The deafening roar of the CES news cycle has finally subsided, things have started to get back to normal with the coming of a new week that should shed some light on Apple’s new education goals at a media event this Thursday. Cupertino got some good news today, with a huge jump in the ranks as the world’s most valuable brand -- complete with an ironic leap over once-mighty cellphone giant Nokia. But there’s plenty more to read about today, so kick up your feet and have a quick look at what’s making news for Monday, January 16, 2012.
We probably all knew how this story was going to end -- according to PCWorld, the Hong Kong businessman behind the frighteningly realistic 12-inch Steve Jobs action figure, is throwing in the towel. Tandy Cheung of In Icon claims the move is done “out of our heartfelt sensitivity to the feelings of the Jobs family,” citing “immense pressure from the lawyers of Apple and Steve Jobs’ family.” The entrepreneur also denies crossing “any legal boundaries,” but before you go branding Cheung a heartless capitalist, he wants you to know that his intentions were pure. “[Jobs’] passing left me with emptiness, sadness and a feeling of great personal loss," he explains. "I am sure that these sentiments are felt by all of his fans.” The project began four years ago with Cheung creating a single figurine of Jobs, which he “placed on my desk next to my Mac. I decided to share this memento with the rest of his fans as a commemoration to Steve.” While In Icon has stepped aside, PCWorld reports that other likenesses of Steve Jobs are readily available on eBay, so if you’re in the market for that sort of thing, buy now before Apple’s lawyers come a-callin’...
MacRumors is reporting on plans for two new Apple Stores in France (shown above) and Switzerland, with the French store described as “a one-level structure set back on a broad stone plaza, with a tan-colored rear wall and all other encompassing walls made of glass.” The store will be built in Aix-en-Provence, France on the south side of Place du General de Gaulle, where a “tired-looking” tourism office now resides. Plans are also afoot for the first retail store in Basel, Switzerland, a two-level affair encompassing 460 square meters (nearly 5,000 square feet) which will mark the country’s fourth such brick-and-mortar outlet. While the location in France could open later this year, both store locations are more likely to appear sometime in 2013.
Ars Technia has a fascinating look at where Final Cut Pro X stands, nearly a year after being demonstrated to video professionals at NAB 2011 and six months following its debut in the Mac App Store. The news is not good -- rivals Avid and Adobe have gained significant ground that had been lost to Apple’s Final Cut Pro over the years, and pros are blaming not only the radically overhauled FCPX software but also Cupertino’s tardiness at updating the aging Mac Pro as well. “The perception here is that Apple is more concerned with selling iPads and iPhones than they are with the people who have stuck with them since the 90's, the professional editors and VFX people," explains Jude Mull, a video pro working at a Hollywood facility that digitizes television content. Many of those interviewed cite the steep learning curve with FCPX as one major reason for abandoning it, with onetime industry leader Avid and Adobe’s underdog Premiere Pro software now being viewed as “professional options that keep us working and employable here in L.A.” The real question is, will Apple be able to right the ship before it goes down Titanic-style…?
Late last week, word began circulating that Apple had quietly introduced new pop-up windows to iTunes app pages, which enable users to read about an app prior to clicking on it first. It’s a novel bit of code that makes life with the desktop iTunes just a little bit nicer, but the folks at iMore.com seem to feel it’s just a tad too familiar -- in fact, they think it’s a flat-out copy of the tabbed screens from Android Market. “We know that in the past Android has been accused of copying Apple, but like Notification Center this time it looks like Apple is the one caught with their fingers in the copy jar,” iMore explains of the pop-up windows, which “are activated by a new information icon which will appear when hovering over an app icon.” What do you think, iTunes lovers? Are the new pop-ups a subtle “homage” to Google’s Android Market or is there something more sinister going on here?
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple Inc. has taken a big leap in only one year. No, we’re not talking about in revenue -- that goes without saying! This time, Apple is making waves as one of the 10 most valuable brands in the world for 2011, leaping from number 17 last year to number eight this year, a 58 percent year-over-year improvement. The iPhone maker is now sandwiched between Intel in seventh place and Disney in ninth place (!!), while Coca-Cola continues to rank first, followed by IBM, Microsoft, Google, GE, McDonald’s and Intel who, along with tenth-place HP, remain unchanged from 2010. In fact, Apple is the only brand in the top 10 who changed at all -- that is, with the exception of Nokia, who fell six places from number eight to number 14, a 15 percent slide.
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(Image courtesy of MacRumors)
