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Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts

iPad Study: The More You Know, The Less You Want One

Posted by Rich Furgos Monday, February 8, 2010 0 comments

David Coursey David Coursey – Sat Feb 6, 4:48 pm ET

The more people know about the iPad, the less they want to buy one, according to a study released Friday. But, are we expecting too much?

The study seems to confirm the iPad as Apple's least exciting announcement in years. And the company is feeling the backlash that comes from not delivering on the hype.

Retrevo, an online marketplace for consumer electronics, surveyed 1,000 of its customers and found that the iPad's Jan. 27 announcement did more to snuff out customer interest than to spark it.

That's not surprising when all Apple introduced was just a supersized (and superexpensive at the high end) iPod touch. My friend and fellow pundit Larry Magid described as the iPad as "underwhelming."

I agree, the iPad is underwhelming, especially as a business device. And the more people heard about the iPad, the less they wanted one, according to Retrevo.

"The word definitely got out as the number of respondents saying they had heard about the tablet rose from 37% shortly before the announcement to over 80% after the media frenzy on January 27th," Retrevo said Friday in a blog post.

"Unfortunately for Apple, the number if respondents saying they had heard about the tablet but were not interested in buying one, doubled from 25% before the announcement to over 50% following the announcement."

Of course, that 50 percent who are interested is plenty to make the product a success, provided many of them actually become buyers. (Learn more about the study in this story by Greg Keizer).

I think we may be being a bit hard on the iPad. I still don't think it will become a big enterprise computing tool, even if it does "run" Windows 7 (as a virtualized desktop). I also don't think traditional mobile line-of-business applications--think your UPS driver--will start carrying iPads.

But, entertainment, gaming, and e-reading, especially in education, could still make the iPad quite a winner.

Apple already has the ecosystem in place--developers, content, shopping--to make the platform immediately useful when it arrives.

The iPad appears to be an excellent e-reader, though I said that about the Nook before it shipped, too. In this case, however, enough pre-production iPads have been around that I feel pretty confident.

I still don't feel the need for an iPad, but I do expect to invest in an e-reader soon and am glad I didn't get a Nook for Christmas.

Now, I want to wait a bit and see how the devices, content pricing, and content availability shake-out. At some future moment, the combination of e-reader features/content and interesting apps (not available on my iPhone) could convince me.

So, while I don't see an iPad in my immediate future, I am closer to buying one--or perhaps a competitor--than I was before the announcement. I still wouldn't say I want an iPad. But, I see how I might be convinced in the future.

David Coursey has been writing about technology products and companies for more than 25 years. He tweets as @techinciter and may be contacted via his Web site.

Source: news.yahoo.com

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Apple's iPad: New Device, Old Restrictions

Posted by Rich Furgos Monday, February 1, 2010 0 comments

Warning: I am about to say some critical things about a device that, according to its creator, is both magical and revolutionary. If you're the kind of person who thinks that Apple can do no wrong and that anyone who says otherwise is loco, proceed with caution.

Apple iPadStill with me? Good. Like most tech enthusiasts, I've been devoting a decent amount of thought to Apple's newly announced iPad over the past 24 hours. Maybe you've heard of it; from what I've read, it's already changed the world and broken the Internets -- no small feat for a product that's not even on sale yet.

The Web's fairly divided when it comes to opinions on the long-fabled Apple iPad. Analyses aside, I think it's pretty safe to say there'll be no shortage of folks lining up to buy the thing the night before its debut; I certainly wouldn't question its potential for appeal among the legions of Apple fanatics. For people not firmly in the Apple camp, however, I would question the value of the iPad over upcoming alternatives, given what we know so far.

Apple's iPad: A Question of Culture

Apple iPad AnalysisHere's the thing: People who love Apple tend to be OK with certain things. They tend to be OK with the fact that their mobile devices don't allow for multitasking or Flash support; they tend to be OK with the fact that they can install only applications approved by Apple. The lack of a removable battery isn't necessarily seen as a significant issue. And that's fine -- hey, to each his own.

As an Android user, though, I value the freedom to use my device as I wish. I like knowing that I can install something like Google Voice or an NES emulator without my manufacturer's blessing; I like knowing that, if I so choose, I can install some random app a friend is developing without having to jailbreak my phone and void my warranty. I like being able to fully customize my phone -- and yes, I like being able to run programs like Pandora and Fring in the background while I use other features of the device.

In my eyes, the drawbacks of Apple's iPad are the drawbacks of Apple's overall philosophies. The company is all about closed-platformed, tightly controlled user experiences. Those principles can be very restricting on a smartphone. On a tablet PC, I suspect they would be even more blatantly confining for people not wholeheartedly committed to the Apple culture.

Apple's iPad and Tablet Competition

A slew of new tablets is on the way in 2010, including several running the Android operating system. (Does the design of this 10-inch MSI tablet shown at CES look familiar?) Compared to the iPad, these systems will allow you to run multiple applications at the same time, interact with Flash-driven Web sites, and install any program you want. Even if your primary goal with the tablet is to surf the Web and watch videos, don't you want to be able to use the apps of your choice to perform those tasks?

(Yes, Apple's App Store has many wonderful offerings -- but we all know there are also many things it doesn't and probably won't ever allow.)

AppleApple has a powerful brand, a brilliant knack for marketing, and a wildly devoted base of fans. And all of those factors will undoubtedly help maximize the iPad's reach. But I have to wonder -- outside of the hard-core Apple disciples -- if most casual consumers would be better served with a device that gives them the power to make their own choices.

To me, the shame of it is that Apple could probably build a near-flawless piece of technology; we all know the bright minds at Cupertino have more than enough inspiration and ability. But the company insists on maintaining such a tight grip on its users' experiences that people are forced to make significant sacrifices in order to reap the benefits the products provide.

JR Raphael is a PCWorld contributing editor and the co-founder of eSarcasm. He has his own theories as to how the iPad will change the world.

Source: pcworld.com

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Apple censors Dalai Lama iPhone apps in China

Posted by Rich Furgos Tuesday, January 5, 2010 0 comments

Apple appears to have blocked iPhone applications related to the Dalai Lama in its China App Store, making it the latest U.S. technology company to censor its services in China.

Those apps, which appear in most countries' versions of the App Store, do not currently appear in the Chinese version. Another app related to Rebiya Kadeer, who like the Dalai Lama is an exiled minority leader reviled by China's authorities, is unavailable in the China App Store as well. The apparent censorship comes after carrier China Unicom launched iPhone sales two months ago, making regulatory approval of the phone's contents in the country necessary for the first time.

"We continue to comply with local laws," Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said in an e-mail when asked about the missing apps. "Not all apps are available in every country"

At least five iPhone apps related to the Dalai Lama are unavailable in the China store. Some of those apps -- named Dalai Quotes, Dalai Lama Quotes and Dalai Lama Prayerwheel -- display inspirational quotes from the Tibetan spiritual leader. Another, Paging Dalai Lama, tells users where he is currently teaching. A fifth app, Nobel Laureates, contains information about Nobel Prize winners including the Dalai Lama.

Test searches done on four out of five iPhones displayed at the Apple Store in Beijing this month returned no results for the term "Dalai." The apps also did not appear for searches done with a computer on iTunes after switching the country selection in the program to China. One of the iPhones at the Apple Store did display the Dalai Lama apps, though it was unclear why.

Chinese officials condemn the Dalai Lama as a dangerous "splittist" seeking to separate Tibet from China, and have called him a "devil with a human face." The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an uprising in the capital city of Lhasa, solidifying Chinese control there. The religious figure remains widely revered by Tibetans.

Kadeer, an exiled leader of China's Uighur minority group, gets similar treatment by Chinese officials and state media. An iPhone app named 10 Conditions, based on a documentary about her life, also did not appear in test searches of the App Store in China.

Apple lets developers choose in which countries' versions of the App Store to sell their products, but it is unlikely that the Kadeer and Dalai Lama apps are unavailable in China by the choice of their makers. The app about Kadeer was submitted to the App Stores in all countries, James Boldiston, the app's developer, said in an e-mail. Other developers said they could not recall if they had excluded China, but most had other apps for sale in the China store, showing that in other cases they had included the country.

"Given that Apple has cooperated with China before (by not distributing games), it’s of course very likely that it’s Apple, not the developers, that are preventing certain apps from appearing,” said one China-based app developer, who asked not to be named, in an e-mail. Games were not sold in the China App Store before recent months.

Boldiston and other developers of the missing items said Apple had not told them their apps were unavailable in China.

Source: http://www.itnews.com/internet-based-applications-and-services/12394/apple-censors-dalai-lama-iphone-apps-china

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Apple Briefly Cuts Student Price of MacBook to $728

Posted by Rich Furgos 0 comments

Apple on Tuesday reduced the price of its least expensive notebook to $728 for students, teachers and educational staff.

The company's educational online store yesterday listed the MacBook for $728 , a 19% reduction from the new $899 standard price for students and teachers -- earlier, the educational price was $949 -- and 27% less than the $999 price tag for other customers.

It was the lowest price Apple had slapped on the MacBook since the machine first appeared in May 2006 for $1,099.

The MacBook sports a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive and integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics.

Apple's entry-level laptop was revamped Oct. 20 , when Apple started shipping the 13.3-in. notebook with a sleeker "unibody" enclosure, similar in look to the more expensive MacBook Pro line. Apple's MacBook remains the only Apple portable that uses a polycarbonate case; all others feature a more stylish and sturdy aluminum enclosure.

Computerworld's Michael DeAgonia called the MacBook "a solid deal" in his first take review last month, but noted that at its full price, it was only $200 less than the $1,199 low-end MacBook Pro, which features the aluminum case, a FireWire 800 port, an SD card slot, and backlit keyboard. The educational price for the entry-level MacBook Pro is $1,099.

Apple did spell out how long the MacBook's $728 educational price would last and by late Tuesday, the price was listed at $899.

College students, as well as teachers, administrators and staff at both college and K-12 levels, are eligible to purchase Apple products at the company's educational discounts.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld . Follow Gregg on Twitter @gkeizer , send e-mail at gkeizer@ix.netcom.com or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed .

Source: http://www.itnews.com/mac/12401/apple-briefly-cuts-student-price-macbook-728

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Apple blocking Dalai Lama, Kadeer, iPhone apps: report

Posted by Rich Furgos Saturday, January 2, 2010 0 comments

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Bowing to Chinese law, Apple is reportedly blocking iPhone users in China from downloading applications about two figures Beijing considers "separatists": the Dalai Lama and exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.

IDG News Service said at least five iPhone software programs related to the Tibetan spiritual leader are unavailable in Apple's China App Store along with one related to Kadeer.

IDG, publisher of Macworld, Computerworld, PC World and other magazines, said the move would make Apple the latest US technology giant to censor its services in China.

Asked for comment on Thursday by AFP, Trudy Muller, an Apple spokeswoman, repeated a statement she made to IDG. "We continue to comply with local laws," Muller said. "Not all apps are available in every country."

China regularly blocks access to websites deemed sensitive and a number of US companies, including Microsoft, Cisco, Google and Yahoo!, have been hauled before the US Congress in recent years and accused of complicity in building what has been called the "Great Firewall of China."

US technology firms contend they must comply with China's laws in order to operate there.

China accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to establish an independent Tibet and photos of the exiled leader have been banned in Tibet for years.

The US-based Kadeer has been branded a "criminal" by Chinese authorities who have blamed her for bloody riots in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi pitting mainly Muslim minority Uighurs against members of China's dominant Han group.

IDG said the paid and free iPhone applications which are unavailable in China provide inspirational quotes from the Dalai Lama or information about Nobel peace prize winners. The Dalai Lama is the 1989 Nobel peace laureate.

IDG said tests performed on four out of five iPhones at the Apple Store in Beijing did not return any results for the term "Dalai." It said one did display the Dalai Lama applications but it was unclear why.

Test searches for a Kadeer application called "10 Conditions" did not return any results, it said.

IDG said Apple lets software developers choose the countries where their products appear but it was unlikely the Kadeer and Dalai Lama program developers had decided to make their products unavailable in China.

"It's of course very likely that it's Apple, not the developers, that are preventing certain apps from appearing," an unidentified China-based app developer told IDG.

James Sugrue, designer of the Dalai Quotes app, told IDG he "wasn't informed" by Apple that his program was unavailable in China.

"Apple reserve the right to do this sort of thing, and while from a censorship point of view I disagree with this, I can understand why they did," Sugrue said.

In August last year, access to iTunes was temporarily blocked for users in China after a pro-Tibet album became a hit on Apple's online music store.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Thursday said it had asked Apple about the reported blocking of Dalai Lama iPhone applications.

"In the spirit of transparency, the company should release a complete list of the censored applications -- if indeed censorship is going on -- and the criteria used to make the selections," RSF said in a statement.

"If Apple has agreed to remove products from the App Store under pressure from the authorities, the American company would join the club of those complicit in censorship of information in China," the France-based group said.

"This would be a big disappointment on the part of a company known for its creative spirit," the media rights group added.

Chinese telecom carrier China Unicom began selling the iPhone in China two months ago.

Source: Yahoo NEWS

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Top 10 Mobile Phones of 2009 Revealed

Posted by Rich Furgos Thursday, December 31, 2009 0 comments


The device, which has 3.2in touch-screen, a five-megapixel camera and runs Google 's Android operating system, won plaudits for its easy of use, elegant interface and clever design.

The Hero – which has been crowned gadget of the year by both Stuff and T3 – was praised by Omio for its useful features and slick social-networking tools. "The Hero is easily the next best thing to the iPhone," said Ernest Doku, an analyst with the phone comparison site.

The company compiled a list of the 10 most popular handsets of 2009, based on sales, praise and online buzz generated by gadget fans and industry experts. Apple's iPhone 3GS was beaten in to third place by another device made by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC – the HD2, which runs the latest version of Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system.

"The HTC HD2 is equally at home being a business device as a multimedia powerhouse," said Doku.

Touch-screen handsets dominated the list, with phones from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, featuring in the top 10. Devices that provided access to an "app store", which allows users to easily download extra software, programs and games on to their phone, were also popular.

"Apps have been one of the big stories of 2009, so it's not surprising that many of the most popular phones have had their own app stores," said Doku. "It's a trend that looks set to continue well in to 2010."


The 10 most popular phones of the year

1. HTC Hero

The strong design, slick social networking skills and beautiful implementation of the Android operating system with the ‘Sense’ user interface, has seen the HTC Hero grab an armful of ‘Best Phone’ awards this year, and rightly so. With its five-megapixel autofocus camera, 3.2in capacitive touch-screen and GPS in a unique, angular form factor, the Hero is possibly the best phone to demonstrate what Google’s new operating system is really capable of.

2. HTC HD2

The ‘wow’ factor of the HTC HD2 is definitely marrying Microsoft’s mobile operating system to that mammoth 4.3in touch-screen display, and is the first device running Windows Mobile 6.5 to support a multi-touch interface. With a five-megapixel camera and dual-LED flash, GPS and support for apps through Marketplace for Mobile, the HD2 is the perfect poster boy for the next generation of Windows phones.

3. Apple iPhone 3GS

Getting the design so very right first time has given Apple the ability to improve rather than revolutionise, and the iPhone 3GS is the second update to the groundbreaking formula. It improves on the iconic device with a three-megapixel camera, video recording, voice controls and up to 32GB of storage. The Apple iPhone 3GS is able to do it all, faster.

4. Samsung Genio Touch

The Samsung Genio Touch continues the popular range with a cheap and cheerful handset that brings touch-screen joy without the price tag. The 2.8in display offers the same TouchWiz user interface found on higher end devices, and with customisable covers as well as a two-megapixel camera, the Genio Touch punches above its weight in terms of both looks and specification. Little wonder customers are snapping this little beauty up in their droves.

5. Sony Ericsson Satio

A 12. megapixel wielding device that combines the strongest features of the Cybershot range, the Sony Ericsson Satio offers a powerful combination of features: there's the 12.1-megapixel camera, which has some of the best aspects of Sony's Cybershot camera range; and it boasts a fantastic Walkman-esque music player, married together with a slick, full touch Symbian-powered user interface. The 3.5in display is clear, crisp and responsive to the touch, and the built-in 3G connectivity and GPS set it on a par with the strongest smartphone contenders.

6. Palm Pre

Already a million-seller in the United States, the Palm Pre is a great device, boasting a 3.1in touch-screen and 3.1-megapixel camera. This socially-savvy handset pulls contact information automatically from networking sites, including Facebook, in to a single menu. The combination of cute pebble-shaped design, slide-out Qwerty keyboard and the debut of Palm's smooth new ‘Web OS’ operating system makes the Pre a worthy alternative to Apple’s iPhone.

7. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is the epitome of cool. With a plectrum for a stylus, endorsement from today’s fashionable young things and a full touch interface, the 5800 was bound to be a hit. A music phone at heart, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic ticks all the boxes, with 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi support, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a sharp 3.2in high resolution touch-screen display. Music is stored on an 8GB memory card, and the 3.5mm audio jack means that your favourite headphones can be plugged in with little trouble. It was outselling the iPod at one point as the UK’s biggest music player. The Nokia 5800 is one seriously hot handset.

8. Nokia N900

Taking cues from Nokia’s range of internet tablets, the N900 delivers a close-to-desktop browsing experience, as well as offering cutting edge smartphone functionality. The N900’s gorgeous 3.5in touch-screen, slide-out Qwerty keyboard and five-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens all impress, but it is the brand new experience that Nokia’s Linux-based Maemo platform offers that has early adopters in a frenzy.

9. LG Chocolate BL40

The latest in LG’s exclusive Black Label series, the BL40 boasts a 4in LED touch screen, a five-megapixel autofocus camera and an exciting new user interface. Watch movies in full-screen mode, and browse web pages in all their glory thanks to the screen’s unique 21:9 widescreen ratio. The quirky shape and multimedia credentials have definitely given shoppers a sweet tooth in recent months, with the Chocolate selling strongly since its September release.

10. BlackBerry Curve 8520

Courting the casual user and breaking taboos seem to be the primary aims of the Curve 8520, which gets rid of the famous BlackBerry "trackball" in favour of an optical pad, and adding dedicated media buttons. The Curve 8520 is still very much a messaging device, sporting the familiar Qwerty keyboard and push-email functionality that the BlackBerry brand has become famous for. With access to BlackBerry App World and a standard headphone jack so you can use it with your own earphones, the Curve 8520 strikes the perfect balance between fashion accessory and connected device.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/6872920/Top-10-mobile-phones-of-2009-revealed.html

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Nokia Hits Apple With Latest Patent Complaint

Posted by Rich Furgos Tuesday, December 29, 2009 0 comments

The legal back-and-forth between Nokia and Apple over patents, and who might be abusing them, continued Tuesday as Nokia lodged a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission.

In its complaint to the USITC, the Finnish company alleges that Apple infringes seven Nokia patents "in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers."

The alleged patent infringement is connected to key features in Apple products including user interface, camera, antenna, and power management technologies. Their value to Nokia, the company says, comes in allowing better user experience, lower manufacturing costs, smaller size, and longer battery life for Nokia products.

In October, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple in U.S. District Court in Delaware regarding 10 patents related to wireless handsets, which Nokia says Apple has refused to license. Every iPhone model since the original, introduced in 2007, infringes on those patents, Nokia has charged.

Apple filed a countersuit earlier this month, charging Nokia with infringing 13 Apple patents related to the iPhone.

"While our litigation in Delaware is about Apple's attempt to free-ride on the back of Nokia investment in wireless standards, the ITC case filed today is about Apple's practice of building its business on Nokia's proprietary innovation," Paul Melin, general manager of patent licensing at Nokia, said in a statement.

"Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in small electronic devices," Melin said. "This action [Tuesday's complaint to the USITC] is about protecting the results of such pioneering development."

Apple was not immediately available to comment on Nokia's filing with the U.S. International Trade Commission. The USITC is an independent federal agency that looks at issues including unfair trade practices involving patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.

Nokia says that over the past two decades it has spent some 40 billion euros ($57.5 billion) on R&D and has amassed "one of the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR portfolios, with over 11,000 patent families."

In November, research firm Strategy Analytics reported that Apple had surpassed Nokia in quarterly mobile phone profits, bringing in $1.6 billion from the iPhone, compared with Nokia's $1.1 billion in cell phone profits.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10422670-37.html

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iPhone once again available on AT&T Website for New Yorkers

Posted by Rich Furgos Monday, December 28, 2009 2 comments

When we talked to AT&T earlier Monday about the unavailability of iPhones for New York shoppers using the AT&T Website, a company spokesman told us that the wireless carrier “periodically modifies [its] promotions and distribution channels.” The company did some more modifying Monday, as the iPhone is once again available to New Yorkers shopping via the AT&T Website.

It’s still unclear as to why the iPhone was unavailable over the weekend via A&T’s online store. A follow-up report on Consumerist as well as comments in Macworld’s user forums indicated that as of Monday morning, AT&T was telling customers that the iPhone was unavailable for purchase online in certain zip codes due to “increased fraudulent activity.” In the original Consumerist post, AT&T service reps were telling customers that the iPhone wasn’t available in New York City because the nation’s most populous city didn’t have “enough towers to handle the phone.”

Source: http://www.itnews.com/smartphones/12368/iphone-once-again-available-att-website-new-yorkers

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Microsoft shadowed by Apple, Google

Posted by Rich Furgos 0 comments

Bangalore: Don Dodge, a Google employee and former executive of Microsoft says that Microsoft is no longer fast or innovative and is now what IBM was in 1985. He further says that Microsoft is now passed by other companies like Apple, Facebook and Google. But he still feels that Microsoft has an advantage in some areas, particularly development and software, but it now has major competitors in most areas and in some cases has been eclipsed, according to Electronista.

"Very few companies can dominate an industry for more than 20 years," Dodge explains to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "It is just the natural competitive cycle." He adds that having the company founders active and in charge is important to the company dynamic and that Microsoft has lost this with Paul Allen and more recently Bill Gates having left their daily roles. Google is helped by Larry Page and Sergey Brin still working at the company, while Steve Jobs continues to helm Apple.

Dodge says that Microsoft has had its own share of failures in the form of Windows Mobile and Windows Vista. Windows Mobile has not been able to be a tough competition for Apple's iPhone and Google's Android.

Dodge predicts that Microsoft will face trouble in other areas and in 2010 is likely to lose many traditional Office customers to web-based Google technologies like Gmail and Google Apps as they decide to use the cheaper, more frequently updated web tools in place of costly offline software.

Source From: siliconindia.com

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Apple's stock hits new high as gadget buzz builds

Posted by Rich Furgos Friday, December 25, 2009 1 comments

NEW YORK – Apple Inc. shares hit an all-time high Thursday after a published report suggested the intensely scrutinized yet secretive company may be getting ready for a major product announcement.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the preparations, the Financial Times reported on its Web site Wednesday that Apple has rented space for several days in late January at an arts center in San Francisco.

The company is famed for its highly staged launches. CEO Steve Jobs has used past events to introduce groundbreaking — and lucrative — gadgets such as the iPod and the iPhone.

Although Apple has not acknowledged working on a tablet computer — the company is notorious for keeping upcoming product plans closely guarded — analysts expect the company's next blockbuster to be something of a cross between a laptop and an iPod Touch, which is essentially an iPhone without the calling features.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request Thursday for comment on the FT report.

In a note to investors this month, Oppenheimer's Yair Reiner said Apple could have a tablet out by late March or April based on checks with contacts in the U.S.

Brian Marshall, an analyst with Broadpoint AmTech, expects the device to launch late in the first quarter, but he said the rise in Apple shares Thursday had more to do with investor behavior at the end of the year.

He said that after cashing in from the rise in Apple shares over the past few months, "people are coming back to the well," betting the stock will head even higher in 2010.

Apple shares hit an all-time high of $209.35 at one point on Thursday, topping the previous record of $208.71, set Oct. 21. The stock was up $6.94, or 3.4 percent, to $209.04 in afternoon trading.

Apple shares have recovered from a 52-week low of $78.20 in January, helped by consistently growing profits.

Even during the worst of the recession, people continued to buy iPods, iPhones and Mac computers. In its most recent quarter, the Cupertino, Calif., company reported a 47 percent jump in net income to $1.7 billion, on revenue of $36.5 billion.

With a market capitalization of more than $182 billion, Apple is now bigger than rival computer makers Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. combined. Dell has a market cap of about $28 billion, while HP is at $124 billion.

Source: yahoo.com

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LG, RIM top Apple in number of phone users

Posted by Rich Furgos Wednesday, December 23, 2009 0 comments

New data on the top 10 mobile phones puts Apple on top due to the sheer number of iPhone owners. But both Research In Motion and LG actually control more market share because they sell multiple, popular models.

Nielsen’s data on the top 10 phones in use in the U.S. from January through October shows Apple with 4 percent market share, RIM with 6.3 percent, and LG with 6.4 percent. But the trio lead a very fragmented market. In fact, the top 10 phones account for just over 20 percent of the total devices in use.

With an estimated 271 million U.S. mobile subscribers at the end of 2008, accounting for about 88 percent of the U.S. population, even 1 percent market share is significant.

RIM BlackBerry devices and LG handsets–voluminous in offering compared with the singular iPhone also have the benefit of longer time on the market and of promotion by the carriers that don’t have the iPhone. LG is the No. 3 handset maker behind Nokia and Samsung. RIM and Apple have nowhere the number of models offered by the top three handset makers, yet they enjoy a stronger market share.

The Nielsen data shows both the opportunity and the challenge of creating the next big thing in mobile devices. Just a few years ago, Motorola’s Razr was the belle of the ball, and RIM was firmly fixed as an enterprise device. However, the convergence of voice, e-mail, and browsing, as well as new 3G networks, brought the smartphone to the forefront and helped push both RIM and Apple to the top.

All hope is not lost for currently less popular handset makers, as the market can very quickly change dramatically.

Indeed, there is a big challenge under way from Android-based phones such as the Droid that could thrust laggards such as Motorola back into the spotlight, provided that Google doesn’t stomp all over the developer community that has been building up around the new mobile operating system.

And mobile phones are not just for those on the run. Nielsen’s Convergence Audit (PDF), an annual survey on voice, video, and data products, “shows a rise in households who have ‘cut the cord’ by trading their traditional landlines for wireless cellular services and an increase in mobile media device usage among a diverse set of households.”

In the second quarter, the report said, 21 percent of households were using wireless cellular service only–compared with 18 percent a year earlier. “This increase comes from…households who have dropped their landlines as well as from young adults that started new households with just a wireless phone service,” the report said.

Odds are that these percentages will continue to climb as young mobile users reach adulthood and as adults look to their mobile devices to do more than just make calls.

source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10420114-62.html

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Apple Firmware Update aims to Fix iMac Flickering

Posted by Rich Furgos Tuesday, December 22, 2009 0 comments

Apple issued a firmware update today for all 27-in. iMacs that is designed to fix display problems, including flickering screens, that have been reported by hundreds of recent buyers.

“The 27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update applies to the graphics firmware on ATI Radeon HD 4670 and 4850 graphics cards to address issues that may cause image corruption or the display to flicker,” Apple said in the typically-terse description of the hotfix.

Display issues have plagued Apple’s 27-in. iMac desktop computers since the new machines were Oct. 20 . Users have reported cracked screens, a yellow tint in part of the display, and irritating flickers that come and go.

The problems prompted one Canadian Web developer to collate the complaints on a specially-built Web site, and may have been one of the reasons why Apple slapped a two-week shipping delay on 27-in. iMacs earlier this month.

A thread on Apple’s support forum dedicated to the flickering screen problem boasts more than 1,500 messages and has a view count of over 244,000, making it the most-read of those on the iMac forum.

Apple didn’t promise that the 638K update would solve everyone’s display issues. “If your screen remains black after applying the updater or if you continue to experience image corruption or display flickering after successfully completing this update, contact AppleCare or an Apple Authorized Service Provider,” the Apple advisory read.

In fact, just hours after the firmware update’s release, user reports were mixed. Several reported that the update had not done the trick. “I have only experienced a mild flicker or two, but I can confirm that the firmware update does not seem to have solved the problem,” said a user identified as “OSXAlex” on the support forum. “I noticed a flicker within 5 minutes of restarting after the update.”

“Applied the update about an hour ago hoping it would fix my flickers,” added “Paul_31″ earlier Monday. “Sorry to report that it hasn’t — they seem to be less than they were but not cured.”

However, others said that the flickers were now gone. “Just updated now, since then I didn’t find any flickering/tearing of screen,” countered “Ianod” this afternoon. “[But] it needs more time … can’t say anything at the moment.”

The firmware update can be downloaded from Apple’s site, or retrieved using Software Update on a 27-in. iMac equipped with one of the two ATI graphics cards.

Even after the update’s release, Apple’s online store continued to show a two-week shipping delay for all 27-in. iMacs.

Source: http://www.itnews.com/mac/12261/apple-firmware-update-aims-fix-imac-flickering

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