet shipments in 2014 reached 192 million units.

Regarding the phenomenon, TrendForce said that tablets do not have a strong productive role in everyday life for consumers, and are susceptible to substitution. The tablet market, however, did not have a noticeable replacement demand and additional growth was limited.

“In addition to the first-ever drop in total shipment volume, the rankings of the global top five brands also changed in 2014,” said Caroline Chen (陳虹燕), assistant research manager for TrendForce’s WitsView.

She said that the combined market shares of the top five brand names’ tablets fell from 70% in 2013 and 66.1% in 2014.

“This shows that the appeal of big-name brands is fading, and consumers are not as loyal to a particular brand as before with different options now in their horizons,” she said.

Quoting the research report for the global tablet market share rankings, TrendForce said that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) remained the leader in the tablet market now that its tablet shipments reached 63.4 million units in 2014, but it was still a 14.6% plunge to compare with the same statistics a year earlier. The latest generation of iPads, TrendForce said, do not offer extensive upgrades compared with the earlier generations, showing signs that the iPad’s hardware advancement has reached a ceiling.

As the second tablet seller in the global market, Samsung (KRX: 005930) also experienced a decline in its tablet shipments that the total amount of its 2014 shipments was 41 million units, a 2.5% decline, TrendForce’s report said.

Samsung struggled hard to keep up with its rivals in 2014, although it has a relatively wider range of product categories, from seven to 12 inches tablets.

Meanwhile, Lenovo (HKG: 0992) managed to push Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) out of the number three spot in the worldwide tablet brand rankings with its expansion of product lines and complete positioning in the price spectrum.

Lenovo increased its global market share to 5.6%.

Asus (TPE: 2357) occupied the fourth place on the rankings. Asus made it to the top five due to its promotion of the US$99 tablets and its well-established Transformer product line.

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Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and its Taiwan rival Acer (TPE: 2353) finished its fiscal year of 2014 with similar number of shipments for laptops, TrendForce said in its latest research.

Last year, Apple posted a spectacular 46.4% annual growth in laptop shipments, owing to its price-lowering strategy for its MacBook laptops, which resulted in a takeover of the mid-range and premium market segments, TrendForce said.

The high growth boosted Apple’s global market share to 9.3% in 2014, vaulting the company into sixth place in the global rankings, one spot behind Acer, which had a 10% market share.

Acer depended on its remarkable performance of its Chromebook laptops to maintain its shipment volume in the market. Although there was no significant rise in Acer’s total shipments, the company managed to slow its slide, dropping only one place in the global rankings last year, the research firm said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Asus (TPE: 2357) expanded its global market share to 11%, leaping into fourth place in the rankings.

Its performance was attributed mainly to the success of its 10.1-inch, 2-in-1 model T100 laptop, which accounted for over 10% of the company’s total shipments in 2014.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) remained the lead in the 2014 global laptop market with a 20.1% share, followed by Lenovo (HKG: 0992) with a 17.5% share, and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) with 12.3%.

TrendForce said that global notebook shipments in 2014 totaled 175.5 million units, up by an annual 3.6%, boosted by the replacement of the Windows XP operating system and the promotion of low-priced notebooks by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

“In 2015, the laptop market will only be able to maintain the same overall shipment level as last year, and the growth of some brands will come at the expense of others,” said Caroline Chen (陳虹燕), assistant research manager for TrendForce’s WitsView.

She forecasted that HP and its major rival Lenovo will continue to hold the top two spots this year, while the competition will remain tight between the third and the sixth places.

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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reported its best fiscal quarter ever, with revenue and profit figures surpassing analyst expectations. The numbers speak for themselves, both in nominal terms and with respect to year-on-year growth. In fact, this is the most profitable quarter in corporate history, surpassing the quarterly earnings records of Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, which were previously in the top three.

For the first fiscal quarter of 2015 (ending December 31, 2014), Apple reports a quarterly profit of $18 billion from revenue of $74.6 billion, a year-on-year revenue growth of 29.5% and profit growth of 27.2%. In this fiscal quarter, diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.06, a 47.8% increase from last year’s $2.07 diluted EPS. This surpasses analyst expectations of $2.60 earnings per share.

Guidance for second fiscal quarter indicates that Apple is likely to earn $52 to $55 billion in revenue. The company has announced cash dividends of $0.47 per share, payable in February.

In this quarterly report, we can glean a few things about Apple’s business so far. In gist, the company performs well during holiday seasons. The iPhone has been the biggest driver of revenue for the company in this quarter, so far, even amid the iPhone 6 having a slow start. The iPad, however, has performed dismally. And in a surprising twist, China has become a big driver of growth for the company, even with some initial hiccups in the launch and sales of the iPhone 6.

iPhone in the stocking. Apple’s best quarters prior to this one had been the first quarters of fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014, which fall in the months of October through December. This suggests that, as expected, holiday sales are a big revenue driver.  For Q1 FY2015, Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones, up from 51 million in the same period last year — a 46% year-on-year growth.  This is the first full fiscal quarter after Apple launched the iPhone 6 and 6 plus, and even with some initial concerns about the whether the bigger form factor of the plus will sell, as well as supply issues at the start of the iPhone 6’s product cycle, sales figures for Apple’s smartphones will suggest that it’s a runaway hit.

Will the iPad be sustainable? The short answer is “yes” — at least Apple CEO Tim Cook thinks so. For this quarter, iPad sales actually fell 21% year-on-year, which may be an indication that the company’s latest tablet lineup has weakened, even as the prices for previous-generation iPad Air and iPad Mini models have been reduced. One school of thought will say that iPad sales are being cannibalized by the iPhone 6 Plus on the low-end and the MacBook air on the higher-end. However, Cook is still optimistic about the product line, and that these sales figures are still within expected range. Cook admits that “the upgrade cycle is longer” compared to smartphones, speaking during investor guidance. “I believe that over long arc of time that the iPad is the great business, I also have visibility obviously of what’s in the pipeline and feel very, very good about that,” he adds.

Scaling the great wall. Apart from record-breaking revenues and profits in the past quarter, Apple is also seeing promise in a market that had been considered difficult for western firms to break into: China. Today’s largest economy is also the fastest-growing market for Apple’s goods. Revenue for this market amounts to $16.1 billion, comprising 21% of the company’s earnings during the period. This is a 70% growth from the same quarter in Fiscal Year 2014, and a 157% quarter-on-quarter growth.

This means Apple was able to bounce back after a disappointing iPhone 6 launch, in which the product was severely delayed in the market. Another feather on Apple’s cap: the iPhone has taken top spot in smartphone shipments in China, according to Canalys, even beating Xiaomi.

Watch out for April. Since taking over the reins, there has always been question whether Tim Cook will live up to his predecessor’s legacy. It was, after all, during the second tenure of Steve Jobs as chief executive when Apple bounced back with the iMac, then followed up by other revolutionary products like the iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air and the like. This record quarter is testament to Cook’s ability as a strategist, even as Apple has only been continuing existing product lines, so far.

This April, however, Apple expects to launch its first wearable, the Apple Watch. “The creativity and software innovation going on around Apple Watch is incredibly exciting and we can’t wait for our customers to experience them when Apple Watch becomes available,” says Cook. It may be argued that Apple is already coming late in the smartwatch game. But perhaps the quality of the platform and ecosystem will be the main differentiator, just as the apps and the App Store had been a game changer in the smartphone industry in 2007. “The number of developers that are writing apps more for it are impressive and we’re seeing some incredible innovation coming out there,” Cook adds.

Will 2015 be Tim Cook’s year? With an expanding business, impressive cash stockpile and an ambitious foray into the wearables market, it looks like an exciting year ahead for Apple.

The post Apple’s Q1 FY2015: Most Profitable Quarter in Corporate History appeared first on VR World.

Apple’s (NASDAQ:APPL) Macintosh desktop and notebooks will be using Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) chips for the foreseeable future, according to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich.

Krzanich was on CNBC’s Earnings Central late last week responding to a report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from KGI securities that Apple was considering ditching Intel’s chips for ARM’s (LON:ARM) A-Series SoCs for future desktop and notebook releases. Krzanich dismissed the claims saying the relationship between Intel and Apple was “strong.”

“Apple is always going to choose the supplier who can provide the most amount of capability in innovation to build on,” he said on the show. “They’re a company based on innovation.”

“I wake up every morning making sure that across the board, whether it’s Apple or Lenovo or Dell or any of our customers, we have the most competitive parts,” he continued.

While moving to ARM-based chips may be a tempting move for Apple’s low-power Macbook Air or superthin iMac, a broad across the board divorce from Intel would cause too many problems in the long run. Apple’s Mac Pro high-margin workstation business, which is virtually ubiquitous in the digital publishing and creative industry, relies on the horsepower that only an Intel Xeon can provide. Furthermore, the software ecosystem from Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) and the like which many rely on for their work is strictly Intel-based and optimized. A transition to ARM would be unthinkable.

For now rumors and reports along this train of thought should be dismissed. But that’s not to say that an ARM-powered Macbook Air would be out of the question.

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