On Saturday we reported that "Apple's iOS Destroyed Android in Black Friday Mobile Shopping." Late yesterday, IBM released a new report covering the statistics generated from Cyber Monday. According to the report, U.S. shoppers made Cyber Monday the biggest online shopping day in history with a 20.6 percent increase in online sales. Mobile sales led the way, exceeding 17 percent of total online sales, an increase of 55.4 percent year-over-year. The report also noted that Apple's iOS beat Android by almost 2.5 times in online traffic and almost 6 times in actual spending.
We began talking about a possible deal between Apple and Mobile China as far back as December 2012 and reported in January 2013 that Mobile China let it slip that they had a confidentiality agreement with Apple. Then the buzz about Apple's possible deal with China Mobile began in August of this year with expectations that they would launch an iPhone marketing campaign in November. The delay was due to licensing delays from the Chinese government. Today, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued 4G licenses to three Chinese telecom operators to provide users 20 to 50 times faster mobile Internet access compared with current 3G network and create a new trillion-yuan market for device and service upgrade. While the door is now open for Mobile China to launch their iPhone campaign, their deal with Apple may not yet be cemented as first thought.
Taiwan-based tablet supply chain makers are reporting that Apple will ship closer to 23-25 million iPads in Q4 compared to the initial estimate of around 20 million, reports DigiTimes. The report also claims that aggressive promotions led to Best Buy and Walmart selling out of iPads on Black Friday. On the flipside, Samsung is forced to slash prices and give their tablets away for free just to move them.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 48 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover Apple's scrollable menu patent and more.
In late November 2012 we discovered Apple's first patent application for a future wireless charging system. Then in September of this year Apple revealed a follow-up patent filing about their new system in depth. Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent for their next generation wireless charging system along with a design patent for their ultra-sexy cylindrical Mac Pro Tower.
Apple has been on roll of late acquiring a series of companies from transit mapping to indoor GPS right through to an Israeli 3D Sensing Company PrimeSense last month. Today the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has just acquired social-media analytics firm Topsy Labs Inc. for more than $200 million.
A relatively unknown company by the name of NYC IP, Inc., has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. The patent infringement lawsuit concerns Apple's hardware using the Safari browser which in turn displays documents in a method that allegedly infringes upon NYC IP's invention.
Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, stated in a new study released this morning that "In almost all markets, the iPhone 5S and 5C releases have given iOS a significant bounce compared to the previous month." The new Kantar report provides us with another view of how the iPhone 5C is trying to carve out a new market for Apple, yet oddly demonstrates that it may not be the market that Apple was aiming for.
In late October we reported that ABI Research had forecast that the shipments of connected in-vehicle infotainment systems equipped with one or more smartphone integration technologies would grow substantially during the next five years to reach 35.1 million units globally by 2018. Of these, 49.8% would be equipped with Apple's "iOS in the Car." Today we've learned that Honda isn't waiting to integrate iOS for the Car in 2014 like 17 other car companies. Honda has announced that they'll be the first out of the gate to adopt Apple's new eyes-free infotainment system in the coming days ahead.
The news of late has Android taking over the world and Samsung dominating with Android phones and tablets with more than triple the volume over Apple's iOS. So why is it that Apple's iOS is beating the crap out of Android on the busiest shopping day of the year? – Because more people actually use their iDevices as Tim Cook has been telling Wall Street and their developers for months. Now more proof supports that reality.
In the blink of an eye another year has gone by and Patently Apple would like to wish our US fanbase a very Happy Thanksgiving. This holiday has always been a time of reflection for me and this year I'm thankful for a speedy recovery after my emergency surgery earlier this month. There are so many things to be thankful for in life, and I hope that you and your loved ones have much to be thankful for this year too. To all of our fans and visitors, Cheers!
Apple has been working on an iWallet or electronic wallet since 2010 if not earlier. They've built quite the body of intellectual property to support their future iWallet which you could view in our iWallet Archives. Today, a new in-depth iWallet patent was published by the US Patent & Trademark Office. Apple's latest invention generally relates to systems and methods for carrying out secure transactions. More specifically, the present technology relates to systems and methods for performing secure transactions using optical codes and optical code readers.
On November 28, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published two patent applications from Apple that reveal more details about the new Touch ID fingerprint scanner that's been incorporated into the Home Button of the iPhone 5S. The patent applications delve into extending the range of electric field based finger sensors so that they could image fingers through significantly thicker dielectric materials such as molded plastic structures. The patents also detail many other technical aspects behind Apple's Touch ID.
A Connecticut company by the name of Voice Domain Technologies has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. The patent infringement lawsuit concerns Apple's Siri.
A Texas patent troll by the name of Long Corner Consumer Electronics has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. The patent infringement lawsuit concerns Apple's iDevices using sensors related to auto-rotation.
