Ed Sutherland - page 48

Intel is back in the mobile chip business with the $1.4 billion purchase of the German-based Infineon’s wireless unit. Infineon provides smartphone chips for Apple’s iPhone, along with several other high-profile handsets.

The deal, expected to close in 2011, reportedly gives Intel up to four years of research and development time and places the chipmaking giant squarely in the smartphone market – a position it gave up when it sold its wireless unit to Marvell four years ago.

We wrap up another week with two deals for the macBook fan and the latest crop of iPhone freebies from the App Store. First up is a MacBook Pro powered by an i5 dual processor running at 2.4GHz. The unit with a 15-inch screen also comes with 8GB of memory for $1,988. We also take a look at a MacBook Core 2 Duo laptop running at 1.83GHz for $525. Finally, we also have the latest batch of free iPhone applications, including “Rhythm Spirit,” a rhythm fighting game for the iPhone.

We’ll also check out accessories for your iPad and iPhone along with software for your Mac. As always, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Another promising sign for e-books. The electronic version of a recently-released mystery novel outsold the hardcover version, according to the publisher, HarperCollins.

The thriller by Laura Lippman, “I’d Know You Anywhere,” which hit bookstands Aug. 17 sold 4,739 e-books versus 4,000 hardcover versions during the first five days the title was available. However, there’s no mystery why e-book sales are edging out physical book purchases.

We start another day of dealing with something for the iPad and iPhone user. First up is a batch of free apps for the iPad, including “Pocket CFO,” a financial study guide for the tablet. Next up is the just-released Netflix app for the iPhone. Previously available only for the iPad, this free application permits you to stream Netflix movies to your handset. We wrap up our highlighted deals with price reductions on many of SEGA’s well-known gaming titles.

Along the way, we’ll check out Apple’s Back-to-School sale, a deal on an iPhone security screen protector and Final Cut for the Mac. As always, details on these and much more is available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Apple in named among 22 other high tech firms in a lawsuit by Ganas LLC. The company claims the Cupertino, Calif.-based iPhone maker and others violated a patent regarding object orientation.

The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Texas, involves patent No. 7,316,913, which covers an “XML/HTTP-based protocol for sending messages from one object to another across the Internet in a platform independent manner.” Ganas claims Apple, HP, Adobe, TiVo, Xerox and others violated patents 7,325,053, 7,734,756 and 7,007,094.

We’ve seen commercials intrude into nearly every part of our lives, from television, games and the internet. Now comes word Apple is considering injecting its iAds into eBooks. But how long can publishers hold out as they search for a lifeboat?

With the iPad and the plummeting prices of ebook readers “what room is left for publishers’ profits,” asks the Wall Street Journal. The report views iAds in e-books as inevitable.

If past behavior is any indication of the future, Apple’s September 1 announcement could mean more coins in the pockets of savvy investors – or so says one analyst. Since 2005 (except 2008), the announcements resulted in an average 12 percent increase in Apple stock price by the end of the month. That rise nearly doubles to 22 percent by the end of the year.

“We believe that investors generally anticipate the Sept. event by the beginning of the month, and anticipation builds ahead of the holiday shopping season with Apple’s iPod lineup (along with Macs and other products) set for holiday sales,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told clients Wednesday. “However, keep in mind that historical trends are not necessarily an indicator of future events,” he warned.

We start off with three deals for the Mac fan, iPad owner or iPhone user. MacConnection has a deal on new MacBook Pro laptops, starting at $1,049 for a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo machine. Next is a new batch of free apps for the iPad, including “Movie Club,” a streaming movie application. We wrp up our featured deal with the latest crop of iPhone freebies from the App Store, including “TweetList” for the Apple handset.

Along the way, we check out Kaplan’s eBooks for the iPhone or iPod touch, a snap-on case for the iPhone, and Skullcandy’s SuperPipe Speaker Dock for the iPhone. As always, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Reading Amazon press releases about their Kindle e-reader reminds one of the Cold War days when Soviet analysts interpreted the meaning of which leader were present during Red Square parades or diplomats fired off long missives about a cryptic statement from Chinese leaders. The Seattle-based Internet bookseller is no different when it trumpets its e-reader.

“Kindle is the best-selling product on Amazon.com for two years running and our new generation Kindles are continuing that momentum,” Amazon Kindle senior vice president Steve Kessel said in a Wednesday announcement. Lacking, however, were specific sales figures.

Despite the rumblings from companies looking to knock the iPad off its pedestal, Apple will dominate the tablet market at least through 2012, one analyst believes. The iPad will account for 74.1 percent of worldwide tablet sales in 2010 with the figure slipping to 61.7 percent of the market by 2012.

“If recent history is a lesson, it will take some time for these companies to get their products to market, longer for them to offer necessary software support and infrastructure, and an even lengthier period to begin to rival the overall user experience Apple is able to deliver,” Rhoda Alexander, iSuppli monitor research director, announced.

More than a quarter of mobile workers either plan to buy or receive an iPad in the next six months, just the latest signal Apple’s tablet device is being warmly welcomed by the business community. Just 6.9 percent of those surveyed said they plan to get a tablet PC.

The survey, taken in July by corporate mobility service provider iPass, queried 1,100 so-called “mobile workers” in North America, Europe, and Asia. A mobile worker is defined by iPass as anyone who uses a mobile device to access non-corporate networks for work purposes.

We start another day of deals with another MacBook Pro bundle from Expercomm. This one includes a Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz MacBook Pro with 13-inch screen, bundled with 8GB of memory for $1,777. For iPhone owners, we have two great games – free. Atrim Escape is a first-person puzzle game, while Golf Putt Pro let’s you brush up on your strokes without leaving the comfort of your easychair.

Along the way, we’ll check out a 2-year iPhone warranty from Squaretrade, along with more iPhone games and cases. We also look at some Mac software and other items. As always, details on these and much more can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

It’s back-to-school time, but some students may be headed for their headphones instead of campus or class. That appears to be the message from Apple’s Tuesday announcement of 300 million download in three years from iTunes U. The collaboration between the Cupertino, Calif. company and universities provides “iTunes users with an incredible way to learn on their computer, iPhone, iPod or iPad,” Apple said in a statement.

More than 800 universities worldwide have contributed 350,000 audio and video files. China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and Singapore are just the latest countries to join the program. The free content allows anyone to get a taste of learning or virtually audit a classroom.

We always like to tell readers when the ‘other shoe falls’ concerning Apple technology. Earlier this week we reported how Apple products are seeing huge growth rates compared to PCs in both government and business. Today, we see why: corporate IT gatekeepers are becoming more comfortable with iOS-based products, particularly the iPad.

Unlike when the iPhone was first introduced in 2007, the Cupertino, Calif. company has devoted time and effort to answering the concerns businesses expressed early on. Such issues included ways to encrypt information and establishing secure methods to connect to corporate networks, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The latest versions of iOS “adds features that make the devices easier for a tech department to manage, including the ability for businesses to distribute internally developed apps without going through Apple’s App Store,” the newspaper writes.

In a bid to prevent another ‘antennagate’ when the iPhone 4 reaches China in mid-September, Apple’s exclusive carrier there will offer free cases, according to a local news report.

“The iPhone 4 is expected to suffer from the same issues related to signal reception in China, but China Unicom will be offering cases to customers as a free gift,” reports Caixin, an English-language online news site. The iPhone 4 will be introduced in China on September 16.

Following numerous reports of dropped calls when the the iPhone 4 was held in a certain position, Apple eventually announced it would provide free cases to affected customers. Apple is eager to introduce its record-selling iPhone 4 in China, a nation where the Cupertino, Calif. company plans to build 25 stores and has seen 144 percent growth.

We start off a rainy week on the East Coast with deals for the Mac and the iPhone. First up is DiskAid for the Mac, a utility that lets you use your iPhone or iPod touch as an external drive. Also, a ZAGG coupon gives you a 20 percent site-wide discount on items, including the invisibleSHIELD.

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

Two issues are pushing Apple to expand beyond its current one-carrier arrangement for the U.S. iPhone, an analyst told investors Monday. Not only is the iPhone maxxing out the AT&T network, the Cupertino, Calif. company needs to stem the tide of Android phones flowing from Verizon.

This is where we usually write about Verizon’s chances of obtaining the Apple handset. Although such speculation has reached the level of the Easter Bunny or BigFoot as an appealing tale lacking only facts, Kaufman Bros.’ Shaw Wu takes a different tact: if not Verizon, how about a two-for-one deal?

Someone in government must love Macs. How else to explain one analyst’s figures released Monday showing a 200 percent increase during the second-quarter of 2010 – 16 times greater than the overall PC market’s 12.1 percent growth-rate? But, as the late-night pitch-men like to say: Wait, that’s not all.

Macs in business (especially very big businesses) rose nearly 50 percent during the three-month period – three times that of the PC market’s 12.1 percent, according to Needham analyst Charlie Wolf.

Remember back in June when Apple told developers the iBookstore had 22 percent of the eBook market? An author who uses both platforms to market his writing is now telling a vastly-different story. He sells 200 Kindle ebooks each day, compared to 100 a month for the iPad’s iBooks.

Despite the Kindle ebooks not currently supporting color or video, like the ebooks via Apple’s iBookstore, “according to my numbers Apple is a very small part of the ebook market,” blogs author Joe Konrath. “I sell 200 ebooks a day on Kindle. On iPad, I sell 100 a month,” he adds.

We close out another week with three deals for the iPad, iPhone users. First up is a classy leather case for your iPad – just $16.73. Next is the latest batch of iPad App freebies, including the “People” magazine application. Finally, we take another look at free apps for the iPhone.

Along the way, we’ll check out a deal on a battery for a unibody MacBook, some cases for your iPhone, and various software deals. As usual, details on these and many other items can be found at the CoM “Daily Deals page right after the jump.

Remember the good ol’ days of sweatshops? People toiled long hours for very little pay, but gosh ‘darn it, they were happy to have a job. These kids today, they aren’t grateful for the $100 they earn each month assembling iPods. That seems to be the message coming from Apple supplier Foxconn about why it is introducing ‘entertainment’ to boost the spirits of otherwise-suicidal workers.

“Unlike the previous generation of workers that regarded work and basic necessities as top priorities in life, post 80s workers don’t just work for money,” a special assistant to the chairman of Hon Hai, which trademarks the Foxconn name, told the Wall Street Journal Friday. About three-quarters of Foxconn’s workers are between 18 and 24 years old.

Earlier this week, we reported that 2010 smartphone shipments rose by more than 50 percent over the previous year, now comprising 20 percent of all cell phone sales. Now comes the second shoe to drop: $2.2 billion in smartphone apps were sold in just the first six months of this year, German researchers say.

Indeed, the Apple iPad App Store alone may generate $1 billion in sales by 2012. In early 2010, Apple announced 3 billion apps were downloaded from its App Store within the first 18 months the marketplace was open.

Quattro Wireless, the finger in Google’s advertising pie, will be all iAd all the time, after September 30. That’s the message visitors receive at the mobile ad firm’s website. It’s also a message to competitors that Apple continues on its path to becoming a vertical powerhouse: entertainment, mobility and advertising.

“We believe iAd is the best mobile ad network in the world, and starting next month we’re going to focus all our resources on the iAd advertising platform,” announced Quattro.

We start with another MacBook Pro deal. This one, a bundle from Expercom, includes a 2.66GHz Core i7 machine with a 27-inch screen, 8GB of memory and three-years of AppleCare for $2,967. How do you hold your Apple device; in a case, in your car, in a bag, or near your face? Before we get too Dr. Seussian, let’s just say we have all manner of ways to protect your iPad or iPhone.

Along the way, we’ll also check out the latest batch of App Store iPhone freebies, including the puzzle game “Aqua Globs,” as well as the Squaretrade warranty program.

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

Research in Motion reportedly is shopping for a mobile ad platform to help the BlackBerry maker better compete with Apple’s iAds and Google’s AdMob. The only hitch: the company that tops RIM’s list of candidates — Millennial Media — just isn’t that interested in being acquired.

Millennial Media CEO Paul Palmieri told the Wall Street Journal the company wants to launch an initial public offering and remain independent. If snatched-up by RIM, Palmieri’s company would lose all the opportunity to serve ads to the lucrative iPhone, iPad and other iOS devices protected by Apple’s iOS developer agreement. The agreement, initially aimed at Google, denies ad network access, unless approved by Cupertino. Since Apple has its own ad network – iAd – its unlikely Millennial would get another bite of the Apple.