Posts Tagged ‘iPod’

In October 2001, Apple promised to unveil a revolutionary media product. Few of us expected an MP3 player. Who could have predicted that a little white box would lay the foundation for an empire that turned into the world’s most valuable IT company ten years later?

After more than five years, Microsoft decided that it is time to let go. The Zune portable media player outlived itself and was never able to make a dent in iPod sales as Microsoft had hoped.

How long have companies been trying to offer a competitive iPod alternative? Copying Apple appears to be an acute addiction in the IT industry that goes hand in hand with a self-sabotage handicap to prevent the creation of attractive products. What are the chances of Samsung’s Galaxy Player being sucessful?

Apple might be the winner of this year’s holiday season as the iPhone 4, iPad and iPods. rank high on consumer wishlists.

MP3 player makers struggle to break even with their products these days, but Apple continues to post ridiculous margins According to iSuppli. Apple only pays about $45 for a product that it sells for $150.

Apple has been running a tight ship in the iPhone App Store –  too tight in many cases, inviting scathing criticism from users and developers. I’m sure you can appreciate the irony of Apple becoming a draconian enforcer of rules, after decades of thumbing its own nose at the establishment.

Do we ever get tired of new iPods? Apple has announced a plethora of new products earlier today, ranging from a new iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch, to a new Apple TV, a new iTunes with a new logo, a social network, and two new iOS versions. There was no shortage of news, but, for the first time in years, we wonder whether Apple may have announced the wrong products at the wrong time. In fact, we believe that Apple has exposed itself, and missed to upgrade its products effectively, which gives its rivals a chance to take a shot and challenge Apple’s leadership in key markets.

Apple is expected to roll out new music products on Wednesday, including an expansion of its iTunes service as well as new iPod Nanos, Shuffles and possibly an updated version of the iPod Touch. But does it make sense to keep the iPod alive and maintain a product that has clearly lived its life? It does not. The iPod needs a new idea. Music is just a feature that happens to be supported by iPods.

Netflix announced that it is now offering TV episodes as well as movies via its video streaming service on iPhones and iPod Touch devices. Depending on your data plan, Netflix on the iPhone could be rather expensive.

A couple weeks ago, we wrote about Seagate’s upcoming technology to increase the storage capacity of hard drives over the next 10 to 15 years. Flash will not be able to catch up with hard drives, according to Seagate, but it isn’t standing still either. Micron and Intel are now sampling a technology that could bring 512 MB SSDs into the mass market and 1 TB SSD for those who are looking for maximum capacity in SSDs. As Intel is supplying flash memory to Apple, we could be seeing a capacity bump for Apple products by January.

Apple today reported its FQ3 2010 earnings results with record revenues across the board. The iPhone is now responsible for nearly one third of Apple revenue and the iPad contributed already 13%. In total, Apple’s sales came in at $15.7 billion, which generated about $4 billion of cash that was added to an existing $44.5 billion. And Apple said it has no intentions to spend its available funds.

Apple’s new iOS 4 update for the iPhone iPod touch is available today. The previously announced software includes more than 100 new features, while the SDK has more than 1500 new APIs that promise developers a new world of opportunity for new applications.