Keeping you on the loop on just a few of the things happening around Apple this week.
An unhappy ending. Apple conspired with the major book publishers and played a “central role” in a conspiracy to raise e-book pricing, and undermine Amazon’s market lead and discounting strategy, when it launched the iPad and its online iBookstore in 2010, a federal judge said this week. In a 160-page opinion after hearing evidence from both sides during a June trial in New York, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote sided with the Department of Justice against Apple. The company was the only one to go to court, with the publishers each having settled with the government since the suit was brought last year. “Without Apple’s orchestration of this conspiracy, it wouldn’t have succeeded as it did,” Cotes said, citing e-mails by former CEO Steve Jobs and saying they provided “compelling evidence” of Apple’s complicity. Apple says it’s done nothing wrong and that it’s appealing the ruling. You can read more about it here.
App-y Birthday. When Apple launched the app store on July 10, 2008, there were 500 apps – with 10 million apps downloaded in the first weekend. Fast forward five years and there are now more than 900,000 apps and users have downloaded more then 50 billion apps – at a rate of more than 800 per second, according to Apple, which celebrated the App Store’s birthday with the free give-away of five popular apps (including How to Cook Everything) and five games (including Tiny Wings). Among the most popular apps back in 2008? Sega’s Super Monkey Ball’s game. What was the first app you downloaded?…In other App Store news, Apple and Amazon have ended their lawsuit over the “app store” name, with both companies now free to use the name. “We no longer see a need to pursue our case,” an Apple spokeswoman told Reuters after dropping the suit. “With more than 900,000 apps and 50 billion downloads, customers know where they can purchase their favorite apps.”
The Woz meets up with Kanye and Kim. Apple co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak visited with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in the hospital after the June 15 birth of their daughter, North West. Kardashian invited him after the Woz signed an Apple Pro computer mouse, one of a pair that Kardashian gave to West for Father’s Day. The other mouse had been signed by the other Apple founder, Steve Jobs. “I signed the mouse in front of him,” the Woz told ABC News. “It’s really rare, both our signatures in matching form.” West, who not too long ago told the New York Times that he says himself as the next Steve Jobs, also shared some business ideas with the Woz, who declined to say what exactly those ideas are. “It was an excellent conversation for about two hours and he finally got into his grandiose business ideas,” the said. “I have some comments to give him. I have been thinking about it since the meeting.”
More on the ITC ban. Apple, as expected, asked for a stay on the International Trade Commission’s ban on certain models of the iPhone and iPad. Apple is appealing the ITC’s June 4 patent ruling in favor of Samsung, which would ban the import of AT&T models of the older iPhone 3, 3GS and 4, as well as the older iPad 2 3G and 3G. The ban comes into effect on Aug. 5, though President Obama can veto it. This is a complicated case and if you’re interested in what it’s all appoint, I urge you read this lengthy discourse by Foss Patents, which goes into the history of this particular patent dispute between Apple and Samsung.
More phishing. The number of spam emails with links to phony Apple website is increasing as thieves set out to capture Apple users information, according to security software provider Kaspersky Lab. The number of so-called phishing attempts involving convincing but fake copies of apple.com, is up to 200,000 a day since the beginning of 2012, up from 1,000 attempts a day in 2011. “The cybercriminals are aiming to steal Apple ID data which provides access to users’ personal information stored in iCloud (e.g., photographs, contacts, documents, email, etc.) as well as to the purchases made in the company’s iTunes Store,” Kaspersky said. “To safeguard your account you can activate two-factor authentication for Apple ID, with a four-digit verification code sent to one or more trusted devices. This two-step verification process makes unauthorized access or account modifications impossible on the My Apple ID site and prevents any purchases being made via your account by third parties. However, it doesn’t protect you from losing money if you provide the cybercriminals with your bank details.” Take note.
Galaxy S4 prompts happy dancing with a ram. Samsung put the commercial together above to point out the advantages for Icelanders who choose a Samsung Galaxy S4 over an Apple iPhone – at least I think that’s what it’s supposed to be about. I’m still puzzled by the ram and the black-garbed ninja’s. Even the News of Iceland noted the weirdness of the ad. What do you think?
Playing nice in Sun Valley. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt were both on hand for Allen & Co.’s annual gathering of industry luminaries in Sun Valley, Idaho, and based on comments made by Schmidt, the hostilities between the two companies may have eased. Schmidt, a former Apple board member who said he has a “lot of respect” for the company, said the companies are talking. “We’re sort of in constant, constant business discussions on a long list of issues,” Schmidt said, according to Bloomberg News. “These are two proud, well-run, different companies.” Cook wasn’t the only Apple executive on hand at the conference, which also drew Liberty Media Corp. Chairman John Malone, media exec Michael Ovitz, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. iTunes Chief Eddy Cue also showed up for the four-day event, maybe to hash out details of the upcoming Apple smartTV with some of the content folks in attendance.
Tin trouble? In an update to its Supplier Responsibility page (spotted by The Verge), Apple says it’s “lead a fact-finding visit” to Bangka Island, Indonesia to determine if its suppliers are sourcing tin from unregulated and illegal mines. In an update to its Supplier Responsibility page on its website, Apple confirmed it has funded a new environmental task group to investigate mining operations in the area to “better understand the situation.” The move addresses a sustained Friends of the Earth campaign calling for Apple to publicly come clean about where the tin in its smartphones comes from.” As of December 2012, Apple says it has identified 211 smelters and refiners from which its suppliers source tin, tantalum, tungsten, or gold as part of its efforts to “map its supply chain for conflict mineral” and “survey suppliers to confirm their smelter sources.”
Steve Jobs’ Disney Award and other news. Steve Jobs will be awarded a Disney Legends Award during Disney’s D23 Expo on Aug. 10. “Steve Jobs changed the world of consumer electronics as the founder of Apple, and was known throughout the world for his visionary attitude and penchant for innovation,” Disney said of Jobs, who was the largest shareholder in Disney upon his death in 2011…..The costume designer who created the wardrobe of Steve Jobs’ for the upcoming movie starring Ashton Kutcher said that there’s only one scene in which the character appears in Jobs’ trademark jeans and black turtleneck – and that’s at the end of the movie. For the jeans, t-shirts and other outfits, the production company went to vintage shops, the tailor who made some of Jobs’ suits, and even New Balance, which “manufactured for us, from the old molds, the exact sneakers Jobs wore.” You can read all about the wardrobe quest here…And thanks to Real Business for its compilation of the 10 best Steve Jobs’ quotes on business. My favorite is from 1998: “Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led and how much you get it.”
That’s it for this week.
If you missed last week’s issue of Apple Loop, you can find it here:
Apple Loop: An Army of Products, The iWatch Trademark, Jobs’ Psychedelic Movie Poster
Apple Loop logo designed by Laura Leddy