Ed Sutherland - page 31

When it comes to attracting consumers to video subscription services, convenience wins out over other factors. That’s the message behind new research finding Netflix gets 60 percent of the U.S. digital subscription market, leaving Apple’s iTunes No. 3, with just 4 percent. Cable giant Comcast placed second, according to a NPD Group report on domestic digital video demand between January and February 2011.

The iTunes service tied with satellite provider DirecTV and entertainment behemoth Time Warner. Although the Apple service began in 2006, iTunes began renting movies in 2008 and 99-cent TV episodes in 2010. Despite consumers knowing iTunes had a more up-to-date inventory for rent, Netflix was given the nod due to the “overall shopping experience” and “value for price paid,” NPD announced Tuesday.

Desktops? Laptops? The conversation has shifted to tablets, and Apple appears to be at the center of this whirlwind. Yet another research firm is forecasting the global growth of “tab computers.” Canalys expects to see 52 million of the devices shipped this year – and Apple’s iPad will account for 75 percent of the sales.

The numbers mirror an earlier Goldman Sachs forecast for 54.7 million tablets, 37.2 million from Apple. Analysts at JPMorgan had a more dire warning: there could be a tablet ‘bubble’ as rivals push production, yet see limited sales.

Although we won’t know for certain how many iPad 2 tablets were sold this weekend until Apple releases actual figures, that hasn’t stopped a patchwork of estimates and insider reports. The latest metric coming to us is that 7,200 of the next-generation devices were sold Friday at the Cupertino, Calif. company’s New York City flagship store, the first day the iPad was available.

While the report cites a “well-connected source,” the numbers seem to echo a statement on weekend iPad 2 consumer demand. Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster and his team found 1,109 people were lined-up at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store this weekend – up from 703 when the original iPad was released in 2010.

We start another week of deals with bargains for the iPod touch, iPad 2 and iPhone 3G. First in the spotlight is an 8GB iPod touch for just $199 from the Apple Store. Next is silicone and TPU cases for Apple’s latest iPad 2, starting at $5.99. Last in the spotlight is a 16GB unlocked iPhone 3G for $338.

Along the way, we also check out a sliding bluetooth keyboard case for your iPhone 4, a case for your iPod touch, and software for your Mac. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

The consensus on Wall Street is that Apple had a gangbuster weekend, some estimating the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant sold up to three times as many iPad 2 units as the first-generation tablet.

“We would not be surprised to see Apple sell closer to 1 million iPad 2s in the opening weekend,” Wedbush Securitities’ analyst Scott Sutherland (no relation to this reporter) told Reuters Monday morning. Sunday, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster estimated between 400,000 to 500,000 of the new tablets were sold by Sunday night.

Did you get an iPad 2 after waiting in line Friday and Saturday? A prominent Apple analyst reported Sunday night New York City and Minneapolis Apple fans found only empty shelves. For those Apple tablets sold, the majority – 70 percent – went to new iPad owners.

“We believe this shows Apple is expanding its base of iPad users, which is critical to maintaining its early lead in the growing tablet market,” Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster said. Munster, who directed surveys of 236 line-waiters, estimates Apple sold 400,000 to 500,000 iPad 2 units – almost all in one day. That compares with the 300,000 first-generation iPads sold over its first weekend in 2010.

We close out another week of deals with probably one of the most-awaited items on the recent past: the iPad 2. The next-generation Apple tablet is said to improve on the original device, released last year. Apple is selling a 16GB Wi-Fi version of the tablet for $499. Online sales are already underway, while brick-and-mortar retailers will offer the gadget later today.

Also on tap: a 1.33GHz iBook G4 laptop for just $240. Finally, whether your own an iPad, an iBook or other Apple computer, they all need some maintenance and optimization. MacUpdate.com has a deal on Coctail 4, a software toolkit to get or keep your Mac in tip-top shape. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

The UK-based ARM Holdings, which produces chips for about 95 percent of the tablet market, would seem to be nervously biting its corporate fingernails on chatter that Apple’s supreme dominance of the sector could leave component manufacturers for competing devices high-and-dry. Instead, the company’s stock is up on analyst comments dismissing the concern.

Recently, JPMorgan Research warned investors rival tablet makers could see almost 50 percent of their devices unsold amid Apple’s dominant market position. Such talk naturally spurred worries in the component manufacturing arena potentially producing parts for devices that won’t sell. Pshaw, replied an RBS analyst Friday.

Although online sales began just a few hours ago and brick-and-mortar sales of the iPad 2 are set for later Friday, analysts already are expecting Apple’s new tablet to outsell the original device. The Cupertino, Calif. company could sell 600,000 iPad 2s this weekend – double the 300,000 first-generation iPads sold during its first 24-hours of availability.

“Apple has such a huge lead,” Creative Strategies’ analyst Tim Bajarin told Bloomberg News early today. “Competitors are going to be chasing Apple for many years,” he adds.

We start another day of dealing with the MacBook Pro. Expercom is offering a bundle that includes a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with 13-inch screen, plus a three-year AppleCare license for $1,268. Next we have several iPod touch units, including an 8GB version for just $149. Finally, if you are curious how the Google TV stacks up against Apple TV, there is a deal on the Logitech Revue unit that includes a wireless keyboard, remote and 802.11n wireless for $220.

Along the way, we check out other Mac-related devices, such as the XtremeMac InCharger to power up your iPhone, iPad or iPod. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Apple’s next retail location may be Austin, Texas. The tech giant is using the annual South by Southwest Interactive Conference (SXSW) to test a 5,000-square-foot popup store. The concept, already a practice with other retailers, will be used by the tech giant to hawk its iPad and test the city’s reception toward a more permanent outpost.

Apple Monday picked the Art Deco-look of the Scarbrough Building on Austin’s downtown Congress Avenue. After a “quick tour” of locations, the tech giant reportedly is now hard at work putting the finishing touches on the location. Starting Friday, Apple will use its temporary two-week presence to hawk iPads to those attending the event known for computers, movies and music.

Apple has just announced when its iPad 2 tablet will be available Friday. Depending how quickly you want to lay hands on the device, you can stay up till 1 a.m. Friday morning and grab the tablet online, or wait until 5 p.m Friday local time and pick up the device at a number of participating retailers.

Along with 236 Apple retail locations, AT&T, Verizon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target and other stores will have the iPad 2, which has met with mixed early reviews. Others have speculated why there were no pre-sales of the device, instead requiring fans wait until the opening day.

We start off with a deal on a 2.3GHz dual Xserve. The model includes 4GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, CD-ROM drive and Mac OS X Server. Also on tap is a faux leather iPad case, along with PhoneView 2 for your iPhone.

As usual, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Haven’t we seen this movie before? Companies drool over the success of Apple’s iTunes. Companies announce iTunes alternatives. Alternatives gather dust, eventually vanishing from the consumer consciousness. Now come PlayBook tablet maker Research in Motion and Microsoft both hoping to launch new services that rewrite the way most of these tech stories end.

For its part, RIM wants to include the UK-based 7digital music store on its as-yet-to-be-released PlayBook tablet, while the software giant reportedly plans a music and video service codenamed “Ventura” to replace its beleaguered Zune.

Remember all the talk about Apple’s $7.8 billion deal with Samsung to supply components for the iPhone and iPad? One of the concerns was that Samsung also produces the Galaxy S smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet. We may now be seeing the rethinking of that marriage of convenience. Samsung reportedly is being passed-over for a Taiwan-based chipmaker to supply Apple’s iPad 2, as well as a rumored iPhone 5.

The Cupertino, Calif. tech giant is said to have signed a deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to produce the dual-core A5 chip, which will build upon the previous A4 chip produced by Samsung and part of the original iPad. Samsung also is expected to update its Android-based Galaxy products.

Although Apple’s next-generation iPad 2 won’t be released until Mar. 11, experts are already warning rival tablet makers more than half of their devices could be left unsold. Recalling images of the Internet bubble of 2000, one analyst predicts an “increasing risk of a bubble burst” for iPad competitors during the second half of 2011.

Improvements announced in the iPad 2 “make it tougher for the first generation of competitive offerings to play catch-up, meaning actual shipments could fall well short of plan,” JP Morgan Research analyst Mark Moskowitz told investors Wednesday.

We start the day with two hardware deals under the spotlight. First up is a number of Mac Mini desktop machines from the Apple Store, starting at $599 for the 2.4GHz model. Next is a deal on iPads with $120 shaved from their original price, including a 32GB Wi-Fi tablet for just $429. The spotlight wraps-up with Apple’s iLife ’11, a suite of home productivity applications, for just $30.

Along the way, we also check out new cases for your iPod and iPad, as well as a replacement front screen glass lens for your iPhone 4. As usual, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

It’s a classic photo op: Apple releases a product and that night we see lines of early bird shoppers forming. The pictures may not be an accurate portrayal of consumer demand, one analyst suggests Tuesday. A combination of wider distribution, the day of the week and pre-orders could mean short lines, but a huge number of buyers.

Indeed, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Apple has 10 times the number of distribution points, compared to a year ago, when the original iPad went on sale. Little wonder, then, the analyst is predicting iPad 2 sales will hit 1 million units quicker than the first-generation tablet. But never mind the lines.

Adobe has finally released a tool allowing developers to convert Flash content to HTML5 format used by Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The pre-release version of the ‘Wallaby’ conversion route may lessen tension between the two companies who last year fought a war of words over Apple’s decision to stop supporting Adobe’s widely-used Internet language.

The software permits developers to drop their Flash designs into an Adobe Air application which converts the original into HTML code that can be edited via Adobe Dreamweaver or a simple text editor. The process will “extend the reach of your content to devices that do not support the Flash runtimes,” Adobe announced. The new tool is best suited for iOS 4.2 and may have trouble converting all aspects of Flash Pro, such as 3D transforms, ActionScript and embedded audio and video, reports say.

We start the week with a mix of deals for the Mac fan. First up is a series of MacBook Pro laptops, starting at $929 for a 2.4GHz unit. Next is a TuchWallet for the iPod touch and a 27-inch LED Cinema Display for just $849.

Along the way, we’ll also take a look at ways to protect your iPad, either in faux leather case or an envelope sleeve. Also on tap: software, such as iWork ’09 and Navicat for SQL Server 9. As always, details on these and many more items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Apple reportedly sold 1.1 million MacBook Air laptops during the December 2010 quarter, 63 percent above analyst expectations. The 1.1 million figure could mean MacBook Air sales represented about 40 percent of the 2.9 million notebook sales reported by the Cupertino, Calif. company for the three-month period.

The December sales numbers were 400,000 higher than the 700,000 units previously expected by Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

We wrap up the week with an all-iPhone app deal spotlight. First up is a new crop of iPhone App Store freebies, including the aerial battle game “DOGFIGHT!” Next is another new batch of freebies, including “Urban Ninja.” Finally, we take a look at some discounted iPhone apps, including the physics-based game “Burn the Rope.”

Along the way, we check out some hardware deals, such as a 3.06GHx Core i3 22-inch iMac for $1,019. Also on the the list is a blast from the past: a 1.33GHz iBook G4 with 12-inch screen and software bundle for just $240. We close out the peek at Apple hardware with a number of deals on the iPod touch, including a 32GB unit for just $199.

As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Despite Apple’s push to leverage the iPad to conquer the e-reader market, numbers say consumers have other plans. Earlier this week, CEO Steve Jobs trumpeted his iBooks store selling 100 billion ebooks during the service’s first 11 months. Eclipsing that marker is new research indicating music downloads are five times as popular and 15 times as many apps downloaded during the same period.

“The conclusion that can be drawn so far is that apps/songs show an order of magnitude more popularity than ebooks,” said Asymco’s Horace Dediu Friday. It is unclear whether Kindle’s ebooks outsell Amazon’s music downloads because the two companies offer differing delivery methods, with the Seattle-based Internet retailer foregoing an Apple-like integration of ebooks, music and app sales.

Further indications Apple wants to use its $1 billion data center to stream media to its family of mobile devices, such as the iPad, iPhone and iPod. The Cupertino, Calif. company reportedly is pressing music publishers to allow repeated downloads of music purchased through the iTunes store.

The move would alter current iTunes policy, allowing consumers to re-download music despite the originals no longer stored on connected devices. An agreement could be reached as soon as the middle of this year as Apple preps its North Carolina data farm this spring by iTunes and MobileMe.

The growth of the iPad, along with other tablet devices prompted one research firm to scale back its estimates for consumers PC demand. Instead, there is a “growing consumer enthusiasm for mobile PC alternatives,” including the just-announced iPad 2.

“We expect growing consumer enthusiasm for mobile PC alternatives, such as the iPad and other media tablets, to dramatically slow home mobile PC sales, especially in mature markets,” George Shiffler, Gartner’s research director, said Thursday. As a result, the firm now believes this year’s global PC shipments will increase 10.5 percent over 2010, down from an earlier estimated 15.9 percent.