Back before the first iPad was announced and when the rumor-mill was in full force, everyone pretty much knew that a tablet was on the way, but nobody really knew what form that tablet would take. Whilst many thought that the tablet would indeed turn out as it did, some were more hopeful that Apple would simply offer an OS X-like machine that resembled a MacBook Pro, but in tablet form. Sort of like one of those Tablet PCs that nobody bought back in the 1990s. Thankfully, Apple knew better.
As of right now, the existing consumer tablet market is dominated and was essentially created by Apple when it released the first iPad. Since then, Microsoft and Google have been working to catch up and get their foot in the door of this Apple-dominated market. Google's Android tablet OS has managed to gain some ground, and we can expect Windows 8 tablets to hit the shelves later this year. However, in the past two weeks, both Microsoft and Google have announced special tablet hardware devices that they hope will help them gain even more ground in this market.
Apple, Inc. has in recent months filed so many lawsuits against so many different companies in so many different countries that it is really difficult to keep count. The company is currently embroiled in legal battles with companies like HTC, Motorola and is particular against Samsung Electronics.
Remember a few days back when Samsung won a patent claim over Apple regarding 3G technology? Well now, it has emerged the fruit company has also violated one of Google's (or specifically, Motorola Mobility's) registered innovations, and finance analyst ZeroHedge (via 9to5Mac) believes the Big G is looking to block shipments of the fruit company's iPhone and iPad devices as a result.
When Apple CEO Tim Cook stepped onto the stage at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, we already had a pretty good idea of what he and his merry men were planning on announcing. The run up to WWDC was filled with the usual speculation and Internet chit chat, with the world wide web correctly predicting that OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6 would feature heavily on the agenda.
When Apple announced iOS 6 - the next installment to its famous mobile operating system - at WWDC earlier this month, the centerpiece feature turned out to be the hotly-rumored Maps app, which, in displacing Google's omni-present Maps offering, will include 3D aesthetics and turn-by-turn navigation.
Steve Jobs' unfortunate passing back in October of last year left a gaping hole in the technology industry, for it wasn't just his innovations; but his character, dogmatism and demeanour that made him one of a kind. Responsible for co-founding Apple, he was ousted when things weren't going particularly merrily, but after making strong progress in his absence with the likes of Pixar, he returned - like the knight in shining armor - to rescue his beloved Apple from its knees.
When Tim Cook and his executive team took center stage at the Moscone Center earlier on this month, it didn't come as any great surprise when they mentioned that the new Maps app is Apple’s in-house solution and they are ditching Google Maps altogether. The fact that Apple has been building their own maps system had been widely reported on during the build up to WWDC 2012, with Cook and his cohorts only serving to officially confirm that it was happening.
The excitement and adrenaline that surrounds the release of any new or upgraded Apple product is something that manages to take hold of the technology loving world every time the company decides to push out a new or updated piece of kit. We may feel frustrated for allowing ourselves to get so excited about a gadget or a smartphone release, but for reasons known only to themselves, a lot of people have a strong emotional attachment to Apple's kit.
We don't have any exact dates for when Apple will announce and release their sixth-generation iPhone, but based on last year’s iPhone 4S release in October and the lack of any hardware announcements at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, we can only assume that the new iPhone will follow a similar launch schedule and land around October of this year. Even though that is still four months away, we have already had rumors, internet chit chat and conjecture galore about the purported aesthetics and specifications.
