Items tagged with appl
Apple certainly picked an excellent time to partner with Intel. The two firms have worked together to deliver a wide range of products that have greatly improved the computing experience for “the rest of us.”It seems that the relationship between the two companies might spawn a completely new range of Apple products: Intel-powered UMPCs.“People familiar with the matter tell AppleInsider that Apple will soon emerge as one of the largest supporters of Intel's "Menlow" Mobile Internet Device (MID) platform -- the same platform the Santa Clara-based chipmaker has been harping about for the past several months.More specifically, those same people say, Apple has taken a liking to the upcoming...
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Apple computers are generally more expensive than their competitors. Apple enthusiasts have long accustomed themselves to shelling out a premium for Cupertino bling. But Dave Winer was surprised to find out that not only does Apple charge a hefty $160 to replace a 80GB hard drive, they refuse to hand over your defective disk after you've paid to have it replaced. Holy potential sensitive information loss Batman!The new disk went in, I signed a form, and was about to leave and asked for the old disk and the clerk said it was his not mine. They were going to send it back to the manufacturer. I figured it would be refurbished and sold cheap to someone in a third world country. Little did I suspect. ...
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A very bright and enterprising 13-year-old boy launched a blog a few years ago dedicated to rumors about Apple. A true manifestation of the Apple fanboy mentality, Think Secret was a big hit with Apple enthusiasts who liked to hear any scuttlebut about upcoming Apple products. Steve Jobs hated it, mostly because it was very accurate, as most of the rumors appeared to be coming from employees of Apple. Well, Jobs likely either used the cost of litigation or a plain old-fashioned payoff, but Think Secret is no more.The specter of Steve Jobs, a billionaire computer executive, seeking damages from a teenage Apple fan for stealing the thunder from a Macworld keynote address caught the...
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In Apple's fiscal '08 year, which started September 30th, the Cupertino based firm plans on opening numerous new stores around the world. Here are but a few of the stores that are on the drawing board but have yet to open in the US:Fair Oaks - Fairfax, VirginiaCherry Hill - Cherry Hill, New JerseyBridge Street - Huntsville, AlabamaBoylston - Boston, MassachusettsMall of Louisiana - Baton Rouge, LouisianaOther locations are also likely if not imminent, including a new store in Honolulu, Greensboro and Cleveland. It looks like Apple is on a serious roll and picking up steam as they go.We won't get into the sheer number of overseas stores Apple ha been opening up, but we think that they...
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The Apple TV, once touted by digital-guru Steve Jobs as the device that was going to change the way people watch TV, apparently hasn't been selling that well.Analysts blame the poor sales on the loss of very popular content from NBC Universal and the lack of a media rental feature. Both of these shortcomings have caused industry analysts to rethink their earlier position on the device.“In addition to the 400,000 Apple TV units we estimate Apple has sold thus far, the company will be lucky to sell another 400,000 in the year-end holiday rush, short of our one million estimate,” said Forrester analyst James McQuivey. "Unfortunately, the same lack of interest in iTunes video will mean the...
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There is a fine line between protecting the products and future markets of a company, and stepping on the feet of global commerce. That fine line is currently being treaded by Apple, who is threatening Asian retailers in Singapore who are reselling iPhones they legally purchased, imported and unlocked to work with local carriers.“According to retailers, Apple threatened in an e-mail to go after them for illegally 'unlocking' parallel imported iPhones. The phones are unlocked by hacking into their software so that local SIM cards can be used. Sim Lim Square retailers and even some online local sellers have stopped selling the gadget. A retailer in Sim Lim Square said shops there, including...
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Apple and Burst.com have settled their patent dispute for $10 million USD after two years of litigation. The initial complaint was over four separate patents that covered transmission of compressed audio and video files that were used in iLife, iTunes, QuickTime and of course, the iPod. Given the digital media nature of the listed products, and the installed base (especially for the iPod) it seems like $10 million USD might be a bargain price.“Under the agreement, Apple will pay Burst.com US$10 million and get access to Burst.com’s patent portfolio, with some exceptions, Burst.com said in a press release. Apple won’t have access to four of Burst.com’s current and pending patents,...
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Fox News, fair and balanced, apparently isn't too accurate. Friday they announced a big deal, as Apple bought an 8% stake in AMD. Or did it?At 9:27 this morning, Fox Business Morning for Breakfast co-anchor Alexis Glick eagerly reported Apple (AAPL) had taken an 8% stake in AMD. Fox's guest contributor, Charles Payne, immediately analyzed the deal and pronounced it a brilliant move for both parties.The problem? It wasn't Apple buying AMD. It also, unfortunately, wasn't a mysterious pan-Arabian country called "Abu Dubai," as Glick announced when she corrected the Apple report. (It was Abu Dhabi.)Ah, well, we can see the problem. Apple, Abu Dhabi are oh-so-similar sounding....
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It seems that Apple get slapped with a new law suit every time anybody in their Cupertino headquarters sips a latte.A new law suit filed by SimmonsCooper LLC on behalf of DBC in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Digital Background Corporation claims that the video backdrop feature for iChat violates their 1998 patent.“DBC's claim that infringement has been willful appears to stem from the fact that its technology has been readily accessible through a Windows product dubbed StarFX, which notes in its credits that the employed virtual backdrop technology is patented. The software application is "designed to be the industry standard for manipulating and enhancing PC...
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As with all rumors, please take this particular piece of news with a grain of salt. Since rumors about future Apple products are a dime a dozen you might want to take 2 grains of salt, however this particular rumor comes from a relatively reliable source (as rumor sources go): Apple is preparing to release their own take on a mini-notebook at the upcoming Macworld Expo.If this particular rumor is true it seems that Apple's replacement for the long-defunct 12" PowerBook isn't quite as small as some might have hoped for:“The 13-inch portable, which AppleInsider first detailed back in February, will mark the Cupertino-based Mac maker's re-entry into the sub-notebook market -- arriving in a...
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As with all rumors, take the following with a grain of salt: It appears that Apple is preparing to release a Tablet. Normally we hear so many Apple rumors, especially about Tablets, PDAs and sub-notebooks, but this particular rumor allegedly comes directly from one of Apple's key manufacturing partners: ASUS.Assuming that the rumor is true, that does leave us with a big question:“...can Apple turn the Tablet PC into a success when previous attempts have failed? The short answer is 'yes'. Any company that can make a mobile phone with no buttons, no picture messaging, slow Web access and no video capture into the most desirable phone on the planet can easily make tablets popular.”We're certainly...
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Heavy multi-taskers know the pain that only someone who has tried to encode a movie while opening a web browser, word processor and a multi-IM program can know: the most annoying wait of the average day.Sure, some technology has promised to fix this, especially hybrid and solid-state disk drives, but both of those technologies aren't quite ready for prime time just yet. Enter the Milpitas based Phoenix Technologies and their latest idea:“Essentially, the applications become self-contained software appliances that can be embedded into new computers by system vendors. Applications can include such frequently used ones as instant-on instant messaging, e-mail, Web browsing, shopping, or video...
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Data recovery firm Retrodata is reporting that Seagate hard-drives used in MacBook laptops and MacMini desktops are prone to catastrophic loss of data. It's unclear whether the irreversible damage to the disk surface is caused by poor quality control in the factory, or whether Mac's Safe Sleep feature, which automatically backs up your computer whenever the computer is powered down, is causing the disk to be gouged when the computers are moved before the process is finished.To be fair to Apple, it does warn users not to move the machine until this process is complete - at which point the light on the lid catch begins to pulsate - but it's easy for users to grab their laptops and go as soon as...
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There hasn't been much love lost between NBC Universal and Apple, especially in the wake of the PR battle that recently took place when NBC announced they were not renewing their contract to have their programming available via iTunes after their current contract is up. Whatever the true reason for that particular decision, it seems that the PR battle is continuing, this time with NBC Chief Exec Jeff Zucker claiming that Apple destroyed music pricing as we know/knew it."We know that Apple has destroyed the music business -- in terms of pricing -- and if we don’t take control, they’ll do the same thing on the video side," Zucker said at a breakfast hosted by Syracuse’s Newhouse School of...
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Some users have been having issues with a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) after an installation. Apple has posted a support document on their site, which coincidentally also appears as the top search on the support page, indicating how prevalent the issue is.According to the support document the issue may be related to "third-party 'enhancement' software installed that does not work with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard." The document lists two different solutions.Solution 1: Reinstall Leopard (recommended). It may be necessary to perform an Archive and Install installation of Leopard.Solution 2: Use the command line (advanced) to remove application enhancement software. Try this solution...
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Cash? Nope, you can't buy an iPhone with cash any longer. Nor can you buy more than two, as Apple has instituted new policies to prevent reselling of the devices.The new policy started Thursday, said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. Before then, there was no cash restriction and the purchase limit was five per person. "Customer response to the iPhone has been off the charts, and limiting iPhone sales to two per customer helps us ensure that there are enough iPhones for people who are shopping for themselves or buying a gift," Kerris said. "We're requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers."Reselling? As we know from when the iPhone debuted,...
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Don't ask us why Apple would even offer this information, but they did. It was, however, in response to a question regarding the effect of the $200 drop in price on sales.Apple’s earnings calls are notoriously devoid of information, but Apple’s chief operating officer, Timothy Cook, did drop one interesting figure. Of the 1.4 million iPhones sold so far (of which 1,119,000 were sold in the quarter ending Sept. 30), Mr. Cook estimated that 250,000 were sold to people who wanted to unlock them from the AT&T network and use them with another carrier. He said that the bulk of those appear to have occurred after Apple’s $200 price cut. By my math, that means that at least $100 million...
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Apple stocks continue to climb despite law suits over iPhone and foreign governments demanding that the Cupertino-based Apple make amends for knowingly selling faulty iBooks a few years back.Another major factor in Apple's performance is, of course, sales. Two of the major sales factors (outside of the iPhone) are the new Universal Binary applications from major players like Adobe and compelling product refreshes such as the new iMac or updated MacBook Pro.“For the three months that ended Sept. 30, Apple said Monday it earned $904 million, or $1.01 per share, compared with $542 million, or 62 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.Apple easily beat the expectations of analysts polled...
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Nokia, the Finnish handset giant, announced third quarter financial results yesterday. They've posted an astonishing 85% gain in profits, $2.2 billion, surprising experts and sending their stock into the chilly Scandinavian troposphere. And they did it by playing Wal*Mart to Apple's Neiman-Marcus, if you will -- selling inexpensive things to a lot of people, instead of pricey things to a few people. How many is "a lot," you ask? The company shipped 112 million units for the quarter, a record for the industry. Nokia now predicts that 1.1 billion mobile devices will be sold this year, up from 978 million in 2006. The company's results follow strong profit reports from mobile-phone rivals LG,...
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Since Amazon MP3 opened, it's been obvious that Apple would have to respond to its lower prices, and they have, by lowering prices on its unprotected music files to match at 99 cents.While there is no reason to think that Amazon has taken the market by storm, it’s clear that it is a competitive force. If iPod users decide to try Amazon’s store in order to save 30 cents a track, suddenly the iTunes would become less central to the online music business. Nothing would do more to please the music labels, which have been increasingly concerned that Apple is dictating the terms of their business.Amazon still has advantages, with MP3 format vs AAC, and with tracks from Universal Music Group. ...
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Apple's comeback and growth have been nothing short of amazing, but despite its hits, or perhaps because of them, it appears to many that customer service and quality have suffered.By broadening its share of the computer market and diving into whole new businesses, the company has become a case study in the challenges of taking a cherished brand with a devoted (some would say cult) following into the mainstream. Today, Apple is selling huge volumes of products to a much wider, and perhaps less patient, audience. The iPod, starting at just $79, has put its name in the hands of millions of mainstream consumers, many of whom, analysts say, have gone on to buy Macs and iPhones. In the most recent...
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Apple is gathering the faithful for a shindig that is rumored to be going down the last week of this month. It seems quite likely that this will be a launch event for Leopard, but could Apple have other product announcements up their sleeve?Still, we expect the big news to be about Leopard. Why? It's all about the timing (And Apple's self-imposed deadline):“Historically, Apple has tapped the final Friday of the month to roll out its major operating system overhauls. For instance, it launched Mac OS X Tiger on the eve of Friday, April 29, 2005.Sources have yet to rule out the possibility that Leopard would be accompanied by additional announcements from the Cupertino-based company.”Additional...
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