Tag Archives | Apple

Where Are the Cheap Tablets?

Posted by Harry McCracken on January 24, 2011 at 11:32 am

Motorola’s upcoming Xoom tablet is going to cost $699. Or maybe $799. Both prices are rumors rather than confirmed realities, but they seem to point to the Xoom starting at a much higher price than the iPad, which costs $499 in its most minimalist configuration (16GB of storage and no 3G).

If the Xoom goes for $699–or maybe even $799–it’s not because Motorola has grossly overpriced the thing. Specswise, it’s a far more potent device than the iPad, with a dual-core processor, four times as much RAM (1GB vs. 256GB), a slightly larger screen with more pixels, two cameras vs. no cameras, a MicroSD slot, and a standard 3G data connection that will be upgradable to 4G for free. Motorola clearly decided to err on the side of making the Xoom beefier than the current iPad–an entirely logical strategy given that it will surely compete with an iPad 2 that boasts some of the same specs that it does. But anyone who hasn’t bought an iPad because $499 sounds like a lot of money is even less likely to spring for a Xoom.

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Can Motion Control Actually Shake Up Apple Keyboards?

Posted by Jared Newman on January 24, 2011 at 9:23 am

While Apple’s been assaulting the traditional mouse with multi-touch surfaces, so far the keyboard remains unchanged from its basic design.

But an Apple patent found by MacRumors suggests that there’s keyboard revolution on the brain in Cupertino. It calls for four small cameras around the main keys, pointing upwards at the user. By hovering hands above the keys, users could point and perform gestures like they would on a track pad.

In other words, it’s Kinect for your keyboard.

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Lies, Damned Lies, and Market-Share Statistics

Posted by Harry McCracken on January 21, 2011 at 9:27 am

The world of technology is rife with horse races–so much so that many tech blogs read like the Daily Racing Form. There’s PC sales vs. Mac sales. iPhone shipments vs. Android shipments. Internet Explorer usage vs. Firefox usage vs. Chrome usage. Everybody loves to keep track of who’s ahead and interpret the significance of any changes. (Including me.) The primary way that tech publications do that is by reporting on market share numbers reported by research firms and other third-party entities.

More and more, though, I’ve come to the conclusion that the good articles about tech market-share data may be outnumbered by ones that are, at best, not very enlightening. Good data gets mangled and misinterpreted; bad data gets treated like good data. Herewith, a few of the reasons why it’s so important to approach these stories with a healthy dose of skepticism.

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Apple's iPhone 4 Screw Job

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 20, 2011 at 1:19 pm

Apple has been notoriously antagonistic towards do-it-yourselfers, preferring their customers have their equipment serviced through the company’s official channels. The Cupertino company may have found another way to foil these handy folks: using rare, hard-to-find screws.

Called “pentabular” screws, their pattern looks similar to a Torx screw, yet different. The best way to describe it probably is flower-shaped. Drivers for these screws aren’t readily available–making it more difficult to perform DIY repairs.
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Ten Million iPads a Year? Guess Again!

Posted by Harry McCracken on January 18, 2011 at 4:30 pm

Back when we didn’t know for sure if the iPad really existed, there was a rumor that Apple expected to sell ten million of them in the tablet’s first full year on the market. Many observers were skeptical. Me, I didn’t take a stance–I just said that it was hard for outsiders to crunch Apple’s numbers, and I had fun looking back at sales figures for past Apple products. (Total Apple I sales: about 200 units, in an era when that wasn’t bad.)

Well, Apple released its quarterly financials today, and we now know the ten-million-iPads-a-year rumor was off. After nine months, Apple had already sold 14.8 million tablets. Not bad for a product that was supposed to be an embarrassing flop. (The lesson, as always: It’s pointless to analyze anything based on an utter absence of facts…and at least as pointless to read such analysis.)

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Apple's Holiday 2010 Quarter Was a Barnburner

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 18, 2011 at 1:55 pm

Apple’s quarterly numbers are in, and they’re pretty stunning. The Cupertino company reported record revenue of $26.47 billion, nearly twice last year’s $15.68 billion. This was powered by record numbers across all its major businesses: 4.16 million Macs, 16.24 million iPhones, and some 7.33 million iPads sold. Adding in these sales means Apple sold some 15 million iPads during 2010 alone, well above even the rosiest predictions. More to come if the analyst call produces any interesting tidbits…

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Steve Jobs Takes Another Medical Leave

Posted by Harry McCracken on January 17, 2011 at 7:55 am

Steve Jobs with the original MacBook Air in 2008

Apple CEO and cofounder Steve Jobs is going on medical leave for an unspecified length of time. Jobs, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, went on a previous leave two years ago, during which he had a liver transplant, and returned in June of 2009.  As before, Apple COO Tim Cook (who represented the company at last week’s Verizon iPhone event) will be in charge of day-to-day operations in Jobs’ absence.

During Jobs’ 2009 leave, a high percentage of of the tech pundits who speculated about the upshot mostly proved that it’s a lousy idea for techies to try and play medical expert.

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What's the Difference Between the AT&T and Verizon iPhone?

Posted by Daniel Ionescu on January 11, 2011 at 11:14 am

[Note: This article republished courtesy of our pals at PCWorld.]

It’s official: Apple and Verizon announced the iPhone 4 will finally land on the country’s largest carrier starting February 10. The Verizon iPhone costs just as much as the AT&T iPhone, and the phones have virtually identical feature sets. However, there are a few differences you should keep in mind when choosing an iPhone from one of the two carriers.

The basic difference between the Verizon and the AT&T iPhone is the antenna inside. The Verizon iPhone is compatible with the 3G EV-DO standard (not 4G LTE despite the carrier’s huge launch of 4G-compatible devices at CES), with data download speeds of up to 1.4Mbps. The AT&T iPhone is compatible with the UMTS standard, which can achieve download speeds of up to 3Mbps. Check out the differences between the AT&T and Verizon iPhone at a glance < on the chart below.

Because the Verizon iPhone is not based on the latest 4G LTE standard, the AT&T iPhone can theoretically achieve faster download speeds than the Verizon model. However, AT&T’s network is not as reliable as Verizon’s in many places across the country, so the speed you would actually get on either of the phones depends mainly on where you live and how good the coverage is in your area.

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