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Nintendo sells 2.2 million DSis, says Walmart is biggest customer
During a recent interview with CNBC, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime addressed the Wii's recent price drop (surprise: it's seen positive results) and the company's strategy for the upcoming holiday season. The manufacturer is counting on a strong showing for its DSi handheld, with Reggie revealing that 2.2 million units have now been sold, presumably in North America alone. Of course, Nintendo couldn't have possibly sold that many handhelds without the help of retailers and according to Reggie, Walmart has been the biggest customer. We're not surprised -- Walmart is supernatural, after all.
CNBC: Apple beating recession
A panel on CNBC's Fast Money was recently remarking on AAPL's apparent invulnerability to the recession that's currently affecting the United States, noting that it's jumped 40% so far this year, outperforming the NASDAQ. J.P. Mark of Farmhouse Equity Research suggests that the excitement that persists among Apple's retail employees customers is a part of that performance.As for the stock's immediate future, the panel and Mr. Mark point to this summer's concurrent release of iPhone OS 3.0 and a likely new iPhone model as a powerful stimulus. Finally, Mr. Mark notes that it isn't often that an electronic gadget becomes more useful and valuable over time.I definitely agree with that. My iPhone is now almost two years old and it does much more than it did when I first opened its box. Also, if a new iPhone does appear this summer just as my current contract is expiring, I'll almost certainly buy it.
CNBC HD is actually HD for the first time tonight
Looking for something watch once the President Obama press conference is over? If CNBC HD+ is in the channel lineup, click over to check out the channel's first true high definition production Cruise Inc: Big Money On The High Seas at 9 p.m. It's the first of several documentaries apparently planned in HD, and not a moment too soon. Taking advantage of the addition space HDTVs can provide (as pictured above) has been nice, but it's good to know we didn't have to go all Jon Stewart on them to get some real HD.[Via Media Bistro]
Jim Cramer smackdown includes talk of Apple
I don't know if you watched the Jon Stewart interview with CNBC host Jim Cramer on the Daily Show last night. Stewart and Cramer have been feuding for a week about Cramer's bad financial advice, and the lack of any deep or meaningful reporting on CNBC as the market was melting down. As part of the back and forth (and I suggest you watch the whole clip) Stewart pulled out an old interview with Cramer where he talked about hurting Apple stock by claiming neither AT&T or Verizon was interested in selling the iPhone. Cramer was a hedge fund manager at the time, and may have wanted a quick short term profit by manipulating stock sales with misleading information. Cramer said it was legal, Stewart questioned the ethics. In the end, the SEC will have to decide.AAPL seems to be one of the top tech stocks that is buffeted by rumors, good and bad. In this case, here's a guy telling us how it works.Here's a link to the older interview on YouTube. The part about Apple begins about 3:30 into the clip.Thanks Jose for the tip and the link.Correction: One of our readers points out that Cramer was not running a Hedge Fund in 2006 but gave it up in 2001. Thanks Rick for setting the time line straight.
Official enough: Kotick confirms DJ Hero for 2009
Activision has yet to announce DJ Hero through any official channels. The "rumored" game has been revealed through trademarks, secret sources, and even musicians whose work is included. But because Activision hasn't sent out a true press release, the game continues to be in some kind of limbo between reality and rumor. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick totally spilled the beans to CNBC, saying, "We have this product called DJ Hero coming out later this year which is a turntable that you can actually play competitively, spin discs and mix on." Can we call this first Guitar Hero spinoff "confirmed" yet? Because it's totally happening. In other news: CNBC's Joe Kernen is basically mystified by Nerf N-Strike. Just like everyone else.[Via GamesIndustry.biz; image credit: lolololori]
'Fake Steve' chides CNBC's Goldman in source foofaraw
Dan Lyons, who once wrote the "Fake Steve Jobs" blog, criticized Silicon Valley bureau chief Jim Goldman for withholding information from sources inside Apple about Steve Jobs' health. The sparks fly in this video around the 3:30 mark. Lyons, on CNBC Reports, said Goldman had become the kind of reporter that gets "played and punked" by Apple, and that he should have released the information he knew on Monday, before Apple's announcement yesterday. Lyons also demanded that Goldman apologize to Gizmodo, for criticizing their December 30 story about Jobs' declining health. Goldman said that he had contacted two individuals on Monday who have personal contact with Jobs, but don't know the intimate details about his medical treatment. Goldman wrote yesterday: What struck me was that both felt compelled to come to me to tell me that they had "serious misgivings" about the state of Jobs' health. One said, based on his contact with Jobs personally, that he was in "serious denial" about just how bad the circumstances had become. The other explained to me that he was "deeply concerned" about Jobs, and the sudden lack of communication, the non-return of emails, ignoring chat requests, unreturned phone calls was a strong indication to him that Jobs was in "dire" shape. According to Silicon Alley Insider, a source close to the matter said that Lyons had been banned from appearing on CNBC again, though CNBC spokesman Kevin Goldman (no relation) said "Real Dan" had not been banned. In related news, Joe Nocera, the New York Times journalist who Steve Jobs called a "slime bucket" in an off-the-record phone interview about his health, said that the medical problem Jobs confessed to in the call is different from the "hormone imbalance" mentioned in Apple's press release just before Macworld. Nocera called for greater transparency from Apple about how it discusses Steve's health. [Via MacDailyNews.] On a personal and editorial note, I wish Mr. Jobs and his family all the best, and this is the last story I'll be writing about yesterday's announcement for the foreseeable future. I was conflicted about even writing this, because Jobs deserves his time to recuperate, free from the spread of rumors and half-truths. Perhaps the less I write about it, the healthier he'll get. In theory. Maybe. We can hope. - RP
Steve Jobs takes 'medical leave of absence' until the end of June
CNBC is reporting that Steve Jobs' health situation is "more serious" than previously thought, and Steve Jobs announced he is taking a "medical leave of absence" in a letter to Apple employees. He anticipates returning in July. Tim Cook, Chief Operating Officer, is taking over day-to-day operations of Apple, Inc. in the meantime. In his letter, Jobs says the board supports this plan, and that he will be involved in major decisions even though he is out of the office. Cook took the reins at Apple for a month in 2004, while Jobs had surgery for pancreatic cancer, the disease that could be contributing to his health problems today. Jobs released a letter the day before Macworld Expo detailing a "hormone imbalance" that he said would be treatable with an adjusted diet. His health concerns apparently became a distraction to himself and Apple employees, so he chose to take a six-month medical leave of absence. CNBC analyst Jim Goldman said his sources inside Apple told him that "Steve Jobs is in serious denial" about the state of his health. BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl said on CNBC that although this is a surprise announcement, he took a milder tone, and doesn't think this is a resurgence of Jobs' pancreatic cancer, which Jobs said he beat. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster said on CNBC's Fast Money program that while Tim Cook is a solid choice to lead in the interim, "replacing the magic of Steve Jobs is impossible." Even so, Munster considers this a buying opportunity for Apple stock. Apple stock trading was halted until 5 p.m. Eastern time. In early trades since the stock re-opened, AAPL's price is down by about $10. Read on to see the full text of Jobs' letter.
CNBC talks with Steve Jobs
As usual, Steve Jobs sat down with the press after making a public product announcement. This time, it was with Jim Goldman, who asked Steve about the new iPods and his health.Noting that he could stand to gain a few pounds, Steve told Jim that he's "...doing fine" and "...surprised" by all the speculation over his health. Maybe he's just a skinny dude?You can watch the full video here. Steve is such a salesman, watch him launch into his pitch before the 1 minute mark. He also addresses some of the problems of the past year, saying "We strive for perfection. Sometimes we achieve it and some times we don't ... it's our job to fix those [bugs]." It was a good interview, though nothing we haven't heard from Steve before. [Via MacDailyNews]
MediaFLO now serving MSNBC, CNBC and FOX News
Just in time for the run-up to the 2008 Presidential election, MediaFLO has added in a trio of news sources to give you your fix wherever you are. CNBC, MSNBC and FOX News have all been added to the lineup in order to give you varying views on the same topics at hand. Available to Verizon Wireless and AT&T subscribers, the channels will offer simulcast programming in line with what's happening on the tele, though we'd caution you not to watch too much coverage during your morning board meeting.[Via phonescoop]
iPhone browser share doubled since 3G launch
According to HitsLink, the people who track web usage statistics, iPhone users account for about a third of one percent of web browsers on the Internet, the largest of any mobile platform. iPhone ranks fourth overall in terms of operating system market share, behind Windows, Mac, and Linux. On August 16, the stats peaked at 0.45 percent. That's a two-fold increase since the iPhone 3G was released July 11. Jim Goldman, of business television network CNBC, says that "it's a key metric that shows market penetration and customer use." He cited a report by analyst Andy Hargreaves that suggests the increase in browser market share highlights the iPhone's key, long-term advantages. Well, duh. "Consumers seem to know what some investors are having trouble grasping -- or believing: that Apple might be positioned better in so many key markets than any of its competitors," Captain Obvious Goldman said. [Via MacDailyNews.]
Steve pitches the MacBook Air at CNBC
As he usually does, Steve went on CNBC after this morning's keynote presentation to pitch his company's newest goodie. In this case, the MacBook Air. He talks about the size, of course, but also the relationship between Apple and Intel as well as the process of building the MacBook Air:"...We built probably a hundred models to get to this ... If we could make this real, we would all just lust after this. And we did ... It's been two years of work to make this."Most interestingly, CNBC reports that the supposed failed negotiations between Apple and China Mobile amounted to nothing more than a single visit to Cupertino by a single representative; hardly the contentious relationship we thought existed.
CNBC examines Xbox 360 failures, MS reports 310,000 units sold last week
CNBC has been having a field day with the Red Ring of ... um, they call it "Doom." Anyway, they have an article and a couple segments on the Red Ring of Death today. The catalyst for the stories is the recent class-action lawsuit filed against Microsoft and Bungie over allegedly faulty Halo 3 discs. CNBC confusingly tries to link the disc and RRoD issues together, but fails miserably. We're pretty sure games don't directly cause hardware failures, they just happen to be in the drive at the time.In an attempt to show that despite the RRoD issue and the lawsuit, everything else is all good, Microsoft told CNBC they sold over 310,000 Xbox 360 consoles during the week of Nov. 18th. The best part? Not only does the reporter herself say at one point she's gotten the RRoD, but while they're at one person's house he gets it too. As this blogger joined the Red Ring of Death club last night, that brings the current Joystiq Xbox 360 failure rate to around 90%. Happy Holidays!
The latest in summer jobs for kids
Mowing lawns is so passé, delivering newspapers is totally last year. These days kids have found a new way to make money: selling WoW characters on eBay. But how, might you ask, can they get around the fact that this is clearly against the TOS? Evidently they are posting disclaimers on their auctions, letting bidders know that they aren't selling the characters (which are the intellectual property of Blizzard,) but are instead selling the time it took to level that character. In a CNBC segment on the topic, one kid mentioned that he gets around $400 for a level 70 character. He puts his profits right back into the business as any bright entrepreneur would, reinvesting in characters he will then level up again to sell to – you guessed it – Chinese gold farmers. Now, as much as I like the idea of news we have been writing on for weeks getting mainstream coverage, I have to wonder if this disclaimer business isn't just a loophole to get past Blizzard. What do you think? Is it breaking the TOS to sell the characters even with a disclaimer, or is this just a novel workaround enabling kids to make a profit off their play time? [via Jane Wells]
Scott on CNBC now in iTunes
In today's world, media cannot be lost but only transformed. In this specific case, TUAW's Scott McNulty's appearance on CNBC is the transformation target; if you had trouble watching the clip of the Face2Face segment in CNBC's Windows Media embed on their page, the video is now available in the iTunes Store as a podcast. Watch Scott try to get a word in edgewise as the chatty traders shout over each other; not to be missed.Thanks Ricky
CNBC interviews our own Scott McNulty at 8pm ET
Late word here at TUAW world headquarters: our fearless blogmeister Scott McNulty is scheduled to appear on CNBC's "Fast Money" tonight, discussing the fun and festivity surrounding WWDC. Top rumor sites hint that he may be wearing some sort of tropical attire, possibly a shirt with a floral pattern; we'll know soon. Good luck Scott!Update: A link to Scott's stellar appearance is here (registration required, US residents only -- sorry!). Don't let the introduction ("Not just AN Apple blogger, THE Apple blogger... no one more relied upon for information about this company") scare you off, he's still the same lovable fellow.
More new HD channels on the way from Discovery, CNBC and Chiller
You know times are good when we are surprised when it is more than a week between new HD channel announcements. This week we have a few more channels for you, but not as many of details as we would like on any of them. Discovery will be launching what they are calling four new channels, but one of them is an HD simulcast of the Discovery channel. We're not sure if this will replace the Discovery HD Theater that we have all come to love, or just add even more HD content, but they will also be launching HD simulcast versions of TLC, Animal Planet and The Science Channel. These new channels from Discovery will be carried at launch by at least DirecTV this September. Also mentioned in the press release as coming this year is CNBC and Chiller (who?). While it is still questionable if DirecTV will carry 100 HD National channel this year, -- at least without counting sports packages -- this will certainly be remember as a big year in the transition of cable TV channels to HD. A full list of the channels announced to date after the break.
Chargers' Tomlinson turned down Madden cover; not curse, but cash
It turns out Vince Young might not have been the first choice for the Madden 2008 cover. According to CNBC Sports Business reporter Darren Rovell, multiple industry sources have told him that Electronic Arts asked San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson of his interest and presented him an offer. Tomlinson turned it down.The reason purportedly has nothing to do with the oft-cited "Madden curse," but that Tomlinson was not happy with EA's financial offer. Electronic Arts, according to Rovell, understands their cover to be what he calls the "Wheaties box endorsement," which means that EA will offer the cover athlete less than his market value. Tomlinson opted against it.Young, afraid of no curse, is now the cover athlete. But as Rovell justly observes, Madden titles sell well regardless of who graces the cover.
Smash my Zune: the Jim Cramer edition
The whole "smash my stuff" campaign was a tad comical at times, but we never really felt it connected with the 40-and-up age group per se. Au contraire, Jim Cramer from CNBC's Mad Money apparently felt that busting open a (cleverly chosen) brown Microsoft Zune would better illustrate how MSFT was a "loser," while AAPL was most certainly a winner. After (quite literally) ranting for a good bit about how Apple has single-handedly changed the way we listen to music, he informs everyone that the Zune was "beat before it hit the market," and proceeds to literally beat the Zune until it was (somewhat) damaged from multiple baseball bat blows. Notably, the Zune stood up fairly well to the torture, and still retained its shape after it took a lickin'. Of course, if you're really interested in whether the Zune or iPod give way to a brighter financial future for either company, you should probably hit up our pals at BloggingStocks for that, but be sure to check out the video of "Jim Gone Wild" after the break.[Via Digg]
TiVo Alert: History of video games on CNBC
CNBC, not a network typically associated with two-hour documentaries on video games, will be airing a two-hour documentary on video games Wednesday, November 15th, "just two days before the scheduled release of Sony's highly anticipated PlayStation 3" -- and four days before the scheduled release of Nintendo's highly anticipated Wii (there, we said it for you). So, what does the Consumer News and Business Channel have to say about video games in Game On! The Unauthorized History of Video Games? We're expecting the usual history lesson (Tennis for Two, Spacewar, Yo! Noid ... the classics) combined with lots of big numbers, regaling viewers with tall tales of how video games outsell movies (not really true ... box office only, folks). They do promise that "the program also includes riveting stories about the corporate power struggles that won (and lost) billions and how a single blunder helped destroy Atari's $2 billion-a-year-empire." So, maybe you'll learn something or, more importantly, maybe someone who doesn't know anything about video games (beyond MSFT and SNE) may catch the show on Wednesday, November 15th at 9 PM and 12 AM ET -- or even the rebroadcast on Sunday, November 19th at 9PM and 12AM ET -- and reconsider video games. They do outsell movies, y'know.
Found Footage: Steve Jobs on CNBC
Shortly after yesterday's big announcements (apparently he gave a speech or something), Steve Jobs appeared on CNBC to talk about the new iPods and the movies that are now a part of the iTunes Store. He mentions the "seasonal" aspect of iPod sales, and that they're optimistic heading into the holiday shopping season. He also gives a generic "no comment" statement regarding the stock options backdating issue that's currently going on.Finally, not that it has to do with anything, but the reporter is trying to talk as sirens and air horns on a few firetrucks scream in the background. It's kind of funny.
