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Tuesday 30 November 2010

iPad Launches in 11 More Countries in Asia and Europe


While macrumors.com noted yesterday that the iPad appeared set to launch in Scandinavia today, Apple's new round of international launches for the popular tablet device has extended to a total of eleven countries scattered around the globe: Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan.

Pricing and retail distribution partners vary from country to country, so customers should check with Apple and their favorite retailers regarding availability. Customers interested in 3G-capable iPad models should also check to see which carriers are supporting service in their country and determine data service pricing options.


Information retrieved from: http://www.macrumors.com


(C) 2010 Eric Slivka

Richard Branson's 'Project' debuts on iPad, Infinity Blade coming Dec. 9

Project
Infinity Blade
British Billionaire Richard Branson has launched his new iPad-only magazine, titled Project, on the App Store for $2.99. Also, Infinity Blade from Epic Games, already featured in iPad TV commercials, will launch on Dec. 9 for iOS devices at a price of $5.99.

Project for iPad released

Project (iTunes link) is a free magazine application built specifically for iPad. The debut issue, released Tuesday, features actor Jeff Bridges on the cover promoting his upcoming movie, Tron: Legacy.

Individual issues can be purchased within the application for $2.99 each. Published by Branson's Virgin, it requires iOS 4.2 or later.

While it features new, unique content exclusive to the iPad application, the software has also been criticized for its complex touch-based interface. Project comes with a one-page instruction manual that explains features like the "Action Button," "Spine," and "Plus Panels."

The magazine's release comes as Apple is rumored to hold a media event on Dec. 9 with a number of print executives. Rumors have suggested that Apple plans to introduce a new subscription billing option for newspapers and magazines on the iPad.

Other reports have indicated that Apple plans to release a software update in the form of iOS 4.3 in mid-December. Reports have claimed that the new mobile operating system update would include recurring application subscriptions.



Infinity Blade to launch on iOS Dec. 9

Chair Entertainment and Epic Games announced Tuesday that Infinity Blade, the much-anticipated forthcoming iOS game based on the Unreal Engine, will launch in the App Store on Dec. 9. The title will be playable on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, third- and fourth-generation iPod touch models, and the iPad, and it will cost $5.99.

Infinity Blade will be a universal app, meaning users can purchase it and play it on multiple devices, like an iPhone and iPad. It will also be compatible with Game Center, Apple's social gaming network that allows users to find friends to play games with online, as well as track scores and achievements.

In September, Epic announced the Unreal Development Kit for iOS. It also released the free Epic Citadel application, a tech demonstration used to illustrate the power of the iOS platform to render high-resolution 3D graphics.



Apple has even included footage from Infinity Blade in one iPad commercial. After it was publicly demonstrated on an iPhone in September, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs remarked that it was "remarkable" that Epic was able to achieve such graphics on a mobile device.

Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2010 Slash Lane

PCWorld reliability survey: Apple 'smoked the competition'

PC World
PCWorld this week released the results of its annual Reliability and Service Survey, and Apple won handily in the desktop, notebook and smartphone categories.

Apple earned high marks almost entirely across the board for its line of Macs and iPhones. In fact, the only "average" scores earned by Apple were related to replacing failed notebook components, as well as the iPhone 4 antenna issue.

"Can Apple do no wrong?" the publication said. "Indeed, 2010 was a remarkable year for the world's highest-valued tech company."

PCWorld's reader poll found that Apple was far and away the best company, leading the publication to state that the Cupertino, Calif., company was "smoking the competition." Credited were Apple's stylish hardware, easy-to-use software, and the "warm, fuzzy feeling" given through Genius Bar support at the company's retail stores.

In the survey, just under 8 percent of Apple laptop users said they had a problem that could not be resolved by the company's technical support. That was "significantly lower" than the industry average from rivals like HP and Dell.

Apple earned the highest marks in every categories for desktop PCs, notebooks and smartphones. As has been found in previous surveys, iPhone customers in the U.S. indicated they are happy with Apple's handset, but do not like the AT&T wireless service.

The iPhone also earned "average" marks in two out of four categories for smartphone reliability. In that ranking, Apple placed second to Motorola, which earned top marks in three out of four reliability categories.

But in terms of ease of use, the iPhone was the clear winner, earning perfect "better than average" scores across the board. Users said the iPhone was easy to set up, allowed for simple Web browsing, and satisfied customers with media playback.



AT&T customers, however, ranked the speed and reliability of its 3G network "worse than average," and also expressed dissatisfaction with sound quality and reliability of voice calls. That was worse than competitors Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, all of which earned a "better than average" ranking in at least one category.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2010 Katie Marsal

Camera lens supplier selected for Apple's second-generation iPad - rumor

Rumors that a Taiwanese company has been selected to exclusively supply camera lens modules for Apple's forthcoming second-generation iPad have been unsurprisingly met with a "no comment."

Market rumors in Taiwan have suggested that Largan Precision was selected as the sole supplier of lens modules for the forthcoming iPad upgrade, according to DigiTimes. In a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Largan refused to comment.

The report made no mention of how many megapixels the cameras might be, or even how many cameras might be included on the new iPad. Largan reportedly supplies 5-megapixel lenses for the iPhone 4.

Rumors of a camera-equipped iPad have swirled for months, and some evidence has even suggested that Apple originally planned at one point to include a camera in the first-generation model. However, Tuesday's rumor is the first time that Largan Precision has been named as a potential camera lens component supplier.

As reported by AppleInsider in September, Apple plans to aggressively push its FaceTime video chat open standard by releasing a new iPad model equipped with a camera. FaceTime was introduced in June, when the iPhone 4 launched with a forward-facing camera.

Some reports have claimed that, like the iPhone 4, Apple's second-generation iPad will include two cameras -- one forward-facing, and one rear-facing. While a device like the iPad, with a 9.7-inch screen, may not be practical for shooting photos with a rear-facing camera, its inclusion could be utilized for augmented reality applications and games.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2010 Sam Oliver

Softbank to offer fully subsidized iPad in Japan with 25-month contract

Japanese carrier Softbank will begin offering the 16GB iPad 3G for free when customers sign up for a 25 month, $56 a month contract, a new report claims.

Softbank's subsidy would contain no hidden costs that spread the cost of the iPad over the term of the contract. The customer will need only sign a 2 year contract for $56 a month in order to receive a free 16GB iPad 3G, mocoNews reports.

As the sole distributor of the iPhone in Japan, Softbank has enjoyed the tremendous success of the device. In April, Tokyo's MM Research Institute Ltd. issued a report revealing that Apple captured a massive 72 percent of the Japanese smartphone market for the fiscal year ending March 31.

Japan recently saw the launch of the new cloud-centric Apple TV and the iTunes Movie Store. Major international and top Japanese studios, such as Asmik Ace Entertainment Inc., Fuji TV, Kadakowa Pictures, Nikkatsu, Shochiku Company Limited and Toei Company Limited, are offering their movies on iTunes.

Apple appears to be allowing heavy iPad subsidies in regions where its iAd program is preparing to launch. The Cupertino, Calif., company announced earlier this month that it will expand iAds into Japan early next year with the help of Japanese advertising partner Dentsu.

iAd will also launch in Europe in December. The launch has attracted the attention of European and global brands alike, including L'OrĂ©al, Renault, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Perrier, Unilever, Citi, Evian, LG Display, AB InBev, Turkish Airlines and Absolute Radio.

"We're thrilled to add leading global brands to the iAd Network in Europe and create even more great opportunities for developers," said Andy Miller, Apple's vice president of iAd, when announcing the expansion into Europe. "In just four months, we’ve doubled the number of advertisers on the network and thousands of developers now have a valuable new source of revenue."

Shortly after Apple's announcement that it will bring iAd to Europe, Orange UK revealed its plan to sell the iPad 3G at a discounted price with a 3G data plan.

Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com

(C) 2010 Josh Ong

Windows Phone 7 developers fear platform flop

WiMo market
Despite a reportedly healthy level of interest from developers, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 debut appears to have flopped with consumers, leaving developers cautious about investing in the platform.

On top of dead launch events reminiscent of the failed Microsoft KIN (which essentially ran an early, limited version of the WP7 platform) and poor unofficial sales reports, an apparent gag on app analytics is preventing developers from seeing how many of their apps have actually sold. Microsoft is reportedly also withholding any payments to its app developers through February 2011.

Disgruntled developers fret about platform's future prospects

Two WP7 developers, Nicholas Yu of GoVoice (a Google Voice client app) and Justin James, who created an Airport Status Checker app for WP7, have both complained that Microsoft isn't providing developers with app store analytics to indicate how many titles they've actually sold. 

Yu described this problem to be significant enough to hold up his investment in adding requested features such as push notifications. "Currently I have no idea how many copies of GoVoice are sold nor did I receive a single paycheck," Yu wrote in his development blog. "Implementing Push is a very risky thing for me because I need to justify that the expenses will cover the maintenance cost of a Push server. If Push is implemented, the expenses are coming straight out of my paycheck, and that is very sensitive to me."

James repeated similar concerns, noting that "there will be no payouts from [the WP7] App Hub [to developers] until February 2011, and there is no built-in reporting on downloads as of now." 

He outlined a variety of problems in working with Microsoft's share App Hub developer site for WP7 and Xbox 360, and concluded, "unless you consider Windows Phone 7 to be a 'must do' platform for development (which is quite unlikely), I suggest that you think of Windows Phone 7 development as a hobby or a learning experience rather than a source of revenue until the App Hub issues are sorted out."

In contrast, Apple has promoted the fact that it has distributed over $1 billion in payments to its developers from the sales of their apps, which now exceed 300,000 titles that have seen more than 7 billion downloads. Apple has sold over 73 million iPhones, in addition to tens of millions of iPod touch and iPad devices that also run iOS apps.

Not an app for that 

Last fall, Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile began cultivating a software app store for the company's Windows Mobile 6.5 patterned after Apple's iTunes App Store, encouraging developers to "get in now, get noticed, and take the big prize," in a Race to Market Challenge that offered the chance to win a Surface table, online marketing and promotion, and a "one-of-a-kind trophy."



Just a few months later, the company decided to start over completely with WP7, throwing out compatibility with existing titles its developers had 'raced to deliver' but which were largely dependent upon an outdated, PDA-style windowing environment driven by a stylus. Apple's Steve Jobs had declared the stylus obsolete for modern mobile devices back at the iPhone's launch in early 2007.

In its place, Microsoft assembled a new development model around WP7, using Silverlight and Xbox XNA development tools. At the same time, it began downplaying the importance of apps in general by suggesting WP7 devices were more efficient and business-like because they purposely wouldn't offer much to consume users' attention.

This strategy has enabled Microsoft to associate its Xbox developers with WP7 development, claiming earlier this week that "we’ve also seen a near 80% increase in the number of registered [WP7] developers since September, with more than 15,000 developers already signaling their intent to bring exciting content to Windows Phone." The same blog posting noted that Microsoft planned to make 3,000 apps available for WP7 this month.

WP7's lackluster launch 

However, whether WP7 can ever achieve a user base large enough to support its developers is in question. The availability of XNA development tools for the Zune HD, and their familiarity to Xbox coders, has not had any impact on creating a viable software market for that device, largely due to poor hardware sales among consumers. 

Curiously, Microsoft had no problems reporting app sales data to its developers in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile store last year, indicating that the missing functionality related to sales data in the new WP7 App Hub is an intentional effort to avoid any leaks of hard data that would show how badly WP7 phones are actually selling.

Windows Phone 7 launched alongside a $500 million ad campaign last month to lackluster sales estimated to be in the tens of thousands. In the UK, an Orange launch event opened to a line of just two people. Damage control headlines later suggested Orange had "sold out" of WP7 inventory without suggesting how many units that actually involved. 

Retail store checks by BGR of fifteen AT&T locations throughout the US found dismal results for the new platform in its initial launch week, with the best reports claiming sales of ten to fifteen units while around half of the stores complained that they'd only sold between one and four of the new devices. AT&T has since started a "buy one get one" promotion for WP7, but hasn't released any hard sales data.

A report on mobile phone sales in the UK by MobilePlease and its network of retail partner sites said Microsoft's WP7 was being eclipsed not only by Android (14:1) but also accounted for just a third of the sales volumes of the beleaguered Symbian^3 platform, represented almost entirely by one model, the Nokia N8. 

That report also noted that the new WP7 models "are by and large generic phones from well known manufacturers, and in most cases an almost identical model is available from the same manufacturer with Android, and given the choice people seem to be picking Android."

An informal survey of other retailers in the report agreed that while "demand for iPhone, Blackberry and HTC handsets was strong in the smartphone sector," they too had observed that "Windows Phone 7 handsets are not selling."

A more difficult game for new platforms with missing features 

Reviews of new WP7 devices have also been dispassionate, with common complaints that the new devices offered nothing really new while failing to match the software features of existing Android and iPhone models that they compete against. WP7 offers no support for multitasking, universal search, arbitrary copy and paste, or a unified inbox with topic threads, for example.

Apple lacked many of those features in the iOS until recently, but it also enjoyed strong brand loyalty and a stand-out user interface that attracted buyers while it fleshed out its software feature list. Apple also didn't have to contend with more modern and feature-complete rivals during the development of iOS, because its show-stopping, uniquely new experiences such as a truly usable mobile web browser served to overshadow its limitations. 

Android similarly started with significant feature omissions, but has slowly matured over the past three years to fill the vacuum created by the failure of Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices, leaving little low hanging fruit for Microsoft to reclaim this late in the game.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2010 Daniel Eran Dilger

Tablets like Apple's iPad expected to 'displace' 10% of PCs in 2014

Tablets and smartphones will significantly affect PC sales in the years to come, with touchscreen devices like Apple's iPad representing 10 percent of PC sales by 2014, according to a new forecast.

Gartner on Monday released its latest forecast update for PC sales. The firm expects a total of 352.4 million computers to be shipped by the end of 2010, which would be a 14.3 percent increase from last year, but is also less than Gartner's previous forecast in September of 17.9 percent growth.

Accordingly, the firm also reduced its projections for PC shipments in 2011. Gartner now believes that worldwide PC shipments will reach 409 million units next year, a 15.9 percent increase from 2010. That's less than its earlier estimate of 18.1 percent growth.

Gartner believes devices like Apple's iPad are "disruptive" to sales of traditional PCs. Released in April, the iPad is already outselling the Mac.

"These results reflect marked reductions in expected near-term unit growth based on expectations of weaker consumer demand, due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "Over the longer term, media tablets are expected to displace around 10 percent of PC units by 2014."

Gartner's analysts believe that more portable devices will eat away at sales of more traditional desktop and laptop computers in the future.

"PCs are still seen as necessities, but the PC industry's inability to significantly innovate and its overreliance on a business model predicated on driving volume through price declines are finally impacting the industry's ability to induce new replacement cycles," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.

"As the PC market slows, vendors that differentiate themselves through services and technology innovation rather than unit volume and price will dictate the future. Even then, leading vendors will be challenged to keep PCs from losing the device 'limelight' to more innovative products that offer better dedicated compute capabilities."

The analysis is similar to comments made earlier this year by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who said he believes that devices like the iPad are representative of a forthcoming post-PC era. He compared the growth of tablets to the migration of the U.S. automobile industry from trucks to cars.

Jobs said that trucks were originally a necessity because they were driven by farmers. But as cities grew and features like power steering and automatic transition were added to cars, they became the more popular option.

"PCs are going to be like trucks," Jobs said noting they will still be around, but they will represent a smaller number of sales.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2010 Katie Marsal 

Monday 29 November 2010

European Apple News: Amsterdam Retail Store, iPad to Scandinavia Tomorrow

Several items of interest to certain European Apple fans have surfaced over the past few days, including news of a forthcoming retail store in Amsterdam that would be the company's first in the Netherlands, as well as reports of the iPad launching throughout Scandinavia tomorrow.



Dutch site One More Thing reports [Google translation] that Apple is preparing to open its first retail store in that country. The store, reportedly set for a debut in the spring of 2011, is said to occupy a portion of the ground floor of the Hirsch building on Leidseplein in Amsterdam. Apple's corporate headquarters for the Benelux region already occupy the third floor of the building.

Meanwhile, numerous news sources out of Scandinavia are reporting that the iPad will officially launch in their countries tomorrow, with third-party retail partners gearing up with early store openings to support the launch. Reports have been coming in today from Denmark, Norway,Sweden, and Finland regarding the iPad debut, with Apple spokesmen in several of those countries confirming the launch.


Information retrieved from: http://www.macrumors.com


(C) 2010 Eric Slivka


(C) Image is courtesy of Mac Rumors.com

IDC: Android poised to pass Apple's iOS, Nokia's Symbian in Europe

Google's Android mobile operating system will pass Apple's iOS and Nokia's Symbian in 2011 to become the top smartphone platform in all of Europe, IDC has predicted.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo told Bloomberg that Android, which was nipping at the heels of Apple's iOS in the third quarter of 2010, will likely surpass both Apple and Nokia next year. In the last quarter, Nokia's Symbian represented 34 percent of smartphone sales in Western Europe, the iPhone was 24 percent, and Android was 23 percent.

"The iPhone was last year's hot device and now people are looking for something different," Jeronimo reportedly said. He added that he believes the new Samsung Galaxy S offers a similar experience to the iPhone at a lower price.

Samsung was propelled by the launch of the Galaxy S last quarter, helping it achieve 14 percent of Android-based handset shipments. HTC was the Android leader in Europe representing 39 percent, followed by Sony Ericsson with 27 percent.

Android's ascendancy in Europe follows it surpassing the iPhone in the U.S. earlier this year. Google's free operating system is available to multiple hardware makers and device manufacturers who create smartphones and tablets in a variety of form factors, while iOS, which powers the iPhone and iPad, is restricted to hardware made by Apple.

But a recent survey found that Apple could stunt the growth of Android, at least in the U.S., if the iPhone were available on more carriers. A poll of recent smartphone buyers found that 34 percent of those not on AT&T, the exclusive carrier of Apple's smartphone, would have preferred to buy the iPhone.

According to Nielsen, even the launch of the iPhone 4 over the summer could not stop the market share growth of Android. Phones running Android in the U.S. are available on all four major wireless carriers, but in many countries in Europe, the iPhone is also available on multiple carriers.

While Android's total market share has grown, no single handset running Google's mobile operating system has compared to Apple's iPhone. The iPhone 4 sold 1.7 million in its first three days, and went on to ship a record 14.1 million last quarter.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2010 Sam Oliver

As world's most-sued tech company, Apple is forced to 'lawyer up'

Apple, the most-sued technology company in the world since after the iPhone was released, is stocking up on lawyers for patent battles with rivals Nokia, HTC and Motorola.

According to Businessweek, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs is recruiting lawyers who have experience fighting for and against some of the world's largest technology companies. The legal battle is seen as an effort to stop Android, the competing mobile operating system from search giant Google.

"Apple has hired some of the nation's top patent lawyers as outside counsel," authors Adam Satariano and Susan Decker wrote. "They include Ropert Krupka of Kirkland & Ellis, who negotiated a 2005 settlement in which Apple agreed to pay $100 million to Creative Technology Ltd., maker of the Zen music player; William Lee WilmerHale in Boston, who successfully represented Broadcom Corp in its fight against Qualcomm; and Matt powers of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, who successfully defended the patent on Merck & Co.'s biggest product, the $4.7 billion-a-year asthma drug Singulair."

Apple's legal efforts are led by Bruce Sewell, the company's general counsel. It also added Noreen Krall, former chief intellectual property counsel for Sun Microsystems and IBM, as an in-house attorney this year.

The report also noted that Apple has been the most-sued technology company since 2008, a year after the iPhone hit the market, according to LegalMetric Inc.

Apple has been bombarded with lawsuits in recent years, facing 27 new patent infringement suits filed in 2009 alone. Apple has said that responding to those claims, regardless of merit, consumes "significant time and expense."

Apple and Nokia are engaged in a mutual legal battle in which each company has accused the other of patent infringement. Apple has argued that Nokia has infringed on 13 patents related to a variety of technologies, including graphical user interface and booting of a handset, while Nokia has accused Apple of 10 patent violations.

Apple is also engaged in lawsuits with Motorola and HTC, two hardware makers that create handsets running the Google Android operating system. Those complaints have largely been viewed as an Apple versus Android battle.

"We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a comment after the HTC suit was filed. "We've decided to do something about it."


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2010 Neil Hughes

Apple's 11-inch MacBook Airs 'flying off the shelves' alongside iPad

Apple saw a healthy demand for all of its products across the board on Black Friday, but the iPad and new MacBook Air were particularly strong sellers over the weekend, according to financial experts.

Piper Jaffray

Analyst Gene Munster and his team of researchers spent 7 hours in Apple Stores on Black Friday, the biggest retail shopping day of the year. They found that the iPad is expanding its demographics, on its way to becoming the "Mac of the masses."

"We noticed that the iPad his gaining traction (driven by lower price vs. the Mac) among demographics in which the Mac has historically not been successful," Munster wrote. "The bottom line is that Apple's addressable market is expanding with the iPad, and as a result, we believe the potential for upside from the iPad increases over the next 12 months."

Checks with Apple stores also found that Mac sales were about flat. Piper Jaffray tracked 8.2 Macs sold per store, per hour, in line with the 8.3 per hour it saw last year.

"Despite the flat [year over year] data, we remain comfortable with the Street's ~24% Mac unit growth (4.2m units) for the Dec. quarter given growth in international, eCommerce, survey error (only seven hours in the store) and factoring in the Oct. NPD data," Munster wrote.

Deutsche Bank

Analyst Chris Whitmore polled more than 150 stores over the Black Friday weekend, with more than 100 Apple retail stores, and over 50 AT&T, Verizon, Best Buy, Walmart and Target stores contacted as well. He found strong and healthy demand for all of Apple's product lines.

Whitmore noted that Apple has seen "very healthy demand" for the new MacBook Air. Employees at Apple stores indicated that the small, 11-inch MacBook Air has been particularly popular, calling it a "customer favorite" and saying that the product has been "flying off the shelves."

Discounts on the newly redesigned MacBook Air continue, with many resellers offering reduced prices for Cyber Monday. Through its Mac Pricing Matrix also included below, AppleInsider offers the best prices on Macs.

With instant discounts exclusive to AppleInsider that require no rebates through MacMall, shoppers can get a 1.40GHz 11-inch 64GB MacBook Air for $950.59 ($50 savings), 1.40GHz 11-inch 128GB MacBook Air for$1,117.19 ($81.81 savings), 1.86GHz 13-inch 128GB MacBook Air for $1,205.39 ($93.61 savings), or a 1.86GHz 13-inch 256GB MacBook Air for $1,489.59 ($109.41 savings). Meanwhile, MacConnection also offers a entry level 11-inch MacBook Air for AppleInsider readers a few dollars cheaper through its use of mail-in rebates.


Product
Apple
Amazon
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MacConnection
B&H
On Sale
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Discount
MacBook Air
1.40GHz 11" MacBook Air 64GB$999.00$969.99$950.59*$948.00$979.00$971.96$999.00$949.00$51.00
1.40GHz 11" MacBook Air 128GB$1,199.00$1,139.99$1,117.19*$1,139.00$1,149.00$1,169.00$1,179.00$1,149.00$81.81
1.86GHz 13" MacBook Air 128GB$1,299.00$1,252.13$1,205.39*$1,239.00$1,279.00$1,275.99$1,299.00$1,249.00$93.61
1.86GHz 13" MacBook Air 256GB$1,599.00$1,519.99$1,489.59*$1,529.00$1,529.00$1,574.99$1,499.00$1,549.00$109.41
* + or • : Net prices after rebates and AppleInsider's exclsuive 3% discount. The 3% discount coupon is automatically embedded in the links above. It will show up as"Instant Discount(s)" during checkout, only affter you've added the Mac to your shopping cart. Full details via AppleInsider's complete Mac Price Guide.


Kaufman Bros.

Despite typical modest discounts, Apple's retail stores saw heavy foot traffic for Black Friday, analyst Shaw Wu noted. He noted that Black Friday weekend typically accounts for 10 percent of holiday sales, and Apple saw strong uptake of the iPad, iPod and MacBook Air.

"Overall product availability appears much improved compared to previous quarters," Wu said. "However, we picked up spot shortages on iPod nanos as well as some iPod touches at several third-party retailers. Our sources indicate that this is due to unexpected strong demand as many thought stand-alone MP3 players were a 'dead' category."

HE expects Apple to sell about 6 million iPads and 16.5 million iPads, though he said those numbers "could turn conservative." He has also predicted sales of 4 million Macs and 15.5 million iPhones.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2010 AppleInsider Staff