Tag: Record

Apple Breaks Own Record, 4 Million iPhones Pre-Ordered Within First 24 Hours

The two new phones by Apple – the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, announced last week, went up for pre-order on 12th September. Apple reports that within the first 24 hours they recorded more than 4 million orders. The deliveries of these phones will begin on Friday.

In terms of the previous models, for the iPhone 5, Apple took two million orders when it was first launched in September 2012. However, the company did not reveal the numbers for the editions that came in 2013; the iPhone 5S and 5C.

The new iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, have a 4.7 inch display and a 5.5 inch display respectively. The phones despite being bigger, are lighter and thinner. The iPhone 6 is 6.9 mm and the new iPhone 6 Plus is only 7.1 mm thick. At the mega-event held in Cupertino, Apple also announced that the iPhone 6 is up to 50% more energy efficient. The new A8 chip has up to 25% faster processing power and up to 50% faster graphics.

The major development with these iPhones was that Apple launched a new Apple Pay payment system that uses NFC and Touch ID. Virtual credit cards can be stored in Passbook, without the actual number being stored, for which Apple creates a secure temporary payment ID.

This year, Apple received quite a bit of criticism for slow adaption of technology. Clearly, these numbers speak otherwise. We’ll have to wait till next month to see how the Indian market responds.

September 16, 2014
Samsung Has Sold Over 40 Million Galaxy S4 Units

Samsung has sold more than 40 Million Galaxy S4 in 6 months of its launch. Earlier, Samsung sold 38 million of its Note devices, now with the S4 company has reached a new milestone.

It sure is an achievement for the company but Samsung might have assumed this already, as the first month sales for the device itself was 10 Million units. JK Shin, did not reveal the brake down of the sales, but the S4 golden was probably not the show stealer here as it was only available in a limited market. Whereas, the company further updated the product through a firmware tweak which allowed the device to connect with the wearable Galaxy Gear.

October 24, 2013
Nokia Lumia Achieved Record Sales Last Quarter

Sales of Nokia Lumia smartphones have hit a record high as Nokia gears up to release another batch of Windows Phone 8 devices. It represents the fourth consecutive quarter in which Nokia Lumia sales have hit a new peak.

According to the Wall Street Journal‘s sources, Nokia sold “at least eight million” Nokia Lumia phones between July and September. Obviously this doesn’t even approach Apple or Samsung figures, but for a Windows Phone platform that comes a distant third to iOS and Android in usage numbers it’s truly noteworthy.

It’s an improvement on the previous quarter’s record-smashing 7.4 million sales. It’s also a massive increase on the same quarter last year, during which Nokia sold only 2.9 million Lumia phones.

Nokia is expected to release as many as six new devices including the Lumia 2520, which will be the company’s first tablet, and Lumia 1520 at the Nokia World event. A Nokia smartwatch patent emerged just last week, but we don’t expect launch of this device from Nokia this time around as it may very well be in a prototype stage.

Not helping matters is the fact that Apple is expected to the launch its latest iPad on the same day, meaning that Nokia will have some seriously stiff competition as it vies for the world’s attention.

The event will also be the first big public appearance for Elop since the acquisition, which saw him emerge as a leading candidate to take over from current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer when he goes into retirement in 2014.

October 21, 2013
Human-Powered Helicopter Awarded $250,000 Sikorsky Prize

A Kickstarter-backed project has succeeded in flying a human-powered helicopter for a full minute, setting records and taking home the $250,000 Sikorsky prize.

When Todd Reichert settles into the pilot seat of the helicopter he helped build, there are no fancy electronic switches to flip, there’s no fuel tank to fill and certainly no computer to configure before take off.

What allows the 31-year-old to defy gravity is sheer human power, delivered to the craft’s four rotors through the bicycle pedals he steadily pumps throughout his flight.

It’s that fragile machine, built by Reichert’s Canadian team, which has now won a long-coveted international prize that lay unclaimed for years.

Since 1980, a challenge to engineers — to build a human-powered helicopter, capable of sustaining three metres of altitude for 60 seconds — had remained unaccomplished.

Teams from Japan to the U.S. came close to winning the Sikorsky Prize, but not close enough. Only Reichert’s team has fulfilled the seemingly impossible feat, earning it a $250,000 prize. The award-winning flight took place in June.

To win the Sikorsky prize, the helicopter must remain airborne for 60 seconds, with an altitude of 3 meters (a little less than 10 feet) to be reached at some point during those 60 seconds. It must also remain within a horizontal area no larger than 10×10 meters.

Robertson and Reichert had hired a stadium for five days of test flights. The successful flight didn’t occur until the very last day. Reichert, piloting the Atlas, remained airborne for 64.11 seconds and reached a top height of 3.33 meters within a 9.8-meter square.

AeroVelo, the project, was officially announced as the winner of the long-sought-after award, which comes with US$250,000 in prize money.

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July 12, 2013