We’ve been down this path countless times, but rumors are once again heating up that Apple and Verizon are actively discussing the possibility of creating an iPhone to work on Big Red’s airwaves, according to USA Today’s infamous “people familiar with the situation.” Could the iPhone come to Verizon Wireless next year?!
Torture, sex, killer robots, cheap hacked iPhones and Julia Allison (did we mention torture?). This week was a good one in the Web world. You can now find photos of your friends more easily on Facebook, or find yourself on Facebook endorsing a “friend” you never meant…
ericatcw writes “There was a flurry of excitement earlier this week when the first Google Android netbook, the Skytone Alpha 680, was spotted by Slashdotters. Now, Computerworld has scored an exclusive interview with Skytone’s co-founder. Among many tidbits, he reveals that the Alpha 680 builds upon the success of last year’s 0 Alpha 400, which shipped 100,000 units, mostly in Europe under names such as Elonex OneT; that the new Alpha 680 will weigh 1.5 pounds, 25% less than the first Eee 701 netbook; that its ARM11 chip (basically the same as the one used in the iPhone) can handle YouTube video; and that he hopes to have Chinese manufacturing partners producing the 0 Alpha 680 within 3 months.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Hugh Pickens writes “Saul Hansell of the NY Times has an interesting post analyzing AT&T’s earnings report and highlighting the enormous stakes involved in the renewal of its exclusive contract to distribute Apple’s iPhone in the United States. Hansell does some rough calculations: ‘If the average iPhone customer brings in a month, or ,080 a year in revenue, and the operating profit margin stays constant at 26 percent, that means an iPhone customer represents at least 1 in operating profit over a two-year contract,’ says Hansell. ‘Put another way, if the company gets 2.5 million new customers a year because of its iPhone exclusivity, the deal represents at least 0 million a year in operating profits — profits that it could lose if Verizon sold the iPhone, too.’ With those sort of numbers, AT&T has every reason to make Apple an offer it can’t refuse to keep its exclusive deal for another few years. Of course, the incentives for Verizon are presumably the mirror image, so expect Verizon to come to Cupertino, checkbook in hand, to see what sort of deal they can make. ‘The benefit of somewhat more iPhone sales from wide distribution is likely to be swamped by a huge bid from AT&T to keep exclusivity, and an equally high bid from Verizon to win some (or maybe even all) of the business for itself.'”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
by Chloe Albanesius Not sure which HDTV is best? Wondering if that Bluetooth headset is compatible with your phone? Those with iPhones and Android-based handsets can now access Google Product Search to check prices and read reviews before buying.
Shortly before 2 p.m. PDT (1:52 p.m.), the iTunes App Store hit 1,000,000,000 apps sold since it originally just nine months ago. It’s by no means perfect, but it’s still a significant milestone for the store, the iPhone (and iPod Touch) and Apple.
The use of the iPhone online has accelerated to where it’s now outranking Symbian in terms of sheer traffic, AdMob’s March 2009 metrics report shows. Tracking access worldwide based on ad requests, the firm says OS X iPhone grew to represent 38 percent of smartphone traffic and just slightly edged out all Symbian phones (37 percent).
Apple Inc. yanked a disturbing iPhone application called “Baby Shaker” – which allowed users to silence a screaming infant by shaking their phone – from its online store today.
Apple today announced its earnings for its most recent quarter, and smashed through expectations, reporting EPS of .33 a share on revenue of .16 Billion. The general consensus among analysts hinted at an EPS of .08 a share on revenue of Billion.
