Apple's Lawsuit Win & Microsoft's Bizarre 'Scroogled' Campaign

The focus of today’s tech news is definitely the release of the Xbox One. Now that both consoles have hit the market (the PS4 was released last Friday), it will be interesting to see who does better, especially over the Christmas period. The PS4 has already been having some negative feedback, with several users complaining about the blue light of death, with the device not connecting to the TV, leaving the screen blank. This aside, I’d like to mention some other news items that caught my eye, amongst all the talk of consoles.

In a bizarre reversal of manufacturing trends, Foxconn (which is the Taiwanese company that manufacturers the majority of Apple’s devices), announced that they are building a manufacturing plant in the U.S. This plant, which will be in Pennsylvania, will be largely robotic, but is estimated to bring 500 jobs to the area. Foxconn announced that they wanted another plant in the U.S. because of the large domestic demand for Apple’s products. Will this be a growing trend? Can the decrease in transportation costs make up for the higher cost of labour?

More good news for Apple, they were just awarded $290 million in their ongoing patent battle with Samsung. This brings Samsung’s total to about $900 million in payments to Apple, which is less than the original $1.05 billion settlement, but still an enormous amount money.

And in the strangest attack on the competition, Microsoft has launched a website telling you to avoid getting “scroogled.” This is meant to focus on the amount of data that Google collects from users and general privacy concerns when it comes to Google. They say they launched the campaign “on behalf of consumers” and that you should “try Bing for an honest search”. If this isn’t baffling enough, there is even a store, where they sell things like t-shirts that say “Keep Calm While We Steal Your Data”, complete with the Google logo. I’m confused as to how Microsoft thinks this a good idea at all. Maybe they should focus on finding a CEO who will help them develop new and innovative products that compete in the marketplace without attacking the competition. Good to see that the competition between the four tech giants is alive and well...

New Phones: YotaPhone, Jolla Phone, Eco-Mobius & G Flex

This week I’m going to focus on some interesting phones (real and conceptual) that have been mentioned recently. These phones all introduce something new and different from what we’ve seen, and this will be the key to success in the already saturated smartphone market – differentiation.

First off is the YotaPhone. This is a Russian made phone that features not one, but two screens. The phone features 4.3 inch LCD display on the front and a 4.3 inch E-Ink display on the back. The E-Ink display is the same technology found in the Kindle and Kobo e-readers. The phone essentially gives you the best of both worlds, by literally giving you both. The E-Ink screen is very low power, and the idea is to use it to display notifications (such as the time, or messages) without draining the battery. The screen can also be used by those who prefer to read on a screen that isn’t backlit. The phone, which is made by a company named Yota Devices, will be running Android 4.2.2, giving users full access to any games and apps on Google Play. The phone is said to be released internationally, sometime in December.

The next phone is called the Jolla Phone. Interestingly, Jolla is an independent Finnish company formed by a number of ex-Nokia staff. The unique feature of this phone is that it will have their newly designed operating system, called Sailfish. It offers some interesting panning features, and allows interaction with applications directly from the home screen. The idea is to offer an incredibly personalized experience, pretty much the opposite of an iPhone. The device itself has a low resolution 4.5 inch screen, and looks to be priced at $535, which is fairly steep for the features of the phone. Jolla is expecting the new operating system to draw users in, and is especially hoping to benefit from some national pride in Finland. The device will be launched on November 27^th in Finland, and they hope to be selling the device across Europe before the end of 2013. No word yet on an international release.

This next phone is a concept phone called the ZTE Eco-Mobius. Very similar to the Phonebloks concept that I mentioned earlier this month, the phone would have interchangeable modules that slide into place using tracks and features pieces that are attached magnetically. This concept has been designed by China-based ZTE corporation, and is designed so that all the pieces are replaceable and swappable, to reduce waste.

The last phone I’ll mention is LG’s G Flex phone. Very similar to the Samsung Round that I talked about previously, LG looks like it will get an edge by being the first to bring a curved phone to the United States. The G Flex features a curved display, and self-healing backing, which apparently fixes scratches in seconds. Another neat feature is that unlike the Samsung Round, the G Flex is actually somewhat flexible. The rumours have been flying that the phone will be released in the next few months through multiple U.S. carriers, but nothing official has been announced.

And while we have all of these unique phones being released or designed, there are many other phones trying to stand out based on various features. For example, Google’s Motorola just released an actual low cost smartphone (unlike the high priced iPhone 5C). The Moto G is not only going to run Android Kitkat (4.4) by January, it also has 720p 4.5 inch display and a quad core processor. All of this for $200, unlocked and off-contract. Some are trying to differentiate themselves by the camera (Nokia 1020), or by size (Sony Xperia Z Ultra). And all of these phones offer various operating systems. Android is running away with the lead, as third quarter numbers show that 4 out of every 5 smartphones sold in the world is running Android. Samsung is leading the way in Android sales selling 80.4 million phones this quarter, well above the 30.3 million iPhones sold by Apple. Microsoft moved up with the Windows phone becoming the world’s No.3 smartphone OS, selling 8.9 million units in the third quarter (more than doubling last year’s total). And this meant that Blackberry sales plummeted, selling half as many handsets as they did this quarter last year. It will certainly be interesting to see what comes next in this every changing phone market.

The last thing I’d like to mention is that rumours have been flying around that Facebook offered Snapchat $3 Billion to buy its business, and Snapchat said no. Snapchat is an application that allows users to send pictures which autodestruct after a few seconds. It’s usage has been increasing substantially, with the company reporting 350 million messages sent a day through its service. This all comes after Facebook announced that teen usage is declining, which may have been the reason for this offer. It will be interesting to see how Snapchat does in the future, and if it was worth turning down $3 Billion.

Twitter's IPO, Blackberry's Struggles and An Upcoming Game System Battle

For once Apple was not front and center in headlines this week. Twitter took that title and ran with it. Here’s a rundown of the week’s excitement:

After much talk, Twitter finally had their IPO (initial public offering, for those wondering what IPO means). They debuted on the NYSE at $26 a share, and that increased almost immediately. They jumped up to a high of $50 on their first day of trading, finishing the day at $44.90. Investors seem to be very divided when it comes to Twitter. Many feel that Twitter has become a service that is integrated in our daily lives, similar to Facebook, and that it has only scratched the surface of potential advertising revenues. Clearly these are the people that bought Twitter shares immediately. Others warn of another tech bubble, clearly in disbelief that Twitter’s share price is almost 50 times its revenue (Steve Rattner). The IPO allowed them to raise a potential $2.1 billion. To put that in perspective, Twitter’s third quarter revenues were $168.6 million, posting a $64.6 million loss. Basically investors just gave $2 billion to a company that is losing more and more money, even though it’s revenues are increasing. It will be interesting to see how long Twitter remains in everyone’s good graces now that they are in the public eye. 

Blackberry on the other hand, has had a rough week. On Monday, they announced that they were firing their CEO, and that they were not going to be selling themselves. They took themselves off the market, despite interest from several different groups. This quickly dropped their share price down to $6.50, a far cry from their high in the $200 range back in 2007. Fairfax Financial decided that instead of purchasing the company, they would inject $1 billion into the company. There are lots of rumours that Blackberry will focus solely on software and stop making phones. One good piece of news for Blackberry is that 20 million users signed up for bbm in the first week of it being available on Android and iOS devices.

Microsoft has been in the middle of some interesting rumours this week, with potential new CEO Stephen Elop being quoted as saying that he would be okay with getting rid of Microsoft’s Xbox and Bing divisions. There have been calls from various investors over the past couple of weeks for Microsoft to do just that, but I really don’t see it happening. Microsoft has invested large amounts of time and money developing the Xbox one, and it looks to recoup most of that with its upcoming release. And as much as I hate Bing, Microsoft has worked very hard to integrate it into all of their divisions. It’s a big part of Windows 8.1, and they are continually trying to grow its user base. I think it’s very unlikely that Microsoft loses either of these divisions.

On the topic of the Xbox, I’m personally very excited to see the Xbox One vs. PS4 battle play out over the upcoming Christmas season. The PS4 is being released on November 15^th, and is the lower priced of the two, coming in at $399. The Xbox One is being released on November 22^nd and is priced at $499. Keep in mind, the Xbox One comes with the Kinect sensor, which accounts for the $100 price difference. It’s certainly an interesting move by Microsoft to bundle the game system and the motion sensor. Many believe that the $100 price difference will be a deal breaker for those choosing a new system. Both systems have various new and improved features, such as new controllers, a large assortment of applications (such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon’s video service, etc.), and a large assortment of games unique to each system. Which system are you leaning towards? 

And it wouldn’t be a tech update without a mention of Apple. Apple has yet to announce a release date for the iPad mini 2, as they are having trouble getting enough stock to meet the expected demand at launch. Sources say that Sharp is having trouble making the screens. The expected launch date is November 22^nd, a week before black Friday. As well, apparently an iPad Air on display in Australia burst into flames and continued to emit smoke until the fire department arrived. Apple hasn’t commented but they did send someone to collect the unit so that they can look into it further. Perhaps I should be giving the iPad Air at my store a wide berth. As much as I hate to admit, it is a beautiful device, very light and slim.

And that’s your rundown for the week, hopefully it helps you get all caught up on what’s going on in the world of tech. Have a good weekend!

Project Ara, Apple's Battery Issues and a Crazy Lawsuit

Last week, I focused on Apple’s product announcement because as always, Apple was front and center. Consumers have gotten used to Apple being the most innovative, and were once again looking for something new and magical. Time to talk about some of the other things that happened in the world of technology this week and last week.

-Motorola has announced an interesting new project, called Project Ara, which proposes to build phones out of blocks that are interchangeable. The hope is to make phones greatly more customizable, and reduce the amount of cellphone waste. The phone will have an endoskeleton, basically a core structure, that will hold all the blocks together. Motorola plans to make this a third-party project, allowing anyone to make blocks and provide innovation. Basically using the concept of Android, where everyone is given access and can make changes as they wish, on a physical product. Motorola has already teamed up with phonebloks, an open source project that has been working on a similar idea. They have a really great video on their website, explaining the concept (https://phonebloks.com/).

-Recently, Google joined the $1000 club, their share price surpassing that mark for the first time. Astounding growth for the company that debuted at $85 in 2004. This jump came after they announced revenues of $14.9 billion for the quarter, an increase of 12% over last year. They are currently sitting at $1027.

-And now, back to Apple. They have announced battery issues with some of the iPhone 5S’s. Some of the batteries drain very quickly, or take much longer to charge. This comes after they worked to extend the battery life on the new iPhones. They also announced their earnings for the fourth quarter of their fiscal year. They increased their revenue, making $37.5 billion (compared to $36 billion the year before), but their profit decreased to $7.5 billion (down from $8.2 billion the year before). This is very interesting, indicating that they have lost some of their high operating margins, and perhaps find themselves fighting to keep up. 

-An interesting quote:
Apple has -- compared to most technology companies -- nearly unlimited resources. Billions in the bank and plenty of time between upgrades. If Apple can expend resources to shave thickness in 1/100th of a millimeter increments off the iPad to create the iPad Air, the company sure as heck ought to be able to figure out a word processing application. (Chris Maxcer).

I think this perfectly describes Apple’s problem right now. They have plenty of resources, but hardly any innovation. They are giving away their software for free in an attempt to undercut Microsoft and sell more hardware, but they are quickly losing their high margins.

Lastly, I want to mention an incredible lawsuit that has just been launched. Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Blackberry and Ericsson have filed a lawsuit against almost every company that has made an Android phone. This means Samsung, LG, HTC, Huawei, and many more. The lawsuit indirectly targets Google as well. Having clearly decided that they can’t beat Android in the market (it currently has an 81% market share), they have decided to try and beat it (and Google), in the courts. This lawsuit comes from thousands of patents acquired from Nortel, many of which target Google’s money maker – advertising. It will be interesting this see this play out. This article explains the situation very well: http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/01/judgement-day-for-android-apple-microsoft-file-lawsuit-against-google-samsung/

And now time for some Sunday football. Enjoy!

New Products From Apple; And What We Didn't Get

This week we were treated to several new product announcements. As always, the world was firmly focused on Apple, who once again left everyone (or at least me) wanting just a little more. I have to say, they certainly learned something from last year; do not reveal your products all at once. By releasing new products at various intervals, Apple ensures that they are currently in the news. From the constant speculation (what is going to be released, and when), to the pre-announcement buzz (we know the date, but no product specifics), to the actual announcement (yay product!), to everyone’s impression of the product (reporters, go!), to the actual release of the product (now the early adopters can finally buy one), to the announcement of how many Apple sold in the opening weekend (millions and millions), and back to the buzz of the potential next product (iWatch anyone?). This is an endless, and incredibly smart media strategy on Apple’s part. But I’ve gone a little off topic. Here is another one of those ‘impression of the product’ posts I mentioned above.

Apple announced the new iPad Air, following in the footsteps of their greatly successful Macbook Air series, with Air being used to indicate just how thin and light the product is. The iPad Air is barely 1 pound, and 0.29 inches thick. What’s missing, is a fingerprint sensor, which many people thought was an obvious addition after the iPhone 5S. Apple has also stuck with their standard colour scheme of white and black, no option for a gold iPad to match your gold iPhone. The new iPad mini will have retina display and an updated processor, almost literally becoming a mini version of the full iPad. The biggest difference between them? The price. The iPad mini 2 will start at $399, while the iPad Air will start at $499.

Apple has clearly decided not to fight the market share battle, but to focus on keeping their high margins. They announced that they will be discontinuing the 4^th generation iPad, but will continue selling the iPad 2 for $399. For the same price, you can the iPad mini 2 which has a faster processor and retina display. For another $100 you can get the iPad Air. Why would anyone purchase a device that is 3 generations back, especially in an industry where changing is occurring so quickly? The main reason for keeping the iPad 2, is to show the stark difference between it and the new iPad Air. The $399 price for the iPad mini 2 is also surprising, considering that for $249 you can buy the Nexus 7 FHD, which is a wonderful 7” tablet with HD resolution (not quite as good as the retina display), and comes with the newest version of Android.

Apple also announced their new operating system, Mavericks. They are giving it away for “free”, as opposed to the $20 they usually charge. Many have claimed that they are taking a direct shot at Microsoft with this, but clearly people don’t understand the concept of free. To download Mavericks you need to have purchased a Mac (minimum $1000), and at least have snow leopard (3 operating systems ago), or pay to get snow leopard, and then download Mavericks for free. Windows 8.1 was just released and it was also “free” for users who had Windows 8. I certainly don’t think the lack of a $20 fee for an operating system upgrade is going to have any impact on whether consumers choose Mac or PC. Considering there was a lot of backlash for OS 7, we will see what people think of Mavericks.

Apple introduced the Mac Pro, and a new set of Macbook Pro’s, but what I want to mention is what Apple didn’t talk about. They didn’t introduce a cover/keyboard for the new iPads, which I think is a huge mistake considering how wonderful Microsoft’s keyboard covers are. Apple has this whole attitude of integration, yet they are allowing third party companies to continue to make the keyboards, none of which work quite as well with the iPads as they should. Perhaps they don’t believe anyone needs a keyboard to enjoy their iPad, but with the discussion swiftly turning to tablet vs. laptop, people are starting to use their tablets to do more and more. Apple also didn’t mention AppleTV or anything about an iWatch.

Overall, I think Apple once again failed to introduce anything new or different. Perhaps we’ve come to expect too much from them, but you wonder at what point the world starts to look elsewhere for something innovative. The floor is definitely wide open for someone to come in and steal the show.

Let me know what you thought of Apple’s announcement; were you disappointed? Or did you find it exciting?

Twitter TV Ratings, Samsung Round and The Canadian Government Winning

The world’s focus for the past week has been on the ongoing government shutdown (which is now entering its third week), and the fact that the U.S. government will reach their debt ceiling on October 17^th. Unless the Democrats and the Republicans can figure out how to get along, and agree to raise the debt ceiling, the U.S. will default on its debt. This has many economists stating that such a default will result in a severe crash of the U.S. economy, which will likely take the world economy with it.

Others are certain that the government will never let this occur, due to the severe impact it would have on the world as a whole. I read an interesting quote the other day, where the person (who lived in Europe), said that the U.S. is so powerful that the decisions it makes has such a large impact on them, that it is like Obama is their president too. In their opinion, this is unfair because they cannot vote for the U.S. president, and therefore have no say over who is in charge, even if their decisions affect them. I thought this was an interesting point of view. But it looks like people are finally starting to get nervous, with three of the  major stock markets (Dow Jones, Standard & Poor, Nasdaq) dropping this morning.

Now onto the tech world:

- Neilsen, the global measurement company that determines size and composition of TV audiences among other things, has announced a new measurement. Twitter TV ratings. Starting soon, they will measure not only the twitter “authors” but the twitter “audience” who are reading tweets about TV programs. Basically they've determined that the TV twitter audience for a show is 50 times the number of people who are generating tweets about it. This is certainly going to help companies increase their social media, but how exactly is this going to help advertisers? An offshoot of the Twitter TV ratings should perhaps include the number of people who tweeted about an ad, or during an ad, to give the advertisers an idea of how many people did, or didn't watch it.

- Samsung has announced a new phone, the Samsung Round. Available only in Korea (for now), it is a curved smartphone. Samsung has yet to indicate if the phone is easier to hold or carry, or if the rounding serves any purpose at all. But in a world where the smartphone market is now saturated, with identical looking rectangular phones, having something different is never bad. They’ve also built in some features to do with the curve, such as flipping songs by rocking the phone. It will be interesting to see how the phone does.

- Pokémon X and Y were released globally on Saturday, the first time Pokémon is released in all global regions at once. Some interesting changes include, a new Pokémon type (fairy), increased 3D immersion, customizable trainer looks, sky battles (only for flying Pokémon) and mega evolution, in which fully evolved Pokémon can evolve into mega form during a battle.

- Lastly, the Canadian Government has announced that it will require TV providers to unbundle channels, which means, consumers will be able to pick and choose the channels they want. Hallelujah! You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this. This is all part of the government’s fight against industries that are monopolized and consumer unfriendly. This makes me like the Canadian government just a little more.

And on that note, Happy Thanksgiving!

Dell's Buyout, Apple's Cash, and Bill's End?

It’s been fairly depressing news on several fronts this week. In case you missed it, the U.S. Government is now in a shut down. The Republicans are essentially holding the Democrats hostage, telling them that they will only sign a bill to finance government functions (Ex: NASA, parks, museums, visa office, etc.), if that bill also involves removing funding from Obamacare. Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, has some Republicans screaming that the world will end. Seriously. New Hampshire representative Bill O’Brien said that the law will lead to ‘Armageddon’, and that it is ‘as destructive to personal and individual liberties as the Fugitive Slave Act’. Clearly he has never come to Canada. We’re still here.

To be fair, many say that the price for this health care is much higher than what citizens may have had (it needs to be to give everyone health care regardless of their health), and that negative effects include things such as, businesses dropping their full timers to part time, or removing health care coverage for spouses, due to the increase in health care costs. Regardless of how they feel about Obamacare, someone should inform the Republicans that putting 800,000 people out of work for a while, is not the way to gain favour from the American people or help your economy recover.

Back to what I was saying, not the greatest news this week (although it depends on your point of view), even in the world of tech. Here is your rundown:

-        -   Dell shareholders have agreed on a $25 billion dollar buyout. Michael Dell will now be able to take his company private again, ideally giving him more control and allowing him to enact internal reform more quickly. His proposed plan is to have Dell shift into an enterprise service provider, similar to IBM, and he feels this is best done out of the public eye.

   -  In the world of unreal, Apple apparently has $147 BILLION of cash on hand, which is 10% of all corporate cash held by nonfinancial companies. That’s an insane amount of money. And after a recent dinner with Tim Cook, billionaire investor Carl Icahn tweeted that he pushed for Apple to do another buyback of stock, $150 billion worth. When you’ve got that much cash on hand….why not eh?

         -  In the Microsoft world, apparently 3 of their top 20 shareholders have asked the board to remove Bill Gates as Chairman. They’re concerned that he will limit the power of a new CEO (now that Steve Ballmer is leaving) to change the direction of the company, especially since he has a role on the committee looking for a successor to Ballmer. Gates is still the largest individual shareholder, with a 4.5% share in the company. Interestingly enough, it was due to his suggestion that Microsoft will release a purple keyboard for the new Surface 2.

But hey, at least hockey season started in October this year! And the Leafs are 2-0….?? Let’s see how long it lasts.

Technology Update

It’s been an interesting week for technology fans, with the big companies fighting it out in various product categories. So let’s see who did the best job this week:

- Apple announced that they sold a record breaking 9 million iPhones in 3 days, far surpassing the iPhone 5’s 5 million units sold at launch. They also announced that they have currently run out of the iPhone 5S, with new shipments arriving in October. Apple did not announce how many units of each type of phone it sold, although the gold iPhone 5S seems to be the most popular choice.

- Continuing with Apple, the new fingerprint sensor has been hacked by Germany’s Chaos Computer Club, although many security experts claim that the hack requires highly specialized tools, and is not something the average person could achieve. iOS7 was also released, and according to Apple, has been downloaded by 200 million people to date. Reviews seem to be mixed, with users having to adjust to major changes to an operating system that has not had much change since its initial release in 2007.

- Microsoft announced its Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 this week. With only minor design changes (thinner, lighter, 2 settings for the kickstand), the biggest changes come in a large increase in speed and battery life. Microsoft also introduced some new accessories, including a dock, a thinner type cover, and the new power cover, which is a backlit keyboard. Perhaps the most interesting part of this announcement, is the price point. The 32GB Surface 2 will retail for $449, making it $50 less than the original Surface, and $150 less than the 32GB iPad, which may be just what Microsoft needs to convince consumers to try something new.

- Blackberry, on the other hand, only had bad news to share. Posting almost $1B in losses, and falling far short of sales forecasts, Blackberry has announced that it will lay of 40% of its workforce, approximately 4500 people. They also reached a tentative deal with Fairfax financial, one of Blackberry’s largest shareholders, to take them private, potentially paying $9 a share. This deal is conditional on several things and has a ways to go before being finalized.

- Grand Theft Auto 5 broke all records during its launch, making $1 billion in 3 days, far more than any other game or movie. At a distant second is Black Ops 2, which reached the $1 billion mark after 15 days. It has reportedly sold 15 million copies to date.

- Twitter has announced that it will go public. Perhaps

taking a cue from Facebook’s failed IPO, it has chosen a different firm (Goldman Sachs) and will go public on a different stock exchange (NYSE). Reports indicate that the IPO will net them around $1.5 billion, with shares going for around $30.

Hopefully that helps you get caught up on all the excitement in the world of technology at the moment. The coming weeks should prove interesting, with whispers that Windows 8.1 will include competition for Siri (Cortana), the announcement of potential new Apple products (iPads), and the upcoming release of Google’s newest Android OS (KitKat).

Apple’s Reactionary Product Announcement

Apple’s announcement on Tuesday didn’t reveal anything truly ground breaking or unexpected. Indeed, the past couple of years have seen Apple shift from revolutionary products to reactionary products. The biggest unveiling was that of not one, but two iPhones. Not only do you now have to choose between iOS and Android (or Windows 8), you now need to decide if you want an iPhone 5S or an iPhone 5C.

The iPhone 5C comes in some bright new colours, which allow you to personalize your phone, if you haven’t already done so with a colourful case. Apple will be offering versions in red, blue, yellow, green and white. It’s running an A6 chip, which is the same as the iPhone 5, has a four inch display, and a casing made of plastic. The interesting thing to note is that although it’s touted as the “cheap” iPhone 5, it’s $99 for the phone on a two year contract, and $549 outright. Can anything that costs $549 be considered cheap?

On the flip side, you have the iPhone 5S, which has a fingerprint scanner built into the home button and is running the new 64 bit A7 chip. It also has a specialized M7 chip, a “motion co-processor” which will be used to run the data from the accelerometer and gyroscopes, making sure that all those fitness apps aren’t using up your phone’s processing power. This iPhone 5S, which is available in silver, gold and “space grey”, is only $100 more, coming in at $199 with a two year contract or $649 outright.

The iPhone 5C appears to be Apple’s attempt to enter new markets, such as China, where there is a large market for cheaper smartphones. In entering this low-end/mid-range market, it looks to be competing with Nokia’s Lumia 520, which is priced about the same and has done well in these markets. Apple is following the competition, and unlike what we’re used to, it doesn’t look to be substantially bigger or better. Apple also announced that they were discontinuing the iPhone 5, and dropping the price of the iPhone 4S so that it’s now free with a two year contract.

Continuing with their reactionary announcements, Apple announced iWork (Apple’s productivity suite), will now be in the cloud, in an attempt to compete with GoogleDocs and Microsoft’s 365.  A rather surprising twist was that iWork will now be free for anyone who buys an iPhone or an iPad (it used to cost $30). Considering Apple’s goal has always been to sell hardware, as opposed to Microsoft’s software model, this strategic decision makes a lot of sense.

Some other announcements from Apple include the fact that the camera will now take pictures in bursts and choose the one that is best for you (there are already several phones and apps that give you this feature), as well as giving us a look at the new iOS7, which is very different from what users are used to and has already had a lot of criticism.

Noticeably, there were no announcements regarding the iPad, iPad mini, iMac, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air or the Mac Mini. The only change to the iPod line was a new colour option, “space grey”. Perhaps Apple has learned that it’s best to spread things out, and always have everyone anticipating the next new thing. How long until people start getting tired of the Next Slightly Changed New thing? Can Apple no longer innovate? Clearly the investors weren’t impressed, Apple’s stock dropped 2.2% overall, about $11.50.       *All prices in USD