Ed Sutherland - page 52

For analysts worried about the impact of the so-called ‘Antennagate’ on Apple earnings, yesterday’s record revenue report was welcome relief. “To those (like us) who fretted that Antennagate might hamper iPhone sales, Apple’s guidance seems to say, antennagate, schmantennagate,” Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner told investors Wednesday morning.

You might remember Reiner’s comments ahead of Tuesday night’s earnings report, including his decision to cut his expectations on third-quarter iPhone sales. “The perception — created by a scoop-hungry media and Apple’s newly-emboldened wireless adversaries — is that the 4 is faulty,” Reiner said. Instead of being hurt, Apple reported iPhone sales grew 61 percent to 8.4 million.

We start the day with a faux leather case cover for the iPhone 4 – just $2 until July 23. Next is a blast from the past, Disney’s TRON for the iPhone or iPod touch. We top things off with a series of iPhone App price drops, including “Modern Combat: Sandstorm.” Along the way, we also check out some deals on other software, including a family pack of iLife ’09, as well as Poser 8 and Pandora 2 for the Mac.

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

Although we won’t know for certain how Apple did during the third financial quarter until after the markets close tonight, analysts this morning came out with their usual prognostications, including a surprise reduction from Oppenheimer on the target price for the Cupertino, Calif. company’s stock.

Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner told investors this morning he is concerned the negative publicity over the iPhone 4’s reception problems could hurt sales. “We believe the iPhone 4’s antenna performance is comparable to that of other smartphones, but in the court of public opinion, perception is reality,” Reiner writes. “The perception — created by a scoop-hungry media and Apple’s newly-emboldened wireless adversaries — is that the 4 is faulty,” the analyst adds.

As we await Apple’s third-quarter earnings report, analysts are offering their opinion on what the Cupertino, Calif. company may announce. Will ‘Antennagate’ hurt iPhone sales, can the Mac escape the iPad’s shadow, and will the iPod continue its downward decline?

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors Monday he foresees Mac sales of between 3.1 million and 3.2 million for the quarter, up 11 percent. This after sales of the Apple machines grew 35 percent in May and 39 percent in April. Apple likely will top the 2.94 million Mac sales Apple reported earlier in 2010, according to Munster.

We start another week of deals with two bundles of accessories. The first, for the iPad owner, includes such gadgets at a crystal case for just $10. For the iPhone 3G or iPod touch owner, there is an accessory bundle with all the necessities, including car charger. We wrap up or featured deals with a new crop of App Store Freebies, including “GooFight,” a farm-themed Google search engine optimization tool for the iPhone or iPod touch.

Along the way, we check out other software, including Navy Patrol: Advanced Premium for the iPhone and ImageWell 3 for the Mac. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Did Apple market its iPod and iPhone using expired patents? That’s the claim of an Austin Texas group asking a court to fine the Cupertino, Calif. company and several wireless carriers $500 per falsely-labeled product. The Americans for Fair Patent Use is suing under the federal False Marketing Statute.

The AFPU is also suing Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless and Samsung. The group alleges Apple marketed the iPhone, iPod touch, fifth- and sixth-generation iPod classic and third- and fourth-generation iPod nano using patents that had expired prior to the products reaching store shelves. The patents in question are U.S. Patent Nos. 4,577,216, 4,631,603, 4,819,098, and 4,907,093.

Some of what Apple will say tomorrow after the stock market’s close is already known. For instance, the handset maker has said it sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in three days, 3 million iPads in just 80 days, and between 2.9 million to 3.5 million Macs. Both Apple and Microsoft are expected to report more than $15 billion in quarterly revenue, but will it be enough to put the consumer electronics company over the top? Probably not.

Microsoft still has one advantage. According to Zaky, Microsoft has an operating margin of more than 50 percent, an enviable asset and one likely to keep the venerable software giant out of the grasp of Steve Jobs and the Apple money-making machine.

[9to5Mac]

The iPad is coming! The iPad is coming! That could be the cry heard in nine more countries as Apple announced Monday it was expanding international orders this Friday. Both the 3G and the 3G+WiFi version will begin selling in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore July 23.

The iPad “will roll out to many more countries later this year and Apple will announce availability and local pricing for these additional countries at a later date,” the Cupertino, Calif. company announced.

We close out another week of deals with something for everyone. Out top deals include “Tower Madness HD,” a 3D tower defense strategy game for the iPad — and it’s free. Next up is a web site tool for the Mac, allowing you to add photo albums and other content to your site. Lastly, is the iFrogz hard case for the iPhone 3 and iPhone 3GS.

Along the way, we’ll check out other items, including a charger for your iphone or iPad, as well as the Logitech Pure-Fi dock. As usual, details on all of these bargains (and more) are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Foxconn, an Apple supplier, has been at the center of controversy and rumors about its reaction to a series of suicides by Chinese factory workers. Now, a Foxconn executive is denying a rumor suggesting the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker is paying a 2 percent subsidy to offset a recent worker pay increase.

The executive made the denial Friday in comments to the National Business Daily, according to the trade publication DigiTimes. The executive “said the rumor is purely speculation and Foxconn has never received any subsidies from Apple,” the report said. In May, the Chinese website Zol claimed Apple was paying workers subsidies comprising a portion of profits made from products they manufacture. The rumor also said Apple was paying Foxconn 2.3 percent of the retail price of a product, a statement Foxconn now denies.

Despite reports to the contrary, some analysts are predicting a limited ‘voluntary’ recall of Apple iPhone 4s. A voluntary recall would be limited to only those iPhone 4 owners who experience reception problems. The analysts also expect CEO Steve Jobs must take be humble during a Friday press conference expected to address the antenna issue.

Thursday, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal cited sources denying Apple will announce a recall. The Cupertino, Calif. company also publicly denied a Bloomberg report that Jobs new of potential reception problems as early as 2009, but overrode the objections of an in-house antenna expert.

Apple may be able to avoid a PR disaster of recalling the iPhone 4 in favor of a software fix, according to a Thursday report. The problem of dropped calls “exposed a longstanding weakness with the basic communications software inside Apple’s phones” rather than hardware trouble, the New York Times reported.

The newspaper also became the latest to claim Apple will not announce a recall of its latest iPhone. The Wall Street Journal has also reported Apple will not unveil a product recall of the iPhone 4. The Apple insider also told the Times the problems with reception were caused by what the newspaper described as a “complex interaction between specialized communications software and the antenna.”

We start the day with a deal on a refurbished 8GB iPod touch for $139 – $37 off a new unit. Next is Chain Link Pro for the iPhone, a free touch-and-drag game. Our final top deal is a circle jelly skin for the iPhone 4 – just $1.50.

Along the way, we also take a look at other Apple-related deals, including other cases for your iPhone or iPod, as well as software for your Mac. As always, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Did the iPhone 4’s slim design trump functionality? That’s the suggestion of a Bloomberg report claiming Apple CEO Steve Jobs overruled the objections of engineer Ruben Caballero about possible reception problems. The report, citing unnamed sources, comes ahead of a Friday news conference Apple has called possibly to address headline-grabbing issues about drop calls.

According to the Thursday report, senior Apple engineer Caballero in 2009 raised the possibility with Apple executives that a Jonathan Ive-design “may cause reception problems.” Just prior to the iPhone 4’s June 24 release, a carrier also raised the same concerns, Bloomberg reports.

After the iPhone 4’s bezel design was picked by Jobs and other Apple execs, Caballero, an antenna expert, told the company leaders it “might lead to dropped calls and presented a serious engineering challenge.” Since its introduction, Apple has tried to fend-off suggestions the design was causing dropped calls due to the way the iPhone was held. Earlier this week, Consumer Reports decided not to recommend the new iPhone based on its own tests confirming the reception issues.

Apple declined any comment on the story.

[9to5Mac and Bloomberg]

Although Apple devices, such as the iPhone and iPad are still more than half the web traffic, Google’s Android is coming on strong. According to Internet measurement firm Quantcast, Android devices comprise 21 percent of the web hits it detected. What could be even more troubling for the Cupertino, Calif. handset maker is that Android’s gains are now coming at the expense of the iPhone.

The flurry of iPhone 4 purchases in late June didn’t translate into greater Apple handsets online, Quantcast noted. Akin to a person trading in a car not signalling more autos on the road, “most new iPhones sold were simply replacing earlier models,” the measurement firm announced.

Apple has long been a thorn in Microsoft’s side, using the much-maligned Vista to sell Macs. Now, the software giant is pushing back as Apple attempts to respond to the iPhone 4 troubles.

“It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I’m OK with that,” Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner told the software maker’s WorldWide Partners Conference. Apple has scheduled a Friday news conference, an occasion many believe will be used to seriously discuss the iPhone 4’s much-publicized antenna problems.

The comment would have earlier appeared that of a bully pushing the little kids around, but now as the Wall Street Journal writes, “it sounds like a company trying to play catch-up.” Along with Apple, the Microsoft executive also cast aspersions at Google, telling the crowd Microsoft won’t “read your email and invade your privacy. We’re not soliciting vans to drive your neighborhood and spy on you, snoop your WiFi.”

Although Turner admitted developing its Windows phone had “taken too long” – and that smartphones in general was a “lowlight” for Microsoft, the executive promised its unreleased smartphone will put the Redmond, Wash. company “in the game in a big way.”

[Wall Street Journal]

We start off with Apple’s Back-to-School offer. Buy an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air and get a free 8GB iPod touch. We also have a deal on unibody MacBook Pros, starting at $929 for a 2.26GHz version. Lastly, while the iPhone 4 has gotten much of the attention recently, there are deals to be had on the iPhone 3GS. AT&T is offering a refurbished 16GB iPhone 3GS for $99.

Along the way, we’ll also check out the latest batch of App Store freebies, including the new “Tap Defense,” a tower defense game. As usual, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Speculation that Apple may be preparing to build its own mapping application gained strength Wednesday on a report the Cupertino, Calif. company acquired a Canadian online mapping developer. If true, the report could be the latest skirmish between the iPhone maker and Internet giant Google.

French-Canadian news site cyberpresse.ca wrote Wednesday Apple purchased Quebec-based Poly9 and moved employees to Cupertino, Calif. The company’s website is also offline, as well as Poly9’s chief product, Poly9 Globe. The product, which operates in a web browser, lets users find their location on a 3D globe. Websites, including Skype.com reportedly offer the service.

Although there is no official comment by Apple, the Canadian report said Poly9 was “recently” acquired and it Quebec headquarters closed. The company’s customers include Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, MSNBC and NORAD.

The purchase could be the next step in Apple developing its own mapping application for the iPhone and iPad. In 2009, Apple acquired Placebase, a Google Maps rival, as well as advertising for someone to take iPhone’s Maps “to the next level.”

[AppleInsider]

We’ve heard for some time the iPad could eat into the Netbook market. Now comes Goldman Sachs with the 5 Cs of why the Apple tablet device will crush the inexpensive PCs.

First up is Consumption. It wasn’t by mistake Apple gave the iPad a big screen and no keyboard. Unlike the Netbook, the iPad is meant to mimic your TV, not the PC. You sit in front of your TV to watch, not create. That brings us to Goldman Sach’s second point: content.

The iPad is also all about Content. With a direct connection to iTunes, iPad owners can easily slurp up content from the App Store. “Apple has created an easy-to-use, direct conduit between users and a vast library of content that is custom-tailored for the iPad,” writes financial blogger Henry Blodget.

Unlike netbooks, which rely on spotty 3G or Wi-Fi connections, the iPad offers both to ensure the consumer is constantly connected. This only reinforces Goldman’s previous point of the iPad being all about content.

Again, differing from netbooks, the iPad is instantly available. Just image you have the urge to play a game or check out the news. You go to your netbook and wait up to a minute for it to boot-up. The iPad is instantly on, keeping that urge to buy or consume alive. What’s more, according to the analysts, the iPad’s battery lasts between twice or five-times that of a netbook’s.

Similar to instant-on, Apple has reduced the steps needed to purchase an item via the iPad to just one click. Because Apple stores all the credit card information at iTunes, you don’t need to enter that data and go through other steps which present opportunities to change your mind or back out of a purchase.

The 5 Cs of iPad domination: Consumption, Content, Connected, Constant-On and Commerce.

[SAI]

A full recall of the iPhone 4 to fix antenna issues could cost Apple $1.5 billion, a Wall Street analyst told investors Wednesday. However, don’t expect such an event, he adds. Instead, Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi joins others suggesting the Cupertino, Calif. company could quiet the complaints by giving away a $2 rubber case.

A larger potential hit to Apple’s bottom-line is what Sacconaghi describes as “the emerging pattern of hubris that the company has displayed.”

If Apple doesn’t go along with the analyst’s suggestion of giving free bumpers to prevent the dropped-call annoyance, the company could opt for either in-store fixes or a wider recall, both with different price tags. Assuming Apple sold $6 million iPhone 4s, an in-store fix would cost $75 per handset, or $450 million. Using the same sales assumption, a full recall would cost $250 per iPhone, or $1.5 billion, he wrote.

But ‘antenna-gate’ may be small potatoes compared to the signals Apple is sending to consumers, he writes. The examples include refusing to talk about Jobs’ health, attacking Adobe, the lost iPhone prototype investigation, restricting app developers and the early poo-pooing of iPhone antenna problems.

“The worry is that collectively these issues may over time begin to impact consumers’ perceptions of Apple, undermining its enormous prevailing commercial success,” the analysts warns.

[Barron’s]

We start with a deal on an 2.4GHz MacBook. The computer, with a 13-inch LED-backlit screen is $989.99, but includes a $65 rebate, bringing the price way down. Also, nothing’s better than a game of bubble-shooting. There is a deal on Dubble for the iPad – just $4. Finally, “Put Things Off,” the perfect to-do application for procrastinators.

Along the way, we also check-out various app price drops, speakers and software for your iPhone, iPod and Mac. As always, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Apple iPhone sales expectations could be at risk if Apple’s current problems with the iPhone 4’s antenna increases, one analyst warned investors Tuesday. “Should this antenna issue become a bigger deal, there could be risk to our as well as consensus estimates,” Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu wrote.

However, the analyst reaffirmed his estimate of 7.5 million iPhones sold in the June quarter and 40 million for calendar 2010. “So far, in our supply chain and industry checks, we have not seen any change in build patterns or demand patterns,” he added.

We start another week with an assortment of items for your iPhone, iPod and Mac. First is a deal on a 24-inch LED Cinema Display – just $599. Next is the DLO HomeDock Deluxe Dock for your iPod. It connects to your home’s television, providing an on-screen menu. A remote control is also included – just $20. We wrap up our featured deals with the latest batch of App Store freebies, including “Qubits Clock,” a clock application for your iPhone or iPod touch.

Along the way, we’ll also check out a couple new cases for your iPhone, as well as a deal on Skullcandy earphones. As always, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Possibly the aftermath of the Foxconn headache, Apple has reportedly decided to broaden its base of factories manufacturing Apple desktop computers. Taiwan-based Pegatron Technologies has received orders to supply Cupertino, according to Digitimes.

Pegatron, which spun-off from Asustek Computer, sees Apple’s decision as boosting flagging revenue, as well as another step in regaining MacBook manufacturing.

In May, the publication also reported Apple gave Pegatron the nod to manufacture a CDMA version of its iconic iPhone which may ship in late 2011. That handset could either be headed to Verizon Wireless, thus giving U.S. consumers a choice of iPhone carriers, or the Asian market.

Until recently, Apple was Foxconn’s largest customer. However, following a spate of worker suicides and the many attempts to quiet the storm of controversy, the Cupertino, Calif. company may be looking to broaden its manufacturing base.

[9to5Mac]

Apple released four new television ads Sunday starring the iPhone 4’s FaceTime video-chat feature. The well-produced commercials were enough to melt the hardened-hearts of tech bloggers. But will they help Cupertino compete with the Mountain View mauler, Google?

Long known for its memorable commercials, ranging from its initial 1984 spot introducing the Macintosh, to its long-running and recently-ended “Get a Mac” series that poked gentle fun at Microsoft, Apple has been a master at commercials. The first, “Meet Her,” shows a grandfather being introduced to his grandchild via FaceTime. Another helps a child show off a new braces-filled smile, while a third uses the iPhone 4 video-chat feature to reassure a girl about a new haircut. The fourth uses FaceTime to break the news of a long-desired pregnancy.