Munster: there will be a $200 unsubsidized Apple iPhone in 2013

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is no stranger to our loyal readers. From time to time, he has made forecasts, as analysts do, and some of them have come true while others have been off the mark. The latest prediction from the Wall Streeter is that next year, Apple will offer an unsubsidized, $200 version of the Apple iPhone. Currently, the Cupertino based firm sells an unsbsidized 8GB model of the Apple iPhone 3GS for $375. Since the Apple iPhone 3G was launched in 2008, the average selling price of the phone has been $641, a figure that Munster says would drop to $434 by 2015 with a much cheaper version offered.

The analyst characterizes offering a device at that price point as being "important" to Apple as it needs to improve its market share in emerging markets where the iPhone trails cheaper Android flavored models. Should Apple offer a $200 unsubsidized model, Munster sees the company's global smartphone market share rising sharply to 32% by 2015 from this year's expected 20%.

"We believe it is becoming increasingly possible for Apple to build the low end iPhone for $130-150, which would suggest a 25-35% gross margin. While some investors may not like the margin dilution from a cheaper iPhone, we believe that view misses the bigger market share picture."-Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray

Munster believes that a lower priced unsubsidized model of the Apple iPhone launched in September 2013 could end up representing a quarter of all iPhone sales. But it would come at a cost to Apple's financials. Documents unveiled during the current Apple v. Samsung patent trial show that Apple's iconic smartphone offers profit margin of between 49% to 58% and Munster sees a $200 off-contract model taking margins down to iPad territory which is currently 23% to 32%. That means that Apple has to decide between a higher profit margin or a higher market share.

The analyst doesn't necessarily believe that the $200 unsubsidized model will be the Apple iPhone 3GS. He believes that it will be an existing model which could include the Apple iPhone 4 or the current variant of the device, the Apple iPhone 4S. Meanwhile, the 6th generation of the Apple iPhone is expected to be introduced on September 12th.

source: AppleInsider

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Apple v. Samsung jury asks permission to stay late; is a verdict coming tonight?

The  men and two women that make up the jury deciding the outcome of the Apple v. Samsung patent trial have requested an extra hour to deliberate on Friday. Could this mean that the jury is close to reaching a decision? Will we hear a verdict before the weekend? Although that is a possibility, some believe that the request is merely a sign that the jury is having long discussions about the case and that they need the extra time to go through the 40 page jury verdict form that even long time court veterans have described as being complicated.

Crossword puzzle? No, part of a jury verdict form that was proposed by Samsung for use in the Apple v. Samsung patent trial

Crossword puzzle? No, part of a jury verdict form that was proposed by Samsung for use in the Apple v. Samsung patent trial
Put yourself in the shoes of one of the jurors. You sat through 120 minutes of instructions read from 108 pages by Judge Lucy Koh, and now you have 700 individual questions to answer including the decision of which devices infringed upon which patents, how much in damages each side should be awarded, was the infringement intentional, which current products are affected by patent infringements and more. Some courtroom observers say that the size and scope of the jury verdict form guarantees that deliberations will be long.

Apple seeks $2.5 billion to $2.75 billion in damages from Samsung, an amount Apple's legal team said in closing arguments, that is being asked for as a warning to other companies not to infringe on patents belonging to multi-billion dollar companies. Samsung's counter-suit seeks $400 million. Legal experts believe that Samsung's case was the weaker of the two, but believe that the jury might look to split the verdict to give each company a partial victory instead of the chest thumping verdict they each seek.

Speaking of split verdicts, early Friday morning in the States, news came that a three judge panel in South Korea had announced a split verdict in another Apple-Samsung patent trial. While both sides ended up with a little cash, the main part of the verdict was the banning of the Apple iPhone 4S, Apple iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy S, Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung GALAXY Tab and Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 devices in the country.

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Apple won't be the big 2012 growth winner, despite iPhone 5, neither will Android

Digitimes has done some research and has put together some numbers for what the market share could look like by the end of the year. Surprisingly, despite the iPhone 5, Apple won't be the big growth winner of 2012, and, at least based on growth rate, neither will Android. Not surprisingly though are the big losers according to market share growth: BlackBerry and Symbian.

Apple won't be the big 2012 growth winner, despite iPhone 5, neither will Android

The numbers from Digitimes compare year-on-year shipments, and BlackBerry and Symbian are continuing their freefalls. Symbian shipments have dropped nearly 66% over last year, and BlackBerry saw a decline of 41%. There really isn't any hope for Symbian, but for RIM, BlackBerry 10 can't come fast enough if the carrier excitement is to be believed.

Android's growth rate is understandably slowing from 2010, when it's year-on-year growth rate was a mind-boggling 679%, but it is still by far the largest of all, and could end up being 70% of all smartphone shipments. This year, Android is looking at just under a 90% increase, which would mean somewhere around 425 million units shipped compared to 224 million in 2011.


Apple is expected to increase shipments by just 35%, but given the volume of iPhone shipments, that will still add up to 125 million units in 2012. The big surprise is that Windows Phone will have the biggest growth rate by more than doubling its shipments this year (up 108%). Of course, that only adds up to 21 million units, because WP has such a small share, but the growth rate is impressive.


source: Digitimes

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Apple whips out a Nokia Lumia and Xperia arc at court and says "Not every phone needs to look like an iPhone!"

Nokia and Sony got a little pep talk about the design of their Lumia and Xperia handsets during the closing arguments in the Apple-Samsung trial yesterday, when Apple's star lawyer Harold McElhinny whipped out an unspecified Lumia plus an Xperia arc, and exclaimed: "Not every phone has to look like an iPhone!"

The Lumia line design is in turn directly borrowed from the work on the MeeGo-powered Nokia N9. The Finns mentioned that they didn't really have time to think about other groundbreaking chassis types for their first Windows Phone batche, so they used what was exclusive in the design studio at the moment, and in advanced stage of production, like the signature policarbonate unibody in flashy colors.

For its next Windows Phone devices Nokia said it is venturing into other memorable design paradigms, so we can't wait to see what September 5 brings, because, frankly, once you've hit the multicore chipsets and HD screens stage, design is pretty much your chief means of differentiation in the tangible realm.

source: TheVerge

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Rare iPhone 4 prototype hits eBay, yours for $10,000

While some people collect stamps, coins, badges, or baseball cards, others prefer focusing on geekier stuff like obscure electronics or even mobile phones. The latter kind of folks are the ones that might be interested in this rare specimen that was just discovered on eBay – an iPhone 4 prototype unit that, surprisingly, is still operational as it has not been deactivated by Apple. 

What runs on this iPhone 4 prototype is the Switchboard software framework, which Apple used to test software on the device. Another thing that makes the unit special is the rare "Deathstar" logo on its back. Speaking of which, the back plate of the device can be easily removed for quick access to the handset's internals. In case you are wondering, this particular device has 32GB of storage.

Needless to say, this iPhone 4 prototype cannot be used as an every-day device, but it will look well on your shelf of interesting items. As long as you don't mind spending a pile of cash on it, that is. Bids start at $4,500 and a $10,000 buy-it-now price has been set for the impatient.

source: eBay via Engadget

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Skype update for iOS introduces photo sharing, adds performance enhancements

Skype, the most popular VoIP client out there, just got updated on iOS allowing iPhone and iPad users to now send images to their contacts. So far, you could only send images on the desktop version of Skype, but not in the mobile app. The update is still so far an iOS-only affair, but we expect it to arrive to Android sooner rather than later.

Along with the new image sending functionality, the update brings the usual set of performance improvements and bug fixes. It also enhances privacy settings and slightly tweaks the visuals of Skype for iOS.

If for some reason you are still not using Skype, you should know that it allows you to call (or voice call) and message your contacts for absolutely free from both a mobile device and traditional computers. Skype is a free, so it wouldn't hurt giving it a shot.

•     Download Skype for the iPhone and iPad on the App Store [iTunes link]

source: Skype via GSM Arena

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25 Must have Portable apps for MAC OS X

Portable applications have changed the way of accessing software and other favorite applications. Now you can carry your favorite computer programs along with all of your bookmarks, settings, email and more with you. And you can use them on any Windows computer all without leaving any personal data behind. Portable applications provides the platform that works with any hardware you like (USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, etc). The entire platform is open source built around an open format that any hardware or software provider can use.
In this post , I have collected some of the useful Portable applications for OS X. I hope , this applications will definitely help you.

Portable Firefox OS X

Here is the popular Mozilla Firefox web browser packaged so you can carry around with you on any portable device, USB thumb drive, iPod, portable hard drive, memory card, other portable device (also on your internal hard disk) as long as it has 57 MB of free space and use on any Mac OS X computer, taking your bookmarks, extensions, history, cookies, and saved passwords with you.

OpenOffice – Complete Office suite

OpenOffice.org is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages.

Portable Thunderbird OS X

It requires minimum 60 MB of free space and you can use on any Mac OS X computer, taking your email, address book and account settings with you.

Portable Adium

Portable Adium is the multi-protocol Adium instant messaging client that can connect to AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more, packaged as portable application. It has 65 MB of free space on your USB drive and you can use on any Mac OS X computer, taking your contact list, emoticons, message stiles, plugins, scripts, sound and users with you.

Safari – Keep all your bookmarks and preferences

It’s a browser. It’s a platform. It’s an open invitation to innovate. Whether on a Mac, PC, iPhone, or iPod touch, Safari continuously redefines the browser, providing the most enjoyable way to experience the Internet.

Portable Abiword OS X

Portable AbiWord OS X is the award winning AbiWord small, fast, lots of new feature and cross platform word processor packaged as portable application so you can take your profile, dictionary, math, Plug-ins and templates with you.

Portable Nvu OS X

Nvu is a free, open source software program that allows you to build websites and web pages using a simple WYSIWYG editor. Nvu makes creating web pages as easy as using a word processor and rivals such programs as Adobe’s Dreamweaver and Microsoft’s Expression Web, only for free! With Nvu’s built-in site manager, connecting to your website and making changes is a snap.

Portable Sunbird OS X

Portable Sunbird OS X is the Sunbird Project cross platform standalone calendar and task manager application packaged as portable application so you can take your calendar and task list with you.

Mail Keep all your mail and preferences

Mail, Mac OS X’s built in email application, offers an elegant user interface that makes it easy to manage all of your email from a single, ad-free inbox, even when you’re not connected to the Internet. To see Mail in action, click here to watch Mail Basics.

Portable Cyberduck

Cyberduck is an open source FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Cloud Files and Amazon S3 browser for the Mac. It features an easy to use interface with quickly accessible bookmarks. The outline view of the browser allows to browse large folder structures efficiently and you can quickly preview files with Quick Look. To edit files, a seamless integration with several external editors makes it easy to change content quickly.

Portable Check Off

Check Off is a quick to-do list that sits in your Mac’s menu bar. Simply click the check mark and your personal to-do list will drop down.Check Off is just a mouse click away no matter where you are on your Mac. Whether you are making a grocery list, tracking your school assignments by class or just jotting down what you need to do for the day, Check Off can adapt to your workflow.

Portable Gimp

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.

Portable Newspeak

Portable Newspeak is Newspeak Cocoa IRC client for Mac OS X packaged as portable application so you can take your IRC servers, channels list and saved transcript with you.

Inkscape – Scalable Vector Graphics editor

An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Inkscape supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) and great care is taken in designing a streamlined interface. It is very easy to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps and much more.

VLC – Video stream and multimedia player

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, aac …) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

Audacity – Audio editor

Audacity can record and play sounds and import and export WAV, AIFF, MP3, and OGG files. Edit your sounds using cut, copy, and paste features (with unlimited undo functionality), mix tracks, or apply effects to your recordings. The program also has a built-in amplitude-envelope editor, a customizable spectrogram mode, and a frequency-analysis window for audio-analysis applications.

RSSOwl – RSS, RDF, Atom newsreader

RSSOwl is a free and powerful news feed reader. RSSOwl lets you gather, organize and search news in a convenient, easy to use interface with endless flexibility.

X-Chat Aqua – IRC client

X-Chat Aqua is X-Chat with an Aqua interface for MacOS X. X-Chat Aqua uses the irc engine from X-Chat, and is designed to look and feel like the GTK+ front end.

iCal – Keep all your events

Portable iCal.app is a shell script that open local copy of iCal™ using preferences stored in its application bundle.

Camino – Web browser optimized for Mac

Camino is an open source web browser developed with a focus on providing the best possible experience for Mac OS X users.

Vienna – RSS/Atom newsreader for Mac

Vienna is full of powerful features that help you make sense of the flood of information that is distributed via RSS/Atom.

Celtx – Screenwriting & production breakdown

Celtx is the screenwriting & production breakdown writing tool packaged as portable application so you can take your preferences with you.

Feed

Portable Feed is the Feed RSS, Atom newsreader packaged as portable application so you can carry around with you on any portable device, USB thumb drive, iPod, portable hard drive,memory card, other portable device (also on your internal hard disk) as long as it has 10 MB of free space and use on any Mac OS X computer, taking all your favorite news feeds with you.

PDFtoHTML

PDFtoHTML 0.1b attracts users’ attention with the ability of converting files from the Portable Document Format (PDF) files into the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) file format properly.

Oxalyn Window Divider

Oxalyn Window Divider is a window “splitter” control for REALbasic. Very feature-rich and easy to use – drop right into your project for instant usage. 100% RB code, no Declares or plugins, so its portable! OS X and OS 9 tested, Windows assumed to work.


I hope that you will love this collection of Portable MAC software. If you know any other portable MAC applications available then let me know via comments.

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16 useful Mac cheat Sheets

Cheat sheet is a concise set of notes used for quick reference. Cheat sheets will contain most of the shortcuts needed to program faster. And it is meant for newbie users who can’t remember the shortcuts or commands.
In this article , I have collected some of the useful cheat sheets available for Mac OS. These cheat sheets will definitely help you either if you are new to Mac or if you are shifting from Windows to Mac. These cheat Sheets also covers some of the useful keyboard shortcuts and things which you will be using in Mac daily.
You may think that one cheat sheet is just enough , but I feel that some cheat sheets may miss some points so its better to look through all of them and then choose the top 2-5 you think will help you the most. After that you can Print them out and hang them on the wall around your desk for quick reference.

My Mac cheat Sheet

Whether your Mac asks you for certain information or you’re seeking help from Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP), there may come a time when you need to have access to your serial number, hardware configuration, passwords, email server or internet access information. And then you discover that you’ve either forgotten or misplaced this information. If you forget it, don’t worry, pull out your Mac Cheat Sheet instead.

Mac 101 – beginner’s guide

If you’re new to computers or simply need a refresher course on how to get the most out of your Mac, then Mac 101 cheat sheet is for you.

Macs All-in-One For Dummies

Macs come in all shapes and sizes, but you turn all of them on and off, and do things with the keyboard and mouse (or trackpad, if yours is a MacBook) the same way. Macintosh OS X Snow Leopard, Apple’s latest version of the Mac operating system, has all the familiar boxes, windows, and mouse pointers as its predecessors. This Cheat Sheet of timesaving keyboard shortcuts, mouse actions, Mac-related Web sites, and definitions can help you get the most from your Mac right away.

Reference for EVERY Character Key on a Mac

Ever wanted to type the copyright icon, or do an accent over an A without having to resort to some character palette? We have, and it takes time and is an effort. So we put together a series of help sheets that reference all of the characters that aren’t listed on your keyboard, along with their shortcut keys to make your life easier.

Switch 101 – Apple Mac cheat sheet

If you’re a PC user who has just switched to the Mac and want to find out how to adapt your old working habits to the Mac OS, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you want to learn how to get around and access everything on your Mac; find out how to move your old PC files to the Mac OS environment; figure out how to connect your printer, iPod, digital camera, or other device; learn how to do those tasks you did on a PC on a Mac; learn how to use the software that came with your Mac; or even find out what to do when things don’t go as planned; Switch 101 has got all the answers.

Leopard Cheat Sheet

Mac OS X keyboard Cheat Sheet

My First Mac guide

Below you’ll find the My First Mac guide on how to use your new Mac when all you know is Windows. Of course this topic can go deep and take months or even years of training, so we will stick to the top dozen or so issues that new Mac users run into that makes them want to throw their Mac through the window.

Mac OS X cheat sheet

Avid Support – Mac cheat Sheet

It is intended to help properly configure and troubleshoot Mac editing systems – both PowerPC and Intel based. Included are some tips and tricks to maximize performance and stability of your system. Follow the tips in the document and the initial installation and configuration will be very simple.

MAC OS cheat sheet

Mac OS X Transition Cheat Sheet

MS EXCEL MAC CHEAT SHEET

DREAMWEAVER MAC CHEAT SHEET

Mac OS Quick Reference, Apple Mac OS X Tiger

Mac OS X Mail email settings Cheat Sheet

You can print (or copy and paste to a text document) and fill out the following “cheat sheet” to record your email
provider’s settings. This sheet can make it easier for you to configure Mail in Mac OS X, or if you contact your
provider.

I hope that this list of Cheat sheets will definitely help you in handling Mac. If you have came across any good cheat sheet for Mac then do let me know.

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Pedal your smartphone's battery back to 'full' with the ECOXPOWER

If you're a smartphone power user, you certainly know the frustration of having to constantly find a power source like an outlet, so that you can recharge the battery on your handset before it shuts down. Unless you carry a spare battery with you, or own the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX, seeking a way to power up your phone's cell becomes an impossible challenge when you're involved in some type of athletic endeavor. Some day in the future, we might have wearable batteries that recharge using our own motion, something that Georgia Tech researchers are looking into. But for now, most athletes don't have the opportunity to keep their phone's battery topped off while working up a sweat.

The ECOXPOWER uses a built-in generator to recharge your smartphone

The ECOXPOWER uses a built-in generator to recharge your smartphone
Thanks to a new product called the ECOXPOWER, there is one sport that allows you to participate while at the same time, recharge the battery on your smartphone. If riding a bicycle is your thing, the ECOXPOWER uses a built in generator to provide a headlight and at the same time comes with a USB adapter that plugs into a handlebar mounted, water-resistant smartphone case. You place your phone into the case, which allows you to use the device while pedaling. And the faster you pedal, the quicker the generator charges up the battery in your phone. And for those worried about the environment, it's all "green" energy.

Priced at $99.99, the ECOXPOWER keeps you safe thanks to the headlight it produces, allowing drivers to see you in the dark. And by keeping the battery in your phone charged, you have the peace of mind of knowing that in case of an emergency, you will be able to make a call. The device works with the Apple iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone models. If you're interersted in the device, click on the sourcelink.

source: ECOXPGEAR via SlashGear

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IDC: Android and iOS control 85 percent of the smartphone market

We've already seen IDC's numbers on tablet market share for Q2 2012, but now it's time to see how they judge the performance of smartphone OSes. It comes shortly after the Canalys' take on the situation and there are no surprises, just a better look at what's going on.

Android and iOS combined are squeezing the alternative OSes into an ever tighter corner. Together, they hold 85% of the smartphone market, a new high. The former leaders - Symbian, BlackBerry and Microsoft have all slipped under the 5% mark.

Android is by far the most popular smartphone OS - shipments doubled quarter on quarter and the OS now holds two thirds of the market. IDC reports Samsung is the leader of the droid pack, 44% of all Androids shipped in Q2 of this year carried the logo of the South Korean company. That's more phones than those of the next 7 Android vendors combined. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich grew in relevance and was a major driver in Android's growth.

Market share of iOS declined compared to last year's second quarter, but it's the number two OS. Alone, it has more market share than all remaining OSes combined. Of course, the quarter wasn’t very strong for Apple (actually, it was still good, it's just that Apple standards are so high) as the iPhone 4S has aged and demand for it has declined and everyone is looking forward to the new iPhone. Event at number 2, Apple and iOS snatched 77% of the profits in Q2.

Top Smartphone Operating Systems, Shipments, and Market Share, Q2 2012
(Units in Millions)
BlackBerry managed a distant third place, with decrease in sales to both enterprise users and consumers. RIM's shares have fallen to early 2009 levels, but BlackBerry 10, which is the company's big hope, was recently delayed so its prospects for the rest of the year are pretty bad.

Symbian was the leading smartphone OS for many years, but is currently in fourth place. Poor sales and Nokia's decision to jump to the next OS on the list led to a huge 62.9% drop in shipments of Symbian smartphones.

Windows Phone 7 still gets listed alongside with Windows Mobile. Even so, Microsoft only has a 3.5% chunk of the market share. The good news is there was a healthy 115.3% jump in shipments, mostly coming from Nokia, so they are moving in the right direction. All eyes are on the upcoming Windows Phone 8 now.

Curiously, "Linux" isn't far behind with a 2.3% market share. It turns out this category is mostly populated by phones running Samsung's bada OS. The market share declined compared to last year, as Samsung and other Linux phone makers focused on Android.

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