Ed Sutherland - page 11

Remember the chatter prior to last week, that Apple would announce an inexpensive iPhone? Well the rumor has returned — evolved into the “iPad mini.” According to one analyst, Apple is prepping the device for 2012 to combat Amazon’s $199 Kindle Fire.

What started as a downer for deflated consumers may become yet another runaway hit for Apple. Already with more than 1 million advance orders, the iPhone 4S is expected to ship to 2.5 million eager fans during the upcoming Christmas season.

After releasing multiple versions of its iconic iPhone handset, Apple has built in what one Wall Street expert Wednesday calls “an annuity of smartphone buyers.” The iPhone 4S typifies such thinking as 18 percent of 2012 sales for the new phone is expected to come from owners of previous iPhone models.

One day before a Dutch ban on sales of its Galaxy smartphone is set to go into place, Samsung reportedly will jettison a feature that judges found violated an iPhone patent. The Netherlands had said it would ban sales of three offending Samsung smartphones beginning Thursday.

Movie studios, faced with dwindling DVD sales as consumers turn to streaming, want to create their own cloud-based storage option to compete with Apple. Aptly named UltraViolet, the service apparently hinges on invisible interest by audiences that have abandoned physical sales.

Sure, the new iPhone 4S has a brand-spanking new iOS 5, the endlessly cool Siri voice-recognition and HD-quality digital camera. But perhaps the most exciting feature for Apple is the 71 percent to 73 percent profit margin on each handset sold – and there should be millions, one analyst said.

The iPad has become the favored device for slurping up media in the U.S., overtaking the iPhone in August, according to new figures from an Internet research firm. Apple’s iOS also is the overwhelming choice for U.S. media consumption with Android a distant second.

As the number of voice calls have dwindled, mobile carriers now rely on text messaging as a profit center. Now that source of revenue is under attack as Apple prepares to release iOS 5 and iMessage, a feature allowing free messaging between iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users.

When Steve Jobs was Chairman of Apple’s Board of Directors, the group was seen more as advisors. Now, post-Jobs and led by CEO Tim Cook, the tech goliath may consider picking an outsider to oversee Apple’s next chapter, according to a Friday report.

The stars seem to be aligning for an LTE iPhone in 2012. Friday, Sprint announced it plans to offer wireless 4G service “by the middle of 2012” with the faster wireless network complete by the end of 2013. This bolsters reports earlier this week that thinner LTE chips for the iPhone could be ready by the third quarter of next year.

Usually, where there’s smoke, there’s fire — except in the case of the iPad. Wealthy consumers are overwhelmingly opting for the Apple tablet, despite Amazon’s recent introduction of the Kindle Fire, a $199 alternative to the pricier iPad, indicates a survey of preferences based on income levels. More than 9 out of 10 tablet buyers with incomes above $100,000 prefer the Apple device, according to the figures.

At first, the two companies seem as different as possible. IBM was part of the personal computer’s birth, while Apple has promoted the post-PC era. However, the young tech giant can take a lesson from the veteran computer company in how to survive the departure of a corporate icon. At the front of the class is Apple CEO Tim Cook, once an IBM exec.

Hardware researchers say Apple’s just-released iPhone 4S costs $203 to build, providing similar ‘evolutionary’ advances seen when the tech giant jumped from the iPhone 3G to 3GS. The 32GB iPhone 4S will cost $749 before customer subsidy.

Reaction on Wall Street and elsewhere to the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs Wednesday night is mixed. Analysts appear to be walking a fine line between reassuring worried investors and discounting the contribution Jobs made to the tech giant.

Author Jonathan Zschau, writer of Buying and Owning a Mac: Secrets Apple Doesn’t Want You To Know says the top reason why Apple is so successful may be that it is just so darn easy to buy stuff from the Cupertino, Calif. company. “The phrase ‘eyes bigger than one’s stomach’ comes to mind here,” he writes.

Are you one of the Apple fans disappointed the iPhone 4S didn’t live up to the months of hype over the “iPhone 5”? Don’t worry, the hype train is still chuggin’ along, this time it’s load is full of rumors about — guess what? — yes, the “iPhone 5.”

Wall Street analysts, after watching disappointed investors sell-off some Apple shares, Wednesday attempted to remind consumers that the iPhone 4S maker is still a rock star, pulling in profits like nobody else on the planet.

There may be mixed reactions to Apple’s unveiling the iPhone 4S, featuring a ‘world phone’, improved antennas, better camera and the Siri voice-activated personal assistant. While the announcement was impressive, what wasn’t said could leave some Apple fans disappointed, according to analysts.

The alleged victim of tactics used by Apple security employees seeking to recover an iPhone prototype is considering filing a lawsuit against the tech giant. Sergio Calderon, a 22-year-old San Francisco man claims Apple workers impersonated police officers during a search of his home.

Despite Sprint reportedly taking a $20 billion gamble to get into the iPhone game, Apple’s new iPhone 5 won’t work on 4G networks. The new handset won’t operate on LTE or other 4G networks which are just starting to roll out, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It’s something we’ve been saying for a year: an LTE or 4G iPhone is impossible until 2012 at the minimum.

Analysts foreseeing Apple introduce two iPhones at Tuesday’s event should get their eyes fixed. That’s the message from a Wall Street expert predicting the tech giant will unveil one new handset, but reduce prices on the iPhone 4 to $99 and the iPhone 3GS to free with carrier contract.

Contradicting an earlier news report that Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs is expected to attend Tuesday’s iPhone event, a technology blogger claims Jobs is “just not feeling well enough” to publicly appear.

Apple continues to out-muscle Android online, according to a new report of devices using the Internet. Despite fewer mobile devices, iOS-powered products in September collectively accounted for 54.65 percent of the mobile market, versus 16.25 percent for Android.

Now that questions over when the iPhone 5 will appear seems to be settled, new speculation has shifted to whether former CEO and Apple stage-master Steve Jobs will show up on what was supposed to be new CEO Tim Cook’s day.

There is a bombastic upstate New York car dealer who loves to say his auto sales are “huge.” However, the first day of iPhone 5 sales expected to start this week, could redefine the definition. The enormous “pent up demand” for the new iPhone will “shatter” Apple’s previous one-day sales record of 1.7 million handsets, according to a Wall Street analyst.