Posts Tagged ‘Apple’

There is a perception that Apple software is exponentially more secure than Windows or even Google platforms and applications. In a prestigious hacking contest, Safari was the first browser to be cracked and a Macbook was hacked in less than 5 seconds. Is this the price of popularity or are Apple’s security claims just a smokescreen?

Apple launched the highly anticipated successor to the original iPad – the iPad 2, along with an updated iOS 4.3. As usual, they did it with flare and with improved HW and SW assets. But did they miss a key opportunity in expanding their large scale use for business?

Years ago, I used to deal with competitive analysis, something that unfortunately appears to be rarely done today. Otherwise, we’d have had better alternatives to the iPod, iPhone, and iPad in market right now. Apple excels in competitive analysis and their products are designed to kick the collective butts of their competitors. Steve Jobs is better informed and can execute at a higher level than his peers. The new iPad is an example of Apple’s advantage: It only misses on two things. No 4G support (at least not at launch and it may come later) and no Flash support, which was by intent – with the intent being to force Adobe out of a key market.

Apple has, as widely expected, introduced the second generation of its iPad today. The iPad 2 sheds weight, adds features and keeps the original price, which could make it the first Apple product ever that could almost be considered a bargain.

The anticipation for the launch of the iPad 2 on march 2 is building and the focus does not seem to be so much on the new features, which may not be too surprising in the end, but the way how Apple’s leadership team will present the device.

Rahul Sood, founder of Voodoo PC, former CTO of HP’s gaming PC business, and now general manager in Microsoft’s Xbox division, treated his Facebook friends this morning to a candid Apple/Microsoft Facebook discussion that began with a recommendation to use Apple notebooks.

When you have been around in the IT industry this for a while, you see mistakes being repeated and I am wondering if the PC vendors are making a mistake by embracing, mostly badly, an initiative that Apple began. As a strategist, one of the things you argue is that you never win by taking on a more powerful opponent head on. You win by finding a way to either going around or flanking.

As generally expected, Apple has updated its MacBook Pro line with Sandy Bridge processors and Intel’s Light Peak connector, which is now called Thunderbolt (which may be more appropriate since there isn’t so much light in it after all.) It has almost become a tradition that Apple gets processors no one else has – and this appears to be the case this time as well.

It appears as if our long-term prediction that Apple will sell Apple-branded TVs sooner or later would, in fact, become reality, as an Apple job posting indicated that the company is looking for engineers working on standalone TVs. That may have been, however, wishful thinking and the established range of TV makers may have reason to take a deep breath.

Six out of ten touch panels produced globally will end up in an Apple product, according to a media report.

Android may be growing quickly in terms of plain unit sales, but the Android Market is almost insignificant in sales. Apple’s revenue share is down for 2010, but still at a commanding 83%.

While Android is taking over smartphone market shares at a dazzling speed, Apple’s iPhone remains the cash cow of the industry that rakes in billions of dollars for Apple every quarter. The new Verizon iPhone 4 isn’t just a CDMA version of the device: It is a technological evolution that should carry the version number 4.5. There is a new antenna design, modified chip integration and lower production cost that will make the iPhone even more profitable.