Apple put its iPad 3G on sale in the U.S. late Friday afternoon at prices starting at $629, compared with the $499 bottom price for the version without the cellular connectivity that launched a month ago. Apple stores reached in San Francisco, New York, Boston and Houston said they didn't have any iPad 3G models left by Sunday. A spokeswoman for Best Buy Co. Inc. said it had "very limited inventory" for sale on … the Wallstreet Journal
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El Segundo, Calif., April 26, 2010To support media coverage of Apple Inc.s speculated acquisition of microprocessor Intellectual Property (IP) provider ARM Holdings, iSuppli Corp. is providing the following the fast facts and analysis: Published reports speculate Apple could be considering a purchase of ARM Holdings, a leading supplier of semiconductor IP. The news reports surfaced on Wednesday, April 21, lifting ARM shares up about 7 percent. Responding to acquisition speculation, Apple does not need to buy the company, they can just license technologies for less, said Warren East, ARM chief executive officer, in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. The timing of this speculation is interesting because Google recently announced its IP-driven acquisition of Agnilux, a start-up founded by P.A. Semi professionals who left when that fabless chip designer was acquired by Apple in 2008. ARMs IP plays an important role in mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. ARM designs microprocessor circuits that are widely used because the company is a leader in power efficiency, delivering the most calculations for the fewest electrons. In 2009, ARM signed 87 new semiconductor IP licenses, bringing its total to 662. Interestingly, ARM estimates that every semiconductor company would need to spend between $50 million and $150 million annually to reproduce what ARM does. ARM-based chips can be found in the majority of mobile phones presently sold. Just because ARMs IP plays an important role in mobile devices, that doesnt necessarily mean ARM is of strategic value to Apple, said William Kidd, director and principal analyst, financial services for iSuppli. iSuppli thinks ARM would represent a costly acquisition with little in the way of true strategic benefits. The acquisition would not give Apples products a competitive edge/differentiating value. iSuppli also doesnt buy into prevailing speculation that there could be significant value in denying other competitors access to ARMs IP, since the majority of the impact would be felt by companies like Broadcom, Samsung and Texas Instruments, which are not exactly Apples biggest rivals. In any case, there would be no visible end-market impact seen for two years at a minimum. If Apple were to acquire ARM, iSuppli believes chip makers would worry about Apples inward-looking corporate style. Many major semiconductor companies already have long and broad use of current ARM technology, and we suspect that their business engagement with ARM allows for future access as well. If you take this theory out further, it would be problematic for chipmakers to stop using ARM, not just because of their reliance on an ARM-designed microprocessors per se, but because redesigning the software/firmware of some baseband designs would be very time consuming and disruptive. We speculate that other ARM bidders could come outbut only if Apple truly emerges as a bidder, Kidd added. http://www.isuppli.com About iSuppli Corporation iSuppli Corporation is the global leader in technology value chain research and advisory services. Services afforded by iSuppli range from electronic component research to device-specific application market forecasts, from teardown analysis to consumer electronics and from display device and systems research to automotive telematics, navigation and safety systems research. More information is available at http://www.isuppli.com and by following us at twitter.com/iSuppli
BBC: Adobe is to stop making software tools that allow Apple's iPhone and iPad to use its popular Flash technology. The decision reverses an earlier pledge in which it said it would help get Flash working on the gadgets. Flash is very widely used on the web and many sites use it to power animations, media players and other multimedia elements. Despite this, Apple's products do not support Flash and it has made public statements criticising the technology. Closed toolsIn mid-April, Adobe released software called Creative Suite 5 that contained translation tools that automatically turn Flash code into programs that run on the iPhone. the BBC
The Big News of 2010: 4G…or is it G4?A Nexius Executive Commentary – By Ned Taleb, Nexius CEO The first quarter of 2010 has just come to an end and a colleague at Nexius recently asked me what seems to be the hot topic with our operator customers and the technology press and analysts this year. My simple answer: 4G. From Apple previewing the 4th generation of its revolutionary iPhone today to operators racing to launch their 4th generation networks, 4G is the marketing term of the moment. At CTIA Wireless in March, I saw 4G news everywhere. Every major US wireless operator spoke about their 4G plans at the show: Verizon said they expect to roll out LTE in nearly 30 markets to cover 1/3 of all Americans by the end of 2010. The biggest LTE rollout and the first to market in the US. Not to be outdone, however, AT&T announced that their 4G vendor trials are underway and that they plan to begin commercial rollout early in 2011. While, T-Mobile didnt dive deep into 4G but they did announce plans to make a faster HSPA+ network available in markets that serve 180 million people by the end of the year. Since HSPA+ is backwards compatible with T-Mobiles current 3G technology its customers can continue to use their existing handsets to enjoy considerably faster network speeds. Sprint made perhaps the biggest 4G news at the show showcasing Americas first 4G smartphone, the HTC EVO 4G, which they will launch on the Clearwire WiMAX network. Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, said in his address "LTE will be the larger of the two standards, but we couldn't wait. We have enough spectrum that we could add other techs later.""LTE will be the larger of the two standards, but we couldn't wait. We have enough spectrum that we could add other techs later." Even MetroPCS, a smaller operator, announced that it will launch its 4G LTE service in the second half of 2010. They are also working with Samsung to launch the first LTE handset, the SCH-r900, on their network later this year. But it isnt just operators and Apple talking 4G. Even Avatar director, James Cameron, recently jumped on the 4G bandwagon by pointing out that faster 4G networks would be the key to delivering 3-D applications on the phone. (To be precise, he actually said faster G4 networks would be the keybut he makes movies, not cell phones. His audience is Generation-X, Generation-Y, and beyond. He cares not for the enabling technology platforms but what they can do to bring media such as Avatar into the palm of the next generation of audience. So G4 it is, in as far as it really matters to our clients and customers. J )Clearly 2010 is all about speed: 1.) Getting to market quickly. 2.) Launching faster networks and faster devices. 3.) Delivering content to consumers at the speeds they demand. It really does not matter which 4G wireless operators deploy, be it WiMAX in the interim or LTE in the longer term, the objective is the same: to enable the realization of the future of wireless services and applications. Everyone from wireless operators to Apple to James Cameron want to deliver these services by uniting the best technology platforms with the fastest networks and the next generation of smart devices. We feel fortunate that Nexius has had the opportunity to work with so many of these leading companies to develop their 4G network rollout strategies as well as create, deploy, and integrate the services and applications that these networks enable. Its great to be at the center of such fast-paced innovation. Only time will tell who wins this battle for 4G dominance. Lets check back at CTIA 2011 to find out.
DigiTimes: Apple has previewed its iPhone OS 4 software and released a beta version of the software to iPhone Developer Program members. The new release includes an updated Software Development Kit (SDK) with over 1,500 new Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and over 100 new features that will be available to iPhone and iPod touch users in summer 2010, the company claimed.iPhone OS 4's new multitasking offers users a new way to move between apps, and provides developers seven new multitasking services to add multitasking features to their apps. These services include background audio, so apps like Pandora can play music in the background, and VoIP, so VoIP apps can receive a VoIP call even when the iPhone is asleep or the user is running other apps.iPhone OS 4 delivers mail experience on a mobile phone with its new Unified Inbox, allowing users to see messages from all their email accounts displayed together in a single inbox. Users can switch between inboxes to see messages from any single account. In addition, users can now thread their messages by conversation, making it easier to stay on top of email discussions. DigiTimes
Wireless Week: Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg said his company was open to the iPhone but added that the final call on bringing the device to Verizon Wireless was really up to Apple. Seidenberg made the comments during a Q&A immediately following a speech before the Council on the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Seidenberg was on hand to discuss all things related to the FCC's National Broadband plan and the commission's push toward net neutrality. The discussion afterwards turned to the likes of Apple. When asked whether Verizon had plans to carry the iPhone, Seidenberg sounded more comfortable with the idea than he has in the past. "We're open to doing that. It's [Apple's] shot. It's their call. We want to carry everybody's device," he said in a video posted on the CFR's Web site. Wireless WeekI hope Verizon and Apple can work it out.
Seeking Alpha Dan Rayburn: In my post entitled "Many Content Owners Can't Afford To Make Their Videos Available For iPad", many readers left comments making it clear that they blame Adobe (ADBE) for the lack of Flash video support on the iPad. Too many simply want to disregard the additional costs a content owner has to support the iPad by blaming supposed shortcomings in Flash, even though we've seen data from tests to show that these shortcomings do not exist.Reading many of the comments on my post it's clear that some just want an excuse to bash Flash, yet if my content was in Silverlight, I don't think they would be saying the same thing. If someone does not like Flash, that's fine, they have every right to. But their dislike for a platform gives them no grounds to stand on to say that there are no additional costs to content owners to support video on the iPad.Yes, Brightcove and other online video platforms can re-encode the content for free, but StreamingMedia.com only has that option because Brightcove nicely gave us a free account years ago. Before that, we had to encode our content like many content owners do, without using a video platform, which is the way a lot of content owners still do it today. None of the folks who commented addressed any of the additional hosting costs that can be associated with video for the iPad. Seeking Alpha
El Segundo, Calif., April. 2, 2010The iPads attractive design, compelling applications and multi-touch capability, key components of Apple Inc.s past successes, will help to offset the initial omission of Adobe Flash from the device and send demand soaring in 2010 and beyond, according to a preliminary forecast from iSuppli Corp.Worldwide iPad sales are expected to amount to 7.1 million units in 2010. Sales will double to 14.4 million in 2011 and nearly triple to 20.1 million in 2012.The attached figure presents iSupplis preliminary forecast of worldwide iPad unit sales.Sales in 2010 will be driven by early adopters and others attracted to the iPads unique touch-screen-based user interface. In 2011 and 2012, iPad sales will be driven up by a range of factors, including a flood of new applications, improved functionality and declining prices. iSuppli regards its iPad sales forecast as conservative. Factors that could boost sales beyond iSupplis preliminary expectations include swift feature enhancements and the early addition of Flash support. The right touchTouch is the new standard for user interfaces, providing a naturally intuitive way of operating an electronic device, whether you are two or 92, said Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research for iSuppli. The tablet form factor is ideally suited to touch. The iPad represents an intriguing mix of two devices that have struggled to gain traction for years: Internet appliances and tablet PCs. In a sharp departure from past tablet implementations, it appears that Apple has both minimized and maximized the capabilities of the devices, limiting it as a creation device but compensating for this shortcoming by offering a wealth of easily consumable applications. The devices initial limitations are likely to be overlooked if Apple provides enough content to keep users engaged within the product limitations. Apple will not have the field to itself for long, however, as competitors around the globe are poised to introduce their own tablet PCs, many of which will have more robust capability than the early iPads. Nonetheless, being first out of the gate with a low-cost tablet alternative gives Apple a distinct advantage, Alexander said. 2010 sales could potentially climb much higher than the 7 million figure, and that first year successcombined with expected ongoing innovationwill help to keep Apple at the forefront of the tablet market for several years. Key to continuing success will be how quickly Apple responds to issues as they arise and whether the company can align suppliers to meet demand needs. No flash in the padChief in realizing this upside potential is Apples ability to address the lack of Flash support in the iPad. Some have called the long-term viability of the iPad into question because of its nonsupport of Adobe Flashthe multimedia platform from Adobe Systems Inc.Until Apple addresses this issue one way or another, its decision not to support Flashcommunicated earlier on by Apple CEO Steve Jobswill have a limiting effect on the iPads sales potential, said Francis Sideco, principal analyst, wireless communications. This is because one of the key use cases of the device, as marketed by Apple, relates to web browsing or consumption of online content. Absent Flash, iPad users will not be able to enjoy Flash-driven content, which is used in a considerable amount of websites as well as web-based games and videos. Weighing the risks: Apples huge gambleApples decision has divided vociferous fans and incredulous unbelievers alike into mutually opposing campsa battleground between those who believe Apple can do no wrong and those that opine the Cupertino, Calif.-based behemoth has finally overplayed its hand.Given the tablets nonsupport of Flash, consumers could end up being disappointed if what they expect to be a great browsing experience from a magical and revolutionary productwhich is how Apple describes the iPad on its websiteturns out to be less than extraordinary.Apples strategy with the iPad is largely centered on paid content. The company has partnered with major providers, which will sell their content on Apples App Store for a fee.With so much Flash content available for free, Apple may be excluding support for the software in order to encourage users to pay for any content they use on the platform.Hosting tens of thousands of applicationswith a current average price of $3.13 per applicationand boasting more than 1 billion downloads since its launch in 2008, the App store is a phenomenal cash cow for Apple, analysts across the board agree.Despite dire prognostications from some critics about the iPad eventually failing because Flash is missing, Apple has a track record of defying great odds and successfully navigating previously uncharted waters, such as it did with the iPhone. With initial orders falling in line with expectations, Apple is likely to stick with its strategy of not using Flash unless there is a notable impact on sales. Learn more about Flash and the iPad in Sidecos report, entitled: Operating Systems: The New Face of Wireless. For more information, please visit:http://www.isuppli.com/Pages/Operating-Sys…ireless.aspx?PRTo find out more about the burgeoning touch-screen market, stay tuned for Alexanders upcoming report, entitled: Touch Screen Interfaces in Portable & Desktop Computing Systems.For more information on iSupplis display service, please visit: http://www.isuppli.com/Pages/L1_Displays.aspxiSuppli soon will release the results of its physical teardown of the iPad. To learn about iSupplis recent virtual teardown of the iPad, please visit: http://www.isuppli.com/News/Pages/Mid-Rang…iEstimates.aspx
WirelessWeek:Expect long lines at Apple and Best Buy retail outlets this Saturday. Apple says the iPad will be available in all 221 U.S. Apple retail stores and most Best Buy stores this Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. "iPad connects users with their apps and content in a far more intimate and fun way than ever before. We can't wait for users to get their hands and fingers on it this weekend," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in a statement. Apple retail stores will offer a free Personal Setup service to every customer who buys an iPad at the store, helping them customize their new iPad by setting up their e-mail, loading their favorite apps from the App Store and more. Also beginning Saturday morning, all U.S. Apple retail stores will host special iPad workshops to help customers learn more about their devices. Wireless
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