Expected to launch in February, Apple has delayed its new Apple TV until March, reports Wired (via AP).
To retail for $299, Apple TV is designed to move digital content from a user's computer to a TV set and is anticipated to be a highly competitive product in the growing crop of offerings that deliver Internet-based videos to the television.
"Wrapping up Apple TV is taking a few weeks longer than we projected, and we now expect to begin shipments mid-March," Apple spokeswoman Lynn Fox said Monday.
Some analysts are projecting the set-top box could be yet another hit product for Apple, adding to the Cupertino-based company's growing fortunes as it expands its consumer electronics portfolio beyond Macintosh computers and iPod portable players.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Happy 52nd birthday, Steve Jobs
Happy birthday to you – Steve, this is your day.
On this day for you we’re gonna love you in every way.
This is your day, your day, happy birthday to you, to you, to you.
Happy birthday to you, you’re still young.
Age is just a number, don’t you stop having fun.
This is your day, your day, happy birthday to you.
This day only comes once every year,
Because you’re so wonderful with each and everything you do, hey!
Happy birthday to you, this is your day.
On this day for you were gonna love you in every way.
This is your day, your day, happy birthday to you, to you.
This day is only for you, because you’re so special in every way,
Happy birthday to you and thanks for the Apple iPhone!
Steve Jobs, Business Personality
- Born: 24 February 1955
- Birthplace: San Francisco, California
- Best Known As: The co-founder of Apple Computers
Steve Jobs was a college dropout when he teamed up with Steve Wozniak in 1976 to sell personal computers assembled in Jobs’ garage. That was the beginning of Apple Computers, which revolutionized the computing industry and made Jobs a multimillionaire before he was 30 years old. He was forced out of the company in 1985 and started the NeXT Corporation, but returned to his old company in 1996 when Apple bought NeXT. Jobs soon became Apple’s chief executive officer and sparked a resurgence in the company with products like the colorful iMac computer and the iPod music player. Jobs is also the CEO of Pixar, the animation company responsible for movies like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. Pixar was purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2006 for $7.4 billion in stock; the deal made Jobs the largest individual shareholder of Disney stock.
Some sources list Los Altos, California as Jobs’s place of birth. However, in a 1995 oral history interview with The Smithsonian, Jobs said, “I was born in San Francisco, California, USA, planet Earth, February 24, 1955.” Jobs was given up for adoption after birth and raised by his adoptive parents in Silicon Valley… His biological sister is novelist Mona Simpson, author of Anywhere But Here.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Apple’s iPhone pricing: too high or too low?
"Apple iPhone followers got two conflicting pieces of data regarding its $499 price point. In one survey done by an online shopping firm Compete as reported by MacWorld UK, only one percent of the consumers who said they were likely to buy an iPhone said they would pay $500 for it," Carl Howe writes for Blackfriars' Marketing. "Sounds bad right?"
Online market research firm Compete surveyed 379 people in the US, most of whom had heard of the iPhone and have shopped for an iPod, to find out how interested they are in the device to produce the uncommissioned report. The iPhone is a combined music player and cell phone that Apple plans to start selling in the US in June and in Europe by the end of the year.
Among the 26 per cent of respondents who said they're likely to buy an iPhone, only 1 per cent said they'd pay $500 for it. When Apple introduced the iPhone in January, it said it would cost $500 on the low end.
Forty-two per cent of those who said they're likely to buy the phone said they'd pay $200 to $299.
Howe writes, "Now here, you have to actually wonder about that result and how they asked the question, especially when 42% said they'd buy one for $200 to $299. Did Compete ask those questions serially, or did they simply put the question up as follows:
What is the most you would pay for an iPhone?
• $500 or more
• $400 to $499
• $300 to $399
• $200 to $299
• less than $200
Howe writes, "Since this was an online survey, this format is quite likely. And it will give quite poor data. Why? Because it causes the reader to believe that there will be alternative prices for the iPhone that are lower than $500! And if Apple sticks to its mass-market luxury item strategy, there simply won't be other prices available. The result: some of the people who said they'd only pay $200 to $299 will still buy the iPhone at $499 anyway [and], by the time Christmas of 2008 rolls around, Moore's Law says that the price of the electronics in the iPhone will be half what they are now. Don't be surprised if those 46% of consumers get their $299 iPhone then; they just have to wait eighteen months before it makes business sense for Apple to sell it at that price."
Apple ranks No. 18 in customer service report
Apple is ranked No. 18 on BusinessWeek's The Customer Service Elite, but led the PC industry in customer satisfaction in part to due to the service offered at the company's Genius Bars. "Despite frustration about iPod battery replacements, Apple's customer service phone support ranks tops among electronics providers. In particular, customers rate its automated phone system as easy to navigate and good at resolving questions," according to the report. The report also noted that "Apple's customer service shows its bruises--device problems frequently erupt just after warranties expire," but said that the support offered at the "Genius Bars" at its retail stores set it apart from its peers. USAA (insurance company), Four Seasons (hotels), Cadillac (automotive), Nordstrom's (retailer), and Wegmen's (supermarket) were ranked as the top 5, respectively.
Apple scored a C- in its "process" score, a reflection of its return policies or reservation procedures, but received a B+ in the 'people' category, which reflects the friendliness of customer service representatives, their expertise expertise, and other aspects of the experience. According to the report, the people score was weighted at 63 percent and the process score at 37 percent.
Nearly 60 percent of people surveyed said that they would recommend the brand. Apple also benefited from being the leader in its in industry, as the scores include bonus points for the top 3 vendors in each industry. No other PC vendors were among the top 25, which was published in this week's issue of BusinessWeek.
Cisco Allows Apple Use 'iPhone' Name
Cisco Systems and Apple Computer have finally called a truce, and will share the 'iPhone' name in exchange for exploring 'interoperability' between the companies' products in areas such as security, consumer, and business communication.
Both Apple and Cisco have said they will dismiss any pending legal actions regarding the 'iPhone' trademark, but continue to remain tight-lipped about future products that might come out of the 'interoperability' deal. On Jan 10, 2007, just a day after Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, unveiled the company's much awaited iPhone, Cisco slapped a suit against Apple, alleging that the latter's use of the 'iPhone' name constituted a 'willful and malicious' violation of a trademark Cisco has owned since 2000.
And, Cisco's Linksys division has been using the 'iPhone' trademark for a series of phones that make free long distance calls over the Internet, using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
In its lawsuit, Cisco said that in an era of 'convergence', the two companies' phones could eventually take on different features and end up competing head-to-head. Cisco said this would result in confusion, mistake, and deception for consumers.
Apple dubbed the suit 'silly' initially, arguing that it was entitled to use the 'iPhone' name as the phones belonging to the two companies operate over different networks, and as such, would never compete with each other.
Meanwhile, analysts say the settlement will help both companies strengthen their positions in the increasing competition to deliver video and other applications via the network direct to consumers' homes.
One network infrastructure analyst with the Yankee Group, Zeus Kerravala, voiced the view that there are ample opportunities for the two companies to dream up collaborative projects to win over consumers.
He cited one possibility as the creation of a Linksys device that users could call into to record podcasts, which could then be uploaded onto iTunes automatically.
Kerravala said that if the two companies could actually find common ground and work together, the combination would be a formidable one unlike that in which both are continually at loggerheads with each other.
Kerravala pointed out that after all, there's no company out there that understands network service like Cisco, and no other company that quite understands user experience like Apple Computer.
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