Apple and Verizon Consider iPhone Deal

Oh good.. I would like that…

Article from USA Today..

It would mark the first time Apple has produced a version of the iPhone for a CDMA wireless network, which is different from AT&T’s GSM technology. Vodafone, co-owner of Verizon Wireless, already sells the iPhone in Europe.

The New York-based telecom entered into “high-level” discussions with Apple management a few months ago, when CEO Steve Jobs was overseeing day-to-day business, these sources say. They declined to be named because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly.

Jobs is on medical leave until June, but the conversations are continuing, they say. Apple declined to comment.

AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights to the iPhone into 2010, though specifics aren’t known. The deal was struck in 2006, when the iPhone was still on the drawing board. Many telecom analysts expect AT&T to try to persuade Apple to extend the contract for another year, at least.

Microsoft to Attack Mac Pricing on New TV Ads

Maybe it will inspire Apple to lower their prices!!  BTW how the heck is that Apple guy still on Dancing with the Stars, beating out Holly and Denise Richards.  There is definitly a company wide email going out to all Apple employees to vote for that guy otherwise be fired.  They are definitly trying to raise the morale of Apple so Steve Jobs is not the only person behind the company.  And the Dancing Show they think is the way to America’s heart.. hmm interesting world we live in.

Jerry Seinfield/Bill Gates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Rj-aoGi_8

Other commercials can be found here..

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us

After running through a series of ad campaigns designed to make Windows look cool, then victimized, then simply inescapably ubiquitous, Microsoft is now hoping to attack Apple in new ads that portray Macs as unaffordable compared to generic PCs.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Microsoft hired Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the ad agency behind the campaign pairing Bill Gates with Jerry Seinfeld, to recruit “unwitting subjects by posing as a market research firm studying laptop purchasing decisions.”

Participants found on Craigslist were given between $700 to $2,000 to buy a computer fitting certain criteria, and were told they could keep the computer they selected.

One participant named Lauren was told to buy a 17″ notebook for less than $1000. She was then filmed entering an Apple Store where she couldn’t find one. Lauren then heads to Best Buy and selects a $699 HP machine running Windows. That experience was turned into a 60 second TV spot for Microsoft after the agency told the buyer that the purpose of the excursion was really to promote Windows.

Shopping for hardware

The new ads don’t go into details on hardware purchases; they simply make the case that PC laptops can be found for cheaper, playing up tight funds in the tough economy. Best Buy actually does sell the DV7-1245DX, an HP notebook with 17″ screen, but it lacks fast wireless 802.11n, fast Gigabit Ethernet, digital audio inputs and outputs, weighs 7.75 pounds, and only features the screen resolution of Apple’s 15″ notebooks: 1440 by 900. Technically, it is a 17″ notebook in terms of size, but it doesn’t have the 17″ resolution of Apple’s MacBook Pro, which is 1920 by 1200.
One HP buyer pointed out that this model series “has the worst screen I have ever seen in my life. It’s the 1440×900 screen and the viewing angles are so poor that even when sitting directly eye level with the screen it is totally washed out. If I go a little bit off-axis the screen results in a negative image. I was using the default settings. Unfortunately I didn’t read reviews before i purchased.”

Shopping for software

More importantly however, the HP notebook runs Windows Vista, as having the lowest operating system satisfaction rating in rankings that were led by Mac OS X Leopard and also included Linux and Windows XP. Many PC makers continue to add a “Windows XP downgrade” as a feature on their new PCs.

This makes it particularly interesting that Microsoft would advertise its product by citing the price of the hardware it runs on, rather than calling attention to any of the features in its own product. It’s not that Microsoft hasn’t tried. Vista’s first “Wow” campaign portrayed customers in a state of pleasant shock when using it.

Shopping for an ad campaign

After those ads collapsed in an avalanche of bad press complaining about arbitrary changes that did not improve anything and software and hardware compatibility problems, Microsoft rolled out the Mojave Experiment which showed users a “new OS” that was really just a repackaged version of Vista. Those ads attempted to claim that Vista’s bad reputation was all due to customers not giving the the system a fair shake, but the ads sidestepped the real problems users were experiencing by not allowing participants to run Vista on their own PC or with their existing software and peripherals.

Hmm so who knows.. But that is the LBC…

Apple Netbook again? Holla…

Well a Taiwanese touch panel manufacture has confirmed its large supply of large panel monitors to Apple with shipments set to start in the 2nd half of the year.

According to the Commercial Times in China, the company has confirmed it has struck a deal with Apple with Quanta Computer lined up to make the units themselves.

Hmm we will see.

Steve Jobs Probably Won’t Return to Apple

Steve Jobs missed a big shareholders meeting that is a little more of a subtle hint that Jobs will not be back in an active role with Apple.

Apple under Steve Jobs is not a company but it is a phenomenon.   A micromanaged manifestation of one man’s view of technology, design and the world.   Building a new operating system using Unix under the Apple user interface has been a big win.

Apple also wisely reversed its traditional course of “our way or the highway” and embraced both windows and intel.  It was not until the ipod came to Windows that the music player really took off.

Going to the Intel processor has given Apple a great platform for innovating around the edges which is really what the company does best:  Take things that other people have already done & if not perfect them, then at least run through them Steve Jobs view of how the world ought to be.

Tim Took is not the succession plan nor is Phil Schiller..  but I would expect that Apple has a decent pipeline in place..  But does anyone really have the gravitas and vision to cut the deals that made the itunes store such an incredible success?  No one in the industry or global business seems to be able to build who ecosystems the way Jobs can.  This is mostly because of the incredible control that Jobs exerts over Apple and Apple exerts over the environment in which it exists.  Microsoft is bigger but has never achieved the level of world domination.   As long as Steve Jobs can read a memo or look at designs and say “yes this is the one or no not that one” Apple will remain in good hands.  But we have already seen what happens when Apple looses its vision.  When that happens, and it eventually must, its not clear Apple’s creative culture will be able to pick up where one man’s vision leaves off..

Maybe this means that the price of Apple machines will go down significantly until a true successor takes over.. time will tell.

Steve Jobs

Takes a leave until the end of June…

“Health issues are more complex then I originally thought.”

So what does this mean..? Apple’s stocks is going down..

Does Steve Jobs really mean as much to Apple as everyone says? Will the company be in the slumps until he feels better & is back????!! How could this be?  How could one man really make that much of a difference.. Oh but he does..

To be continued..

Could 2009 be Apple’s Year in the Enterprise?!???!??

There was a recent survey of 700 C-level executives and IT managers by ITIC/Sunbelt Software that came up with the following survey conclusions according to this recent post in CIO.com

More then two thirds (68%) of respondents said that they would allow their employees to use Macs as their corporate enterprise desktops in the next 12 months. 

Half of all of the respondents said they plan to increase integration with existing Apple consumer products such as the iPhone to allow users to access corporate email and other applications.  This of course indicates that customers perceive the combination of the MAC and the iPhone to be a viable alternative to the Blackberry.. 

Seven out of ten businesses rated the security of the Apple Mac and OS X as Excellent or Very Good

An 82% majority of corporations rated the reliability of Mac hardware and OS 10.x as Excellent or Very Good

Approximately 30% of the respondents are using Mac as a hardware platform to virtualize Microsoft Windows XP or Vista on Macintosh hardware in a virtual environment

Yeah but who cares… As you know, Enterprise Mac Integration is not easy.  Many people do not know the Apple world and it is an expensive risk and IT Departments are still handcuffed to decisions made 10-15 years ago when Windows dominated the corporate market.   And does Apple even want the Enterprise market? When the consumer market is doing so well for Apple right now? Not to mention, what server hardware does Apple have to support the Enterprise? xRaid/Discontinued.  The AFP protocol cannot handle a lot of data.  Apple does not recommend having more then 100 users per server. 

But no one can doubt that there is a demand for Macs at work.  Coming from not just the marketing department anymore.  There is also an influx of young people who have been raised on Apple, only have used Apple at their educational setting… this may raise the interest over the upcoming years.  But will Apple/Mac seriously over take Windows in the corporate enterprise world?  I would think that Linux would do that first.. And again, that is another expensive risk with a costly staff & you will never be able to truly eliminate windows.   

But there is a LOT of hype going on right now about Mac/Apple ruling the world.  I don’t see 2009 being a year for Apple in the Enterprise world but maybe it is a good time to buy their stock..?  Who knows, I am not one to be giving stock advice..!

Microsoft in the iPhone App Store???!!

Could this be???!?

Yes it is true.   SeaDragon Mobile. 

The purpose is to highlight Microsoft’s photo-display tech on mobile devices and it is in the “cool but not so useful” category. 

But Microsoft does have a lot of useful applications.. will these applications soon be in the App store??!??  Applications like Microsoft Office for Mac?????  Is the iPhone applications just the beginning?

Very interesting…

Big Fat Market Gap – Between iphones & Notebooks

There is a big fat hole in the market between mobile devices like the iPhone and regular laptops. But smaller, underpowered laptops/Netbooks aren’t the answer for the mass market. Most of the Netbooks aren’t much cheaper than very low end laptops (and those laptops have normal keyboard and much bigger screens).

The problem with Netbooks is they are trying to address two markets at once: emerging markets where price is very important, and developed markets where people want a second computer. The emerging markets don’t care about size, they just want it at a low cost – so offer them something that’s bigger and works better at the same price (remember, bigger = cheaper for most computer parts except the screen). Developed markets don’t care about price as much as performance, and Netbooks cut too many corners. Perhaps that’s why Netbook screens are starting to inch up to 10 and 11 inches. Which doesn’t really make them much different from normal laptops (and the prices are about the same).

So what’s the answer?  When you ditch the operating system and all it’s weight and focus on a device that runs a browser only (a true netbook), you can make do with mobile phone level hardware. Give people a big screen to really experience the Internet. Make it a touch screen or add a normal keyboard. And keep it really inexpensive. That’s a device people will want.

The sub notebooks can get bigger and more useful without sacrificing cost, which is great for emerging markets and students. Tiny notebooks that perform well will be higher cost, and there’s a market for those, too.

Thanks Tech Crunch for the 411..!!