Ed Sutherland - page 69

Verizon getting the iPhone later this year is no longer a done deal in the mind of one financial analyst. Indeed, Credit Suisse has downgraded the carrier, expecting AT&T could retain an exclusive iPhone contract until at least mid-2011.

The financial firm downgraded its recommendation for Verizon to Neutral, down from Outperform, and shaved its target price to $30 per share, down from $32.

Although Verizon may “eventually” be awarded an iPhone contract as Apple drops its exclusivity in the U.S., “there is much greater probability that AT&T keeps exclusivity for another 12-18 months than investors realize,” Credit Suisse told investors Thursday.

Prevailing wisdom previously was that AT&T’s exclusive contract would end in June of this year and Verizon was the likely beneficiary. However “we no longer think AT&T will lose iPhone exclusivity in mid-2010,” the financial company writes. The delay could benefit Research in Motion’s RIM in the U.S., it said.

The analysis comes a day after reports Verizon and Apple were “still talking” about an iPhone deal. AT&T may have underbid Verizon and other carriers to win the iPad contract. Although the carrier would only say its iPad data plan “pricing speaks for itself,” AT&T beat out Sprint, T-Mobile and others to connect iPad users.

Apple recently came to AT&T’s defense amid questions about the carrier’s 3G network. Apple’s chief operating officer Tim Cook told reporters he had “very high confidence” AT&T can correct problems that have plagued reception.

[Via Barron’s]

It is pretty clear Apple has declared a silent war on Google. CEO Steve Jobs allegedly has mocked the Mountain View, Calif. company’s well-known “Do No Evil” mantra and even blames the Internet giant for trying to “kill” Cupertino’s iconic iPhone. However, that animosity appears to have spilled over into Apple’s iPhone App Store approval process. Apple asked a developer to delete mention Google’s Android in an application’s description.

In an email to the developer of “Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab” developer Tim Novikoff, Apple wrote “it would be appropriate to remove ‘Finalist in Google’s Android Developer’s Challenge!’ from the application’s description.

Apple wrote that the edit was required to “avoid an interruption in the availability” of the flash card application.

The note from Apple said the app’s description, which also includes other usual promotional material, “contains inappropriate or irrelevant information.” However, the company is likely not objecting to the developer mentioning inclusions in Newsday or various iPhone design books.

There seems to be a slight crack in the rather monolithic analyst pronouncements of support for the iPad. Needham has scaled back its endorsement of the new Apple device, telling investors it forecasts 2 million tablets sold in the year after the iPad launches, down from a previous 4 million.

The reversal came in a note entitled “Seeing is Believing” and follows its previous “Apple has Another Winner” analysis. Although the firm still believes “sales of the iPad will be substantial even in its first iteration,” the thumbs-up is labelled “cautiously optimistic.”

What happens when you try to style your camera after a rival? The result may be the Pen E-PL1 from Olympus. The Micro Four Thirds camera has become ungainly as it attempts to keep abreast with Panasonic’s GF1, reviewers say.

The remade Pen EP-1 has gained some new features in its updated E-PL1 form. Along with the requisite HD support, the camera has added a pop-up flash and image stabilization. Also piquing interest is a system of Live Guides which allow you correct the image on-screen before snapping the photo.

However, as Wired puts it, the upgrade has “created a Frankenstein’s monster.”

The Olympus E-PL1, with a Zuiko 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 lens will cost $600 in March.

[Via Gadget Lab and Olympus]

Nikon has unveiled its Coolpix P100, a digital SLR with many firsts. First in line is the P100 is Nikon’s first HD video camera, supporting 1080p. Secondly, it is the first member of Nikon’s well-known Coolpix family to adopt a 10MP CMOS sensor. The new sensor, relocates wiring to enable better low-light photos, an area in which Nikon is increasingly becoming known.

The chunky camera also has a 26x optical zoom and is able to zoom while shooting video.

The Nikon Coolpix P1 will cost $400 when it goes on sale in March.

[Via Gadget Lab and Gizmodo]

If you are looking for a deal on an iPod speaker system, this could be your lucky day. We start off with the Gigaware docking speaker system with remote control and audio input for $60. There is also a deal on Logitech’s Pure-Fi Anytime iPod speaker system, complete with motion-activated sensors, backlit controls, motion-sensing snooze (I guess no more hitting the ‘snooze; bar and rolling over for 15 minutes), digital AM/FM and a remote – $42. Lastly, if you wallet is feeling a bit light, you might want to investigate an iPhone video poker app we found. “Real Deals Slots Second Volume” includes more than 300 variations of the game of chance.

Along the way, we’ll also check out a new batch of App Store freebies, including iZombie: Death Match, and the free V.V. Brown single at iTunes.

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

Apple’s decision to go with AT&T as the sole carrier for the newly-introduced iPad had some wondering about the months of on-again, off-again talks between the Cupertino, Calif. company and Verizon Wireless. Although still talking about a deal, turns out, the CDMA carrier was more interested in snagging a contract for an upcoming iPhone.

“According to sources at Verizon, the company is more interested in the lucrative iPhone contracts,” Fox News reported Wednesday. The carrier says its still interested in supporting the iPad, as well.

Yet another publisher is using Apple’s iPad as a negotiating tool to force Amazon to raise prices on ebooks. Amazon is “ready to sit down” to talk with HarperCollins, according to Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., owner of the publishing house.

“Apple — in its agreement with is, which has not been disclosed in detail — does allow for a variety of slightly higher prices,” Murdoch said during a recent earnings call. Although below the price for printed editions, Apple’s iBookstore ebook prices “will not be fixed in a way that Amazon has been doing it,” he added.

Apple reportedly has picked a new maker for its upcoming fourth-generation iPhone. Pegatron Technology, a subsidiary of Asus, will join Foxconn, which manufacturers the current handset for the Cupertino, Calif. electronics company.

According to Taiwan-based DigiTimes, Pegatron says handsets shipped from its plant will “grow substantially in 2010,” although declined to elaborate. The company, which makes LCD TVs along with cell phones, will also make a motion controller for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in 2010.

Ok, so the groundhogs in the U.S. predict six more weeks of winter. Will some deals make up for the bad news? The Apple Store is selling a 16GB iPod nano for $119 with free shipping. Here’s a misnomer: an iPhone puzzle named “Hand of Greed” that’s free. Maybe you’d like to write a letter on your iPhone or iPod touch but don’t have a keyboard? Logitech’s Touch Mouse is available.

Along the way, we’ll look at a boombox for your iPod, a bargain on MouseWizard 6 and the price-slashers have been at it again with iPhone apps. As always, for details on these and many more bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Everyone knows your iPhone can control many items, including your TV, aerial drones – even a Mazda RX8. The iPod touch is great for your tunes, even suggesting music based on your preferences. But can your iPhone or iPod touch give you an invigorating massage? The makers of a robotic massage chair announced HT-Connect, a free iPhone app able to provide 16 auto-programmed massages.

Available in May, the HT-Connect interfaces with the AcuTouch 9500 massage chair from Human Touch. The app will “deliver a user experience that offers the same personalized and professional massage that one would receive at a spa or from a real, professional massage therapist,” said David Wood, CEO of Human Touch LLC.

Support for a bifurcation of computer sales has come from recent comments by an NPD analyst. Apple sold 90 percent of computers costing more than $1,000 during the fourth quarter of 2009 while the average Windows PC price is $475. The data illustrates Apple practically owns the “premium” U.S. computer market.

“The data is a startling confirmation — at least for the United States — about Apple’s success establishing the Mac as a premium brand,” said Betanews.

How does Apple compete with the inexpensive netbooks without a netbook? One analyst believes the answer is to call it an iPad. The Cupertino, Calif. company’s tablet device could take 4 percent of netbook sales this year and 7 percent in 2011, Deutsche Bank said.

The iPad, unveiled last week, will “compete very well” against netbooks, particularly where “surfing, reading, game playing and emailing dominate the usage model,” analyst Chris Whitmore said.

Is the iPhone, Apple’s iconic handset, growing a bit long in the tooth? Probably not. But that seems to be the message from researchers reporting the iPhone lost market share during the fourth quarter, accounting for 16.6 percent of the market, down from 18.1 percent of smartphone sales in the third quarter.

Although iPhone sales were up 18 percent in the quarter, the entire smartphone market increased 26 percent as Motorola’s Android phones and Nokia helped boost sales, according to ABI Research. Ironically, ABI believes Apple’s iPhone could be encountering the same slump as Motorola’s once very popular Razr.

We kick-off another week of deals with the Philips iPod docking speakers system. The system includes an FM presets, two 2-watt speakers, USB connection and an aux input. We also feature a new batch of free apps from Apple’s App Store, including Zenflation, a balloon flying game. We wrap up our top three offers with Process 3 for Mac, an idea and project organization tool.

As always, for details on these and many more bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs did some trash-talking about the company’s growing rivalry with Google. In one case, Jobs is alleged to have said Google’s famous ‘Don’t Be Evil’ standard of conduct “is a load of crap.”

Due to Apple’s infamous distaste for publicity and unauthorized leaks, a series of anonymous sources talked to the tech press about last week’s internal “town hall” style company meeting. The comments show two companies once quite close competing on several fronts.

How do you get more attention for a largely unknown netbook at a time when the tech press has the vapors for Apple’s iPad? You sue Apple and claim its new device is just a clone of your netbook, thus grabbing some headlines for a day or two. China’s Shenzhen Great Loong Brothers said it might sue Apple, claiming the iPad looks like its P88.

The Chinese company’s president Xiaolong Wu, in an interview with Spain’s El Mundo, said if Apple tries to sell the iPad in China he “won’t have any choice but to report them [Apple],” noting the device would hurt his sales.

Amazon has raised the white flag in the first skirmish over ebook pricing. The victors in this first round could be publisher Macmillan and rival ebook-reader maker Apple. After temporarily stopping selling Macmillan titles over a pricing dispute, the online book-seller said it was capitulating to the publisher’s demands.

“We will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books,” Amazon announced on its Kindle Community forums.

We close out a jam-packed week with some familiar deals for Mac fans. We have an iMac with the i5 processor (2.66GHz), a 27-inch screen, 8GB of RAM and Windows 7 – all for $2,207. The iLife ’09 home productivity suite from Apple could be a big hit for new iPad owners, or any Mac owner. Today’s deal is hard to beat: just $38. Finally, who doesn’t like free? We round out our top three deals with a new bevy of App Store freebies, including Super Slyder, a puzzle game that puts to use the iPhone’s accelerometer.

Along the way, we also look at other gadgets, including a way to keep your laptop cool, an easy way to get digital video and a colorful way to kick back and check out a screen wider than what’s in your hand.

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

Soon after the iPad was introduced, one of the earliest complaints was that readers don’t want apps and other accessories interfering with the words. Now comes a university study showing people need more than reading to fall in love with e-readers.

Indeed, the Univ. of Georgia study found younger consumers may prefer their phone to an e-reader. According to the research, young people view Amazon’s Kindle as “old” compared to smartphones with applications allowing them to do everything from listen to music to finding a restaurant, along with reading online.

Apple has often dismissed the possibility the company should compete with low-cost netbook computers, saying the popular devices are ‘junk.’ When rumors of Apple making a tablet computer appeared, focus was on ebooks and publishing. But will the iPad turn out to be Apple’s answer to those pesky netbooks? One highly-placed supplier thinks the iPad could outsell netbooks.

With a $499 starting price, the iPad could “achieve annual sales of 10 million units, which is a significant estimate considering the current tablet PC market is only about 3 million a year,” said Paul Peng, executive vice-president of AU Optronics’ global business unit. AUO makes LCD displays.

Since Amazon introduced its Kindle ebook reader, analysts and rivals have attempted to gauge its success via learning sales numbers. Because of that, the online bookseller has jealously guarded those figures – at least until Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Thursday let slip “millions” of people own the device. That number is actually 3 million, according to a new report.

“The total number of all types of Kindles out there in users hands hit 3 million sometime in December,” Michael Arrington of TechCrunch writes, citing sources who’ve been “amazingly accurate” in the past.

Although Amazon spokespeople refuse to elaborate on Bezos’ “millions” remark, the word sent BusinessWeek to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations.

“Assuming that at least two million people have bought the device, and that each paid at least $259 – the cost of the least-expensive Kindle – Amazon now has a business worth more than $500 million in sales,” the publication said Thursday.

Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney also figures Amazon could sell 2 million Kindles this year. Other analysts predict Apple’s iPad may sell twice that in 2010 alone.

Why is it so important how many Kindles is sold? Not only has Barnes & Noble’s Nook attempted to challenge the ebook leader, Amazon figured prominently in Apple’s introduction of its own “Kindle killer,” the iPad. CEO Steve Jobs announced his company will “stand on their [Amazon’s] shoulders and go a bit further.” In private, however, Apple has used Amazon’s pricing as a wedge to split off some big-name publishers. Although Amazon has attempted to adopt some of Apple’s practices (raising the royalties for publishers and adding apps to its e-reader), the company is squarely in Apple’s sights. Little wonder Amazon doesn’t want to talk numbers.

[Via TechCrunch and BusinessWeek]

Just a day after Apple’s announcement, we have the iPad topping our list of deals for Mac fans. The 16GB version of the thin, lightweight device is $499 and the 32GB version is $599. Next on tap is a number of MacBooks, starting at $599 for a 2GB model with 80GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM. Finally, if you’d like a MacBook Pro, there is a $799 price on a 2.16GHz version with a 15-inch screen.

Along the way, we also look at more hardware, speakers, software and apps for your iPhone or iPod. As always, the details are waiting for you on CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Maybe Terry McGraw III forgot the old World War II saying about loose lips. Not only can they sink ships, but prime exposure for your brand as well. It seems Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn’t like his iPad being unveiled by McGraw, CEO of textbook publisher McGraw-Hill on CNBC a day before the big event.

“Insiders say as soon as Terry shot his mouth off on CNBC, Jobs had the company cut from the presentation,” according to VentureBeat. Sure enough, Wednesday, when Jobs took the stage, McGraw-Hill’s logo was absent from a screen listing publishers involved in the iPad.

One analyst Wednesday expressed ‘measured enthusiasm’ for Apple’s iPad, the thin, lightweight tablet device Cupertino announced after months of speculation. Despite the cautionary optimism, Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster said the iPad could mean $4.6 billion in new revenue for Apple by 2011.

“We have measured enthusiasm for the device’s first year, but we expect 2011 to be a breakout year for the iPad,” Munster told investors. The Apple watcher said it will take a year for the iPad business to ‘solidify’, but be worth $4.6 billion, or 7.5 percent of the company’s revenue in 2011.