Apple That

With all of the new Android devices being released almost weekly, and the major decline in Apple’s stock since last fall, you would think that Apple is about to go out of business. This, of course, is an exaggeration as Apple just release their Q2 (Second Quarter) earnings numbers on Tuesday and they beat Wall Street’s expectations. Apple accrued a profit of $9.5 billion and a revenue of $43.6 billion. These revenues are slightly higher than what experts were predicting, but not quite as high a profit as Apple has had in the past.

This is welcome news for the technology giant that has seen its stock drop over 300 points from a high of  $705 a share to a low of under $400 a share since last September. Much of the concern has been over the fact that iPhone sales have been in decline, though still a massive source of revenue. iPhone sales for the last quarter were over 37.4 million units. While this is a great sales number, the growth of iPhone sales has slow quite a bit. One product, however, that showed a tremendous growth rate was the iPad. Compared to last year, iPad sales were up 65% to over 19 million units sold. The main thing that can be taken away from these figures is that Apple is still selling millions of products, but some new, “innovative” features may be necessary for continued growth.

The increased competition from new, high quality Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S III has had a major impact on iPhone sales. Many experts are wondering if Apple will be able to keep up with the “cutting edge” Android devices that are taking more and more of the smartphone market. Many are also speculating if Apple will release an iPhone with a larger display this year to keep up with the trend of larger smartphone screens, but CEO Tim Cook shot many of those theories down. Cook, after being asked about possibly shipping an iPhone with a 5 inch display, went on to list many of the tradeoffs and problems that come with a display that size. He detailed resolution, color quality, brightness, and so on as being issues that would keep Apple from shipping a display that size “while these tradeoffs exist”. This may sound ridiculous to those Android customers that have displays over 5″, but Apple has shown that they are “slow” to adopt a trend until it is proven and established. The best example of this would be their decision not to implement LTE connectivity into their devices until it was a “proven” and widespread standard.

One thing is certain after this reporting of revenue from Apple, they are still an extremely valuable company. Posting a revenue of over $43 billion is something that is truly “mind-boggling” and is almost hard to comprehend. That being said, Apple will need to “up its game” with their new product releases and updates this year. One area that both customers and critics agree needs to be updated is the operating system on Apple’s mobile products, iOS. Since the iPhone’s debut in 2007, iOS has been updated each year with a host of new features and abilities but has not had a drastic U/I (user interface) overhaul. Many are pointing to the customizability of the Android operating system as something that Apple needs to adopt in their new version of iOS that will most likely be released this fall. It remains to be seen what Apple will actually do, but the anticipation for their updated products and software is sure to be widespread.

Sources – http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/23/4258068/apple-posts-9-5b-profit-on-43-6b-in-revenue, http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/23/4258544/tim-cook-says-5-inch-iphone-display-would-have-too-many-tradeoffs

Have you ever had that sinking feeling of not being able to remember your password?  If you fail too many times, you are locked out.  Then the process of calling some company to go through the steps it takes to unlock your account could cause the most reasonable person want to go into a rage!  A new Apple system now has the ability to tell the difference between a failed password attempt and a hacking attempt.

Starting the patent process back in 2007, Apple has been approved and published in the USPTO records for a system that has a solution to typos vs. hackers.  All I can think about is the hours of frustration saved because I am notorious for mis-typing or forgetting my password.

This technology was designed to detect an intruder tying to access a secure network without making it impossible to handle for people who make a genuine error like a typo or thinking of the wrong password.  The system still requires a correct password and other login details to gain access.  The catch is how quickly someone gets blocked from trying again. And with the rise of cyber attacks, you might also be wondering, what is CASB? It is a subscription service designed to provide visibility, compliance, data security, and threat protection for organizations.

Administrators can set a limit for how closely an attempt must match.  If one or two characters are wrong, it will assume you have made a typing error and give you another chance. Getting more complicated, the system can actually learn the patterns of mistakes made by legitimate users.  For example, someone whose first three attempts providing a password are “987654321”, “password” and “lyla” might be identified as someone just trying their luck with common passwords and then will be blocked permanently from access to the system.  But if you make consistent mistakes like reversed letters or numbers, or mix up your passwords from another site regularly, the system might automatically discount that attempt when deciding to block or not block an attempt.

I have to wonder if this has anything to do with Apple’s recent blocking of iForgot Password System.  Apple has stated that privacy and security for its customers is very important and it appears Apple wants to go even further.  iForgot Password had flaws that allowed hackers to gain access with very little effort.  Although, it does appear that Apple has fixed the flaw and re-opened the program.  It will be interesting to see what the long-term user satisfaction results and/or level of frustration will be upon implementation and use of the system.

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