Credit: Shutterstock photoGumdrop Cases Is Betting on Apple Unveiling iPad 5 Next Week
Next week, tech companies and developers will head to San Francisco for the 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), an Apple ( AAPL )-hosted event that has seen the unveiling of many new tech products. One company, Gumdrop Cases, is betting on Apple to unveil the next iteration of the iPad, the iPad 5; it has already begun production on an iPad 5 case, with specs that it's been receiving from its sources, who remain anonymous.
This isn't the first time that the company has bet on the announcement of a major Apple product. Tim Hickman, the founder and CEO of Gumdrop cases, has bet on five previous products before their unveiling. His record? He's 4 for 5, with his only slip up being the anticipation of an iPhone 5 in 2011 when what actually came out was the iPhone 4S (the case Gumdrop put out didn't come close to fitting the 4S).
The new iPad 5 case is set to ship on June 10, the day of Apple's keynote address. We'll be watching to see if Hickman gets it right again, and we're sure that all the other iPad case companies will be as well. WWDC 2013 runs from June 10 to June 14.
Obama Adminstration Collecting Phone Records From Verizon
In response to the Guardian's story yesterday about a top secret court order that requires Verizon ( VZ ) to hand over all call data to the National Security Agency, a senior Obama administration official confirmed and defended the allegations this morning. According to the official, the court order asks only for telephone number and length of call, and not the identities of callers or the actual dialogue of phone calls.
The order went directly from the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to two units at the telecom company, Verizon Business Network Services Inc. and Verizon Business Services. It directs the business to provide daily data to the NSA until July 19.
Choosing to remain anonymous, the official said of the measure, "It allows counter terrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States."
WIth the Obama administration already under scrutiny for searching AP reporter call records and Fox ( NWSA ) television reporter emails, today's news stokes the fire of concern over the president's handling of privacy and free speech issues.
Galaxy S4 Outsells iPhone 5 at Three of Four Major Carriers in May
According to retail sales data collected by Canaccord Genuity, Samsung's (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) newest, super powerful smartphone, the Galaxy S4, has outsold Apple's eight-month-old iPhone 5 at Verizon, Sprint ( S ), and T-Mobile (OTCMKTS:DTEGY) stores during May. The iPhone took the top spot at AT&T ( T ), the company that once claimed exclusive rights to selling the iPhone.
In April, the iPhone 5 took the number-one spot at all four carriers, with limited availability plaguing early sales of the Galaxy S4, but shipments increased as Samsung bested Apple. As Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said, "We believe sales of the S4 versus other Android (GOOG) smartphones was driven by Samsung's extremely strong Galaxy consumer brand and well-executed marketing campaign, as our surveys indicated store representatives often recommended the HTC (TPE:2498) One ahead of the Galaxy S4."
The HTC One took third place at Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T, but it's not yet sold by Verizon.
Twitter Teams Up With the World's Largest Ad Agency
This morning, a strategic partnership was announced between Twitter and WPP (WPPGY), the world's largest advertising company by revenue (it employs 162,000 people worldwide). The UK-based ad agency and its subsidiaries, including GroupM and Kantar, will now be able to use Twitter data to research consumer behavior and optimize ad spending. As WPP's CEO Martin Sorrell said in a statement, "Twitter's relevance continues to grow -- not only as a social platform, but also as a window into consumer attitudes and behavior in real time."
In order to compete with ad-savvy competitors Facebook (FB) and Google, Twitter has been trying recently to attract more ad presence to utilize data from its over 200 million users and boost its revenue. Today's announcement follows the deal Twitter made with ad agency Starcom MediaVest Group in April that was reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Moreover, as Starcom MediaVest is owned by Publicis Groupe (OTCMKTS:PUBGY), the parent company's clients, such as Procter & Gamble (PG), Walmart (WMT), Microsoft (MSFT), and Coca-Cola (KO), will have exclusive access to research and data from tweets.
The research firm eMarketer estimated in March that Twitter's total ad revenue would reach $582.8 million by the end of 2013, and $950 million in 2014.
Also see:
From Apple to Yahoo: How 7 Major Tech Companies Have Performed Under New CEOs
Grocery Wars: Can Amazon Keep the Milk Fresh and Even Make Some Money?
Research Firm Says Windows Phone Will Take Hold, but Can Forecasts Be Trusted?
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
