Ed Sutherland - page 39

The iPad is rocking the corporate world. So much so, one analyst describes pent-up demand for tablets in the boardroom as a “corporate explosion.” Apple is the main beneficiary, with more than eight out of 10 tablets used by business bearing the Cupertino, Calif. firm’s logo.

What’s more, interest by corporations in tablets is set to double in the first quarter of 2011, according to a November IT buying survey by ChangeWave Research. The survey found 7 percent of corporations now use tablets, but 14 percent say they will use tablets in the next quarter. As for the iPad, the numbers held good news for Apple versus competitors.

We start off with two headlining games for the iPhone and part of the latest bargains from the iPhone App Store. “2012 Zombies vs. Aliens” is a strategy game marked down to $0.99, while “Duke Nukem 3D” is a classic first-person shoot-em-up that is free. We also have a deal on a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook for just $850 after a $125 mail-in rebate.

Also on tap are cases for your iPhones, iPads and a deal on a 27-inch LED Cinema Display bundled with the Apple TV. As always, details on these and many other items can be found on CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

The iPad, and other tablet computers have more than legs, they have teeth. Or, so says a Wall Street analyst with charts showing cannibalization of notebook PCs at a growing rate. With nearly 55 million tablet expected to ship next year, the new platform will consume 35 percent of notebooks — or 19.1 million units — in 2011.

“We suspect December quarter retail data is likely to provide even more interesting tablet cannibalization data points,” writes Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope. Here’s a hint what the data might show: more bad news for notebooks.

It wasn’t surprising that the first iAd to appear on the iPad is a movie trailer for the nerd nirvana ‘Tron Legacy’ and produced by Disney, where Apple CEO Steve Jobs is the largest shareholder. The iAd won’t be officially released until 2011, but the trailer gives iPad owners a glimpse of things to come.

Available within the TV Guide iPad app, the iAd is “chock-full of the rich graphics, touch navigation and video native to apps,” according to an Ad Age report. The iPad version includes “close to 10 minutes of video, images from the movie, a theater locator with showtimes, and a preview of the movie soundtrack with the option to purchase on iTunes without leaving the ad.”

We start out with a couple hardware deals and the latest crop of free iPhone apps. First up is a 27-inch iMac running a 3.33GHz Core 2 Duo processor for $1,499. Then comes a number of free apps from the iPhone App Store, including “A Christmas Santa.” Finally, we wrap up the deal spotlight with a Mac Pro Xeon with qud 2.66GHz processors for $1,749.

Along the way, we’ll also check out several other items of interest to Mac owners, including another iPad cover, an iPhone bumper, a bargain on the iod touch and gaming software. As usual, details on these and much more can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Apple looks like it will break another record for Mac sales, shipping 4.3 million Macs during the December quarter, according to consumer researchers and financial analysts. This comes on the heels of the previous quarter, which revealed a record 3.89 million Macs.

Despite the apparent record, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster views the NPD sales figures as a “neutral data point” because they mirror Wall Street expectations. However, Munster said the figures show international Mac sales are stronger than domestic demand for the Apple computers, indicating the Cupertino, Calif. company is on track for between 22 percent and 28 percent year-over-year growth.

Apple had 25 percent of mobile devices in November, with the iPhone the most used mobile device on the advertising network of Millennial Media. The Apple handset was used by 14.28 percent of the time and the iPod touch came in second with 8.96 percent of the network. Motorola’s Droid finished in third-place with 7.48 percent of the advertising network, according to the figures released Tuesday.

Samsung and Motorola were in second and third position behind Apple in the mobile device manufacturer category, with BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion and HTC filling out the remaining spots in the top-five mobile device manufacturers. Nokia finished in 7th position.

We start off another week with a mix of deals for your iPhone, iPad and iPod. To kick things off, there is a deal on a 1.4GHz 12-inch MacBook Air for just $1,104. Next is a new crop of price cuts for iPhone apps, including the “Nightstand” alarm clock. Finally, there is a deal on iPad cases, some marked down as low as 70 percent off.

Along the way, we also take a look at a number of other bargains, including a stand and folio for your iPad, a Sony radio dock for your iPod, and a 24-inch LED Cinema Display 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.

Did Verizon suffer a Wikileaks-like unauthorized release of sales data? That’s the conclusion of one analyst, who wrote Monday that the carrier was practically forced to agree to an iPhone contract that was beneficial to Apple.

After a Friday report included monthly Verizon smartphone sales numbers precise to 1,000 units per month, Asymco’s Horace Dediu said the leak was “as big as a Wikileaks release of diplomatic chitchat is to…diplomats. Bigger, actually.”

Apple will likely bid for part of some of the 4,000 patents worth $1 billion held by bankrupt Nortel Networks, according to a Monday report. Google is probably also competing against the Cupertino, Calif. company to lay claim on patents involving wireless-related technology, such as LTE.

“Sources expect the sale to draw wireless telecom newcomers Apple and Google , which want to build up patent war chests as they fight incumbents such as Nokia, which want to protect their patent positions, in the courts,” according to Reuters.

We close out another week with a variety of deals, starting with hardware. There are a number of more than two dozen unibody Mac Book Pros from the Apple Store, starting with a 2.26GHz MacBook Pro for just $929. We also have a new crop of price cuts from the iPad App Store, including “HTML Editor” for just $0.99. Finally, to get you in the holiday spirit is “Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift” from the App Store. This free iPhone or iPad app offers the popular game with holiday-inspired levels.

Along the way, we’ll also check out deals on iMacs, freebie iPhone Apps, an iPhone headset and a winter bundle of applications from MacUpdate. As always, details on these and many more items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

It might not be Santa’s Workshop, but Foxconn, Apple’s largest supplier, Friday said it now employs more than one million Chinese workers to build iPhones and iPads. The factory expects to have 1.3 million workers by the end of 2011.

The added workforce is designed to meet extra demand on the Taipei-based company, China’s largest private employer. Foxconn’s CEO told Bloomberg: “everybody is working hard.”

The next battle shaping up in smartphones may be between Microsoft and Google, with Apple sitting on the sidelines secure in its dominant position, one analyst told investors Friday. Indeed, a turf war is in the cards as Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and Google’s Android fight for the hearts and minds of handset makers. HTC, Samsung, Motorola and LG will become the battleground as the two smartphone operating systems battle for the hardware companies’ attention.

“In the short run,” writes Needham’s Charlie Wolf, “the turf war could put the smartphone manufacturers in the driver’s seat. Ultimately, however, commoditization, accompanied by deteriorating prices and gross margins, appears inevitable for licensees of the Android and Windows Phone 7 operating systems,” Wolf says.

We start the day with a deal on a Core i3 22-inch iMac running at 3.06GHz for $1,080. Next is a new batch of price cuts from the iPhone App Store, including the autotuner “I am T-Pain.” We wrap up the featured deals with the Occarina app which turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a flute-like instrument.

Along the way, we check out hardware deals (like a $30 2GB Shuffle), applications (like “Rayman 2”) and miscellaneous bargains for your iPhone, iPod, iPad or Mac. As always, details on these and many more items can be found at CoM’s Daily Deals page right after the jump.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is ‘CEO of the Decade’, according to MarketWatch, which likens the iPhone, iPod and iPad guru to Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell for his impact on society. The announcement comes just a year after Fortune named Jobs as CEO of the Year.

Jobs held the reigns on what the financial publication termed “a virtual orgy of technological wonderment.”

Earlier this year, analysts suggested if Verizon gained the iPhone, it would hurt the growth of Android as a competitor to Apple’s popular handset. Now comes word from one of the top Apple analysts appearing to confirm that strategy. All talk points to Verizon getting the iPhone in early 2011, a move that will ‘test’ the Google-created operating system in the United States.

“The greatest factor in the success of Android has been Verizon,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors Tuesday. “Customers are loyal to their carrier, and once Verizon gets the iPhone, we believe Android’s success in the U.S. will be tested.”

We start out with a frosted screen protector for the Apple tablet, a way to protect your iPad’s screen from those gooey jelly doughnut fingers, spilled coffee and assorted mishaps that seem to be magnetically-drawn to that perfectly-clean screen. Also we take a look at the latest batch of freebies for your iPhone, including the “Infinity Project.” Finally, what’s a daily roundup of Mac deals without a bargain on The Daily Show?

Along the way, we check out several price cuts on iPad, iPod, and iPhone accessories, iTunes gift cards, and a deal on a 27-inch iMac with a Core i5 quad 2.66GHz processor. As usual, details on all of these items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Google’s Android operating system, which seemed to be a popular alternative to Apple’s iPhone and a way for wireless carriers to combat the lure of Cupertino’s handset, appears to be slowing. Android activations have held steady at about 200,000 activations per day since August, according to a report.

When the Mountain View, Calif. company Monday introduced a new version of its operating system codenamed “Gingerbread,” the firm said they were activating 1.5 million phones per wee, or 214, 200 per day. In early August, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told reporters the company had topped 200,000 activations per day.

We’ve presumed for some time that Apple would follow its blockbuster hit iPad tablet with another version sometime in early 2011. Now comes word Apple’s main supplier will start shipping the iPad 2 at the end of February, according to a Taiwan-based industry publication Tuesday.

Initial shipments by Foxconn will number 400,000 to 600,000 and follow reduced production of the original iPad to between 1.6 and 1.8 million tablets, the publication reports. Apple preferred to begin shipping the new iPad in January, but continued tests of the tablet’s firmware delayed the schedule.

We start the week with a deal on the MacBook Air. The offer includes a MacBook Air with an Intel Core 2 Duo running at 2.13GHz. The machine also features a 13.3-inch screen – all for $1,125. There is another iPad stand under the deal spotlights. This one from Keydex also offers a screen protector two-pack along with free shipping. We wrap up the today’s featured deals with the latest crop of freebies from the iPhone App Store, including “Assault Squadron.”

Along the way, we’ll take a look at more hardware deals, such as iMacs and iPod nanos. We’ll also look at accessories for your iPhone and software for your Mac. As always, details on these and many other deals can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Remember all the chatter about a year ago that iPhone pricing separated Apple and Verizon? Well, it seems the carrier has moved closer to Apple’s thinking, spurring by a desire to block T-Mobile USA or Sprint from obtaining the popular handset, according to an analyst Monday.

Kaufman Bros.’ Shaw Wu told clients he is “picking up that iPhone economics to Apple are likely to be favorable, similar to that offered by AT&T.” Apparently, Verizon “may be willing to pay for exclusivity to itself and AT&T,” Wu writes.

Apple reportedly wants to launch its Mac App Store Dec. 13, in time for Christmas shopping and ahead of schedule. Although CEO Steve jobs would have liked to have the App Store already up and running, “that’s obviously didn’t happen,” according to the report.

Citing an unnamed source, the report suggests the Dec. 13 date is meant to “take advantage of the Christmas rush.”The Cupertino, Calif. company told developers should have their apps ready. Last week, Apple released another beta of OS X 10.6.6 containing “developer support for fetching and renewing App Store receipts.”

We end the week with a blast from the past: a PowerMac G4 with a blazing-fast (at the time) 450MHz processor – just $70. Also on tap: Apple has 10 iMacs for sale, including an 22-inch i3 for $1,019. To wrap up the spotlight deals: 180 free iPhone, iPad or iPod touch app downloads.

Along the way, we’ll look at more iPhone apps, cases for your iPad, bumpers for your iPhone 4 and software for your Mac. Like always, details on these and much more can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

The share of Internet-connected devices powered by Apple’s iOS platform grew 216 percent in November, compared to a year ago, researchers at NetApplications announced Friday. The iOS operating system, which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod, accounts for 1.36 percent of Internet traffic, leading Android’s 0.31 percent.

Although more PCs are online than mobile devices, the shift to portable Internet products is noticeable in the new NetApplications numbers. Windows’ share is down 1.8 percent to 90.81 percent, compared to 92.52 percent during the same period in 2009. The portion of Macs connected to the Internet fell the same percentage (1.8), pulling Apple desktops to just 5.12 percent of the share of online devices.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is making a bigger splash in the U.S. than even its makers initially predicted. Since its launch two months ago and the Nov. 10 U.S. start, the iPad rival has sold one million devices. Although Apple sold 2 million iPads in its first two months, the Galaxy Tab is the first real competition for the Cupertino, Calif. company.

The new number comes just two weeks after Samsung announced it had sold 600,000 Tabs amd predicted its tablet would sell 1 million units by the end of this year. However, buoyed by holiday sales, the company now is predicting it will sell 1.5 million Galaxy Tabs when 2010 comes to an end.