Let’s Talk Apple – Ep. 33 (May 2016) 1

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots
• Chuck Joiner from MacVoices – @chuckjoiner
• Allister Jenks – @zkarj
• Gazmaz from the My Mac Podcast – @gazmaz

The show starts with a quick look at some notable numbers that were released in May, followed by a look at some Apple-related legal stories. The four main stories for the month are: Tim Cook’s visit to India and China, CurrentC gets postponed again, Google’s IO Conference, and Microsoft’s streamlining of their phone business. The show finishes with a quick rundown of some other shorter stories that made the news in May.

You’ll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar – the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!

Notable Numbers

• Apple tops JD Power Tablet Customer Satisfaction Survey – www.jdpower.com/…
• Despite calling for a boycott of Apple, Donald Trump's latest financial disclosure reports shows he has at least $1.1M of Apple Stock – www.imore.com/…

Legal Latest

• Apple being sued by Patent holding company because the iPhone can make calls! (no, it's not April 1st, the US patent system really is that broken) – www.macobserver.com/…
• VirtneX, who won a $626M patent suit against Apple over FaceTime & iMessage, requests those services be shut down – arstechnica.com/… & www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple makes ground in its fight against a $533M verdict against it in favour of Smartflash – two patents at the centre of the case have been rules invalid – www.bloomberg.com/… & www.imore.com/…

Main Stories

1. Tim Cook Goes to India & China
   • Apple announce software lab to be opened in Bengaluru – www.reuters.com/…
   • Tim meets with Indian Cellphone Carriers – www.imore.com/…
   • Apple opens Maps Development centre in Hyderabad, will create 4,000 jobs – www.imore.com/… & www.apple.com/…
   • In interview with Indian media, Tim Cook says Apple are in India for the next 1,000 years – www.thehindu.com/…
   • Tim Cook meets with Indian Prime Minister Modi – www.mercurynews.com/…
   • Apple release update to GarageBand with new Chinese instruments, Tim Cook jams with Chinese musician JJ Lin – www.macobserver.com/…
   • Apple failed to get waiver on India's 30% local sourcing rule – www.livemint.com/…
     • Apple might be able to get around this with a franchise strategy – www.bloomberg.com/…
   • In a meeting with Tim Cook, Chinese regulators stress the importance of security – www.reuters.com/…
   • Apple invests $1Bn in Didi – China's answer to Uber – www.macobserver.com/…
2. MCX postpones CurrentC, lays off 30 employees – social.techcrunch.com/…
   • John Gruber translates the MCX press release from PR into English – daringfireball.net/…
3. Google IO – tidbits.com/…
   • Google Now becomes Google Assistant
   • Google Home announced (Amazon Echo competitor)
   • Allo – a new cross-platform messaging app what has Google Assistant listening in by default (slated for simultaneous release on iOS & Android)
   • Duo – a new cross-platform FaceTime competitor (slated for simultaneous release on iOS & Android)
4. Microsoft Streamlines Phone business – www.prnewswire.com/… & www.macobserver.com/…
   • Pulling out of consumer smartphone business to focus on enterprise
   • Cutting 1,850 jobs in the process

Quick stories

• Apple teams up with SAP – www.reuters.com/…
• Support for Burr Feinstein encryption bill evaporates – bill is seen as dead – www.macobserver.com/… & www.reuters.com/…
• WWDC keynote set for 10am PT on June 13 – www.imore.com/…