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Microsoft's Shift: we do finger-based control, too
With Apple's iPhone release still set for next month, will the design and user experience win it legions of fans throughout the rest of 2007? Probably, but some folks in Redmond are holding their applause. Microsoft's "Shift" finger-based interface is set to clash with Apple's multi-touch sometime soon as the software titans do human interface battle (again). No, this is not the Microsoft oFone, but is Microsoft's "Shift" a copy of Apple's multi-touch or a homegrown Microsoft invention? The description Microsoft gives for Shift states that it is "possible to use a pointer on a PDA that can be guided by finger motion -- once the pointer is in position, the user simply lifts his thumb or finger to select the target." Does this sound revolutionary or evolutionary -- or neither? Shift apparently not only replaces stylus input but goes beyond it -- just like multi-touch. Still, should the iPhone feel threatened at all here?
T-Mobile set to be Europe's exclusive iPhone carrier?
With the Apple iPhone set for release in the U.S. next month (with AT&T), which non-U.S. mobile carriers will be the first to get some Apple mobile lovin'? According to the churning rumor mill, T-Mobile has secured a pretty solid seat in the running to be the first European carrier for the iPhone, but Vodafone is in hot pursuit as well. T-Mobile may have the leg up, according to Gartner research, since the iPhone's iTunes would possibly clash with Vodafone's Live! portal. The bigger question is whether Apple wants to limit itself to one initial carrier in Europe, since that market and the U.S. wireless market are completely different beasts. We're sure to see something before this autumn's European iPhone release.[Via Tech Digest]
Sun shows iPhone-like Java Mobile FX platform
Sun is again trumpeting Java from the top of its lungs -- and we're not talking about speweing coffee here here -- showing off what appeared to be flashy new cellphone software at the JavaOne conference this week. Not big news there, except that the Sun software apparently looked eerily like the Apple iPhone's software; in fact, the platform Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz showed off is already being dubbed "jPhone" based on the striking resemblance to Apple's goods. The actual product name is Java Mobile FX and it's based on code from SavaJe, a Java-centric mobile OS company Sun just completed acquiring last week. The required specs to run Java Mobile FX aren't too slouchy: 32 megabytes of RAM and a 200 megahertz ARM processor are in the spec, so forget those entry-level Nokia and Sammy handsets. Even Sun Chairman Scott McNealy alluded to the copying of Apple's modus operandi by wearing a black t-shirt (ala black turtleneck territory from Steve Jobs) and saying "we have our own shirtsleeve version of Steve Jobs announcing a phone." Har har.
Newer images of iPhone spotted -- with new features?
It looks as if the Google Maps app inside the upcoming Apple iPhone may have gotten a few more useful icons according to recent reports. The"up/down arrows" and "front-facing car" icons in the above image lead us to think that the Google Maps demo by Steve Jobs back during January's iPhone announcement wasn't totally showing the app's capabilities at that time (nor should it have been). Do the arrows signify "directions" and the car icon "traffic?" That sounds plausible to us. Google Maps may be the iPhone's built-in complete navigation solution if this is true. After all, looking at map and satellite images is nice and handy, but a complete navigation solution would be even better to those who plunk down serious cash for the iPhone.
APPL moves up
Yesterday AAPL continued its upward growth. The stock gained 36 cents to $100.76 according to Forbes. Apple was one of several Internet stocks trading higher yesterday including Real Networks and Amazon.com. So will investors continue to hold onto their AAPL stock or will they cash out for profit? TUAW remains completely agnostic on the matter so we turn this over to you. What are your thoughts, stock-investing readers?
Apple scores absurd amount of attention with iPhone; in other news, sky is blue
Apple -- not unlike Sony -- occasionally shuns the big industry tradeshows in favor of talking bout its newest wares on its own time in its own venue. Cupertino does that with mastery just about every year (remember the iPod nano hype back in September 2005?), and its latest foray into "see why we are more special" came with the iPhone - Cingular announcement back in January during the heart of the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas. Per protocol, Apple said "bleh" and wanted to get its game on on its own terms, shunning CES for San Francisco's Moscone Center with the world-imploding iPhone announcement that scores of industry watchers had been intently waiting on for years. If there's one thing you have to give Apple credit for, it's marketing finesse and public timing -- not to mention its knack for generating free publicity. For example, Harvard Business School prof David Yoffie now estimates that the iPhone has generated about $400 million in publicity so far -- with none of that cost coming out of Apple's pockets, to boot -- an "unprecedented" level of attention for a new product introduction. We're pretty sure that's exactly what Steve Jobs was looking for.
Intel planning low-cost chip for iPhone competition
With Apple scaring the heebie-jeebies out of most major wireless handset manufacturers (to a point) with the upcoming iPhone, some apparently think they can get a competing handset out to duke it out with Apple's new icon soon. With that notion, chip giant Intel wants iPhone competitors to feast at its house o'chips, as the chipmaker is readying a "low-power chip" that it is targeting at manufacturers that want to put out an iPhone competitor. Although Intel CEO Paul Otellini assumes that a power / performance angle on a new Intel chip would position an iPhone competitor's hardware cost to benefit ratio correctly, we suspect that it will take more than that to get under Apple's thick iPhone skin -- some sort of revolutionary UI for starters (and that cool, automatic orientation sensor can't hurt either). Any scrappy operations out there (put your hand down, Meizu) care to take a stab at it?
Taiwan manufacturer gets order for Apple "iPhone" handset
Hon Hai, aka Foxconn Electronics, won't comment or confirm, but the cat seems to really be out of the bag now. This latest batch of iPhone reports feels like less of a rumor than previous iterations. According to this Forbes article, Hon Hai has "secured contracts from Apple Computer for 12 mln mobile handsets that also function as music players, the Commercial Times quoted industry sources as saying." Yes, that's 12 million. Also, that "Apple will launch the mobile handsets in the first half of next year."Financial analysts everywhere are going to be speculating (or continuing to) on what this move could mean to AAPL. We happened upon the Bear Stearns IT Bytes newsletter from earlier today and they've done a bit of extrapolating. They say the "iPhone" (we really don't know if that's what these handsets will be called, but we'll continue to refer to them as iPhones to keep things simple) should/would be priced around $300 and sales could earn shareholders an EPS (earnings per share) of about $0.70 on $6 billion in incremental revenue. They are assuming between 20 million and 29 million handsets would ship during 2007, implying a potential market share of approximately 3% of the total mobile phone market. Furthermore, they guestimate that an iPhone would "cannibalize iPod (mostly nano) sales" and assumed that iPhone would eat into around 30% of existing overall iPod sales.I'm an AAPL shareholder myself, but all those numbers and forward-looking statements make my head hurt, so I'll stop now. What was more interesting about the IT Bytes newsletter and other Bear emails I've seen is that Bear Stearns is aggressively promoting the iPod itself (and AAPL by association) by including a picture of the iPod in every single email they send (html + an attachment). The iPod is unmistakably a part of their BearCasts logo. It's not a generic digital audio player. It's a 3rd 4th gen an iPod, no doubt about it. The logo is all over their website as well. That strikes me as an endorsement. I'm just sayin'...Thanks, Mike!
Silly Sunday Survey: Who would replace Steve Jobs?
Douglas McIntyre over at Blogging Stocks posed an interesting question the other day, in light of the current issues surrounding Apple's option back-dating. If it were discovered that Steve Jobs played a key role in the option mishap and he was forced to resign as CEO, who would/should be his replacement?Here are the candidates McIntyre suggests as possibilities: Phil Schiller -- He is the long-time head of global product marketing. He has been with the company since 1997 and has been critical in most product launches. (Update: Bob points out in the comments below that Phil started at Apple in 1987, then left for a few years during Spindler and Amelio's tenure, then returned in 1997) Tim Cook -- The company's COO. He had a long career at IBM. He also heads the Mac division. Tony Fadell -- One of the fathers of the iPod; he has an engineering background. He is a former executive at Philips Electronics. William Campbell -- One of Apple's leading directors. He has run a large public software company, Intuit. Jerome York -- Although he is over 70, York has experience operating troubled companies. He was CFO of IBM and a member of that company's board. He is also on the GM board. (Update: Alex alerts us in the comments that as of last week York is no longer on the GM Board) Jim Allchin -- Head of platforms and services at Microsoft. He intends to retire with the the launch of Vista. Allchin has an engineering background. Sue Decker -- The highly regarded CFO of Yahoo! She has a Wall St. background and now runs several key divisions at Yahoo! John Thompson -- The highly-regarded CEO of Symantec, has a background in running a large software company and is well liked on Wall Street. Perhaps some of you would like to weigh in?
"Mac users aren't really into games"
This Business Week article laments the lack of games available for Mac, and asks "why doesn't Apple try its hand at building good games for the Mac on its own?". Given Apple's support for Windows as its gaming solution of choice, along with hardware that's not appealing to gamers, we wonder why Apple would bother.Given that the article proposes a novel idea -- PC gamers playing with Mac gamers! -- and also claims that "Mac users aren't really into games" (most of the Joystiq staff would disagree), we're not quite sure that it entirely addresses the current state of Mac gaming. However, it's true that one game does not always make a system a decent gaming platform, and the message is clear -- if Apple wants to get its game on, then perhaps it should set the example.
WWE champ JBL: Apple stock a buy
Here's an article we didn't expect to find this morning. WWE superstar JBL writes about the stock market for The Street. No, seriously. In last Saturday's article, he had some nice things to say about Apple (and AAPL). Having just read iCon, the unauthorized bio of Steve Jobs, JBL stated his admiration for Apple's leader, and said this about Apple stock:"Apple is a dream company. No debt, and over $10 per share in cash. Add to that the fact it is still a growth story and you have a stock that is cheap."If JBL tells you to buy a stock, buy it. You don't want a steel chair to the back of the head, do you?
Boot Camp boosts Apple's stock 8%
It seems that the geeks like you and me aren't the only ones excited about Apple's release of Boot Camp. This morning, Wall Street demonstrated a bit of support, too, as Apple stock rose 8% in early trading. True, it's just the beginning of the day, but we'll see what happens. I'm going to guess that, when this is built into the OS, it means increased Mac sales. This year's World Wide Developer's Conference should be a good one.
