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Apple vs. PC Shipments: ‘PC’ Decline Worse Than Reported

2012-01-27T02:19:00.001-05:00

Tom Reestman on numbers from Gartner and IDC that show "PC" sales slipping but Mac sales growing:

It makes sense until you realize Apple's (i.e., Mac) data is included in the same total to which it's being compared. In other words, Apple's stellar year is propping up the "PC" (i.e., non-Mac) numbers, making "PC" shipments look better than they really were. If you truly want to know how Apple did in the US on its own against "PCs", you must subtract it from the latter's numbers. […]

The originally reported dismal "PC" growth of -5.9% becomes an even more dismal -8.5% without Apple's numbers propping it up. That -2.6% delta is not insignificant, it's over 40% worse than what was reported.

via DaringFireball

No Apple Superbowl ad after all

2007-02-05T00:53:00.000-05:00

Many Apple rumor sites, including AppleInsider, were reporting that Apple would air a superbowl commercial for a possible Beatles announcement. CNN had actually refuted this reported, but the rumor sites didn't have anything further to say. Since Macworld, Apple's only real (not fake) announcement was that they were offering iPod Shuffle 2G's in multiple colors. The rumor mill expects the iPhone to possible arrive sooner than the June deadline. This would seem to be in both companies interests to capitalize on the large press and buzz generated from Macworld. Apple might use this to their advantage to try to extract any other points from Cingular/AT&T in the mean time. From Verizon's last press release Apple wanted a cut of the monthly subscriber revenue. Cingular/AT&T responded and essentially admitted that Apple was getting a cut of the monthly subscriber revenue. They tried to hide this by saying they weren't sharing any revenue from iTunes sales, but the Verizon announcement was actually talking sharing revenue from the monthly subcription revenue from subscribers for cellular service.

Report states the Verizon passed on iPhone

2007-01-29T15:19:00.000-05:00

USAToday is reporting some more details about Apple and the iPhone. They mention some interesting terms and conditions that most likely Cingular/AT&T agreed to at least in part if not completely. While previously Cingular/AT&T stated that they didn't bend, but that they made Apple bend, this report would seem to indicate otherwise.

Verizon states that Apple was looking for control of distribution and service/repair of the iPhone. This makes sense since they made and designed the phone so they want to sell and support the phone. This isn't how the cell phone business generally works, much to the annoyance of cell phone makers such as Nokia and Motorola. In general the carrier dictates full control over the phone that is made by the manufacturer. As such Verizon is righteously angered at Apple's request stating, "They would have been stepping in between us and our customers to the point where we would have almost had to take a back seat … on hardware and service support." I guess old habits die hard.

Whats most interesting is what is mentioned least in the article. Apple wanted a cut of the monthly cell phone bill from Verizon. This would be a good incentive for Cingular/AT&T to give Apple. Given that Apple won't be letting people install VOIP, IM, iTunes as ringtones on the iPhone it sounds like they probably have received this offer (or that they are using this leaked press release to try to get it).

The final thing that is interesting in this article, is that if Apple was talking to Verizon that means that a CDMA version of the iPhone could exist. Because of the deal with Cingular (until 2009 by other reports) we probably won't see a CDMA version in the US until after that time. That is of course assuming that any clauses that allow Apple out of their Cingular/AT&T contract aren't broken.

Wow someone finds out that AT&T won't be giving free service with the iPhone

2007-01-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

Now here is a real shocker. I never saw this one coming. AT&T has confirmed that they will NOT be giving away free service with the iPhone. So apparently I was wrong about the blogosphere bringing up this rumor for the next week, AT&T decided to quash it. The guys over at Gizmodo got confirmation from AT&T that they will not be providing free/discounted cellular service with the iPhone.

"The report is nonsense. We've always said the only way you can get the iPhone is with a Cingular rate plan."

Technically he didn't say the price of the plan, but hopefully people aren't going to assume that $0 is a price and let this rumor die.

Digg.com again with the free iPhone service rumors!

2007-01-25T20:37:00.000-05:00

Its really amazing, within a day another Digg.com article has been posting talking about the same Cramer and TheStreet.com comments. This time Gizmodo linked to the rumors, I guess the blogosphere loves spreading rumors more than quashing them. As before, Cramer is making a speculative guess based on nothing more than AT&T's enthusiasm. The actual conference call with AT&T only mentioned the iPhone once, they were concerned about margin expansion (i.e. making more money) not cutting prices.

Hopefully this rumor will be put to death, but it will probably be resurrected many times in the next week.

AT&T will NOT be giving away service with the iPhone!

2007-01-25T15:05:00.000-05:00

What was a small comment, has on the blogosphere turned into a bad game of tele-iPhone. Cramer on TheStreet.com had suggested that AT&T give away discounted service with the iPhone. TheStreet.com staff posted another article quoting Cramer and then quoting the conference call from AT&T stating that it was clear AT&T would give away 18 months of service. The transcript of the call itself only mentions the iPhone once, there is lots of talk of margin expansion in wireless (which would be contradictory to giving away 18 months of service), but none that I could find of Cingular giving away service.

Cingular might offer discounted monthly plans

2007-01-24T22:57:00.000-05:00

Cramer over at TheStreet.com said that Cingular/AT&T was absolutely giddy when talking about the iPhone. Using this he translates AT&T's desire to gain marketshare as really an all out war against Verizon. While likely to be pure speculation, he says that AT&T might actually discount monthly plan prices in order to gain marketshare. Considering that AT&T's data packages are among the priciest in the business, its quite possible they will lower their prices to something more reasonable.

It does make sense that instead of subsidizing the iPhone price $200, it could be applied as a $15 monthly discount (or a special iPhone plan) over 2 years. From a financial point of view they would actually make more money considering the time value of money. If they offer a $200 discount now, that costs them more than offering the same discount over two years. Considering that Apple's iPhone sales rely on reasonable monthly pricing for the iPhone, hopefully Apple will convince Cingular to offer reasonable monthly plan prices. If not Apple could always threaten to be very liberal in handing out unlock codes, i.e. to anyone who wants one. Effectively allowing someone to buy an iPhone, cancel Cingular service within 30 days, get the unlock code from Apple and go to Tmobile.

iPhone does run Mac OS X

2007-01-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

It is confirmed that what Steve Jobs said is true. The iPhone doesn't run a mini version of Mac OS X (ala Windows Mobile) but it is the real deal with the extra fat taken out. The iPhone runs Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard which will come out this spring. The OS has been trimmed to be under 512MB to run on the iPhone.

Likely Beatles announcement 2/4/07 from Apple Inc

2007-01-17T13:56:00.000-05:00

The rumors seem practically verified now. Apple Inc will discuss and upcoming superbowl commercial February 4th. As before rumors indicate that Apple will have an exclusive on the Beatles on iTunes for three months (including their new CD 'Love') and that this exclusive will delay the release of the CD. While all of the Beatles content may not make it onto iTunes, whatever is slated to be available will be heavily promoted via the superbowl commercial.

Apple and Apple together at last

2007-01-16T05:39:00.000-05:00

Rumors had it previously that after the Beatles record company (Apple Records) lost to what is now Apple Inc., they started to pursue a music distribution deal. One of the supposed sticking points was the length of time the Beatles would be exclusive to Apple. New rumors posted by AppleInsider point to a 3 month exlclusive, as well as Beatles commercials ala U2 for Apple. This rumor is supported by Steve Jobs keynote where many Beatles songs and album covers were shown. The Apple TV presentation even had a label called "My Beatlesmania" that Jobs skipped over.

Apple iPhone price without contract

2007-01-15T20:02:00.000-05:00

Over in Germany, iPhone prices have been listed and they are steep. So even though Cingular is saying Apple will not allow them to discount the price of the iPhone, $499 is the discounted price. In Europe the unlocked (as most phones there are sold) iPhone will sell for $899 EUR and $999 EUR. While the prices in US$ work out to ~$1200 and ~$1300, I think its probably more appropriate to say that the unlocked price, if Apple does sell it unlocked, will be cheaper. I would guess $699 and $799.

Apple doesn't want Cingular to discount iPhone

2007-01-14T15:47:00.000-05:00

In the same manner that Apple sells iPods across the board at the same price without discounts, sales etc. Apple is preventing Cingular from doing the same. This would imply that AT&T/Cingular will have to sell the phone for the price stated by Steve Jobs with a 2yr contract. Its quite possible that Cingular will try to sell the phone for more without a contract, but that would still imply that they were giving a discount to match Steve Jobs price. It will be interesting to see as more news comes out about how Cingular will handle people who purchase the phone without entering into a new contract.

Apple iPhone exclusive only for 6 months?!

2007-01-14T14:21:00.000-05:00

ThinkSecret has some contradictory information. They state that:

the Apple iPhone and other Apple phones will be Cingular/AT&T exclusives for the duration of their lifespan
Apple is not restricted from coming out with other products with other carriers
Apple iPhones will only be exclusive to Cingular/AT&T for 6 months.

Given that Steve Jobs wants to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, I would not expect him to restrict himself to only Cingular/AT&T which only has about 60 million customers. He will want to sell as many Apple iPhones as possible, and I would expect CDMA versions of the iPhone by the end of the year.

The real final rumors of Macworld (fake)

2007-01-09T00:52:00.000-05:00

This guy has quite a bit of detailed stuff to say about what will be shown at Macworld. Considering his site has quite a bit of info I wonder how much trouble he might get into. Anyway its the night before Christm err Macworld and so the damage I guess is limited. His predictions don't include much detail on when things could ship but he says that there will be two "iPhones" introduced, a major .Mac upgrade, as well as a mysterious iFly product. I wonder if Steve Jobs invited his friends for the iPhone or for the iFly.

read more | digg story

The final Macworld Rumors, Beatles and more

2007-01-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

From wired comments:

"From a very reliable source from Apple EMEA, the rep confirmed me that the iphone or imobile will be shown @ macworld. Two versions, one personal and a pro version.

He also told me that the touchscreen ipod will be shown as well and the desciption is exactely the same that the last patent filing of the touchscreen ipod, with the touching borders.

The imobile will be available the same dayin the US, in europe later in january and the first week of february in North africa."
---------------
Oh, and a quick guess about:
1. Why it's 1/2 hour longer
2. Why there is extra A/V equipment
and
3. Why Jobs has invited friends, assuming it's not to announce retirement:

A: Live musical performance tied into a special branding version of the iPod, ala the U2 black one from a few years ago. This time, maybe the Beatles iPod, with Sir Paul McCartney and maybe Ringo performing onstage in concert with a Beatles edition iPod that's providing Mr. Harrison and Lennon.

Apple seen launching new iPod, iTV and iPhone at Macworld

2007-01-05T01:02:00.000-05:00

New Apple product announcements at next week's Macworld Expo in San Francisco could include iTV, a new iPod, and the iPhone, according to a Macworld Rumor Roundup issued by research and investment firm PiperJaffray on Thursday.

read more | digg story

Analyst reports that "iPhone" will come in 2Q

2007-01-02T20:05:00.000-05:00

Goldman Sachs released a report stating that they expect Apple to beat analyst expectations by a penny. Considering that companies in general manage their numbers to beat by a penny, Goldman must really be hoping that Apple will beat by more than a penny.

In terms of video iPods they expect one will be announced at Macworld, as well as the "iTV" and the "iPhone" to be sold in April. Previous rumors had stated that the iPhone had already been released to manufacturing and that it would be ready for sale at Macworld.

Apple teaser, possible iPod Phone?

2007-01-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

Based on previous comments about the formerly called iPhone being more iPod than phone, it seems reasonable to guess that the product might be called the iPod phone, or iPod mobile or at least something starting with iPod. If you read into what is said on Apple's webpage, it implies they are moving in different directions. So even though it seems like the iPhone is not on the list of Steve Jobs talking points, Apple will be moving into the cell phone business in the coming year.

While Steve Jobs talking points do not include an "iPhone" perhaps the video ipod will include phone features? It will be interesting to see how they deal with dialing phone numbers without a touch screen.

No mentioning of the iPhone in Steve’s keynote address!

2007-01-01T16:47:00.000-05:00

If this is true, it will ruin Steve Jobs' ability to surprise, but supposedly here is a link that are the talking points from Steve's Macworld address. In it he will mention Fox movies will join the iTunes store, that iTV will launch in March. His one more thing will be the long awaited 3.5" big screen ipod.

Zune exited November with 2 percent market share

2006-12-26T17:51:00.000-05:00

AppleInsider reports on Zunes November sales numbers. They exited November with 2% of the overall market and 9% of the HDD MP3 player market. This is in contrast to initial reports that showed that Zune had 9% of the overall market, For December Zune sales seem to be improving with 12% share of the HDD market and 3% of the overall market. Considering the slowness of the iTunes store it will be interesting to see what Apple's numbers for December were.

read more | digg story

Apple’s Phone WILL NOT be called “iMobile”

2006-12-24T13:09:00.000-05:00

iPhone Insider posted a report claiming that Apple's upcoming phone product would be called "iMobile" yesterday. This, like most Apple Phone rumors, made to the front page of digg, and is now creeping it's way through the blogosphere...there's only one problem with it...it's not true.

read more | digg story

Apple Phone Pictures Leaked?

2006-12-20T23:11:00.000-05:00

Nano like phone with NO BUTTONS. Large screen. Very cool real or fake!

read more | digg story

LG KE850, a preview of iPhone?

2006-12-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

There is some speculation, fueled by a story about the phone at Hungarian site Mobil Portal (mirror), that the LG KE850 (pictured) could be the iPhone. From the few details available the KE850 appears to be based on a 240×400 touchscreen interface, with Send, End and Confirm being the only real buttons.

Fresh iPhone details emerge as release grows closer

2006-12-20T16:05:00.000-05:00

Sources report that the iPhone will bs a GSM/EDGE (2.5G) phone and not a UMTS (3G) device. Apple's decision to go with 2.5G lies in the technology's advantages over 3G: physically smaller components and more reliable communication.

read more | digg story

Amazon Soon Opening DRM-free MP3 Store?

2006-12-20T15:57:00.000-05:00

The question is really whether the music labels will license their new music to Amazon to sell. If they don't and only provide releases after selling them DRM only for 6 mos at iTunes then Apple will still stay in the lead. Amazon will pick up the long tail effect if they can put together a good store for browsing as buying MP3s are better than buying DRM'd music.

read more | digg story

2006-12-06T02:42:00.000-05:00

Apple iPhone on CNBC (iPhone 2.0)

Somewhat deceptive in that both phones will be sold together and the 2.0 version won't replace the 1.0 version, but hey thats your typical news story.

Apple's $7 Billion Christmas to be Paced by iPod Sales

2006-11-12T22:58:00.000-05:00

Prediction that Apple's sales this quarter will break $7 billionwhile selling 20 million iPods.

read more | digg story

Disney sells 500,000 movies through iTunes

2006-11-10T05:45:00.000-05:00

Walt Disney Co. said Thursday it has sold nearly a half million films through Apple Computer's iTunes store since announcing the distribution deal a little less than two months ago. Most likely because of this Fox is in discussions with Apple over putting their movies on iTunes.

read more | digg story

Apple seeing incredible interest in new 2G shuffle

2006-11-08T16:26:00.000-05:00

Even though there are reports on the web that its possible to bend the clip, Apple is seeing "tremendous" interest in its iPod Shuffle. Analysts are expecting that Apple might be able to sell 20m iPods this Christmas season because of the new Shuffle.

MS survey shows people might buy a brown Zune

2006-11-07T20:49:00.000-05:00

MS survey finds that after people are shown Zune images and marketing material they might be willing to buy a Zune. Said another way, even when giving the best marketing material they could find 40% of people surveyed would still buy a player other than the Zune.

Microsoft to shut down MSN Music this month

2006-11-06T01:45:00.000-05:00

Microsoft is about to shut down its MSN Music Store and redirect customers to the new Zune Marketplace. Microsoft has let down all the hardware vendors that support Microsoft's Plays For Sure as media from the Marketplace will only play on 1 device: the Zune.

read more | digg story

Apple iPhone rumor roundup

2006-11-06T01:41:00.000-05:00

From the rumors that have been mentioned of the Apple iPhone, about its front face lighting up when you touch it, it seems like Apple will be implementing the technology shown in Nokia's prototype cell phone. Benq seems to have made a Black Box concept based on the same technology. With the talk recently of Apple patenting touch sensitive bezels it will be interesting to see what parts of the Apple iPhone will be touch sensitive.

While everyone seems to be discussing the iPhone in singular, there are rumors that there will be two phones. If this is true, then it lends more credence to the idea that Apple will become a cell phone service provider. This is because if they are launching a new service they will want to have more than one model to sell to people. The rumors are that one phone will resemble an iPod nano and the other will include a keyboard and be more of a smartphone.

2nd Gen iPod Shuffle seen as 'Dark Horse'; may become Best Selling iPod

2006-11-06T01:38:00.000-05:00

Wu's sources also indicate that the new entry-level $79 iPod shuffle has received 'very strong' orders from Apple direct customers as well as third-party retailers such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and CompUSA. "We continue to believe this dark horse could end up being the top selling iPod and gain significant share against flash competitors," he said

read more | digg story

Official Google Blog: Attention all Pearl Jam fans

2006-05-20T00:08:00.000-04:00

Google changes their upload procedure to better compete with YouTube. They seem to be trying to improve their competitiveness with iTunes as well, they are currently noting on their blog that they have Pearl Jams new music video for free. It should be interesting to see how Urge will affect the current market for downloadable music. I think in the same way Google kept MS at bay by making a deal with AOL. Apple should have made a deal with MTV to push iTunes. MTV has the audience that Apple is looking for, why not work with them and have Urge promote iTunes on MTV?

iTWire - Apple's iPhone: it's for real!

2006-05-15T10:29:00.000-04:00

More confirmation of Apple working with Softbank on iPhone. Softbank will sell the iPhone as well as iPod in its new cell phone stores.

AppleInsider | Report: Softbank and Apple to co-develop iPod phones

2006-05-13T17:51:00.000-04:00

Apple looks like it will partner with Japan's Softbank to market Apple iPod cell phones there. These will be the same cell phones that Apple introduces in the U.S. Speculation was that Apple would partner with Helio in the U.S. to release their cell phones here.

AppleInsider | Fox delivers 16 series to iTunes Music Store

2006-05-09T16:09:00.000-04:00

Fox has announced 16 series are now available on iTunes. They cover a broad range of Fox content, including hit shows (24 & Prison Break) as well as classics (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly). As part of the Fox lineup, shows from Fox's Speed channel will also be avaible. With the addition of Fox there are over 90 series available for purchase on iTunes.

FOX Shows Added to iTunes Music Store

2006-05-09T08:25:00.000-04:00

Despite reports stating it wasn't going to happen any time soon, FOX has put up several of their shows on iTunes Music Store. You can now purchase episodes for $1.99 of 24, Prison Break, Unan1mous, Stacked, and several "Fox Television Classics" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Lost in Space). (link opens in iTunes)

read more | digg story

Steve Jobs invites Beatles to iTunes

2006-05-08T23:30:00.000-04:00

Apple CEO Steve Jobs invited the Beatles to join iTunes after winning a lawsuit against Apple Corps. Yoko Ono allowed the John Lennon collection to go online to other music services but for Apple's iTunes. Hopefully once the Beatles have new digital masters they will go on iTunes.

read more | digg story

Beatles lose Apple court battle!

2006-05-08T13:55:00.000-04:00

The Beatles have lost their court battle with Apple Computer over its iTunes download service. While the Beatles were probably hoping for a large payday, or at least some financial settlement it looks like they are out of luck. Whereas before they could have negotiated and gotten the Beatles onto Apple's iTunes it looks like they don't have much of a negotiating position anymore. Previously Steve Jobs had offered to buy Apple Corp. for $1 million, perhaps Apple will extend the same offer.

read more | digg story

AppleInsider | Apple's top legal exec quietly departs

2006-05-05T22:30:00.000-04:00

Apples top legal exec departs, making three top executives that have left in the past 3 months. Previously the co-creator of the Mach microkernel, Avie Tevanian left, as well as Sr. VP of the iPod division, Jon Rubenstein.

Analyst predicts upcoming Apple video and phone products

2006-05-04T14:28:00.000-04:00

In a compehensive report, a financial analyst covers the future of Apple. In it they cover the likelihood of movies on iTunes, a video iPod, expected timeframe for the iPhone as well as covering iTunes music sales rates.

Itunes seems to be selling music at 21 million downloads per week. This shows that music downloads from iTunes is not slowing as the music industry had tried to use this as an argument to raise prices.

read more | digg story

AppleInsider | PortalPlayer chip still destined for new video iPod?

2006-05-03T19:21:00.000-04:00

It seems that everyone is expecting a video iPod to come out. It seems that PortalPlayer is the frontrunner to supply their system-on-a-chip for the device even they lost their Nano business to Samsung recently.

iPodNN | iPod leads growing MP3 player market

2006-05-02T01:10:00.000-04:00

140 million MP3 players were sold in 2005, Apple sold ~40 million iPods in 2005. 50% of MP3 owners surveyed had an iPod. Apple had 80% marketshare in March. Apple sold 5 million iPods in the year ago quarter which is about how many MP3 players Sony sold for all of last year.

The numbers are rather confusing, previously Apple's 80% number was for HDD based players. The numbers touted after the Shuffle came out were lower (~70%) but were for the entire market. As the shuffle came out last year, it seems like there is a large gap between 30% of MP3 players sold last year being iPods and 50% off MP3 owners having an iPod. If after the shuffle came out they had 70%+ of the market why did they only sell 30% of the MP3 players? Perhaps MP3 phones were counted in the worldwide total number of MP3 players sold and the 80% is for the US MP3 only device market.

Apple to double iPod nano storage capacity

2006-05-01T13:44:00.000-04:00

Apple is planning a new iPod nano with twice the storage for its September quarter, reports AppleInsider. An analyst said, "Our most recent checks indicate the current 2GB and 4GB nano models will see their storage doubled to 4GB and 8GB capacities."

read more | digg story

Apple patents for: Wireless iPods and TVs, iChat whiteboard, more

2006-04-28T11:14:00.000-04:00

Apple Computer has recently filed for patents on several interesting technologies that cover iPods wirelessly communicating with TVs, an online teleconferencing whiteboard, an integrated sensing display, and virtual keys of a touch-screen virtual keyboard.

read more | digg story

Apple comments from their shareholder meeting.

2006-04-27T22:11:00.000-04:00

At Apple's sharholder meeting, when asked about a Media Center, Jobs replied with "we hear you loud and clear". Interesting notes of what went down at the meeting.

read more | digg story

Apple chooses Samsung chip for next-gen iPods

2006-04-27T11:52:00.000-04:00

Samsung Electronics recently scored a major design win when Apple Computer selected its new MP3 media processor over one from PortalPlayer to power its next-generation of iPod digital music players. Samsungs integrated chips are based on the ARM processor which was used by Apple in its ill fated Newton.

read more | digg story

The iPod Observer - Now Playing - Microsoft's Steve Ballmer Sees Cell Phone as iPod Killer

2006-04-26T14:16:00.000-04:00

Microsoft's CEO is hoping that something will unseat the iPod. It seems like they are hoping for the market to shift and for Apple to be unable to stay on top as opposed to someone actually making a better MP3 player. They do hint that in the next year it will release MP3 players, but that it expected Cell Phone Mp3 players to become the dominant form of portable music.

1000 song hack for iTunes phones.

2006-04-26T01:07:00.000-04:00

A forum at MotoModders has the details and simple steps you can take to run a simple hack on any iTunes phone (except the v3i) to raise the song cap to 1000. Unfortunately, there's one catch: the little app you have to run is Windows-based, so you'll need a PC or Boot Camp to actually do this (sorry, Parallels doesn't support USB devices - yet).

read more | digg story

Apple Plans Major Overhaul for iPod Nano

2006-04-25T14:02:00.000-04:00

Apple looks to be introducing its new iPod Nano this fall. This would give retailers enough time to order and stock up for the holiday season. The new Nano is most likely going to be reengineered internally, reports of a new exterior design are minimal. The new redesign may involve Apple using Intel Xscale chips (formerly ARM whose chips were used in the Newton).

read more | digg story

New redesigned iPod nano due this fall

2006-04-25T13:55:00.000-04:00

AppleInsider | Labels may buckle in bid for variable iTunes pricing

2006-04-24T11:33:00.000-04:00

Reports are circulating that iTunes will keep its $.99 pricing. The record labels were unsuccessful in persuading Jobs to go to variable song pricing (though album pricing is variable). Most likely they were hoping that the number of songs sold on iTunes would decrease and that they could use that against Apple by saying that they were the cause for holding the industry back. They recently tried to state this in that Apple was holding back subscription music sales, but were unable to say that Apple was holding back overall download sales.

Apple iMac – iMac g4 and g5 computers and accessories - MacMall

2006-04-23T13:12:00.000-04:00

Apple retailers are selling Intel Macs with Windows preinstalled as a bundle!

Apple Debuts Two NEW iTunes Features!

2006-04-22T16:33:00.000-04:00

Ever heard a song on TV that you loved but just couldn't figure out the song title or the artist? Well, Apple's two new features "Commercial Success" and "As Heard On" will help you find songs that have been played on various commercials and television shows.

read more | digg story

Apple to Release 8GB and 10GB Versions of the Popular iPod Nano this Summer

2006-04-22T12:57:00.000-04:00

For all the iPod fans, summertime will see the release of two higher storage capacity Nanos. The rumored touch screen iPod is still in the works. Pictures of the new versions are available -- although it appears that there have been few if any cosmetic changes.

read more | digg story

Apple did not say they will cut iPod prices!!

2006-04-20T20:50:00.000-04:00

As reported by iPodObserver Apple is not cutting prices on their iPod. Apple's CFO did not say they would lower iPod prices, merely that the average selling price of ALL iPods would be lower. This is because this is the first full quarter that the lower priced iPod Shuffle and 1GB Nano are available. The ASP will increase if more people buy 60GB iPods and it will decrease if more people buy iPod Shuffles, it does not mean the price of any individual iPod is increasing or decreasing.

read more | digg story

The iPod Observer - Now Playing - Research Firm Sees Apple Launching its 'iPhone' With MVNO Helios

2006-04-19T15:03:00.000-04:00

A British research firm is predicting an Apple iPhone to be launched along with a new carrier Helio. The company gives an 85% chance that this will happen this year. The new carrier is an MVNO, in that they are leasing airtime and do not have their own network. Helio execs are looking to shake up the industry and bring handsets never before seen in the U.S.

AppleInsider | Apple's flagship MacBook Pro to arrive at NAB

2006-04-19T12:47:00.000-04:00

Rumors are that Apple will release a larger 17" MacBook Pro as well as 13" MacBook laptops at the National Association of Broadcasters conference next week. It does not appear that smaller 13" MacBook Pros will be announced.

Apple sued for patent infringement (iTunes, Quicktime, iPod, etc)

2006-04-17T22:31:00.000-04:00

Burst.com which had previously sued Microsoft over patent infringement is now suing Apple Computer. Bob Cringely had covered the twists of the case against MS. In that case MS conveniently lost/deleted 8 weeks of email that were relevant to the case. Unfortunately for MS they did not delete the email from their offsite backup, once this was brought up they settled for $60m. Burst's patents cover streaming content over the internet. Rather than streaming video at a constant bitrate, they stream it in high speed "bursts." This way if there is a connection problem your streaming content can continue without interruption for short periods of time.

read more | digg story

iPodNN | iTunes, iPod stifling digital music?

2006-04-17T18:22:00.000-04:00

More drumbeating that Apple needs to increase prices because the labels are losing money. Music labels of course are not losing money, they are making the same profit margin as with CDs. They may be selling slightly less since they can no longer force you to buy a "single" CD for $8. Even still if every 10 songs sold on iTunes were counted as an album, album sales would have been up last year. Thestreet.com is convinced though that Apple is holding back the subscription service market.

The World's Most Innovative Companies

2006-04-17T10:46:00.000-04:00

Apple tops BusinessWeek list of innovative companies due to its iPod success. They point to their innovative agreements with the music industry regarding iTunes, business model (selling songs for $1), and branding (coolness).

As Apple retools new video iPod, the release rolls back

2006-04-13T15:08:00.000-04:00

The roll-out of Apple's forthcoming video iPod has been delayed substantially after the company encountered problems with the display and touch-screen interface. They stress that since the video iPod wasn't ready, there was no need to push for digital movie download agreements. The latest release date is that the new iPods will be ready for Christmas, so perhaps in August/September to give the retailers some time to order and stock the product.

read more | digg story

The iPod Observer - Now Playing - Beatles May Be Planning Music Download Service

2006-04-12T14:55:00.000-04:00

Apple Corps, the beatles label is creating new digital masters to eventually offer for download. It would seem wise for both Apple Computer and Apple Corp to settle out of court and have the Beatles exclusively available through iTunes. Steve Jobs offered to buy Apple Corp. for $1 million and considering he named the company in honor of the Beatles one would think that he would work to get an exclusive digital catalog of the new Beatles masters.

New 5GB and 10GB Nano on the way

2006-04-10T19:33:00.000-04:00

Apple looks to be preparing a large increase in iPod Nano storage capacity. The planned sizes are 5GB and 10GB and are expected to be announced at the end of May. As the 6G video iPod has not been announced yet, perhaps Apple will announce both the iPods together. That is assuming they get some movies to sell for their iPod Videos.

read more | digg story

The iPod Observer - Now Playing - Coinstar Adds iTunes Gift Cards/eCertificates

2006-04-10T17:00:00.000-04:00

Coinstar, the company which provides machines to count change and give cash, has added a new way to cash out. Previously you could either get cash minus an 8.9% fee or an Amazon gift card without any fee. The company has recently added iTunes and eCertificates as other fee free options.

AppleInsider | BofA sees new iPod mid-year, iPhone by early 2007

2006-04-10T01:05:00.000-04:00

Bank of America cut its estimates for Apple computer. They reduced their estimates based on the transition to Intel CPU's reducing sales. They expect that the recent release of Boot Camp will likely reduce any lost sales due to the transition. They expect new notebooks this quarter, a new video iPod by next year and an iPhone in December/January.

Apple Corp. saw iTunes early, didn't complain - lawyer

2006-04-07T00:47:00.000-04:00

FTA: "Apple Corp., was given an opportunity to object to Apple Comp.'s use of the apple logo in association with the iTunes Music Store. But it chose not to, the iPod maker's advocate claimed yesterday. Apple Corp. received an ITMS demo in January 2003 - four months before the service went live."

read more | digg story

Record Industry Pushes Apple to Raise iTunes Prices

2006-04-04T20:04:00.000-04:00

Record labels make about 70 cents per download, and that's more profit than they make selling CDs, according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

read more | digg story

iPodNN | Retailer says Bluetooth iPod is near

2006-04-04T19:22:00.000-04:00

Rumors are swirling that either a Bluetooth iPod or Bluetooth accessories are on the way. Bluetooth would allow car integrations without the need for FM transmittters.

Google launching iTunes competitor

2006-04-04T01:15:00.000-04:00

While previous comments from Google indicated they would not get into downloadable music, they have recently stated they are looking to expand media downloads. Financial analysts suspect their recent music industry networking event is the prelude to an iTunes competitor launch.

read more | digg story

Apple iPhone soon? Not likely.

2006-03-30T12:44:00.000-05:00

Contrary to published reports, two independent sources speaking on condition of anonymity recently disclosed that Apple's cell phone ambitions have been put on hold as the company has encountered "significant technological hurdles" in developing the product. Apple had wanted to design a cell phone from the ground up, but has encountered technical difficulties that are preventing it from going further.

read more | digg story

Fake Apple 6G iPod Video Ad

2006-03-30T01:30:00.000-05:00

Someone has posted another fake Apple 6G iPod Video Ad. Overall it seems well done since the music and the style of the ad seem to be typical of Apple, but the ending clearly is amateurish.

read more | digg story

Why Apple can't announce their 6G iPod Video

2006-03-29T01:57:00.000-05:00

Steve Jobs is a smart guy, he knows that you need content to sell hardware. If there isn't any compelling content then the result will be weak harware sales. In the same way that Apple sells the entire widget (hardware and software), Apple wants to sell iPod and iTunes. When the 5G iPods came out, Jobs announced music videos and TV shows for download. He said movies would take too long to download.

So to take care of this problem, Apple will/has already set up a streaming movie solution. You can begin watching as soon as you click buy. The problem is that the movie industry wants the same thing the music industry wants. They want to rent you digital downloads. They don't want to sell downloads for fear of piracy. This fear is what gave Apple the lock on the music digital download market. The music industry refused to give the same terms to any other company, everyone else was forced by the music industry into selling monthly rental fees ala Rhapsody, Napster, etc. Only after the music industry saw the massive market share that Apple gained from selling songs instead of renting them, did they let the cell phone industry sell songs (on terms that are likely not as profitable).

The movie industry and Apple are currently battling this same plan out behind the scenes. Apple wants to sell movie downloads and with his new position as the largest investor in Disney, hopefully he will be able to pull it off. Until then Apple won't announce their 6G video iPods .

iPodNN | Apple expands 'Season Pass' to Lost, DH

2006-03-29T01:29:00.000-05:00

Apple has added a few more shows to its list of season pass offerings. Currently season passes for Desperate Housewives and Lost are being offered for $35. Passes are for one season, season 2 episodes will include all unaired episodes as well.

MercuryNews.com | 03/26/2006 | Didn't want to change the world, just wanted to work on computers

2006-03-28T14:12:00.000-05:00

The San Jose Mercury news interviewed Steve Wozniak (the other co-founder of Apple) and has posted it on their site. He discusses how he really just wanted to be an engineer and work on computers. He mentions the little know fact that HP had the rights to whatever Woz designed but they turned him down. After they started a project to build a computer at HP, they refused to let Woz work on the project. He describes it as sad at the time, but on the whole a benefit for the world :)

The iPod Observer - Now Playing - Apple and France Sometimes Sound Alike

2006-03-27T13:58:00.000-05:00

A few months before the iTunes music store was opened, Steve Jobs made a quote that was very similar to what France is saying now. At the time he was responding to the music industry, and their complaints about Apple's Rip. Mix. Burn. ads. He stated that "If you legally acquire music, you need to have the right to manage it on all other devices that you own." Which is similar to Frances DRM strategy in that if you purchase music is should be playable on any MP3 player.

Apple iPod: One Giant Leap for Advertising - boakes.org

2006-03-26T23:35:00.000-05:00

Perhaps this is what Apple will announce on April 1st since their products and related services may not be ready. Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs won the rights to an abandoned mine in Australia during a poker game. For two years this "ad" has been in construction and is the size of 8 soccer fields.

Beatles taking Apple to court over theft of trademark

2006-03-26T21:59:00.000-05:00

The Beatles are finally getting their day in court over Apple's breach of their agreement not to use the name "Apple" to distribute music.

read more | digg story

Britain, UK news from The Times and The Sunday Times - Times Online

2006-03-26T21:57:00.000-05:00

Apple Corps. the Beatles licensing company is again suing Apple computer. They first sued 5 years after Apple Computer was created. They settled with the agreement that Apple would not get into the music business. They sued again when Apple released a music program which was settled as long as Apple did not distribute "creative works" i.e. music. The contract seems to have been worded to cover CDs and cassettes, but not digital downloads. The case is finally going to high court this week.

iPodNN | Apple offers more iTunes video bundles

2006-03-25T22:41:00.000-05:00

As iTunes sells songs individually and in albums, Apple is moving to sell collections of videos now as well. They are offering video collections and vingles (video + single), with the video collection including exclusive videos not available elsewhere.

VANITY FAIR : ROUNDTABLE : CONTENT

2006-03-25T13:08:00.000-05:00

Vanity Fair has a piece on Steve Jobs ascendancy and discusses at its end the various rumors of new products. They describe Apple cell phones (iPhone) and set top boxes (Mac Mini's etc.) as future products.

Big-box retailers offer hints at forthcoming iPod changes

2006-03-25T01:49:00.000-05:00

This week there is new evidence to suggest that Apple Computer is slowly and quietly planning to spice up its most popular iPod offerings sometime in the near term. Meijer and Amazon are discounting their current iPods. In addition to the "at-risk" status of the 60GB iPod with Video, it seems new products will be coming soon.

read more | digg story

Apple: French Law Is 'Piracy'

2006-03-23T16:22:00.000-05:00

Apple Computer said on Tuesday a proposed French law that would force Apple to make sure that songs bought on its iTunes music store can work on any portable player would result in "state-sponsored piracy."

read more | digg story

iPod phone confirmed

2006-03-23T02:08:00.001-05:00

While analysts and Apple rumor sites have been speculating, Benq confirms that an iPhone is in the works. Their suppliers who work with Apple have been requested to supply parts for the iPhone. Benq also states that the Apple iPhone is common knowledge in Taiwan. The iPhone is expected to be released in the 4th quarter of this year.

read more | digg story

iPod phone confirmed

2006-03-23T02:08:00.000-05:00

Smarthouse - iPhone (iPod phone) confirmed

2006-03-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

Benq, one of Apple's competitors in the MP3 player market has let the cat out of the bag. In talking with their suppliers they have learned that Apple has requested their suppliers to provide parts for the upcoming iPhone. Analysts expect the iPhone to be released in the fourth quarter, or at least within one year.

AppleInsider | Apple reserves room for changes atop iPod line

2006-03-17T16:23:00.000-05:00

It has been confirmed that Apple has placed the top line 60GB iPod on a 60 day at risk list one month ago. This further confirms that Apple's announcement on April 1, if announced will likely replace the current iPod with another iPod. Most likely this iPod will have a larger screen. It seems that the product has not been end of lifed as of yet, but signs point to the failing health of the 60GB iPod.

AppleInsider | PiperJaffray: "75 percent chance" of an Apple iPhone

2006-03-16T23:20:00.000-05:00

Analysts are yet again pining for Apple to get into the cell phone market. PiperJaffray gives a 75% chance to the likelihood of a phone appearing. They also state that Apple at this price is a good buy because of future form factor iPods (i.e. the much rumored iPod video), Intel Macs and the Apple iPhone.

Apple Pulls First movie; then bumps it up to $9.99 instead!

2006-03-15T02:40:00.000-05:00

In what seems to confirm the exploratory nature of iTunes movies, iTunes only Disney movie now costs $9.99. This is comparable to the price of a DVD but is only at half VGA resolution and does not include any extras. Perhaps others in the company got wind of this and overruled the CEO claiming that future DVD profits were at stake? Whats interesting is that this was a made for TV Disney movie that would have been shown for free. So any sales they would have gotten would have been pretty much profit.

read more | digg story

NCAA basketball tournament coming to iTunes; Season Pass offered

2006-03-14T22:11:00.000-05:00

Apple and CBS Sports have announced that the 2006 NCAA Division I Men' Basketball Championship will be available from the iTunes Music Store. Condensed versions of the tournament games will be available for $1.99 per game or $19.99 for all 63 condensed games using Apple's new "Season Pass" feature on iTunes,

read more | digg story

Mac Rumors: Apple Offering Full Length Movie on iTunes

2006-03-14T12:50:00.000-05:00

Apple is offering its first full length movie on iTunes. The movie is High School Musical, a Disney movie, whether Jobs being on the Disney board had anything to do with this is unknown. Interestingly the movie is not linked from the main iTunes store.

AppleInsider | Jobs plans rare trip to India to launch new facility?

2006-03-14T11:14:00.000-05:00

Steve Jobs is reported to be making a trip to India to launch a new R&D facility there. Other than India, the only asian country Jobs has only officially travelled to is Japan. During his younger days Jobs spent several years in India traveling, most likely his trip this time will not be for enlightenment :)

HBO to offer content on iTunes

2006-03-13T18:12:00.000-05:00

Interestingly they will not be releasing their full shows on iTunes, but only cast interviews, behind the scenes footage and similar show related content. The content is being released for Sopranos, Big Love, Rome and Entourage.

read more | digg story

AppleInsider | Citigroup lifts Apple with new product predictions

2006-03-13T12:34:00.000-05:00

Citigroup upgrade Apple on the expectation that significant products will be relased on April 1. In agreement with all the rumors, they expect a true video iPod and an Intel MacBook to be announced. Most likely if Apple announces the iPod Video, they will announce the ability to stream movies from iTunes as well.

Future products they expect are: a redesigned iPod nano, with lowered prices and increased capacities and an Apple cell phone.

Contrary to rumor sites, Citigroup seems to expect that the revised iPod Video will replace the current iPod which has only been on the market for 5 months. If the current iPod were on the market for close to a year this would make sense, but Apple would not release a product and replace it within only a few months. The true iPod Video (which will likely be marketed as such) will be sold at a higher price than the current iPod.

Why the video iPod hasn't come out yet

2006-03-09T23:18:00.000-05:00

A lot of people were expecting a true video iPod (among other things) at Macworld. They were also disappointed with Apple "only" announcing the iPod Hi-Fi and no video iPod. The problem with announcing a true video iPod is the content. Basically you can watch a TV show on the current iPod, but in order to watch a 2 hour movie you really need a bigger screen. Apple is planning on pricing the product above their current iPod line (bigger screen, HD, battery etc. add cost as well) and so they need movies to drive the sale of these iPods. The lack of a distribution deal with the movie industry is why the video iPod was not announced at either of Apple's two events.

While Steve Jobs just sold Pixar to Disney (where he is now on the board), he can probably pull some strings to get some Disney movies (Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and now Pixar), but more content would be better. With the current generation iPod there were only a few TV shows to start, but tons of music videos. So when Apple announced the iPod with video they had lots of content to sell.

As the article mentions, the movie industry wants what the music industry is trying to push on consumers. They want people to rent but not own digital movies. This might make more sense in the movie industry as people are very accustomed to renting movies from Blockbuster, Netflix etc. While people do buy DVD movies, people seem happy just renting when they want to watch something. Regardless the big Steve wants to sell movies to customers. This would definitely give Apple a leg up on competitors if they could work out a distribution deal early in a movies release window to sell the movie. i.e. during the DVD window would make sense.

Video iPod to launch on April Fools

2006-03-09T15:28:00.000-05:00

In a research report on Portalplayer, analysts have cited independent confirmation that a redesigned video iPod will be launched at Apple's 30th anniversary announcement. Along with a bigger battery, lcd, and HD, analysts expect the price to be around $400-$500. Analysts seem to expect softer overall demand in the second half for iPods, citing cannibalization. With the release of a video iPod, it would likely bring in new iPod owners as video enthusiasts purchase the new iPod.

read more | digg story

"Apple could grab 9% Marketshare"

2006-03-08T23:31:00.000-05:00

Another study that points to the same direction, Apple running on Intel will be a positive for the company. When the first rumors of the switch came out, Microsoft commissioned an internal study on the results. The study stated that while Apple might initially lose some marketshare during the transition period, that over time they would gain marketshare. Later a Gartner analyst stated a similar result, and now we have another study saying the same thing. The key to Apple increasing their marketshare is for Apple to "embrace and extend" Mac so that it runs Windows and Mac OS X. There are rumors that Apple itself is working to help make this happen.

read more | digg story

AppleInsider | Apple iTunes to sell monthly subscription to shows

2006-03-08T15:55:00.000-05:00

AppleInsider covers what was posted here previously, that Apple is experimenting with different ways to sell content, including on a monthly basis. Some more details have surfaced, the shows will have no commercials similar to Comedy Centrals DVD business. While a DVD will bring in a whole season, Apple is selling a months worth of shows. In this sense the survey that was supposedly released by Vongo, could have been influenced by Apple.