Ed Sutherland - page 88

Apple is in iPhone distribution talks with China Unicom, the latest sign negotiations with the nation’s largest mobile carrier may have hit a snag. Tuesday’s comments by the chairman of China’s second largest cellular carrier confirms similar February reports.

“We are in talks with many handset suppliers, including Apple,” Reuters quoted China Unicom chairman Chang Xiaobing. China Mobile, the country’s No. 1 mobile carrier, refused comment on the report.

While Xiaobing did not mention a date when any agreement with Apple might materialize, in February, Fortune reported a deal with China Unicom could be signed May 17.

Apple Tuesday unveiled two new Mac Pro models using Intel’s Nahalem Xeon processors. The high-end computers also sported a $300 price cut.

“The new Mac Pro is a significant upgrade and starts at $300 less than before,” Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said in a statement.

Using Intel’s Xeon processor with built-in memory controller and DDR3 ECC memory boosts memory elbow-room “about 2.4 percent” while also cutting memory slowdowns by 40 percent, according to reports.

Apple Tuesday updated its line of affordable Mac Mini desktop computers, with models offering faster graphics and more display options for $599 and up.

Both desktops come with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and support for either Mini DisplayPort or mini-DVI connections.

The $599 unit includes 1GB of Ram, expandable to 4GB, and a 120GB hard drive.

The $799 model offers 2GB of Ram, a 320GB hard disk.

Buyers can also select “build-to-order” customizations, including a 2.26 Core 2 Duo, as well as an 80GB, 250GB, or 320GB hard disk drive.

After days of rumors and talk, Apple Tuesday introduced a line of updated iMacs sporting NVIDIA graphics. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company unveiled four versions of its popular desktop, aimed at entry-level. mid-range and high-end users.

At $1,199, a 20-inch iMac includes a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2, 2GB RAM and 320GB hard disk drive. As with other iMacs introduced, the entry-level desktop offers the faster NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics.

Apple also introduced three versions of a 24-inch iMac for prices ranging from $1,499 to $2,199.

Apple may unveil a new slate of Macs as early as today, advancing a rumored late March announcement. These latest reports suggest the computer maker could introduce updated versions of its iMac and Mac mini desktop line.

The chatter comes from the French MacBidouille and Dutch OneMoreThing, which offered details of a potential Apple hardware refresh, including model numbers and alleged photos of a new Mac mini.

An analyst has added his voice in support of two unconfirmed reports Monday that Apple will announce March 24 a Mac Pro, Mac mini and iMac update.

“This would be consistent with our view that new desktops (and generally new products in the future) are likely to be launched at Apple-held events rather than trade shows,” UBS analyst Maynard Um told clients.

Um went on to predict Apple by summer will introduce a 32GB iPhone 3G as well as a 4GB model.

Amid talk of a record drop in PC sales, a new report suggests Apple’s iPhone 3G is undergoing a “recent uptick” in production due to increased consumer demand.

The report by the Wedge Partners research firm points to a trio of factors increasing production of the iPhone 3G: Apps Store advertising, wider promotions by carriers and a drive to offer multi-tiered pricing of data plans.

In the case of advertising, Apple has begun a new campaign pushing its App Store, generating increased demand for the iPhone 3G and the iPod touch.

PC makers will ship 257 million PCs in 2009 with “mature” North American and European markets taking the brunt of the slowdown, according to Gartner.

Desktop PCs will lead the economic-inspired sales drop, falling nearly 32 percent. However, the drop in demand will boost sales of notebook computers, expected to increase 9 percent.

Apple may later this month introduce updated iMacs along with other hardware news, according to rumors circulating in the Mac community Monday.

Although Apple has yet commented, two Mac sites point with various degrees of certainty that Mar. 24 Apple will introduce an updated iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro and various chips.

Sources “did speculate that the Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro would all be refreshed,” according to the World of Apple site. Those sources were “confirmed to be in reach of such information,” the site said.

Despite the recent introduction of several rivals, Apple’s App Store is “miles ahead of the competition,” according to a study released Monday.

Apple’s store, created in 2008 for iPhone and iPod touch owners, was compared against similar offerings by Google, Microsoft, RIM and others phone developers.

The Apple App Store has succeeded in attracting developers and surpassing the “number, variety and appeal of applications available,” announced the Global Intelligence Group.

Image KP Marek

After 16 months, a UK-based mobile carrier reported Thursday selling its 1 millionth iPhone. The milestone, while significant, took twice as long to reach than Nokia.

Nokia’s N95 smartphone, once described by the trade press as “the Swiss Army knife of mobile phones,” reached one million sales just seven months after its November 2007 introduction.

Despite the iPhone being unveiled in 2008 – a year marked by economic slowdown – O2 UK’s CEO said “iPhone sales are continuing to accelerate.”

In a bid to cloak trade secrets, both Apple and Mac clone-maker Psystar are asking a Calif. court for a protective order. The legal move is designed to prevent disclosures during an upcoming discovery period ahead of a Nov. 9 trial.

In an 18-page proposal before Northern District of California Judge William Alsup, the two companies lay out restrictions on expert testimony, as well as access to software. The data would be marked “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”

Among the steps both companies propose to prevent either gaining a market upper hand, both Apple and Psystar can object to technical experts who must sign a one-year ban on working for competitors.

Should recording artists receive larger royalties from songs sold in digital format, such as by Apple’s iTunes? That’s the question before a California court as rapper Eminem sues recording companies for a larger portion of the revenue pie.

The lawsuit has taken two years to make it to trial, but already lawyers for the rapper have elicited that recording labels are paying less to sell digital songs.

With digital sales, recording companies, such as Universal, no longer have distribution costs, according to a plaintiff’s witness, a former executive at the recording firm.

You have to wonder if users of Apple’s MobileMe online service have a ‘kick me’ sign. For the second time this year, phishers posing as Apple sent e-mails asking for credit card information of MobileMe subscribers.

The e-mail warns MobileMe users their subscription is about to expire, but their credit card information needs to be updated. The message, which appears to come from Apple, asks e-mail recipients to click on a link.

However, the e-mail from “noreply@me” comes not from Cupertino, Calif. but a computer in the UK, according to Apple Insider. What’s more, the e-mail was composed on Microsoft Outlook Express and sends people to http.apple-billing.me.uk, which the news site described as a “sketchy URL.”

Despite grumbling by some shareholders about how Apple handled health news of CEO Steve Jobs, the acting head of the media company expressed confidence the firm will continue to succeed.

“I’m confident in the future,” operations chief Tim Cook told shareholders during an hour-long meeting at Apple headquarters.

In terms of market success, Cook’s comment appeared to be on mark. Sales of 9.7 million Macs in 2008 were triple that of anemic PC demand. The iPod, a maturing product many thought was nearing the end of its lifespan, sold 55 million units. The iPhone, a key product for Apple, exceeded expectations, selling 13.7 cell phones, trouncing Apple’s goal of 10 million handsets in 2008.

Japan mobile carrier SoftBank Mobile has begun offering a free 8GB iPhone to entice customers to sign-up for lucrative two-year data plans.

As part of its “iPhone for Everybody Campaign,” Softbank is giving away the iPhone, which previously sold for $238.21 in Japan.

Through May, the carrier is also discounting the 16GB iPhone, charging just $4.96 per month, or $119.11 over the two-year contract.

Another Apple TV update has disabled the popular free media-streaming Boxee software. The side-effect of the Apple TV 2.3.1 update was reportedly unintentional on Apple’s part.

Although the specific conflict is yet unknown, Apple sent the update last night to all Apple TV owners. One potential solution is to disable automatic updates.

This isn’t the first time an update of Apple’s increasingly-popular device which streams video and photos from your computer to your TV has caused problems for Boxee fans.

Apple’s annual shareholders’ meeting today could be more about the elephant in the room, not sliding profits and job cuts which have become increasingly common topics in American business.

With Mac sales above the anemic numbers of PC makers and the iPhone continuing to make marketshare inroads, the financial side of the annual meeting is without surprises.

“Don’t expect too many fireworks,” advised CNBC’s Jim Goldman.

Apple Tuesday introduced an iTunes Pass program, bringing to digital music downloads a concept already familiar to TV viewers.

The new program downloads to iTunes music and video content matching user specifications. The first example is a pass that keeps Depeche Mode fans up-to-date on the band’s latest creation.

While the $18.99 “Sounds of the Universe” Pass is about twice the price of the band’s $9.99 album, fans also receive an exclusive remix and other related content until June 16.

Two analysts Tuesday downgraded Apple shares, trimming sales expectations a day before the Cupertino, Calif.-based company’s annual meeting.

Calyon Securities analyst Shelby Seyrafi warned clients Apple’s pricing “is vulnerable in today’s recessionary environment.” As a result, the analyst lowered Apple stock to Underperform from Outperform.

Seyrafi also lowered his Mac sales forecast for March to 2.19 million units from 2.35 million.

Could iPhone users benefit from the increasing price wars over wireless data plans? Giant mobile carrier AT&T is speaking out as a number of analyst suggest iPhone service price drops are inevitable.

AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega told tech site Engadget the No. 1 wireless carrier is in frequent contact with Apple on how to improve the iPhone’s performance.

“We communicate with Apple and say, you know, if we tweak this it would work better,” he said. “They’ve been very good about working with us,” de la Vega said, describing Apple’s response.

Yet another analyst has suggested Apple should sell a netbook, a market Cupertino has expressed luke-warm interest in, at best. Undaunted, however, an analyst Monday put forth what might be called the Goldilocks theory of netbooks.

A $599 netbook would pass Apple’s ‘junk’ test while also retaining the high margins to which investors have become accustom, argued Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall.

Marshall thinks Apple could unveil a netbook – outfitted with a 10.1-inch screen, a 16GB hard drive and ARM chip. The $599 price tag would provide a hefty 50 percent margin over PC netbooks and be close enough to the $999 entry-level MacBook that it would be a “material difference,” Marshall told Computerworld.

Apple has begun offering China refurbished iPods and iMacs, but at prices higher than U.S. retail prices, according to reports Monday.

In one example, a 2.8 GHz iMac discounted by 12 percent to $2,059 is still priced higher than the U.S. pre-sales tax $1,799.

While only 0.25 percent of the huge China market, the Asian giant helped Apple increase third-quarter sales by 49 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It appears lawyers for Apple and clone-maker Psystar will head back to the courtroom after failed mediation talks, according to reports Monday.

The court-ordered talks, held secretly February 18 between the two companies, “did not settle” the copyright-infringement case, according to the World of Apple Website, quoting an unnamed “contact.”

A federal court earlier this month agreed to allow Psystar to submit a modified counterclaim against Apple’s initial charges. The Mac clone maker now maintains Apple has misused its copyright protections of the OS X software to stifle hardware rivals.

Apple’s annual shareholders meeting will be marked by a number of changes, the largest being the absence of co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, according to a Monday report.

Despite his absence, Jobs will be at the center of a long-running debate over his health and importance to the company’s future.

In January, Jobs sent Wall Street mixed signals about his health, first declaring he suffered a simple hormonal imbalance and then a week later announcing a medical leave due to “more complex health” health issues.