Apple is the World’s Biggest Firm
Come next year and Apple is going to become the world’s biggest and the most valuable firm in the world. According to analysts, Apple in 2012 is going to propel itself to the top which means Exxon, which at the moment is worth 263 billion dollars and at the top will have to slip to the second place. According to analysts Apple’s sales, especially in the US are amazing which would increase the share price of Apple by 32 percent, thus taking its worth to 269.5 billion dollars. Exxon, which is basically an oil based company might not see the same rise in its share prices like Apple.
If a technological firm like Apple would top the list of corporates, then this is definite welcome change. The toppers of the corporate sector up to now have mostly been form banking, mining or the retail sectors.
Is Apple Planning iPad 2.5 for Next Fall?
Apple enthusiast and writer John Gruber has mentioned on his website Daring Fireball that Apple may want to release the third generation next fall which would be six months from now. John Gruber opines that the release of HP TouchPad this summer is going to prompt Apple to bring the iPad 2 out this March and put the the release of the third generation tablet beside their own new iPod next generations which are also due this September.
Gruber predicts that the third generation iPad which would apparently come out this September would run on iOS 5.1, the same iOS version that the next generation iPod touch would be running on. Gruber also predicts that instead of calling the third generation tablet as iPad 3, it would called iPad 2.5 or iPad 2 HD or iPad 2 Pro.
Is Apple rushing a bit here?
Apple Online Store Relaunched
The Verizon iPhone 4 sales which were closed on the Apple online store has now been relaunched yesterday midnight again. The new iPhone 4 sale is now back online with Apple taking down its “be back soon notice”. This latest iPhone is now available through both Verizon and AT&T.
US customers of the new Apple iPhone 4 can now avail the phone through both AT&T and Verizon on the online store with Apple redirecting the customers to the respective sites for packages. While AT&T website says that the phone would be shipped in 24 hours, Verizon has stated that the shipment for new customers would only start on or after 18th of February. Also, verizon is not offering any store pick up option after an online sale and as of now it is only the black iPhone 4 that is being sold. No sign of the coveted white iPhone 4 yet.
Apple iPad 2 Now In Production
The Apple iPad 2 which is said to be having a complete makeover when compared to its predecessor is now in production. This recent news comes from the global news agency Reuters. According to reports by Reuters, the new iPad or the iPad 2 will have a faster processor and a slimmer look along with a front facing camera which is completely missing in the first generation iPad. The slimmer look also accounts to a lighter weight and the faster processor would be improving the graphical content on iPad 2 considerably well. It is also being rumored that the new iPad will also have 512 RAM when compared to the 256 MB RAM on the first generation iPad.
The iPad 2 is going to be launched on both AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Last week Reuters also reported that a working prototype of iPad 2 was also spotted at the launch of The Daily on iPad.
Is Apple Making A Universal iPhone?
An analyst who has dissected the new iphone 4 from Verizon has suggested that the components found in the phone suggest that Apple can make a universal phone which can be used to run on any network. In order to make the iPhone available on Verizon, Apple has actually used a different cell chip along with an alteration in the hardware of the phone by the manufacturing company. This was revealed by Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Steve Coo at a recent event.
As of now, the iPhone can only work on Verizon Wireless, but the Qualcomm chips used in the phone suggest that the phone can be used on any other cellular network like the AT&T, T-Mobile et. Also, the Qualcomm component in the iPhone is similar to Verizon’s Droid Pro which is used by traveller’s allowing them to change sim cards based on the country they are in.
May be iPhone 5 is going to be the universal model.
Will The Verizon iPhone 4 Have GSM and CDMA Integrated?
The new iPhone 4 that Apple is designing for Verizon could have both CDMA and GSM chips integrated into the phone. According to iSuppli, the new iPhone 4 apparently has a Qualcomm MDM6600, meaning the phone can support both CDMA nad GSM features. Also, changing will be the antenna design of the phone which is important for the CDMA technology that is used on the phone. The antenna is going to be hidden in the new model which invariably would give the Verzon iPhone 4 the edge over its AT&T counterpart. Qualcomm’s MDM6000 integrated chip also make the GPS integrated thus eliminating the need for a separate GPS component. If this were to be true, the price of the new phone should also drop.
Dedicated antenna tests are yet to be performed to check the performance of the Verizon iPhone 4 antenna over its AT&T counterpart.
Apple Softwares To Be Sold In Digital Only Format?
As of now, this is only a rumor – Apple is planning to get rid of all its boxed softwares from the shelves in their stores. MacRumors has reported that the move can come quicker than expected as Apple plans to make space for its most earning products rather than the softwares, which earn very less when compared to other Mac products. Apple is planning to sell these softwares off their online stores, in the same way, they sell Apps off the App store on various touchscreen iDevices.
To be honest, Apple actually does not make much on these softwares when compared to their other products, although they get a 30 percent share of the profits. Ironically, they only made 786 million dollars on the Apple software front during the first fiscal quarter of 2011 while iPad has made a whopping 4 billion dollars.
So, it is better to bring down these softwares from the racks and make room for iPad 2 and iPhone 5.
Google Android On the Rise, Overtakes Apple
In an earlier news, we reported that the Google OS has overtaken Nokia’s Symbian to become the world’s most popular phone OS. A dotcom report which was released yesterday suggests the same trend in the US market with Goolge leaping past everyone else in the smartphone business except America’s favourite smartphone – RIM’s Blackberry. But, Goolge is definitely closing in on RIM as well.
While the market share of Android as far (as the smartphone market was concerned) in the third quarter of 2010 was 21.4 percent, it has risen up to 28.7 percent by the end of the fourth quarter. As far as Apple is concerned, they only managed to post an increase of 0.7 percent finishing at 25 percent share by the end of the quarter. Blackberry on the other hand, has come down from 37.3 percent to 31.6 percent, a considerable fall for the giant.
So for now, Android can maintain the lead over Apple. But iPhone 4 on Verizon can sure turn the tables around for Apple.
Motorola Xoom – Is It Going To Be a Flash In the Pan?
The launch date of the new Motorola Xoom is nearing – February 24. Motorola Xoom adevrtisement was also launched yesterday at the Super Bowl. The advertisement was a clear dig at Apple’s walled garden and its products. The advertisement promises that Xoom is “The Tablet to Create a Better World“. But, is it really?
For all the people who have watched the advertisement, you might have observed that along the one minute duration of the ad, you mostly see people dressed in white rather than the actual features of Xoom and in what way it is a better tablet when compared to any other. Also, it is being rumored that the Motorola tablet is going to be priced at 800$. Agreed that it has got 32 GB memory, two cameras and 4G LTE, but 800$?
Another flying rumor about Xoom is its Wi-Fi, which according to sources would only function when you subscribe to a Verizon data plan. Hello Moto! How do you plan to create a better world with so many constraints?
iPad 2 And iOS 4.3 on 9th Feb?
Seems unbelievable, yet comes as an exciting bit. Apple is planning to launch both the iPad 2 and iOS 4.3 on the 9th of February which is a Wednesday and only two days away. The news comes from independent sources and they are pretty sure that Apple is going to it this Wednesday. If we dwell into the past, we can observe that Apple has always liked to launch its new products on a Wednesday. So, keeping that tradition of theirs in mind, 9th February (coincidentally a Wednesday) could actually see the launch of the tablet and the iOS.
On the other hand, Apple has never launched any product in a frenzy. Invitations to the media about a launch were always sent in advance (about a week earlier). But, if Apple were to launch iPad 2 the day after tomorrow, it is sure to hog the limelight away from the Mobile World Congress which is only a few days away from now.