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Apple goes virtual, M$ plays catch up. |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Sunday, 20 April 2008 |
 Rumors have it that Microsoft is going to open up some retail stores. This doesn't look like it would be much of a problem for Apple, but it will be a rather interesting setup as Microsoft will have to "officially" select some systems as their models. Who would they go with? Whoever it is it would be a BIG boost to their stocks.
While Microsoft may be trying to play catch-up with the Apple stores, it looks like Apple is planning a step or two ahead. Recent patent releases by Apple show that they are planning a Second Life like shopping experience for it's online Apple store. This could turn out to be really cool if Apple can do it right. You could walk through the store with people you know, or talk to a genius without having to go to the store.
Read more at MacNN.com
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Psystar dead in the water, again. |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Thursday, 17 April 2008 |
 Looks like nobody wants to team up with Psystar to go against Apple. PowerPay dropped Psystar's account due to violations of their terms (blatantly breaking EULA). They are now with PayPal. Let's see if PayPal wants to go up against Apple. Oh wait, we can't. The online store is down. Well I'm sure they'll find some third party service to process the money. Oh wait, what's that? The software needed (EFI V8) is now illegal to use as a direct or indirect way to make money? Damn. Now Psystar is going to have some problems.
Everyone is calling this a hoax now. Phishing (though I don't like the term because I'm a Phish-Head), scam, con, etc. Tom Krazit of CNet's news.com called Rodolfo (Rudy) Pedraza (owner of Psystar), he got through on his cell, but it wasn't Rudy who picked up. Tom is still waiting for the call back.
I tried looking up Psystar's PsyGate, their e-mail service, but all I got was info a bout a crazy looking party. No threads anywhere about email service. Surely someone would have mentioned it somewhere on the Web if they used it. Maybe we could find more info about Psystar Corporation, which is registered in Florida. There has to be some info on it. Well there is, but there are no annual reports yet, since Florida gives you until May 1st to file, and Psystar didn't become a corporation until July of 2007. In a few weeks we'll know how much business Psystar has actually done in its first 6 months of operations.
*Also note they have not changed the location of the corporation to match their new "address"*
Psystar's Florida Corporation Info
EFI V1-8 license update
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Psystar not afraid of Apple |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Tuesday, 15 April 2008 |
Well, I was wrong about Psystar. I thought they were doing Hackintosh clones for a publicity stunt. Grab some headlines and then take the site down. Turns out that they have a little bit more guts than that. Their site is back up and is offering two Mac clones, the Open Computer ($399) and OpenPro Computer ($999).
If you missed the chance yesterday to take a look at the pages, here's your chance now. Get there before Apple sends them more C&D orders.
Psystar Open Computer Site
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2nd Gen 3G iPhone chipset from Infineon. |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
 Looks like ZiPhone found some good info about the second generation iPhone (3G iPhone). The highly anticpated iPhone will have a chipset from Infineon. Taking a look at what Infineon offers has really peaked my interest.
According to Infineon's site, Infineon is the first mobile chip maker to bring Voice-over-WLAN in a dual-mode GSM/Wi-Fi mobile platform, reducing the cost of the design by 50%. Infineon also makes GPS devices for mobile computing with very low power consumption ( less than 20mW ) with multiple power-saving modes.
There's more to read at their website, www.infineon.com .
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Monday, 07 April 2008 |
 Apple is in the courts again, but this time they aren't the defendant.
Apple is suing the New York city non-profit group 'Green NYC' for their
use of an Apple logo. Apple says the logo looks to identical to
theirs, and it could lead to damaging the brand image that they have
spent hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars creating.
The image does have the basic outline of the Apple, Inc. logo, but that
is about where it ends. The Green NYC logo is empty on the inside
except for some ribbons crossing the center. It also has the small
stem poking out from the top at the same angle as the Apple, Inc. logo.
At first I didn't see it, then the graphic came up and I can see why
Apple would object. One thing to make clear here is that Apple is
suing more to set a standard, than an anti-Green philosophy. If Apple
lets this one go by, then it can be used in future court cases that
Apple let these people do something similar.
What do you think? Are the logos similar enough to warrant this suit?
More at the NY Times
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iPhone shortages do NOT equal 3G iPhone |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
Everyone across the web is sayin "The iPhone is coming! The iPhone is coming!" like it is the monster from a 1930's horror film. People claim that the iPhone supply is running out, there are no iPhones in France or Britain, limited iPhones in the US, etc. With no iPhones in stock, there must be a new iPhone just waiting for people's hands. There is, but not till June.
Now, I'm not saying that the next generation 3G iPhone is not designed and beginning production (hopefully). I think it is, but it is still on course for it's originally planned date (which only Steve Jobs knows). What the shortage might mean is that Appe is having a better year than they thought. Specifically it looks like Apple underestimated how popular the iPhone would be in the post-holiday season. At least that is what RBC Capital is saying, and after digging around it makes some sense.
When you take a look at the Apple sales you see the reason why. Looking at notes on arstechnia from January you see that Apple did have a good 4th quarter in 2007, really good. When the iPhone was released it sold about 13,500 devices a day. It waivered above and below that in the following quarters, but then if you look at the last few months of 2007 you see a huge jump up to over 24,000 units per day. That means that they sold about 1 milllion (give or take a few tens of thousands) iPhones in that quarter than they sold in the previous quarters.
Yes the next generation iPhone is coming. No, the shortage isn't a "sure sign".
RBC Capitals Reasoning via EyeOnApple
ArsTechnia's take on the iPhone sales (from January 2008)
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Apple passes Walmart in music sales. |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
 It is being reported that Apple is now the number 1 music retailer, surpassing Walmart. Apple has 19% share of the market, with Walmart getting 15% and Best Buy at 13%. Amazon has 6%, followed by Borders, Circuit City then Barnes & Noble. Rhapsody comes in at the number 10 spot with 1% of the sales.
It is hard to say if the iTunes music store has picked up steam, or if there is just more competition out there. Regardless of the reason, change has happened. This success will hopefully have a halo effect on the other media (movies, TV).
Read More at Ars Technica
Read Apple's press release
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
 You don't often hear of high ranking Apple employees jumping ship, so this caught my eye. The Chinese Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Apple has left Apple for Baidu.com. Baidu is basically a Google style search engine, but it is built around the Chinese language. Baidu's stock took a big jump on news of this (up over $8).
While this should have no direct impact on the US Markets, China is a big Market in general. Apple now has to re-organize it's operations there.
From NPR.
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