The AppAdvice Week In Review: Doubts Grow About Apple's Acquisition Of Beats
May 25, 2014
Plenty of questions about Apple's future should be answered in the coming weeks. In the meantime, there has been a steady stream of speculation.
Here are just a few of the stories we covered during the past week.
The Big Three Stories of the Week
1. Uncertainty surrounds WWDC
Almost five months have passed since we rang in 2014. The number of new Apple products released since that time: one (a modest update to the MacBook Air).
One week from tomorrow, Apple will commence the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). One week from tomorrow, we may finally have a better idea what Cupertino is planning for the rest of the year.
Beyond the almost certain introduction of iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 on Monday, June 2, things remain decidedly fluid ahead of WWDC.
Is Apple’s likely acquisition of Beats Audio (see below) going to be announced at that time? Are we going to get a preview of the so-called “iWatch,” or any new mobile device for that matter? Will we ever see an updated Apple TV?
Anyone, anyone?
http://youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA
2. As uncertainty grows about Apple/Beats, Spotify moves forward
I still believe Apple is going to buy Beats Audio. Nonetheless, 10 days have now passed since news of the acquisition first came to light.
Does this mean the deal is off? Absolutely not. Does the delay mean a deal is no longer guaranteed. Absolutely.
Billboard offered a nice take late in the week on the reasons why Apple and Beats are having some difficulty in finalizing a deal. One of those obstacles might have been caused by a leaked video that showed Beats’ Dr. Dre celebrating for being “the first billionaire in hip-hop.”
As Joe White reported, the video “was far from family friendly,” and left Apple executives seething.
As Billboard explained:
Thirteen years ago this week, Apple opened its first two retail stores at Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia, and the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California. Since then, the number of Apple stores has climbed to 424 worldwide, with 254 of them based in the United States.
Nothing represents Apple's rise as a retailing powerhouse more than its store on 5th Ave. in New York City. However, the "Cube" could soon be replaced as Apple's flagship store.
In the next year or two, Cupertino plans on opening two new stores in the Big Apple. One of those, located at 938 Madison Ave., could become the company's leading store.
Apple’s other new Manhattan store will be part of the upcoming Westfield World Trade Center mega mall, which is set to open in 2015.
Hands down, I was most impressed with the latest release of djay 2. With the Spotify integration mentioned above, the dj app has rocketed to new heights, as Christine Chan recently noted.
Also impressive is the new TeeVee 3 update, which brings iPad support to the TV tracking app for the first time. You can read Aldrin Calimlim's take on the update here.
Almost five months have passed since we rang in 2014. The number of new Apple products released since that time: one (a modest update to the MacBook Air).
One week from tomorrow, Apple will commence the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). One week from tomorrow, we may finally have a better idea what Cupertino is planning for the rest of the year.
Beyond the almost certain introduction of iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 on Monday, June 2, things remain decidedly fluid ahead of WWDC.
Is Apple’s likely acquisition of Beats Audio (see below) going to be announced at that time? Are we going to get a preview of the so-called “iWatch,” or any new mobile device for that matter? Will we ever see an updated Apple TV?
Anyone, anyone?
http://youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA
2. As uncertainty grows about Apple/Beats, Spotify moves forward
I still believe Apple is going to buy Beats Audio. Nonetheless, 10 days have now passed since news of the acquisition first came to light.
Does this mean the deal is off? Absolutely not. Does the delay mean a deal is no longer guaranteed. Absolutely.
Billboard offered a nice take late in the week on the reasons why Apple and Beats are having some difficulty in finalizing a deal. One of those obstacles might have been caused by a leaked video that showed Beats’ Dr. Dre celebrating for being “the first billionaire in hip-hop.”
As Joe White reported, the video “was far from family friendly,” and left Apple executives seething.
As Billboard explained:
Apparently, the Apple family near imploded with outrage when that video went up on Facebook of an ‘excited’ Dr. Dre with R&B singer/former Coca Cola pin-up Tyrese. In the video they share, in language perhaps unsuitable for a family blog, how Dre will be hip-hop’s first billionaire and other nice things about Compton.As Apple ponders what to do about Beats, it's full steam ahead for the world’s most popular streaming music service, Spotify. In the last week, Spotify announced it had added 4 million paying subscribers since March 2013, bringing the total to 10 million. They also announced there are more than 40 million active users, in 56 markets around the world. They also launched a huge partnership with Algoriddim, which brought Spotify Premium integration to the best-selling disk jockey app, djay 2. 3. Apple retail stores turn 13
Thirteen years ago this week, Apple opened its first two retail stores at Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia, and the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California. Since then, the number of Apple stores has climbed to 424 worldwide, with 254 of them based in the United States.
Nothing represents Apple's rise as a retailing powerhouse more than its store on 5th Ave. in New York City. However, the "Cube" could soon be replaced as Apple's flagship store.
In the next year or two, Cupertino plans on opening two new stores in the Big Apple. One of those, located at 938 Madison Ave., could become the company's leading store.
Apple’s other new Manhattan store will be part of the upcoming Westfield World Trade Center mega mall, which is set to open in 2015.
This Week’s Awesome App Updates
Atom Run was our Game of the Week, while Noisli celebrated being named AppAdvice’s App of the Week. But what were the best app updates this week?
Hands down, I was most impressed with the latest release of djay 2. With the Spotify integration mentioned above, the dj app has rocketed to new heights, as Christine Chan recently noted.
Also impressive is the new TeeVee 3 update, which brings iPad support to the TV tracking app for the first time. You can read Aldrin Calimlim's take on the update here.
For Further Consideration
