more Apple Rumors

EXCLUSIVE: iPod mini to move entirely to flash and color, shuffle and phone details emerge By Ryan Katz, Senior Editor


September 2, 2005 - Apple will upgrade both its iPod mini and iPod shuffle lines of music players, but most likely not at its media event next week, Think Secret has learned. The media event will instead be devoted almost exclusively to the new iTunes-enabled Motorola phone and the company's partnership with Cingular.

The new phone will reportedly be available in two capacities, 256MB and 512MB, capable of storing about 70 and 140 songs, respectively. Users will not only be able to plug the phone into their computer to tap their iTunes Music Library for tunes, but will also have the ability of buying songs on the fly over Cingular's network, probably for about $2 a song, sources report. The ability to download songs from the phone represents a departure from Apple's original design for the phone. Months ago it emerged that cell phone networks Apple was in talks with, eager to share revenue that a music download service could generate, were uninterested in carrying the phone unless such a feature was included.

Cingular will be the only carrier of the phone in the U.S. at launch, while London's Times reported Thursday that O2 will be the exclusive carrier in Britain.

more info here:

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0509ipod.html

OT: Now that's just plain wacked

Tomm this cannot get anymore bizarre than the Fema website promoting Rev. Pat Robertson.

-Alt

OT: Thanks Blue

I can appreciate the humor in that.

Alt

OT: Katrina Aftermath

No, Bootz I've only packed a weapon once and it was in the defense of my country luckily I never had to use it.

And would you also pick up a couple of pistols and some boxes of ammo on your way out of the Wal-Mart and then use same to plug a policeman in the head, and hijack a car or boat?

Break into a liquor or jewelry store?

Or a hospital for drugs?

In every large city their is a criminal element but the vast majority of those left in New Orleans are decent people with very little means. Its now a struggle fof basic survival for those folks, and at this late hour we have failed them.

-Alt

OT: Katrina Aftermath

My question is, was the transport offer actually communicated to anyone, and was transport available for those who showed up?

That's a good question.

I keep seeing pictures of Yellow school buses lined up and apparently never put in service to evacuate some of the residents.

What I find disturbing is that the focus of much of the TV news coverage is centered and repeated around New Orleans and looters which is predominately black. Little coverage has been given to the survivors of Biloxi, Mi and Gulf Port, La and other devastated areas which seem to be more white.

Somehow I think we're not getting the complete picture. Some of the news is being shaped and then repeated to infer things that may or may not be true.

Is the media inferring that only black people would loot ?

No looting going on in those other stricken areas where the white folk live ?

Is their some subtle racism going on ?

When is it ever appropriate to blame the victims in a disaster like this ?

Would any of us loot for food or water if we didn't have any for a day or so ?

I know that I would .... if it mean't my or my families survival.

-Alt

Re: Opinionated Civil Servants

Tex I heard similar comments within a day after Katrina struck. I was both stunned and disgusted. People don't need government officials to voice denigrating opinions. We need professionals to do their jobs. After the hard work is done then you can write a book or do the lecture circuit. Disasters happen and people make mistakes ... take the last election for instance .... that was a BIG mistake.

-Alt

iTunes and Celebs: Maddona

Blue if you offer a Celeb like Maddona some serious cash for a One or Two day shoot all expenses paid for her and here entourage she would do it for the cash and the publicity; However, that doesn't mean a deal has been cut for her music on the ITunes store thats a seperate transaction.

-Alt

Your welcome .... I'm very impressed with Opera

-Alt

Free Opera Web Browser

The Clock is ticking download Opera 8.0.2 and register it !!!

Opera Software gives away browser for 24 hours
By Peter Cohen pcohen@maccentral.com

Oslo, Norway-based Opera Software ASA on Tuesday announced that it's giving away complimentary registration codes for its Opera Web browser for 24 hours on Tuesday, August 30, 2005. (That's Aug 31 for The US.)The giveaway is to celebrate Opera's 10th anniversary .

Opera costs nothing to download and use, but unless a registration code is entered, the software displays advertisements. By filling out your e-mail address on the 10-Year Online Anniversary Web site, you get registration codes for each of the desktop operating systems opera supports, including Mac OS X, Windows, FreeBSD, Solaris, and three flavors of Linux.

Opera features pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, integrated searching on Google, Amazon and eBay, e-mail, RSS newsfeed support and IRC chat. The browser's interface can be customized with new "skins" as well.

The current version of Opera works on Mac OS X v10.2 or later.

Download Opera 8 and the Registration key from here:

http://my.opera.com/community/party/

Great Stuff !!!

-Alt

Linda .... your not trying.eom

Dill enough of this AAPL happy talk ....

I'm betting AAPL will be trading at
$18.00 a share next year !!!


... post split


-Alt

OT: RE; Dubbya and work

It's hard work (In a Fake Texas/ Connecticut drawl)... So many oil fields .... so little time !!!

-Alt

RE: Jim Cramer

The first time I heard Jim Cramer was on the radio and my first thoughts we're man this young motormouth must be on some good drugs. Then I saw him on Cable TV and I said God he looks like just another Wallstreet Analyst on some good drugs. I'm more of a contrarian investor type so I don't think much of his show.

AAPL Dumplings

I here that el StevO is stealing back his reality distortion field from Billy G. just for the Moscone affair .... just to trick us all into thinking they've created some cool new doo dad .... that anybody could of come up with. An it'll probably be in those transparent fruity colors and retailers will have to stock one of each color.

-Alt

See Now that's what I'm talking about ... I new you guy's could do it !!!

All this AAPL happy talk has been making me noxious.

-Alt

P.S. An I betcha they won't have enough supply of the new iPod's and Phones to go around either.

OT: Some Sobering facts for our Red Brothers and Sisters

Poverty rate up; more poor whites counted

11:11 a.m. 08/30/2005
Provided by Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. poverty rate rose in 2004, driven by an increase in the number of poor non-Hispanic whites, while the median income for Americans as a whole remained stable, the government said on Tuesday.

The percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty rose to 12.7 percent from 12.5 percent in 2003, as 1.1 million more people slipped into poverty last year, the Census Bureau said in its annual poverty report.

The ranks of the poor rose to 37.0 million, up from 35.9 million the previous year, the report said.

The poverty rate rose for only one group -- non-Hispanic whites -- which had an 8.6 percent poverty rate for 2004 compared with 8.2 percent in 2003. The poverty rate declined for Asians and remained unchanged for blacks and Hispanics, the report showed.

The real median household income in 2004 totaled $44,389, flat from 2003 and marking the second consecutive year in which income showed no change.

Black households had the lowest median income among race groups, at $30,134, while Asian households had the highest, at $57,518. The median-income for non-Hispanic white households was $48,977 and was $34,241 for Hispanic households.

Income was unchanged in each census region except the U.S. Midwest, where it declined 2.8 percent to $44,657, the report said.

-Alt

OT: Man .... there going to get more than they bargained for. Trying to control the behavior of all those students could prove to be fruitless.

Henrico plans secure laptops: School officials work to protect students' new Dell machines.

-Alt

nah .... thats just the common cold

Maybe I can get away from it by viewing it from a distance.

How about a Virus pretending to be an Operating System ?

Pre-installed viruses. What next?

-Alt ......

Re; iTunes Advantages

Pete that's a really good point:

And if they think about it
They no longer have to create 12 song albums, if they don't want to. They can concentrate their development money on creating good commercial songs. It's all good.

I think Blue is right about holding the Price to .99 cents at least until legal downloads reach 10%.

What I think is great about iTunes and digital downloads is it that it made we aware of artist's and Music genre's I didn't know existed. I'm more likely to seek out some of these artists live or Pick up a CD at my local music store because of iTunes discovery downloads.

So its a net plus for the music industry.

-Alt

AAPL Speculation

WLD, we'll know if my optimism about AAPL is well placed in 9 days.

I *love* your optimism!

I appreciate the healthy dose of skepticism I encounter on this board from time to time.

The reality about Apple is somewhere in between those Two opposing views.

-Alt

Great Find Bootz.

Ot: Katrina

Blue lets hope and pray that the Domes structure holds together.

Apparently the storm shimied a little off its projected course so New Orleans will not be hit head on but its still a CAT 4 so flooding is still a very big possibility.

-Alt

OT: Katrina is getting lethal

A Category 5 at 190 mph and growing that's insanely dangerous. New Orleans is under sea level ? Lango if it heads in your direction get .... out of their.

-Alt

Hmmm .... XBox 360 or iPod Pro ?

A coincidence?

Nah !!!

I think Apple is getting ready to rock our world once again.

-Alt

Latest AAPL rumors

Disney, Universal and Paramount to Provide Video Content

Steve Jobs has been in talks with Disney's President Bob Iger to supply content for the video iPod since early Spring. The latest information we have is that Apple will begin offering all Disney animated movies, ESPN clips, and ABC programming on iTunes 5.0 beginning in September. We know that content will not be exclusive to Disney, as Universal and Paramount have also been in contact with Apple as a distribution source.


With Apple's music empire constantly threatened by new services trying to make inroads and the iPod vying to keep its crown, our sources tell us Apple's iPod division is planning to refresh its iPod line accompanied by a new version of iTunes (5.0) as early as September.

Here's what we know: The 20 and 60GB iPods will be upgraded to 40 and 80GB models and begin to replace the DVD and VHS players as the previous models have been replacing CD and tape players. Possibly carrying the moniker iPod pro, the new iPods will incorporate high definition video capabilities with an external video out port. These new devices are expected before the Christmas Holiday shopping season, as early as Apple Expo in September. They should quickly become an integral part of home and automobile theater systems, keeping the iPod line at the forefront of digital audio, and now, video. The next version of the iPod shuffle will not change much in form factor, other than a grip on the on/off/shuffle switch, but will come with a larger storage capacity. The iPod mini will be upgraded to a color screen just under 2 inches with photo capabilities.

http://www.looprumors.com/

OT: B5

Linda, I have to agree with you about B5 it really took off in its second season and I have to give credit to Harlan Ellison who came onboard as a story consultant.

OT: Ditto ....

Blue I've spent my entire life struggling with math. I still have a problem retaining some of the more advanced mathematical equations. I've recently revisited geometry and well calculus is next on my hit list.

_Alt

OT: Yes Bootz

I recall the obelisk I believe it overlooks the city of Naha in a very large cemetery. Its a very eerie place .... it sits on a hill lined with White crosses of fallen US soldiers that died taking the island from the japanese. That whole island has remnants of the war .... submerged artillery and old transport carriers off the coast and imbedded in the Coral Reef. The visit to that place made me very cognizent of the price that is paid in blood for Just or unjust wars.

I was stationed at Kadena AB but lived off base so I could learn about a culture so different from ours. I also spent some time in Korea and saw poverty on a scale that would have never been tolerated in the US.

It was a very rewarding experience because up until that time I never really appreciated our American standard of living I just took it for granted that everyone lived like us.

Unfortunately many Americans have never been to the third world and really don't know what poverty truly is.

-Alt

OT: Correction: Stories rather than feet

Except for Lilliput on the Northern part of the island.

I spent Two an a half years on the island of Okinawa in the mid 70's and experienced first hand the Typhoon seasons the residents endure there annually. 70 mph - 100 mph gusts cutting through an island no wider than a mile an half across. Housing on the island is predominately built of steel reinforced concrete slabs. No coastal structures on the island are taller than three Stories tall. The noise is actually as you describe an incessant roar of a freight train.

OT: Wow, Lango glad to hear your okay.

I spent Two an a half years on the island of Okinawa in the mid 70's and experienced first hand the Typhoon seasons the residents endure there annually. 70 mph - 100 mph gusts cutting through an island no wider than a mile an half across. Housing on the island is predominately built of steel reinforced concrete slabs. No coastal structures on the island are taller than three feet tall. The noise is actually as you describe an incessant roar of a freight train.

Best Always,

-Alt

iTunes Video Incentives

Blue, I think Apple is experimenting with adding Video content as a premium incentive.

BitTorrents way of distributing Video is a superior way of delivering content but it does require alot of big pipes running to alot of smaller ones to be effective.

OT: Hey Bootz now this a great way to learn Calculus

http://www.howtodogirls.com/video/How-to-Do_Girls_Bikini_Calculus_Exponential_Rule_320x240.mov

iTunes Pricing

The problem is this: the Record labels looks at each new Album as an investment and the One or maybe Two Hits on that album need to bring in the most revenue as possible. So assuming we keep the .99 cent pricing .70 cents (This is speculation on my part) goes to the label, how many legal downloads would it take to make it profitable, considering the artist gets a percentage of that revenue as well ? At $1.99 a download you would most likely sell less but break even and become more profitable faster. With Steve Jobs .99 cent pricing every cut thats downloaded should bring in revenue, but since that is never gonna happen the labels want to raise the pricing. Where the labels get greedy is in not wanting to lower pricing on the older music that has already been profitable. Since Apple is making very little on each transaction the bargain bin pricing model would not be in Apple's best interest as well so its likely that .99 cents will end up being the floor. I think in the Future many artists may end up negotiating with Apple directly and cutting out the middlemen ... that of course is another can of worms altogether.

Nickel its an interesting scenario .... but highly unlikely.

Why ? As long as people continue to use MS Office rather than the excellent Open Office suite or other alternatives Microsoft has clout in the Mac marketplace. If Microsoft pulled the plug on Mac for Office it would effectively kill any hope for larger marketshare. Most of the die hard mac users I support still insist on using Microsoft Office. Despite all of the progress Apple has made .... Microsoft still holds the trump card.

Now if you could run Windows executables without windows on a Mac Intel box well all bets are off.

-Alt

Is Robert Cringely off his meds or what ?

Here's where I go out on a limb, but I think Microsoft's clearest threat still comes from Apple, though not the way most people expect. Yes, Apple is about to take Microsoft to the woodshed when it comes to Internet movie distribution. Yes, Apple already super-dominates the music player market where Microsoft doesn't even really exist. But the real jewel is one Microsoft has to lose, not gain -- the PC platform, itself.

What could Apple do to take down Windows, with or without the help of Intel?

What seems to me to be the answer came to me this week from a reader who had a disruptive idea that I gleefully embellished.

Here are the clues. Microsoft is woefully late with its next Windows upgrade, while Apple is far ahead with even the current version of OS X. Apple is moving to Intel processors and hackers have already shown that OS X can run fine on non-Apple hardware. But Apple doesn't want to give up its profitable hardware business to compete head-to-head with Microsoft. And remember, Apple totally dominates the portable music player market and will probably sell 25 million iPods or more this year.

Every one of those iPods is a bootable drive. What if Apple introduces OS 10.5, its next super-duper operating system release, and at the same time starts loading FOR FREE the current operating system version -- OS 10.4 -- on every new iPod in a version that runs on generic Intel boxes? What if they also make 10.4 a free download through the iTunes Music Store?

It wouldn't kill Microsoft, but it would hurt the company, both emotionally and materially. And it wouldn't hurt Apple at all. Apple hardware sales would be driven by OS 10.5 and all giving away 10.4 would do is help sell more iPods and attract more customers to Apple's store.

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050825.html

-Alt ....... Interesting idea though.

Apple and Samsung ....

sounds like an interesting strategy but whats to stop Samsung's Flash competitors from turning up the production spigots.

It sounds like a Win Win for consumers !!!

-Alt

OT:Yo, Bootz how about Dual-Prop Beanies ?

Vlogging The IPTV Revolution

Video logging, BitTorrent (DTV) or IPTV is a great new opportunity for Apple to evolve its digital content offerings.

While people debate the use of DRM to lock high definition content the Open Source and Video bloggers are starting to deliver High Definition video via IPTV ... expect this to continue. This IPTV revolution is being fueled in the US by the current political climate, Anti-War sentiment and the backlash from media consolidation.

This is the greatest opportunity since Apple, Adobe and Aldus pioneered the Desktop Publishing revolution of the 1980's - 1990's.

-Alt