Boot up: Ive tightens control, S5's missing sensors, smartphone ad spend, and more

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2014/apr/10/ive-samsung-smartphone

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A burst of 9 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology team

Jony Ive shakes up Apple's software design group, iPhone interface creator Greg Christie departing >> 9to5Mac

The design shakeup at Apple will result in Christie soon leaving the company, with all software designers now working directly under Ive with the rest of his industrial design team instead of within Federighi's engineering group. Sources say that Christie's upcoming departure is significant and stems from a falling out with Ive.

When Ive tasked Apple's Human Interface team with redesigning iOS 7 to include an entirely new look, Christie and Ive reportedly clashed over design direction, after which Ive is said to have circumvented Christie's leadership of the team during the new operating system's development.

Apple confirmed the departure but told the FT "Greg has been planning to retire later this year after nearly 20 years at Apple."

Christie testified at the latest Apple-Samsung trial about the invention of the iPhone, and gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal and NPR about the process ahead of the trial - he's listed as an inventor of "slide to unlock".

Does the Galaxy S5 have temperature and humidity sensors? >> OpenSignal

Although the S5 is not officially released for another 2 days, we've seen numerous S5's sending us data – almost 70 in fact, from 15 countries (Korea we expected to see as the S5 is already on sale there, the US, Israel, Brazil are also included). Among the data we collect is a one-off scan of device specs, this forms the basis of our Android Fragmentation reports, we also provide this data to device testing firms and OEMs.

Across all 69 Galaxy S5's, covering 9 distinct precise models (e.g. SM-G900L, SMG900V) not a single one provides humidity or temperature APIs. Unless Samsung has included these sensors but made them invisible to developers – which would be perverse – these sensors are not present.

They aren't - because you can't make a phone waterproof while also having humidity sensors.

Chinese Ministry of Commerce approves Microsoft-Nokia deal >> The Official Microsoft Blog

David Howard, deputy general counsel at Microsoft:

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Tuesday announced that it has approved our purchase of Nokia's Devices and Services business subject to certain conditions. MOFCOM's decision effectively adopts Microsoft's current patent licensing practices. In reaching its decision, MOFCOM concluded after its investigation that Microsoft holds approximately 200 patent families that are necessary to build an Android smartphone.

Would love to know what functionality those 200 patent families read on.

Apple closes US ad-spending gap with Samsung >> WSJ Digits

Last year, Apple spent about $351m on total U.S. wireless phone advertising, up 5% from $333m, according to Kantar Media. It spent more on TV ads last year than its entire 2012 budget, spending $339m on TV ads in 2013, up 15% from 2012 TV ad spending.

Samsung spent about $363m on all US mobile phone ads, down 10% from $401m, the only top device maker that cut U.S. ad spending.

At No. 3, Nokia went on a marketing binge as it announced a merger of its devices and services business with Microsoft, and spent $221m, more than 15 times what it spent in 2012.

Motorola, the No. 4 largest ad spender, more than tripled spending to $189m after it became part of Google in mid-2012. Google is currently in the process of selling Motorola to Lenovo.

Rounding out the bottom three, BlackBerry more than doubled its ad spending to $90m as the company received a $1bn cash infusion from some of its investors; HTC invested about $76m, up from $46m in 2012; and LG Electronics spent about $51m, compared with $38m a year earlier.

Out of those, you'd have to say Nokia got the worst bang for its buck, and LG by far the best, in terms of increased sales.

There won't be another iPhone-class product, not for Apple, not for anyone, not for a long time >> iMore

Rene Ritchie:

We've all seen the reports. The iPhone by itself is more profitable than many of Apple's competitors are in total. iPhone is as profitable as companies with oligopoly control over fossil fuel resources. It's a singular phenomenon.

The iPad doesn't make as much money as the iPhone. And, no iWatch, iTelevision, iEspresso maker, or any other consumer electronics product is going to either.

Yet article after article, analyst after analyst insists Apple simply must release their "next big thing" and now or, doomed. 60 days to release an iWatch or doomed. Has to sell 65m units a year or doomed. Haunted. Doomed.

Sensible. The smartphone has been the fastest-adopted technology ever* (data for the wheel not available).

Forget wearable tech, embeddable implants are already here >> CNN.com

Smartphone mapping features are great for getting directions, until you lose signal. But you could avoid getting lost in the woods with a guiding system embedded in your body.

Electronic engineer and biohacker Brian McEvoy has designed the first internal compass, and will be the first test subject. The 'Southpaw' - inspired by the North Paw bracelet - works by sealing a miniature compass inside a silicon coat, within a rounded Titanium shell, to be implanted under the skin. An ultra-thin whisker juts out, which is activated when the user faces north, to lightly brush an alert on the underside of the skin.

"For a disc shape, it would be best located near shoulder", says McEvoy, ahead of the procedure. "I don't foresee any safety issues". Materials and shape have been chosen for the body's tolerance of them, but the Minnesota biohacker is working with experts to minimize risk before going under the knife.

Apple seeks revival of standards suit against Google's Motorola >> San Jose Mercury News

In the case on appeal, Apple claimed that Motorola Mobility violated that [fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory, or FRAND licensing] pledge on technology for wireless and 3G transmissions. Motorola Mobility demanded "a rate that was more than 12 times what Motorola was charging other licensees for the same technology," Apple said in a 23 July filing with the Federal Circuit.

Motorola Mobility demanded 2.25% of the sale price of the iPhone, or about $12 per phone, even though it has "only a small percentage of the thousands of patents declared essential to the relevant standards," Apple said.

Motorola Mobility, in a 5 November filing with the court, argued Apple was late to the smartphone business and is trying to avoid paying anything to the innovators that came before it. Mountain View, California-based Google inherited the case through its $12.4bn purchase of Motorola Mobility in 2012.

Apple "seeks to free-ride on the contributions of the technology companies that cooperatively advanced wireless communication while seeking a new set of rules to govern standard-essential patents," Motorola Mobility said.

Google hangs on to the patents, so presumably hangs on to the case, when Lenovo closes the deal. Motorola had a $2bn demand over FRAND patents knocked down to $14m by a US judge in 2012.

Apple iWatch captivates US teens, new survey shows >> Fortune Tech

Before anyone gets too excited about the results of the teen survey Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster released Tuesday, the numbers need to be put in some kind of socioeconomic context.

For one thing, American teenagers tend to be richer - a lot richer - than teenagers in the rest of the world. For another, the sample of roughly 7,500 American teens Piper Jaffray polled tends to come from middle and upper-middle class families. Inner-city teens don't go the kinds of high schools Gene Munster visits.

He didn't ask them about a TV. Shocking.

Five things HTC's Sense 6.0 does better than stock Android >> Android Community

Nate Swanner:

One of the first Android skins, Sense has come a long way from the clunky blanket it once was. Mature and sensible, there are some things we think Sense does just a bit better than Android proper.

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