Tech Industry

In April 2005, Apple was at a crossroads.  IBM wasn’t delivering on its 3GHz chip promises and wasn’t making efficient, low power, high speed versions of its processors.  It just wasn’t a priority.  Apple had to do something.  At the time, that something turned out to be moving to Intel x86 processor lineup which blew away anything IBM had to offer (Apple was still using Motorola/Freescale G4s in its laptops) in terms of power/watt.

The Register broke the story a year later that there was a third player involved in that switchover.

P.A. Semi

P.A. Semi had a chip that would have kept Apple on the PowerPC processor roadmap for the next few years.  It had a low power 2GHz 64-bit dual-core PowerPC processor that matched up very well against Intel’s Core Duo line.  The problem was that this chip wasn’t going to be able to be produced in large quantities until 2007.  Far too long at that point to wait on an unproven technology.

Had Apple decided to go with P.A. Semi at the time, Adobe, Microsoft, and others wouldn’t have had to port their apps to work on Intel. Rosetta wouldn’t have had to be slapped on every Intel machine either.

Conversely, Mac users wouldn’t have had the option of using Parallels and VMWare Fusion as well as benefitting from lower-cost Intel parts and components.

Obviously Apple never lost touch with P.A. Semi and never really stopped working with them on some level.  Apple now sees their technology as so incredibly important to their core business that they’ve bought them with cash.

It is amazing how things in the technology industry come full circle…in such a short amount of time.

 Apple’s planning an international campaign to boost iPhone sales and propel it towards its ten million unit sales target for 2008.

Emerging reports claim Apple will introduce the 3G iPhone to the Belgian market by June, making available through all local mobile network operators.

Earlier this week La Repubblica reported that the iPhone will debut in Italy with Telecom Italia but will be sold unlocked.

These reports confirm Apple is abandoning its previous bring to market iPhone strategy, in which it reached exclusive distribution deals with a key partner in each territory.

While these deals have seen some success in terms of attracting new users to the chosen networks, in sales terms things haven’t truly worked out.

The Italy and Belgium deals seemingly propose a new M.O., in which one local network may have exclusive distribution rights for the device for a short time (a month or two) after which it will be made more widely available from multiple networks. Essentially users will be able to buy an iPhone and use them on the network of their choice. It will be sold unlocked.

Apple’s iPhone sales in Europe were dampened by its previous strategy. Mobile phone users here are a sophisticated bunch, and disliked it that Apple forced them to sign-up to a single network, rather than being able to shop around for the best deal or the most effective coverage for their area. A move away from exclusivity also removes one of the primary reasons customers weren’t purchasing the device.

Apple’s also set to answer a second major criticism – lack of 3G support, with an iPhone capable of support for the fast wireless data transfer network standard expected to ship by June. 

With a host of applications set to make their debut at WWDC 2008 (also in June), and new features within the in-development iPhone 2.0 software, Apple is also responding customer demands for features such as: MMS messaging, Bluetooth streaming support, voice over IP and enterprise class security.

Price remains a sticking point, but it seems the company is plotting a course to make iPhones more widely accessible. American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu yesterday predicted: "In addition to a 3G version, our sources indicate that the 2.5G model could see a minor casing change and lower price point closer to $299-349 vs. its $399 price today."

Apple also seems to be plotting a more diverse iPhone roadmap, planning future versions which should be cheaper, if less well-featured, than before.

Apple’s PA Semi acquisition is the biggest news since the Intel switch, take a look at what our team’s dug up around the site. We expect more revelations during the company’s financial results call tonight. Despite the importance of Apple’s big news, the Mac news web is on fire this morning, read on…

Mac share doubles

Lehman Brothers yesterday began coverage of Apple stock, offering a $195 target price and predicting Apple’s market share will double by 2013. "Macs may have reached a tipping point with share on its way toward doubling over the next 3-5 years," said analyst Ben Reitzes. The analyst also observes Apple to be the most well positioned company to exploit the move toward mobile smart devices. More here.

Sony buys Gracenote

Look, Sony America has bought the Gracenote service. We don’t know how this is going to play out. It’s important because Gracenote (once known as the CDDB) is the software technology that drives the track and album recognition facility in iTunes – it’s what iTunes uses to identify the contents of CDs as you put them into your Mac or PC. And Gracenote is used by other media playing software, too. We’d like to know just how much data Gracenote has collected on user’s personal collections, and we’d also like to know what Sony plans to do with the service?

Yahoo earnings climb

Yahoo management seem to us to be doing a pretty good job of keeping Microsoft’s hostile takeover at bay, revealing a strong set of results (PDF). Microsoft is threatening to get dirty in its takeover bid with a proxy war, we just wonder how many of Microsoft’s former competitors also plan to engage in a protective mission. And if Microsoft fails in its attempt, well, will it be the beginning of the end for the world’s largest software company?

Microsoft dumps on customers

Remember MSN Music? Microsoft’s first attempt at an iTunes-killer? We do. Remember the DRM it used, and the way the company then dumped on its partners when it introduced the Zune? We do. Remember the debate about DRM, and what happens if the company that creates the DRM on music purchases ceases to support it? We do. Well, now Microsoft has royally dumped on MSN Music customers, announcing that it will no longer supply authorization keys for songs purchased from the defunct MSN Music service. That means that when your authorised set of computers stop working, so will the music you paid for. This underlines the inherent danger of DRM in general, and reinforces music fans in their negative perception of Yahoo’s unwanted suitor. We think former MSN Music customers should kick up a fuss, or switch to Mac.

Apple and design

Apple is the world’s leading designer of consumer electronics products, winning prestigious design awards on a regular basis. No surprise then that the company is once again in the running for the world’s most important design awards, with no less than eight products nominated for this year’s D&AD awards. 

Steve Jobs, Apple and Disney

Not news, per se, but fascinating all the same. Take a look at SeekingAlpha’s interesting opinion piece, in which Jason Schwarz speculates Apple boss, Steve Jobs, used Eisner’s Disney turnaround as a partial blueprint to transform Apple’s fortunes on his return to the company.

Mac’s get satellite TV

From the whisper and rumour dept., Terratec and Elgato are developing a USB TV card for Macs that accommodates a slot for a satellite TV validation card, effectively opening your Mac up to become a satellite TV receiver. It’s pretty cool.

Sorry for the late arrival of the round-up today – we’ve had a lot on our mind.

A midnight stroll down Regent Street yielded a particularly interesting view of the flagship Apple store.  It seems the place is getting a major makeover.  Massive chunks of the floor were being upgraded as well as a few large displays being unveiled.  Something in the works for tomorrow to coincide with the earnings call?  Doubtful…but the store is going to look a little "spiffier".  More pictures…

Update: My 2am grammar/spelling sux and iFoAppleStore says that this was an update to accommodate crowds.

 Apple’s US network partner AT&T this morning revealed positive financial results, boosted by its wireless unit profits climbed 22 per cent. However, investors were disappointed at the lack of any immediate breakdown in iPhone sales, sending Apple’s stock on a downward trajectory, currently trading at $160.26 (down $7.90).

Investor anxiety is high at present, with deepening gloom in the US economy and depressing forward analyses of consumer electronic spending. And with Apple set to reveal its Q2 FY 2008 financial results tomorrow, lack of an admitted iPhone sales boost seems to have been sufficient to drive the sell-off, regarded by some on financial bulletin boards as representing particularly heavy trading.

Despite the malaise, AT&T did admit some iPhone goodness: "iPhone continues to be very popular with customers, feedback is very good," the company said.

AT&T also confirmed a high average revenue per iPhone user, characterising these as in the "mid to upper 90’s" across its customer base.

The iPhone’s also acting as a miracle cure to attract new users to AT&T, the company admitted. "We continue to see customers adopting iPhone. Over 40 per cent are new to us."

AT&T’s 22 per cent gains were driven, at least in part, by iPhone usage and sales. The company revealed an 18.3 per cent increase in wireless revenues with wireless data revenues from areas such as internet access, messaging and media bundles up 57.3 per cent.

AT&T’s reported first-quarter 2008 net income totaled $3.5 billion, up 21.5 percent from $2.8 billion in the year-earlier first quarter, and reported earnings per diluted share totaled $0.57, up 26.7 percent from $0.45 in the first quarter of 2007.

All eyes now fix on Apple’s financial results announcement tomorrow. Analysts are generally optimistic on what is to be revealed, but many will be looking to Apple’s traditionally conservative guidance to figure out just how well company management hope to survive the current downturn.

 The talented hands at Computer Choppers have put together this most enticing creature of desire, a gold and sapphire MacBook Air.

Essentially, the modification uberkinds have taken a standard edition of the lightweight Apple laptop and covered it in 24-carat gold, applying dozens of multi-coloured sapphires onto the Apple logo on the lid of the device.

Sure, gold isn’t the most ‘now’ choice in precious metals for the fashionistas, but it’s a recession-proof investment, and the modders also offer iMacs in platinum, so it’s not all bad. The price isn’t too appalling: $5,000 will get you one of these blinged-up MacBook Airs (normal price $1,799), which add just a couple of ounces to the product’s base weight. The sapphires cost you extra, though, you’ll need another 3,000 bucks for these.

Additional details: The modded-MacBook Air’s a standard 1.6GHz model with 2GB memory and an 80GB drive. And the company is also offering a polished gold external SuperDrive to go with its golden system.

 Just a rerun of an old favourite: A younger Steve Jobs speaks on Microsoft. Watch out for his classic delivery of the line, "for the most part". Enjoy!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upzKj-1HaKw&hl=en]

It’s all about financial chatter and multimedia on the Apple news front this morning, with more analysts offering positive targets on the company’s stock and the debut of ITV on the Mac. 

In other news, Apple ships the Aperture SDK and reveals many plug-ins to match; Apple further improves its Chinese retail presence; MacBook Pro software updates and news Apple plans an IM client for iPhone. Read on…

Financial Chatter

As my colleague Cleve Nettles reported this morning, Apple’s at number 103 in the Fortune 500 list for 2008. That incredibly significant inclusion surrounds the fact most Wall Street analysts now think Apple has a strong chance to succeed, with Mac sales climbing much faster than the industry average. Analysts at Leham Brothers, RBC Capital, Goldman Sachs and Caris & Co have all issued positive comment on the stock in advance of Apple’s Q2 financial results announcement tomorrow. Price targets are slowly climbing back toward Apple’s 52-week top end of $200 per share.

iTunes, ITV and the Mac

UK broadcaster ITV this morning took two steps toward the Apple ecosystem, making selected shows available for purchase and download through iTunes UK, and launching the beta Mac version of its online catch-up TV service using Microsoft’s Silverlight technology.

Aperture plugs-in

Apple this week released the software development kit for Aperture which enables third party developers to build plug-ins for the professional application, extending its functionality. In conjunction with the release, several developers have moved to immediately introduce plug-ins, including the Dfx Digital Filter Suite from the Tiffen Company and Power Stroke, Light!, and Ozone from Digital Film Tools. Plug-ins from several other developers are expected soon.

China calling

China’s going to be in the headlines all year with global media attention focusing on the world’s leading internet-connected nation; now Apple’s opened its first store-in-store with Best Buy in Shanghai while local reports confirm two own-brand Apple stores are set to open in Beijing.

Updated laptop updater

We think this is happening too much recently. Apple has moved fast to ship an updated version of the MacBook Pro firmware update it shipped earlier this month. MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5.1 "fixes several issues to improve the stability of MacBook Pro computers," Apple explains. Links to the previous iteration of the software no longer work – and reports claimed the previous build caused blank displays.

IM for iPhone

As we all know, the problem with the iPhone SDK is it doesn’t allow developers to have their apps running as a background application, which will cause some headaches for those cooking up Instant Messaging (IM) applications. Last night it emerged Apple holds a patent for an IM client for the iPhone. End of story.

 As reported here Saturday, PayPal’s denial of a rumoured plan to block Safari users from using the online payments service leads the agenda this morning. In other news, analysts predict Apple’s Q2 results will once again excel against guidance; China becomes the world’s most-connected internet country; Apple plans virtual stores; a defamation lawsuit against the company has been thrown out of court and reports claim the next Leopard upgrade is currently being tested by developers. 

PayPal

As we’ve already revealed, PayPal has no plans to cut Safari users off from its service.

Apple Q2 results

Apple stock hits $161.33 per share as analysts issue positive forecasts for the company’s second quarter earnings, with strong Mac sales and better than expected component prices seemingly set to drive company to exceed guidance. iPhone sales are also set to exceed Apple’s stated 10 million FY2008 target, say analysts from Goldman Sachs and Caris & Co.

China – the world’s internet superpower

China’s 1.3 billion population now includes 233 milllion internet users, as the Olympics host speeds into the information superhigway, making the current debate on human rights, censorship and freedom in Tibet all the more relevant.

Second Apple

Apple patent describes 3D environments for its online shops,, equipped with customer to customer interaction and real live (if virtual) store staff as company develops Web 2.0 front-end for its retail operations.

Off the rap

The lawsuit against Apple, Viacom and BET bought by Rap-A-Lot Records CEO James ‘J Prince’ Smith and his associate Thomas Randle has been kicked out of court. Litigants claimed inclusion of an image of them with an infamous gangster leader in US show, American Gangster, had caused them harm. Judge rejects case.

Mac OS X 10.5.3

Developers are testing the next major build of Mac OS X 10.5, with Apple distibuting a pre-release version of the wide-ranging software update among select ADC members, Apple Insider reports. Software release expected within weeks.

 News in brief: There’s been multiple reports claiming PayPal plans to block Safari users from using its service on account of the browser’s lack of built-in anti-phishing features.

The Safari block has been mooted as part of a package of moves to combat phishing attacks: for example, PayPal will warn users of older browsers that they are vulnerable to such attacks, and will eventually block older browsers from accessing its service. This move generated a wave of speculation claiming the company plans to remove support for Safari, but this is not the case, PayPal explained last night.

In a response to an article on the Wall Street Journal, PayPal Corporate Communications spokesman, Michael Oldenburg said: "PayPal is developing features to block customers from logging into PayPal when using obsolete browsers on outdated or unsupported operating systems. An example of such a browser/OS combination might be, for example, Internet Explorer 4 running on Windows 98. In doing so, we better protect our customers from viewing a phishing site through their browser. We have absolutely no intention of blocking current versions of any browsers, including Apple’s Safari, from our website."

So, Safari and PayPal are safe, for the moment.

 Apple has placed orders for the production of the second-generation iPhone, while its European network partners complain at lower than expected sales.

The company has asked its Far East suppliers to produce 200,000 units of the new second generation 3G-enabled iPhone by the end of May, with production ramping up to two million, or 500,000 per week, in June, making a June release of the device a done deal.

This information comes from a reputable source – The Times newspaper, which explains the new iPhone will have a "radically different" appearance to the current generation. "Among the possibilities are flip version, which would enable the screen to be larger, and a sliding model with a regular qwerty keyboard – as opposed to a touchscreen one," the report informs.

The report also predicts prior claims multiple iPhone versions will eventually be made available, and suggests Apple may end its current strategy of introducing the device into specific countries in partnership with one mobile operator in favour of making it available through multiple carriers. Apple has described itself as "not wedded" to its exclusivity strategy, but the report explains it may diversify availability of the product perhaps as soon as next year.

The Times also reports disappointing iPhone sales in Europe. Germany, France and the UK between them reportedly sold 333,000 units by the end of December, but expectation had been for between 500,000 to 600,000 sales in the period. As it is, Apple’s network partners appear left with significant stock of the current generation of the device, leaving them exposed to potentially losing money on the deal, though Apple’s meeting with Orange France this week suggests the company is under some pressure to share that risk. Kathryn Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley told The Times that losses on early model iPhones would be "significant".

 All quiet on the Mac news front so far today: Apple patents iPod headset tech; mutterings of subsidised iPhones in France; MacBook Air and iPhone spurring wider use of touchscreens and LED displays; and Apple declared the world’s most innovative company by BusinessWeek. Also Apple responds to Windows and Safari critics.

Headset displays

Basically the buzz is that Apple’s patented a pair of technologies describing ways to make a small and light video headset display, potentially for use with iPods and iPhones. The filings date from 2006 and observe some health and safety issues with the laser technology used in the solutions.

French iPhone discount beckons

Orange executives are meeting with Apple to discuss subsidies to boost iPhone sales in France. A report from French newspaper, Les Echos says the two companies aren’t happy with French iPhone sales, with recent price cuts in Germany and the UK, French customers shouldn’t have long to wait.

Apple screens

Two separate reports explain that the MacBook Air is spurring use of more environmentally-friendly LED screens in laptops, with prices falling for these (DisplaySearch). And the iPhone is inspiring other handset makers to deploy touchscreens in their devices, said Swenc Technology executive, Kevin Chuang.

Innovative Apple

Recall Apple boss Steve Jobs’ determination to invest his way out of the last recession? Well, Apple did, and now it’s riding high, equally determined to invest its way out of the new one, winning the company praise and plaudits in a BusinessWeek report.

Apple answers Windows critics, almost

So, Windows users were furious when Apple changed its software update system for their platform in a way which meant they were ‘encouraged’ to install Safari, even if they hadn’t done so before. Well, the latest edition of the Software Update system at last offers installation of the Apple browser as an option – though the company still leaves the install option checked by default, perhaps it should be a free choice?

Real internal video from the world’s biggest software company, featuring the delightful “Rocking Our Sales” by Bruce ServicePack and the Vista Street Band. Oh dear…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPv8PPl7ANU&hl=en]

 iTunes may be the number one US music retailer, but Amazon boss Jeff Bezos thinks he has the Apple service beat in terms of album sales.

Bezos talked business with Fortune this week, it’s a wide-ranging chat that covers many of the bases of the giant online retailers international operations and his near-death experience during a fated helicopter ride. And includes the Amazon boss’ claim that his MP3 service outsells Apple, at least when it comes to album sales, at least proportionally.

An Amazon spokesman explains: "One exec I know at a big label, who asked to remain anonymous, says he’s excited by one trend in particular: At Apple”s iTunes store, two thirds of the music sold is single tracks and one third is albums. But at Amazon, two thirds of the music sold is albums and one third is tracks." 

The Amazon boss is otherwise reluctant to talk about Apple, but with recent data revealing just 10 per cent of Amazon’s MP3 customers are former iTunes users, and with the company reportedly selling a fraction of the quantity of music sold by Apple’s service, the proportional difference may mean very little in terms of sales numbers and revenue.

That Apple seems on track to seize 28 per cent of the global music market by 2012 was also recently indicated by In-Stat Research.

Take a look at the Fortune interview here.

 Good morning. In brief, today’s key stories include a Safari update to fix the well-publicised PWN 2 OWN hack; Apple takes 6.6 per cent of the US computer market – even while US consumer spending slows; IBM’s plotting a move to Mac and everybody’s war-chalking nowadays. Read on…

Safari updated

Apple’s Safari 3.1.1 update is available now. It’s a security and stability patch that among other things fixes the vulnerability that was used to hack into a MacBook Pro at the CanSecWest security conference in late February. It’s worth noting it took Apple just three weeks to fix this widely-reported vulnerability (which researchers now admit can be used to undermine most platforms running WebKit).

Apple market grows

Two reports, one from IDC, the other from Gartner, indicate Apple continues to gain marketshare with its rate of growth vastly exceeding the industry average. The computer maker now holds 6.6 per cent of the US market, with shipments up 32.5 per cent (Gartner) or 25.1 per cent (IDC). It shipped 1.01 million Macs in Q1, the analysts explained.

US consumer electronic sales snap

Most US consumers say they’ll spend less on consumer electronics in the next three months as they grapple with fear of recession and debt. As the US economy heads into melt-down, most players seem set to be affected by what the latest ChangeWave Consumer US Spending report claims to be the weakest 90-day spending outlook for the sector since their analysis began.

Apple finally takes it to IBM

Remember the 1984 ad? We do. Know who the big face on the screen was? IBM, some say. Now Apple’s former chip supplier seems set to make the switch, with revelations that an internal survey has found most employees prefer Mac above PC when they’re giving the choice. So now IBM is testing Macs for use within its business with an eventual plan to offer new employees (most of whom already prefer the Mac) the choice of platform.

You’re entering a war-chalk zone

Be ready, people, that slow internet connection on your wireless network may mean someone’s piggy-backing your bandwidth without permission: new research from Accenture shows 12 per cent of surfers in the US and UK have logged onto someone else’s unsecured WiFi connection. 

Got a story? Drop it into the comments below.

Apple may plan to introduce not one, not two, but three different iPhone offerings, perhaps even as soon as June, implementing 3G support and offering an iPhone mini to widen the reach of its technology, at least that’s todays rumor.

Apple’s apparently considering a premium model iPhone that’s equipped with support for 3G. Larger than the existing model its extra size conceals a battery offering triple the duration of the current generation, with more models too… 

The company also plans to retain its current EDGE-network iPhone, though capacity could climb to match that of the iPod touch, which itself could see a capacity bump (though with next stop being 64GB it’s possible the high-cap touch would demand a premium price, which may limit its success in the curently shrinking CE market).

There’s even a plan for a new entry-level model (image is just here) of the iPhone. This is slimmer and smaller, has a large screen, offers just 4GB capacity and no video playback. This model’s set to cost around $169.

Be warned, however, all we’re reporting here is the latest speculation which comes direct from here, though the publication disparages its own rumour with the warning: "We are not known as a rumor site of any accuracy, and we present this rumor and all rumors merely as topics of discussion for our readers."

We think a move to diversify the iPhone range makes some sense, though we suspect any move to force customers to purchase a premium model of the device just to gain 3G support would meet a frosty reception.

The Apple news web’s still reeling at the lack of any big deal announcements from the mothership Tuesday, this blackout likely reflects the company’s customary radio silence in the days before it makes its quarterly financial results public (on 23 April). 

This morning’s highlights include wide reporting of the O2 iPhone price cut we revealed earlier this month; new graphics upgrade kits for the Mac Pro; much more information on WWDC 2008 and news of the Apple Design Awards (now with added iPhone categories); iTunes user loyalty seems high; Intel’s Q1 results and AOL’s move to introduce Mobile Search for the iPhone. Read on…

O2 £100 iPhone discount

As we predicted in February, O2 and Carphone Warehouse have lopped £100 off the cost of the 8GB iPhone. The 16GB model remains the same price, and the deal’s only available while stocks last…does this mean new iPhones in June?

GeForce 8800GT for older Mac Pros

Remember the olden days when the graphics power you had in a pro Mac was all the graphics power you could ever expect, bar buying a new Mac? Yet another benefit of the new intel architecture is easier support for better graphics cards. Now Apple’s introduced the NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT upgrade kit for older Mac Pros, available now on the US store the kit costs $280.

WWDC 2008

Apple has announced an additional batch of 90 sessions for its forthcoming WWDC event, these reveal a host of interesting areas developers will be able to explore on the iPhone and the Mac; the company has also announced this year’s Apple Design Awards, with two new sections for the iPhone. More here.

Amazon up the creek

Amazon’s new music download store has been doing its best to compete with iTunes, snag is, most iTunes users are happy with what they already have. New research from the NPD Group confirms that only around one in ten people using Amazon’s store have previously shopped with iTunes. While this means the digital market’s set for growth, it also means those plotting to overthrow Apple’s music retail domination have to stop cackling and get back to the drawing board. 

Intel results

Sure, Intel’s Q1 results may have taken a hit, mainly due to weakness in the flash memory market generated as a result of economic malaise and continued weakness in consumer electronic sales, but it’s 12 per cent year-on-year income decline hides a couple of high points: demand for processors, particularly mobile processors, remains strong.

"We’re seeing PC penetration growing more rapidly," Mac user and Intel boss Paul Otellini said. Intel also confirmed new Atom processors will appear in PCs from mid-year, confirmed plans to ships a SIX-CORE Xeon chip later this year, and hinted Nehalem processors will appear in 2H2008.

AOL Mobile Search

AOL yesterday officially launched the beta version of AOL Mobile Search, a new development created for the iPhone and iPod touch. This combines results from multiple destinations. (Meanwhile, the financial world’s considering if mooted plans to merge AOL with Yahoo in an attempt to spurn that unfriendly Microsoft attempt to take Yahoo over will succeed).

We’ll be back with more as and when it happens.

 Apple may be preparing to engage in a significant strategic acquisition, at least that’s what’s suggested by the company’s move to hire HP’s leading legal corporate buyout specialist, Charles Charnas.

Bear with us. We understand that recruitment isn’t necessarily the most engaging story, but let’s take a quick look at this. 

Firstly, Apple has hired Charnas to lead its corporate department, filling a role that hasn’t been occupied for seven years. In his new post, Charnas will oversee Apple’s intellectual property and strategic acquisitions. 

We accept that Apple’s IP effort may need an extra hand as the company files patent after patent in order to secure and develop its iPhone.

Consider the experience the newly-appointed lawyer and 18-year HP veteran has: principally, he led the $25 billion merger between Compaq and HP. That he was involved in such a significant business deal lends him valuable experience, and makes it a viable speculation that his role at Apple will be to lead the company in another key strategic bid.

"He’s been known as one of the high-profile heavy hitter corporate lawyers in Silicon Valley for many years," Anna Marie Armstrong, a legal recruiter for Mlegal told Law.com. "It seems like Apple’s at a point where they want to hire really senior experienced lawyers for their in-house department."

Apple is widely known to be sitting on a huge heap of cash – around $18 billion. The company has used its cash hoard to engage in strategic investments in the past: purchasing huge quantities of flash memory to secure iPod shipments or acquiring audio company Emagic in order to bring market-leading audio application Logic into the Apple fold.

It’s no surprise that Apple is preparing to flex a little of its financial muscle in some strategic investments. Apple’s Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer alluded to this when asked what the company planned to do with its cash reserves. Rather than a stock buyback, he explained: "Our preference continues to be to maintain a strong balance sheet in order to preserve our flexibility to make strategic investments and/or acquisitions.”

And it’s not just the cash Apple has to hand: the pathways to investment aren’t so direct. Should the company want to retain some of its cash, it could ask executive board member Al Gore to put in a word for the company at venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where he has a seat. (So it’s no surprise that particular VC firm is handling the $100 million iPhone development fund). Given Apple’s track record across the years, the company would have no problem finding venture capital firms and other investment partners should it want to punch above its weight in an acquisition. 

Certainly that Apple has recruited a buyout specialist of the calibre of  Charles Charnas suggests plans are afoot. But who is in the company’s sights? 

Speculation here has been historically fruitless. Apple is unlikely to merge with Disney, for example, while both brands can work successfully together, a merger between the two would occlude both company identities, potentially harming the business of both.

Apple’s music business efforts could generate some interest among board members in the purchase of a music label, such as EMI. In a sense to bring the company behind Apple Corps. into the Apple Inc. fold offers poetic symmetry, but Apple’s involvement in music distribution means such a deal could raise anti-trust concerns. (Though Charnas probably has the experience to handle such regulatory probes).

A purchase of Nintendo has often been discussed, but with the Wii console at the zenith of its success the price tag on that company may be too high. 

Looking to the computer market, Dell’s continued decline could make that company a perfect target for acquisition: on lyrical basis it would be a perfect response to Michael Dell’s famed comment in the ’90’s in which he urged returning CEO Steve Jobs to sell then-failing Apple and return the money to shareholders. In a business sense, such an acquisition could potentially help Apple introduce low cost Macs, massively inflating its market share and disrupting the industry landscape. 

Other potential targets could include Sun, Yahoo, or even a move to bridge the gap between Apple and Sony.

Naturally, all of this is speculation, and speculation on Apple’s business plans is often frustrating, frequently fruitless, and occasionally no more than smoke that’s absent of fire. But it’s speculation based on one key and highly salient fact: Apple has hired one of the most experienced buyout specialists in Silicon Valley to lead a part of its legal team that’s focused on acquisitions.

This makes it insanely easy to believe Apple has something in the works, and suggests initial conversations with regard to a (or multiple) buyouts has led to the need to put together a legal team to make such moves more concrete.

Given the regulatory need to warn investors of any major investment or acquisition plans before they take place, Apple’s recruitment of Charnas means the analyst community will be looking to Apple’s financial results announcement of April 23 for some intimations as to the company’s plan, though with the lawyer only recently hired, it could be too early for full disclosure at this time.

All the same, the hire leaves the field open for a new wave of speculation: Who do you think Apple plans to buy, and what effect could it have on the industry landscape? 

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Blockbuster is shopping around for hardware to help it bring its customers media in yet another format.  Blockbuster already has stores and mail and is now working on kiosks and downloading, through portable content-enabled devices.  This would obviously be direct competition for Apple.

Blockbuster rival, Netflix is bringing to market a product made by LG that hopes to compete in the download rent market as well.  However, both of these companies are months behind Apple in development and don’t have anywhere near the competency in making easy-to-use, powerful consumer software.

According to HR:

The product would be an offshoot of Movielink, the online film service Blockbuster acquired last year that allows consumers to watch films licensed from the major studios on their PCs.

Delivering movies to TV might be the most audacious attempt yet that Blockbuster is making to reinvent its brand as digital delivery weakens the viability of its retail footprint. But by offering a home-based alternative to its stores, Blockbuster risks cannibalizing its core brick-and-mortar business in the hope that its brand will be a force online.

The device is believed to be a stand-alone product akin to Apple TV as opposed to embedding a Blockbuster-branded service in such existing devices as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or TiVo. While going it alone could give it a distinctive positioning in the crowded "over-the-top TV" marketplace, that won’t come without significant investment in marketing and manufacturing, though the latter cost might be shared with a consumer electronics company that has yet to disclose its participation.

Blockbuster knows all too well the importance of online film rentals. When Apple said in January that iTunes would adopt a rental model, it sent Blockbuster’s stock plummeting 17% to an all-time closing low (HR 1/16).

Movielink was created in 2002 by MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warners. Five years later, the underperforming venture was sold to Blockbuster for $6.6 million. The deals give Blockbuster online rights to about 6,000 movies, though there are restrictions on moving content beyond PCs and TV.

 IBM is working on a new form of memory that promises future iPods could hold half a million songs the company has confirmed.

In two papers published in the April 11 issue of Science, IBM Fellow Stuart Parkin and colleagues at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose describe the fundamentals of a technology dubbed "racetrack" memory

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJf3z9AfiVM&rel=0&hl=en]

The memory is being described as faster and more reliable than a hard drive or flash memory. It combines elements of both memory types in its conception, but is capable of storing far larger quantities of data and reading that information an astonishing 100,000 times faster than flash memory is able to achieve. The solution uses spintronics, a technology that exploits the spin and charge properties of electrons to deliver large capacity memory on very small devices.

There’s other advantages: like flash, there’s no moving parts, but unlike flash it never wears out (flash drives can handle 10,000 read/write cycles before failing). Even better, the new storage technology is cheap to manufacture.

"It has been an exciting adventure to have been involved with research into metal spintronics since its inception almost 20 years ago with our work on spin-valve structures," said Dr. Parkin. "The combination of extraordinarily interesting physics and spintronic materials engineering, one atomic layer at a time, continues to be highly challenging and very rewarding. The promise of racetrack memory – for example, the ability to carry massive amounts of information in your pocket – could unleash creativity leading to devices and applications that nobody has imagined yet."

There’s no chance of the new technology seeing immediate deployment, though the company hopes to provide storage solutions based on it in six to eight years. And the company hasn’t yet built a functioning racetrack memory unit – but it’s boffins are confident they have the theory pretty much nailed.

So in 2014, will Apple introduce the world to the iPod nano nano? Can we look forward to an even smaller, lighter MacBook Air?

 The latest series of digital music reports are in, and they suggest Apple could account for 28 per cent or more of global music sales by 2012; that’s fairly impressive for the iTunes Store service which only launched on April 28, 2003.

The understanding that Tunes may one day account for a quarter of global music sales comes through the extrapolation of data from a series of recent reports. These reports suggest digital sales will soon stem the continued meltdown in music retail.

In-Stat research claims digital music sales will account for 40 per cent of music sales by 2012. With iTunes accounting for in the region of 70 per cent of digital music sales in most of the 22 markets Apple offers the service in, it’s clear that (should iTunes retain such marketshare) it will account for around a quarter of the world’s music retail market by 2012. (70 per cent of 40 per cent is 28 per cent).

The iTunes Store became the largest music retailer in the US based on the amount of music sold during January and February 2008.

Apple faces ever increasing competition in the sector, not least the desire of major labels to encourage more persity in distribution. 

JupiterResearch believes labels need to encourage ad-supported downloads, subscription services and DRM-free downloads in order to drive digital music revenues.

The iPhone and iPod touch are regarded as the vanguard of an Apple attempt to transform the iPod into a more sophisticated wireless device. Apple already offers the iTunes WiFi Store for these devices, but with a 3G iPhone waiting in the wings, might Apple plan a mobile iTunes service?

To retain iTunes marketshare, Apple continues in its effort to encourage DRM-free music sales through iTunes Plus, while recent market chatter has speculated the company is in discussion to launch a music subscription service.

In the absence of compelling competition, the music retail market is Apple’s to lose. Services such as those from Amazon and eMusic threaten to break the iTunes hegemony, but whatever the outcome of the battle between incumbents in the space, Apple seems set to maintain a commanding presence in music retail for some time to come.