Ed Sutherland - page 73

Apple has updated its patent for Wii-like “Wand” remote control, providing a magnetic compass and accelerometer for better control and precision. Apple TV is one potential beneficiary, reports suggested Thursday.

The Cupertino, Calif. company initially filed the “Wand” application in mod-2009, including an accelerometer like the Wii. The update, filed on the last day of 2009, describes the wand’s operations:

Not all boats float on a rising tide. That seems to be the lesson Apple is learning with its Apple TV, a device analysts say has not benefited from increased sales of the company’s other products, including iMacs and iPods and even the lowly Magic Mouse. Apple TV sales rose just 10 percent in 2009, despite an upgraded Apple TV 3.0 OS.

The minor growth was likely due to 2008 being a slow year, not because the streaming device made any inroads into a hard-to-define market, NPD Group vice president of industry analysis Steven Baker said.

As we near the end of the 2009, our minds tend to turn to time: the past and future. Here on the “Daily Deals” desk, the end of the year also means savings. Are you looking to save some time looking for a MacBook? The Apple Store has a $849 2.26GHz MacBook with 13.3-inch screen. Maybe your thought also include saving some cash. In that case, we have a new batch of price drops for the App Store. Although it won’t let you return to those glory years, Apple’s 1TB Time Capsule could save your digital life – for $260.

Along the way, we check out a 50 percent off deal on iPod touch accessories from the PC Micro Store, bargains on AppleCare for your favorite gadget, plus assorting money saving opportunities. As always, for details on any of the items mentioned (and many more), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

What a difference a year makes. That seems to be the take-away from new retail analysis showing a 50 percent increase in sales of iWork 2009 over iWork 2008. In the first 11 months it was available, iWork 2009 sold 50 percent more copies than iWork 2008, according to NPD Group.

Much of the credit appears to go to the popularity of Mac OS X 10.6, known as “Snow Leopard”. iWork and iLife comes bundled with the box upgrade. A single-user version costs $169 and a family-version costs $229.

Apple will have a ‘blowout’ December quarter, selling 9.5 million iPhones with strong Mac and iPod demand creating $12.4 billion in revenue for the Cupertino, Calif. company, an analyst told investors Wednesday.

“Despite strong macroeconomic headwinds and ever rising investor expectations, we anticipate Apple could post material upside to recently raised consensus estimates,” wrote Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu. The company appears to be firing on all cyclinders, its iPhone, iPod and Mac units viewed as fueling the optimism.

Finnish cell phone giant Nokia Tuesday told a U.S. trade court “virtually all” of Apple products, including the iPhone, iPod and Mac, infringe its patents. The move seeks to halt imports of Apple products.

The seven patents named “allow better user experience, lower manufacturing costs, smaller size and longer battery life for Nokia products.” Nokia said its complaint filed before the U.S. International Trade Commission “is about protecting the results of such pioneering development.”

Are you looking for the perfect price on a MacBook? This could be your lucky day with more than three deals for Apple’s laptop. Used 1.83GHz MacBooks can be had starting at $599, while a 2.26GHz MacBook is available for $728 from the Apple Store. Another 2.26GHz MacBook is being sold for $870. Lastly, for $1,750 you can get a 17″ 2.26GHz Mac from MacMall.

Along the way, we have a 27″ 2.8GHz Core i7 iMac, with 8GB memory and 2T of storage for $2,522 from Expercom. Also on the price-chopping block: Apple’s Mighty Mouse ($25), 80 percent off deal on iPhone cases and an iPhone. iPod touch car and travel charger bundle.

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

Although the iPhone or iMac has gotten the lion’s share of attention recently, Apple controversial Magic Mouse is in the spotlight. The new mouse has helped Cupertino double its share and gain 10 percent of sales, market researchers say.

“Sales in November went through the roof,” NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker told AppleInsider. Although Apple remains in third place behind Logitech and Microsoft, Baker said the Magic Mouse showed “tremendous performance” after its October introduction.

Remember when forecasts of 10 million iPhones in 2009 were considered optimistic? That figure could become the new floor with Apple projected to sell 11.3 million iPhones for the fourth quarter.

Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall is telling investors he expects Apple will sell 11.3 million iPhones for the quarter, up from a previous prediction of 10 million of Cupertino’s iconic handsets. Apple “remains the best technology company on the planet,” Marshall announced.

Tapulous, makers of the $1M per month Tap Tap Revenge app for the iPhone and iPod touch, received even more good news on Christmas. ‘Tap Tap Revenge 3’ was downloaded 2 million times since the app became free a week ago.

On Christmas Day alone, ‘TTR3’ had more than 700,000 downloads, more than triple the 200,000 ‘TTR’ experienced on Christmas Day 2008. TTR3 is now the most popular App Store app, reports say. As we reported last week, Tap Tap Revenge is installed on one-third of all iPhone and iPods.

Still not recovered from the sugar-laced holidays? What better way to recuperate and get ready for 2010 by perusing some great deals on gadgets? We start off with a trio of Apple products, ranging from iPods to iMacs. If you didn’t get an iPod touch for Christmas, there’s still time to nab an 8GB version of the popular touch for $180. Do you want to update your desktop? There is a deal on a 24-inch iMac (2.93 GHz Core 2 Duo) with three years of AppleCare for $1,399. Or, maybe you’re in the market for a MacBook Pro? Expercom has a 15-inch 2.93 GHz MacBook Pro laptop with three years of AppleCare for $2,099.

Along the way, there are bargains on iPhone cases, storage and assorted gadgets and services. For details on these and other items, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Did you spend Christmas day downloading apps for that new iPod touch? If so, you weren’t alone. The volume of iPod touch downloads from Apple’s App Store skyrocketed almost 1,000 percent on December 25th, findings released Monday show. This year also marked the first Christmas where iPod touch app downloads passed iPhone downloads.

“It appears that an influx of new iPod touch devices has flooded the market over Christmas,” mobile app analytics firm Flurry Analytics announced. Additionally, the company said the mostly pre-teen and teen owners of iPod touches are “voracious downloaders.”

Has AT&T stopped online sales of the iPhone in New York City due to fraud? If you live in the NYC metro area, you may need to go to a local AT&T store to buy an iPhone.

Over the weekend, the Consumerist reported readers with NYC area codes were blocked when attempting to buy an iPhone online. At first, AT&T’s response was not enough bandwidth, as the following interaction between a company salesperson and Consumerist apparently shows:

Apple’s tablet, initially just a whisp of rumor, appears to be taking a more concrete shape. The Cupertino, Calif. company has instructed suppliers to provide glass panels and connectors ahead of a potential Jan. 26 announcement, multiple reports claim.

A subsidiary of Foxconn, Innolux, will supply Apple with the majority of 10-inch glass displays and Wintek, which provides most iPhone display panels, will handle the remainder, according to Taiwan’s DigiTimes. The publication said Apple could announce its tablet in January with major shipments by March, 2010. One report has suggested Apple has told Foxconn it needs 300,000 tablets per month. If true, the report would dovetail with recent speculation Apple booked San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Jan. 26 for a product announcement.

On the day before Christmas and all through the house, nary a deal was stirring — not even Apple’s Super Mouse.

Well, there’s still some bargains to be had even at this late date. We lead off this day with an iPhone accessory roundup with items made of everything from silicone to rhinestones. If you haven’t found that perfect iPod touch case, don’t worry – we have an 80 percent off deal with an extra 20 percent off coupon. Lastly, Tapulous, the makers of Tap Tap Revenge have made iPhone headlines and we have Tap Tap Revenge 3 for free.

For details on these and many other bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Microsoft has lost its edge to Apple and Google, becoming like IBM in the mid-1980s when the Seattle, WA. software giant unveiled its first version of the Windows operating system. “I think Microsoft today is a lot like IBM was in 1985,” ex-Microsoft employee Don Dodge told a Seattle newspaper.

Dodge, who worked with startups at Microsoft before laid off in November, was hired by Internet giant Google one week later.

The former Microsoft worker said his previous employer is now overshadowed by Apple, Google and Facebook when it comes to innovation. “Microsoft is still a powerful company – $60 billion in revenue and very profitable – but I think after 20 years they are losing the innovation edge,” Dodge told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer site.

China Unicom, Apple’s first pick to break into the world’s largest cell phone market, is leaning away from the iPhone, according to new phone orders. The carrier said the iPhone will comprise just 4 percent of phones it plans to order. Instead, a mix of Symbian, Windows Mobile and BREW-based handsets are getting the majority of interest.

Phones based on the Symbian OS received 16 percent of the orders, with 8 percent going to Windows Mobile handsets, 4 percent to the iPhone and the remainder to phones using BREW or a proprietary operating system. More than half (63 percent) of the new phones are mid-priced (below $439), according to reports.

A series of patents may detail the user interface of Apple’s tablet, which could be unveiled in January. At the heart of ‘surprising‘ method for users to interact with the much-awaited device is what the Cupertino, Calif. company describes as an ‘articulated frame.’

“The articulating frame may provide key edge ridges that define the boundaries of the key regions or may provide tactile feedback mechanisms within the key regions,” according to an application entitled “Keystroke Tactility Arrangement on a Smooth Touch Surface” uncovered earlier this week.

Are you looking for a starter Mac, or an Apple for a child? How about a $99 500Mhz G3 iBook? It may be just two days until Christmas, but the deals keep arriving, like up to $250 off items at MacMall. If you have an iMac or new Mac under the tree and you’d like the perfect display, but your budget is blown – how about a refurbished 30-inch Apple Cinema Widescreen LCD display for just $1,299?

Along with assorted iPhone cases and accessories, the App Store has something every exhausted holiday shopper wants: freebies. This batch includes MotionInk, a media painter application. Not to be missed, though, are EA games for the iPhone or iPod; just $5 for NBA Live or Rock Band.

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

It may be nearing the end of 2009, but there appears no end in sight to rumors Apple is soon to announce its mythical tablet device. The latest talk comes from a site claiming Apple will unveil the tablet in January.

Citing “a very connected source”, Boy Genius Report wrote Wednesday a 7-inch tablet and a 10-inch tablet are in the wings.

Apple’s iPhone 3G garnered 4 percent of U.S. cell phone subscribers in 2009, ranking No. 1 in single handset models, according to an Internet research firm. The iPhone beat the RIM BlackBerry and Motorola RAZR, which placed 2nd and 3rd.

Apple may be preparing to sell up to 45 million iPhones in 2010, according to suppliers. The orders for an upgraded iPhone camera would double those expected for 2009. The news appears to coincide with other reports that Apple may introduce a new iPhone in mid-2010.

“OmniVision Technologies is expected to see CMOS image sensor orders for Apple’s iPhone devices grow to 40-45 million units in 2010,” according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes. The orders for a 5-megapixel sensor may be a response to Verizon’s Droid and Google’s Nexus One handsets which both have more sensitive cameras than the iPhone 3GS’ 3.2 megapixel camera. OmniVision supplied the iPhone 3GS 3.2 megapixel image sensor.

With just days before Christmas, we highlight three Mac deals for the harried, last-minute holiday shopper. If you have an iPod on your list, but you don’t want to cross that mystical $100 barrier, Apple still has 8GB iPod nanos for just $99. Not often does shipping make it into the headlines, but as retailers pull out all the stops to attract online sales, Apple still has free next-day delivery. But hurry – 1pm EST Wednesday is the deadline. Last on our top trio seems perfect for all those iPhone owners out there: 80 percent off select cases for the Apple handset. (We also have a 50% off deal for iPod touch owners.)

Along the way, we have deals on a skin for the Nike+ iPod running sensor, the latest batch of App Store price drops and more software for your iPhone or iPod touch. For details on these and many more bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the break.

A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a liability lawsuit against Apple, just hours after the Cupertino, Calif. company released a firmware update claiming to cure complaints about the iMacs screen. The lawsuit, which potentially could have become a class action, claimed Apple knowingly sold the allegedly defective computers.

While the lawsuit was dismissed as being too broad, Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled the claim could be resubmitted to add more detail, thus reducing the suit’s scope, reports said. Apple “internally recognizes and concedes” the defect without alerting consumers, the lawsuit alleged.

“Methinks AT&T doth protest too much,” might have been Hamlet’s response to the carrier again denying it will institute data tiers for iPhone users. Attempting to avoid a storm of protests over earlier comments, AT&T Mobility President Ralph de la Vega now tells BusinessWeek: “I guess I should have been more clear.”

The comment was the second in one week by de la Vega concerning a Dec. 9 AP report quoting the AT&T exec mentioning incentives for iPhone owners to “reduce or modify their usage.” AT&T has said iPhone owners use 40 percent of the carrier’s network capacity despite their being just three percent of smartphone users.