News

• Apple to build Macs in low-tax Texas

  Apple will build Macs in Texas using some parts made in the U.S., CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday, putting a little flesh on a pledge from last December.

• The iPhone's big lead in customer satisfaction is gone

  Apple's dominance in smartphone customer satisfaction faded last year, with rivals like Samsung and Motorola dramatically closing the gap, a national survey said today.

• Apple breaks into Fortune 500's top 10

  Apple climbed the Fortune 500 this year to the No. 6 spot, its highest-ever ranking, its first time in the top 10, and the top technology company on the influential list, replacing sagging HP.

• Rare working Apple-1 computer to hit auction block this month

  A German auctioneer will put a working Apple-1 computer on the block later this month, and expects the handmade computer to fetch between $261,000 and $392,000 at Thursday's exchange rate.

• Yes Siri, no Siri, for the Mac

  Apple's next version of OS X will probably not include Siri, the digital, voice-activated assistant embedded in the iPhone and iPad, an analyst predicted.

• Apple sold 35-38 million iPhones last quarter, analysts say

  Apple sold about 38 million iPhones in the first quarter, an 8 per cent increase over what it sold in the same quarter a year ago, according to an ISI Group analyst. Other analysts pegged the sales number at 35 million.

• Don't blame Windows 8 for PC slowdown; Apple hit, too

  Don't blame Windows 8 for plummeting PC sales, a retail analyst at NPD Group said today.

• Apple's silence cedes market narrative to rivals, says expert

  Apple's noted silence has hurt its mystique and caused it to cede the "cool" factor to competitors, a communications expert said today.

• U.S. patent office rebuffs Apple's iPad Mini trademark request

  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has provisionally denied Apple's trademark application for "iPad Mini" because the term is "merely descriptive" of the tablet's size.

• iPhone snares eighth straight top satisfaction ranking

  Apple's iPhone has again taken the top ranking in J.D. Power and Associates' smartphone customer satisfaction survey, the company said.

• Apple's hire of Adobe CTO foretells move toward iOS-OS X hybrids

  Apple's hiring of Adobe's former CTO Kevin Lynch opens some intriguing possibilities for the company's future moves, analysts said today.

• iPhone U.S. dominance due to carriers' pricing strategies

  Apple's iPhone dominance in the U.S. is largely due to carriers suppressing market economics, an analyst said today.

• Apple slashes iMac shipping delays to 1-3 days

  Over the weekend, Apple improved supplies of its new iMacs in the U.S. and several other markets.

• U.S. Mac sales make small rebound

  Apple's U.S. retail Mac sales were up for the first month of the quarter, but not to the extent recently claimed by a Wall Street analyst, the NPD Group said today.

• Which way Apple ticks on the iWatch will show how gutsy the firm remains

  If Apple ever makes some kind of "iWatch" wearable device, how the company positions the device will tell a lot about where it's going.