Tech Industry

Someone’s got to say it, so I will: “I can’t imagine a world without WiFi any more.” Interestingly, it looks like the analysts and the industry agree – and the standard’s going through changes which mean gadgets with a WIFi radio built-in may soon be able to communicate together with, or without, a base station.

What’s happening? Well, according to the WIFi Alliance, the consortium that loves, nurtures, cares for and develops WiFi, the group – which includes Intel, Cisco, and Apple among its members – is preparing to introduce a new technology called Wi-Fi Direct that will transforms gadgets into hotspots. This exciting new tech was announced this morning…

We’re not gonna see these new snazzy devices appear until mid-2010, when the upgrade happens. The tech turns WiFi-equipped gadgets into mini access points, able to create local wireless connections with other WiFi-enabled devices or broadband modems within a radius of 300-feet.

The WiFi Alliance expects to begin certification for this new specification in mid-2010, and products which achieve the certification will be designated Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi Direct.

The specification, previously code-named "Wi-Fi peer-to-peer," can be implemented in any WiFi device, from mobile phones, cameras, printers, and notebook computers, to human interface devices such as keyboards and headphones.

Significantly, devices that have been certified to the new specification will also be able to create connections with hundreds of millions of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED legacy devices already in use. Devices will be able to make a one-to-one connection, or a group of several devices can connect simultaneously.

"WiFi Direct represents a leap forward for our industry.  WiFi users worldwide will benefit from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications quickly and easily among devices, even when a WiFi access point isn’t available," said WiFi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa. "The impact is that WiFi will become even more pervasive and useful for consumers and across the enterprise."

"With WiFi technology already shipping in millions of consumer electronics devices and handsets every year, this is a terrific innovation for the industry," said Victoria Fodale, senior analyst and market intelligence manager at In-Stat. "Empowering devices to move content and share applications without having to join a network brings even more convenience and utility to Wi-Fi-enabled devices."

The WiFi Alliance plans to publish its peer-to-peer specification upon completion, and will begin certifying devices for the Wi-Fi Direct designation in 2010.  Only Wi-Fi Alliance member companies will be able to certify devices to the new specification.

Now, a little history lesson for those who’ve missed it, or new Mac news writers who just may not know this but need to use this story on their website anyway (don’t forget the back-link, it’s good manners, which is why we do it)…

Way back in 1999, Apple introduced an interesting new technology it called AirPort, ushering this in alongside the iMac successor that was the iBook. And the iBook had an optional extra – AirPort, or WiFI..

Apple was the first mainstream computer manufacturer ever design and sell a mainstream product equipped with integrated wireless networking (WiFI, AirPort). The first, alright? Hence the video we’ve provided…

From WikiPedia: “On the iBook’s introduction, Phil Schiller, Apple’s VP of Marketing, held an iBook while jumping off a height as data from the computer was transferred to another in order to demonstrate the wireless networking capability. The display bezel contained the wireless antenna, which attached to an optional internal wireless card. Lucent helped create this wireless capability which established the industry standard. Apple released the AirPort Wireless Base Station at the same time.”

Fast forward to now and ABI Research predicts WiFi connections in consumer electronics devices will rise from 113 million in 2008 to more than 285 million by 2012.

“While many consumer electronics devices initially adopted Ethernet connections due to cost and potential wireless connectivity issues, WiFi has become the dominant LAN connection type in several device categories,” says digital home practice director Jason Blackwell. “Now we’re seeing WiFi making its way more aggressively into components including digital televisions.”

Are you following this story so far? It’s time for the take home:

– In 2010, new WIFi products capable of creating local networks with other WiFi products will reach market.

– These products will also be able to network with legacy devices, as the new standard will be backward compatible.

– Apple will likely lead the standard once again, likely introducing products capable of networking with other WiFi-enabled products earlier than most other partners involved in development of the standard.

If anyone perhaps wants to use this information to start a new tablet rumour, do feel free. It has been a few days since the last one, it’s mid-week, so why not.

Via: BusinessWeek

Well, we had a deluge of new data pouring in overnight – Apple’s new iFrame format, unjailbreakable iPhones and we found out Apple may plan to implement the radios inside the iPhone and iPod touch (both of which have chips capable of radio which just aren’t switched on – why?)…

With all that, this morning’s reports are tame in comparison, and it’s iPhone, iPhone, iPhone (we found a little Mac, read on): the iPhone sales are sending Australian smartphone sales into orbit; there’s to be an Apple store in Brisbane Australia; new jailbreak tools for iPhone; revised marketshare predictions see iPhone down in fourth place in future smartphone biz; Google Wave already works on iPhone; watch the video of an iPhone starting a car; Shazam wins iFund backing; Real’s Rhapsody plans offline streaming for iPhone; EMI opens up to Grooveshark… And a couple of good Apple gadget deals. All after the blip.

iPhone soars down under
Apple’s iPhone has sent Australian smartphone shipments up 29 percent year on year in the first half of 2009, according to IDC. Analyst, Mark Novosel, said, "What the iPhone has done is ensure that all other manufactures have had to include similar features. The whole industry has benefited as a result of the iPhone in terms of the rapid pace of innovation, which has intensified of the past couple of years."
Data-centric smartphones exceeded voice-centric devices for the first time, accounting for 51 per cent of all smartphone shipments in Q1 2009, rising further to 65 per cent by the end of Q2.

Read it here

Apple store to open in Brisbane
Australia’s clearly a new target market for Apple, as the company plans to open its sixth retail store there, this time in Brisbane.
No word yet on when the new shop’s set to open, but the first signs went up outside the retail block it’s to be situated in today.

Read it here

New jailbreak tools
Just to let you know:
“The Dev Team has struck again, negating the security work of the iPhone 3.1.2 update. Looks like it’ll work even if you’ve never jailbroken your phone before”.

– The iPhone 3GS is now supported out of the box in PwnageTool 3.1.4 (or if you have upgraded to 3.1.x in iTunes)
– The iPod 2G is still supported in PwnageTool 3.1.4 but you must already be jailbroken (we’ll update this if there’s a big demand from non-jailbroken ipt2G owners)
– The iPod touch 3G is NOT supported

Read it here

Does Gartner know the smartphone biz
So there was this recent report which pegged the iPhone as becoming the number three smartphone maker, which came out of Gartner the other day, right?
Well, now it seems the analysts have had new figures which means they have revised their original figures (which were based on figures) to see the iPhone slotted down into fourth place.

The figures then:
Symbian – 37.4 percent
Android – 18 percent
BlackBerry – 13.9 percent
iPhone – 13.6 percent
Windows Mobile – 9 percent

Read it here

Google Wave – already for iPhone
Erick Shonfeld at TechCrunch: “But here is where it gets interesting. In addition to the Web app via the mobile Safari browser, you can get rid of the Safari wrapper altogether. Just like with any Web page on the iPhone, you can save a bookmark on your Home screen, and it creates a little icon which launches mobile Safari to that page. When you save the Wave bookmark to your Home screen, however, something different happens. You go to Wave, but without the Safari wrapper which allows you to navigate to another page or search the Web. Instead, it looks more like a regular app and there is no way to navigate away from it. Everything else works the same as in the mobile browser version.”

Read it here

ViperSmart – you know you want this…
“Are you tired of carrying around another clunky remote control on your keyring, or finding yourself out of range when you really need to warm up or cool down your car before getting in? Now you can remote start or lock and unlock your car just by pushing a button on your iPhone or iPod Touch; using the exciting new Viper SmartStart app from Directed Electronics, the leader in vehicle security and remote start.
“The simple graphical interface gives you control over the following features of your installed Viper remote start or security/remote start system: Lock/arm/ Unlock/disarm/ Remote car starter/ Trunk release/ Panic or car finder
“You can also control multiple vehicles – great for families! – and assign more than one user to control a vehicle. It’s easy with SmartStart!”

Watch the clip below – more news below

Shazam takes iFund cash
Mobile music discovery service Shazam has announced that it now has over 50 million users, with 10 million of those having downloaded its iPhone app. Meanwhile, the company has taken new investment from VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which runs the $100 million iFund to invest in iPhone development.
Shazam will add more recommendation and sharing features, as well as video content, and ticket and merchandise sales.

Read it here

Rhapsody plots offline playback for iPhone app
Sometimes you almost feel sorry for Real. They seem to be losing fans fast, even the Rhapsody iPhone app gets a bum rap in comparison with Spotify.
Now in a desperate fightback to regain what relevance the company can ever possible have in the future online, Real’s gonna give Rhapsody the power to play songs stored on the device offline under its media streaming service (like Spotify). I’m not positive on Real’s long-term outlook, people.

Read it here

EMI kisses Grooveshark
EMI has reached a licensing deal with US streaming music service, Grooveshark, scant months after suing it for copyright infringement. The deal is US-only, and terms are undisclosed. The basic version of Grooveshark is free and ad-supported, so clearly EMI is still licensing these kinds of services.
It makes Grooveshark a major contender in the emerging US music-streaming space because A) it is one of the first to have a deal with a major US publisher and B) Grooveshark does not require any downloads or registration to ‘search and play’ (unlike its competitors). Grooveshark has a specific focus in helping signed and unsigned artists build and monetize their careers, while making on-demand streaming music easy and legal for the public to access.

Read it here

Deals of the day

US deal: We still can’t help talking about the strangely compelling HDMI (2 meter) 6 foot cable for one cent (one cent!!) deal through Amazon US, but the postage raises the cost – why not combine that one useful cable with another product, perhaps the Kensington 64343 MicroSaver DS Notebook Computer Lock with Keys (PC/Mac), which has seen $30 lopped off its price and sets you back just $29.99 – with a $15 rebate on that for a total cost of just $14.99. That’s a good deal for a Kensington lock…

UK deal: So winter’s coming, there’s nothing much on TV, it’s cold and going out feels such a chore – you need some music, and the Klipsch iGroove iPod Speaker System Black compatible with 3rd Gen Touch and 5th Gen Nano is one of the best iPod speaker systems around – and has been discounted by 40 percent, so it’s going to cost you £89.99, rather than the £149.99 book price. Take a look…

Do check by later for more of 9to5Mac’s regularly updated, always at the leading edge, always independent refined blend of Apple news.

Interesting marketing strategy here.  They do a full episode of the Family Guy-type comedy based on a Windows 7 story line (Family Guy also has an iPhone App).  The show won’t have any commercials because it is bought and paid for by Microsoft.  Kind of blurring the lines between entertainment and advertising. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft does with this strategy.

Video from previous sponsored programing via Engadget.

"You’ll see us deeply integrated into the content … you’ll hear a lot about how Windows 7 can help you simplify your PC — it’s simple, fast and easy to use," said Gayle Troberman, general manager of consumer engagement and advertising at Microsoft. She went on: "Think about metaphors and examples we might use, talking about how simple things are. We’ll be evoking the cast of ‘Family Guy’ in some interesting ways that integrate the product messages."

ARM Holdings makes it into the news a lot more than it used to, as the company’s processor designs emerge as a de rigeur standard for mobile devices, including the iPhone.

Indeed, when it comes to the netbook and smartphone markets, the company is poised to overtake Intel in marketshare within three years, reckons semiconductor analyst, Didier Scemama, at ABN AMRO.

That’s interesting, particularly since 100 percent of ARM stock is available to investors on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. And it’s sparked us off on a train of speculative thought here at the European desk.

This also means it could become a strategic battleground for those companies with an interest in using processors designed by the company, firms which include both Apple and Google.

Look to the current battle between those two latter names, once firm friends now increasingly headed on a trajectory to become close competitors in the smartphone market, where iPhone may soon battle Android. And don’t ignore Nokia, which also makes use of ARM chips in some of its designs.

For Apple it’s like taking a step step step back in time… Apple, if you recall, worked with the company that was the forerunner of ARM in the ‘80’s. They were working together to develop new versions of the ARM chip under the name of a new company called Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.

ARM Ltd (as it was then called) had a clear mission to continue the development of the ARM processor and to facilitate its use by system developers, “whether as a standalone processor or as a macrocell with custom logic or other ARM components added to it to make a custom chip.”

As it does now, ARM licenses its designs to chip foundries who would sell the chips. It gets/gained royalties and avoids/avoided shelling out for its own production facilities.

Newton fans may remember that this 90’s cooperation spawned progeny in the form of the ARM 6 chip, which Apple used in the Newton PDA. Way back in 1990, Apple invested $2.5 million in ARM in exchange for a 43 percent holding of the company – a move designed to protect the Newton itself. The company divested itself of the remainder of these shares at the end of the decade, making $792 million with the move (at a point when it really, really needed the money).

Today, we know Apple’s got those world-class processor engineers it acquired on its purchase of PA Semi working away at a variety of different chips, presumably to drive future generations of iPhone, iPod, and, let’s face it, potentially its future tablet Mac.

With this in mind, and knowledge Apple holds billions in its war chest, it is interesting to note Scemama’s statement that an ARM takeover is quite likely, “but not by Intel”.

"I think it will be a consortium of the chip company and electronics OEMs that have a strategic interest in ARM,” he said, "Companies like Apple, Nokia, Google, IBM, TSMC; they are needing ARM to independent. They could make a pre-emptive move."

Given Apple has already paid $278 million in order to acquire PA Semi, a company with world class expertise in getting the very best out of processors loosely based on ARM chips, is the company going to lose its strategic advantage to a competitor?

Indeed, whichever company or consortium of firms may manage a takeover of ARM will be able to find some small consolation in that whatever the end run outcome of today’s smartphone wars, they’ll be getting a royalty on the majority of processors sold in a mobile device.

We’re not saying Apple’s going to invest in ARM in order to protect its new family of flagship products designed to stake Cupertino a far bigger slice of 21st century technology history. We are saying the company’s not going to let anything stand in its way as it maintains its market growth and momentum.

ARM stocks are currently trading at $7.33 on the Nasdaq, £1.53 in London. Current market cap’s allegedly $3.11 billion.

What happens when your company’s largest single individual shareholder has a seat on the board and has already succeeded in building one of America’s most successful retail chains? You get them to help you improve your struggling network of shops, that’s what – and this is precisely what’s going on in Disney retail, where Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been drafted in to advise on how to improve that cartoon capers shopping chain.

Now, other than noting that even when resting this proves Jobs just isn’t the type to ever let himself get bored, but Disney engaged in heavy consultation with the Apple boss as the company worked to completely redesign the image of its stores, reports the New York Times (via: Gizmodo).

We all know Steve and we all know that on his watch little details count just as much as the general picture…so here’s a few nuggets to improve Disney retail that emerged from the chats.

– mobile checkouts – employees carry receipt printers on them.
– community focus one – oh look, a theatre (why not show-off those gazillions of Disney visual assets…
– community focus two – interactivity – karaoke, touchscreen kiosks, live chats with Disney stars…

Oh – and the clincher here? Disney employees will all carry iPods and iPhones to communicate with each other.

Disney is revitalising 340 of its stores, with a flagship outlet in Times Square….
 

Google today announced that Arthur Levinson is leaving the Google board post he’s had since 2004.  The resignation comes amid increased regulatory scrutiny over his membership as a director of both the top Internet search company and Apple.  You’ll recall that Google CEO Eric Schmidt quit Apple’s board two months ago over similar scrutiny.  Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, was quoted at the time as saying that Google had entered too many of Apple’s core businesses for Schmidt to continue (even though he was supposedly working only for Apple gear). 

At the time, Google CEO, Eric Schmidt encouraged Levinson to stay on both boards but legal pressure forced the former Genentech CEO to resign today.

Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt described Levinson as a good friend and valued colleague. "Art has been a key part of Google’s success these past five years, offering unvarnished advice and vital counsel on every big issue and opportunity Google has faced," Schmidt said in a statement on Monday. "Though he leaves as a member of our Board, Art will always have a special place at Google."

"Working with Eric, Larry, Sergey and the whole Google team has been a remarkable experience for me. I greatly admire what they’ve built and have no doubt that Google has a terrific future," said Levinson.

It is interesting that he chose to give up his Google seat and not his Apple seat.

Google and Apple have increasingly been at odds lately.  While Google has been entering Apple’s OS markets, Apple has been busy plugging the Google holes.  Apple purchased mapping company Placebase in July, likely to replace – or just to insure it has an answer to Google Maps.

Update: The NYTimes reports FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz

…praised the decision by Mr. Levinson and the companies. “Google, Apple, and Mr. Levinson should be commended for recognizing that overlapping board members between competing companies raise serious antitrust issues and for their willingness to resolve our concerns without the need for litigation,” Mr. Leibowitz said in a statement. “Beyond this matter, we will continue to monitor companies that share board members and take enforcement actions where appropriate.”

Good morning and welcome to Monday, after a pretty quiet weekend on the Apple news front: today’s highlights led by BSkyB taking a shot at iTunes while the US Army has adopted a video surveillance system – based on Macs.

Read on too for some small Mobile Me improvements, the iPhone’s on its way to the United Arab Emirates, Teens love their iPhones (and don’t really ever buy a Zune – who does?), Sirius brings satellite radio to the iPhone and some analysts think Apple’s trading close to its maximum now (we don’t agree, BTW). Read on…

BSkyB goes on iTunes attack
BSkyB is a huge TV provider in Europe, particularly the UK. The company this week launches its iTunes attack, offering music from EMI, Sony and Warner, along with several of the larger indie labels (but no Universal content yet).

It’s a subscription service charging users a flat fee – 10 songs for £6.49, or 15 songs for £7.99. There’s no ads, at least. BSkyB is part of the huge conglomerate which also owns MySpace and MySpace Music.

Read it here.

Is my Mac watching me?
Well, if you happen to be a member of the US Army it might be. The Army has four video surveillance installations that are based on OS X. Why? Because, despite initial opposition by Army IT people (same as IT folk everywhere else, know Macs will put them out of business), they soon swing round in face of better memory management, better platform security, better interface….

Chris Gettings, CEO and president of VideoNEXT, a company installing these systems for the US Defence Dept, points out: “With Apple they couple the Unix reliability with a world-class user interface. That’s the stumbling block on Red Hat. It’s a little bit complicated … The user interface for Apple is marvelous. It’s so easy to use and intuitive. It’s the hallmark of the platform.”

Gettings can put as many as 60 cameras on one Apple server – while on equally spec’d Windows machines he can only place 50 cameras. “That can be a measurable difference in some of these larger deployments,” he notes. So there’s the Mac for you – safe and robust enough to join the army.

Read it here.

Mobile Me gets pepped
A small Mobile Me update has added iDisk Public Folders through a new Public Folder page, includes sundry usability improvements and an improved ‘Find My iPhone’ function now accessible in the main nav bar.

Read it here

iPhone heading for Dubai
Well, looks like the iPhone 3GS is on its way to ship in the incredibly prosperous UAE, where no doubt oil rich shiekhs will pick up a few dozen of the Apple devices to share among their friends and family. The iPhone’s expected to ship there by the end of the month. Local carrier, Etisalat, “already has over 30,000 iPhone subscribes, and hopes the 3GS will boost its subscription numbers,” a report informs.

Read it here

Teens won’t go Zune, iPhone love grows
Recall the stats from Piper Jaffray last week?
– 22 percent of students expect to buy an iPhone in the next 6 months;
– 15 percent of students own an iPhone’
– iPod market share among teens is 87 percent;
– Among the 40 percent of students that buy music legally 93 percent of those use iTunes.

Now consider just how you can lie with statistics. Two years ago in a similar survey, 13 percent of US teenagers said they planned to buy a Zune, and almost none of them did. Apple owns the MP3 player market. It’s that simple.

Read it here

Siriusly iPhone
Sirius has introduced SkyDock, which, like TomTom is a combined device and iPhone app solution which means you can use your iPhone to listen to satellite radio broadcasts in your car. You get nifty on-screen radio controls, too. Watch the video…

Read it here

AAPL trading close to max?
Some say it is, reckoning the gap between its GAAP and non-GAAP income details is close to being closed. We don’t agree – we think you also need to factor in the coming Christmas market (which if it’s anything like last year will see consumers shopping extensively as we all await the next decade of cut backs and recession); you also need to consider the impact of the iPhone launching in new countries, and finally add a little weight to the notion that Apple’s moving away from exclusive deals with operators, another move that’s likely to positively impact sales.

We also predict healthy back-to-school Mac sales leading into the holiday quarter, and you got to anticipate some level of excitement when the rumoured tablet launches next year. Saying this, for us it’s a trifle academic, at AAPL’s current prices investment’s way beyond our reach.

Read it here

Aspyr announces enhanced Star Wars title
Aspyr this morning announced Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. This upgraded version of the original title ships in Europe this winter. It combines the originally released title with three new levels and new characters and so on, all designed to reflect different attributes of the Star Wars universe. Something for a slow Christmas day, perhaps, though a family session of The Beatles: Rock Band may have the edge.

Read it here

Deals for the day

A pair of attractive-seeming deals for US and UK readers.

US readers – take a look:
We can’t believe this new deal. A Sony Bravia XBR KDL-40XBR7 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV – and it’s a 40-inch monster with 1,080p and it costs under $1,000 – $999 to be precise – that’s a really rather tempting $1,100 off the book price, and you’re getting a Sony Bravia. Sounds like a good deal to us – go see…

UK readers – a deal for you:
It’s easy to stare across the pond at the deals offered to our US cousins, but we think this one looks pretty attractive – an all in one printer, scanner and copier coming in at under £30 – and it’s an HP. The HP Deskjet F4280 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier sets you back just £29.99 rather than its £46.63 regular price, a 61 percent discount. Take a look…

This is a great example of "you get what you pay for".  CNET spends most of the video pointing and laughing at the hardware. We especially appreciate the Parallel, Serial and PS2 ports. Those will definitely come in handy.  And with quality components like that, who cares if they are in business in a year? 

CNET says that if you want OSX on the cheapest possible machine, get this.  We’d say wait a few weeks and get a $499 Mini.

http://www.cnet.com/av/video/flv/universalPlayer/universalSmall.swf

You have to spare a thought for the plight of those poor flash memory vendors, not only are they in a market where the spot price goes up and down, but Apple’s greedy shoppers just can’t get enough of Cupertino’s shiny new flash-based toys…iPhone, iPods nano and touch, SSD drives for Macs, future tablets, yadda-yadda-ya…

News today claims there’s a shortage of flash memory components caused by (you guessed it) Apple gobbling up huge quantities of production from the top tier makers.

This is causing Taiwan’s memory module makers to diversify their NAND flash supplies to minimise procurement risk, tells Digitimes. That’s because the major makers – Samsung Electronics, Toshiba, Micron and Hynix Semiconductor “favour demand for Apple devices,” the report explains.

Demand is expected to climb 81 per cent this year, though manufacturers are conservative about investing in further production facilities just yet. Oh, and as Apple’s impact is felt across the market, prices are climbing up up up (well, by up to 14 percent on some modules).

Wonder what Apple’s beginning to stockpile all that memory for, eh, eh?

CNET reports that the Intel Lightpeek demonstration that was shown on a hefty Hackintosh last month isn’t as far off as originally anticipated.  Speaking to Taiwanese optical networking company, Foci Fiber Optic Communication, they found that Light Peak  cables and other fiber-optic components are right around the corner.

"We plan to have our pilot run ready by the end of November 2009, and ready to be in mass production in the beginning of year 2010," said Janpu Hou, the company’s vice president of business development.

That meshes with Engadget’s sources who said it would be on the Mac Platform in mid-to-late 2010.  They also mentioned that "Intel was pretty high on Light Peak for devices that needed maximum connectivity in the smallest amount of space, like an iPhone — or, say, a tablet."

We’ve popped some video demos below.

Walt, who is usually a huge Mac fan, says Windows 7 is a worthy competitor to Apple’s OS X Snow Leopard:

In recent years, I, like many other reviewers, have argued that Apple’s Mac OS X operating system is much better than Windows. That’s no longer true. I still give the Mac OS a slight edge because it has a much easier and cheaper upgrade path; more built-in software programs; and far less vulnerability to viruses and other malicious software, which are overwhelmingly built to run on Windows.

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/microPlayer.swf

Another day, another Apple tablet rumour, and this one suggests manufacturing deals have already been done, and the product will be focused as an eBook reader.

Digitimes this morning is reporting that Foxconn (aka, Hon Hai Precision) has won the manufacturing contract, rather than Apple’s long-term Mac maker, Quanta.

This figures as Foxconn is also Apple’s iPod/iPhone product manufacturer, and suggests at least that this tablet will be a larger sibling in that side of the Apple family.

(Recall, there have been some claims of two tablets on Apple’s road map, one running OS X, the other running a variant of the OS X Mobile found on iPhones and the iPhone touch).

More info: The Foxconn-fabricated tablet will reach market in the first quarter next year, with initial shipments pegged at 300,000-400,000 per month.

The device will be equipped with a 10.6-inch panel which may come from Innolux Display, not WinTek as has been previously claimed.

Digitimes sources believe marketing of the product will focus on e-book functionality rather than music. The device will offer, “long battery life, quick Internet connectivity and an easy-to-use user interface”, according to the report.

Earlier this week we heard once again that the tablet is likely to be powered by a PA Semi-tweaked ARM processor. As part of Apple’s planning for the product, we also know Apple has been in talks with newspapers, magazines and book publishers, including the New York Times, McGraw Hill and Oberlin Press.
 

Amazon announced today that they were going to have an International version of the Kindle for sale for the holiday season.  Until now the Kindle has used Sprint’s EVDO network to get purchases and updates from the Internet.  Unfortunately for current Kindle owners, Sprint’s radio technology doesn’t work overseas.

Enter AT&T and its global standard HSDPA network.  Amazon has worked out a similar deal with AT&T as it did with Sprint, except on the AT&T version, you can roam in 100 countries with your Kindle.  You can even buy the new Kindle internationally for use with US books.

Amazon is dropping the price of its Sprint Kindle significantly to $259 (or $219 refurb) and is available immediately.  The AT&T International version will be $279 for pre-order and will ship later this month (October 19th-ish)

We’re still pondering the ramifications of Adobe’s sundry smartphone announcements yesterday, and think we may see more to come in the Apple/Adobe/Flash story in future.

We know Adobe has introduced a feature for Flash developers which lets them purpose versions of their applications for the iPhone. The upcoming version of Flash CS5 will allow you the option to "Export Project to native iPhone application." While Apple hasn’t yet uttered comment on this, we’re hopeful the company will not oppose the first third-party development IDE for its device.

We’re most intrigued, however, by ARM’s announcement that they have optimised Adobe Flash Player 10.1 on ARM-powered devices as part of the Open Screen Project.

Specifically, ARM has introduced Flash Player support on its ARM Cortex-A-powered devices. We’ve predicted before that the ARM Cortex-A processor seems likely (albeit in a PA Semi-customised version) to be deployed in a future Apple tablet, and potentially in future iPhones.

Apple has said in the past that it isn’t happy with the speed and performance of Flash on mobile devices. Introducing on-chip support should help remove that road block, typically characterised as symptomatic of some grudge match between Apple and Adobe.

Also, because the support is on the processor, this could potentially side-step Apple’s decision not to enable iPhone apps to call on other iPhone apps in order to achieve things. If your Safari browser tries to view Flash-based content on the Web, then Safari won’t need to command help from a Flash application, but from the processor itself. That’s our understanding, and of course Apple will need to approve and support this operation.

"By bringing the full Flash Player to the broad range of ARM Cortex-A powered devices, consumers will experience uncompromised Web browsing of rich applications, content, and high definition video across a broad range of devices, from PCs and smartphones to digital televisions and netbooks," says ARM.

"Delivering a highly responsive, uncompromised Web and rich media experience to consumer devices and the digital home is a key focus for ARM", says Ian Drew, EVP of Marketing, ARM.

We do note Apple’s conspicuous absence from the roll call of companies who have signed-up to use Flash on their mobile devices yesterday. But with ARM implementing this support in Cortex, it’s open to question whether Apple will continue resistance or move to expand the facility of its product simply by enabling a feature that’s built-into the chip it may well be using in a future product anyway.

There is another consideration: Apple is extremely active in development of the HTTP 5 media streaming protocols. These side-step applications such as Flash or Silverlight to enable multimedia efforts unaided through the Web browser itself.

However, given that the multimedia landscape is fractured, with assets consumers want access to available in a myriad of formats, will Apple move to a more open approach, offering recognition to Adobe for the work it has done to make Flash more effective on mobile devices, or will Flash on smartphones become a new battleground in the increasingly competitive industry?

http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2F9to5ma-20%2F8009%2Ff9ed9b8e-03cd-4663-9a23-1212cb7e086e&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate

Amazon.com Widgets

Yet more movement in the smartphone wars this morning, with Palm opening up its development environment in order to stimulate activity on its platform, while Research In Motion/BlackBerry now boast a music download service of its own, powered by UK digital music company 7Digital. The latter firm also began its assault on Apple’s iTunes’ home turf, launching in the US today.

The first major digital music store to go DRM-free (though arguably, eMusic could lay some claim to this) 7 Digital is well-known in Europe, where it commenced activity in the UK. In the US, tracks sold by 7Digital will cost 77-cents, or $7.77 for an album (standard prices, variable prices also exist).

Tracks are sold in high-quality 320kbps MP3 format, completely free of DRM. “The company also offers a “digital locker” in which all your downloads are backed-up on 7 Digital’s servers in the event you need to redownload them in case of computer failure,” reports Distorted Loop.

The company is offering a free application through the BlackBerry App World store, which gives BlackBerry users access to the company’s full catalogue of 6 million songs. As 7Digital also drives Spotify’s music download service, it’s not unlikely we’ll see Spotify launch properly in the US soon, and potentially offering a music streaming service for mobile phones.

Meanwhile, over at Palm, new hires Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer, both ex-of Mozilla, delivered a speech to developers in which they stressed that open development would be the way to go, laying a couple of initiatives down that clearly aim to combat Apple’s App Store and iPhone.

Principal in these initiatives:

– Developers can now fully distribute their apps on the Web. They submit apps to Palm and Palm then gives them a URL they can share, there’s no need for a store.
– Apps will not be reviewed by Palm.
– Palm will offer the App Catalog for developers who want to charge for their Apps, membership costs $50.
– Palm is making its WebOS App Development software available for free, waiving the prior $99 fee.
– Perhaps most crucially as the company continues its anti-Apple crusade, the company is to open up its analytical data to any developer who might want it.

Adobe made a video for embarrassing Apple into supporting Flash/explaining why they made their CS5 export to iPhone App feature.  We’re not sure that it is Apple that should be embarrassed.

The timing is suspicious but Microsoft this week got together all of their Multi-touch mouse work and put it on display over at Engadget.  Apple is widely expected to put forth new multi-touch capable mice, along with new, smaller keyboards, MacBooks, Minis and iMacs, on any given Tuesday.  (Note the music is loud and annoying)

http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/bcb6cff5

http://www.cnet.com/av/video/flv/universalPlayer/universalSmall.swf

Hello and welcome to Microsoft Monday today, with the company’s bombastic CEO putting the smack down on Apple market share, preparations for the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS tomorrow plainly under way, and in a moment which should forever eradicate the notion that security and Microsoft are friends, the shock leak of thousands of Hotmail passwords giving the company a headache.

First the world inside the mind of Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, who today continued his verbal assault on all things Apple, saying, "[Apple has] done a very good job of marketing to their 3.5 per cent of the market. I’m glad we’re doing a great job with the other 96.5 per cent."

The bombastic MSFT boss was chatting with Cnet when he made his claims, though he refused to make any utterances on the shock revelations of the Microsoft Courier tablet, which eagle-eyed readers may recall they read about here first….

On Apple, Ballmer talked up his company’s mass market approach over Apple’s excellence in execution. "They advertise basically to that small niche of people who want their machines. And I don’t take it away from them; they make a very good business doing it," he said. "So, we need to have messages that are appropriate to the vast majority of people, and it’s fine. There may be 3 percent of people who sort of appreciate their approach."

Ballmer keeps it going when discussing Windows Mobile too, promising a scatter gun approach until Microsoft gets it right, “we’re going to keep (coming out) with new releases, new releases, new releases,” he said. You could look at everything else Microsoft’s boss has to say right here…

Windows Mobile 6.5

Microsoft is excited at the release tomorrow of the first mobile phones running Windows Mobile 6.5, which includes support for a touch-screen interface and connects to a new online store where mobile users will be able to download applications.

The patch is seen as hugely important to the company, as it has to respond to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android systems if it wants to retain any relevancy in the mobile phone sector, where it has lost almost 3 per cent of its share of the smartphone operating system so far. The company aims to release Windows Mobile 7 early next year, it has previously promised.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s attempt at an App Store is already online, and available to those few phones out there in the wild running Windows Mobile 6.5.

The Hotmail disaster

So with Microsoft marketing in full effect, it’s a shame news has emerged that thousands of Hotmail passwords have been leaked...

Password details for Windows Live Hotmail accounts, including @hotmail.com, @msn.com, and @live.com e-mail addresses, were revealed anonymously at pastebin.com, a site that lets users share text snippets.

As of October 1 there were over 10,000 of these account passwords posted as a result of either some type of "hack" or phishing scheme, according to Ars Technica, which cites Neowin as the first source for this information.

“The list reportedly details accounts with usernames beginning with "ar" all the way to "bl," which suggests there may be details for many more thousands of accounts,” the report warns.

This implies many thousand more Hotmail or Windows Live users may need to change their passwords immediately – and also hints that those of us who may have once signed-up for one of these accounts and used a favourite password may need to apply changes in the password if they also use it on other sites and services.

Psystar is perhaps going a little too far here?  Today, they’ve announced that they aren’t just selling Mac Clones.  They are certifying other maker’s PCs for their new virtualization technology for Snow Leopard – effectively making their systems Mac OSX compatible.

They are touting a technology called the Darwin Universal Boot Loader (DUBL) and will have three versions: Desktop, Server or Mobile. Once a product is certified, consumers can purchase it off the shelf or through standard channels and when labeled Psystar Certified would allow the installation of Snow Leopard simply by inserting the retail OS X DVD.  They also tout a separate "Safe Update" program which will allow special versions of the software updates to be pushed.

Wow, this is certainly big news and a new direction for Psystar.  With that being said, we wouldn’t want to be within 1000 meters of Steve Jobs when he hears this news.  Something tells us that there is going to be a few more $$ thrown in the Apple lawyers coffers pretty quickly.

via setteB.IT

Full Press release:

PSYSTAR Announces OEM Licensing Program:   Psystar Corporationannounced today their OEM Licensing Program. Psystar will begin certifying manufacturer’s hardware to allow the licensing of Psystar’s new virtualization technology, effectively making their systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar’s virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines.

Miami, FL (PRWEB) October 5, 2009 — Psystar Corporation announced today their OEM Licensing Program. Psystar will begin certifying manufacturer’s hardware to allow the licensing of Psystar’s new virtualization technology, effectively making their systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar’s virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines. 

In an effort to spread the Snow Leopard experience to an ever-expanding number of people, the licensing initiative will allow manufacturers to have their hardware Psystar Certified and have their computers pre loaded with our unique technology including the Darwin Universal Boot Loader (DUBL). Qualifying products must fall in Desktop, Server or Mobile categories. Once a product is certified, consumers can purchase it off the shelf or through standard channels and when labeled Psystar Certified would allow the installation of Snow Leopard simply by inserting the retail OS X DVD.

Psystar’s vision of open computing is to provide users with the freedom to choose which OS’s they install on their hardware. The Licensing Program will allow computer manufacturers the opportunity to ship the certified systems pre-configured with DUBL and OS of choice including Windows 7, Windows Vista and several flavors of Linux. These systems would also be compatible with Mac OS X Snow Leopard and receive normal software updates through the use of "Safe Update" technology. The customer can install the Mac OS themselves simply by inserting the retail DVD or choose to install several other OS’s with no manual boot configuration. DUBL supports up to six different operating systems on a single machine and configures itself *automagicly*.

Manufacturers can benefit from this unique licensing opportunity with minimal expense and in several hardware markets. In most cases Psystar will tailor the technology to a specific hardware profile(s) at no additional engineering cost, allowing manufacturers to save time and money by utilizing our familiarity running the Mac OS X on generic hardware.

If you are interested in participating in the Licensing Program, head over to Psystar.com (http://www.psystar.com) or send an email to Licensing@psystar.com.

OS X, OS X Snow Leopard, Snow Leopard and Macintosh are products and trademarks of Apple, Inc. Psystar purchases copies of these operating systems to resell as part of its Open Computer systems. Psystar has no other affiliations with Apple, Inc.

The NPD Group’s 2009 Household Penetration Study, reveals that approximately 12 per cent of all US computer owning households own a Mac, up from 9 per cent in 2008. 

The researchers note to that while Apple ownership is growing, the mix favors mixed system environments. Of those 12 per cent, nearly 85 percent also own a Windows-based PC.

From the Press Release:

“Multiple computer ownership is a common thread in Apple computer households, with 66 per cent of households owning three or more computers, compared to just 29 per cent of Windows PC households. Apple owning households are decidedly more mobile as well, with 72 percent of them owning a notebook, whereas only 50 percent of households that have a Windows PC own a notebook.

“Not only do Apple computer owners own more computers (and more mobile computers) than the norm they also tend to own more types of electronics, and more of them, than typical computer owning households. For example, while 36 per cent of total computer owning households have an iPod, 63 per cent of Apple households have one. And while almost 50 per cent of Apple owners own some type of navigation system, only about 30 per cent of all computer households own one.”

"While Apple owners tend to own more computers and more electronics devices, there is also a high correlation among Apple owners and more affluent consumer households," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis. "Thirty-six percent of Apple computer owners reported household incomes greater than $100,000, compared to 21 per cent of all consumers. "With a higher household income, though, it’s not a surprise that those consumers are making more electronics purchases," Baker said. "The average Apple household owns 48 CE devices whereas the average computer household owns about 24. Apple household owners’ actions and purchases can be used by the industry as leading indicators for hot new products and adoption."

A total of more than 2,300 of NPD’s online panelists completed this survey.
 

Adobe has revealed a series of alliances and new Flash software which threatens to bring support for its proprietary multimedia software to almost every mobile device – except Apple’s iPhone.

At the MAX conference in Los Angeles Adobe is is demonstrating Flash Player 10.1 for smartphones, a version of mobile Flash that delivers faster rendering, lower memory consumption and all for less battery drain. A beta is expected to be available for Windows Mobile, Palm webOS and desktop systems including Windows, Macintosh and Linux later this year.

Public betas for Google Android and Symbian OS are expected to be available in early 2010. In addition, Adobe and RIM announced a joint collaboration to bring Flash Player to Blackberry smartphones, and Google joined up for the Open Screen Project initiative.

Flash Player 10.1 is the first consistent runtime release of the Open Screen Project that enables uncompromised Web browsing of expressive applications, content and high definition (HD) videos across devices.

New mobile-ready features that take advantage of native device capabilities include support for multi-touch, gestures, mobile input models, accelerometer and screen orientation. Take a look at a demo on a Palm Pre here.

“We’ve been working with some great partners including Nvidia and ARM to optimize the player for those devices and create a quality mobile experience,” said Adobe Flash developer, Ryan Stewart.

David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “We are excited about the broad collaboration of close to 50 industry leaders in the Open Screen Project and the ongoing collaboration with 19 out of the top 20 handset manufacturers worldwide. It will be great to see first devices ship with full Flash Player in the first half of next year.”

Missing from the line-up – at least so far – is Apple. Take a look at what Harry McCracken has to say about that – is Flash support on phones a promise for a multimedia future, or just going to end up meaning those annoying Flash-based ads will also play on your phone, sucking your battery power? McCracken argues that iPhone users are steadily becoming less interested in Flash on the iPhone, as they have thousands of Apps to keep them entertained.