Amazon has officially announced the launch of Amazon Cloud Drive in Canada to bring 5GB of free storage for users. Just under two weeks ago the company launched the Amazon Cloud Drive iOS app to allow users to store, share and access photos. Files are also accessible via the web, Mac and PC. Additional storage can be purchased for $10 per year for 20GB.

Russell Dicker, Director of Amazon Cloud Drive:

“We are proud to bring Amazon Cloud Drive to our customers in Canada. With Amazon Cloud Drive, you can manage and access files across multiple physical devices and you don’t have to worry about hard drive crashes. All of your content is stored safely on Amazon’s servers and is accessible from anywhere using a PC, Mac or web browser.”

Amazon Cloud Drive is yet another competitor for cloud storage seeking attention from customers. Last week Google announced it had unified 15GB of free storage across Google Drive, Gmail and Google+, while yesterday Flickr announced 1 terabyte of free storage.

Amazon continues to roll out various services in Canada previously exclusive to the USA. Note the following timeline of launches in Canada:

• Dec. 2012: Amazon Kindle eBook store
• Jan. 2013: Amazon Prime memberships
• Jan. 2013: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
• Feb. 2013: Amazon Mobile for iOS updated for Canadian Shoppers
• April 2013: Lower Amazon Kindle prices by $10

The only hold outs so far include the Amazon Kindle Fire tablets and streaming media services. If Amazon continues its expansion into Canada we very well could see Fire tablets soon.

Click here to learn more about Amazon Cloud Drive. Are you using Amazon Cloud Drive?

Amazon Cloud Drive Launches in Canada with 5GB Free Storage is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Discovered first by TonyMacx86, a leaked Broadcom BCM94360CD PCI-E mini custom combo WLAN+Bluetooth card (shown above) could possibly be Apple’s next option for WLAN+Bluetooth connectivity in the upcoming MacBooks due for announcement on WWDC in June, 9to5Mac reports.

The leaked PCI-E mini custom combo card seems to support IEEE 802.11ac, the next standard in wireless computer networking.

“The Broadcom BCM94360CD PCI-E mini custom combo WLAN+Bluetooth card supports IEEE 802.11ac, the next standard in wireless computer networking. Interestingly, it also looks like it may fit in current iMacs/MacBooks which could mean aftermarket updates could be possible”.

The Broadcom BCM94360CD PCI-E card may also support NGFF standard which is meant to improve area and Z-height, Layout, Interface support, and Flexibility. According to the source, these standards “help to reduce cost and design complexity”.

Upcoming MacBook’s Custom Combo WLAN+Bluetooth Card Leaked? is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Cook said that Apple pays an extraordinary amount in U.S. taxes. Having paid nearly $6 billion last year, Apple has likely become the largest corporate income tax payer in the U.S, he added. ”We are proud to be an American company, and we are equally proud of our contributions to the U.S. economy,” Cook said. ”We not only comply with the laws but we comply with the spirit of the laws. We don’t depend on tax gimmicks,” he said.

Cook said the tax code “has not kept up with the digital age” and restricts the free movement of capital in comparison to the codes of other countries. He called for a “dramatic simplification of the corporate tax code,” including lower tax rates and a “reasonable tax on foreign earnings.”

He said Apple was “deeply committed to our country’s welfare.”

While the panel’s chairman, Sen. Carl Levin called Apple ”an American success story”, he said that it doesn’t excuse the company’s tactics, which has lead it to avoid paying at least $9 billion in U.S. taxes in 2012.

“Apple executives want the public to focus on the U.S. taxes the company has paid, but the real issue is the billions in taxes it has not paid, thanks to offshore tax strategies whose purpose is tax avoidance, pure and simple,” Levin said.

Such tax avoidance by U.S. multinational companies hurts because it increases the federal budget deficit, forcing average Americans to make up the difference with a higher tax burden, he said.

Even thgough the subcommittee stopped short of accusing Apple of having broken any U.S. law, it finds the company to have circumvented the U.S. Tax Code’s Subpart F, whose purpose is “to prevent multinational corporations from shifting profits to tax havens to avoid U.S. tax.”

Tim Cook Defends Apple’s Policies For Avoiding U.S. Taxes At Senate Hearing is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

In terms of Apple’s profits, the Mac is no longer the defining product as it once was. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said this at many occasions that the iPad is now the company’s growth engine, not the Mac. But since supply issues resulted in hampered sales of Apple’s newer Macs during the last quarter, seeing flat sales for April will potentially lead to a better current quarter.

“With iPad in particular, we have the mother of all opportunities because the Windows market is much, much larger than the Mac market is,” Cook said back in January. “And I think it is clear that it’s already cannibalizing some, and I think there’s a tremendous amount of more opportunity there. As you know I’ve said for two or three years now that I believe the tablet market will be larger than the PC market at some point, and I still believe that”.

So, as long as Apple continues to exploit the iPad as “mother of all opportunities”, as referred by Cook himself, declining Mac sales will not pose much of a concern to the Cupertino company.

Mac Sales Remain Steady In North American During April is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Apple is receiving criticism from a US Senate Committee for seeking the “Holy Grail of tax avoidance.” In a report co-authored by Senators John McCain and Carl Levin, the Committee accuses Apple for negotiating the tax rate it is liable to pay in Ireland for the activity of its subsidiaries located there.

The report says Apple’s subsidiaries paid a 2% tax rate instead of Ireland’s standard 12.5%, already the lowest in Western Europe.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, however, rejected these claims. Furthermore, Mr. Kenny’s deputy Eamon Gilmore rejected allegations that Ireland should take responsibility for the low rates some multinationals pay, The Telegraph reports.

“Ireland does not – I will repeat – does not do special tax rate deals with companies, we don’t have any special extra-low corporate tax rate for multinational companies,” he said.

“Reports of a lower effective tax rate appear to arrive at their figures by lumping together the profits earned by companies in Ireland and other jurisdictions and incorrectly suggests that the Irish tax does, or should, apply to both.”

During today’s testimony, Tim Cook defended the company’s position and pointed to the $6 billion in taxes Apple paid last year. He pointed out that the company pays 30.5% of its profits in taxes in the U.S.

When asked by Sen. McCain about AOI (Apple Operations International), a holding company, Tim Cook said:

AOI was created in 1980. The relationship between Apple and the Irish government still exists today. We’ve built up a significant skill base there of people who have a significant understanding of the European market. AOI is nothing more than a holding company. A holding company is a concept that many companies use. It’s not an operating company. The dividends that go into this company have already been taxed appropriately in their local jurisdictions. AOI to me is nothing more than a company that has been set up to provide an efficient way to manage Apple’s cash. From income that’s already been taxed. The investment income that comes out of AOI is taxed in the United States at the full 35% rate. AOI does not reduce our US taxes at all.

He also pointed out that while he doesn’t quite understand the difference between tax presence and tax residence, both ASI (Apple Sales International) and AOE (Apple Operations Europe) are paying Irish taxes, while AOI, because it is a holding company, makes investment income. All of that income is taxed in the U.S. “at the full 35% level.”

Ireland Rejects Allegations of Special Tax Rate Deal with Apple is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

What’s New in Version 4.5
Real-time border detection:
- While making a scan, borders are detected visually and in real time.
- Get a clear vision on what part of the page is recognized and what will be scanned.
- Skip manual border adjustments and cropping. Now you will scan much faster, especially in the batch mode.

After trying out this update, it has made Scanner Pro much easier to use. Borders are detected in real time and is shown right on the app, as seen below (editor’s note the left screenshot shows an off border as I moved the phone during the screenshot):

Scanner Pro is our go-to scanner app, allowing easy upload of scans to Dropbox, Google Drive or Evernote.

Click here to download Scanner Pro–it’s $6.99 in the App Store. You can also try out the Scanner Mini for free to get a sense of what the app is all about.

Readdle’s Scanner Pro Updated with Real-Time Border Detection is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

What’s New in Version 2.1.40
• Pollen report
• App language support for Spanish and Italian
• Crash bug fix
• Improved weather observations for Europe and the United States

You can see the Pollen Report appear next to the UV Report:

A more detailed Pollen Report shows pollen conditions and current spores conditions for the week with indicators showing low, moderate or high levels.

Click here to download The Weather Network for iPhone–it’s free.

The Weather Network for iOS Adds Pollen Report, Better Reports for USA, Europe is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

As the report highlights, the Apple is still at the top of the consumer satisfaction index. It received 81 points on a scale of 100, dropping 2 points from last year’s position of 83 points. Also, the “iPhone appears to lag in the consumer satisfaction rating of 86 for Apple desktop, laptop and tablet business,” CNET informs.

While the iPhone’s popularity slightly dropped among consumers, Samsung recorded the biggest gain among all handset manufacturers, posting a 7% growth since last year’s position. Motorola is poised to grow as well, as it received 77 points in terms of customer satisfaction, second only to Apple.

“The improvement [for Samsung] is the largest yet for any cellphone manufacturer,” the ACSI report said. “Nevertheless, Samsung remains well behind industry leader Apple.”

The ASCI consumer satisfaction index is based on a survey of 70,000 people in the US. It measures customer satisfaction with more than 230 companies in 43 industries and ten economic sectors.

iPhone Customer Satisfaction Drops as Samsung Devices Advance [Report] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

A balance of local and global strength, diversified business areas, and strong corporate brand are some of Apple Inc.’s features that have pushed it to the top of the world’s most valuable brands, according to Millward Brown Optimor’s annual BrandZ list (via 9to5mac).

Apple topped this year’s list due to the strength of its brand, valued at $185 billion, although its rate of growth has slowed by 95% because of a slip in stock price and negative investor sentiment. However, as global BrandZ director Peter Walshe points out, the most powerful brands don’t tend to slip as much, while the finances go up and down (see Apple’s stock price).

Apple maintains its top slot in the rankings this year because of the strength of its brand, with a value of $185.1bn. However, its rate of growth has slowed by 95 per cent due to a slip in stock price and negative investor sentiment.

“Its brand value only increased by 1 per cent this year but it still holds the record for the most valuable brand. And it leads by a long way. The next brand in the ranking, Google, is worth $113.7bn [reversing a 3 per cent decline last year to a 5 per cent gain] so Apple is $71.4bn ahead – nearly the value of Coca-Cola, which just shows how strong, powerful and meaningful that brand is,” explains Walshe.

Millward Brown Optimor creates the BrandZ Top 100 global brands list from 14 categories, stretching over five sectors: consumer, food and drink, financial institutions, technology and commodities. A brand’s value is calculated by taking the financial value created by the corporation and multiplying it by the brand contribution, the company explains.

Apple: Most Valuable Brand in the World is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

The hotel announced (via Redmond Pie) it now offers custom-designed 24-carat gold plated iPads for its guests to use during their stay, to act as a virtual concierge to access services like private dining and housekeeping, noted management to The National:

“Our exclusive Burj Al Arab 24-carat gold iPads further enhance our guests’ experience during their stay,” said general manager Heinrich Morio. “We have also recently introduced iMacs inside all our suites.”

The iPads were made by Gold & Co London, described as “the ultimate in luxury accessories” by chief executive Amjad Ali. The iPads are 64GB models with 4G connectivity and will be available for sale soon in the hotel’s gift shop with a price tag of 37,490 AED, or $10,448 Canadian dollars.

Having visited Dubai before and dined at Al Muntaha (on the 27th floor) for Friday Brunch at the Burj Al Arab, this hotel is the real deal when it comes to the ultimate in hotel luxury. If only guests could keep the gold iPads, but unfortunately that is not the case as they are required to be returned at the end of your stay.

Check out this documentary on the hotel below:

7-Star Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai Now Offers 24k Gold iPads for Guests is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource