apple

iPhone shortage eases as Germans get a bargain

Despite sitting out the CTIA 2008 conference, Apple's iPhone business had an eventful week.

Today, on "This Week in iPhone," we'll address two significant developments. Apple stores around the country are starting to recover from an iPhone shortage, while T-Mobile has cut the price of the iPhone in Germany by 300 euros.

First up, the supply concerns. Apple acknowledged the shortage and told The New York Times that it was working to get iPhones into its retail stores as fast as possible. The cause of the shortage still hasn't emerged, but speculation that a 3G … Read more

MySpace Music: Here comes the latest iTunes killer

Imagine digital music without Apple as the marquee act.

That's what the music labels want. For years, they have wished for a legitimate challenger to wrest away some of the bargaining power Apple has wielded as the No. 1 online music seller. So, here we go again: it's another iTunes killer.

On Thursday, MySpace executives unwrapped MySpace Music. Backed by the four largest record companies and MySpace parent company News Corp., the music service will offer much of what iTunes does and more, according to MySpace's managers. But haven't we heard this before?

Urge, Sony's … Read more

Pwn your iPhone with PwnageTool

Last week a video made the rounds showcasing a new way to bypass Apple's many layers of security on the iPhone. The software called PwnageTool, which has been released today for both Mac and Windows users, opens up the iPhone to running apps that have unsigned code, effectively letting users run homebrewed developer apps with no special seals of approval or verification whatsoever. The tool also lets you load up your phone with customized firmware, letting advanced users develop their own concoctions that could be shared with other users, complete with automatic unlocking, jailbreaking, and activation upon first boot.… Read more

Apple confirms leaked data: iTunes tops the charts

Apple has confirmed data leaked from an internal memo showing that it has become the largest music retailer in the U.S.

Earlier Thursday, Ars Technica reported that certain Apple employees had received an internal e-mail with the results of a study conducted by The NPD Group. NPD initially declined to comment on the data, citing the fact that it was leaked from Apple, but Apple distributed a press release Thursday afternoon confirming the data from NPD's MusicWatch survey.

Apple didn't include its market share in the release, but Ars reported that Apple had 19 percent of overall … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 695: Pass the caffeinated rabbit

It turns out that if you give a rabbit enough coffee, it won't get dementia. And neither will you! (Long story--we'll explain.) In other news, Apple is now the No. 1 retailer in the United States, and Comcast launches 50Mbps broadband in Minneapolis/St. Paul, which actually launches us into a big Comcast rant. Sorry, Comcast. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 695

Apple passes Wal-Mart, now No. 1 music retailer in U.S. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080402-apple-passes-wal-mart-now-1-music-retailer-in-us.html

As expected, MySpace unveils new music service http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9910344-7.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/ technology/03cnd-myspace.html … Read more

Big deal.

The Macalope is in general agreement with Jupiter Research's David Card that today's announcement of hot four-way action between MySpace, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner could be huge. The reason, of course, is because the kids love the MySpace. There are also a lot of details missing and there's plenty of room for them to screw this up, as is frequently their wont.

But the horny one had to chuckle at the press release on Warner's web site:

"MySpace Music" Empowers Artists and Consumers Globally With Unprecedented Digital Music Service and E-Commerce Platform

New … Read more

Apple passes Wal-Mart in music sales?

Tech blog Ars Technica says they've got their hands on an internal Apple memo that shows iTunes has topped Wal-Mart Stores in total global music sales.

The data in the memo cites a report from the month of January conducted by The NPD Group, a market research firm. NPD's numbers show the iTunes Store leading overall music sales for the first month of 2008 with a 19-percent share, followed by Wal-Mart with 15 percent, Best Buy with 13 percent, and Amazon with 6 percent.

The NPD Group, which reserves certain data for paying customers--like Apple, Wal-Mart, and others--and … Read more

An Atom-powered Intel? Not a chance

With Intel's focus on the new Atom-brand processors being described at the Intel Developer Forum this week, "Atom-powered" is the obvious description of the mobile Internet devices (MIDs) these chips will go into... and it seems like half the IDF stories on the Internet this week are using that phrase.

Intel, however, seems to want even more hyperbole-- it expects people to believe that Atom will recharge the whole company. CEO Paul Otellini reportedly said "This is as important to Intel as the launch of the Pentium in the mid-1990s"-- but that's ridiculous.… Read more

Is Microsoft talking smack or taking it?

It seems that Microsoft's Scott Rockfeld was talking some smack about the iPhone at the London launch of Windows Mobile 6.1.

"We are not at all worried. We think we've got the one mobile platform you'll use for the rest of your life."

"Here lies Ted. He used Windows Mobile." Yeesh. Thanks for the creepy marketing campaign, Microsoft.

However Rockfeld was quick to dash Apple's hopes of dominating the smartphone market...

Uh, that should probably be "quick to try to dash Apple's hopes". The Macalope expects that if … Read more

Where, or where are the iPhones?

Apple has suddenly hit a shortage of iPhones, Paul Kedrosky notes. But why? And when will the shortage end? Most interestingly, does it portend the imminent arrival of the 3G iPhone?

Paul suggests the following reasons:

Apple has a component issue and is doing a quiet recall Apple has a supply issue with a major sole-source supplier Apple is set to do a surprise launch of a 3G phone

Even Option 3 isn't great for Apple, as it means it is losing out on hundreds of thousands of sales. Any ideas?