Apple's iTunes Music Store has just passed a significant milestone, having sold its 25 billionth song, once again entrenching its reputation as the world's most frequented online music hub. As is always the case when Apple reaches a milestone, the downloader of track #25,000,000,000 - Phillip Lüpke from Germany - has received a very neat prize - in this case, a €10,000 iTunes Gift Card.
Apple's range of iPhone, iPad and Mac hardware generates significant interest and revenue for the company, but there is also an extremely healthy interest in the software that leaves through the company's Cupertino doors and ends up on our digital shelves. The company's iOS firmware has been top of the discussion agenda over the last few weeks for various reasons, but we mustn't forget the recent speculation and interest surrounding the next-generation of Mac OS X. We are under no illusion that Apple will manage to blindside us with certain aspects of OS X 10.9, but it seems that the current recruitment drive for interface engineers is suggesting that Apple's next desktop OS could come bundled with the Siri digital assistant, as mentioned before as well.
With the release of the iPhone 5, the iPad mini and a revamped iPad just in the last few months, some may think that Apple is slowly forgetting about the Mac. Despite all of the speculation, traffic from Macs running OS X 10.9, which has not yet been announced, has increased dramatically over the past few weeks, which strongly suggests that a Developer Preview might be just around the corner.
Concept designs of future iterations of our favorite products keep us dreaming of what one day may be, and given their reputation among the design elite, it's fair to say Apple gadgets get a lot of attention from designers and concept-makers. Ricardo Afonso envisions the iPad eventually taking on a transparent look at some point in the future -- a simple pane of glass which, as he puts it, "blends perfectly with the surrounding environment". Check out the images and video below for more.
In the middle of all the current rumors, conjecture and speculation surrounding Apple hardware, it is perhaps the future of the company's so-called hobby project that is managing to capture most of the immediate attention. The little black box has never been one of Apple's highest revenue generating creations, but has been consistently improving on its sales figures, numbers that are only set to continue to rise amid speculation of a new smaller model being introduced and the potential of additional apps being introduced during the year.
The power of voice recognition technology is being utilized by many companies across the globe, as it has been for quite some time. Siri (along with similar implementations of other platforms) has helped bring such technology to the forefront, and although the initial hype surrounding Apple's voice assistant has petered out somewhat, Honda has just announced its intention to bring Siri support to a fleet of its automobiles in the coming months.
Apple has, by means of a press release, announced that its fourth-gen iPad will now offer up to 128GB of internal storage - double the previous maximum configuration of 64GB. Apple has sold in excess of 120 million iPads to date, and with Phil Schiller noting of the consumer's preference to "work, learn and play on their iPads rather than their old PCs,” it would certainly make sense for the fruit company to offer the kind of capacity reflecting the change in habits.
The release of iOS may have been shrouded in controversy, but in terms of adoption rates, it has continually proven itself to be prolific. Early statistics showed that, despite the bad press, consumers were buying and upgrading their devices to iOS 6 at a rate of knots, and in its iOS 6.1 press release earlier today, Apple has revealed that nigh on 300 million iPhones, iPads and iPod touches are now running the latest firmware.
We've heard a lot about a so-called low-cost iPhone tailored to the smaller budget, and although Phil Schiller has spoken out to quash the rumors, the arrival of the iPad mini late last year has taught us that Apple is not afraid to go back on the word of some of its leading execs. Said budget device looks as though it might be Apple's key to unlocking the lucrative Chinese (and other developing) markets, and while we've heard enough reports to entertain the possibility of it arriving, the speculation regarding its design and form factor has begun.
It is no secret that iOS and Android devices are the leaders on the smartphone market, with outputs that greatly outweigh the other players. The latest data published on Monday shows that their lead has edged, having taken over 92.1% of smartphone shipments in the last three months of last year.
