Category: Announcements

Posted on

Apple Shakes Up its Executive Team

Apple announces changes in its Executive Team.

From Apple PR:

CUPERTINO, California—October 29, 2012—Apple® today announced executive management changes that will encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams. As part of these changes, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will add more responsibilities to their roles. Apple also announced that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim.

Scott Forstall, who previously in charge of iOS Development, was named by Tech PRess as the one responsible for Apple Maps and the ensuing fiasco. Craig Federighi is taking over iOS Development in addition to OS X.

Forstall is not the only Executive leaving Apple.

Additionally, John Browett is leaving Apple. A search for a new head of Retail is underway and in the interim, the Retail team will report directly to Tim Cook. Apple’s Retail organization has an incredibly strong network of leaders at the store and regional level who will continue the excellent work that has been done over the past decade to revolutionize retailing with unique, innovative services for customers.

John Browett was hired to join Apple in early 2012. Apple’s decision to hire Browett drew a lot of criticism based on his tenures at Dixons.

Posted on

Nexus 4 and Nexus 10

Google outs Nexus 4 and Nexus 10.

Nexus 4

  • 4.7-inch Display
  • 1280-by-768 at 320 pixel-per-inch
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 processor
  • 2 GB of RAM
  • NFC-enabled
  • 8 GB – $299
  • 16 GB – $349
  • LG-build
  • Network:
    Unlocked GSM/UMTS/HSPA+
    GSM/EDGE/GPRS (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
    3G (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz)
    HSPA+ 21

——-

Nexus 10

  • 10-inch Display (16:9)
  • 2560-by-1600 at 300 pixels-per-inch
  • CPU: Dual-core A15
  • GPU: Mali T604
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (MIMO+HT40)
  • Bluetooth
  • NFC
  • 2 GB RAM
  • Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
  • Samsung-build
  • 16 GB Wi-Fi – $399
  • 32 GB Wi-Fi – $499

 

Posted on

It’s time of the year again when tons of spam blogs appear.

Holiday Season is approaching fast and there are tons of spam blogs popping up on WordPress.com. If you are using WordPress.com Reader, you might have seen them clogging up your feed. Obviously these spam blogs are “make money quick scheme” by posting affiliate links on their posts. The contents are usually copied and pasted form site such as Amazon.com. Apparently the spammers have found a way to open WordPress.com accounts and blogs in an automated way.

Examples of the spam blogs URL’s:

  • applemacbookproitzm.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone4s32odop.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone3gs1mxjr.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone564gcaqu.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone4s32zvbx.wordpress.com
  • applemacbookprosgrk.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone48gbxola.wordpress.com
  • applemacbookmb4zhlm.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone48gbnqkj.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone416gtswx.wordpress.com
  • applemacbookmc5rbvr.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone4s64jysy.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone4s32qfcy.wordpress.com
  • apple64gbiphoneubwv.wordpress.com
  • appletvmb189llazvqf.wordpress.com
  • appleipodclassiqlum.wordpress.com
  • appleipodnano16vpaf.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone48gbgrij.wordpress.com
  • verizonappleiphggsn.wordpress.com
  • applemacpromd77sijx.wordpress.com
  • appleipodnano16azpv.wordpress.com
  • appleipad2withwvqpm.wordpress.com
  • mushkinenhancedrlnn.wordpress.com
  • applemacbookairfrhb.wordpress.com
  • applemacbookmb4hugo.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone3gs1nsvh.wordpress.com
  • appleipodtouch6onev.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone44sdxtmj.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone48gbvodl.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone516gpwpp.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone3g8glzwo.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone516gfnnu.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone4bladgqo.wordpress.com
  • appleipad2mc987pvnh.wordpress.com
  • appleipad2mc773pqci.wordpress.com
  • appleipodnano16sowm.wordpress.com
  • appleipad2mc764tadk.wordpress.com
  • appleipadmd363ldhox.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone48gbpmyz.wordpress.com
  • appleipad34g32ghcbe.wordpress.com
  • zaggzaggfoliofoqspv.wordpress.com
  • appleipadmd364lruqx.wordpress.com
  • applemacbookproxzvr.wordpress.com
  • appleipodclassibilh.wordpress.com
  • appleipad2mc755dgfb.wordpress.com
  • applenewipad4g3rdqt.wordpress.com
  • appleipadfirstggxtr.wordpress.com
  • appleipad2mc982pwhg.wordpress.com
  • appleiphone532gbgtf.wordpress.com

Notice the pattern of the account name:

  • A brand name, such as “apple”, “zagg”, “mushkin” and “verizon”
  • Followed with product name, such as “ipad”, “iphone”, “ipod”, “macbookpro”, “zaggfolio”, etc.
  • Followed with random string of Alpha-numeric characters

Creating account on WordPress.com requires a person to provide:

  • Valid E-mail address
  • Username
  • Password

In addition to that, WordPress.com requires user to activate the blog through E-mail verification. (Does WordPress.com use something like CAPTCHA?)

Apparently the spammers have found a way to mass-create accounts and blogs on WordPress.com, once again.

During Beijing Olympics in 2008, significant numbers of blogs on WordPress.com were created with the sole purpose of spreading malware. The malware hid behind fake links purported to be videos of Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. It was a problem then, and it would still be a problem now. The example blog addresses provided above primarily used to promote the spammers’ Amazon affiliate links; definitely are violating WordPress.com Terms of Service (TOS).

WordPress.com team members are very responsive to the TOS violations. They immediately suspend the offending accounts as soon as they received the reports from users. It sure takes some times for users to report these spam blogs; it’s worth it. Consider WordPress.com the neighborhood we are living in or doing business in. We want to keep them safe and clean.

 

Posted on

iPad mini pre-orders

Apple is taking iPad mini pre-orders starting midnight on October 26th, 2012.

At the time of this posting, the White & Silver model of iPad mini sees 2 week shipping time while the Black & Slate counterpart still tracks for November 2, 2012 delivery.

Posted on

Apple Announces Fourth Quarter Results

Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

  • Quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion ($28.3 billionin the year-ago quarter)
  • Quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion ($6.6 billion in the year-ago quarter)
  • Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones, 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter
  • Apple sold 14.0 million iPads, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter
  • Apple sold 4.9 million Macs, a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter
  • Apple sold 5.3 million iPods, a 19 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter

During this quarter, Apple only had two new Mac models, 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro and updated MacBook Air. Users looking to buy iMac and 13-inch MacBook Pro were waiting for for the updated model which were announced on Apple October 23, 2012 Special Event. Apple also announced updated Mac mini during the event.