Apple Exec Fired Over iPhone 5 Maps App Failure

The Apple executive responsible for the colossal failure of Apple’s new Maps app was fired for reportedly refusing to apologize to Apple’s customers.
Scott Forstall convinced Apple execs to replace Google maps on the new iPhone 5 cell phone with his Apple Maps, which turned out to be a disaster.
Not soon after the iPhone 5 launched, consumers began reporting problems with Apple Maps. Well-known streets and even entire towns were left off of the Maps navigation. The app quickly became a target of late night talk show hosts.

When the public outcry over the map app got too loud to ignore, Apple’s boss took action.
Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that Apple Maps caused consumers “frustration.” Cook asked Forestall to sign a letter apologizing to Apple’s customers. When Forstall refused to sign the apology letter, Cook showed him the door.
Cook said Forstall wanted to “address the outcry without apologizing.”
Forestall’s arrogance did not serve him well during his 15 years at Apple. Like most narcissists, Forstall had a reputation for being difficult and “never fit in with the culture” at Apple, according to an anonymous source.

1 Million Apple Device IDs Leaked, 12 Million Total Stolen

One million Apple UDIDs (Universal Device IDs) were released to the public today, along with Notification Center tokens, device names, and device IDs, and while none of the data is personal information, it can potentially be tied back to device owners, names, and addresses.
According to Antisec, the group that released the data, the one million is just part of over 12 million UDIDs they obtained from an FBI-owned laptop compromised in March 2012. The total dump reportedly also contains names, addresses, cellphone numbers, and other information about the device owners.
Unfortunately, if you own an Apple device, there's nothing you can really do at this point. You can't just change your UDID the way you can change a password. There are a sites that let you search the 1 million dump to see if your UDID is in the list, but the only surefire method is to download the file yourself from Pastebin and check. Also, even if your device isn't in the list, it could be in the other 11 million.
It's unclear what if anything Apple (or the FBI for that matter) will say or do about the leak, or what a malicious party could do with the information, but for now it's a good reminder to keep your computers secure and malware free.

Samsung trumps Apple in Tokyo court

Apple has failed to extend its US legal victory over Samsung to Japan, after a judge in Tokyo rejected a similar patent-infringement claim to that won by Apple in California.
The judge ruled on Friday that the South Korean technology giant had not violated Apple patents by copying a feature of the US group’s iPhone and iPad mobile devices that allows them to synchronise music and video files with computers.

Samsung welcomed the Japanese ruling, saying it confirmed its position that its products do not infringe Apple’s intellectual property. Samsung shares closed up 1.5 per cent, erasing earlier losses, as investors took comfort from the latest court decision.
The suit was part of a web of patent claims launched by both companies in courts across the world. Last week, a California jury awarded Apple $1bn damages after it found that Samsung had unfairly copied a number of its design and user-interface innovations.
Apple had also sued Samsung in Samsung’s home country, with less success. A South Korean court dismissed Apple’s claim that Samsung had copied the iPhone’s design, though it ruled that both companies had infringed patents in other areas. Sales of more than a dozen Apple and Samsung tablets and smartphone models have been banned.
The Japanese suit was more narrowly focused, targeting only the synchronisation feature, but the potential impact was significant. The iPhone has been the top-selling smartphone in Japan for most of the period since its introduction but Samsung’s Galaxy devices have been making inroads. The Galaxy SIII displaced the iPhone 4S at the top of the sales rankings immediately after its launch in late June.
Apple had been asking for just Y100m ($1.3m) in damages, a reflection in part of the small compensation awards typically granted by Japanese courts.
It is not clear how important Japan is for Samsung as a single market, as Samsung does not provide sales figures for the country. But analysts estimate that Asia excluding China accounts for about one-fifth of Samsung’s mobile phone shipments.
Analysts cautioned against reading too much into the latest court ruling. “There are dozens of court cases around the world involving their patent disputes,” said Park Young-joo, analyst at Woori Investment & Securities. “The rulings made in the three countries so far are unlikely to affect the other pending cases.” Mr Park predicted that it would take three to four years for all the cases to be resolved.
He added that the court cases probably would not affect Samsung’s future earnings a great deal because Apple’s lawsuits target old models and the Korean group is already designing its new products and working round the problematic features.
Samsung on Wednesday unveiled the world’s first smartphone running on the Windows 8 operating system at the IFA trade fair in Berlin. It also launched a new version of its popular Galaxy Note smartphone, running Google’s Android platform.

Samsung Galaxy S III sales skyrocket following Apple patent trial verdict

Now that the guilty verdict has been handed down against Samsung in its patent lawsuit against (Cr)Apple, it’s starting to look like a big “thank you” may also be in order. Not from Apple, however, as Sammy might just be the one to get the last laugh here.
According to Trip Chowdhry, the managing director of equity research at Global Equities Research, sales of the Galaxy S III saw an immediate and “significant” increase in sales following the delivery of the jury’s verdict. Apparently, the analyst made his rounds to several retail locations after the news broke, last Friday night.
He went to five AT&T, five Sprint, three Verizon, and three Costco stores.

Since the verdict, the Samsung Galaxy S III outsold the Apple iPhone 4S at all five Sprint and three Verizon locations that the analyst visited. None of the Verizon stores and just two of the Sprint locations had sold out of the model. Meanwhile, out of three Costco stores visited by the analyst, two were sold out of the AT&T and T-Mobile models of the Samsung Galaxy S III while the third store was sold out of the AT&T variant but had the T-Mobile model in stock.

So, why did people rush out to get the Galaxy S III? Did they assume that the verdict could possibly lead to a ban on the device here in the United States? Were they taking a stand in the #BoycottApple war? Or is it all just a big coincidence?
At any rate, it’s starting to look like Samsung won’t have any troubles paying back that 1.05 billion dollar fine, should they end up losing all of their appeals in court. According to the analyst, expect to see the two companies come to some sort of cross-licensing agreement. We’ll believe that one when we see it.
Source: Forbes Via: PhoneArena