The price cut is effective for song singles and is not a new promotion. However, Amazon did upgrade the site and now dedicates an entire page to the 200 songs currently being sold for 69-cents. Roughly 15 million songs are available in total but a limited amount of tunes have been reduced to the lower price.

At the time of announcement by Amazon, some of the country’s top artists were in the discount bin including Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry. Amazon hopes that by continuing to keep prices low on Top 40 titles, music sales will receive a boost and the website’s music store will continue to improve in traffic numbers.

Currently, Apple’s iTunes music stores leads the market in digital downloads but Amazon is confident the discounted music is a bold step but one in the right direction. They are hopeful they will increase their competitiveness with Apple and lure some of iTunes customers away over time.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Launches 69-Cent Music Store was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Microsoft has been making most of its profits by increasing sales in the business category, primarily with its Office related software, and software that runs servers, raising sales to just over 8% overall. This is in stark contrast to sales of Microsoft’s netbook, which is a lower cost, smaller laptop. This same category of electronics is where Apple has picked up sales. The Apple iPad tablet has been outselling the netbook. Regular personal computer sales have dropped almost 2% in the same time period.

This shows that consumers in the private sector are leaning toward tablet computers, and specifically, the iPad. Businesses have stayed away from tablets over all, and choose to still rely on traditional PCs with Microsoft-backed software. The increase of Tablet sales may very well make laptops obsolete for the average, non-business individual.

Microsoft closed this quarter with $5.2 billion compared to Apples quarter, that ended just shy of $6 billion. Microsoft’s stock is down more then 4% for the year.

Tablets are taking more and more of the of the regular consumer market, possibly pushing laptops out of the running altogether. Apple is dominating the tablet market despite the heavy competition, however, Microsoft continues to dominate the business and server software sales. This is also a good indicator of an improving economy, because people are spending money on convenience items like the iPad, meanwhile, businesses are improving their efficiency by investing in business software.

Reference:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-29/microsoft-profit-falls-below-apple-s-as-ipad-eats-into-sales.html

Tablet Computers Cut into Microsoft’s NASDAQ: MSFT) Profits was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

All smartphones are basically a miniature laptop, easy to use, always on you, and loaded with personal information. Think about how often you use your smartphone and the type of information it saves about you as you make use of the advanced features of convenience the phones offer – and then you’ll start to get a grasp of the growing concern starting to sweep through the nation.

Smartphones have become an absolute treasure chest of personal information. The marketer’s dream come true! Most of the time you’re not even aware of how much personal information you’re putting into the smartphone – besides the obvious phone numbers and email addresses of your contact list, there’s also search engine search topics, and keywords you used, text messages, Facebook and Twitter posts, GPS readings, map search results for everywhere you’ve traveled, and even purchases you may have made using your phone like a credit card.

The growing concern doesn’t necessarily have to deal with how much the smartphones are being used to accomplish these days, but more about how easy it is to access this information that is being stored in your smartphone. For instance, most mobile service providers have tracking software in their devices which helps relay information back to them for updating WiFi hot spots and map systems. But what information they are getting and how they are using it is a bit unclear.

In response to this growing concern for privacy and security when using smartphones, there is an expanding movement to make laws that better regulate this issue. Pro-privacy advocates say there should be laws in place to help regulate what information the phone companies have access to, and disclosure for how they use that information, although at the moment there are no major bills being drafted on the matter. Congress has made a number of summons to Apple in particular, to discuss the tracking software it uses.

Not everyone is against the ease of access to the information on smartphones. Law enforcement officials see it as a positive as the information they get from suspect’s smartphones usually breaks the case, with the call logs and text message logs being the most important information to their case. Detectives have even coined the term “digital fingerprints” to describe the information they take off smartphones, because it does lead to arrests.

Reference:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_17911919?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1

When Smartphones Know Too Much – is Your Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone Putting You In Danger? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Many people are still unsettled with this explanation, however. Senators, including Senator Al Franken, have recently called on Apple to describe why they are tracking location of smart phone users. Apple explains that not only does the use of location tracking allow them to update the Wifi spots to maximize iPhone use, but it allows them to update maps for GPS use by smart phone users.

Many people speculate location tracking has something to do with advertising. Google is already testing location-based advertising for their tablet and Android phones in England. Basically, this means that when you use your Android in England, you will get ads for businesses specific to your location. Ads for mobile devices are becoming the next big method for businesses attempting to reach their target customers with their marketing messages and the location tracking of smart phones will further grow this type of advertising.

Another concern of location tracking with phones of course is security-based. If an individual with ill intent toward another individual has access to the location, they could use that information in a harmful way. It may seem an unlikely scenario for the average American, but location tracking deals with security of people in general. Because the information is accessible, it could be used maliciously.

Most of the smart phones made by Google and Apple have a feature to stop location tracking. Individuals who do not want their location known have the option of turning the feature off. Unfortunately, a problem with the programming of this feature actually allowed location tracking even after the feature was turned off – but it has since been repaired. This added fuel to the fire as people saw it as evidence that the location tracking was or could become malicious. Google and Apple insist there is no vicious intent to their costumers, and promise it is just a feature to help maximize the smart phone’s experience for updating maps, search engines and Wifi spots.

References:

http://www.mobiledia.com/news/88286.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/21/al-franken-ed-markey-iphone-tracking_n_852196.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/27/google-apple-location-tracking_n_854114.html

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) On The Hot Seat With Location Tracking was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

These new numbers that were released by Verizon were also released along with their activation numbers for other popular phones. The HTC Thunderbolt had 260,000 activations in just two weeks. 4G devices saw over 500,000 activations in the first quarter.

During the first three months of the year that makes up the first quarter, AT&T and Verizon have been battling one another on iPhone sales. AT&T announced in their report this Wednesday that they activated 3.6 million iPhones on their network during the first quarter of 2011. This is a 33 percent increase from the amount of iPhones that were activated in 2010.

Just looking at the numbers it would appear that AT&T was winning the Apple battle. However, this isn’t necessarily the case because Verizon didn’t launch the iPhone 4 on their network until February 10, which was over a month into the sales quarter.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Apple announced in its own earnings report on Wednesday that iPhone sales in the U.S. were up 155 percent last quarter. Though Apple does not provide a regional breakdown of iPhone sales, based on activations reported by Verizon and AT&T, the company sold at least 5.8 million handsets in the U.S. last quarter. Those 2.2 million iPhone 4 activations on the Verizon network helped the carrier grow smartphone sales to more than half of its total phone sales. Last quarter 60 percent of postpaid phones sold by Verizon were smartphone, compared to 49 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.”

More people are also starting to make the switch to using smartphones this year. As reported in Apple Insider, “Smartphone penetration on the Verizon network is 32 percent, up from 28 percent in the previous quarter. And total data revenue is $5.5 billion, with 22.3 percent year-over-year growth. Verizon Wireless added 1.8 million customers in the quarter, and now has 104 million total connections. For comparison, AT&T revealed on Wednesday that it added just 62,000 customers in the quarter.”

2.2 Million Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhones Activated By Verizon in First Quarter was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Even though the components that are used for the Apple products may not be as affected as people presumed shortly after the disaster in Japan, it does still show an economic impact in sales that were going strong in Japan before the disaster. To adjust the loss in sales from this, Apple lowered their expectations by $200 million for the quarter.

As explained in Apple Insider, “Cook revealed that the disaster did not have a major impact on component supplies or pricing in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. He also said that Apple does not anticipate the ongoing situation to have a major impact in the third quarter, either. However, the COO also cautioned that the situation in Japan remains volatile, with aftershocks and potential power outages. Cook revealed that Apple’s employees have been working ‘around the clock on contingency plans,’ to ensure that the company will be able to secure components if deals were to fall through in Japan. But he also said he would prefer to stick with Apple’s long-term partners in Japan if possible — something he said he expects will take place in most cases.”

With the soaring popularity of the iPad 2, the company has been watched closely to determine if the component supply is large enough to meet the consumer’s growing demands for such devices. Cook admitted that the demand for the iPad 2 is “staggering” and is also “heavily backlogged.”

In the second fiscal quarter of 2011, Apple was able to sell 4.69 million iPads. This is a bit below the projected 6 million that Wall Street analysts expected, but it is still a huge number. The demand for iPads has also been growing. Apple will launch the iPad 2 in 13 more countries starting next week. It is unknown as of right now which countries will be launching the iPad next week, but it is likely to include Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore.

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Supplies Relatively Unaffected By Disaster In Japan was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

These security researchers concluded that the collection of this type of data by Apple is “intentional” and have even contacted the security team at Apple in an attempt to determine their reasoning behind such data collection. They have not yet received a response from Apple.

As stated in Apple Insider, “What makes this issue worse is that the file is unencrypted and unprotected, and it’s on any machine you’ve synched with your iOS device,” Allan wrote. “It can also be easily accessed on the device itself if it falls into the wrong hands. Anybody with access to this file knows where you’ve been over the last year, since iOS 4 was released.”

This unprotected file is something users should be worried about if it was able to fall into the wrong hands. The data is stored on a file called “consolidated.db” and it includes the latitude and longitude coordinates along with a timestamp of when the user was at the location. The researchers who discovered this file said that even though the coordinates may not always be exact, they are “pretty detailed.”

As stated in Apple Insider, “There can be tens of thousands of data points in this file, and it appears the collection started with iOS 4, so there’s typically about a year’s worth of information at this point,” Allan wrote. “Our best guess is that the location is determined by cell-tower triangulation, and the timing of the recording is erratic, with a widely varying frequency of updates that may be triggered by traveling between cells or activity on the phone itself.”

The researchers who found this have also reassured those that use the devices that so far there is no evidence that this data is actually being sent to anyone. Those that are still worried about this file can encrypt their backups through iTunes. To do this with your device, simply connect the iPhone or iPad 3G version and then check the “Encrypt iPhone Backup” setting that can be found in the “Options” area.

Privacy Concerns Over Location Tracking in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Devices was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that according to people that are familiar with Apple’s plans, the white version of the iPhone 4 is almost ready for launch with both AT&T and Verizon wireless carriers.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that Apple’s suppliers have started the production of the white iPhone 4, at least according to the “two people familiar with the situation.”

Why has there been such a delay in the white version of the popular smartphone? Well, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s statement made in March to Apple Insider, it has to do with the “full-lamination problem” which prompted necessary changes be made to the film material on the iPhone 4 which resulted in a ten month delay.

Last month a Twitter message was posted by Apple VP Phile Schiller stating that “The white iPhone will be available this spring (and it is a beauty!).”

Why the extended delay on this beauty of a smartphone? Well, Apple Insider speculates that “the extended delay of the white iPhone 4 has prompted speculation that Apple will hold off on releasing a redesigned iPhone this summer. Numerous rumors have now suggested that Apple will instead release the so-called iPhone 5 this fall, with one report suggesting that Apple would not release a next-generation iPhone until after Apple’s fiscal 2012 begins in late September.”

Apple has been releasing a new version of the iPhone each summer around June or July. However, with the recent release of the iPhone with Verizon, it may anger customers who bought one and signed up for a 2-year contract with them for that phone. The release of the iPhone 5 may come later than the usual date based on this factor.

As reported in Apple Insider, “Insiders connected to Taiwan-based touch panel makers indicated Wednesday that Apple has yet to provide them with a production roadmap for the next iPhone. The sources were split, however, as to the interpretation of the situation. Some believe that Apple will release a slightly modified iPhone 4 this summer, while others speculated that a ‘major overhaul’ would come at a later date.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 4 Might Be Available In White In The Next Few Weeks was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White was at the China electronics trade show earlier this week, and said in a note to investors that while he was there, he picked up “data points” which point towards a “Smart TV” launch by Apple which could possibly happen by the end of this year.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Our research suggests this Smart TV would go well beyond the miniature $99 second-generation Apple TV that the company released last fall and provide a full-blown TV product for consumers,” White said. He went on to say that although Apple has long been projected by company watchers to enter the HDTV market, the Mac maker now appears to be “moving down this path at a faster pace than the market expected.”

Apple entering into the TV market is a welcome change for their loyal consumers and fans. White went on to say that “the combination of Apple’s powerful ecosystem, industrial design savvy, powerful brand and ability to reinvent product categories could make Apple a powerful force in the TV world over the next few years.”

Perhaps the biggest pusher of an HDTV produced by Apple has been analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray who has forecasted that if (or when) Apple enters into the HDTV market; the TV would probably have a starting price of around $2,000. An HDTV with a price tag starting at $2,000 could also be paired up with a special iTunes subscription that could give users access to special content and services at a flat rate. This could then eliminate the need for cable or even a digital video recorder.

White’s note about the possible HDTV by Apple did not mention anything about such prices or special services.

As reported in Apple Insider, “Earlier this year, Apple revealed it had invested $3.9 billion of its cash reserves in securing key components for products. Many have assumed that money has gone toward securing displays for its range of products, including the iPhone and iPad. But Munster said in February he believes that $3.9 billion investment is just more evidence of a forthcoming Apple HDTV. He believes Apple could build a television set up to 50 inches in size, though he predicted earlier this year that such a product would not launch until the end of calendar year 2012 at the earliest.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) May Join LCD TV Market in 2011 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Ticonderoga Securities analyst, Brian White, is on day six of a tech trip in China and Taiwan. He is meeting with component suppliers for the tech products, such as the iPad. As reported in Apple Insider, “sources have revealed expectations that Apple will sell between 40 million and 45 million iPads in 2011. White said he heard those same figures in a separate visit to Asia last fall, but ‘at the time, this number was difficult for many investors and some in the media to get their heads around’.”

Originally White predicted that Apple would sell 30.9 million units of the popular iPad tablets this year. If Apple was able to sell 45 million units of the iPad, that would be much larger than the previous forecast amount of sales for 2011.

To compare those sales numbers for the Apple iPad, in March the Taiwanese publication DigiTimes cited industry sources and claimed that Apple would ship out 40 million iPad tablets in 2011. Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf has predicted that Apple could sell 30 million iPads. Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets forecasts that Apple will sell only 28 million iPads in 2011.

To put these sales predictions into perspective, the original iPad was only available for nine months in 2010 and Apple sold 15 million units of the iPad tablet. With the increased availability of the iPad and iPad 2 in more stores and online and the availability in more countries around the globe, it may very well reach those high sales goals for 2011.

As reported in Apple Insider, “AAPL investors will get their first look at calendar 2011 iPad sales next week, when Apple will report its earnings for the second quarter of its fiscal 2011. That period covers the first three months of 2011, including the few weeks where the iPad 2 was on sale.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) May Beat 2011 Forecasted Shipments With iPad 2 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The U.S. senators involved in this include: Democratic Senators Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, Frank Lautenberg and Tom Udall. These senators have sent letters to Apple, Google and RIM requesting that these apps available on smartphone platforms should be removed from their stores or heavily modify these apps that notify the users of locations of police checkpoints.

The senators claim that these apps are “harmful to public safety” because it allows drunk drivers to avoid being detected by police. As stated in Apple Insider, “Giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of public concern,” the senators said. “We hope that you will give our request to remove these applications from your store immediate consideration.”

There are multiple apps available that help users to avoid police detection. The letter that the senators sent to Scott Forstall, Apple’s Senior Vice President of iPhone software, called out the app that contains a DUI database of checkpoints that are updated in real-time. Another popular application that also helps users avoid being caught by police is updated in real-time by the 10 million users of the app. This app was considered to be objectionable though because the users were notifying one another of the DUI checkpoints.

With such a large amount of people using these apps, it is making many people involved with law enforcement worried because of the accidents it could cause. As stated in Apple Insider, The senators cited growing law enforcement concerns over the apps, quoting a police captain as having said, “If people are going to use those, what other purpose are they going to use them for except to drink and drive?

Shortly after the letter was received by BlackBerry’s maker, RIM, they agreed to the request from the senators. According to a press release, one of the RIM representatives thanked the senators for bringing it to their attention and said that they would comply with their request.

As quoted in Apple Insider, “The senators applauded RIM for their timely response. ‘RIM’s decision to remove these apps from their online store prove that when it comes to drunk driving, there should not be an app for that,’ said Schumer, briefly alluding to Apple’s ‘there’s an app for that’ ad campaign for the iPhone.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone App Provides DUI Checkpoint Locations: Senators Disapprove was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

This Wednesday, DigiTimes reported that Apple is currently in talks about the prices of the touch paneling with their Taiwan based component makers. Apple has allegedly considered some of the price increases in these recent negotiations with the component makers. Apple wants to be sure that they have a “sufficient supply” of these components for the demand of their popular products such as the iPhone and iPad.

Even though this risky move may have a negative impact on the company’s gross margins in the short term, it would help them to secure the availability of these touch panels for their products in the future. The price increase on these panels would also be a big help to the supply chain they work with overseas that have been affected by this disaster.

These plans wouldn’t help everyone in the industry though. Their competitors would of course not like this because if Apple agrees to a price increase for the touch panels, it would put them under more pressure to do the same as well. Apple already has a large share of the global touch panel market and it has even been predicted that they will squeeze out some of their competitors throughout 2011. If they go through with this move, it is likely that prediction will come true.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Apple allegedly plans to build 40 million of its popular iPad in 2011. In order to reach that goal, and keep up with crushing demand for the iPad 2, Apple has reportedly booked more than 60 percent of the total global supply chain touch panel capacity.”

The concern for the touch panel supply has grown tremendously since the earthquake and following tsunami hit Japan. Apple Insider reported that “Last week, it was said that Apple’s manufacturing partner, Foxconn, has two to three weeks’ worth of components stockpiled. Should the situation in Japan not improve by that time, Foxconn could reportedly face a stockout.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) To Consider Paying More To Secure Components was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The question now is will Apple be able to stay on top and will the iPad 2 be as big as the original? If stats to date are any indication, it looks like they are heading down the right path.

Other companies are certainly trying to give Apple a run for their money, but so far they have not been able to top the iPad. Competing for market shares along with Apple’s iPad include the Android, RIM’s QMX amongst others.

Apple has not yet released its total sales figures for the iPad2 but is expected to do so in just a few short weeks when second quarter fiscal earnings are due out.

Reports from different countries, including Australia, indicated large crowds and days of waiting in line were the norm for customers who were hoping to snag an iPad 2 on release day. To their dismay, many want to be owners of the new iPad2 were turned away as supplies diminished in some locations within just hours. Numerous people are complaining that the supply was inadequate and that Apple should have waited to launch until they could better meet the demand.

Retail locations across Australia are telling customers that they are unsure when they will have more in stock. According to reports some stores are starting their own waiting lists. Official Apple Stores in the country are telling customers to just keep checking back and no one seems to be able to give a clear date when more devices may be available.

It looks like want to be owners who were not lucky enough to snag an iPad2 in the first international shipments are going to have to have to play the waiting game. There is no telling when more might be available.

References:

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/tablets/apple-fans-livid-as-ipad-2-sells-out-20110329-1cdvx.html

http://venturebeat.com/2011/03/27/apple-runs-out-of-overseas-ipad-2-stock-by-saturday-afternoon/

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad 2’s Sell Out Overseas In Less Than 24 Hours was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As reported in Apple Insider, “Manufacturers will initiate production of the GSM-based iPhone 4 version in white enclosures and begin dispatching them to Apple ahead of general availability planned for next month, Concord Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told AppleInsider. Apple has made changes to the ‘film material to solve the full-lamination problem that [was] the reason why white iPhones [were] delayed,’ he added. The handset was first scheduled to debut last June. Kuo did not provide a timeframe for a white CDMA-based iPhone.”

The CDMA iPhone iOS 4.3 just became available and with the much anticipated launch of the white version of the popular iPhone, Kuo thinks that Apple will sell a “record 18 million iPhones in the first quarter” which would beat the amount Apple sold during the holiday sales period ending 2010 with 16.2 million iPhones sold.

More proof that Apple finally solved their white paint mixture troubles came in last week when the iPad 2 was unveiled and explained that it would be offered in both black and white versions. Both of these models will be available on March 11, 2011.

Apple was having huge issues getting the right paint mixture for the white versions correct. As reported in Apple Insider, “Apple had made strides in developing a new material that would allow it to successfully manufacture a white iPhone 4 that meets the company’s high level of standards. Using earlier painting methods, Apple’s attempts to manufacture the white iPhone 4 apparently resulted in a ‘huge’ number of defective handsets. Unable to produce the white iPhone 4 in 2010, Apple allegedly partnered with a Japanese company that crafted a new paint material. The new material apparently allows for greater control and precision in setting the thickness of the paint layer.”

After many delays last year with the white iPhone 4 manufacturing issues, it is finally being made available. There have been some leaked white parts for custom build white iPhones, but the official ones being released now won’t have the issues that the unofficial ones had, such as camera flash issues.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Expected to Start Production of a White iPhone This Month was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Canon makes cameras for still photography and video. They also make printers, copiers, and other digital imaging services. This newly rumored collaboration with Apple may point to Aperture or the future redesign of Final Cut.

Aperture is an app that is used on Macs which allows users to take their photos to the next level by retouching them, organize their libraries, share their work, print professionally designed books and much more. Aperture is one of the top ten best-selling apps in the Mac App Store. It costs $79.99, which even though is quite pricy for an app, is still quite a large discount from the $199 retail price Aperture cost when it was released last year.

As suggested in Apple Insider, “The new attention (and revenues) that Aperture is getting could promote a new cross promotional collaboration with Canon’s cameras. Johnson himself is a professional wedding photographer, suggesting the ‘pieces of information’ he noted may likely relate to Canon’s photography business.”

The collaboration could also be used with Final Cut which is supposed to be getting a “dramatic and ambitious” update in spring. Final Cut hasn’t been updated since 2009. A new update to the product is likely to also come with a partnership from at least one hardware maker.

Apple may also collaborate with Canon to target consumer devices such as the iMovie features or their iFrame video format that is able to import high quality video from cameras.

As another option suggested in Apple Insider, “a third potential area for collaboration between Apple and Canon pertains to the company’s MobileMe cloud services. iOS 4.3 betas contained a new Photo Booth app and mention of Photo Stream, an automatic photo upload service that could upload images and video to the cloud.Neither feature has yet made it to shipping devices, but will likely do so in the near future. iPad 2 will debut Photo Booth and FaceTime support when it ships on Friday, and scaled down versions of Photo Booth and the Photo Stream service could potentially ship in the next release of iOS due before the major 5.0 version expected this summer, rumored to appear alongside significant new updates in MobileMe.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Canon Rumored To Be Collaborating was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As reported in Apple Insider, the people familiar with this matter claim that, “Apple is in talks with music companies, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Group, to change its download policy to provide greater flexibility to iTunes customers, Bloomberg said on Thursday. An updated agreement, which sources said could come as early as the middle of this year, would allow users to re-download purchased music, even after losing the original copies. Currently, Apple’s iTunes Music Store does not offer free re-downloads of previously purchased music.”

This would be a much welcomed upgrade to iTunes because it would allow for customers to download music onto their iPods, iPhones, iPads, and other devices that are also linked to their iTunes account. This move is considered to be a “step closer to universal access to content centrally stored on the Internet.” It would also give customers a welcomed ease of relief if the original download was lost or ruined from a computer crash, or even if their device was stolen with all of their music on it.

There have been rumors before about Apple using a centralized streaming media service with iTunes and MobileMe. These rumors gained more interest when Apple reportedly planned to spend over $1 billion on a massive data center located in North Carolina. Last month, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer revealed that this center will be used for iTunes and MobileMe and is set to open in the Spring of 2011.

One rumor suggested that Apple plans on using a MobileMe online “locker” that would allow their customers to access their files online. Another rumor suggested that iTunes media could be stored on a user’s home computer and then streamed over the Internet to their connected devices.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Over the years, Apple has sought to leverage its continued success with the iTunes Music Store to negotiate more favorable contracts with the record companies. For example, Apple was successful in reaching a deal to remove DRM copy protections from iTunes music purchases in exchange for a variable pricing model. More recently, Apple negotiated the extension of iTunes music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Trying to Push for Repeat Downloads of iTunes Music Purchases was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Delta Air Lines is the second largest airline company in the world, and they are pursuing the approval to test Apple’s iPad and other tablet devices in their airline cockpits during next quarter. This exciting news was told to Bloomberg by a spokesperson for Delta just after the FAA had released that they were in fact endorsing the use of the Apple iPad in a test project at Executive Jet Management.

Executive Jet Management is a company owned by Warren Buffett’s NetJets and is based in Cincinnati. The FAA granted the approval to Executive Jet Management on February 1, 2011. The approval allowed for use of the Apple iPad in the cockpit for professional use. As explained in Apple Insider, to be approved they “made 250 flights as part of the certification process with maps and accessories created for the iPad by Boeing’s aeronautical and charting company Jeppesen.”

Currently the FAA’s decision is only applied to Buffett’s company. However, the report did note that “commercial carriers now have a template for winning permission for iPad use.”

The FAA has granted use of electronics for aviation use before. As explained in Apple Insider, “The FAA began granting approval for ‘electronic flight bags,’ or computers for aviation use, in the last decade. But current options are bulky and heavy, with one aviation computer from Astronautics Corporation of America weighing 18 pounds. Apple’s new iPad 2 weighs just 1.3 pounds.”

The benefits of using an innovative product for commercial airline use could be huge and extremely beneficial for the airline industry. Delta will be exploring their options with using the iPad next quarter, and other major carriers may follow their lead. For now, Alaska Airlines is sticking with the traditional use of paper charts, but they have stated that they are already testing the iPad for other functions.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Officials with Jeppesen said they began developing iPad flight navigation software partially because pilots themselves requested it. The company said it plans to release similar software for tablets running the Google Android mobile operating system.”

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad May Eliminate Paper Maps In Commercial Airline Cockpits was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Consumer reports is on the case and said that Apple’s iPhone 4 for Verizon customers is having the same issues as last year’s AT&T version. The glitch in the phone has users dropping their calls due to a faulty antenna. Calls are only dropped when the phone is held in a certain way.

“The Verizon iPhone4 closely resembles the original AT&T iPhone 4 in many positive respects, including offering great multimedia functionality, a sharp screen and the best MP3 player we’ve seen on a phone,” Consumer Reports said.

“Unfortunately, it also shares with its sibling the possibility of compromised performance in low-signal conditions when used without a bumper, or case.”

Due to the glitches and even after admitting the phone has superior features, Consumer Reports will not place the iPhone4 on its recommended smart phone list. Last June, Consumer reports also left off their list of recommended models the AT&T iPhone for the same reasons. At that time Steve Jobs, Apple CEO made an official apology to customers and offered a free phone case for those who complained of the issue.

Consumer reports did say that so far there has not been a large number of complaints on the new phone. For customers who do find the problem to be an issue, Consumer Reports is once again simply suggesting a cover for an easy fix. Once a cover is placed over the phone, the user should no longer have issues with dropped calls.

In response to Consumer Reports, an Apple rep said, “iPhone 4 has a great antenna that allows it to have an amazingly thin design, great battery life and reception. We designed the iPhone4 external antenna to work great on Verizon’s network.”

No matter how you look at it, Apple’s iPhone is a huge success. Since first introduced back in 2007 the phone has been Apple’s top selling product.

Resource:

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2011/02/26/2011-02-26_verizon_iphone_owners_suffer_same_antenna_signal_glitch_as_att_model_last_year.html

Some Verizon Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone Users Finding Issues With Phone’s Antenna was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Slimmer Design

A slimmer body is one of the rumored new features and is ranked highly likely to be true. Apple has always been about slimming their devices in order to offer sleek designs that are light and easy to manage.

Duo Cameras

Also ranked as a highly likely new feature is duo front and rear cameras. Apple really needs to have this as a feature in order to keep up with their competition. The cameras will allow for FaceTime video conferencing and it is expected that the rear camera will additionally be able to take pictures and videos.

Better Resolution

Although the rumors have been floating around about the iPad 2 having the new Retina Display resolution found in the iPhone 4 as well as the latest version of the iPod touch, this is thought by many to only be a slim possibility. More than likely the resolution will stay the same as the original version. For those wanting the better resolution, it looks like you will probably have to wait for the iPad 3 version.

Better Processor

In order for Apple to compete with other tablets coming onto the market, an upgraded processor is pretty much a necessity. Therefore, most consider the rumors of an upgraded processor to be very likely.

Updates to iOS

Another rumor is that Apple will be upgrading and adding new software features in hopes to stay competitive with other devices, particularly the Android 3.0. Rumors are that upgrades could include new refined multi touch controls as well as new platforms that are similar to those iOS’s introduced recently with Game Center. The likely of updated iOS on the new iPad 2 is thought to be fairly high.

In conclusion, for iPad enthusiasts, the wait is almost over. On March 2^nd you will finally know what rumors are true and which ones can be laid to rest.

New Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad 2 feature Rumors was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Previous reports indicated that there may be a delay in the date that the iPad 2 would actually be released, but more recent rumors from supposed inside sources have said that the device may be ready to purchase much sooner than anyone anticipated.

Digitaltrends.com reports that:

According to “people familiar with the matter,” Apple has begun making preparations for a “large-scale, consumer-oriented product roll out” for the second half of next week. Considering March 2 lands on a Wednesday, that would mean the iPad 2 could be made available to the public almost immediately after it’s official announcement.

Of course, this information is all speculation and since Apple has not officially announced when the new iPad 2 will be ready for consumer purchase, we will have to wait and see. At the same time however, in the past these types of rumors and speculations from these sources have been true.

When all is said and done, consumers will have to wait until next week for the official word as to when they will be able to get their hands on the new iPad 2. Will the date be next week, or at the beginning of April as originally anticipated?

The iPad 2 is expected to have some new features over the first edition. A slimmer design is expected at about 30% slimmer than its predecessor. While the displays are being reported as identical to the first, at 1024*768, the new version is expected to have new anti reflection capabilities to reduce glare and increase the viewing angle. Also anticipated is a faster speed and a dual camera.

Rumors Are The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad 2 Will Be Available Immediately After Launch On March 2nd was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

On Thursday, at the Mobile World Congress being held in Barcelona, Spain, Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities issued a note to investors. In the note, investors were informed that there has been a rising interest in the use of near field communications (NFC) at the show this year. As reported in Apple Insider, “White said that his sources have indicated to him that the next iPhone will include NFC technology. However, Apple’s approach will reportedly have ‘a twist that will make it unique versus his peers.’ White did not give any indication as to what the ‘twist’ could be.”

White also noted that earlier this week, Samsung revealed that their upcoming Samsung Galaxy S II will use the NFC technology in their device. White also said that Google has been pushing the RFID technology because it “has the opportunity to revolutionize electronic commerce and payments.”

So far the rumor of Apple using this technology appears that they are looking to use it for more than just as an e-wallet to use for processing payment at retail stores.

Last year, a rumor claimed that Apple was using the NFC technology in their future iPhones and Macs so they could allow their users to securely use a nearby Mac as their own personal computer. The rumors even suggested that the use of this technology allowed users to use the computers with custom settings, personal passwords, and even customize desktop backgrounds.

Apple has already filed patents that are related to NFC technology. One such patent was discovered last July that allowed users who used this technology to obtain information on a range of products wirelessly and could be used to obtain information about a product and then receive promotions and coupons for the product.

As reported in Apple Insider, “The Cupertino, Calif.-based iPhone maker has also hired experts on near-field communications, and was even rumored to be testing iPhone models with RFID chips as recently as August. Also in his note issued on Thursday, White noted that Softbank has issued all 20,000 of its employees both an iPhone and iPad from Apple. He said the news is ‘a sign of things to come across enterprises,’ predicting further corporate adoption of Apple’s iOS devices.”

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5 is Expected to Use RFID In A New Way was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As reported in Pocket Gamer, “Apple has told Capcom in no uncertain terms that its freemium children’s game has been causing problems with an increasingly significant number of parents who have complained that their children have been racking up large amounts of in-app purchases without their knowledge.”

Capcom is defensive about these “accidental” purchases because they do warn on their App Store listing that the app “charges real money for additional in-app content” and they also give the ability to disable the option to purchase this in-app content.

In the description it also notes that the iOS keeps users logged in for 15 minutes after they have entered their iTunes password in to purchase content from the App Store. The additional purchases don’t require re-entering the password in if it is during this 15 minute time span. “This is a function of the iOS software and not within our control,” Capcom wrote.

As stated by Pocket Gamer, they have “heard that Apple has refunded numerous parents after their children made “accidental purchases” in the Smurfs game. It also said that Apple could be “looking to tighten up its iTunes log in procedure” and reducing the time to 5 minutes.”

Apple Insider has also received many complaints and inquiries about the app. Apple Insider stated that one person wrote, “I’m curious if you are aware (of) any formal complaints about the iOS game Smurfs Village? The game appears to be a scam, but has lasted surprisingly long on the App Store. It’s free, but charges outrageous in-app fees to buy varying amounts of ‘Smurf Berries.’”

This isn’t the first app to take advantage of the in-app purchases available for them to profit from. Last year, it is reported that Apple refunded money to unauthorized purchases being made from a Chinese app that was used as a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game.

Apple appears to be doing something about the use of in-app links and purchases though. This week Apple announced that they would offer recurring subscriptions for app content, and they also banned the use of links to out of app purchases.

‘Smurfs’ Village’ In-App Purchases are Reportedly Annoying Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Earlier this month, Apple launched the digital billing service for The Daily. Subscriptions offered through the Apple App Store will only be sold by using the App Store billing system. Publishers of the subscriptions will offer customers the opportunity to purchase subscriptions on a weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly rate. Customers of these subscriptions will also have the ability to view and manage their subscriptions on their personal account page, including the ability to cancel their automatic renewal of subscriptions.

So, how much does Apple earn off of these subscriptions? As stated in Apple Insider, “Our philosophy is simple — when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing,” Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said. “All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app. We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers.”

Not all publishers are thrilled with the plan, but Apple does further explain that publishers are also able to sell digital subscriptions to their publications on their websites and that they could also provide free access for their existing subscribers. However, Apple will not allow the publishers to provide links in the app that sends them to their websites to purchase the app there.

Apple continues to keep customer privacy as a main feature on their App Store transactions. As Apple Insider stated, “customers purchasing a subscription through the App Store will be given the option of providing the publisher with their name, email address and zip code when they subscribe. The use of personal information will be governed by the publisher’s privacy policy rather than Apple’s. Publishers may seek additional information from App Store customers provided those customers are given a clear choice, and are informed that any additional information will be handled under the publisher’s privacy policy rather than Apple’s.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reveals New Subscription Services was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

According to the Taiwanese publication DigiTimes, the component suppliers are reporting that Apple is expanding the size of the screen for the fifth generation iPhones to 4 inches so that they can compete with the competition’s “super phones” that are ranging in the 4 to 7 inch size range. Currently, the fourth generation iPhone has a 3.5 inch display.

As reported in DigiTimes, “The component suppliers noted that the production lines for Apple’s next generation iPhone have begun testing, and Apple is interesting in expanding the screen size to 4-inches to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market.”

If the recent report in DigiTimes is correct, it would seem that the recent rumors of a possible “iPhone nano” and the possible larger version of the iPhone is setting Apple up to give even more size options for their customers. A smaller version of the phone would also perhaps lower the price for the popular smartphone, whereas the larger version would likely cost more than the 3.5 inch display size.

There may be even more options besides the size of the screen. As stated in Apple Insider, “a recent unverified report from another Taiwanese website claimed that Apple has built three prototype models for the “iPhone 5,” including a version with a “sliding cover” that conceals a keyboard.”

The new generation of iPhones will also have faster processors. As stated in Apple Insider, “a second report from DigiTimes claims that Apple is hoping to outsource the production of its A4 processor and the next-generation A5 processor, which will likely utilize the ARM Cortex A9 design, to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company due to concerns over increased competition between Samsung and Apple. At this week’s Mobile World Congress, Samsung has shown a number of new products, such as the Galaxy S II smartphone and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, that will directly compete with Apple’s iPhone and iPad.”

All Apple product prototypes and rumors of Apple products come and go often, so the future products will be unknown for certain until Apple is ready to release the information to the public.

Is A 4 Inch Screen In The Future For Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple is expected to offer the iPad 2 in three versions. The WiFi only version of the second generation iPad will probably be cheaper than the other two versions, but should still be highly popular. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities reported to Apple Insider last month that the iPad 2 will be available on 3G networks as a GSM/UMTS version that wireless carriers such as AT&T would be supporting, and also a CDMA/EVDO model that Verizon would be supporting. Kuo explained that the naming of these models will be called K93, K94, and K95, respectively. Currently, the iPhone 4 on the Verizon network is codenamed N92.

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, as reported in Apple Insider, “his checks in the Far East indicate production figures of 38 percent for the K93 WiFi model, 46 percent of the K46 3G model, and 16 percent for the Verizon-compatible K95 CDMA version. This indicates that Apple apparently expects most iPad 2 users will opt for 3G models, even on Verizon where new iPhone buyers have the option to pay $20 for hotspot service through their new smartphone.”

Apple’s iPad is selling extremely well, but which model is currently selling the best? To get a closer look at this, consider that Apple stated last month that their average selling price of all of their iPads for the fourth quarter of 2010 was at about $600. The cheapest version of the iPad is the WiFi only version for $499. The cheapest 3G model is the 16GB 3G model which comes in at $629. This would mean that these two versions were more than likely the most popular models that Apple sells, so similar options and prices for the second generation of iPads is likely.

DigiTimes recently reported that the sales of iPads shipped around December of 2010, were 60 to 65% 3G models. This means that consumers want the capability to use their iPads at anytime and anywhere to connect to the Internet. This popularity means that Apple will be working closer with wireless carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon, to provide the consumer need for this option on their iPad 2.

Over Half of Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad 2 Tablets will be 3G Models was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

AT&T ads are focusing on claiming that they have high network speeds and can provide their customers with voice and data at the same time. In their new ad, they don’t exactly name Verizon directly to show that they are the better option. The commercial shows a man working at an office, late at night, and his wife calls to remind him of their anniversary. As he is talking to her, he is doing a quick search on his phone for “fine dining” and then assures her that he didn’t forget, and is on the way. At the end of the commercial, the narrator comes on to say “only AT&T’s network let your iPhone talk and surf at the same time.” This ad does however show that they think they are better because Verizon’s iPhone 4 does not allow their users to access data when talking on the phone.

Verizon is aiming their ads to show off their larger coverage areas and network capacity. Verizon’s popular “can you hear me now?” network technician appears once again in a new commercial, showing off iPhone 4 images and saying how beautiful it is, but does it work? Then the network technician answers the phone and says, “Yes, I can hear you now.” Verizon’s commercial is simple, and to the point, and is also a big jab to AT&T without mentioning them. AT&T has had a high amount of negative feedback on their service with the iPhone due to dropped calls, so this ad is really trying to get those customers to switch over to Verizon who has America’s largest and most reliable network.

In 2009 through 2010, Verizon supported RIM’s Blackberry Storm, and then the Android-based phones. Verizon’s Droid campaign “Droid Does” even listed ways the Droid devices were better than the iPhone 3GS. However, after the release of Apple’s iOS 4.0 and then the launch of Apple’s iPhone 4 last year, Verizon realized that it was also a fierce competitor and added it to their network. Verizon has changed their marketing strategies and is now also highly promoting their version of the iPhone 4.

Despite the huge popularity of the iPhone 4 on both the AT&T and Verizon networks, they also both offer competing phones that use the Android operating system. These phones are aimed primarily at the 4G service, and the iPhone 4 does not currently use this.

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As reported by Apple Insider, only a few days after this announcement, the security firm Sophos issued a warning saying that Google’s execution of app sales on their website is severely flawed because they don’t have their users use an acceptance step on their phone.

Apple’s highly popular iTunes Preview website allows their users to search for apps on the web, but then sends them to iTunes where they can securely purchase their apps. Apple also only accepts apps that have gone through the review process, and never sends out apps to a user’s device without them accepting it first.

Google’s Android Market allows their users to select and buy the apps directly on the web site, and then have the purchased apps remotely installed to their device. The apps then stream onto the phone and are automatically installed. If things worked like they were supposed to and hackers weren’t out there, this would be fine. However, the Internet is not a safe place. What happens if someone installs an app on your account? Well, it would be downloaded, and because there is no acceptance feature for apps to install onto your device, you probably wouldn’t even notice that the app was even installed.

To make matters worse, Android apps have a much larger access to features on the device. Google allows the user to set the security settings related to apps when they are purchased. So, apps could read all the data on the phone, track where the user is at, and send fee based SMS messages.

The malicious software that is added could use this information to collect highly sensitive data from the phone, and then sell on a foreign market before you even notice that a new app was even installed. There will likely be a sharp increase in Gmail phishing attacks in the very near future that aim at installing this type of malicious app on an Android device.

Google should update their Android devices to only allow apps to be installed if the user verifies that it is okay to install. However, that may never happen. So, in the meantime, Android users should have a strong password on their account, and regularly check their device for apps they didn’t want installed on their device.

Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android Market Web Could Cause Security Issues For Users was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

This announcement by the FDA was made earlier this week, and gave the green light for Mobile MIM, which is the iOS app component of the secure medical imaging product that is sold by MIM Software.

As explained in Apple Insider, the FDA stated that the application “is not intended to replace full workstations and is indicated for use only when there is no access to a workstation,” but William Maisel, MD, MPH, the chief scientist and deputy director for science in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, noted that “this important mobile technology provides physicians with the ability to immediately view images and make diagnoses without having to be back at the workstation or wait for film.”

When used, the Mobile MIM app will allow radiological images to be securely sent to doctors on the iPad or iPhone. The doctors can then enlarge the images which can help enable them to make medical diagnoses “based on computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and nuclear medicine technology, such as positron emission tomography (PET).” This groundbreaking app will allow the doctors to measure the distance on the image, and also adjust the image intensity values and display the measurement lines, annotations, and regions of interest.

As further explained in Apple Insider, “In its evaluation, the FDA reviewed performance test results on various portable devices,” the agency said. “These tests measured luminance, image quality (resolution), and noise in accordance with international standards and guidelines. The FDA also reviewed results from demonstration studies with qualified radiologists under different lighting conditions. All participants agreed that the device was sufficient for diagnostic image interpretation under the recommended lighting conditions.” MIM Software’s chief technology officer Mark Cain stats on the company’s website that “establishing a diagnostic protocol for medical imaging is no simple matter for a device like the iPhone or iPad. It is critical to understand the characteristics of the device and to establish methods and tools that are safe and effective, while working within those constraints. There has been a gap in the market for a remote imaging device like this, and now it can be filled.”

This revolutionary medical app will be available in 14 languages, and available for use in 34 countries in addition to the United States. The app is expected to be available in Apple’s App Store later next week.

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad and iPhone Radiology App for Mobile Diagnoses Approved by FDA was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

First and foremost, the Apple iPad 2 is expected to have a built in camera. While Apple does currently control the market for tablets, with the competitors boasting built in cameras, this is the one new feature that is totally expected. It is also expected that the built in camera will have dual camera capabilities.

The New Apple iPad 2 is expected to have the bonus feature of a USB port. The New model is expected to have a mini USB port that will make it easier for users to be able to upload video feeds and other files at a faster speed.

An upgrade to a high-resolution Retina Display is also expected. The new iPhone 4 already has the technology, which many believe is a sign that the iPad 2 will also have it.

The new Apple iPad 2 is also rumored to have a dual core graphics and this would put them on the top when it comes to the most powerful tablet available to consumers.

Flash support may also be on the new iPad 2. It is rumored that Apple may possibly be working with Adobe and if so the
new iPad might offer users Flash support that will enhance web surfing capabilities.

While we wait for the actual specs from Apple, it is hard for many Apple fans to believe that just a year ago iPad tablets had just been announced but were not yet on the market. Since released last April Apple has sold almost 5 million of the first version of their tablet. Will the phenomenon continue? Stay tuned to find out.

Reference:

http://news.oneindia.in/2011/01/30/apple-ipad2-specs-features-launch-review-aid0102.html

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad 2: The Latest Rumors was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

“I thought it was a prank call,” Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, UK, told Apple fan site Cult of Mac. “I said, ‘Thank you very much, I’m not interested’ and I hung up.”

It turned out Gail Davis had not actually downloaded the app, but after hanging up the phone she found out her daughters had. Davis soon realized her mistake after having a conversation with her daughters and made several attempts to call Apple back, but was not successful. Lucky for her, Apple did not give up and called her back just a few hours later. She is very thankful having commented to Apple that her daughters were quite tense while they waited and she was afraid they would never have forgiven her had her hang up caused her to lose the gift card.

The girls had downloaded the app that won for their iPod touches. The app that got the attention as the ten billionth download was Paper Glider, a game that has users virtually making paper airplanes and flinging them around the office. Users try to fly their plane while avoiding ceiling fans and the goal is to get it to go out the window.

Don’t think that Apple will be hurting from their $10,000 give away. More than likely more attention and more sales will be a result. In just the short time frame the App store has been open, Apple has said the store has exceeded all of their expectations. The store sold 7 billion apps last year alone and more and more users are signing on every day. With the introduction of the iPad last year, app stores users skyrocketed. No doubt 2011 will be another strong year for Apple and the App store.

Reference:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/01/24/app.store.10billion/?hpt=T2

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Gives Away $10,000 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple Insider provided the following information regarding new data plans. For a small amount of time on Wednesday morning, customers viewing the website, were able to see that the 16GB and the 32GB CDMA iPhone models would be available on the Verizon network for $199 for the 16GB model, and $299 for the 32GB model, with a two year contract to Verizon.

Verizon’s standard individual plan will include 450 minutes for $39.99 each month. The 900 minute plan will cost $59.99 each month. For just $10 more, the “Nationwide Unlimited” plan will cost customers $69.99 each month. Verizon also offers family plans starting with 700 minutes for $69.99 per month, 1,400 minutes for $89.99 per month, and 2,000 minutes for 99.99 per month. The Nationwide Unlimited plan is also available for family plans, and it costs $119.99 per month.

Verizon customers will also have the option to use an unlimited data plan that will cost $29.99 per month. The lower tier options will not be available right away, but over time, Verizon plans on removing the unlimited plan and using a tiered system in place of that.

Verizon will also give the option of tethering for $20 per month. This option will only cover 2GB of data when customers use their new “Personal Hotspot” feature that is built into the iOS mobile operating system by Apple.

iPhone customers at Verizon will also have the option to have a pay-per-use text messaging rate, which will cost 20 cents for each regular text, and 25 cents for each picture or video text. Verizon will also offer an unlimited texting plan that will cost $20 per month.

Apple listed the Verizon iPhone 4 for sale on their online store before the release. Preorders for existing Verizon customers weren’t set to be available until February 3, 2011, and the Verizon iPhone 4 will be available for sale for all customers starting on February 10, 2011.

Shortly after the early announcement on Apple’s online store on Wednesday, the pages were removed and customers were instead greeted with an error message stating “Your request couldn’t be processed. We’re sorry, but there was an error processing your request. Please try again later.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Revealed Verizon iPhone Voice Plans was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The first generation of Apple TVs did not allow Netflix videos to be streamed. However, the new iOS Apple TV that debuted in September of 2010 did allow videos to be streamed by Netflix. Apple’s iPad has been able to stream Netflix videos since April of 2010.

The popularity of watching Netflix videos on the Apple TV is likely due to the fact that it allows users to watch the streaming video without potential interruptions. The iPad however, allows users to do other things too, such as play games, check e-mail, or use one of the many apps available.

The use of Netflix is also gaining popularity on other devices, such as on the iPhone. Use of the service is however, more popular on devices that have “large installed bases” such as on Macs, Windows PCs, Sony’s PS3, Microsoft’s XBOX 360, and on the Nintendo Wii.

Apple as of right now, doesn’t support the capability to use third party applications on the Apple TV. It allows Netflix, Flickr, and Apple’s own MobileMe, but nothing else. They do however, see Google’s TV and BluRay players with Internet as possible “big growth categories.” As stated in Apple Insider, “On the subject of TV devices using Android or Chrome OS, Netflix added that ‘we’re confident that they will be very successful, and we are investing in our Google TV application.’ So far, Google TV has been a poorly managed disaster that consumers don’t seem to see the value in, but Apple’s own TV product also took years to gain adoption.”

The future of the smart TVs seems to rest on the market issue because consumers can get regular step top boxes for free or for very little money each month. As stated in Apple Insider, Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs responded to a question about the future of smart TV by saying it was a difficult problem to solve because cable companies “give everybody a step top box for free, or for $10 per month. That pretty much squashes any opportunity for innovation, because nobody’s willing to buy a set top box.” For now, the future of it rests on others, such as government officials, but isn’t something that will likely go away.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) TVs Stream More Netflix Movies Than iPads was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As explained in Apple Insider, Apple rose to power last year when, Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs explained that their $15.6 billion winter quarter made Apple the “largest mobile device company” in the world.

Of course, Nokia would dispute Jobs’ claim from their very own chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo who claimed that Nokia was still the largest mobile device manufacturer when using a “generally accepted and stable definition of mobile devices.” This meant that they did not include notebook computers, which they don’t make in large quantities.

Despite the dispute last year, Apple doesn’t even have to include their MacBook sales to claim that they are the largest mobile phone vendor this year.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Apple’s chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer also pointed out Apple’s mobile business is growing at a faster pace than even the fastest growing smartphone segment of overall market. We were thrilled to have sold 16.2 million iPhones compared to 8.7 million in the previous December quarter, Oppenheimer said in his prepared remarks. This represents 86% year-over-year growth compared to IDC’s latest published estimate of 70% growth for the global smartphone market overall in the December quarter.”

In the winter quarter, Apple also has had $1.4 billion in revenue from sales just from their iTunes Store. Add in their huge sales from the iPod and iPad, and that is another $4.61 billion in revenue.

The most painful part of all of this for Nokia is that Apple was able to take the lead by selling vast quantities of their high end iPhones, and didn’t lower their prices or create a low end phone to sell cheaper. Another troubling aspect to all of this is that Apple is just warming up.

Apple has been able to overcome Nokia and Microsoft in this market and shows no plans on slowing down. Apple’s chief operations officer Tim Cook further explained that “We have a relatively low share in the handset market. The handset market is well over 1 billion units a year, and the smartphone market is growing faster than a weed. And so there’s enormous opportunity here, and we have incredible momentum in that space.”

With Apple taking the lead now, it will be interesting to see what the results will be in the years to come.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Currently the Largest Mobile Phone Vendor in the World was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The most recent claim was reported on Thursday by Taiwan’s DigiTimes which reported the second generation iPad will in fact feature a resolution of 2048 by 1536. This resolution would be quadruple the amount of total pixels of the first generation iPad, which has a 9.7 inch display area and a pixel ratio of only 1024 by 768.

For evidence of this, they referred to reports of icons that were discovered in the iBooks application for the iPad that were labeled “@2x.”. The applications current background image uses a resolution that is 768 by 400, and the “iPad@2x” file would then make it 1536 by 800.

Apple Insider stated that the report said, “The sources (added) that the larger resolution should provide the company’s app developers more convenience, while all future applications will be able to run under any of Apple’s machines including the 27-inch iMac.”

Apple is expected to ship over 40 million iPads this year. In January, Apple ordered around 1.6 million to 1.8 million of the devices. The initial iPad 2 shipments for the release are expected to be at around 400,000 to 600,000.

Even though this evidence may suggest that the second generation iPad may have a new high resolution display, another report still claims that such a big upgrade in resolution is just not going to be in the cards for the second generation model of the iPad. As reported in Apple Insider, “John Gruber of Daring Fireball said on Wednesday that claims of a potential ‘Retina Display’ in the next iPad are simply ‘too good to be true.’ Gruber said the new iPad is expected to have a faster processor, more RAM, and better graphics performance. But he also believes it will have the same 1024-by-768-pixel display as on the current iPad.”

Despite the claims of the second generation iPad having a higher resolution or not, the iPad 2 is expected to have better graphics than the first generation iPad. The iPad 2 will have a faster dual-core SGX543 graphics processing unit, as well as a “custom system-on-a-chip” created by Apple. As reported in Apple Insider, “the chip can push 35 million polygons per second at 200Mhz, and 1 billion pixels per second. It is also capable of handling Apple’s OpenCL standard.”

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad 2 May Have a High-Res Display was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The Magic Mouse may change the computer use of input devices to be more usable because it will be “more communicative” towards the user of the device, by making it more “aesthetically pleasing” to the user, by allowing them to change the look of it with customized screens.

As Apple Insider states, “the proposed invention would provide ‘observable data’ to a user through the input device itself. The image could even be displayed on the back of a curved surface, like a mouse, by projecting the image onto an outer surface of ‘collimated glass.’ The display on the mouse would change according to what the user may be doing on their Mac.”

For example, the application could display icons for quick access to options when running Apple’s Pages word processing application. If a user then switches over to the Numbers spreadsheet, the application would then change the icons to become buttons on the screen that the user could use with the Numbers spreadsheet. As another example depicted on Apple Insider suggested, the mouse could also “display a virtual depiction of a traditional number pad, commonly found on a full-size keyboard. With this, users could quickly input numbers right from their mouse using its touch-sensitive back panel.”

This new application could also use this input method on other devices such as a keyboard, or even on mobile devices such as Apple’s iPhone or iPod touch. In an illustration shown on Apple Insider, the iPhone is represented with the top portion of the screen being used by the phone’s regular applications such as SMS, Calendar, and Photos. However, the bottom two-thirds of the display that is shown are now occupied by a “trackpad-like area, and below that is a virtual clickable surface for using a cursor to select objects on a traditional computer. The iPhone sketch also lacks a home button on the hardware.”

Apple first introduced the Magic Mouse (without a display) back in 2009. The popularity of the multi-touch Apple devices should show that it too does well once in the market.

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There was also no comment from Apple regarding the potential of violating their own standards for nudity and adult content in their App Store. The guidelines were set into place and published last fall by Apple. In the content secition of the App store guidelines it specifically states that pornography is prohibited. Specifically the guidelines read ‘Apps containing pornographic material, defined by Webster’s Dictionary as ‘explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings,’ will be rejected.’

Steve Jobs has previously said that pornography is the major reason why software applications must be approved before they can be sold or downloaded for free. There is an actually store for pornography-related information available for Google Android mobile operating system. Jobs however is particularly interested in the access kids have to pornographic materials. The company has previously stated their commitment from preventing that from happening.

The potential change would be a big one for Apple who has not allowed adult content on its IOS software for its iPad and iPhone. The official Playboy application available from the Apple App store sells for 99 cents and expressly is described as not containing any nude content.

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The live counter is ticking and if you sign on to the app store, you can see it for yourself. This is not the first time that Apple has done a giveaway of this kind from the App store, they have actually had similar competitions in the past. When the store hit it’s one billionth milestone app, a lucky thirteen year old walked away with a $10,000 iTunes gift card along with other great prizes including and iPod touch, a Mac Book Pro notebook and a Mac Time Capsule devise that is used to backup files.

The App store opened its doors in July of 2008 at the same time that the company debuted the iPhone and has had steady downloads ever since. Currently, customers who have and Apple iPhone, an Apple notebook iPad or an apple iPod or iPod touch can all purchase software for their devices at the App store. .

Not long after Apple opened their on line store, the company came out with a statement saying that customers had been busy during the first weekend and had downloaded apps in the millions, just over 10 million apps to be exact.

Just recently Apple opened its latest App store, the Mac App Store. While the store only had about 1,000 different apps to choose from on opening day, Apple still reported downloads of about one million during the first 24 hours

It is being estimated that if the pace stays steady in Apple’s latest competition that the lucky winner will walk away with their prize sometime during the day on Sunday January 23^rd. So if you want to be in the game, get your running shoes on and start downloading those apps that you have been meaning to purchase. You just never know, you might come up the lucky winner.

Who Will Win Big With Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

There is no question that Apple led the tech market in 2010, introducing new and updated products that consumers just had to have. Of course their biggest debut in 2010 was the new notebook they developed otherwise known at the iPad. Add that to new versions of both the iPhone and the iPod and that equals nothing less than success. Based on market Capitalization, since May of last year Apple has been titled the world’s top valued technology company.

Often criticized for taking a tight lip approach to what is happening behind the scenes, some do wonder how they manage to stay at the top. The company is generally not forthcoming about new products and was very hush hush about the health of Jobs in 2009 when he took a medical leave of absence. Many investors are not pleased of these choices, but so far the company is thriving.

While Steve Jobs walked away with just a $1.00 salary, those next in line to him were compensated well in 2010. 2^nd in command Tim Cook, who took over for Jobs during his six month leave of absence in 2009, was awarded by Apple in 2010 for a total of $59 million. This is no surprise as he is considered to be first in line for the CEO position if Jobs was to ever leave. Next up are Peter Oppenheimer whose title is senior vice president and chief financial officer, Ronald B. Johnson whose title is senior vice president and retail and Bruce Sewell whose title is senior vice president and general counsel and secretary, all took in a total of $29.8 million. Total compensation from Apple includes their salaries as well as bonuses and the estimated value of the stock options they were awarded.

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Apple, over the last few years has declined to participate in this once a year conference event, and instead reveals their product releases when they feel it will be of the company’s best interest. This is not the first year that the Apple buzz has been felt by those attending. Last year the talk of the conference was about the new tablet rumored device that Apple would be launching, which is of course the iPad.

To further Apple’s presence more, at an opening press event on Tuesday, gifts were handed out to entrants. Choices included an Apple iPhone case and an Apple iPhone/iPad charger.

During the CES conference this year Apple made a very timely announcement which helped to fuel the talk. The announcement was the unveiling of the new Mac App store. The new store is selling apps that are specifically developed for the use on their Mac platforms. It seems customers were eager to check it out and it was later reported that during grand opening day more than a million downloads took place. This is great news for Apple, and their hopes of taking the app concept to another level just may be in the making.

The biggest Apple news is of course the long awaited announcement for the new Verizon iPhone. This much anticipated announcement will take place next week. So those that have been waiting, get ready. In fact, rumors are currently circulating that a possible appearance by Steve Jobs during the Verizon’s unveiling press event, scheduled to take place in New York City is expected. Whether or not that information is true has not been confirmed, but one thing is for sure, the Apple buzz lives on.

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Presence Being Felt AT CES and The Company Isn’t Even Participating was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The new product would use a Blue-ray player along with a set-top box. This would enable viewers to have access to Google TV. Consumers would be able to then use their TV set to do such things as surf the internet, check their emails, access and use their social networks and more, right from the couch in their living room. The technology would be similar to that of the current smart phones that are on the market.

According to Samsung no deal has yet been reached, “We are discussing with Google but there are a couple of issues to resolve and we want to make it a win-win deal for both of us,” Yoon Boo-keun told reporters without elaborating.

The company also said that it is always looking for companies to partner with in order to expand technology and offerings to consumers and this is just another means of doing so.

Google is a great option for a partnership as their software platform has been gaining ground at a rapid pace over the last year. A partnership between the two companies just might give others in the industry, like Apple, a run for their money.

In looking ahead to 2011 Samsung is hoping to remain at the lead in the marketplace when it comes to selling flat screen television sets. They sold 39 million units in 2010 and anticipate selling 15% more during the coming year for a total of 45 million. When looking at those figures the company plans that they will sell 12 million smart tv’s and 10 million three dimensional units. In 2010 they sold just 5 million smart TV’s and only 2 million of the three dimensional variety.

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Apple recently raised their own internal forecasts for their iPhone shipments for the first quarter of 2011 from their original forecast of 19 million units to more than 21 million units. This forecast was reported from a Taiwan publication called DigiTimes.

According to the sources close to the Asia based manufacturers building components for the Apple iPhone, the new estimates for the units reveals that Apple is about to undertake a new market for the popular smartphone. As predicted in Enterprise Mobile Today, “the revised estimates predict shipment of some 5 million to 6 million CDMA units that would seem to indicate Apple is close to officially introducing a Verizon ready version of the iPhone.”

Apple expected to ship around 15 million to 16 million of their popular iPhones in the fourth quarter of 2010 during the peak holiday season which was competing against the Android powered smartphones which are both doing increasingly well in market shares. The Nokia and Research in Motion do not seem to do very well, and their customers are instead opting for the Apple or Android smartphones.

Websites that are centered on reporting Apple activity have been quick to react and draw conclusions to this news about Apple. Such as these quotes that were reported in Enterprise Mobile Today,

“Verizon may be getting a late Christmas present,” the Cult of Mac website reported in a Monday blog posting, adding that it appears manufacturing partners Foxconn and Pegatron Technology will share the production responsibilities for the CDMA model. A post to the Apple Insider blog reported that China Telecom is in discussions with Apple to be the first provider of CDMA-based iPhones in the world’s most populous nation, which is “in the early stages” of iPhone adoption.”

If Apple is actually able to ship out the 15 million to 16 million iPhone units that it originally projected for their goal in the fourth quarter, it would equal more than 47 million units in total that they have shipped out in 2010.

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Sony’s new service is called Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, which is a cloud based digital music service. Sony’s approach differs from iTunes because it does not require users to purchase and download tracks they want to listen to. Instead, with Sony’s new service, users are able to stream the music they want to listen to.

The only drawback so far for Music Unlimited is that it is (for now) not available on portable devices. This means that users can’t take the music they want to listen to on the go. The service only allows users to listen to music from an assortment of Internet connected Sony devices, such as the Playstation 3 gaming console, Blu-ray players, and Bravia televisions.

Sonly launched the new service this week in Ireland and the U.K. They plan to launch it in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Italy, Spain, and New Zealand sometime in 2011.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Kazuo Hirai, executive vice president of Sony, said the initial focus of the product is to enhance the appeal of Sony products versus competitors like Apple and Microsoft, according to The Associated Press. But he said “over time” the service would need to stand on its own. “We realized if we were playing catch-up with the same (iTunes) model, it would be difficult to appear to users,” Hirai said.”

As Qriocity is expanded globally, services that are “powered by Qriocity” will offer a single ID log-in where users can easily login and checkout what they want. This will allow users to easily browse and consume content such as music and videos as well as a “growing number of integrated devices.” Hirai explained that “Seamless accessibility to content through these fresh user experiences will enrich Sony’s network service offerings and continually add value to the unique aspects of Sony’s network-enabled products.”

Sony doesn’t plan on just giving Apple competition with the iTunes store, but also with their App Store. Sony plans at some point to allow software developers to be able to create apps for their service too. Sony hopes that with these new services they will be able to generate more revenue, much like Apple has shown with their online services.

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According to a recent report by Fox News, HP will show off their newest tablet called the PalmPad at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. The PalmPad is running a version of the webOS which was acquired from Palm last year. As stated in Apple Insider, “HP’s PalmPad will reportedly be offered in a variety of configurations that are “collectively a spin-off of the never-released HP Slate,” the report states. The Slate which ran on Windows 7, was released in partnership with Microsoft this fall, but only in a very limited capacity to business customers.

HP’s new hardware will be ran on the Sprint 4G network, but besides that the hardware specs are very similar to Apple’s iPad. HP’s new tablet is also thinner and weighs less than the Apple iPad. The PalmPad will also feature a USB 3.0 port, front and rear facing cameras that both have LED flashes – a great feature for people to take pictures of themselves.

The actual screen size of the three versions of the PalmPad is unknown, but it is expected to be similar to the 9.7 inch screen on the iPad. The fourth model which is intended for universities is expected to have an 8.9 inch screen as well as “any other specs specifically requested by the institution.”

The report also noted HP’s chief executive Todd Bradley stating earlier in August that, “you’ll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a webOS-based product in early 2011.” HP did release the $799 Slate PC which ran on Windows 7 back in October. However, it did not sell very well at all and featured a 8.9 inch screen, weighed 1.5 lbs, and used an Atom processer, which is not a very desirable processor in the tablet or PC world.

For HP to be able to completely redesign and upgrade the PalmPad just three months after the release of the failed Slate, would be a miracle. It took HP ten months after the Slate was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show before it was released to market. So far, the images that Fox released of the PalmPad is almost identical to the Slate. Just how different it is will be seen at the show.

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Apple announced earlier this week that they were expecting to reach their one millionth sale of the Apple TV this week. As reported in Apple Insider, analyst Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. said in a note to their investors on Wednesday, that he sees the figures of the sales as “positive, but fairly immaterial.”

According to these sales figures, if the Apple TV continues to sell one million units per quarter, it would equal $400 million in annual revenue for Apple. Apple is expected to earn $88 billion in revenue in 2011, so the sales of the Apple TV would only be a small portion of revenue for the company.

Even though the sales for the Apple TV is not a big money maker for the company, Wu said that he believes that the TV is now in the position to soon become a “more material contributor and game changer in the TV space.”

Wu believes that a major determining factor for this would be the addition of an App Store for the TV which would allow users to download new apps for the Apple TV. The App Store for the Apple iPhone and iPad are a huge money maker for the company. Wu estimated that around 40 percent of the apps purchased and downloaded are games, which he thinks will become a huge selling point for the Apple TV. As stated in Apple Insider, “This capability isn’t available today, but we believe it could be added fairly easily as Apple TV uses a similar A4 processor architecture as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch,” Wu said.

The big question many investors have asked concerning the App Store for the Apple TV is how they will incorporate the multi-touch capability on a TV. Wu explained that “our answer is the ability to connect the Magic Trackpad, similar to adding multi-touch to its desktop Macs including iMac, Mac mini and Mac Pro. We also see the potential in other peripherals including game controllers.”

Another big factor that many consumers want out of the TV is the ability to record TV to view later. Wu explained that this isn’t a “technology issue” and is instead being held up because of “licensing terms.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Expects to Reach 1 Million Apple TV Sales Per Quarter was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Last week, Peter Kafka of MediaMemo reported that he has been told by multiple sources that the new publication for the iPad, the Daily, will formally launch in January of next month. Kafka’s blog MediaMemo is a part of the All Things Digital website that is also owned by News Corporation.

Rupert Murdoch and his company have been allegedly working very closely with Apple in order to create this new publication. It was originally scheduled to launch sometime in December of 2010. However, Kafka noted that the Daily’s launch plans have been moved around multiple times during the past few months. Kafka noted in MediaMemo that the January 17, 2011 launch date for the Daily is a “much safer bet.”

This new publication for the iPad has many people excited. The Daily is rumored to only cost 99 cents each week, and will be updated as the name says, daily. As reported in Apple Insider, “it will also rely on many multimedia features, including some kind of 3D effect that lots of people are very excited about.”

The Daily publication is also expected to debut with an application subscription plan so that customers can have recurring transactions for the publication to go uninterrupted for the users. This new subscription plan for the publication is reported to have a push feature that will automatically bill their customers on either a weekly or monthly basis so their news won’t be interrupted. Applications like the Daily will be automatically updated each morning and ready for the user to read when they unlock their iPad.

As reported in Apple Insider, “That offering won’t resolve Apple’s dispute with conventional publishers, who want to be able to control their subscriptions — or at least get access to subscriber data – for iTunes app versions of their print products,” Kafka said. “But for new, digital-only products like the Daily, that data isn’t as crucial, and the ability to set up a recurring subscription would be a big step forward.”

Apple is also expected to add an update to their iOS mobile operating system to support this feature. Kafka stated on his blog that Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs “may or may not participate in a launch event” for the newspaper launch and the recurring App Store subscriptions for the iPad.

Apple (NASDAQ) iPad Publication ‘Daily’ To Launch in January was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Wozniak started his letter to the FCC with personal anecdotes from his life on how phone, cable, and DSL network restrictions have worked against him as a consumer. Back in 1972, Wozniak has a “dial-a-joke” service but was forced to shut it down because the restrictions from his phone company (which also had a monopoly of services) made it too expensive to continue.

Wozniak claims in the letter that he has never had a cable or DSL service in any of the four homes he has owned. As stated in the letter, “The local phone providers don’t have any obligation to serve all of their phone customers with DSL,” Wozniak wrote, “They also have no requirement to service everyone living in the geographic area for which they have a monopoly.” Wozniak claimed that he even offered to cover the cost of laying the three quarters of a mile of cable to run to his home, but was turned down by the cable company because they decided that  the company couldn’t make up the costs of the monthly rental for “running their cable on telephone poles.”

Wozniak also brings up the Constitution and Bill of Rights that are not being held up as they should. Wozniak explains, “The early Internet was so accidental, it also was free and open in this sense,” Wozniak continued. “The Internet has become as important as anything man has ever created. But those freedoms are being chipped away.” He then begs the FCC to keep the Internet as free as they possibly can. He strongly feels that the Internet should not be restricted on what consumers can watch and for how long they can watch it.

Net Neutrality is not the way to go, at least according to Wozniak who realized that “every time and in every way that the telecommunications careers have had power or control, we the people wind up getting screwed.”

He still has hopes that the FCC will be the good guy for the people it is supposed to be looking after. Wozniak concluded his letter by stating that, “Not only is current action on Net Neutrality one of the most important times ever for the FCC, it’s probably the most momentous and watched action of any government agency in memorable times in terms of setting our perception of whether the government represents the wealthy powers or the average citizen, of whether the government is good or is bad.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Defends Free Internet was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The four new Apple job listings that were added are all identical positions located in Santa Clara Valley, California. The job listings call for “outstanding engineers to deliver the next generation of Apple products. Seize this ground floor opportunity to help us build the world’s best hosted platforms at massive scale,” it says. Apple won’t just hire anyone that is an outstanding engineer though, these job candidates will need valuable knowledge that is also related to navigation software as well as a “deep knowledge of Computational Geometry or Graph Theory.” These Apple applicants are also required to have at least three years of experience developing “high quality, robust software systems.”

These job announcements and the reference to navigation software might mean that Apple is looking to build their own personal navigation tools for their iOS mobile operating system. Their biggest competitor in mobile operating systems, Google, released their turn by turn software for the Android devices about a year ago.

Last year, Apple wanted to hire an engineer that would help to take the iPhone’s Maps application “to the next level.” As stated in Apple Insider, this had “the intention of changing how users use Maps and find things.”  The job listing said that “We want to do this in a seamless, highly interactive and enjoyable way. We’ve only just started.” It appears that they want to push this into full gear now.

As suggested in Apple Insider, “A cloud-based navigation solution could also be a major use for Apple’s new massive data center in North Carolina. Another job listing posted this week for an iOS software engineer notes that it looking for an employee to manage and automate “distributed image processing on a server cluster.”

Apple also has shown interest in advancing their own unique mapping solution for their iPhone with their recent acquisitions of: Placebase and Poly9. With these acquisitions and the new job announcements, it appears that Apple is looking to rapidly increase their use of navigation software.

In April of 2010, after the release of the iPad and the iOS 3.2, Apple started integrating their databases for use of location based services. Prior to this, Apple relied on databases that were maintained by Skyhook Wireless and Google for location services. Apple’s iOS Maps application does still rely on Google for map imagery and for the “Street View.” However, this change might signal that Apple plans to soon rely only on their own technology for such navigation software in the near future.

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According to overseas sources, Apple has added Chimei Innolux and Cando as two additional touch panel makers, for the production of the second generation iPad. These additional suppliers are being added in addition to their current suppliers Wintek, TPK Touch Solutions, and Sintek Photronics. Adding the two extra suppliers for the touch panels will reportedly allow for Apple to produce many more iPads per month in hopes to reach their 6 million per month target goal.

As reported by Apple Insider, sources have indicated that suppliers will begin their shipments to Apple sometime in January or February. This information remains consistent with prior reports that the new generation of the iPad would begin shipping within 100 days. This would allow Apple to stock up on the new iPad 2 for a launch sometime in April of 2011, just one year after the original iPad was released.

These suppliers have also indicated that Apple is not intending on producing a 7 inch model of the iPad to be smaller in size and lighter than the current iPad that is 9.7 inches. Digi Times reported for months that Apple was going to release a version that was only 7 inches, but this seems to be false, at least for now.

Apple’s Chief Executive, Steve Jobs, extinguished the rumors of the 7 inch iPad back in October during Apple’s fourth quarter conference call. As stated in Apple Insider, “He said that he believes competing products, like the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, have chosen a smaller size to reduce costs rather than usability. Steve Jobs said, “When we make decisions on 7-inch tablets, it’s not about cost,” Jobs said. “It’s about the value of the product when you factor in the software.”

Sources have however informed Apple Insider that the iPad 2 would introduce “FaceTime-equipped next gen iPads by the end of the first quarter of 2011.” If true, this would put them ahead of schedule.

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Apple has a range of products and is not reliant on the success of one. Einhorn says that is a positive factor and the health of Steve Jobs is not too concerning. Apple still has growth opportunities due to the success of iPad and iPhone. The December sales of iPod, iPhone and Mac computers are expected to be outstanding. The iPad, which has been available since April 2001, is a best seller. It is estimated that iPad sales will be around the $3 billion dollar mark in the fourth quarter of 2010.

2011 will bring some competition for Apple when a number of new tablet computers are released by other companies. Before their appearance, analysts think Apple will sell 5.5.million to 6 million iPads over the Christmas season.

Apple has had years of massive growth and with shares around the $375 mark some investors are becoming concerned whether this growth can be maintained. They are also looking at the huge size of the company and becoming nervous.

Apple shares trade higher than Dell and Hewlett Packard. They trade at 17 times forecasted value. However when the $51 billion cash reserves are taken into account the share trade is closer to 14 times. An analyst, Marshall of Gleachers, who still favors Apple’s stocks, comments that, “it’s not as attractive as it once was.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Stock Price Continues to Grow was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple has not said how it will use the center. According to Apple’s chief financial officer, Peter Openheimer, “North Carolina is on schedule. Everything is going fine. We expect to complete it by the end of the calendar year, and begin to use it.” It is not known whether the death of Olivier Sanche will affect Apple’s plans.

The investment in the center is around $1 billion dollars over nine years. It is nearly five times the size of the existing 109,000 square foot Newark, California complex. It is believed the Maiden center was commissioned to be a keystone in Apple’s computing strategy, as the back-end for online storage. It could replace iTunes user libraries and hold data from user desktops.

The data center is Apple’s major east coast operations center. According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce new jobs could be 300 plus. There would also be spinoffs to jobs in construction and service industries. Apple has stated they intend to, “take advantage of 3 hour time change on the east Coast to facilitate communications between European operations/sales and California for Data transmission”.

It is possible Apple will build a second facility in the area. Bill Wagenseller, a local realtor, posted a video on You Tube showing an aerial view of a new construction behind the completed data center. Apple has not commented on any of the speculation. It is generally believed judging from aerial views, that Apple will double the size of the center by another 500 000 square feet.

Barclay’s analyst Ben Reitzes, states, “We believe it makes sense to have a cloud service linking Apple devices to personal photos, videos, games, music and other entertainment–eliminating the limitations and expenses of excess storage. We believe such a service would only enhance the loyalty toward Apple and the benefits of using devices in its vertically integrated model.”

Bad News for Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Data System Operation was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

It has not been reported as to which of the four carriers of Samsung’s Galaxy tablet is responsible for the sales boost, nor has any data been released to show which markets are most successful overseas.

To put it in perspective, Apple’s iPad (NASDAQ: AAPL) sold a million tablets in less then a month, and the iPad has been favored in many surveys as the “tablet of choice”. In Piper Jaffray’s survey, 85% of customers report preference for Apple’s iPad over the Galaxy tablet. However, Samsung’s one millionth sale milestone proves that the market is not completely dominated by Apple, and that the Android-based devices may not just be a fad as many Apple fans may have thought. In addition to the Samsung Galaxy tablet computers, Samsung has recently shipped about 5 million Galaxy S smartphones, another Android-based device.

There are a few subtle differences between the devices. The key differences between the two devices are the size and weight. The Galaxy weighs less, but also has a much smaller screen. The software support is a little better on the Galaxy as well, as it supports a built-in camera, which the iPad does not. The speeds of the two tablets are about the same, the capacity is about the same and even the price is about the same. Some people may argue of a few nuances here and there but over all they appear evenly matched.

Apple may have found a true contender in the tablet field, and now it will be interesting to see how Apple will respond. Will we see a new generation iPad with camera for instance? Will they offer an iPad with a smaller screen? Only time can tell, but Samsung has a solid product here, though the sales till speak in the iPads favor, the experts say that the Galaxy may be able to carve out a niche in the market, taking up to 15% of the tablet and ereader market.

Reference: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373878,00.asp

Samsung’s Galaxy Tablet Sales Are Out of this World – Can They Compete With Apple? (NASDAQ: AAPL) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple and AT&T still have an agreement in place which has not yet expired, though Verizon does have a deal with Apple to sell the iPad on its 3G MiFi bundle. This deal has fueled speculation that a Verizon iPhone may be imminent. Though neither Verizon nor Apple have confirmed this speculation at this time. Why would Apple want to allow one provider an exclusive deal at this point, when it seems they could generate more sales of the iPhone by allowing multiple cellular phone networks to offer the device?

Over 14 million iPhones 4 have been sold, and is set to sell more. In fact it is the best selling smart-phone on the market right now. These sales have been just over the AT&T network! Just think how well Apple could do if they allowed the two biggest providers to sell the same phone. Currently AT&T has about 92 million customers on its network, and Verizon has around 93 million, so you can expect that Apple could double its sales by not signing a deal to allow one or the other to sell there product exclusively.

At the moment, neither side has actually confirmed any of the speculation out there of the impending exclusive contract. All we can really do is keep our fingers on the pulse of the grapevine and wait for official announcements to be made. No one could blame Verizon for wanting to pursue an exclusive deal to sell the iPhone, after all AT&T currently has one, and they have profited well on it – it just seems to make more sense for Apple to allow both providers to sell it, to maximize their own hold on the market and make the phone available to more consumers.

Will Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone Be Exclusive for Verizon (NYSE: VZ)? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Starting out, Sony took the existing GNUstep libraries, which was an implementation of OpenStep (the basis for Apple’s Cocoa in the Mac OS X and iOS). The GNUstep is similar to Cocoa as it uses the same Objective-C language and uses similar (not identical) development frameworks to the Cocoa that was used by developers to create iPad, iPhone, and Mac applications.

Sony contributed a number of enhancements to the touch-based interface on the open GNUstep codebase, and then put their plans on hold without explaining why.

As reported in Apple Insider, “Sony’s intention to use an open source platform to compete against Apple in the mobile device arena, rather than using an existing alternative such as the Java-based Android, JavaME, and BlackBerry OS; Microsoft’s Silverlight-based Windows 7 Phone; the full Windows 7 environment (that Sony has licensed for use on PCs), or some version of Adobe’s Flash Lite, Flash web plugin (championed by Google’s Chrome OS), or Flash-based AIR development platform (as the upcoming RIM PlayBook does), is an interesting development given the shared history of Apple’s Cocoa and GNUstep.”

Sony’s interest in using the GNUstep is one example of how hardware makers are looking at Google’s Andriod with skepticism. As reported in Apple Insider, “Sony already uses Android in its Xperia phones (which formerly debuted with Windows Mobile), its Google TV appliances, and its Dash ‘personal Internet viewer’ device, but like Samsung’s homegrown Bada, HP’s decision to use Palm’s webOS, RIM’s use of QNX, and Nokia’s aversion to Android, Sony’s efforts to look beyond Android indicate that leading hardware makers are not ecstatic about the prospects of simply becoming commodity device makers that divert much of their value to Google’s platform.”

Sony was unable to keep up with their Walkman when the iPods were a huge improvement in the music player sales in 2001, and has recently been embarrassed from the Apple iPhone and iPod touch when put against their own products. Sony has also been outdone with gaming platforms such as with the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable devices. If Sony will actually destroy their experiments with the GNUstep, or perhaps pick them back up again and create quality products remains to be seen.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) Puts Plan To Deliver A Mobile Development Platform On Hold was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

According to Citigroup’s estimates, 35 million tablet PCs will be shipped in 2011, and about 26 million of these will be the Apple iPad. They think that the iPad will be just as dominant in the tablet PC sales as with music players and the iPod. Citigroup is also predicting that 400 million PCs will be sold next year, which is 11 million less due to the iPad being on the market. Citigroup lowered the growth in the PC market from 12 percent increase to just 9 percent for 2011.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Craig Berger of FBR Capital Markets says Apple will sell 40 million iPads next year, and that other makers will manage to sell another 30 million. He indicates that every 2.5 tablets sold will result in a lost PC sale, or a total of 28 million fewer conventional PCs.”

DigiTimes also have predicted that the iPad will be hugely successful in 2011, largely indicated from the report that Apple is getting ready for a huge sales explosion by manufacturing 70 million iPads. They also expect that other makers of these tablet PCs will contribute to an additional 30 million towards tablet sales.

As Apple Insider stated, “Gartner noted that the last quarter of PC sales was ‘the weakest in several years,’ but does not include iPads in its definition of PCs sold.”

The high amount of sales of the Apple iPad is cutting into the PC maker’s profit margins, even Apple’s. Apple does however, have the biggest profit margins out of the PC makers, mainly due to the higher average sales price on their PCs.

As reported in Apple Insider, “Company executives began warning about more aggressive prices on upcoming products, a ruthless strategy intended to keep the iPad from repeating the mistake of isolating a leading product into an upscale market niche as it did with the Macintosh in the late 80s.” This may not work though because Apple claims that they can sell their 10 inch iPad for either the same price or less than their competition on a smaller version of the tablet, which they also claim doesn’t deliver the same quality of a tablet PC that the Apple iPad can.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad Predicted To Lead Sales For 2011 Tablet Distribution was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

A land purchase in Cupertino, California, from Hewlett Packard, has nearly doubled Apple’s land holdings in the area. There are aging buildings on the site.

The Apple workforce, worldwide, is around 46,600. Around 12,300 new employees have been added recently. A sizable number of new employees are in the Cupertino area.

Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a consulting firm, said about Apple, “They’ve just had spectacular growth. They are one of the companies in the valley that are hiring, and the bottom line is they need the space.”

Kris Wang Mayor of Cupertino, commented, “We’re very proud to have Apple’s headquarters in our city. It’s not just a company. It’s the company.”

It is estimated Apple will add to Cupertino’s tax revenue in a significant way.

Neither Apple nor Hewlett Packard released any details about the transaction but an Apple spokesperson confirmed the purchase of the land.

There is a sluggish real estate market in the area so the price could have been advantageous for Apple who already has significant real estate holdings nearby. However, according to Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, who went to high school in Cupertino, Apple also looked at other areas for expansion.

In April 2006 Steve Jobs told the Cupertino Council, “But after looking at a lot of things, we found something in Cupertino that was a possibility. It was more expensive, a lot more expensive than we could get elsewhere, but it was something where we could stay in the area that we like the best.” He was talking about the land Apple already owned in the city.

Steve Dowling of Apple said, “We now occupy 57 buildings in Cupertino and our campus is bursting at the seams. These offices will give us more space for our employees as we continue to grow.”

According to Tim Bajarin,” Apple seems determined to grow close to home, in Cupertino. They’re spread over the world, and they do a lot of virtual meetings,” he pointed out. “But there’s no substitute, especially when you’re dealing with engineering and key technical designs, for having people close by.”

Apple has not released its plans for the land and there are no details about Apple’s long term plans for its new site in Cupertino.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Adds to Cupertino Site in California by Purchasing Land from Hewlett Packard was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Wolf’s numbers are based on the higher average Mac selling price reported by market research firm IDC. Apple’s own average selling price reported for the September quarter was about flat with the previous June quarter. “However, in an e-mail response, IDC stood by its average selling price estimate,” Wolf wrote. “If Apple’s average selling price were substituted for IDC’s, the Mac’s dollar share of the U.S. home market would fall to 20.0%, slightly less than HP’s share.”

Apple’s market share has continued to inch higher and higher. Their dollar share growth has grown at a faster rate, especially in the home market. This could perhaps reflect the fact that Apple has stayed the same on their pricing discipline and has chosen not to aggressively lower their prices on their Mac platforms, such as many of the rival PC makers have chosen to do.

The sales of Macs have grown significantly worldwide, and have outpaced the home PC market for the September quarter. Apple’s shipments of Macs have grown 25.3 percent year after year. However, the market wide rate is just at 10.4 percent. Mac sales have also been steadily increasing in the business market, which has grown 66.3 percent in the last quarter. Compare that to the market rate of just 8.5 percent, and the Mac is clearly on top.

As stated in Apple Insider, “To put these percentages in perspective, the home market still represented a commanding 63.2% share of total Mac shipments in September while shipments in the business market accounted for just 18.6%,” Wolf wrote. “Nonetheless, the second consecutive quarter of stunning growth in the business market could possibly represent the canary in the coal mine.”

According to IDC figures, Apple has grown an impressive 503.9 percent year over year in the government computer sales, whereas the market average is just 8.3 percent. Apple has also gained 201.7 percent with very large businesses, while the market average has grown just 26 percent.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Dollar Share Leader in US Home PC Market was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple was Adobe’s first substantial customer when they adopted Adobe’s postscript language for their Laserwriter printer. Apple invested in Adobe and at one stage owned about 20% of the company. Both companies were pioneers in desktop publishing. Overtime Adobe saw the corporate sector as their market and Apple went through some profound changes.

Both companies still have customers in common. Apple customers use around half of Adobe’s Flash products. However Adobe Flash products do not suit Apple’s new generation products. Jobs categorically states that Apple does not allow Flash products on iPhones iPods and iPads for this reason.

Adobe has reacted to this decision by claiming that Apple has become a closed system protecting their App store. Adobe says Apple has made a business decision and Apple says it is due to the lack of technical rapport. Steve Jobs states that in his view Adobe, not Apple, has the closed system. Although Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, Adobe maintains total control over their placement and pricing and future improvements.

Apple uses the open standards of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript for their mobile products acknowledging that the operating system for iPhones, iPods and iPads is controlled by them. Apple is adopting the HTML5 standard, along with Google and others, because it enables developers to create products without relying on third party plug-ins. HTML5 is controlled by a standards committee and Apple is part of the committee.

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This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a new patent from Apple called “Reinforced Device Housing.” This is described as an outer shell for electronic devices that are composed of a “layered fiber-in-matrix type material, such as CFRP.” CFRP is also known as carbon filter reinforced polymer.

The illustrations that go along with the filing for the patent, show a single uni-body housing that is very similar in shape to the Apple iPad. The first generation iPad has a solid aluminum back. Electronic devices that are have a housing in plastic often crack. However, devices with a metal back can be much more durable, but are also heavier and more expensive. Like the iPad, the first generation iPhone also had a metal back. However, it was changed to plastic in later models and is now available with a glass back on the iPhone 4.

As reported in Apple Insider, “Even traditional implementations of carbon fiber may not be enough, Apple’s application notes. It states that devices made of carbon fiber can crack or break if bent or rolled in a certain way, along the lengthwise axis of the fibers themselves. Apple’s solution would employ either a layered carbon fiber material or a spine or frame made from the same material to support a carbon fiber skin. Using a frame or layers would ensure that the fibers would run in different directions, thus addressing the weakness of carbon fiber housings.”

Apple also went into detail about how the carbon fiber frame for an electronic device, like the iPad, would be created by “molding the supportive spine to the carbon fiber skin for support.” This invention is credited to Kevin M. Kenney.

As stated in Apple Insider, “The rear case of the iPad is made from a single billet of aluminum. In its teardown of the device earlier this year, iFixit noted that the choice of a metal back increases the weight of the iPad, but also greatly improves the rigidity of the device. Some reports this year tied to rumors of a 7-inch iPad suggested Apple was looking at a smaller form factor because some users felt the current iPad is too heavy. However, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs quieted those rumors in October, when he said a 7-inch tablet is too small for most consumers.”

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As reported in DigiTimes, “Since consumer demand for tablet PCs is still limited, while most upstream and downstream players are over-optimistic about the market, tablet PCs may see a sharp drop in demand as soon as the third quarter of 2011, after a big battle in the second.”

The big battle that is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2011 is expected to be headed by the second generation of Apple’s iPad. The new systems that will be giving Apple a run for their money include Intel and Google. Intel will be launching its Oak Trail platform and Google with their tablet specific version of the Android mobile system.

As reported in Apple Insider, “while the report notes that total tablet sales in 2011 are currently expected by some to reach between 45 million and 55 million sales, some have expectations that high for Apple’s iPad alone. For example, analyst Brian Blair of Wedge Partners sees Apple selling 48 million iPads in 2011. However, after some on Wall Street were disappointed by Apple’s sales of 4.19 million iPads last quarter, some analysts lowered their forecasts. Yair Reiner with Oppenheimer has predicted Apple will sell 23 million iPads next year, while Charlie Wolf of Needham & Company expects the company to ship 18 million iPads in 2011.”

Apple remains optimistic about their future sales of the iPad. Last week, a report alleged that Apple is currently planning on building about 40 million iPads in 2011 alone. Apple has also allegedly seriously increased their build orders for the end of 2010 due to their anticipated high volume of holiday sales for the months of November and December.

As reported in Apple Insider, “Abramsky noted that both numbers remain above Wall Street expectations. He said that Apple’s increase for the end of 2010 suggests that the company expects strong holiday sales, despite concerns over new Android-based tablets and potential cannibalization from the thin-and-light MacBook Air.”

Rumors of the Second Generation Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad Threaten Tablet Sales was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

According to Bloomberg, the United States prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of about $950,000 from Paul Devine. Investigators have so far seized money from up to six different bank accounts, and are still tracing funds to other sources. The government is also still seeking a Porsche Cayenne from Devine, a vehicle that starts selling at $50,000. As stated in Apple Insider, “Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Kane told U.S. District Judge James Ware that the government needs more time to analyze computers seized from Devine. Tracking the money has been difficult, but investigators have accused Devine of accepting more than $1 million in kickbacks.”

The 37 year old Apple Manager, Paul Devine, has been officially charged with wire fraud, kickbacks, money laundering, and wire fraud conspiracy. In total, he faces 23 counts. Devine has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Prosecutors have said that each count of money laundering, wire fraud, and wire fraud conspiracy carries a 20 year prison sentence.

As stated in Apple Insider, the prosecutors “have alleged that Devine used his security clearance to sell confidential information to overseas suppliers, and the companies then allegedly used that knowledge to negotiate favorable contracts with Apple.”

Paul Devine was granted bail back in September, for a $440,000 lien against his mother’s home. He also had to pay more than $600,000 out of his overseas bank accounts owned by himself and his wife in order to make his bail.

Devine worked for Apple since 2005, and is now also facing a civil lawsuit from his employer. Apple is also alleging that he received more than $1 million in payments and bribes for his assistance to overseas suppliers.

As stated in Apple insider, “Apple is committed to the highest ethical standards in the way we do business,” said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling in a statement. “We have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside the company.”

Apple has worked long and hard to maintain their secrecy in order to keep their competitors guessing and also to excite their customers with new product releases. However, this case showcases threats that the company faces when working with their own personnel and partners. If it affects how business of this type will be handled in the future remains to be seen.

Prosecutors Say Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Manager Should Forfeit the $1 Million in Kickbacks was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Steve Jobs, Apple CEO said, “We asked ourselves what would happen if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up? It’s one of the most amazing things we’ve ever created: It is our new MacBook Air, and we think it’s the future of notebooks.”

The new MacBook Airs, say some Mac enthusiasts, are superior to the popular MacBook Pro. The speed of the MacBook Air is impressive. They are ready to use in less than 15 seconds after turning on. The i7 MacBook Pro takes twice as long. MacBook Air shuts down in around 3 seconds. The overall speed of loading applications and file transfers are equally impressive.

The Baseline 13 inch MacBook Air has 1.86GhzIntel Core 2 Duo processor and RAM is 2GB. It has a flash storage hard drive of 128GB. Testing has shown the MacBook Air to outperform the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the faster Core 2 Duo processor and twice the RAM. The outstanding performance of the new MacBook Air is due to the flash storage hard drive. The heat issues have been dealt with. The 11 inch MacBook Air is also receiving outstanding reviews. The 13 inch MacBook Air is retailing at around $1299 and the 11 inch around $999.

An issue has appeared however, regarding the storage space. It is possible that the 128 GB hard drive is too small when 256GB seems to be the benchmark due to the variety of media downloaded. One enthusiast, M.G Siegler in a review wrote: ‘Here’s how I see it: if storage didn’t matter, I think this 13-inch MacBook Air would almost immediately be Apple’s best-selling Mac. It’s that good.”

It seems Apple’s Cloud strategy is planned to compensate for this. The Cloud strategy consists of providing streaming from their servers to Apple products, enabling Mac users to stream content from their computer to other

Apple devices they own and wireless syncing content to devices. It is probable that MacBook Air will become a content viewer like the iPad.

It appears that MacBook Air has the same appeal to the market as iPhones and iPads. It also has an affordable price tag.

New Release of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) MacBook Air a Success was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As stated in Apple Insider, “Both agencies, however, are likely to impose significant conditions to prevent Comcast from withholding, or threatening to withhold, NBC Universal’s programming from competitors, including companies that distribute TV shows and movies over the Internet, such as Apple Inc. and Netflix Inc., according to people familiar with the matter,” the report said.

What concerns the government is that Comcast, which delivers video to their cable customers through their “On Demand” channel and Fancast.com, could promote their own services over their competitors such as Apple’s iTunes and Netflix. According to their report, a “net neutrality” condition may end up being a part of the deal to ensure that Comcast will not be able to slow down access to their competitor’s services, such as iTunes, thus making their customers unable to view or use their competitor’s services or products as they should be able to.

These alleged conditions that are being discussed by the federal regulators are claimed to be a very large unresolved issue with the Comcast executives. Officials with Comcast have stated that “the government should stay out of the rapidly evolving market.”
As reported in Apple Insider, “The government’s apparent interest in the online video market has been known for months, but Monday’s report from the Journal is the first indication that the government could impose sanctions to prevent Comcast from withholding content from Apple’s iTunes. Currently, the General Electric-owned NBC does not offer TV show rentals for the new Apple TV.”

As of right now, only television shows from Fox and ABC are available for rent on the streaming Apple TV. Apple pushed the television studios to allow for 99 cent rentals of the shows, but NBC and CBS both opted to pass on this proposed pricing for the Apple TV. As reported in Apple Insider, “Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs was hopeful in September that the networks that chose not to participate would soon “see the light and get on board pretty fast.” But executives with Warner Bros. said they find the 99 cent pricing to be too cheap.”

Approval of the Comcast and NBC Deal May Require Content Deals with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The class action lawsuit was filed by lawyers from Cohelan Khoury & Singer, a firm that describes themselves as a “class action law firm.” The lawsuit was filed in a San Diego County state court on behalf of the lead plaintiff Bianca Wofford. The lawsuit claims that Apple made “false statements” when representing the iOS 4 upgrade for their device as a “significant advance and triumph” in software for the plaintiff’s iPhone 3G.

Instead of the “significant advance and triumph” for her phone, it was instead turned into a “virtually useless iBrick.” As stated on AppleInsider.com, “The plaintiff alleges that the software update “rendered the iPhone 3G devices virtually unusable, constantly slowed, crashed or frozen.” Apple’s engineers are accused of waiting for “nearly 3 months” to fix the problem, despite being “acutely aware of the thousands of complaints lodged.” Wofford contends that Apple disallowed the downgrading of the iPhone 3G from iOS 4 back to iOS 3.x in an attempt to willfully manipulated consumers into purchasing the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4. According to the suit, the plaintiff’s iPhone has gone from 99 percent reliability to “about 20 percent functionality” because of the iOS 4 upgrade.”

According to Wired, the lawsuit still requires judge approval before it can gain class action status.

In July of this year, an Apple spokeswoman explained to The Wall Street Journal that Apple was aware of the problems and reports of the performance of the iPhone 3G with the iOS 4 update installed, and that they were looking into the issue.

As reported by AppleInsider.com, “During Apple’s Sept. 1 media event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs specifically mentioned the iPhone 3G ‘bug’ as an issue that would be resolved in iOS 4.1. After the update was released, informal speed tests conducted on an iPhone running iOS 4.1 seemed to resolve some of the sluggishness that users were reporting. The iPhone 3G running iOS 4.1 ‘didn’t get stuck nearly as much,’ the test noted.”

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With a budget of around $100 million the company plans to market its nine phone models aggressively in an effort to regain top position in the market place. Microsoft also hopes to regain the customers it lost to Apple Inc and Google Inc.

There are new products ready for the market in the next few months from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, LG Electronics Inc, HTC Corp and Dell Inc. Products will be delivered to stores late in 2010.

In a research note, Wells Fargo Analyst Jason Maynard said, “We are the first to admit that Microsoft is fighting for third place, not first or even second, at this point; but we believe this is a key step toward rebuilding confidence in their ability to innovate in mobile.”

Ross Rubin, a consumer electronics analyst with the retail research firm NPD Group states, “They have phones with slide-out keyboards, larger screens, and high definition outlets – all features that the iPhone does not have. That should help Microsoft’s competitive position. There will always be a segment of customers that seek out the newest devices.”

The Microsoft handset compares favorably with Apple’s iPhone unlike the earlier versions. The product has colorful touch-screens and quick web access.

“The user interface is quite innovative because it takes advantage of those precious few seconds when eyes hit the glass and actually gives you something useful,” commented Al Hilwa from the research firm IDC. “It will probably be copied by other platforms over time.”

Jack Gold analyst of J Gold Associates says, “This is Microsoft’s last chance to be a major player in the Smartphone market. Microsoft will be required to undertake a massive consumer education campaign if it wants to stand a chance of differentiating itself from iPhone and Android, which have far greater market presence.”

A huge fan of Apple products is British actor and writer Stephen Fry. However he is impressed with the Microsoft phone.

“When I got one of these (phones) my first feeling was it’s fun to play with. I have felt enormous pleasure using this phone. Yes, I love Apple, but I’m not a monotheist. I want biodiversity in this market and all of us that love it should welcome that too.”

Sales forecasts for the new Microsoft phones have not been released by the company.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Plans to Dominate Smartphone Market was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

This survey questioned 3,108 consumers that were asked questions about devices they plan to purchase in the next 90 days. Only 14 percent of those wanting to purchase a laptop were planning on buying a netbook. This is 10 points below the highest point of the netbook’s demand back in June 2009.

As stated on AppleInsider.com, “The decline of netbooks is attributable to a combination of factors including the end of the recession and the mounting penetration of tablet computers — notably the Apple iPad,” wrote Paul Carton, vice president of research with ChangeWave. “Moreover, in a close-up look at tablet demand trends for the holidays, our ChangeWave survey finds continuing momentum for the iPad.”

The smaller version of a laptop, the netbook, has been on the decline this year. The biggest factor for this is probably due to the addition of the iPad in the market. PC makers of the netbooks have reduced their shipments in the United States since the iPad was released in April.

Apple sold 4.19 million iPads in the last quarter. Apple has also increased their distribution of the iPad to stores such as Target and WalMart for the upcoming holiday season. This extra availability of the iPad will perhaps make the demand even larger for the iPad.

ChangeWave’s survey also found that despite the new competitors in the touchscreen tablet market, consumer interest in the Apple iPad is still far above the competition. Out of those questioned, 80 percent said that they were more likely to purchase an iPad. Only 8 percent of those questioned were likely to purchase RIM’s Playbook, and only 3 percent were likely to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

The Samsung Galaxy tab is debuting later this month in the United States, and RIM’s Playbook is expected to be released in early 2011. Both of these touchscreen tablets will have a 7-inch screen. The Apple iPad has a 9.7 multi-touch display.
As stated on AppleInsider.com, “Those will also have to overcome the overwhelming satisfaction iPad owners have expressed with their purchase. Nearly three-quarters — 72 percent — of iPad owners polled by ChangeWave categorized themselves as “very satisfied” with the iPad, while another 23 percent said they are “somewhat satisfied.” Just 1 percent labeled themselves as “somewhat unsatisfied” with the iPad.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad Demand Causes Netbook Sales To Drop was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

“With the iPhone and the iPad, the company continues to experience tremendous product momentum across two core areas that we believe are still in the early stages of growth: with global handset units at 1.1 billion/year and the tablet opportunity still nascent. We additionally see meaningful opportunity for Apple in its Mac line, particularly with the company’s new $999 11 inch screen MacBook Air, which our checks show to be selling higher than expected units both online and in Apple Stores.”

Blair produced his forecast after checking Apple outlets and Barron’s financial reports. He is convinced that Apple is looking at a “nearly 100% year over year growth for iPhone in 2011″

The results will be “a staggering number any way you look at it,” he says.

Not everyone agrees with Brian Blair’s predictions. Analyst Yair Reiner acknowledged Apple’s success with sales of the iPhone 4 in the recent quarter but felt that overall Apple’s sales in other areas were disappointing.

“Disappointment, thy name is expectation,” Reiner said. “Notwithstanding the short-term vicissitudes of the expectations game, Apple clearly has a winner on its hands.” Reiner’s estimates Apple will sell around 52 million iPhones and 23 million iPads in 2011.

The iPad sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 were less than Wall Street expectations.

Charlie Wolf, analyst with Needham & Company, predicts that 18 million iPads will be sold in 2011 and thinks that iPad might even miss reaching that target. He thinks that the growth of the tablet market is unpredictable.

Brian Blair thinks Apple is “incredibly bullish about its growth prediction. In a research note he wrote. “We believe Apple remains the best-positioned company in the tech sector as we exit the year and look into 2011.”

He supports purchasing Apple stock. “With the iPhone and the iPad, the company continues to experience tremendous product momentum across two core areas that we believe are still in the early stages of growth: with global handset units at 1.1 billion/year and the tablet opportunity still nascent.”

Forecasts Differ on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Sales Volume in 2011 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

According to Tech Crunch, BOKU President and CEO Mark Britto and co-founder Ron Hirson have met with Apple executives that are in charge of the iPhone multiple times over the past 3 weeks.

BOKU has also allegedly had “high level meetings” with Google’s Director of Engineering Michael Morrissey, who heads Google Mobile Services for Android. BOKU has partnered with the Android developers to offer purchases for their Android apps.

As stated on AppleInsider.com, “Sources have yet to confirm whether Google is interested in an “outright acquisition” of the startup, but with both Apple and Google doing some “serious sniffing,” the result could be a bidding war. The price tag on BOKU, which has brought in a number of “big-name investors,” could reach 9-digits, reportedly costing Apple between $250-450 million, although Tech Crunch was unable to fix an exact price at this stage in the negotiations.”

This possible acquisition is similar to last year when both Apple and Google were interested in ad seller AdMob. Google eventually acquired the company for $750 million just a few weeks after Apple reportedly approached AdMob.

Apple then acquired a smaller mobile ad company called Quattro Wireless for $275 million. It was this company that helped Apple to lay the groundwork for Apple’s interactive iAd program. As stated on AppleInsider.com, “We don’t know much about this advertising thing,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs when he announced iAd in April. “We tried to buy a company called AdMob, and Google came in and snatched them because they didn’t want us to have them. We bought a smaller but still great company called Quattro.”

Apple currently has $51 billion in cash and reserves. Apple can afford to acquire BOKU, even if they end up in a bidding war with Google. As stated on AppleInsider.com, “We strongly believe one or more strategic opportunities will come along we’re in a unique position to take advantage of,” Jobs said during the company’s conference call for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010. “We don’t let the cash burn a hole in the pocket or make stupid acquisitions. We’d like to continue to keep our powder dry because we think there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) in Secret Talks With BOKU was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

According to AppleInsider.com, the option offered by Apple will allow customers to engrave up to two lines for the free engraving. This will be engraved on the back of the iPad. The free option is available for iPads purchased on their website apple.com as an “Apple Online Store Exclusive.”

Apple customers are given this option to engrave their iPad after they select an iPad model they want to purchase and any other accessories from their online store. When one of their items, such as the iPad is engraved, it is not returnable. Customers are cautioned to double-check their spelling for the engraved text to be sure it says what you want it to say before submitting your order. Adding the engraved text option also lengthens the shipping time for the order from “within 24 hours” to “1-3 business days.”

This confirms the rumor earlier this year about Apple giving a free laser engraving option to include the iPod and the iPad. The custom engraved iPods have been available to Apple customers for several years now.

As stated by AppleInsider.com, “The iPad is widely expected to be a ‘must have’ gift this holiday season, with some analysts worrying that Apple may not be able supply enough tablets to meet demand. Apple has struggled to keep the device in stock since it was released in April. Though production of the tablet device seems to have caught up to orders, with shipping times of ‘Within 24hrs’ for all six models of the tablet device, holiday demand could easily outpace supply. Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner predicts Apple will sell as many as 6.5 million iPads from October to December.”

Apple has widely extended their retail availability for the iPad. The new tablet will be available from AT&T stores, Verizon stores, Target, and Walmart. As reported on AppleInsider.com, “With over 7 million units sold in just two quarters of availability, the iPad has already become a major part of Apple’s revenue, accounting for $2.8 billion in revenue during the September quarter.”

Apple’s iPad is so popular that it may even cut drastically into sales of notebooks quite soon. As stated by AppleInsider, “The iPad is clearly going to affect notebook computers,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said during the company’s fourth fiscal quarter 2010 earnings call. “I think the iPad proves it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”

Free Engraving For Your Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad For The Holidays was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

When the iPhone 4 was introduced, Apple showed versions in both black and white. When shipments began being sent, only black models of the iPhone were available. The company promised the white phone models would be soon to follow.

Apple has previously mentioned that white models were ‘more challenging to build’ than the company had first expected. Apple’s current updating cycle leaves speculation that the next model will be available for purchase by next June. If this is the case, the white iPhones will be available for just a short period of time before the phones are again upgraded.

This is the third time Apple has delayed the white iPhone’s release. Apple released a statement to consumers saying “We’re sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone yet again, but we’ve decided to delay its release until this spring.”

White iPhone Pushed Back By Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) – Again was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Revenue was $20.34 billion with a net quarterly profit of $4.31 billion. This amounts to $4.64 per diluted share. This compares more than favorably with the fourth quarter of 2009. The 2009 earnings were $12.21 billion, a quarterly profit of $4.31 billion and a diluted share value of $2.77.

The gross margin was 36.9 percent for 2010 compared with 41.8 percent in 2009.

Apple is truly an international company for 57% of the revenue earned in the fourth quarter was from international sales.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO reports, “We are blown away to report over $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings—both all-time records for Apple.” Our “iPhone sales of 14.1 million were up 91 percent year-over-year, handily beating the 12.1 million phones RIM sold in their most recent quarter. We still have a few surprises left for the remainder of this calendar year.”

Total sales for the quarter were 3.89 million Macs (a 27% rise), 14.1 million iPhones (91% sales increase), 9.05 million iPods (11% down) and 14.91 million iPads.

Apple is the leader in the digital music field with iPods and iTunes. The influence of the new product iPad will be felt in mobile media and computing.

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO announced, “We’re thrilled with the performance and strength of our business, generating almost $5.7 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter,”

“Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2011, we expect revenue of about $23 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $4.80.”

The Press Release of the company’s fourth quarter report is positive about the trends continuing but warns there are still uncertain variables such as competitive and economic factors that can’t be measured. They will affect future results. The company outlines a number of factors that need consideration as they prepare to market their products in the next quarter.

Apple does not accept any obligation to change any assessment of their future growth because the market cannot be assumed but it remains optimistic regarding future growth.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Continues its Market Domination was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

This new network at Starbucks isn’t just being used to push back competition such as McDonald’s which is offering coffee and Internet service at select locations. It is also possibly being used as a new revenue stream for Starbucks as customers use and purchase content while browsing the network at their coffee shops.

In July of this year, Starbucks started offering free Wi-Fi Internet access at their coffee shop locations. In September alone, they had about 30 million log-ins at their locations.

In this new partnership, Starbucks will launch the network portal for their users who sign on while at their Starbucks stores. The welcome page will connect their customers with free books, news, movies, and music. Most of this free content will only be available for users while they are at the Starbucks location. Starbucks will also receive an unspecified amount for each sale made through this network.

As reported on AppleInsider.com, The service is designed to be “bite-sized,” with small doses of content meant to be consumed in just a few minutes. In order to create the model, Starbucks and Yahoo first observed customers’ habits. “Users across the Internet are moving more into this ‘snackable behavior’ to begin with,” said Burke Culligan, vice president of product management at Yahoo.

Starbucks customers will now be able to download the free song of the week right from the iTunes online store while they are online at a Starbucks store. In the past, customers had to pick up cards with song codes, but with the help of this new network, that will no longer be needed.

As stated on AppleInsider.com, “Apple and Starbucks have worked together in a music partnership for several years now, partnering on an iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store for Starbucks customers. In the past, Starbucks has given away millions of iTunes downloads to customers at its U.S. coffee shops.”

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) Joins Apple and Yahoo to Offer In-Store Digital Content was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As stated in the AT&T press release, “We can’t wait to showcase the amazing features of iPad Wi-Fi + 3G in our stores across the country just in time for the holidays,” said Glenn Lurie, AT&T President of Emerging Devices, Resale and Partnerships, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “With our breakthrough iPad data plans starting at just $14.99 and access to AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots around the country at no extra cost, our customers will have the best of both worlds.”

Tim Cook, Apple’s COO also stated, “We look forward to expanding the reach of iPad allowing even more customers to experience the magic of iPad for themselves. As we approach the holiday season, we are very happy that customers will now be able to buy iPad Wi-Fi + 3G at AT&T stores.”

The iPad allows users to connect with others on their apps in a more intimate and fun way than with previous laptops. The iPad uses the revolutionary Multi-Touch interface, and is only 0.5 inches thick, and weighs just 1.6 pounds. Users are able to browse the web, send e-mail, share photos with others, watch videos in HD, listen to music, play games, read e-books, and much more. The battery life varies depending on what is being used on the iPad, but it can deliver up to ten hours of battery life for users surfing the web on Wi-Fi, including watching videos and listening to music! It can also last for up to nine hours for users using the iPad surfing the web on a 3G network.

The App Store offers iPad users over 280,000 apps for their tablet, including over 30,000 designed specifically for the iPad. This includes games, news, sports, health, travel, business, and more. The Apple iBookstore lets iPad users easily browse, buy and read books on their iPad.

As stated in the AT&T press release, “All iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available beginning Thursday, October 28 in AT&T Stores across the US for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, and $829 for 64GB. Domestic data plans for iPad are priced at $14.99 per month for 250MB and $25 per month for 2GB with no term contract. Both plans include unlimited access to AT&T’s 23,000+ domestic Wi-Fi Hot Spots.”

AT&T (NYSE: T) Stores Will Sell Apple iPad Starting on October 28 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As reported on AppleInsider.com, “Last week, quarterly PC sales estimates forecast that Apple cracked more than 10 percent of U.S. sales for the third quarter of 2010. Research firm IDC estimated that Apple sold around 2 million Macs domestically, good for a 10.6 percent market share.”

This data shows that the PC market grew by 4 percent over the past year, but it would have shown as 24 percent if it included the iPad sales. According to Whitmore, the iPad’s projected sales of 3.6 million units would have accounted for this large boost in sales. As stated on AppleInsider.com, “Apple’s share in the U.S. computer market is ~25% including iPad which makes it the market leader after an 18 point share jump in only 2 quarters, followed by ~20% for HP and ~19% for Dell”.

Mac units (not including the iPad) grew by 24 percent over the year. If the iPad sales were included in this, Apple’s sales grew by about 250 percent from a year ago. HP sales only grew by 3 percent over the year, and Dell’s sales slid by 5 percent.

Apple has been aggressively expanding their retail presence for the iPad before the holiday season. It is now being sold by Target and Amazon, and Verizon will also have the Wi-Fi only models available starting on October 28.

Whitmore believes that this large retail presence of the iPad will only make the sales soar higher. As stated on AppleInsider.com, “We believe the lack of meaningful competition in the tablet space and expanded channel distribution (Target, Walmart, etc) entering the holiday will further expand Apple’s competitive lead/first mover advantage,” he wrote. “The competitive response to the iPad has been remarkably absent and late (from HP, Asus, Acer, Samsung etc) and we expect strong iPad demand into 4Q (additional countries/channels) to support share gains going forward, particularly as the international roll-out gains steam.”

The analyst on this matter predicts that all PC vendors will be impacted by the iPad’s large success. However, the greatest losses are projected to be felt by HP, currently the largest United States vendor.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Could Surpass Competitors If iPad Were Categorized As A PC was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Verizon will offer a month to month data plan without a contract for a $20 monthy fee. It gives users 1GB of mobile data each month. The Tab is set up for free Wi-Fi too brownse in public places or at home.

Verizon will also offer Verizon-branded services for the Tab including V CAST Music, VZ Navigator, Kindle for Android, and Blockbuster on Demand. The Tab operates similarly to a phone but no voice calls are allowed. Consumers can still take pictures, send texts, and allows for video messaging.

Verizon is comfortable with the $599.99 sales price and is confident consumers will find value in the Galaxy Tab. Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Marni Walden said of Verizon ‘The Samsung Galaxy Tab brings together the reliability of Verizon Wireless’ 3G network and the power of Android 2.2 to deliver on our promise of providing consumers and business customers with a host of options to help manage their lives.’

$600 Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad Competition Coming From Verizon (NYSE: VZ) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Meizu has been producing phones very similar to Apple’s iPhone for years now. Even though the phones made by the company were not officially sold in the United States, Meizu has gathered a very large following in their home country of China.

As reported by AppleInsider.com,

“Earlier this week, Meizu CEO Jack Wong reportedly expressed frustration over Apple lawyers using ‘unreasonable negotiation tactics’ when dealing with Meizu, according to Engadget. Apple’s legal department went after Meizu for its M8 touchscreen smartphone, which the Cupertino, Calif., company alleges has ‘an appearance roughly similar’ to that of its iPhone.

Wong then announced on Meizu’s online forums that the company would cease production and stop sales of the M8, due to Apple’s efforts to enforce its patents through China’s Intellectual Property Office, Electronista reports. The company’s next-generation M9 smartphone, which will run a custom version of Android, could also be delayed if the local government moves to shut down factories.”

Apple reportedly reached a deal with Meizu to stop the production of the M8 phone, but then “allegedly turned on the deal” forcing for a sales ban as well as the production ban. Wong has threatened that Meizu may have to resort to filing their own court case if they are pressed too hard on the matter. He has said that they can cope with the production being halted, but not with a sales freeze because that could jeopardize their resellers.

As stated in Apple Insider, “According to Electronista, early mockups of Meizu’s M8 smartphone emerged within weeks of Apple’s unveiling of the original iPhone in 2007 and bore a striking resemblance to Apple’s entry into the wireless industry. Updates to the final design of the M8, which was released in late 2008, closely resembled the newly released iPhone 3G.”

Apple is aggressively going after the Chinese market to sell their products, and it needs to protect their intellectual property in doing so, especially with manufacturers in China that are quick to copy designs of popular electronics. This type of electronic knock-offs are sold frequently on the “grey market.”

Apple is doing well in the Chinese market, and has been steadily improving. Sales of the iPhone 4 topped 100,000 in the first few days after it was launched and 100,000 more additional pre-orders were placed to be fulfilled in October. Apple plans to open 25 retail stores in China over the next two years.

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The Apple iPhone app store made the concept of applications for smartphones popular and showed how important they were for making those phones what the user wanted. Apple claims that they don’t make much money from the app store due to the cost of their operating servers and processing transactions, however this could change.

As reported in The Wall Street Journal, “Rising smartphone market sales, which Gartner estimates will hit 563.8 million in 2012 from 172.4 million last year, will by itself increase the size of the app market. In addition, the array of content and services available through apps is exploding. It is likely that more apps in the future generate recurring revenue, like newspaper subscriptions, rather than a one-time payment. Indeed, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimates the App Store’s net revenue for Apple will rise from $425 million in fiscal 2010 to $2.3 billion in fiscal 2015. As Android has now passed Apple in smartphone market share, the potential revenue for app stores on Android phones is even bigger.”

Many games and books are being sold as applications for these smartphones. Perhaps that is what made Amazon feel that they had no choice but to set up their own app store to meet this demand. Amazon is well suited to run an app store, and already has a huge following of loyal customers. This means big money possibilities for their future app store.

The Android Market uses Google Checkout for their payments. The addition of an Amazon app store would mean competition because it could be seen as an easier option for payments.

Not all is lost for Google though, as stated in The Wall Street Journal, “Google won’t necessarily let Amazon plow ahead unimpeded. If Google decides its Checkout option isn’t getting traction, it could do a deal with PayPal to make it a payments mechanism for Android Market. PayPal operates the small app store on BlackBerry, and it is a payments option on iTunes. The Appcelerator/IDC developer survey found 48% wanted to use PayPal inside future applications, compared with 49% for Apple and only 18% for Amazon. That suggests PayPal has the weapons to trump Amazon in the mobile-commerce space.”

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Announces Plans To Open Their Own App Store was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

iPads can be purchased in-store at Walmart locations and can be ordered through the Walmart website. However, orders placed online must be picked up at a store location. The $499 price tag for the basic model with 16-GB, Wi-Fi enabled system at Walmart and other retailers will face some stiff competition from Target. Starting Sunday October 17, Target will be offering store card holders a 5% discount which gives almost a $25 discount on the iPad purchase.

Apple had a busy month in October when the iPad was listed beyond the Apple stores and the specialty electronics stores. Besides Target, the iPad went on sale through Amazon where it was only sold previously through third-party vendors.

Walmart plans to sell all six versions of the Apple iPad starting at the $499 price fot the 16 GB and increase in price with the $829 price tag of the 64 GV Wi-Fi plus 3G iPad model.

Walmart Sales of Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad Start Friday was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

While Apple’s stock has done well this year, up 37% from last, some analysts believe that it is still underrated. The factor that seems to be holding it back is the concern of the company’s size. “The prime factor behind the underperformance of the stock relative to the fundamentals seem to be investor concern about Apple’s size,” said Oppenheimer’s stock analyst Yair Reiner. Despite these concerns he went on to say, bottom line, as big as Apple is today, it seems destined to get much bigger.” Skepticism could very well diminish if Apple releases later this month that they did indeed have a third quarter blow out.

Apple has seen very strong sales of their products this year, especially in the new products that they have launched. Sales of the iPad were strong and they have sold millions more than what was projected. New iPhone sales also greatly contribute to the company’s profit margin. Sales are expected to remain strong for the remainder of the year.

“With the iPhone revolution still in early innings, the iPad just out, and the innovation engines of many key competitors still reeling from the recent economic calamity, Apple appears as well positioned as ever to deliver another series of home runs.” the brokerage said in a note.

Apple certainly has an edge on their competitors and always seems to be looking toward the future. It has been reported that they are currently talking with major record labels. Rumors have it that Apple is hoping to work with these labels to launch a new subscription music service to go along with iTunes. Users would be able to choose a variety of monthly music plans that would give them access to unlimited music listening.

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Stock Prediction Just Went Up was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Motorola claims that they attempted to license the technology to Apple and engaged in a rather lengthy negotiation with them on the matter. However, Motorola and Apple never came to a decision and the deal was never made to license their technology. Motorola alleges that Apple “refused” to pay for the license.

The complaint against Apple was filed in two United States districts: the Southern District of Florida and the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint covers technologies such as software application management, location-based services, e-mail, proximity sensing, and multi-device synchronization.

As stated on AppleInsider.com, “Motorola has innovated and patented throughout every cycle of the telecommunications industry evolution, from Motorola’s invention of the cell phone to its development of premier smartphone products,” said Kirk Dailey, corporate vice president of intellectual property with Motorola Mobility. “We have extensively licensed our industry-leading intellectual property portfolio, consisting of tens of thousands of patents in the U.S. and worldwide.”

“Apple’s late entry into the telecommunications market, we engaged in lengthy negotiations, but Apple has refused to take a license. We had no choice but to file these complaints to halt Apple’s continued infringement. Motorola will continue to take all necessary steps to protect its R&D and intellectual property, which are critical to the company’s business.”

As is standard in such an ITC suit, Motorola asked the commission to put a stop of the importation of products involved in the suit. This would include the iPhone and iPad produced by Apple. Motorola seeks compensation from Apple, and also wants the ITC to halt the marketing, promotion, and sale of products that they believe are infringing on their patents.

This isn’t the first lawsuit against Apple involving infringing patents. As stated by AppleInsider.com, “Motorola’s lawsuit is just the latest in a long list of complaints involving Apple before the ITC. Apple has also sued Nokia, and is also being sued by the Finnish handset maker. The ITC has agreed to look into both companies’ complaints of patent infringement. Apple has also sued handset maker HTC. And it’s being sued by Elan Microelectronics over multi-touch. The ITC has also begun investigating claims made by Kodak against Apple. The camera company has alleged that Apple is in violation of patents that relate to the previewing of images, and processing them at different resolutions.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Sued By Motorola for Alleged Patent Infringement was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

When the iPad launched in April, it was available at only a couple hundred of the United States based Apple stores, and at only select Best Buy stores. It quickly sold out in just a few days. It was only during August that supplies finally caught up to the demand of the iPad. By August, the iPad was also being sold in 19 countries and was expanding further to five South American countries and to China.

As reported by CNN Money, when the iPad became available at 1,743 Target stores in the United States, it doubled its retail presence in a very big way. The iPad is now being sold in 25 countries, in 221 United States Apple stores (plus about a dozen stores overseas), in 1,093 Best Buy stores, and in 1,743 Target stores nationwide.

Computers are always big purchase items for holiday shopping during Christmas, as are iPods, and anything involving Apple. The iPad is this year’s “it” item that many of all ages are putting at the top of their Christmas wish list.

Even though there is still plenty of time left for Christmas shopping, Apple could expand even further by offering the iPad for sale at Wal-Mart stores. As reported in Business Week, Wal-Mart stores may start to sell the Apple iPad in 2010 in order to compete with electronics chains for their consumers that want the device. “We anticipate being able to have the iPad later this year,” Gary Severson, senior vice president of entertainment for Wal-Mart’s U.S. stores, said in a telephone interview. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company isn’t prepared to provide specifics on the timing and pricing of the iPad.

There are currently 2,815 Wal-Mart Superstores in the United States and 774 Wal-Mart Discount stores. Wal-Mart is one of the most shopped at stores in our nation, and if the iPad were to be offered there, it would further increase the presence of the iPad. The question would then be if Apple could keep up with the demand if offered at Wal-Mart, especially if there were big deals on the iPad for Black Friday shopping.

Is Wal-mart (NYSE: WMT) Next In Line to Sell the iPad? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

As stated in the San Francisco Chronicle, “The agreements challenged here restrained competition for affected employees without any pro-competitive justification,” from Molly Boast, deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division.

This recent agreement follows an antitrust investigation into the recruiting and hiring practices that have involved some of the largest United States technology companies. The settlement is not as broad as some originally thought it would be, and it also does not include fines. The companies affected may still be faced with lawsuits from those who claim that they have missed out on higher paying jobs due to the recruiting practices, therefore they have not yet seen the end of this ordeal.

If the settlement is accepted by a federal court in Washington, it will be effective for five years. Representatives for both Microsoft Corp. and IBM Corp. said last week that their companies are no longer a part of this investigation.

As stated in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Intel does not believe its actions violated the law, nor does the company agree with the allegations,” spokesman Chuck Mulloy of Santa Clara-based Intel said in an e-mailed statement. “The company is settling the matter because it believes it would not harm the company or its ability to do business.”

Also stated in the San Francisco Chronicle, The settlement won’t have a ‘significant impact’ on business, according to Diane Carlini, a spokeswoman for Intuit, based in Mountain View. “We have agreed to disagree with the DOJ on the issue of any wrongdoing in this matter,” Carlini said in a statement.

According to Amy Lambert, Google’s associate general counsel of employment, Google and “a number of other tech companies” had no-cold-call policies.

In May of 2005, Adobe and Apple executives agreed not to cold call each other’s employees. According to the department, Adobe put Apple on a list of companies that are off limits to call, and Apple placed Adobe on an internal do-not-call list.

Similarly, Apple and Google had internal do-not-call lists. Apple and Pixar agreed not to call each other’s staffs. Google also had an agreement with both Intel and Intuit.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) one of U.S. technology companies to end ban on recruiting workers from competitors was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Starting on October 3^rd, all six models of the iPad will be available for sale in Target (NYSE: TGT). Both the WiFi-only and iPad 3G models in all the various storage capacity options will be available in Target for the same pricing as they are through the Apple store. You can get the low end iPad for $499 and the 65GB high-end model with 3G connectivity for $829.

As an incentive for Target shoppers using a Target credit card, beginning on October 17^th, buying any of the Apple iPads with the Target credit card will result in a 5% discount. Just remember to pay your credit card bill in full and on time or the interest will quickly eat your discount.

Target will be the largest retail chain carrying the Apple iPad currently, but as Apple looks to expand the iPad retail availability, Target may soon find strong competition as other retailers begin offering the iPad in stores, too. Most Best Buy stores are already offering the iPad, and there are plans to put iPad devices in all Best Buy stores in the United States. Rumors suggest Wal-Mart may be among upcoming retailers to begin selling iPad devices.

The move to expand the retail availability of iPads may be coming as a result to the competition of incoming tablet computers to the market. Samsung Galaxy Tab is selling through four major United States cell phone carriers, Verizon, Spring, AT&T and T-Mobile, while rumors of an upcoming Blackberry Tablet (BlackPad) may create another option to the iPad shortly.

Target operates 1,743 stores around the United States, 240 of which are considered “Super Targets”.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad Expands Retail Availability into Target (NYSE: TGT) Stores was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Smartphone manufacturers scoring below the industry average in the same survey included Blackberry’s creator (Research in Motion) with 737 points, Samsung with 735 points, Palm with 726 points and Nokia with 711.

How Is Customer Satisfaction Measured?

In surveys, J.D. Power and Associates measure customer satisfaction through weighing several question categories involving ease of operation worth 26% of total score, operating system, also worth 26% of total score, and battery functioning, worth 8% of the total score. Apple did not score the highest in the battery category, but ranked highest in all other categories asked of smartphones.

Apple also received high satisfaction ratings in surveys conducted by ChangeWave, a market research company, last July. In that survey, 93% of iPhone 4 owners chosen “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” to questions involving their iPhones.

Consumer Reports Doesn’t Recommend iPhone Despite High Scores

It seems the only negative voice regarding the iPhone 4 comes from Consumer Reports magazine and is mostly due to the antenna issue. iPhone 4 would drop calls if held a certain way, due to the antenna placement, but other smartphones had similar issues. Steve Jobs of Apple promised everyone a free iPhone case to help relieve complaints, but has announced the free case program would end at the end of September. Consumer Reports refuse to recommend iPhone 4 to their readers, even though they indicate the iPhone 4 scored the highest during their evaluation.

Consumers Keeping Phones Longer

Also worth noting is the length of time customers keep their smartphones. In the US, mobile phone owners are keeping handsets for an average of 20.5 months, which is longer than any stretch of time since the data began being tracked in 1999. This indicates the quality of the product is improving as consumers are able to use them longer; and also overall satisfaction. If customers were unsatisfied, they’d run out and buy a new one to replace it. J.D. Power’s senior director of wireless services, Kirk Parsons has a different theory to explain the longer length of time people are keeping their phones: “One possible reason is that more customers are delaying an upgrade purchase due to the general economic downturn,” he said in a statement. “Consumers are really watching their wallets.”

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone Ranked Number 1 in Customer Satisfaction According to J.D. Power was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple would give publishers the tools needed to easily create media rich replicas of their print publications. This would help to keep the electronic publications updated frequently as possible. According to Geek.com, it might launch in a couple of months, or it might launch when the next iPad is expected to be released (sometime in the first quarter of next year).

As stated on Geek.com, “Steve Jobs shared vital store stats at the iPod event earlier this month: Users downloaded 35 million e-books through the iBook Store, the iTunes Store sold 11.7 billion songs and 450 million TV episodes, and the App Store topped 6.5 billion app downloads – 200 per second – out of which 1.5 billion were game and entertainment titles downloaded to the iPod touch. The addition of a new content store for digital print products would help Apple fend off rivals and enhance the iPad’s e-reading focus.”

Apple is currently offering electronic books on the iBook Store, which is accessible on all of their iDevices from their free iBooks app. Their devices also allow use of other e-book readers, too. As of right now, there are also some digital magazines available as a downloadable app from the App Store. Newspaper subscriptions are also available, but are generally sold on the publisher’s site and then accessed on the iDevice from the free reader apps.

Publishers seem to be willing to do business with Apple, but have some concerns over the revenue sharing terms and consequently Apple’s unwillingness to release any detailed information concerning their iTunes-using customers. Publishers want this information mainly for marketing purposes and to bundle their print and digital subscriptions. Apple may end up allowing their users to “Opt-in” to allow Apple to release some of their information from their iTunes account for these purposes.

This possible new digital newsstand for Apple sounds familiar to an offer that was made nine months ago by Hearst, Condé Nast, Meredith, News Corporation, and Time Inc. Geek.com reported that they said “they joined forces to create the “Hulu for magazines,” basically an online content store with electronic magazines and newspapers, books, comic books, blogs, and other digital print products.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to launch digital newsstand for iPad was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Google recently reported to AppleInsider that iPhone users are still able to use the Web-based Google Voice dialer. This app allows users to activate a call made by the service. Last year Apple did not accept Google’s native application for their App Store. Google is now declining on commenting on if they will be resubmitting their application to Apple.

As stated by AppleInsider, “We currently offer Google Voice mobile apps for Blackberry and Android, and we offer an HTML5 web app for the iPhone,” a Google spokesperson said. “We have nothing further to announce at this time.”

Applications that access Google Voice began appearing in the App Store on Sunday. These applications were banished for more than a year, so it was quite a surprise for many users when they just suddenly appeared again. The first two applications that were made available were GV Mobile + and GV Connect.

Apple revised and published their own App Store Review Guidelines. These new guidelines gave developers a better idea of exactly which kind of software will or will not actually be allowed for iOS devices. This eventually led to the acceptance of the Google Voice applications.

The Google Voice apps were originally taken off of the App Store in July 2009. Apple refused to accept the software for Google’s first party, Google Voice. This situation prompted the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to investigate the matter.

Apple responded to the investigation in a letter to the FCC, claiming that they were reviewing the Google Voice application, and had not completely rejected the app. For over a year, Apple gave no word on if the Google Voice application had been officially accepted or officially rejected.

As stated in AppleInsider, “Instead, Google opted to release a Web-based application for Google Voice, which allows users to access the service from the Mobile Safari browser on the iPhone. Unlike the App Store, where Apple controls what content is available, basic Web content is not filtered or restricted. Google also wrote its own letter to the FCC, in which it alleged that Apple outright rejected the Google Voice software. It said officials with Apple would not allow the application into the App Store because it duplicated the dialer functionality built in to the iPhone.”

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) quiet on the issue of resubmitting voice app for iPhone was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

According to Engadget, the in-store inventory for the Target store show an unnamed product listing at the same pricing guidelines as Apple’s iPad. Sources say picture proof of the upcoming product launch show the iPad will be stocked in the ‘Digital Audio’ department alongside Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader and Apple’s iPod. It is believed that Target will sell the iPad at six different sales levels which range from $829 for the 64GB model with 3G and $499 for the 16GB WiFi-only models.

When iPad was launched early in 2010, Apply executives stated that sales would be limited in the number of locations including premium resellers and the national electronics retailer, Best Buy. Apple also stated expansion of sales to brick-and-mortar establishments would be expected over time. It is believed that Walmart, the largest US retailer, would be selling the Apple iPad by the end of the year.

Apple has experienced additional supply and demand issues even before expanding their retail locations. Continued strong sales have place long delays for consumers ordering online. Currently, Apple’s website has reduced shipping times to just 24 hours. It seems that any previous production issues have been resolved.

While there is no concrete evidences of the retail move for Apple, it does seem as though Apple’s plans to expand are moving forward.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Rumored to Aim for iPad Sales at Target (NYSE:TGT) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple has stated that all iPhone 4 phones purchased after September 30 would be sold under the normal return policy of 30 days to receive a full refund. The phone was launched in June but the problems came about soon after due to the positioning of the antennae. Users experienced dropped calls when they placed their hand in the lower left corner of the phone. The antennae were causing a distortion to the wireless signal when touched by users.

Steve Jobs called a press conference to address the issue and offered an apology to iPhone customers. Apple has stated that only 1 percent of the total iPhone 4 customers experienced dropped call problems and said they were not considering a modification to the phone’s design. A company representative declined to comment on any design changes. iPhone 4 sales are still outselling supplies and here is a current shipping delay of three weeks for new orders according to Apple’s website.

The company now believes the overall antennae issue was much smaller than originally thought but also acknowledged they would review the cutoff date for issue free cases after further investigation of the situation was completed.

It is estimated that it cost Apple as much as $200 million dollars for the free cases. That includes lost revenues from any cases the company would have sold if not for the giveaway.

Consumers still in need of an iPhone 4 case can visiting the Apple website to download the iPhone Case Program app from the App Store. The app can be launched on your iPhone and you’ll need to sign in with your Apple ID or iTunes store account information to choose the case.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Stop Free Case Program September 30 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Shortly after Ping was released, it became the subject of several controversies.

First was the public argument between Apple and Facebook. This took place before the announcement. As stated in PC World, “For whatever reason, Steve Jobs would not agree to the ‘onerous terms’ demanded by Facebook (which he declined to enumerate), so Ping went out the door without any integration with the world’s largest social network whatsoever. But not before Apple had created press materials boasting about how you could log into Ping via Facebook Connect or find fellow Pingers on Facebook.”

The big problem with Ping now though is that it seems to be a spam scammer’s best dream come true. Ping users are getting slammed with the same kind of link baiting comment spam that is all over the blogosphere. These spam comments lead users to other websites that could potentially ruin their computer, steal their passwords, take over their computer, contain viruses, adware, spyware, and the very malicious malware.

Security blogger Chester Wisniewski doesn’t understand why Apple didn’t see this coming, and perhaps if they did, why they didn’t do something about it. As stated in PC World, “Most of the security industry has been pointing out the migration of spam from an email-only venture to blog/forum comments, Facebook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 platforms. But apparently Apple didn’t consider this when designing Ping, as the service implements no spam or URL filtering. It is no big shock that less than 24 hours after launch, Ping is drowning in scams and spams.”

Furthermore, what Wisniewski finds odd, is that Apple is filtering Ping for “offensive material” like nude profile photos, but not for the quite destructive spam. Maybe they think that everyone who uses Ping will go out and buy a Mac if their PC dies from these spam comments that lead them to Malware and other destructive viruses.

According to PC World’s Nick Mediati, Ping’s current limited privacy setting does not make this comment spam an easy issue to fix.

Apple’s Ping Users Targeted By Spammers (NASDAQ: AAPL) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Ping allows users to follow their favorite singers and bands. Their friends that also use Ping can use it to discover what music they’re talking about, listening to and also what they’re downloading. Since it is a social network, it also is a big part in connecting new users together with shared music interests and friends.

As stated in Apple’s press release about Ping, “One-third of the people who have downloaded iTunes 10 have joined Ping,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “As many more people download iTunes 10 in the coming weeks, we expect the Ping community to continue growing.”

“Ping lets you follow your favorite artists such as Lady Gaga, Coldplay, U2, Jack Johnson, Yo-Yo Ma and more, to see what they’re up to, check out photos and videos they’ve posted, see their tour dates and read comments about other artists and albums they’re listening to. In addition, you can post your thoughts and opinions, your favorite albums and songs, the music you’ve downloaded from iTunes® and the concerts you plan to attend.”

Ping makes the use of social networking extremely user friendly. Due to the high use of Apple’s iTunes, many users are just signing up because it is easy and perhaps looks like fun. Those users are making new friends, able to find out what their favorite artists are listening to, get updates from their favorite artists and even see new pictures uploaded by them, read reviews on music, and much, much more.

Ping is free and can be downloaded easily with iTunes 10. Ping is also built right into the iTunes app on the iPhone and also on the iPod touch. Apple has made it easy and accessible so you can be updated easily from anywhere about your favorite artists, and your friends too.

iTunes also lets users purchase and play new music, movies, TV shows, apps and more. With the use of Ping, users will have a more interactive experience with iTunes. iTunes is available for Mac and PC users, so just about everyone is able to use this free software. Sign up for a free iTunes and Ping account and get started following your friends and favorite artists to see for yourself just what this is all about.

Apple Announces Ping Users Total More Than One Million in First 48 Hours (NASDAQ: AAPL) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

People ordering iPads previously had to wait several days or at times, weeks, before their iPads shipped. On an earnings call on July 20^th, Apple’s COO, Tim Cook, told the media and analysts, “We’re increasing capacity as quickly as we can,” although no date was given when Apple would begin keeping up with the orders for the device. Even Apple’s suppliers had talked about concerns for keeping up with the iPad demand. Kwon Young-soo, the CEO of LG Display and a supplier for iPad production, told Reuters and other media outlets on July 22nd that “Apple may have to delay launches of the iPad for some countries due to tight component supplies and strong demand.”

It appears that Apple has now reached the ability to meet the demand for the iPad.

Now, Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad is shipping within 24 hours from the Apple online store, a change which might suggest the supply has caught up with the demand for the device. Both the WiFi and 3G versions of the iPad are being shipped within 24 hours of ordering.

Financial analysts suggest that sales of the iPad will continue to increase, to the point that it may even begin affecting sales of notebook computers. IDC, a research firm, estimates that worldwide media tablet shipments, like the iPad, could reach 46 million by 2014. Susan Kevorkian, an analyst, suggests that “consumer demand for media tablets [will] be strongly driven by the number and variety of compatible third-party apps for content and devices.”

Barclays Capital analyst, Ben Reitzes, estimates Apple will sell 20 million iPads in 2011. Compared to it’s competitors, Reitzes feels Apple’s ability to integrate with other software, the design, and the availability of applications give Apple a clear advantage in the market place. He also predicts Hewlett-Packard will need to rev up their advertising of their Palm deal in order to gain sales – showing consumers how it can link with printers; and that Dell is going to be challenged by the exponential growth of the tablet computer market despite it’s recently released 5-inch Streak tablet. Samsung is releasing a tablet PC called Galaxy Tab in an attempt to compete with Apple.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPads Shipping Within 24 Hours was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Rupert Murdoch, Chief Executive Officer of News Corp, feels the iPad has transformed reading habits of consumers. People are less likely to sit down and read the newspaper, and more likely to grab their tablet computer or cell phone to read the news on the go. He also thinks bringing the news to the little electronic devices will encourage younger people to start reading the news.

“We’ll have young people reading newspapers,” the 79-year-old Murdoch said during the company’s August 4th earnings call. “It’s a real game changer in the presentation of news.”

News Corp is also the media company behind the Wall Street Journal, but plans to make the new national newspaper more generalized, with short and snappy stories that people can read and digest quickly as opposed to the business articles on Wall Street Journal. There has been no official launch date announced yet, but some people think it will be available by the end of the year. The subscription price for the new national newspaper has also not yet been announced, but the Wall Street Journal on the iPad is currently priced at $4 weekly.

When the iPad launched in April of this year, only a handful of newspapers and magazines were ready with apps to run their content on iPad. Since then, iPad news and magazine’s have received compliments on their ease of reading on the mobile device.

Advertisers, seeing lower return on investments in print media, are also flocking to content delivered via the iPad and cellular phones.

Media and technology consultant Alan D. Mutter doesn’t expect the new delivery of news to attract a younger crowd. “Newspaper content tends to attract — whether on print or on an iPad or however — mostly the same kind of readers,” Mutter said. “Not necessarily younger readers.” Research shows newspaper readers to be age 40 and older, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference how the news is delivered.

News Corp (NYSE: NWS) Plans National Newspaper Delivery on Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The news of the reception was first reported by the New York Times and the issue continued to gain momentum resulting in a press conference with founder, Steve Jobs at the helm maintaining that all was fine.

The iPhone 4 came available in June users complained that when the phone was held in a certain way there was a drop in reception. As a response for the issue Apple told uses to hold the phone in a different way, which did not go over to well. Apple offered free ‘bumper cases’ to help smooth over the reception issue.

FOX News reports that Apple former Senior Vice President for mobile devices left after just 15 months with the company. This is not the first time Papermaster is in the news. The former IBM executive was sued by IBM in an effort enforce the ‘noncompetition agreement’ when he was hired by Apple. IBM and 25 year veteran of IBM, Papermaster, reached an agreement and he was permitted to begin employment with Apple.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the departure of Papermaster is more than just the result of the antennae issues. At the crux of the matter is the personality conflict with Apple founder, Steve Jobs, as well as ongoing trouble with internal corporate politics. The engineering and technology expert is thought to have found it difficult making the change to the creative flair that is required by Apple executives.

Bob Mansfield, who is the head of engineering for the Macintosh line of products, will be replacing Mr. Papermaster.

‘Antennagate’ Results in Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) Executive to Resign was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

This year RIM has been struggling to keep up with Apple and as RIM’s stocks are significantly down Apple’s have risen 22% for the year. The iPad was an overnight success for Apple and RIM is working hard to catch up. It is expected that the Blackpad will be comparable in price to the iPad’s which run $499 and up. RIM also needs to be sure that the timing of the Blackpad release does not coincide with Aplle’s news of updates to the iPad. Rumor has it that Apple will be releasing an updated iPad sometime next year and RIMS needs their release to be before Apple’s announcement of such.

“Knowing Apple and its update practices, the iPad will be overhauled next spring, with an announcement about the new device coming as early as January 2011,” Zeman writes today. “RIM (and HP, LG, and Samsung) all need to field devices before Apple makes that announcement. If they don’t, they risk losing additional sales to Apple.”

It is also rumored that the Blackpad will have a key feature that some have been wishing the iPad had. That is, front and rear cameras that will be compatible for videoconferencing.

RIM will be hosting in New York next week a conference. The company is expected to roll out a new Blackberry phone at the conference, the 9800 slider phone. This new device will be an answer to the iPhone with similar features like a touch screen and a pull out keyboard. It is also rumored that these new phones could come complete with a much anticipated new operating system.

While RIM just may be the company to really offer Apple some completion, only time will tell. They certainly have an uphill battle ahead of them.

Is Apple (NYSE: AAPL) Ready for Competition? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The trend continues to show that e-books are continuing to out sell hard cover books and Amazon revealed recently that sales of their Kindle electronic reader continues to develop a loyal band of followers.

Dropping the price has helped increase sales. Since dropping the price from $259 sales of the Kindle have tripled. They have also recently revealed that the new third generation Kindle which is lighter and smaller is priced at $189.

Contrast this with the successful Apple iPad that retails for $499. With the broad price point for e-readers, Amazon is banking on being able to sell millions of Kindles at their new $139 price for the wireless only version.

The electronic reader is slowly replacing hardcover books and since being introduced in 2007 for $359, the Kindle has grown in popularity and as a result the price has dropped. Volume selling of electronic devices usually leads to better manufacturing prices, which in turn drives down retail prices. That is good news for consumers who want to purchase a Kindle.

E-readers download content digitally and the consumer can read books, magazines, and newspapers on an easy to transport and hold tablet. Amazon, in addition to selling the e-reader, has a significant library of books (more than 630,000) that can be purchased by Kindle owners. Each book is separately priced and start at $9.99.

To make them more ‘book like’ manufactures include page turning visuals complete with sound. Buying an e-book is similar to buying any type of book. You buy the book once and then the book is yours to read on most e-type devices such as Kindle, Kindle DX, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC and Blackberry.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Launching Wireless Kindle to Fend Off iPad was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

On Friday, July 23^rd, the iPad will become available in nine new international markets, bringing the total number of countries with availability to purchase the iPad to nineteen. The new international markets include: Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore. Pricing for the iPad in international markets has not yet been released.

Apple announced in May that they sold 2 million iPads within the first 60 days of the device launch. Estimates provided by Wall Street show that during the quarter ending June 30^th, Apple sold more than 3.3 million iPads, but the exact number is probably going to be announced on Tuesday, July 27^th, when Apple releases it’s financial results for the third quarter of 2010.

In an announcement made by Apple on July 19^th, it was said that there are additional plans for releasing the iPad in even more countries throughout 2010.

In addition to the expansion of the iPad, the Apple iPhone 4 will be released to 17 more countries before the end of July. The company is working to come back after the iPhone 4′s problematic antenna which has been hurting Apple’s reputation recently. If you have an iPhone 4 that has experienced problems with signal loss, you can get a $30 bumper case from Apple for free, which will solve the antenna problem. If you prefer, you can return the iPhone 4 for a refund if done by September 30^th.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Ship iPads and iPhones to Additional Countries was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Ten One Design, a Mount Clair, NJ based company has partnered with Apple in the past as they specialize in finding the most technology advanced solutions possible for mobile devices. At this time the iPad does not have pressure sensitive capabilities, but this new touch technology has the potential to change that. This new state of the art software uses a special pen that with varying degrees of pressure can write darker or lighter on your iPad. Something no other technology has been able to do to date.

While the developers of the software are not yet willing to reveal all of the technical details or the specifics on how their invention will work, many are guessing that the pen will more than likely have some time of softened expandable tip. Another great feature that some just can’t believe possible is the palm rejection feature. If your hand, palm or anything else accidentally touches your screen, you will not need to worry. This new software is capable of recognizing unwanted contact and it will not affect what you are doing. Many are saying this sounds too good to be true, and can’t wait to test it out for themselves.

Ten One Design is said to be waiting for Apple’s approval and go ahead. If they agree this technology could be available for the iPad in the near future. Ten One Design will also at the time of Apple’s approval release the technology to other developers. When you think about this software’s potential, the impact of such technology could be huge. Its future development could make a major impact on all touch devices in the future.

There is no indication at this time of a future release date, but you can get a glimpse of this new magical technology, as some are calling it by taking a look at this video.

Apple’s (NYSE: APPL) iPad’s Could Soon Be Even More Tech Savvy was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

This latest development will end the exclusive deal AT&T (NYSE: T) for selling the smartphone. Since June 2007, only AT&T has sold the iPhone. With the change in direction, Verizon will get a boost in the mobile phone competition. Apple will also significantly increase the amount of iPhones it will sell in the US.

There has been much said about the relationship between Apple and AT&T as there has been a lot of issues regarding the quality of AT&T’s service. Verizon has plans on introducing a high speed 4G network. They are set to showcase the new technology on a number of devices at the Consumer Electronics show in January.

For AT&T the outlook may not be as good. It is estimated that during the first quarter of 2010, the iPhone sales to new customers accounted for one-third of AT&T’s activations. This percentage of users were not current customers of AT&T until they purchased the iPhone. After battling complaints about poor wireless service, particularly in large areas like San Francisco and New York, AT&T announced they were putting up $2 billion to upgrade its network this year.

As far as Apple is concerned the deal with Verizon Wireless is advantageous over the other smartphone competitors. It is estimated that Apple has already sold over 50 million iPhones since 2007.  The newest iPhone 4 release has already sold over 1/7 million phones in only three days since its June introduction. With Verizon onboard, Apple is set to lead the smartphone competition. Verizon customers currently number almost 93 million by the end of the first quarter. They predict buying 3 million iPhones each quarter.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone Coming To Verizon in 2011 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Lines started forming as early as Wednesday morning in many locations, and in Chicago, people waited in line heeding even tornado warnings to keep their spot. In some places people were even selling their spots in line, walking away with hundreds of dollars for their deal.

Across the country many Apple Stores opened as early as 7am, serving customers first that had placed pre-orders for the phone and just needed to pick theirs up. Lines were long for the pre-order queues and in some places even longer for the walk up hopefuls. Even hours after the stores opened, lines were still blocks deep in some locations.

Apple Stores have been doing their best to keep waiting customers calm and happy. Just as in the past for product launches many stores were handing out refreshments like bottled water, coffee and Danishes. In some areas where customers were threatened with rain, umbrellas were also provided. It seems the only real issue that has been reported is the shortage of the number of phones available. Last reported flagship stores in NY and San Francisco still had long lines and available phones for purchases.

Hopefuls, who decided to take their chances at purchasing the new iPhone 4 at a retailer other than Apple, were mainly met with disappointment. Retailers like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Radios Shack received very small numbers of phones for the launch. Most stores were not able to sell any of the phones they received. In most cases all the phones a particular location received went to pre-orders. Retailers were not sure when they would be receiving another shipment.

For those people wanting to dodge the lines, you still can place an order on Apple’s website for the new iPhone 4. You will however have to wait to get it. According to their site, orders placed for the phone will be shipped by July 14^th.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 4 Debuts With Long Lines was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

People have been blogging about the issue all day. “If I hold the phone in my left hand the signal drops to ‘no service’ and I am unable to make calls if I try,” a poster who goes by the name bloodduality wrote on tech blog AppleInsider.

In response to the concerns, CEO Jobs responded “Non issue, Just avoid holding it in that way.” Apple said that some loss of signal from gripping a handset is “a fact of life for every wireless phone,” and that if it happens on the new iPhone, users should “avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band.”

In upgrading the phone, Apple had to redesign how the antenna was built in. The steel frame is now used to broadcast your cellular signal on one side and Wi-Fi and blue tooth on the other. When people hold the phone just right, the signal can be interrupted. Previous versions of the phone had the antenna located inside the case and therefore this was not an issue.

Apple claims that every cell phone can have these same issues and that it should really not be a concern to users. According to Apple, just learning to adapt to a different grip when using the phone will stop calls from dropping. While this may be a bit annoying to some users, the new design does come with some great enhanced features.

Many people however are not happy with this advice and are openly complaining about what they are calling a design flaw. Only time will tell if people adapt to the new design or if it turns into a bigger issue.

Don’t Hold Your New Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone That Way was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Lines started forming as early as Wednesday morning in many locations, and in Chicago, people waited in line heeding even tornado warnings to keep their spot. In some places people were even selling their spots in line, walking away with hundreds of dollars for their deal.

Across the country many Apple Stores opened as early as 7am, serving customers first that had placed pre-orders for the phone and just needed to pick theirs up. Lines were long for the pre-order queues and in some places even longer for the walk up hopefuls. Even hours after the stores opened, lines were still blocks deep in some locations.

Apple Stores have been doing their best to keep waiting customers calm and happy. Just as in the past for product launches many stores were handing out refreshments like bottled water, coffee and Danishes. In some areas where customers were threatened with rain, umbrellas were also provided. It seems the only real issue that has been reported is the shortage of the number of phones available. Last reported flagship stores in NY and San Francisco still had long lines and available phones for purchases.

Hopefuls, who decided to take their chances at purchasing the new iPhone 4 at a retailer other than Apple, were mainly met with disappointment. Retailers like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Radios Shack received very small numbers of phones for the launch. Most stores were not able to sell any of the phones they received. In most cases all the phones a particular location received went to pre-orders. Retailers were not sure when they would be receiving another shipment.

For those people wanting to dodge the lines, you still can place an order on Apple’s website for the new iPhone 4. You will however have to wait to get it. According to their site, orders placed for the phone will be shipped by July 14^th.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 4 Debuts With Long Lines was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The technology has become part of a high-growth retail venture. As more people have smartphones with Internet access, more users are checking for better deals around the Internet before making a purchase. In fact, shoppers are expected to purchase more than $2.2 billion of merchandise online that were bought via cell phones. That amount doubles what was purchased last year. eBay has been stepping up its mobile e-commerce ventures as the popularity of buying products over cell phones skyrockets. The company particularly noticed the trend during last year’s holiday shopping season.

Shoppers can use the RedLaser technology to scan any item with a barcode in any brick and mortar store location and then search online where they can find the same item at a lower price. eBay has plans to add more than 200 million listings on eBay to the product catalog for RedLaser. The catalog also includes inventory from Amazon.com, Google, and TheFind Inc. RedLaser technology can also be used by those listing on eBay. Sellers can quickly access trends in pricing and merchandise details through the company’s catalog.

Occipital, the developers of the RedLaser barcode technology, which is based in Colorado, stated they would remain an independent company and a new eBay team would be running RedLaser. The deal terms were not made public. The application will sell for $.99 and is now available on the Apple’s app store for free.
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eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) to Buy RedLaser Barcode Technology was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The email sent to customer’s states, “Although Apple and FedEx tracking information may currently indicate a later date, you can check the FedEx website the morning of the June 23 to track your package to your doorstep.” They also let customers know that if they were not going to be home to receive the package that they could should use the pre-signed delivery option.

The scheduled delivery date of the first shipment of the new iPhone 4 was to have been June 24^th. This is the first time that Apple has moved up a delivery date for a new item. Recent shipments if the iPad and past editions of the iPhone were held to the first announced delivery date.

Why is Apple moving ahead delivery on the much anticipated iPhone 4? There is speculation that the moved up date is an effort by Apple to apologize to their customers for the chaos they may have experienced when attempting to pre-order their new phone. Last week Apple was hit with a record number of orders for the iPhone 4 with orders totaling around 600,000. This higher than expected number caused the ordering site to crash While they were working on getting the site back up and running, many impatient customers could not wait. They headed out to brick and mortar stores where they were met with long lines of people waiting to place a pre-order.

Another thought is that with the higher than anticipated sales, spreading delivery out over two days could be a means to ease back up’s on AT&T’s servers. By spreading out the first delivery of the phones over a two day time frame, customers will hopefully find it easier to activate their phones. Fed Ex may have also encouraged the two day delivery, easing pressure on their drivers.

If you did not get in on the first order of the iPhone, there are other shipments scheduled over the next few weeks. Orders are scheduled for delivery on July 2^nd and July 14^th. For those that can’t wait, you may want to try your chances at one of the brick and mortar locations like Best Buy or Radio Shack.

Some Lucky Customers Will Receive the New Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 4 A Day Early was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

With this virus, your computer is susceptible to various security breaches. For instance, a hacker could get snapshots of what you are doing while you are using your Mac, or access valuable files with out you knowing it, and even use your computer to send spam to other computers. A solution to this problem was imperative and Apple delivered it.

Graham Cluely, a senior technological consultant with the Sophos Security firm, a maker of security software, asserts that the recently released update for the Mac Os X operating system contains this new security upgrade to protect against HELLRTS. This security patch was not mentioned publicly or even in security bulletins. Is there a malicious reason for the silence?

Some speculate that the silence was a marketing ploy. Some say it was an attempt to keep the image of the Mac as unassailable by viruses. And yet others say it has a practical purpose, not to let your opponents know what you’re up to. Regardless of how you view this attempt to “sneak” this update by the general public, you do have to see the value the solution.

No matter how you view this secretive approach to the upgrade, you have to admit that Apple acted quickly and decisively to protect it’s customers from hackers. Whether Apple kept their silence to delay hackers from trying to find a new way in, or to sustain the image of the insusceptible Mac is unknown. But the new security patch protects you from this new, and recently popular method of hacking into your Mac, and in the end isn’t that all that matters? It seems to be a popular trend for security companies to challenge and leak security weaknesses in new systems, but “secret” security updates are used by most software companies – including Microsoft.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Fixes An Issue Without Telling Anyone was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The F.B.I. cyber crimes unit is taking over the investigation to see just how serious this potential leak is, and has arrested Goatse Security’s C.E.O Andrew Auernheimer on unrelated drug charges. Andrew Auernheimer is out on bail as of June 16^th. Goatse Security claims the information that was leaked from AT&T can lead to personal information, and is making claims that this potential leak is potentially more harmful than AT&T is claiming.

The information that is leaked is specifically ICC-ID (Integrated Circuit Card Identification) numbers. Goatse Security claims that if you take those numbers with IMSI (International Mobile Security Identity) numbers, that it will lead you to personal information like email addresses, however, Daniel Kennedy, a partner in Praetorian Security Group, said that The ICC-ID numbers are not very likely to be dangerous to your personal information, and it is a low risk leak.

It is not known how bad this leak is yet, though the F.B.I. cyber crime unit is on the case, and will determine the danger of this loophole in AT&T security. It is important to know how bad this is because the iPad is being utilized by the Government and Military, so it may be a case of national security. Some experts say that the leak is a low risk for the average user.

It can be debated if Goatse Security has handled this in the best way possible, though they do say they had the publics’ best interest at heart. They found, then exposed the loophole, and sent a list of exposed email addresses to a blogger-gossip site called Gawker.com. Some worry how this will affect the sales of the iPad, or if it’s safe to own an iPad, and if you’re one of these people that are worried, rest assured that even Goatse Security says this a potential risk and not a flat out disaster.

AT&T’s (NYSE: T) Security Leak Being Investigated was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Over 600,000 orders have already been made and it seems that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) may have trouble meeting the demand. It has been speculated that this is a sales plan, designed to increase product demand. Other products that have been released by Apple that are having the same supply and demand problem is the iPad. Many retailers are out of stock and there are two week waiting lists for many online retail stores.

Several things have added to the early success of the iPhone 4. First, At&t offered really good plan deals, like the new iPhone 4G for just $199.99 with a two year contract, even allowing customers whose contracts expires within six months to qualify for the phone. The other is that Apple has already promised a much up-graded iPhone 3G, allowed gossipers to talk up and speculate about the new iPhone, and may even have listened to what they all wanted and added those features.

To date the iPhone 3G has sold over 50 millions units, and many feel the iPhone 4 will follow suite. Since the original release of the iPhone, smart-phones have become popular, and have served as a secondary computer device for many people. The market has expanded as competitors to Apple have launched their own smart-phones, and are quickly over-taking the regular cell-phones sales according to Nielsen.

It seems everyone was waiting for the release of the new iPhone 4, and it shows. With many retailers temporarily stopping pre-orders, and lengthy waiting lists for online retailers, it may be a while before you get your hands on one, but it may well be worth the wait. Boasting new features like video phone calls, the iPhone promises to be just as user friendly and a great pick up for any techno-junky. The Apple website has already admitted the shortage may take a while to deal with, but hope to ship as early as July 14.

Still Waiting For Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) New iPhone 4 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

AT&T could not keep up with the tremendous amount of pre-orders that were coming in over the Internet and via phone orders. Customers were repeatedly getting busy phone lines and error messages from the website. Those customers who showed up at retail locations had to give up their information to employees who were using pen and paper to take data. The customer data was then entered manually into the computer system once they were back online.

Customers were also concerned when after logging into their AT&T accounts looking for upgrade eligibility information, they found they were actually logged into an account of another user. Customers had full access to other’s personal information and account information. Apple has apologized for the issues but AT&T has yet to comment or acknowledge the allegations.

Apple and AT&T have continually undergone scrutiny for a variety of problems in recent months, including the 3G networks spotty service even in large cities and last week’s hacker issue where a vulnerability was found that exposed 114,000 customer email address of Apple’s iPad users.

Customers who pre-ordered iPhones were originally scheduled for a delivery date of June 24 but are now scheduled to be arriving by July 14. Analysts predict the latest snafu will impact Apple. In fact, many believe the company will sell more iPhones because of the issue. AT&T has long been criticized for their Apple-related issues but experts feel if customers were going to revolt against the mobile carrier, they would have do so by now.

AT & T (NYSE: T)Stops Taking Early Apple (NYSE:APPL) iPhone Orders was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Since it’s release on April 3^rd of this year, more than 2 million iPads have been sold. This is the equivalent of selling an iPad every three seconds.

During the interview, Steve talked about his belief that PCs are growing less useful to the majority of people as more tablet devices like the iPad are developed. While he isn’t going as far to say that Apple will cause personal computers to go extinct, he explains that there will be far fewer people who need a full desktop computer in their home and a tablet like the iPad will take over as consumer devices for the consumption of digital data.
In an article appearing on CBSNews.com:

“When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that’s what you needed on the farm … As people started moving away from the farm, the car started taking over,” Steve said. “PCs are still going to be around, but only one out of x people will need them.”

The iPad may not push personal computers into total extinction, just as there are still people driving around in pick up trucks even though we do far less farming than we once did – but the tablet style device may very well become more popular for the average computer user. Companies and individuals who produce media for the masses to consume, however, are likely to always have a need for laptops, personal computers and powerful workstations.

Will Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Drive PCs into Extinction? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The Apple iPad has continued to sell well in the United States to the point that international sales had to be delayed as Apple struggled to meet demand.   Despite this delay, shipping to other countries is now under way. Right now the iPad is available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K. with availability in nine additional countries coming in July and later on throughout the year.

Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple is quoted in the press release saying, “Customers around the world are experiencing the magic of iPad, and seem to be loving it as much as we do. We appreciate their patience, and are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.” Considering the overwhelming demand for the device, this statement only confirms the speculation that Apple is having a difficult time meeting demand. At the current rate, Apple is selling approximately one million iPads each month since they have been introduced which surpasses original estimates.

If you have not yet had the chance to check out the Apple iPad the following description provided by the press release gives you a peak at what you are missing,

“iPad allows users to connect with their apps, content and the Internet in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPad is 0.5 inches thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.* ” *Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple goes on to say that 5,000 apps have been specifically built for use with the iPad, which are now available in the App Store, bringing the total number of apps compatible with the iPad to 200,000.

Apple iPad Sales Reach 2 Million (NASDAQ: AAPL) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

If you’re planning to “settle”, know that settling is a loose term. The iPhone 3G is still a powerhouse of a smart-phone whose features and applications still rival features and applications on newer phones. Its ability to navigate the net in the palm of your hand is still smooth and streamlined. The applications store is what helps keep the iPhone so fresh. People are still designing and releasing more applications, also known simply as apps, which provide the iPhone 3g ever more useful, or just plan fun, options.

If you’re planning to wait then I would suggest saving money now. As much of a powerhouse the old iPhone is, the new one will trump it. The internet is a buzz with rumors of all the features the new iPhone has. It’s supposed to be slimmer, sleeker, and have two cameras, the traditional mounted, and then a front mounted camera for streaming real time video chat. Of course, these features are just speculation at this time.

It’s expected that the new iPhone will be amazing, particularly because Apple is specifically waiting to release it until after the Droid and The EVO get released.

It should be noted that not all Wal-mart stores will have the iPhone available at the $97 price, or if they do they will be few in numbers, so if you’re going to make a move on it, you won’t want to wait too long.

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) Lowers Price on iPhone 3G was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Amazon has also said that most of it sales comes from its online bookstore. They have also made an application for iPad and the iPhone, so users can download and use Amazon ebooks on their own devices. The iPad actually has the potential to increase Amazon’s long term sales for it’s online bookstore.

The Kindle’s screen and display is set up for easy reading indoors and out. There is a very limited browser that makes it possible to purchase ebooks. The price tag may also sway readers to buy it instead of the iPad for users just looking for an ebook reader, being roughly three hundred dollars cheaper then the iPad.

Although Amazon won’t rise up or make changes to the Kindle to try and challenge the iPad, it might be OK for them not to do so. As the iPad already runs Amazon’s application, and Amazon’s focus is their dedicated online bookstore anyway.

Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad Out Performing Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Kindle was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

According to Reuters Internet News “Dell Inc said its Streak tablet computer can double as a mobile phone and will have a front-facing camera for videoconferencing– features it hopes will help the new gadget compete against Apple Inc’s iPad.

Whether or not this will be the case remains to be seen. The first audience to catch a glimpse of the Dell Streak did so at a tech conference two weeks ago in San Francisco followed by the formal unveiling of the Streak on Tuesday. This of course is not the first we have heard of the Dell Streak with various news articles dating back to the beginning of the year offering tidbits of information regarding this new device which will be available in the US in the summer of 2010.

The Dell Streak is a mini tablet PC that many people might enjoy as it combines several of the features found in the iPhone and iPad. At five inches and thin enough to slip inside a pocket, the Streak is smaller than the iPad with a screen 1.5 inches larger than the iPhone. While iPad and Kindle continue to duke it out in the tablet sector, the Streak will offer users an Android tablet that also can be used to make and receive calls as well as take pictures and video with the built in 5 megapixel camera.

American consumers still have time to research the Dell Streak as it is becoming available first in the Britain next month through mobile carrier O2 followed by a later release in the US through AT&T. Until that time consumers will simply have to rely on information made available through Dell and other sources to determine whether or not a competitor for iPhone and iPad is waiting in the wings.

Dell Streak to Provide Competition for iPhone and iPad (NASDAQ: DELL) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple (NYSE:APPL) is expected to be announcing a brand-new iPhone in June. There is speculation that this move by Walmart is an attempt to sell out its current inventory of the older model phone. The deal is good only if consumers also purchase a two-year contract with AT&T, the exclusive service carrier of the iPhone. Walmart executives state they are committed to bring consumers the best prices. Their $97 pricing is under the $99 price tag other retailers are offering for the phones.

 Apple has already sold 8.3 million iPhones in just the last quarter, which is twice the amount sold during the same time frame a year ago but it is expected that once a new phone hits the shelves, interest in the old model will drop sharply. Last month, the new iPhone was in the news when a prototype was found in a bar and sold. Apple has since filed legal documents concerning the leaked details about the new iPhone model.

The roll back of iPhone prices at Walmart before Memorial day comes during a time when tech giants like Research in Motion and Google (NYSE:GOOG) are fighting for bragging rites in the smartphone niche. Smart phone sales in general are up just under 50% from where they were last year, according to CNN Money.

The official announcement for the iPhone 4G launch is expected from Apple in two weeks.

iPhone Prices Being Rolled Back at Walmart (NYSE:WMT) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple has opened their International iPad apps store ahead of schedule, a week before iPad’s will be available for purchase internationally. Due to high US demand for the product, customers outside the US have had to wait longer than originally anticipated for the international launch of the device. A few select countries, including the UK, will see their first iPad shipments at the end of the month.

Many international Apple customers have been unable to wait for the iPad to come to their country. International buyers that simply could not wait have already purchased iPad’s through EBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), for example. These customers will now be able to begin purchasing some apps from the International app store. Some current customers may however be disappointed in the selection. Still not available for purchase are Apples’ own ibooks. Also, some apps that were intended for just US iPad Users will not be available. These include the very popular ABC player that allows users to watch many of their favorite ABC shows and BBC News.

For those international users who have already purchases some apps, there will be some complications with the international app store. It appears that you will have to re-purchase any apps that you have already bought through the US store, if you plan to use the international store exclusively.

To date, international iPad users who purchases apps had to do so through the US store. They were only able to do this if they had US issued credit or debit cards. Once a purchase from the US store was made, the user would then have to download the app to their computer and then synch it with their iPad, which can be a lengthy process. Savvy users will still be able to migrate between international and US store purchases without having to re-buy already purchased apps. The non-savvy user may find that too difficult.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Opens International iPad Store Early was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Apple is a device manufacturer with over 82% of it’s revenue coming from the various gadgets sold; 54% coming from iPhones and iPods.  Google is an advertising company, earning 96% of it’s revenues from advertising, according to DailyFinance.com.

The main difference between the two companies are the strategies they use for marketing and selling their products.

Google is mainly an advertising company, along with arguably the most popular search engine used today. Google uses its advertising power to back their products, which has been helping them get a strong hold on the market. Take the Droid phones, for example.  Verizon sells Droid phones 2 for the price of 1 because Google knows they can then get their ads on the phone and in front of consumer.  If Apple attempted to sell the iPhone at 2 for 1 prices, they would take a huge profit loss.

Common perception tells us that advertising will win a long drawn out fight, yet Apple doesn’t seem all that concerned, nor do their profits seem to be hurting. Apple’s strategy seems to be releasing the newest and best product, and when they see the sales slipping, releasing a newer and better version of that device. Their strategy has won them $43 billion dollars in their last fiscal year, with only 3% which has to be reinvested for research and development, compared to Google’s $23 billion earned in the last fiscal year.

The “device war” between Google and Apple benefits the consumer. As Apple releases newer and better products, Google will counter with a product of its own, and when the market becomes saturated the prices will fall, making these conveniences cheaper for the average consumer to enjoy. The quality of the smart-phone has already risen, with the iphone and Droid, and we can expect the same with the iPad and the upcoming Google version to be announced. We will also have to see which strategy over all will win in this economy, and in the long term. However, Apple has