Apple News, Analysis and Podcasts

Lawsuits notwithstanding, earlier this week Samsung took a few shots at Apple, with a tone that could only be described as defensively whiny, conjuring up images of a certain Star Wars character (must I mention Mark Hamill?...). Samsung appears to be in very vulnerable in the TV space, as Product Manager Chris "Skywalker" Moseley stated at their Prague forum:

Last week Sony announced three new back-illuminated stacked CMOS image sensors. In simple terms, Sony announced better camera capability for smartphones and mobile devices, but they're likely to cost the competition much more than Apple, whle lagging behind in overall speed.

Cult of Mac claims to have learned from their visit to CES that iPad 3 is going to be thinner than the iPad 2. This information flys in the face of a cadre of far east rumors claiming the contrary. Cult of Mac is keen to point out that Apple creating a thicker iPad woud be bucking a trend in their iOS device world, having always made device after device, thinner and thinner and thinner.

Only from the mouths of our trustworthy DigitTimes foks (yes, that's heavy sarcasm) have we learned that the iPad 3 was to be slightly thicker than that of the iPad 2... What makes far more sense is an iPad 2 wanna-be, perhaps from Samsung or Google, would be slightly thicker than an iPad 2. Meanwhile, the logical assumption is that Apple – yet again – will scream by their competition with a svelt iPad 3, dominating the space for at least another year.

Apple's move from Intel to ARM processors may be closer than you think.

We are unclear as to exactly what Newt's team is charging up on his campaign bus, but it's a wall-mount power supply for something other an an iOS device. Clearly seen, it appears to be a newer version power supply (shipped with the MacBook air). No offense to Mr. Gingrich's weight, but perhaps he's hoping to start slimming down with a sleek MacBook air by his side.

Analysts have been coming out of Cupertino lately, ratcheting up their iPhone sales figures. The Street predicts roughly 29 million iPhones will be sold for the quarter, while AT&T's CEO recently commented on seeing a record number of iPhone sales for the December quarter being highly likely.

With the dust settling on Final Cut Pro X, with both its detractors and supporters alike, a recent report shed some light that 64-bit Final Cut Pro 8 was ready to roll, but the decision was made to leave it on the cutting room floor and break ties with traditional editing solutions and deliver a new direction. Apple's goal in Final Cut X was clear: Jobs philosophy to skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is now, would rule the day.

A recent article by CIO.com titled, "Apple in the Enterprise: Breaking Microsoft's Grip", makes the keen observation that Microsoft is starting to lose their dominant grip in the corporate space. Apple's iPhone and iPad are breaching corporations the same way that Research In Motions Blackberry's did — through the Sales & Marketing Door. iPad's and iPhone's work well on most corporate networks, so it's been difficult for the IT department to prohibit the use of iOS devices within sales and marketing groups. The result has been an explosion of Apple's iOS devices being used in Microsoft's seemingly impenetrable fortress: corporate environments.

Nielson Reports issued shocking numbers yesterday: TV ownership is set to decline for the first time since 1970, which marks the first time since Nielson started tracking this data. An initial reaction would be to blame the economy for such a depressing year in television sales. However, get beyond the simple reasons for the decline and a different story emerges. And with that different story, Apple is set to enter a market that isn't in decline, but in transformation mode. Apple is once again skating to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.

Apple's stock price is off over 10% in as little as one months time. Aiding the slide, DigiTimes has reported that Apple has slashed (yes, slashed) component orders for iPhone, and Apple can't keep iPhones in stock, possibly due to supply shortages. To top it off, Kindle Fire is now out in the market for only $199, backed with amazing hype. Does this mean the end of Apple is near? Should everyone "Repent Now" from Apple?!

Bloomberg recently created a buzz about a forthcoming Apple HDTV, in conjunction with Sharp Electronics. But this is not where the immediate attention should be focused. Our information points towards a Tuesday, January 25 Apple's Special Event from Apple.

In the wake of Amazon's 7" Kindle Fire tablet launch, Barnes & Noble has shot back across the Amazon bow with their own vision of a 7" device. Yesterday saw the release of the 7" Nook tablet, which delivers a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage with an SD card slot, and a 1024 x 600 dpi display. The new Nook delivers a bit more than the Kindle Fire, but it also runs $50 more at $249. But does this have any effect on what is actually a true tablet, the iPad?

Steve jobs ripped the 7" device market, stating they would die out, as they were too small to do real work on them, and that they are "...tweeners; too big to compete against a smartphone, and too small to compete with the iPad". This is akin to no-mans-land in Tennis. No one ever wants to be standing where the ball bounces. Go to the net or stay behind the baseline, it's that simple. But are 7" devices not worthy of the tablet moniker? Is there a market for this space?

Let's waste no time and just dive right into why Apple's 'Let's talk iPhone' special event is going to be huge:

In the 60's, after President Kennedy's assassination, Simon & Garfunkel brought us the Sound of Silence. That tone can be sensed again this week in for the form of Fire, that has all but gone out. Amazon's gushing moment came from their new line of Kindle's launched this past Wednesday. But since Friday, the absence of any enthusiasm and chatter about the devices, specifically the Kindle Fire, has been deafening. 

Is Oracle setting its acquisition sites on Dell? That's the idea posed by Seeking Alpha's Omega Investor. Before HP announced the divestment of their PC division, this would have seemed like a ridiclous notion, but not any more.

But would an Oracle acquisiton of Dell be fiscally possible? Dell's market cap sits at $26 billion, with $15 billion in cash. But Dell's numbers quickly wash away with a debt line of $92 billion. Oracle has a $136 billion market cap, with $28 billion in cash and $39 billion in debt. Financially, Oracle has the means to scoop up Dell should they choose to go that path.

This is the big one. The photo we've all been waiting for: A shot taken from an iPhone 5 camera!... Or is it? That's one question that has everyone sifting through pixels today. And while this photo may very well be a snapshot taken with an iPhone 5 prototype, the real genius is in Apple's marketing machine. The photo and it's associated data wasn't an accident, it was intentional.

With this singular image, Apple's put the entire smartphone industry on notice, and has the entire tech community in an absolute buzz over the image. But any engineer with an iPhone 5 prototype in-hand (working with the camera no less) knows exactly what data is tagged to photos, and what will be revealed through that data. At least for this round, there was no need to leak timely information to Apple's favorite journalist Yukari Iwatani Kane of the Wall Street Journal. This time, Apple found a clever way to begin it's pre–launch viral marketing campaign – a single photo. Brilliant.

Is Apple going all-out in an effort to acquire the type of contracts that will set their Apple TV and forthcoming HDTV sales on fire? Likely so.

If recent reports are to be believed, a new Apple TV will arrive this fall. Information coming from many of these reports cites TV Execs, which have proven to be anything but reliable in the past. The fall timeframe makes little sense for Apple to deliver an all-new Apple TV and Apple HDTV lineup when considering iOS 5, iCloud, iPhones and perhaps new iPads will arrive during a jam-packed season of fall releases. But where there is smoke there is often fire, and while fall makes little sense, our information points to a January Special Event from Apple.

Outside of the “i” nomenclature which Apple tags virtually every product, Apple is not a company that subscribes to any form of dogma. Adopting smaller 3.5" floppy drives, pushing USB ports over serial, or flipping an entire video industry on its head with a new software philsopy — it makes no difference. There are simply no sacred cows at Apple, and that's what keeps Apple relevant, inventive, and leaves the rest of the industry playing constant catch up.

Will Apple continue its path to reveal an iPhone 5 that delivers monumental hardware changes over previous versions? iOS and iCloud are so closely integrated, virtually all functionally will run wirelessly once the latest software rollout arrives in September. iTunes, photos, backup, syncing, apps, iOS updates, it's all wireless. The only item remaining requiring phycial connectivity is power. But even connection for power appears on its way out.

Apple doesn't have partners, they have suppliers. But when Apple entered the cell industry it had no choice but to enter into partnership agreements with AT&T and others across the globe. Don't confuse necessity with anything Jobs and company are happy with, as Apple is setting course to go nuclear with its pernicious carriers.

Until now, the iPhone has been built with the philosophy of design elegance and overall quality. Apple has been able to work this way due to the business model being focused on subsidized products, hidding the true costs of iPhones into two-year contracts. But Apple's forthcoming iPhone 5 launch promises to change this model and the way we purchase iPhones.

We've just received word from our source in the San Francisco Bay Area that Apple is planning to release Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on Wednesday, July 6th at 9:00 am Pacific Time.

One particular item of interest about this news is that with OS X Lion being an online-release-only, Apple can wait until the 11th hour to release new OS. They don't have to first lock it down, then press it onto DVDs, then box it, then ship to their hundreds of stores and through distribution in order to meet a certain publicly announced launch date. With an online release, Apple just needs to upload the final release to their servers and then make it available.

From the days of ThinkSecret or macOSrumors, to today's AppleInsider or MacRumors, Apple Inc. has always had a great rumor mill following, and quite often where there has been smoke we have seen fire. The constant drumbeat of rumors surrounding the MacBook air is nearly off the charts - or so it would seem.

Virtually every day brings forth a new MacBook air rumor. But many sites are conducting mere re-broadcasts of original information, making it appear as fresh information. Thus, we wanted to go back to the sources of these rumors and build a comprehensive list of original sources.

If you own Apple (AAPL) stock or are considering doing so, but are not sure when's a good time to get in, this video is a must-see. Michael Holland isn't flashy, nor does he bring anything revolutionary to the table, but his sticking point is AAPL valuation is incredibly low and it can't stay there forever.

AAPL closed the market Wednesday at $326.75 with a intraday market cap of only $302.16b. AAPL is also carrying a forward looking P/E ratio of only 11. These figures for AAPL are starting to become a fixture to the stock, and they are absurdly low. What is Apple going to bring to the earnings table next quarter? There are some sparks out in the analyst world that suggest it will be another above and beyond quarter, but will another strong quarter push Apple's stock price north or leave it in purgatory?

Holy covered banners Batman! We had thought Apple raised all their banners this past Friday, but have been proven wrong. It appears Werner Reschke (Guy #3), was correct in his guess that Apple may put up covered banners Sunday night. Nice call Werner. You can see more original T-GAAP WWDC banner photos here.

We are not sure what this banner holds under it's black veil, but here are three of our best guesses:

Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) is coming up on June 6. Products that are showcased at WWDC give developers who are going to the conference a chance learn how to incorporate them into their applications. Usually, Apple has come out with iPhone hardware about this time of year, so developers can add the new hardware features to their applications.

This year, Apple has not shown off the new iOS version yet, so don’t expect new hardware. This would mark a change in Apple’s annual iPhone update cycle. With the iPhone hardware rumored to be delayed until this fall, what is Steve Jobs going to announce during this keynote at WWDC?

Reuters is reporting that Apple isn't satisfied with the size of current SIM cards and is pushing for a smaller standard for the iPad and other iOS devices. The information comes to Reuters from an Orange executive. 

Orange is one of the UK's major carriers along with T-Mobile and O2. Any validity to this? Who knows, as Reuters is an odd rumor source, and this is not typical for them. This could simply be an Orange executive with loose lips sinking ships.

Working at an Apple retail store in the past, I felt compelled to share some thoughts on the rumors hinting of a major event coming this weekend at the Apple retail stores. Computerworld's Jonny Evans shares some additional thoughts along these lines, but also shares information from ifoapplestore.com, which has been a faithful follower of Apple retail stores since they opened nearly 10 years ago.

Taking in the smoke from the rumor mill, don't get excited about Apple launching some form of anniversary Mac hardware, or delivering some surprise Apple HDTV product, that just isn't happening. Apple does not waste hundreds of millions of dollars in free press when launching into new markets, and pulling some surprise Mac launch over the weekend would be doing exactly that. What's more likely is a software/cloud initiative.

Based on BGR's claims, it appears Apple will actually be revealing pre-announcement information to a select group of Apple retail staff 12 – 24 hours ahead of a major announcement. This would be a first for Apple, and a bold move from the Cupertino machine. But this may be an Apple litmus test, and if successful may lay the groundwork for how future product launches roll out.

It appears Apple corporate does not trust their retail employees (smart move), in that BRG's source claims the 10-15 employees that will be pulling an all-night-er in the stores, must not only sign an NDA, but also lock their cell phones in the managerial office.

"Stay Tuned" says Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. Stayed tuned for what? A tablet. But before diving into that topic, I want to make one thing perfectly clear. No one in the tech industry is better positioned to take on Apple in the mobile computing space than Amazon – no one.

Scott Moritz of The Street, believes the next generation iPhone is delayed, which may result in sales losses to Android-based 4G LTE smartphones. Moritz builds his thinking upon an analyst who is claims to have inside information on the forthcoming iPhone.

How a product can be "delayed" when a company has never given a launch date it could be delayed from is logically impossible, but we all understand how this works, right? First, the rumor mill builds some mythical launch date for an Apple product, then rumors and analysts claim a different date, thus the launch of the product is late. Brilliantly ridiculous.

Microsoft's latest pursuit is yet another sign that Apple is tearing them up. The company from Redmond is rumored to be in pursuit of buying out (or heavily investing in) Skype. If you are a user of Skype you may have noticed their latest updates are pretty much deplorable with regard to user interface, and their video quality typically stinks when compared to Tango or Apple's Facetime.

Based on Microsoft's track record, I can only assume they will purchase Skype, repurpose it for "Windows Phone 7 Extreme Plus Home Edition" and market it as: Windows PeopleTime – The Windows you love, now with video chat... Please.

No, this isn't a new column that will come out every Tuesday. It's just that the last few days has seen a heavy does of rumors, so to aid in keeping you up-to-speed with the things that are – or are not – going to happen.

Check it out:

Apple comes to the table on April 20, at 2 PM Pacific, to reveal what will likely be year another record fiscal 2Q11. Financial numbers are one thing, but how Apple achieves them is another.

There's been a lot of speculation revolving around Apple's supply chain for iPad 2 and MacBook batteries since the Japan quake and Tsunami. But a few hints from Apple may be revealing another story. The truth. On April 20th we'll learn a lot based on the little information Apple delivers.

It was a sad day for most Mac OS X Server admins when Apple announced they were discontinuing the XServe line because as Steve Jobs said, "They just aren't selling well." No replacement was offered, save for a beefed up Mac Pro and the Mac Mini server option. While both of these may work for some organizations, a real server solution was now missing from Apple's line-up.

Or is it?

iPad 3 has been rumored by Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber and MG Siegler of Tech Crunch as possibly landing this fall, but recent information suggests to T-GAAP that iPad 3 will not be arriving this year.

Any delay in launching the iPad 3 is not due to parts availability or the lack of retina display production, it is because of iPad 2's tremendous holding power in the market. iPad 2 is besting Apple's highest world-wide demand expectations, and therefore may not trigger a speedy iPad 3 launch.

October 2010 came roaring in like a Lion — well, for Mac OS X fans that is. Once again Steve Jobs took center stage for a Keynote presentation that focused on the Mac. He and his executive team announced and demoed a few upcoming features in Lion, Mac OS X 10.7.

Alongside of the software hoopla Steve also introduced an update to the MacBook Air. Faster, better memory, better storage, better display, better battery life and more affordable. However, there was one line during his keynote that still rattles in my brain — like a tune you hear in the grocery store and then can't get out of your head. Steve said this is "...the new MacBook Air… we think it is the future of notebooks."

To-date, iOS devices have seen modest updates, but recent rumblings suggest iOS 5.0 will be a major release integrating a host of new Apple technologies.

Apple has become methodical — if not predictable — in delivering recent updates to both hardware and software. With the exception of the original iPhone launch, each major iOS update has been released only a few days before revamped iPhone hardware. Claims that Apple will deliver an iOS 5 update this spring appear to be erroneous guesswork at best.

Intel's Light Peak technology (also known as Thunderbolt) was first introduced on Apple's MacBook Pro line-up last month. Thunderbolt is set to race across the Mac platform, spreading across Apple's entire lineup by the end of 2011.

The next Mac product to include Thunderbolt is the Mac Mini — via a product update due this month. Following the Mac Mini will be updates to the iMac and Mac Pro towers. That said, both systems update timelines have varied greatly in the past few years. What is not known is how many Thunderbolt ports each system will receive.

The iPad 2 launched today with great fanfare and a solid, if not modest, hardware update. Apple's hardware team showed us how they can industrial engineer like no one else, delivering a razor thin iPad 2 — which is even thinner than the iPhone 4. The iPad 2 shows us Apple's hardware prowess, but a few major pieces were missing amongst the mix.

The iPad 2 sports the same resolution screen as iPad 1, humble camera specs, and ho-hum software updates — for now. The big reveal in hardware and software looks to be on the horizon, arriving in the in iPad 3.

Despite our earlier report of Final Cut Studio and the MacBook Pro arriving in April (notwithstanding Sandybridge taking a slight “detour” to market), there is no indication that FCP has been thrown off its pace, and it is rapidly approaching its launch — with one of its largest updates ever.

The MacBook Pro may very well join the launch, shipping in late April/early May. We continue to hear the new MacBook Pro will arrive with higher resolutions screens, increased battery life, a thin chassis that follows the format of the MacBook Air — and no optical drive. One 15" legacy MacBook Pro model will remain, gaining internal updates only, for those believing they require an onboard optical drive.

Not only is Nokia using iMovie and Apple's music loops to create their quick-turn marketing videos, but within the video itself, it seems Steve Ballmer has pulled a fast on on Nokia. Evidently Ballmer used Nokia to launch Windows Phone 7 with a new upstart called Nahkia.

There's been much barking recently between Mark and Karl in the last several podcasts, and with iPad 2 nearly upon us, it's high-time these guys lay it on the line.

So it's time to throw down the gloves and have it out. Without further ado - Mark vs Karl iPad 2 Predictions: (queue drum roll please...):

John Gruber of Daring Fireball came out with a big piece of news, claiming iPad 2 isn't likely to receive a retina display similar to that of the iPhone - don't place your bets quite yet.

Siting sources, Gruber believes the current iPad display (1024 x 768 resolution) is what will also be found on the iPad 2. Countering Gruber’s claims, Engadget maintains a retina display is coming to the iPad 2. So who should we believe? First, let’s start with a few facts, followed by some reasonably sourced information that delivers a different side of the story.

Apple may be preparing a massive move that will propel Safari from niche browser to market leader. The move to merge Safari and iTunes into one software solution appears long in the works, which may arrive this fall at Apple's usual iPod special event.

Apple acquired the streaming music services company, lala, for $80 million in December 2009. The purported purposes for such an acquisition was for Apple to spearhead the way towards taking iTunes towards an online service, accessible via any browser, and away from a desktop software solution. That may no longer be the case.

The talk of the town is Apple's big iPhone 4 deal with Verizon, but Google also came to the table yesterday with a little announcement of their own. Google delivered an under-the-radar announcement, stating they will be dropping support for the h.264 codec in favor of their open source WebM codec.

Google claims their Chrome browser dropping h.264 is about supporting open standards. If Google were truly concerned with supporting open standards, why does the proprietary Flash still ship with Chrome as a preinstalled plug-in? As John Gruber of Daring Fireball points out, the hypocrisy is thick.

Apple's launch of the Mac OS X App Store appears to be an instant success. Apple was on center stage Thursday with their iWork apps ready for download, but one application made available today from Apple caught everyone off guard —Aperture.

The arrival of Aperture on the App Store isn't a just a shot across Adobe's bow, that doesn't do Apple's move justice. What Apple did to Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom software is equivalent to hundreds of cannon rounds being fired upon a ship at point blank range. T-GAAP asked Adobe PR if any Adobe apps were heading to Apple's App Store, but we did not receive a response. But it gets worse for Adobe.

It may be the last day of calendar year 2010, but it's Apple, Inc's fiscal Q1 2011, and it looks to be a pretty hot one Jobs and company. The December quarter may very well be a record for many of Apple's devices:

• 20+ million iPhones estimated to be sold
• 4+ million Macs (a first for the company)
• A record number of iPod touch's sold
• iPads breaching the 6 million mark

What calendar year 2011 may hold?

Here's a shocker - Apple's on a tear lately. iPhone's, iPad's, even Mac's, their sales are exploding. Apple has had the uncanny ability to push their financial figures north, defying the growth rules which mandate Apple must flatten out the larger they become. Will Apple succumb to these laws? Perhaps, but it's not likely to occur in 2011 based on recent estimates. According to DigiTimes, Apple's on pace to ship more than 20 million iPhones in 2011, along with new iPads shipping in the quarter. Throw in a newly rumored 65 million iPads for the new year and 2011 is covered.

Apple will defy Wall Street in 2011, but what will Jobs magically produce to keep the numbers piling up for 2012?

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has become the trade show for new computing products to the latest in remote control vacuum cleaners. To summarize, CES is an absolute circus, but it's a must-attend show for any business serious about the the markets in which they play — unless that business is Apple, Inc.

Since Apple exited MacWorld Expo in 2009 it has shunned industry trade shows and opted to conduct their own media events. Why share the stage when a spotlight can be had? Last year Apple waited for CES to blow by — with all the half-baked tablet announcements. Then on January 18, Apple issued invitations to their special event: "Come see our latest creation". This special event took place on January 27, where Apple amazed all with the iPad. This year proves to be no different. Apple will not be holding a special event prior to CES.

Could Apple switch to AMD processors as they move the Graphics Processors Unit (GPU) into the Central Processor Unit (CPU)? Historically, GPUs have always been on a card at the end of a bus inside your computer. That may start to change as both AMD and Intel are bringing their GPUs into the Central Processor Unit (CPU). AMD could have the edge in this new battle with the expertise they received from the purchase of ATI.

Intel introduced the iSeries processors this year that are based on the Nehalem microarchitecture. These i3, i5, and i7 processors are big, fast and expensive, which is both a positive and a negative. Intel has gone after the high market with these chips, but they have left an opening for AMD in the middle and low segments. This kept AMD in the game even though Intel still commands an 80% global market-share. Intel chips are faster, but AMD offers a better value for the price.

Adobe Flash has been the King of the castle for website animation, video and other "hip and cool" things for about a decade. Yet, ever since Apple released the iPhone and then the iPad without Flash support, the future of Flash has been in question.

Monday Apple released iAd Producer — free for Apple developers. iAd Producer helps generate "Beautiful, motion-rich iAd content” using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. This new application should significantly help developers spend more time on their creative tasks and less time on the technical aspects of getting their iAd to work. But what if Apple were to take one more step?

Not too long ago Apple started building a new sales model. Apple made a shift when selling a new iPhone, as they continued to offer the dated version of the iPhone, but at a lower price point. The forthcoming iPad 2 launch is believed to be no different.

Apple first started this sales model with the release of the iPhone 3GS at $199, while the iPhone 3G stayed in the lineup, dropping to $99. Apple repeated this product positioning with their iPhone 4 launch, slotting the iPhone 3GS to $99. How successful has this sales model been? Apple never reveals a breakdown of iPhone sales by model, delivering only a total number of iPhone sales per quarter, but iPhone 3GS is AT&T's third best selling smart phone (coming in behind a Samsung Android and the number one selling iPhone 4).

In business there is nothing like having enough cash to do what you want to help your business grow. Whether that is hiring key talent, purchasing new equipment or buying out a competitor, having money in hand is important. Matter of fact the number one reason businesses don't make it past year #1 is cash flow. Having enough “walking around money” to take advantage of key opportunities that may only happen once is a critical factor to a business' success.

Fortunately, Steve Jobs and Company know this all too well. Almost every financial quarterly conference call contains a question about, "What is Apple going to do with their billions in cash?"

Mobile carriers in the UK — 3, T-Mobile and Orange — are providing iPads through a subsidized model, perhaps as early as year’s end. Fresh on the heels of the UK carriers, Japan's mobile provider Softbank has just announced a subsidy program for iPad. Apple's competitors, who have been unable to compete pound-for-pound with iPad's pricing, thought they had found Apple's soft underbelly via the carrier subsidy model; however, it appears Apple is more than willing to play the same game, but that's where Apple stops playing fair.

The UK carriers are taking an agressive approach, bring iPad to the masses for around £199, with a two-year subscription. But in Japan Softbank's approach is nothing short of stunning, offering the iPad for free, with a two-year contract.

When Steve Jobs introduced us to Lion (OS X 10.7) back in October, there were a few items that were certainly interesting to note:

• Lion OS X 10.7

  Lion will be the next giant step away from computing as we have known it for the past 25 years.

  App Store was a Lion Feature but will be available four-five months before Lion is released — We should mark our calendars for January 20th, which will be 90 days since Jobs' announcement. Will Apple will release iWork 11 on that date and make it available only via the App Store? Expect Apple to move this way to make their Apple Store shelves less filled with software (I mean how many iPhone Apps can you buy at an Apple Store? Answer: Zero) and more filled with accessories and Mac/iPhone gear that is tangible.
• Lion is a move away from the Finder — The Finder was Apple's original way of helping us technical neophytes understand directory structures and files. It is clear that Steve wants to move to the next step which is to make us less dependent on files and where they are stored. Instead we are just use them in the appropriate application. For example, think of Mail.app. Do you deal with files per se? No, you are dealing with an App called Mail.app and it helps you organize "files" called E-mails. A better example is iPhoto. Few of us rarely ever see the actual files in iPhoto but instead manipulating those files through the application. Never must one go to ~/Pictures/iPhoto Library/ and so on. My bet is Steve would like to make our computing day file-and-directory-structure-free. Apps just handle everything for us, in a more useful way.
• Lion is a move away from the Dock — We were introduced to the Dock (in its current form) with OS X 10.0 (sure there were previews of it in OS 9 and 8). But the Dock is limiting. There are only so many items one can fit on the Dock until it becomes so small that you need a magnifying glass to understand what is in there. You should see Mark (Guy #1's) dock. It is so small and so busy, only he can use his computer. If you think about it, the iOS has a dock, but it is far more flexible and far more customizable... yes the main screens (or windows) we swipe through to find,.... what? Apps. See the previous point. Apps become center stage and Lion will make this more evident.
• Lion will make files, not apps, cloud-centric — In Lion expect to see that auto-save also means auto-save to the cloud. For those of you who use IMAP as your e-mail protocol or MobileMe (based on IMAP), you can quickly picture how all files could work that way — not just e-mail. This makes sense with Apple's massive data center in North Carolina. So with Lion I can work on a presentation, then continue when I get on the plane with my iPad.... because all files are synced (like IMAP e-mail). Apps on the other hand are not. They must be installed on each device. In the future, I'm sure if you buy an app for the Mac (through the App Store) it will also have an iOS flavor as well (like iWork does).

A lot more is in-store for us with Lion. Steve said he only had a limited amount of time to share with us some key features. What I think that really meant is he wasn't quite ready to reveal the massive change (and improvements) Lion will bring to our computing lives. Lion will be the next giant step away from computing as we have known it for the past 25 years.

Bloomberg's Amy Thompson has given us a glimpse of what Rodman & Renshaw, LLC believes is going to happen to iPad sales this Christmas quarter; fall short of estimates by a wide margin.

Rodman & Renshaw's analyst Ashok Kumar believes the estimates of 6 million iPads being sold this quarter is out of line and may run as few as 5 million. 

Anyone who has been waiting for the next version of the iWork suite knows that it is a year late as it comes out almost every year so far.  Looks like a new version of iWork should be coming out when the Mac App Store arrives and could be called iWork 11.

A Verizon-branded commercial for iPad on their network. What's the big deal? The deal is that Apple has NEVER done this - allowed some other "partner" or company co-advertise, never. That is a big deal. AT&T does not advertise the iPhone and they are not even allowed to mention iPhone or Apple in their commercials. Apple controls all the iPhone marketing, and produces all their own ads. The only thing regarding AT&T in Apple's ads is AT&T's logo at the very end - always covered and ending with Apple's logo. 

So why now? Why let Verizon advertise the iPad? Why does not Apple do this? One possible reason is Apple has only so much marketing money available. Once they only advertised Macs. Then iTunes and Macs and iPod, and then also iPhones, and iPod touch and iPad, etc. With Verizon advertising iPad, it gives Apple more marketing bandwidth to reach the general audience. With the amount of money Apple has in the Bank, we know this not to be true. Another reason is Apple is testing the waters with Verizon, laying down a new marketing philosophy - at least with iPad. Everyone and their dog will be able to advertise iPad with Apple's soft-touch blessing. Best Buy, Verizon, AT&T, Target, everyone can go for it. Of course, Apple will brand the product with it's campaign and everyone else gets to say they have it. The overarching goal is a massive, massive awareness campaign. We'll see if Verizon is the only one allowed to do this, but I highly doubt it.

  Last week Apple announced they are discontinuing the Xserve. The Xserve is a rack mount server solution running the Macintosh OS. Apples added a alternative, which is the Mac Pro running their server software. The new product looks interesting, but it does not replace an Xserve as the Mac Pros are not rack mountable. Some have suggested Mac Mini as a replacement, but the Minis don't have RAID capabilities. The Mac Mini will work great for small server applications, but not those that need more power. The French Website MacGeneration sent an email asking Steve Jobs why. Steve respond, by saying “Hardly anyone was buying them”. Now I know the Xserve does not have the volume of an iPad, iPhone or even a iMac, but I don’t buy the fact that they were not selling. The Xserve is a solution to those who want to run the Mac OS in the server environment. As of January 1, that will no longer be possible.
   Is this a move away from the professional or business user? No, Apple discontinued the Xserve because it was not worth their time to develop the hardware. With the long wait for Aperture 3 and the big delay for Final Cut, Apple is continuing to show they are more focused on the consumer than the professional. The new OS 10.7 Lion are nice, but they are adding more consumer features, not the professional ones. The professional may not be the bread and butter for Apple as it was before the iPod, but that does not mean Apple should stop focusing on them. Apple needs the professionals to develop the iOS apps, create iTunes content and just generally buy or recommend Apple products. A lose of the professionals would be bigger than just the sales of the professional products.
   Apple could license the Mac OS to someone like VMware as vitalization is the future for server technology, but don’t see Apple doing this. We will not see legal non-Apple hardware running the Mac OS while Steve Jobs is running the company, even though many hope they will. Apple needs to give more focus to the professional to keep them on the Mac. The best way for Apple to do this is by creating a division (or a spin off company) that can focus on solutions for the professional and business user. They should move their Mac Pro hardware and Final Cut, Aperture, Logic, and other professional software into this division. This new division would then give the focus to the professionals that they need to keep them on the Mac. It would also free up Apple to keep their focus on the consumer instead of have to switch back and forth.

  Apple has been holding off adding USB 3.0 support to their Macintosh line up. It is not like Apple to hold off adopting a new technology. USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and is ten times faster. The data transfer rate for USB 3.0 could be 4.8 Gbps where USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps at best. It does require a new connector for the faster data rate though. So one has to ask why is Apple not adopting USB 3.0? Last last week, Tom Kruk emailed Steve Jobs to ask why. Steve responded by saying “We don’t see USB 3 taking off at this time. No support from Intel, for example”. This could be a possible answer, but I don’t buy it. Apple does not wait for other companies when it comes to new technology. If Apple put USB 3.0 into all of their new Macs, new products would come out almost immediately. Apple leads, others follow.
   I think Apple is not adding USB 3.0 because it is waiting on another better technology, Light Peak. According to CNET, Light Peak could be coming out sometime next year. Light Peak is a new optical cable interface that Apple and Intel have been working on together. It promises 10 Gbps data transfer speeds, which is twice as fast USB 3.0. Since Light Peak uses an optical interface, it has a potential of much greater data transfer rate, up to 100Gbps for 2020. I think Apple will be replacing USB and Firewire with Light Peak in the coming years. Keyboards and mice are already wireless, so they don’t need a USB connector. Light Peak was developed to replaces not only USB and Firewire, but also HDML, PCI express, SATA and SCSI. It would replace all of the connectors in the back of a Mac with one Light Peak connector except for the Ethernet. Light Peak can be daisy chained together, so there is no need to have more than one or two. Light Peak is the direction Apple will be taking, not USB 3.0.

  Rumors are flying today about iPhone5 adding Near Field Communication (NFC) capability. You may also see the term RFID used as well. With NFC, your iphone could become a electronic wallet so you could carry some sort of secure ID for purchasing your groceries. It could also be used to store you home folder, so that you could go to any Mac, wave your iphone over it, and your files and settings automatically appear.
Now, this seems interesting, and it would be nice not to carry around a wallet. To bring my home folder along would require a 500GB iPhone, so I don’t think that will be possible for the iPhone5, maybe in the future. It would be nice to go to any computer to use your stuff, but I see lots of problems in the near term. What about applications, are they transferred as well? What happens to the data when I leave that computer? How secure is the whole transferring of data? The electronic wallet also has me concerned with identify theft. In order for these to really work, security will really have to be greatly improved to trust it.

 It looks like iAds might be coming to video, which could be another attack on Flash and a nice solution for free video content on the iOS.  Right now, Flash is the main technology used to inject ads into video on the web.  Since iOS does not have Flash, it is hard for the developers to make money on the video content on the iOS platform.  With Apple entering the market place for video, it is just one more reason you don't need flash.  It could also generate a large amount of cash for Apple and the content creators.  If they can bring in the advertisers, it may really help bring more broadcast quality content to the iOS platform.  The question I have is it only for iOS or is it for the internet as well? 

Apple Developing iAds for Video

At T-GAAP.com we like to have fun. And so we were bantering about what if Lion were the last of the CAT names for OS X?? And then if Apple were to roll to an OS XI (eleven) moniker, what if they used Pop Celebrity code names??? 

Here's who made our list:

Yes, you've probably seen this circling around the internet: Steve Jobs’ new house plans.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Tab is the first mainstream, production-ready iPad competitor that appears to have some Samsung marketing muscle behind it. First to launch was the Dell Streak, but with a 5" screen at $299 with a carrier contract requirement, or $550 unlocked, who's going to buy this?

Could the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which pushed out to market with great fanfare, suffer the same fate the Dell Streak is already experiencing? Absolutely.

Often we're so enamored with Apple’s cool technology that we forget that Apple, Inc. is a business. October is a very special month on the calendar for Apple, as it's the first month of their new fiscal year. This is why Apple typically releases updates to its product line in October/November — to start the year off with strong revenues. Consider...

2010’s Surprise

So far this year most of the products in Apple's arsenal have already been updated. So what hasn't? We think it might be a revamped MacBook Air. The MBA has been out of the limelight with Apple's genius with the iPhone and iPad. But the MBA may still have a place in the laptop lineup that makes sense. While we don't have any "insider info" we think that Apple will once again show off its "magical" design prowess and deliver an updated MBA that makes us all drool and think, "Gee, I'd like to have one of those" even if we don't need one.

The fall season of Windows Phone 7 is upon us, and that means Microsoft's advertising dollars are going to be thrown upon us in grand fashion. Granted, I've never viewed their advertising as effective, and I don't see the nearly $500 million spend doing much for Microsoft this Windows Phone 7 either.

Moving beyond Microsoft's self-generated marketing hype (already discussed here), Windows Mobile 7 is set to launch into an eerily similar market void created by an imploded Microsoft Kin 2 phone...
The similarities of Kin 2 and Windows Phone 7 are recognizable, and like the Kin 2, Windows Phone 7 seems bent on finding a mass market of social media users. Kin 2 died off faster than Matt Leinart's quarterback career, so why are we to think Windows Phone 7 will be any different? Will Windows Phone 7 take off simply because the devices that deploy it won't resemble a hockey puck, and $500 million will be spent on ads? Doubtful.

Yesterday, during Steve Jobs presentation at Apple's special event, a rather un-noticed salvo was launched. It wasn't Apple TV's new hardware and software, promising greater things to come, nor was it Ping which set the table for social networking. These products were nothing more than mere flybys. 

Steve Jobs shot straight across the cell carrier's bow, and the weapon used was FaceTime on iPod touch. Perhaps Steve was too subtle, and thus most missed it, but I don't think so. "...and a lot of people call it an iPhone without the phone." said Jobs. Steve also pointed out "It's also an iPhone without a contract." Herein lies the heart of Apple's game.

Dan Wineman over at Venomousporridge has an interesting take on what the forthcoming iTV remote may look and act like. The basic concept is a merge between iPod touch and Apple's magic track pad.

It's a cool concept that primarily focuses on gaming, yet it falls short in how controls may actually work at a granular level. To name but a few, how does one pause, fast-forward or rewind video content? Apple is high on gestures, but for a living room-based device, two-finger turn for rewind, four-finger spin for fast-foreard, and triple-tap for pause hardly sounds intuitive.

Prepare for another round of in-you-face marketing from Microsoft. In an interview with TechCrunch, Jonathan Goldberg, a telecommunications analyst at Deutsche Bank, explained he believes Microsoft will dole out $400 million to promote Windows Phone 7. This massive spend comes on top of the tens of millions Microsoft has already spent to entice developers to make Windows Phone 7 apps, and getting hardware manufacturers onboard.

“This is make-or-break for them. They need to do whatever it takes to stay in the game. It’s still wide open. They don’t have to take share from Android or Apple, so long as they can attract enough consumers switching from feature phones.” says Goldberg.

Analysts, a host of journalists and the tech blogosphere are all buzzing about Apple's special event on September 1st. Their common thread? A new version of Apple TV, dubbed iTV will show up at the event. Some are even predicting a new MacBook Air along with an iTV unveiling.

There's just one big problem with all these predictions, they don't hold true to Apple's latest August/September events. Apple is very good at focusing the media's attention on what it wants them to focus on. Based on Apple's event history alone, it seems the focus will be entirely on new iPods and perhaps an iTunes via the cloud reveal, nothing more.

 Earlier in the year, Apple's highly discussed $30 all-you-can-eat media idea evidently met a quick death. Thus, Apple moved to plan B. Unfortunately Apple appears to be forced into plan C, delivering a less than desired solution for our living rooms.

Apple's plan B attempt was to allow the user to buy networks a-la-carte for $x.xx a month via an iTV (AKA Apple TV).

Rumors have been swirling that Apple TV will soon become iTV. Ironic isn't it, since iTV was the code name for Apple TV before it launched.

Whatever new name Apple TV receives, it seems Apple is about to deliver a new TV paradigm. Some people (like myself) have wanted this transformation for years, while most of the population will just fall in love with the business model once it is introduced. Apple could sell over 10 million of these new iTV devices in it's first 12 months in the US market, causing all kinds of cable and dish provider turmoil.  So what is this new iTV mechanism that will set the market ablaze? A la carte subscription services delivering only the networks of your choice. Pay per network, not "forced" provider bundles.

 Kevin Rose (founder of Digg) makes some interesting predictions for the upcoming rev to AppleTV, soon to be called iTV. My initial reaction is, if he's right:

• Price Point is consumer friendly at $99 (they'll sell a lot!)
• Sharing Pics and Videos has been something Apple tried to do in the past, but it required the recipient to have a Mac. 
• Allowing (but not requiring) the iPad to be a über remote
• Ala cart shows allowing TV producers to get revenue through Apple's new iAds.
• No metion of gaming (boo)

I think I might make the leap to iTV if even half of this is true (including the new price of course).