» January 28th, 2012
Apple’s Secrets Reveal Consumer Focus
A new book examines Apple from the inside out, revealing details about the company’s level of detail that continue to give it an edge in the market.
“Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired-and Secretive-Company Really Works,” by Adam Lashinsky, senior editor-at-large at Forbes, shares highly guarded secrets about the company’s development and design processes, as well as insight into former founder and CEO Steve Jobs, who passed away in November of last year.
Apple is notoriously private about its inner workings, but the new book provides a window into the company’s structure that shows it often sacrifices cost-effectiveness in favor of consumer preferences. That laser focus on what its customer desires, from circuitry to packaging, is why Apple retains such a loyal consumer base, according to Lashinsky.
For example, the book describes a closely guarded “Packaging Room” devoted entirely to device packaging. One employee reportedly spent months opening hundreds of prototypes to refine and perfect the consumer’s experience when opening their boxes for the first time.
“How a customer opens a box must be one of the last things a typical product designer would consider,” Lashinsky writes, “Yet for Apple, the inexpensive box merits as much attention as the high-margin electronic device inside.”
Further, product designers are given priority, and during a product’s development phase, they have no contact with Apple’s finance department. The system allows designers to focus solely on creating the highest-quality product without having to worry about financial limitations.
Lashinsky also reveals that shortly before his death, Steve Jobs met with Ren Ng, CEO of Lytro, which makes highly advanced cameras that create “living” pictures. Jobs previously told his biographer Walter Isaacson that he hoped to reinvent the photography industry, and Lytro could have been part of that plan.
With the company still building on Jobs’ vision after his passing, cameras will likely remain on Apple’s radar as it continues to push its devices into the market.
“Inside Apple” is sure to intrigue readers and industry insiders alike, and emerging companies will likely take note of Apple’s attention to detail and dedication to their customers.
Jobs’ vision continues to inspire new devotees each day, and as he famously said, “we don’t know where it will lead. We just know there’s something much bigger than any of us here.”
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» January 27th, 2012 Immediate Heroin Detoxification Or DIY Cold TurkeyHeroin is a member of the opiate family of drugs derived from the opium poppy. Known by the scientific name, diamorphine, it is rated as the deadliest and most destructive of the top 20 recreational drugs. It is destructive in terms of its potential for addiction and the physical harm that results from its use. Conventional methods of heroin detoxification revolve around either the use of chemical analogues that compete with the drug for binding sites in the brain or the Twelve-Step Program adapted from that used successfully by recovering alcoholics. Methods Two unconventional methods of detoxifying from diamorphine will be discussed. One, called DIY or do-it-yourself cold turkey, is a carefully planned approach to cutting yourself off from drug use that does not involve going to family drug addiction counseling or checking into a drug treatment facility. At the other extreme is instant detox, using a combination of drugs that are injected while the patient is under a general anesthetic. This method is reported to wipe the body clean of the drug in as little as twenty minutes. The patient is then prescribed oral naltrexone for a year afterward. Instant Detox The seeds of instant detoxification were sown in 1988. A doctor in Austria was injecting addicts with naltrexone, an intravenous opiate blocker. On its own, this drug caused the patients to suffer immensely as the drug was stripped from their nervous systems. A sedative was provided to spare the patients from this suffering. This process brought the time interval of the withdrawal process from a matter of weeks down to a few days. Cold Turkey At the other extreme is going cold turkey (DIY). Cold turkey refers to the process of abruptly discontinuing the use of an addictive substance instead of gradually decreasing the dose or using replacement medication. The DIY method uses a methodical, carefully planned approach to cold turkey. The Plan Instead of waking up one morning and deciding today is the day to stop using heroin, the individual is advised to plan ahead and set aside a two-week period during which to stop taking the drug. Building up a small nest egg to use for intermittent rewards during the detoxification process is strongly encouraged to help succeed. The family is sent on vacation and friends are asked not to stop by or telephone during the detox period. Where To Stay A key part of DIY is to find a comfortable place to live during these two weeks. Being able to get up and make a cup of tea, watch television and read the addict’s own books are crucial components to the success to this technique. If the individual’s own home isn’t suitable, a friend, sibling or parents’ place will be fine. The process won’t be easy. The early stages will be full of insomnia, depression, chills, shivers and severe muscle cramps. Rewards Break the interval into tiny, manageable milestones and reward each one by reading a good book, watching a DVD or ordering a pizza. Within two weeks, maybe less, the body will have been purged of the drug and you are on your way to a drug-free, productive life. post a comment » January 27th, 2012 Nokia Lumia 710 Phone
The Nokia Lumia 710 is powered by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 operating system, dubbed ‘Mango’, to offer one-touch access to social networks. It’s a mid-market device that offers easy grouping of contacts, communication threads and Internet Explorer 9. The Lumia 710 also comes with a large 3.7-inch touch screen with ClearBlack display for more vivid colors. There’s also a 1.4-gigahertz chip with hardware acceleration and a graphics processor and a high-powered 5.0-megapixel camera with high-definition video recording, in addition to 8-gigabytes of storage.
post a comment | tags: Lumia, Nokia, Phone » January 27th, 2012 Media Critical of Controversial Crisis Communications Counsel Conferred to Carnival Cruise Chairman, Micky ArisonIn his Part III Case Study of the Costa Cruise Ship Disaster, Jeff Mustard, a veteran public relations professional provides a fascinating peek from an inside-industry public relations perspective, chronicling the crisis communications and the media’s coverage of the event post a comment | tags: Arison, Carnival, Chairman, Communications, Conferred, Controversial, Counsel, Crisis, Critical, Cruise, Media, Micky » January 26th, 2012 post a comment | tags: Adeventures, Best, Costa, Rica's » January 25th, 2012 AT&T calls out Sprint for ‘Home Market Rule’ roaming changes
AT&T this week has called out Sprint for taking advantage of roaming rule changes in markets where it owns spectrum. A policy called the Home Market Rule set by the Federal Communications Commission prevented carriers from creating roaming agreements when they had the spectrum or the ability to use their own networks. Sprint announced recently that it would be using roaming to cover large portions of Kansas and Oklahoma in lieu of building its own network. AT&T’s Bob Quinn said that,
Sprint responded that its Network Vision initiative has double the investment the carrier is making in its network. Spokesperson John Taylor said,
The Home Market Rule was overturned in 2010, though is still being appealed. Source: BGR post a comment | tags: ‘Home, AT&T, Calls, Changes, Market, roaming, Rule’, Sprint » January 25th, 2012 Apple announces Q1 2012 results, record earnings, over 37 million iPhones sold
Apple Tuesday announced their Q1 2012 earnings, reporting record revenue and blowout results for nearly every category. Apple finished the quarter with .33 billion in revenue, and net profit of .06 billion. The Company sold 37.04 million iPhones in the period, representing 128 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, a 111 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. In other categories, Apple finished with 5.2 million Macs sold, a 26 percent increase, while only 15.4 million iPods were sold, a 21 percent decrease from last year.
In comparison to the nearest competition, the 37 million iPhones sold is 2 million more than Samsung sold during their last reported quarter. Sales of iPhones and accessories accounted for .4 billion of the billion in revenue. Apple now has over billion in cash on hand.
Apple’s investors loved the numbers, as After Hours trading of the stock was up over 7%, pushing the company over the 0 per share mark for the first time, and breaking the 0 billion market cap, meaning Apple is back in the number 1 spot for valuation ahead of Exxon again. Other notes from the conference call include:
Cook fired off an email to employees following the call, congratulating them on the great start to 2012, and invited everyone to a town hall Thursday where they would review the earnings and talk about new things going on at the company. Press Release: CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 first quarter which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of .33 billion and record quarterly net profit of .06 billion, or .87 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of .74 billion and net quarterly profit of billion, or .43 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 44.7 percent compared to 38.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue. The Company sold 37.04 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 128 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, a 111 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 5.2 million Macs during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.4 million iPods, a 21 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. “We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.” “We are very happy to have generated over .5 billion in cash flow from operations during the December quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2012, which will span 13 weeks, we expect revenue of about .5 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about .50.” Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2012 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 24, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq112. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter. Source: 9to5Mac – Business Insider post a comment | tags: 2012, Announces, Apple, Earnings, iPhones, million, over, record, Results, sold » January 24th, 2012 T-Mobile – AT&T wait for FCC approval, transfer spectrum
AT&T and T-Mobile USA have fill up a file requesting the US FCC for its approval for the proposed billion worth of transfer in wireless airwaves. T-Mobile will receive AWS spectrum from AT&T in 128 markets, a billion cash breakup fee and a seven year UMTS roaming agreement. T-Mobile has said it needs additional spectrum to keep pace with its larger competitors. It is the only major national carrier with no plan to roll out the faster fourth-generation mobile broadband service known as LTE, and it lost 849,000 contract customers in last year’s first nine months. Tom Sugrue, T-Mobile’s senior vice president said “This additional spectrum will help meet the growing demand for wireless broadband services,” from a email statement from the Wall Street Journal.
» January 24th, 2012 New Family Mobile plan from Walmart and T-Mobile gives you Unlimited everything.. but .. read the small print letters!
Walmart has just announced a new Unlimited Family plan from T-Mobile. This plan offers unlimited talk, text and web at the low price of (for the first line) and for each additional line. Until Tuesday, Walmart’s plan did not offer unlimited web access, now it will, but it will only give you 3G speed for the first 250 MB of data, the rest?.. EDGE? Those who sign up before March 16 will be able to enjoy 5 GB of 3G data per month, while those who sign up after said date will have to make due with 250 MB. After reaching the data limit, users will be throttled to lower speeds. Press According to a recent Harris Interactive study, 65% of smartphone users said they use their smartphone’s picture sharing capability most when connecting with family and friends. That’s just one reason why T-Mobile and Walmart recently made their Walmart Family Mobile plan better than ever – adding Unlimited Web to their already great offer of Unlimited Talk and Text. Rolling onto shelves now, the new Walmart Family Mobile Unlimited Talk, Text and Web plan is only per month for the first line and per month for additional lines and is available at Walmart stores nationwide and on Walmart.com. Additionally, 44% of first-time smartphone buyers in 2012 say the cost of the data plan associated with a smartphone is the most influential reason they have not purchased a smartphone before. For the first time, this monthly postpaid, no-annual contract plan is offering Unlimited Web service, providing full access to Web surfing, data and social media for all lines on the account and is one of the best value options available on any national carrier. Walmart Family Mobile was designed with families in mind, and offers the most affordable way to enjoy high-quality postpaid 3G service. To encourage families to get connected sooner, customers activating the new plan now until March 16th will enjoy the first 5GB per month per line at up to 3G speeds until March 31st. Customers activating after March 16th can enjoy the first 250MB per month per line at up to 3G speeds. For more information about the Walmart Family Mobile Unlimited Talk, Text and Web plan, please visit www.walmartfamilymobile.com or www.myfamilymobile.com post a comment | tags: everything.., Family, from, gives, letters, Mobile, plan, print, Read, Small, TMobile, Unlimited, Walmart » January 23rd, 2012 United States Pasport Renewal Fast – It’s The Right Action To TakeIt’s common for individuals to want to know how they can do a pass port renewal fast. This can be due to various reasons but experience the need for a rush when they have travel plans that crop up at the last second. Regardless of what your reasons might be, however, it’s more than possible to get what need in a timely manner. Even so, it’s good to understand what limitations or requirements might be involved, so that you can be prepared. The First Step The first step in having your document renewed is to consider your circumstances, as well as how much you want to spend. This is because some options may be more expensive, while other types may take longer to process. At the same time, some situations may require an individual to process things in person, rather than doing so through the post. In Person Required Those who have lost their book or have one that’s been damaged will need to process on site. The same is the case for those who are under 16 years of age. People who have a passport that is more than 15 years old and was given to them under the age of 16 will also need to do this. This is usually for the sake of security and so individuals can sign while they’re at the facility. Photo ID You’ll also want to have other items on hand that you’ll be required to present during the application process, regardless if you plan to handle things in person or through the mail. You’ll want to have your birth certificate ready, as well as your two photographs for the actual book. A fee will also be required, along with your driver’s license or photo ID. Traceable Mail People who can send their items through the mail and prefer to do so will probably want to do so through traceable methods of delivery. This is more so due to the sensitive materials that need to be included with the mail-in application, such as your fee, driver’s license and so forth. This way, you can keep track of where your items are and when it arrives at its destination. Help With The Mail You can usually find a reliable shipping service that offers express options, which can be a way to cut down on timing. Some of these services may also specialize in processing passports in the first place. You may also prefer to have your application expedited, and some even choose to have things shipped overnight as well. Time Frame You can choose the standard options without it being expedited, which generally takes an average of four to six weeks. If you prefer to have the lost U.S. pasport expedited, you can expect it to take approximately two to three weeks. If you need it faster, you may need to think about immediate renewal procedures. post a comment » tags
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