Ed Sutherland - page 81

Handicapping Apple earnings reports has become a bit of a hobby for Wall Street investors. As the Cupertino, Calif. company readies release of fourth-quarter sales figures later Monday, the latest round of three-piece tea leaf-readers are projecting Apple will report a 13 percent jump in earnings on revenue between $8.7 billion and $10.5 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters Financial foresee Apple earnings reaching $1.42 per share, higher than Apple’s own public expectations of between $1.18 to $1.23 per share, according to the Wall Street Journal. In 2008, Apple reported earnings rose 26 percent to $1.14 billion during the fourth-quarter ended September 30.

A Firefox developer is crying foul over Microsoft’s decision to place Apple’s Safari ahead of the open-source browser in a ballot aimed at European Windows users. The decision gives Safari a “disproportionate advantage” over the Mozilla-built Firefox, argues designer Jenny Boriss.

“Windows users presented with the current design will tend to make only two choices: IE because they are familiar with it, or Safari because it is the first item,” she said. Boriss stressed her opinion does not reflect the views of Mozilla.

We end this week with a motley of Mac items, including a number of MacBooks starting at $620. For the music lover, our top trio is rounded-out with a deal on 30GB iPod videos for $99 and the Philips iPod Docking system. Along the way, we also highlight more speakers, keyboards and accessories suited to the Mac cultists.

For details on these and other bargains (such as the diNova wireless keyboard for Macs), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Demand for Apple’s iPhone is reportedly outstripping supply, causing some Wall Street prognosticators to caution investors yet foresee a bountiful 2010 first quarter. Friday, one analyst suggested a wait-and-see policy ahead of Apple’s October 19 revenue statement. Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner told investors they should “keep some powder dry” and purchase shares following the earnings report.

Apple said in September it had sold 3.5 million iPhones with three weeks left in the month. Now analysts believe Apple could report Monday sales of twice that, or more. The third quarter period would be the first since Apple released the iPhone 3GS in late June.

Leopard “consistently outdid” Microsoft’s soon-to-be released Windows 7 operating system, according to to a head-to-head time test. Apple’s latest OS X operating system outpaced Windows in both boot-up and shutdown, according to a review conducted by CNet.

Leopard needed 36.4 seconds to boot up versus 42.7 seconds for Windows 7. The gap was even more significant in the time needed to shut down the 2008 MacBook Pro. While Snow Leopard required 6.6 seconds to shut down, Windows 7 took 12.6 seconds, the study found.

As the U.S. East Coast prepares for an early snowfall, we have some deals on MacBook Pros that will keep you toasty, entertained and with a few more dollars left in your wallet. We start off with two MacBook Pro choices; one with a slightly slower processor at $749 and another with a fast 2.2GHz cpu, more software, but a smaller screen (13-inch versus 15-inch.) We then have a face off with armbands for your iPod or iPhone and an assortment of other gadgets.

For details on these and other products (like the V-Moda Vibe noise-cancelling earbuds), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Apple is testing a new version of its Mac Pro equipped with a six-core processor from Intel. The new computer could be introduced in the first quarter of 2010 and may prompt a discount for earlier Mac Pro machines. The report by Hardmac is based on an unnamed source.

If correct, the new Mac Pro desktop will boost the current 8MB L3 cache to 12MB using the Gulftown Xeon chip. The update would permit 12 threads for each CPU. Apple will likely double the six-core to 12, reports said. The Gulftown is the codename of Intel’s unreleased chip expected to be named the Intel Core i9 or Xeon 5600 series for servers. The six-core processor will be Intel’s first and its as-yet unreleased status could give Apple a brief exclusivity.

Apple Vice President Phil Schiller has hinted at a new advertising campaign to counter the upcoming launch of Windows 7. Speaking about the potential upgrade hurdles a PC user might face, Shiller told BusinessWeek: “Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out. If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?”

Schiller told the magazine the expected Oct. 22 launch of Microsoft’s new operating system “presents a very good opportunity” for the Cupertino, Calif. company. According to BusinessWeek, an ad campaign could poke fun at Microsoft users undergoing the upgrade.

Apple sales grew 6.8 percent in the third quarter of 2009, causing its U.S. marketshare to reach 8.8 percent in the third quarter of 2009, a slight improvement over the 8.6 percent posted during the same period in 2008, a report on global PC sales shows. The numbers came amid signs consumers purchasing mobile computers drove sales during the period. Some 17.8 million PCs were sold overall in the U.S. during the third quarter, a 3.9 percent increase from 2008.

The Cupertino, Calif. company shipped 1.5 million computers during the third quarter of 2009. By contrast, Apple shipped 1.4 million in the same quarter last year. Many of those sales were part of back-to-school sales, a critical part of the U.S. growth, according to Gartner.

It’s midweek and featured Mac products include iMacs starting at $999 from the Apple Store, a 50%-off offer for iPhone accessories and a new round of App Store freebies, including RatMazing, a game of skill where you guide your rat through a maze using only your gentle influence (and a roomful of electric shocks.)

For details on these and other bargains (such as A-Data’s 500 GB external USB 2.0 HD), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Remember when Apple CEO Steve Jobs showed a photo of the low-cost Flip Video camcorder prior to announcing the iPod Nano would get a 640×480-pixel camera? No? Well, Flip Video does. Wednesday, the company released an updated version of its Mino HD camcorder with double the memory and a spiffier look.

The Mino HD will ship with 8GB of memory, up from the previous 4GB. The camcorder also includes a HDMI-out so it can be hooked-up to high-definition TVs. The device also gets a better screen (along with a size boost from 1.5-inches to 2-inches) for outdoor viewing, plus a brushed aluminum case.

New photos and descriptions of a Barnes & Noble e-reader leaked Wednesday, whetting consumers’ appetite ahead of next week’s press conference promising a “historic” announcement. The e-reader supposedly combines features found in Amazon’s Kindle, as well as a touch-screen interface similar to Apple’s iPhone.

Gizmodo provided the details, describing the unnamed e-reader as combining a Kindle-like e-ink 6-inch main display but opting for a LCD touch-screen panel rather than physical buttons. The 480×144-pixel panel with 155dpi resolution will be used to flip through books similar to Apple’s “coverflow” technology allowing people to quickly review their music collection.

Apple Wednesday endorsed Wi-Fi Direct, an industry plan to eliminate the need for hotspots in order for wireless gadgets to connect. The standard, expected to be available by the middle of 2010, may mean increased competition for Bluetooth and allow iPhones, iPods and iBooks to easily network.

“Wi-Fi users worldwide will benefit from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications quickly and easily among devices, even when a Wi-Fi access point isn’t available,” Wi-Fi Alliance executive director Edga Figueroa said in a statement.

The peer-to-peer standard would be available for new Apple products, as well as older products. In 2008, Apple said one goal for its line of iPods was to be “one of the first WiFi mobile platforms.” The standard also comes as Verizon promotes its MiFi as a way to create a mobile WiFi router using cellular networks.

Because abilities of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth overlap, the new Wi-Fi Direct standard could compete with the short-range wireless connection technology in areas such as printing and and other peripherals. Apple already uses Bluetooth for its line of wireless mice and keyboards.

[Via AppleInsider]

Apple may enable iPhone and iPod touch users to receive FM radio via a built-in feature previously dormant, says a report. The Cupertino, Calif. company is developing a radio.app that operates similar to the FM feature in the latest iPod Nanos, according to the 9to5Mac blog.

Although the latest iPhones and iPod touch devices have long been able to broadcast via an FM signal, allowing hands-free operation in cars, reception of FM signals until now has been limited to the Nike+ system. Release of the Apple-built FM app is delayed as engineers work out kinks in integrating Mobile iTunes Store transactions. The function, already available for the iPod Nano, lets listeners of radio stations that support tagging to get song information available from iTunes and purchase music.

We’ve all customized our iPhones to fit our personality, but how about the ultimate: your DNA? A French company is now offering to turn your DNA code into an iPhone wallpaper.

All it takes is a bit of genetic code via a mouth swab (provided by the company, Helys.) Pick the perfect hue among several choices and send the sample back. Within two weeks you get a 100 dpi image (320×480 pixels) emailed back to you. The cost: $146.

Whether you are looking for bargains on a MacBook Air, a Mac Pro Xeon Workstation or an iPod, there are many options today. ClubMac has a deal on MacBook Air laptops starting at $1,100, while the Apple Store offers Mac Pro Xeon workstations starting at $1,999 (with free shipping.) No matter if you want music, video or photos, there are deals on iPod Classics, iPod videos and iPod photo.

For details on these and more products (including an iPod armband), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

When it comes to gadget-hungry teens, Steve Jobs makes Oprah look like some cable-access talking head. At least that’s the findings of a telephone survey of 1,000 12 to 17-year olds. Jobs was deemed the ‘most admired celebrity entrepreneur’ by 35 percent polled versus 25 percent for TV magnate Winfrey.

By comparison, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk received 16 percent of the votes and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had 10 percent of the survey results.

Rather than hissing each time Microsoft introduces a new version of its Windows operating system, maybe Mac fans should cheer. That’s the opinion of one analyst who says Windows actually boosts Apple hardware sales. “No negative correlation exists on AAPL’s hardware sales when Microsoft launches a new OS,” according to financial analyst Brian Marshall of Broadpoint.AmTech.

Although Apple has parlayed Windows into a highly-publicized nemesis of Mac owners, sales of Cupertino’s computers actually rose when Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows 98 were released. “Ironically, we believe new OS launches from MSFT may have acted as a ‘delayed accelerant’ to AAPL’s computing sales,” Marshall said.

Apple admits it is aware the Snow Leopard version of OS X can delete data when people log in (even accidentally) using the operating system’s “guest” account. “We are working on a fix,” the Cupertino, Calif. company said in a statement Monday.

No timeframe was given on when a fix would be released. Snow Leopard 10.6.2 reportedly is in the hands of developers.

Now that Apple has updated the iPod shuffle, giving it a new look (sort of like a Bic lighter), as well as more colors, what’s one to do with the tiny tie-clasp-like older MP3 players? One option: swap out the music for a mini MP3 DV camera.

Xiangyun Industries Co., Ltd. turns the old shuffles into a 1.3 megapixel 20 fps video camera capable of 640×480 or 1,280×960 pixel JPG photos.

The price is between $15-$30 but only order of 1,000 video shuffles, please. The little gadget sounds like a perfect stocking-stuffer or maybe even a spy cam.

[Via Engadget]

We start the week off with deals for both lovers of hardware and software. The Apple Store offers a 15 percent discount on aluminum iMacs with 24-inch screens (2.66 GHz to 3.06 GHz). For those seeking to wedge just one more app on their iPhone or iPod touch, there are many choice, ranging from the serious to pure gaming.

For details on these and other bargains (such as the Peephole, a Twitter image viewer for the iPhone/iPod touch), check out the full “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

There’s a new twist on the “Guest Account” bug with Snow Leopard updates. Along with all /user files vanishing if you have the “Guest” account active when upgrading, if you accidently use the guest account mass file deletions could happen, reports said Monday.

“So I restarted my computer and logged on again, it was exactly the same, everything gone. At which point I looked in the Users folder to find that my User profile had been removed and replaced with a fresh one with the same name,” a user calling himself dbferrari wrote Sunday on the Apple Discussion board. The person said he had accidently selected the “guest” account rather than his personal account at the login screen of OS X 10.6.1.

Friday we wrote about similar reports of data deleted after being logged into the “guest” after an upgrade.

The cure until Apple addresses the bug: disable your Guest account.

[Via Apple Discussions and Engadget]

Dr. Arthur Levinson has resigned as a member of Google’s board of directors, cutting the final tie between the Mountain View, Calif. Internet giant and Apple. Google CEO Eric Schmidt left Apple’s board of directors in August.

Levinson, who served as a member of Google’s board of directors since 2004, remains on Apple’s board. Although no reason was given for Levinson leaving, reports suggested the departure may be tied to a Federal Trade Commission anti-competition investigation of Google and Apple.

Schmidt said Levinson, a former CEO of Genentech, had provided “unvarnished advice and vital counsel” while at Google and would always “have a special place at Google.”

“Red skies in morning; Sailors take warning.” Maybe that old seafaring wisdom should include users of the Microsoft-owned Danger Sidekick. In something akin to an “all is lost” warning, Redmond has told Sidekick owners data stored on the first smartphone “has almost certainly been lost.”

What’s to be done? Not much, except sit tight and hold onto your rebates. “Sidekick customers, during this service disruption, please DO NOT remove your battery, reset your Sidekick, or allow it to lose power,” urged Sidekick carrier T-Mobile, halting sales of the device. In the meantime, T-Mobile reportedly will offer Sidekick owners a free month of data services (not voice), valued at $20. How much is your data worth?

For many, the gloss finish on a MacBook Pro’s screen can become irritating. Although Apple stepped in to allow MacBook owners with 15.4-inch screens to swap out for $50 the displays for a matte finish, that option wasn’t available for owners of the 13-inch Macs – until now. TechRestore will “repair” your MacBook Pro’s glossy screen for $200.

“Send in your MacBook and [TechRestore] will rip out the screen and replace it with a matte one , and because the screen no longer has the glass panel, you also get a matte-black bezel, complete with holes for the iSight camera and LEDs,” according to Gadget Lab.

TechRestore says it will send your MacBook back within 24 hours and with a 1-year warranty.

[Via Gadget Lab and TechRestore]