China"s Xiaomi takes aim at Apple with new phone

BEIJING, (AP) — Rising smartphone star Xiaomi is moving upmarket and taking aim at Apple’s iPhone.

The Chinese manufacturer, known for ultra-low-priced handsets, on Thursday unveiled a new model that Chairman Jun Lei said is comparable to Apple’s iPhone 6, but thinner, lighter and much cheaper. The phone starts at 2,299 yuan (US$375), less than half the 5,288 yuan (US$865) price of an iPhone 6 in China.

Xiaomi, founded in 2010, passed South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co in the second quarter of last year as the best-selling smartphone brand in China by number of handsets sold. The company is expanding into India and other developing markets but has yet to announce plans to enter the United States or Europe.

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China"s Xiaomi takes aim at Apple with new phone

Fake chargers prompt Apple action

6 August 2013 Last updated at 06:15 ET Apple said “safety issues” prompted its trade-in initiative Apple has begun a worldwide programme to replace third-party and counterfeit USB chargers.

The initiative comes after reports that a Chinese woman was electrocuted by a non-Apple charger.

Apple said it would swap third-party chargers for an official replacement on payment of $10 or the equivalent in local currency.

The programme begins on 16 August and will run to 18 October.

In mid-July, Apple said it was investigating reports that a Chinese woman, Ma Ailun, was killed when she answered her iPhone 5 while it was plugged into a wall charger. The third-party charger was later blamed as the cause.

No mention was made of Ms Ma’s death in the blogpost announcing the trade-in programme but Apple said that the initiative was prompted by “safety issues”.

Give serial number

In a related move, Apple has recently updated its Chinese website with information to help people identify fake USB chargers.

Those who want to get an official charger must hand over the third-party device and give the serial number of the iPhone, iPod or iPad it is being used to charge. The $10 or equivalent fee is a discount on the usual price of a charger. In the UK an Apple charger costs about £15.

Owners will only be able to trade in one adapter for each relevant Apple gadget they own. Trade-ins can be made at Apple stores or via authorised service providers.

Apple said that the third-party and fake chargers would be “disposed of in an environmentally friendly way”.

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Fake chargers prompt Apple action

Apple buys two start-ups to improve its mobile maps

Business

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple has bought online mapping services HopStop and Locationary as part of its ongoing effort to create a more formidable alternative to Google’s navigation system.The acquisitions confirmed over last weekend give Apple Incorporated more tools to round out the maps that it embeds in the mobile operating system running its iPhones and iPads. Apple relied on Google Inc for the built-in maps on those devices until switching to its own system last year.The switch turned into an embarrassment for Apple when iPhone and iPad users discovered the maps sometimes gave faulty directions and misplaced famous landmarks. Apple CEO Tim Cook ended up apologising for the gaffes, and recommended iPhone and iPad users to rely on Google’s maps until improvements could be made.When Google released a new mapping app for the iPhone late last year, it quickly became one of the most downloaded programmes for the device. Google’s maps are also widely used on mobile devices running on that company’s Android software, as well as through Web browsers on personal computers.Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California, isn’t saying how it plans to deploy its latest acquisition.“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” company spokesman Kristin Huguet said.New York-based HopStop provides directions to major transit systems and biking routes, popular features on Google’s maps.Locationary, which is based in Toronto, collects and analyses data to help create more precise maps.Terms of the acquisitions weren’t disclosed.Google paid US$1.03 billion last month to buy an Israel startup called Waze that relies on social networking to monitor local traffic conditions.— AP

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Apple buys two start-ups to improve its mobile maps