Ed Sutherland - page 66

Publishers, after winning a struggle to raise ebook prices to $13-$15 in preparation for Apple’s iPad, are now defending the move, blaming consumers for ‘unrealistic expectations.’ In a report, publishers say they will still pay fixed costs along with fighting for a piece of a smaller pie.

A number of publishers have sided with Apple’s “agency pricing” model that could increase the retail price for ebooks from $9.99 which Amazon once required to between $13-$15. However, publishers will get just $9.09 of that after Apple takes its 30 percent cut. Then author royalties will cost $2.27 to $3.25, marketing cost about $0.78 and preparing the manuscript another $0.50, according to The New York Times.

Apple has hired the former head of Microsoft and Mozilla security. Window Snyder had led the software giant’s Windows XP Service Pack 2 security efforts.

On her first day of work at the Cupertino, Calif. company Monday, Apple mentioned it was the “third browser-maker in the past five years that has employed Snyder.” However, the company did not specifically say she would be responsible for enhancing Safari’s security.

During her time at Microsoft, Snyder helped develop a program for the Redmond, Wash. company to talk with outside security researchers. At Mozilla, Snyder was in charge of security for the Firefox Web browser. Since leaving Mozilla in 2008, Snyder has been a consultant.

We start the week with a deal on a MacBook Pro laptop. The MacBook Pro is powered by a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo for $1,049. Also on tap is a new crop of freebies from the App Store, including “BlaBlaBla,” a sound-sensitive application for the iPhone or iPod touch. Lastly, there is a deal on Assassin’s Creed II for the iPhone or iPod touch.

As always, details on these deals or other bargains (such as the iPod starter kit from Belkin) are available on CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Apple’s Mac mini could become the first line of general purpose computers to support high-definition video later this year, a report Monday suggests. A HDMI connector is located near a DisplayPort connector on prototype Mac mini units. The mini is often used to stream video to home theaters.

The AppleInsider report cites two unnamed “people familiar with the matter.” If true, the enhanced Mac mini would become the only Apple device besides the AppleTV product to provide HDMI compatibility.

Amazon’s Kindle e-reader could cost less than $150 after the device’s chipmaker, Freescale, said it will produce a more efficient design streamlined for the gadgets. The new chip should take about six months to reach its two largest users: Amazon and Sony, reports say Monday.

“We do see the price of e-readers coming down this year, and Freescale is trying to facilitate that. That’s a lot of what this chip is doing,” Freescale’s marketing head Glen Burchers told Bloomberg. The Kindle currently costs between $259 and $489 while Sony’s devices costs between $199.99 and $399.99. Apple’s iPad, unveiled last month, is priced at $499-$699 and use Apple’s own chip design.

Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Glamour could be the first magazines to offer an iPad version of print publications, according to a new report. The apps will be released by publisher Conde Nast as a test to end in the fall.

In April, GQ will unveil an iPad app to accompany the existing iPhone application. In June, iPad versions of Wired and Vanity Fair should appear. The New Yorker and Glamour should introduce iPad editions sometime this summer, according to the New York Times.

The iPad’s launch could be delayed a month due to an unspecified bottleneck slowing the device’s production. The slowdown could push initial sales into April and trim the hoped 1 million units in March to just 300,000, an analyst told investors Monday.

“The upcoming iPad launch may be somewhat limited as a manufacturing bottleneck has impacted production of Apple’s newest device,” writes Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek. The problems with iPad manufacturer Hon Hai Precision, could limit initial shipments to the US.

We close the week with three high-profile hardware deals. First up is a deal on used 15-inch 2GHz MacBook Pro laptops, starting at $849. Next, we check out 22-inch iMacs running a 3.06GHz processor for $999. We round out the top trio with some Mac Pro Xeon desktop workstations, starting at $2,149 for a quad-core 2.66GHz machine.

Along the way, we’ll check out more iMac deals, two offers on 32GB and 8GB iPod touches and a variety of software. As always, details on these and many more items are available on CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Although relatively few insiders have touched an iPad, accessory makers – the people that make the cases, skins and add-ons for iPhones and iPods – are chomping at the bit to start selling iPad products one Apple starts shipping in March. Why are the companies so anxious? In 2009, $3.7 billion worth of iPod and iPhone accessories were sold, according to one estimate. Makers of add-ons say the iPad could be an even more lucrative market.

Apple could unveil a lower-cost iPhone in June, a handset designed to address the two major barriers to adoption: cost of hardware and cost of the service plan, one analyst said Friday. The cost of iPhone hardware stops 85 percent of people, while the service plan is a barrier for 66 percent.

“We expect Apple to launch new iPhones in June that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology,” Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty told investors.

Two main news items came from Apple’s annual shareholder meeting held Thursday: CEO Steve Jobs wants to hang onto the company’s $25 billion in cash for “big and bold” future investments and the firm borne of the desktop computer now considers itself a “mobile devices company.”

“This is not something we’re ordaining from the top. This is something our customers are saying with their dollars,” Jobs said, according to Reuters. Apple could get half of its revenue from the iPhone by 2011, an analyst said Thursday. However, Jobs stressed there are no plans to scuttle Apple’s line of desktop computers.

We start off with a deal on Apple’s 1TB Time Capsule. The 802.11n base station includes a hard drive and is designed for laptop users looking to use Time Machine. Just $270. Next up: is a refurbished 160GB Apple TV from the Apple Store for just $189. We round out our top trio with a pair of Apple’s in-ear headphones.

Along the way, we check out software for Macs and iPhones, including “Robot Rampage”, part of the latest batch of App Store price drops. As always, details on these and many other bargains can be found on CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Remember the cool 3D effects in ‘Avatar’ and wishing you could see more? Well, maybe you can with a pair of sunglasses the maker touts as similar to walking around with a 67-inch screen resting on your nose. Add the ability to pipe in video from your iPhone and you’ve got the Vuzix Wrap 920.

The $350 sunglasses work with 2D and 3D video formats, are NTSC and PAL compatible, and work for six hours on two AA alkaline batteries. The glasses, which weigh less than three ounces, include two high-resolution 640 x 480 LCD displays with a 60Hz progressive scan update rate.

Since its inception, Google’s Android operating system seemed aimed at guys. Now we have more proof in the form of an AdMob survey showing Android men outnumber iPhone women 73 percent to 53 percent.

Some 43 percent of iPhone users are female, compared to just 27 percent of Android-based phone owners, AdMob said Thursday. The survey found not only a gender split, but also an age gap between the two smartphone platforms.

When or if Apple will unveil a refreshed MacBook Pro line is the latest parlor game among Apple owners. Along with watching for unreleased Intel procesors and checking Best Buy’s inventory, fans may have to wait until March or April for a new MacBook Pro, one analyst is suggesting.

A new MacBook Pro could be unveiled in late March, the end of the current quarter, or in April, when the next quarter begins, says Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu. Wu bases his claim on low inventories of the MacBook.

Apple appears to be investigating ways to do away with the iMac’s keyboard, replacing it with a touchscreen that should detect shapes, such as a key. Harkening back to the days when letters were sealed with insignias to prove the sender’s identity, the Cupertino, Calif. company would use “signets” for security-related tasks.

The shape-detecting technology, first outlined in a 2004 patent, then updated Oct. 30, 2009, permits “improved techniques to allow different authorization levels” on computer networks.

The iPhone, initially a sideline to Apple’s main Mac sales, could account for up to half of the Cupertino, Calif. firm’s revenue by 2011, according to an analyst. The company is on track to sell 45 to 50 million handsets next year, more than double the 20.7 million iPhones sold in fiscal 2009.

Toni Sacconaghi, analyst with Bernstein Research, in a note to investors, said the iPhone could become 45 percent to 50 percent of Apple’s revenue, up from 30 percent in 2009. The analyst forecasts iPhone sales will reach 40 million to 50 million units in fiscal 2011, a dramatic increase from 20.7 million sold in 2009. The company should report sales of 8.7 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2010, he adds.

Today we go back in time in our way-back machine to the days of G3 iMacs. A number of refurbished oldies-but-goodies lead-off our top deals, including a 500Mhz 15-inch CRT desktop for $39. Also on tap, a new category, App Store titles aimed at children, including Farmer Fred’s Animal Farm learning game. Finally, a plethora of stereo systems for your iPod, including the $29.99 Pixxo MiniBooMX iPad speakers. The system offers an FM tuner, alarm, and plays tunes from your iPod, but no recharging dock.

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

Despite having just five percent of global PC sales, Apple has 10.5 percent of the revenue, an analyst firm announced Wednesday. For over a half-decade, the Cupertino, Calif. company has been on a steady growth path from just 3 percent in 2004.

“Apple’s pricing discipline in holding Mac prices fairly steady in the face of plunging Windows PC prices translated into dollar share gains that materially exceeded unit share gains,” Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf told investors Wednesday.

A new survey out indicates people are still interested in buying an iPad, but possibly not in the same numbers as before the tablet device was a known quantity. The figures seem to echo those released earlier this month showing a drop in demand for the new Apple product after the Cupertino, Calif. company’s public announcement.

The latest survey conducted by ChangeWave Research for RBC Capital says 13 percent of people asked are either very or somewhat likely to purchase an iPad. A September survey by ChangeWave for RBC found demand for an unspecified Apple tablet priced between $500 and $700 at 21 percent.

Three hardware deals are on tap for today. We start with a $499 deal on 2GHz Mac mini desktops from the Apple Store. (These items seem to be flying off the shelf, so order now, if interested.) Also up: $119 for 16GB iPad nano MP3 players. We round out our top three daily deals with 8GB iPhone 3Gs for $99 from AT&T.

Along the way, we check out the latest batch of App Store price drops, including NBA League Pass Mobile, the ‘Conan Says’ Soundboard for iPhone and iPod touch users, and a $100-off deal on iPhones from Best Buy. As always, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump for details on all of these items.

Apple’s iPhone had the third largest share of the worldwide smartphone market in 2009 with 14.4 percent of the market, shipping 24.9 million handsets, analysts said Tuesday. In 2008, Apple had only 8.2 percent of smartphone sales and sold only 11.4 million iPhones.

Apple’s share of the market grew 6.2 percent in 2009, making it the fastest-growing handset maker and knocking Windows Mobile out of the third spot. (In December, reports said the iPhone had overtaken Windows Mobile in the United States.)

Is Apple considering its iPhone OS for products other than the iPhone and iPad? A new job ad by the Cupertino, Calif. electronics maker seeking an Engineering Manager suggests such an expansion could be in the works. The manager would be tasked with leading “a team focused on bring-up of iPhone OS on new platforms.”

Such a team would be responsible for “low-level platform architecture, firmware, core drivers and bring-up of new hardware platforms,” according to the job listing posted last week and first spotted by Computerworld.

Is Amazon planning to morph its Kindle e-reader into an all-purpose tablet PC and take on Apple? That’s the thinking of one analyst who views a Monday announcement with Microsoft as potentially the first signs of a ‘KindlePad.’

“Amazon is going to build a ‘KindlePad,'” MKM Partners analyst Tim Boyd told Barron’s Monday. Amazon will pay an undisclosed amount for a cross-licensing deal with Microsoft. The arrangement gives the online retailer access to the software giant’s intellectual property while Microsoft can use Amazon’s Linux-based servers. Amazon’s Kindle is specifically mentioned.

Amazon may have sold 3 million Kindles since the e-book reader was introduced, a recent report suggested. Although the company has been reticent about specific sales figures, CEO Jeff Bezos told analysts “millions” of consumers own Kindles.

Samsung over the weekend unveiled five lenses for its recently introduced NX10 camera. The lenses are small enough to fit on the NX10, often described as one of a growing number of compact EVIL cameras with Electronic Viewfinders and Interchangeable Lenses.

Available in the first half of this year, the lenses include the following: 18-55mm f3.5-5.6, 20mm f2.8 “pancake”, 60mm f2.7 macro, 20-50mm f3.5-5.6, 18-200mm OIS f3.5-6.3. (The lenses join the 30mm, 18-55mm, and 50-200mm lenses introduced at the CES.)