5 posts tagged “apple”

Apple premieres its new iphone this Friday which will be one of the highlights going into the weekend. We are looking for comments on the new phone and hope that you will give us a few minutes of your time and tell us what you think of it. Or...if you are not interested in the iPhone, what you have that you think is better or whatever.

Please leave us your comments here to share with everyone. Some questions to get us started:

1. Do you currently have an iPhone?
2. Do you plan on purchasing the new 3G iPhone.
3. If you are upgrading from an older iPhone, what main feature are you wanting the most in the new phone?
   
4. What phone do you use now?
5. If you do not plan on purchasing a new iPhone, what do you really like about your current phone? ie: features, plan or?
6. Do you think the this new 3G iPhone will make Apple stock see a significant jump?
7. Do you own Apple stock and/or do you plan to buy it now that the new phone is about to hit the shelves?
   

In case you didn't read/hear about it because of the Goldman Sachs manipulation, don't give up on Sirius just yet!

The neysayers of the Sirius/XM merger say that satellite subscriptions are going down and no one is interested in satellite radio because they have iTunes, MP3 player and their iPhone for getting their entertainment.

Well get ready!

Unlimited Music Is Here! (See video below)

As we said here and on our other blogs, Sirius is featured in over 150 new car models from 24 different brands from Audi through Volvo. They have been focusing a lot of marketing on car manufacturers because those cars are automatic potential subscribers. The car owner does not have to buy a separate radio and then get it installed, the option to have Sirius will aready be part of the car's radio.

That is a potential 16.2 million new customers based on the total new cars sold in 2007. So 16.2 million new potential customers each year. Add onto that subcribers for Backseat TV, add-on radios bought for existing cars and home stereo entertainment systems from Costco, Sams Club, BestBuy, and all the other retail stores.

There is even talk that after the merger, there will be an Everything Package offered. Our friends have purchased lifetime radio subscriptions for their cars. They may even be purchasing an everything package if it comes out too! They love satellite radio, they love backseat TV and they say they'll never go back to regular radio.

In the past several cars we've owned, we've always gotten poor reception which further limited the available channels that we might otherwise enjoy. When the merger goes through, we'll be buying a new satellite radio for our car, a fuel efficient Toyota which gets as good an MPH as their Prius (no joke). In fact it will probably be a satellite unit that you can just bring into the house with you and put into a cradle on your entertainment center and continue listening to programs while inside.

We still love the stock price at this point and only see it getting better! Again, we like to say darts to Goldman Sachs for their probable manipulation but thanks for the opportunity for so many of us to buy it even cheaper! As an investor/trader you have to take advantage of a situation like this if the risk/reward is to your liking!

Yesterday we reiterated the announcement of Apple's new 3G iPhone.  Yet the stock dropped  $4 bucks! Whats up with that?  Today we have more details on the announcement below and then we'll have a video from MarketClub that talks about the stock price.

One other thing that you might well be excited about is that MarketClub is going to be offering their once per year absolutely FREE use of MarketClub for you! This means that you'll have access to many of the members only areas of the site and allow you to get acquainted with the service and even take advantage of its Trade Triangle technology which gives members buy and sell signals on thousands of stocks.

Future1investor has recently become involved with MarketClub and  we've seen profits as a result of following the Trade Triangle technology. Included with the profits we've seen a reduction in bad calls and resultant losses. We also benefit greatly from MarketClub training videos that are put out regularly for new subscribers as well as the immensely valuable archive of training seminars (from experienced professional traders/investors) we are able to take part in as part of INO TV.  So we will be announcing the absolutely FREE time you can take advantage of with MarketClub very soon. You can use it short term for profits, use the free time as a  no cost free trial period or both!

First the details on Apple's new iPhone:

By JORDAN ROBERTSON
AP Technology Writer

(AP:SAN FRANCISCO) The iPhone will soon be $200 cheaper _ and come with satellite navigation, faster Internet access and other new features _ but higher monthly service charges are likely to erase most of the savings.

Apple Inc. revealed Monday that it has scrapped its pricing plan for the iPhone as it unveiled a model that works over faster wireless networks, addressing key criticisms about the device that have hurt the company’s foray into the cell phone industry.

An 8-gigabyte version with the new features will go for $199 when it goes on sale July 11, and a 16 gigabyte model will cost $299, the Cupertino-based company said.

Current iPhone owners who buy a new model and sign up for a new AT&T contract won’t have to pay any penalties to get out of their current contract, AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said. And anyone who bought an iPhone in an AT&T store after May 26 can return it before Aug. 1 for full credit against a new one _ less a 10 percent restocking fee.

Apple plans to make up the difference in sales revenue with volume _ and with subsidies wireless carriers will now pay for the right to carry the gadget.

In changing the pricing arrangements, Apple is pulling out of revenue-sharing arrangements with some wireless carriers, a move that frees the carriers to charge higher prices for the service.

Apple shares fell $4.03, or 2.2 percent, to close Monday at $181.61 on the news, a sign that some investors were hoping for more and others were taking their profits after a four-month run-up in Apple’s stock price, which leaped from $120 in March.

The new iPhones, initially to be introduced in 22 countries, are designed to work over so-called 3G, or third-generation, wireless networks and have global-positioning technology built in.

They will also support Microsoft Corp.’s Exchange software, an addition that puts the iPhone in more direct competition with Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Palm Inc.’s Treo smart phones and is intended to appeal to the business market.

Analysts have said Apple needed to slash the iPhone’s price and make it usable on faster networks to hit the company’s target of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. Apple said the 3G iPhones download data twice as fast as the older ones.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Apple has sold 6 million iPhones since the first model launched nearly a year ago and 700,000 since March. That points to a steady slowdown in sales starting in the fourth quarter last year as customers waited for a 3G version.

Jobs showed off the new models of the iPhone and about a dozen new applications for the device at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

New applications range from video games that use the iPhone’s motion-sensing technology to guide characters to study tools for medical students and a program that allows users to find nearby cell-phone-carrying friends on a map.

One program brings real-time video highlights and game stats from MLB.com; another creates an Associated Press news feed based on the user’s location and lets users submit news tips to the AP.

Apple also announced a new Web-based service called “MobileMe,” which the company describes as “Exchange _ for the rest of us,” a consumer-friendly way for people to link their iPhones to their home and work computers so updates entered into one device automatically appear in the others.

MobileMe will cost $99 per year and come with 20 gigabytes of online storage.

AT&T Inc., the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone, said service for it will start at $39.99 per month, plus $30 for unlimited data. That works out to a $10 increase from the cheapest plan for the first-generation iPhone; over the course of a two-year contract, that increase wipes out the savings from the price cut Apple announced Monday.

AT&T’s pricing covers only U.S. residents. While iPhone prices will drop outside the U.S. too, it was not clear whether other carriers would raise monthly fees to compensate.

AT&T also warned that it will take an earnings hit due to the pricing because new subsidies it agreed to pay will produce the iPhone price cut _ not a reduction from Apple.

Apple said in a regulatory filing that under most of its new carrier agreements, it will not receive a share of subscribers’ monthly service fees as it has under contracts for the first-generation iPhone.

Jobs said Apple waited to improve the iPhone for use on the faster network because the chips available when the iPhone first came out sapped too much battery life and were too bulky to fit the iPhone’s slim design.

The addition of global-positioning technology improves the iPhone’s accuracy in locating users. Current versions use a combination of cell-phone towers and Wi-Fi locations to help users figure out where they are.

The 1.73 million iPhones Apple sold in the first three month this year gave it a 5.3 percent share of the worldwide smart-phone market, according to research firm Gartner. Apple has been adding overseas markets gradually with carrier deals.

Click Here For the Apple Stock Video

I am known for my love-hate relationship with Microsoft's products and for the hate mail that I once received from William (Bill) Gates regarding my thrashing of their first white paper on ROI with Microsoft products.

I felt that it was wrong to capitalize on the extreme number of problems with the Microsoft OS and so basically I got out of the business of computer service. This is partly were the white paper thrashing originated. I have it appears, certain morals in business which may put me at a slight disadvantage when it comes to investing. For example, I have never invested in oil producers.

In all fairness, I'm not an Apple user. I'm a PC user. I don't use Linux but XP and Vista. Microsoft is far from its stock hey day and Apple is the clear front runner when it comes to making money on its stock.

I just noticed these videos on the video bar and thought that I had to give both Apple and Microsoft some even billing on the blooper/funny factor. So in all fairness, it is not just Microsoft that has problems. So does Apple, but perhaps far far fewer problems than Microsoft. Enjoy watching the videos for yourself! LOL

Perhaps this year will be the year that we finally see some meaningful advancements and consumer value in the cell phone market. One of my committee members in the local American Society For Quality lamented: "Every time I go back home to India, I hide my phone. Everyone has these fantastic phones that can do so much. When they ask to see my phone, I tell them that I left it in the United States."

Tomorrow begins the annual CTIA Wireless 2008 with pre-conferences starting today in Las Vegas.

My opinion is that the iPhone will overtake the Blackberry as the phone of choice. The reason is due to Apple's new emphasis on business productivity and security as well as on open software development. However, the CTIA show brings other vendors products into the mix:

• Nokia's N95
  
• AT&T's full length TV content
• Samsung's ???
• LG's ???
  
• Sony Ericsson's Experia X1
  

Blackberry will continue to dominate this year I suspect but the iPhone will be hot on its heels very soon. Plus, since the iPhone has a very good working internet browser (Safari), I suspect we'll see some interesting web apps utilizing the internet as one of the first head turners for the phone.

The one thing that I totally disagree on is:

U.S. Mobile Market is Global Leader
U.S. consumers are paying less, using wireless more, and have more choices than any others in the world.

Based upon what my committee member said above, based on that when I went to Guatemala, cell phone usage was everywhere including being used by the smallest of children, cell towers everywhere and numerous. Based upon the fact that phones and phone service can be afforded by the poor in many cases. I don't know where this headline has any legs to stand on?

Also, are the consumers truly paying less or getting services they should have gotten before, finally at no additional cost? I agree we are using wireless more. I got rid of my home phone years ago because it made sense. More choices? If you count old phones which is where the discounted prices go towards as more choices...maybe that can be seen as true.

I believe it is that telecommunication industry as a whole in the United States aims to milk money out of the American public for all it can at each opportunity by stretching out the time it takes to bring us better service, more features, more value.

Nearly 2 billion people in the world do not have access to financial services but cell phones are about to change that.

BrokerIPTV and Brad Blumberg of Smarter Agent, smarteragent.com, at NAR Convention talking about LBS and GPS mobile real estate services using cell phones and delivering IDX listings using location based services.

Reducing Termination Fees..A Friendly Gesture?