Apple

Apple’s battle with Android continues with the latest Nielsen market share data revealing iOS remains the dominant smartphone OS, at least right now.

Android is picking up users: according to November data from The Nielsen Company, the popularity of the Android OS among those who purchased a smartphone in the last six months (40%) makes it the leading OS among recent acquirers.
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Apple remains the world’s most valuable company (after Exxon) with a market cap that this morning exceeded $300 billion, reports declare. On active trade on the Dow Apple (AAPL) rose $7 to hit a new record intraday high this morning — right now Apple stock sits near $330 per share for a market cap of over $302 billion.
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CES news is beginning to trickle through now, and we anticipate at least some AirPlay-enabled systems from the big audio dynamos will be waiting in the wings; meanwhile, WallWizard will be at the show to demonstrate its range of motorised iPhone/iPad-controlled HDTV mounts.
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SAI breaks down Piper Jaffay Apple follower Gene Munster’s predictions for 2011, complete with probabilities.  I’ve got to say, these are pretty conservative.  (I like Appleholic’s 2011 list much more).  Anyway, here we go…

– Verizon launch of the iPhone: Probability 95% (March qtr) (our est)

– Mac App Store: Probability 100% (Jan. 6 launch)

– iTunes cloud services: Probability 90%

– iPad geographic expansion: Probability 100%

– iPad subsidies from carriers: Probability 80%

– OS X Lion: Probability 100% (summer 2011)

And here’s when we can expect upgrades to the hardware:

– iPhone (March quarter). We are modeling for Apple to launch a CDMA version of the iPhone at Verizon in the March-11 quarter. The fifth generation iPhone will likely ship this summer with NFC capability.

– iPad (spring). We believe the second generation iPad will launch in spring 2011.

– Macs (uncertain). We have moderate confidence that Apple will release redesigned MacBook Pros in 1H11 and redesigned iMacs in 2H11.

– iPods (fall). As usual, we expect Apple to refresh its iPods in the fall.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZNxjBKI0fI&w=640&h=385]

Clear discontinued the iSpot personal 4G hotspot for iOS devices yesterday.  The iSpot was easily hacked to work like its more expensive counterpart with all computers and even had trouble with some iPads without hacking.

Clear recently dropped the price of the iSpot by 80% and will continue selling them until they sell out of retail inventory.

Sprint (who own 54% of Clear) is also about to announce a new Mifi device which may also account for the iSpot discontinuation (below).  One major drawback of the iSpot is that it only works in the few spots that have Clear 4G, it doesn’t drop down to 3G if you leave a 4G area.  The new device, which also uses Sprint’s 3G network, does.

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Skype just updated their Skype application for iOS to include video chat functionality. It works both over WiFi and 3G networks and two-way video calling is supported by the iPhone 4, iPod touch 4, and iPhone 3GS. The iPad and third generation iPod touch support one-way video calling. Just like on Apple’s FaceTime application Skype for iPhone will video conference in both portrait and landscape orientations.

Seth and I just tested out the application and it looks very smooth on both ends. It even works in the background but your face gets frozen for the person on the other end (audio still works). Just like with FaceTime there is an option for the iPhone user to display either the front camera’s view, back camera’s or no camera. We have more screenshots of Skype video chat after the break.

We also ran some tests over 3G and it looked very smooth. I was on 3G and Seth was on WiFi and he saw me as crisp as I looked over my WiFi network. My view of him was also smooth and when he pointing his camera at a moving fan that looked smooth as well. Also, we tested it on an iPad (which still is blown up, not a universal binary) and it looked as expected without the camera. When used with an iPhone 3GS you should get the option to see the user’s back camera. Release notes, official promo video, and more screenshots are after the break.

Update: Skype video calls over 3G will use around 3.4 MB of data per minute. We calculated this by looking at our usage info on our iPhone 4 before and after a one minute (timed of course) call. Below are our screenshots:

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Macenstein points to this listing on Sears’ website for iWork at a $39.99 price point. iWork getting a price reduection?! Nope. It’s a project tool set called iWork and it even has an Apple-ish logo. Wikipedia can explain trademark infringement. The funny part is that Sears sells Apple’s iWork productivity suite too.

Buy the iWork Tool Set here, something tells us they are going to be off the shelves soon!

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If the leaked Skype mobile video help pages weren’t enough, Skype now has a full blown teaser page demonstrating a bunch of mobile video examples.  Enough! Give us the goods already.

via Razorian.

Update, we’ve been told (not so nicely) to remove those mold drawings because they are the property of someone else.  We’ve complied.

Some purported iPad 2 cases hit the web over the last few weeks as well as some unconfirmed reports claiming the iPad 2 will gain an iPod-touch inspired design with tapered edges. These cases appear to show a new slot on the bottom for an enhanced speaker system as well as a hole for a back camera. These case designs are still of course unconfirmed to be legitimate but 9to5mac has managed to get a hold of some iPad 2 case mold drawings from an Asian case supplier.

As you can see in these drawings (above, below, and after the break) the edges are clearly tapered  and the iPad 2’s back is slightly contoured like the current iPad and past iPod touch models. These drawings also add confirmation to the back camera reports and our sources say the camera hole size is close to the size of the iPhone 4’s (which may or may not indicate a similar shooter).

Some new information we have discovered through these drawings is a brand new port opening on the left side of the device. We’re not sure what this opening is for but it is there on these latest iPad 2 design schematics. On the drawings there appears to be an SD card going into the port but that could just be a piece of the case mold machine. The latest rumors point to either a mini USB or a full USB port being present on the iPad 2 so it very well could be one or a combination of the three ports.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMltvlqEM54&w=670&h=400]

Apple’s iOS has won a big thumbs-up from the Angry Birds themselves, who say that when it comes to mobile devices, Apple’s going to excel against the rest.

“Apple will be the number one platform for a long time from a developer perspective, they have gotten so many things right,” said Peter Vesterbacka, Angry Birds development lead.
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Perhaps you’ve been wondering if Apple will feel much impact once those Android and Chrome-powered tablets ship in 2011 — now a pair of reports suggest the magical iPad is set to maintain dominance for some time yet.

Report one tells us LG Display shipped 1.5 million iPad panels in November, while Samsung delivered 1.2 million units, suggesting Apple might have sold nearly three million iPads this month.
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iPad 2.0 activity continues to heat up with the latest report claiming Apple will offer multiple configurations of the new product, with an accent on provision of pervasive Internet access.

Apple is expected to ship over half a million iPad 2.0 units in January with mass production set to begin then, the report claims. It seems Apple will offer Wi-Fi-equipped units alongside UMTS and CDMA-savvy iPads, maximizing the always connected Internet device proposition.
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Facebook welcomed an additional million iPhone owners on Christmas (Facebook for iPhone includes all iOS devices?).  In fact Apple had a pretty impressive December all together. via DF.

From Fortune:

Tran says that [Android] phones made from the BCM2157 chipset will retail for under $100 and may dip as low as $75. Those devices should debut in just 3-6 months (and we might hear about them next month at CES).

That means that popular pre-paid Android devices that currently can be found as low as $180 will drop by half in the next half year.

Apple’s low-end strategy so far has been to offer the last year’s model for $99 with a two year contract.  That contract is at least worth $350 (AT&T’s ETF) which puts old retail iPhones at $450. Buying an iPhone 4 off contract costs $650.

What’s more important is that with Apple’s AT&T agreement, you have exactly one data plan option in the US (soon to grow).  Even with Verizon and maybe even Sprint and T-Mobile, there isn’t going to be a $25/month data plan for the iPhone anytime soon.  For the budget conscious, Android is the only smartphone game in town.

So how does Apple respond?

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According to Setteb.it, Apple will have its Q1 2011 conference call on January 18th.  Tune in here to find out how many Macs and  iOS devices Apple sold during the holiday and perhaps we’ll get another cameo by CEO Steve Jobs.
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A prototype of Apple’s first portable Macintosh has just been posted for sale on eBay. The device is said to have not been intended for sale and is clearly marked as a prototype unit with a label stating “this device is a demonstration unit only. Production units will comply with all applicable Federal Rules and Regulations.”  The device itself is in “perfect condition” but does not power on. By perfect the seller means the outside as the inside contains a defunct acid battery.

The Macintosh Portable is the basis for the laptop computers we use today. It ran on a rechargeable battery , included a screen which flipped shut and had an input device. In the case of the Macintosh Portable is was a trackball. More photos of the protoype device are at eBay.

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Ever get the feeling that these companies like to mess with us?  After the reported Skype iPhone video conferencing ‘leaked help document’ Skype took the document offline.  Today however, it is back up with some new company joining in the fun:

Verizon.

So there you have it: Skype, Verizon, iPhone.  CES. Join us for coverage on Jan 6th.

Also, Skype is hyping an iPad only version of their software as well.

Even though the iPhone application is fully compatible with the iPad, we’re still always striving to bring the best to our Skype users, which is why we’re developing a Skype application designed specifically for the iPad. Watch the website for further updates.

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It appears that an upcoming update to Skype will allow iPhone and iPod touch users to video chat with desktop Skype users or other iPhones (an iPod touch 3rd Gen) users with Skype installed.  Skype hasn’t released the software just yet but maybe they have a Christmas surprise?

Help page saved below.

Via Engadget

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been named 2010’s ‘Person of the Year’ even while US President, Barack Obama, speaks up for the wealth of the Apple co-founder.

The Financial Times named Jobs its person of the year, saying the introduction of the iPad marked the moment when the ‘rebound’ in Apple’s fortunes “was complete”.

The iPad is the culmination of an approach that he has seemingly been perfecting for his entire career,” stated the newspaper’s opinion writers.
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Pretty much everything on any Apple product is playable on any other Apple product now…I think…

What’s New in Remote.app Version 2.1?

• AirPlay video support to control iTunes on your computer to stream videos to an Apple TV
• Internet radio control to play thousands of internet radio streams in iTunes on your computer
• The ability to control iTunes on your computer to play Movies and TV shows that are rented from the iTunes Store
• Addresses issues connecting to an iTunes library or Apple TV
• Includes stability and performance improvements

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGjKrEHRsFM&w=670&h=401]

Concerned about net neutrality and hold a little inner fear that one day access to the Web will involve tiered access with the ‘real’ Web almost impossible to get to?

Then be glad Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has taken time to tell an FCC net neutrality hearing to do the right thing and enact net neutrality rules that favor the people.
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