Ed Sutherland - page 38

Ahead of next month’s CES, speculation is that the long-rumored iPhone announcement won’t be announced during the gadget-palooza. At least no announcement will come from the mouth of a Verizon representative, goes the thinking. Tuesday, the U.S. carrier announced its lineup of CES speakers would provide “a sneak peak of Android-based 4G LTE consumer devices” for a Jan. 6 news conference.

This shouldn’t come as surprise. We’ve talked about how Apple CEO Steve Jobs likes to control the message, including announcements of key products. Even Verizon’s own Chief Operating Officer has told the anxious press corp that any iPhone announcement won’t come from the carrier.

Research In Motion’s PlayBook tablet is having trouble competing with the iPad’s 10-hour battery lifespan, an analyst told investors Tuesday. The delay is likely the cause of the Ontario-based RIM pushing back the PlayBook’s first-quarter of 2011 introduction until May.

Unlike the iPad’s 10-hours and the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s 6-hour lifespan, the PlayBook has a “relatively poor battery life of a few hours,” according to Shaw Wu of Kaufman Brothers. As a result, RIM’s tablet could “require a bit of re-engineering,” he added.

Intent not to repeat this year’s shortages, Apple reportedly is “overbooking” its supply of iPad components for 2011. Suppliers of the iPad’s panel display have received orders for 65 million of the components for next year, far higher than the 45-48 million previously projected.

The move “indicates that Apple is very optimistic about the tablet PC market in 2011, and may also mean that Apple is overbooking panel capacity,” a Taiwan-based industry publication reported Wednesday.

We start with software in today’s deal spotlight. No doubt, many readers received an iPhone as a present this year, so our first two bargains focus on the Apple handset. We take a look at the latest crop of price cuts from the App Store, including “Produce Tracker,” an app that keeps a history of your purchases. We also check out some free apps for the iPhone, including “Vectorama,” a vector arithmetic app. We finish up the spotlight with a number of Mac software titles that are part of a MacPromo bundle.

Along the way, we also check out some hardware deals for the MacBook Pro, as well as the Mac Pro. We also take a peek at some accessories for your iPhone or iPod.

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

More and more information is coming out, suggesting how an expected iPad 2 might look or perform. Now comes word Apple may ship three versions of the updated tablet, adding a CDMA model to the already available Wi-Fi and 3G.

According to a Taiwan-based industry publication citing unnamed sources, production on the iPad 2 could begin as early as the second-half of January with Apple shipping between 500,000 to 530,000 units next month.

As we reported earlier this week, Apple blew out the competition when it came to prime real estate under the Christmas tree. Not only did Apple crush the competition when it came to laptops and MP3 players, the iPad rules and its rivals drool, according to an analyst Tuesday.

“Even with a handful of tablet competitors hitting the market, the iPad remained the only game in town” for the holidays, Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair told investors. Blair called Apple’s rivals “junk for lack of a better word.”

After taking the unprecedented step of forecasting it would sell at least 1 million Apple TV units last week, the Cupertino, Calif. company Monday confirmed it had met its goal. The milestone shatters Apple’s previous high-water mark for the $99 device set it October: 250,000 units. At the time, CEO Steve Jobs remarked he was “thrilled.”

This latest sales announcement seemed more to do with increased competition from the likes of Roku and Google than any real revenue benefit to Apple. Last week analysts described the $400 million in revenue from sales of 1 million Apple TV as “fairly immaterial.” Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu, however, said the Apple TV could become “a more material contributor and game changer in the TV space,” if Apple creates an App Store for the device, similar to how the Cupertino, Calif. firm has done for other products, such as the iPhone and iPad.

We start the first week after Christmas with a number of deals. First up is a 2.13GHz MacBook Air laptop for $1,100. (You can also get the same hardware, plus a bundle of 4GB memory and three years of AppleCare for $1,966.) Also on tap is the latest crop of price cuts from the iPhone App Store, including “Awareness Headphones” an auditory app. We wrap-up the deal spotlight with “Solomon’s Key,” an action role-playing game for the iPhone or iPod touch that is free.

Along the way, we’ll also check out some hardware deals, such as a 27-inch iMac and a unibody MacBook Pro laptop. Additionally, there are after-Christmas discounts on cases for your iPhone and iPod touch. As always, details on these and many other deals can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Verizon may be getting a late Christmas present, if a new report proves correct. Apple is planning to ship between 20 million and 21 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2011 – 5 to 6 million of those CDMA-based. (Another 14 million to 15 million of the Apple handsets will reportedly be GSM.)

According to a Taiwan-based industry publication, citing unnamed suppliers, Asia will also get the CDMA phones. However, this latest talk of CDMA iPhones could bolster the already red-hot speculation Verizon will launch an iPhone early next year. The move would break the exclusive stranglehold AT&T has held ever since the iPhone was introduced in 2007.

Chances were, if you received some electronics this Christmas, it bore the Apple logo. Products made by the Cupertino, Calif. company were the most-gifted items, according to the online elves at Amazon.

Despite being No. 1 in “Most Wished For” TV and video products, No. 2 Roku actually reportedly was found under most trees. Amazon’s Kindle e-reader again topped the list as bestselling electronic device, the same as it has the whole holiday season.

Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the iHouse, not a creature was stirring – not even a MagicMouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care – in hope that an iPhone 4 would soon be there. The children were snug, their tummies full from a big meal – with visions of iMacs and iPad deals…

Okay, enough cheap rip-offs of Clement Moore. We spend the last day before Christmas showcasing a number of stocking-stuffer bargains, including applications for the iPhones and iPads likely to be unwrapped Saturday. First up is a new crop of price cuts on iPad apps, such as “Catan HD,” a guitar simulator. Next we check out some new iPhone app price drops, including “Inspector Gadget.” We wrap up our spotlight deals with an 8GB iPod touch (with a $50 gift card) for just $205.

Along the way, we also take a look at some iMacs on sale, such as a 22-inch desktop running a 3.06 Core 2 Duo processor for $929. As always, details on these and more items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

As Christmas draws ever nearer, we have a trio of app deals for your favorite Apple device. First up is a new crop of price cuts on iPad applications from the iPad App Store, including “SuperBadminton 2010” for just $0.99 – a $4 price reduction. We also have new freebies from the iPhone App Store, including the seasonally-themed “Snowing Screensaver.” We wrap up our deal spotlight with “SoundHound,” a free music-recognition application for your iPhone.

Along the way, we’ll also check out some hardware deals, such as various iPads reduced by $100, and a 2.53GHz Core 2 Dup Mac mini for just $589. Also on tap is a variety of cases, screensavers and other items perfect for your i-product. As always, details on these and much more can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Apple and Android have consumed much of the ink used to describe the tablet wars. Now HP is attempting to grab some of the spotlight; it’s first move, an interview dissing Google’s mobile operating system as “backward looking” and preparing to take on Apple’s iPad with a Franken-tablet: part Palm and part revamped Slate.

HP’s Jon Rubinstein, who helped create the iMac and iPod when at Apple, has gone onto an executive position at Palm, which was then acquired by HP. Rubinstein, in a Wall Street Journal interview, talks about competition and the remade Slate tablet, now named the PalmPad, ahead of the upcoming CES.

We start the day with more application for your iPhone and iPod touch. First up is “Gangstar,” the third-person sandbox game from Gameloft. Usually, the application is $5, but fans can now get the game for free. Also, we have a new crop of free iPhone apps, including “0.03 Seconds Pro,” the reaction time-based game. We close out our deal spotlight with “Dora’s Christmas Carol.” This educational children’s game is usually $1.99, but the application is now available for just $0.99.

Along the way, we’ll take a look at hardware deals (like Mac Pro Xeon workstations), cases for your iPad and iPhone, along with other hardware and software bargains. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Although $400 million is nothing to sneeze at, for Apple’s expected $88 billion in revenue for fiscal 2011, the amount is “positive, but fairly immaterial,” one analyst told investors Wednesday. However, the $99 Apple TV could be a “game changer” if some tweaks are made to the box the Cupertino, Calif. company once called just a “hobby.”

Tuesday, Apple took the unprecedented step of announcing ahead of time it expects to sell 1 million Apple TV units by the end of the week. The move was widely seen as a way to steal thunder from competitors, Roku and Google.

Amazon, long reticent about announcing sales figures of its Kindle e-reader, could sell more than 8 million of the devices this year, 60 percent higher than Wall Street analysts predicted, according to a news report. That would be a dramatic rise from the 2.4 million Kindles sold in 2009, unnamed sources within the online bookseller told a reporter.

The sales increase may stem from two trends: a growing demand for standalone e-readers even in the face of the multipurpose Apple iPad and Amazon’s decision to let its e-books be read on a wide variety of platforms, including the iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry, Android-based phones and the latest addition: phones using Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system. The multi-platforms are a sign Amazon does not plan to pin all of its e-reader and e-book sales on the Kindle, now offered in three versions, according to Piper Jaffray Analyst Gen Munster.

We’re just days from Christmas and with this deal spotlight, you’d better watch out for falling prices. Yes, that’s a pretty corny opening, but you’ll find the savings nothing to laugh at. First up is a new crop of iPad apps with lower prices, including the “Splinter Cell” game. Next is another harvest of iPhone apps, including the musical game “Justin Bieber Revenge.” If that’s not enough, we also have another round of price drops on SEGA games, including “Super Monkey Ball.”

If hardware is more your style, we have an iMac powered by a 2.8GHz Core i7 processor with 27-inch screen for $1,649. For MacBook Air fans, we have a 2.13GHz MBA with 13-inch screen for $1,100.

There are plenty of other deals, including GPS software for your iPhone, free city guides and an iPhone warranty. As always, details on these and many other bargains can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

An Apple press release has observers scratching their head. The usually tight-lipped Cupertino, Calif. company projected it will sell more than 1 million Apple TV units by the end of the week. Normally, the company run by Steve Jobs only speaks about milestones it has already passed. However, the announcement could be more a way to stick a finger in Google’s eye than pre-tooting any corporate horns.

The backstory: Monday, Roku said it will sell its millionth TV set-top box in the next two weeks. Also, the curious announcement likely has a tie-in with Google’s TV.

Google TV reportedly is having trouble, warning partners of a possible delay in supplying the software for televisions. In its announcement, Apple pointedly noted it is selling 400,000 television episodes and 150,000 movies every day.

[Silicon Alley Insider, Barron’s]

An increasing number of families love their iPad so much, they buy a second Apple tablet, rather than share. That’s the conclusion of a survey finding 17 percent of iPad owners have more than one of the popular Apple tablets in their home.

“The main reason for owning more than one tablet in the household is due to other family members using the tablet,” according to YouGov. While more than a third (37 percent) of tablet owners responding to the survey say their partner uses an iPad, 14 percent say they purchased another iPad because their kids are using one.

We start the week before Christmas with a number of bargains suitable for under the tree. First up is several unibody MacBook Pro laptops, starting at $1,019 for a 2.4GHz unit with a 13.3-inch screen. Next, a new crop of price cuts on iPhone apps from the App Store, including the adventure game “Where’s Waldo?” We wrap up our spotlight deals with a bargain on a 8GB iPod touch for just $195.

Along the way, we’ll also take a look at luxury cases for your iPad, an 83 percent-off offer on iPod touch cases, and deals on iPod classics, as well as iTunes gift cards. As usual, details on all of these items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

The old saying about a rising tide lifts all boats seems pertinent even to smartphones. A dramatic rise in demand for smartphones has allowed Android to enter the market yet hasn’t caused Apple to cut its price for the iPhone, writes one analyst Monday.

With demand for smartphones growing at 90 percent per year, the question isn’t how Android will hurt Apple. “The more smartphones you build, the more price you can charge. This is regardless of platform,” according to Asymco’s Horace Dediu.

We wrap up another week with a variety of both hardware and software deals. First up is a 13-inch MacBook Air, powered by the Core 2 Duo running at 2.13GHz for $1,125. (We have a number of other hardware deals for other MacBooks, as well as iMacs.) Also on tap are a number of apps for your iPhone and iPad. EA has various well-known games, such as “Scrabble” for the Apple tablet. The iPhone App Store releases a new crop of freebies, including “Battle Bears -1.”

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

Way out, man. That might encapsulate the Thursday remarks by a Research In Motion executive on whether the Waterloo, Ontario-based company’s upcoming PlayBook can compete with Apple’s iPad. “I think the PlayBook redefines what a tablet should do,” RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in what some members of the media termed “a several minute rant”.

The tablet market will move away from “a proprietary SDK and unnecessary apps,” Balsillie said in response to a question from JP Morgan analyst Rod Hall. The comment, aimed at Apple, was RIM’s latest attack on the Cupertino, Calif. company’s grip on the nascent tablet market.

Apple’s iTunes continues to dominate digital music sales, gaining three percent compared to last year and comprising 66 percent of the market, according to news reports. Amazon, Apple’s closest competitor, with just 13 percent of digital music purchases, tied Walmart, which relinquished first place to the Cupertino, Calif. firm in 2008.

The week-to-week struggle for digital music domination is even more cut-throat, according to the Wall Street Journal. Record label insiders told the newspaper Amazon holds on to just six to 10 percent of digital sales each week with Apple cruising along at near 90 percent of the market.

Apple reportedly has added two more iPad 2 touchscreen suppliers, making five the total number of firms churning out displays for the Cupertino, Calif. firm. Apple expects its iPad 2, believed to appear in early 2011, to sell six million units per quarter, compared to four million quarterly shipments of the current tablet.

Chimei Innolux and Cando have been added to the suppliers list, which already contains Wintek, Sintek Phototronics and TPK Touch Solutions, according to a Taiwan-based industry publication. The new suppliers reportedly will begin shipping touchscreens for the iPad 2 in January or February of next year.