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Misremembered. 17' PowerBook. Not sure if it is Aluminum or Titanium. Bought in 2003. Still plenty of machine for me, particularly with 2 gigs of RAM.
This has been my experience with each version. Which was why I was looking for some other message.
Have recently installed Tiger, and was pleasantly surprised at the dramatic improvement in startup time. I wonder if the upgrade might have fixed something like a corrupt font. Also maxed out RAM to 2 gigs and that really make a difference in web browsing.
I am very happy with my 4 year old Macbook. Besides browsing, most of my time is spent in 4th Dimension, which has a compiler and generates extremely fast apps. My wife, on the other hand, does a lot of work with iPhoto and could really use an upgrade from her c2002 eMac. We are concerned about glare on the new iMacs and one of my tasks while visiting my son in Arlington VA is to look at one in the Apple Store. No stores in Maine
Thanks for the reply.
Mike Hugo
WLD - For the rest of us, a translation please? That's exactly what my wife is doing - waiting for Leopard to buy a new machine. I would be glad to give her a reason to buy the machine now, but I just don't get what you're saying.
07:52 AAPL Apple: Judge grants shareholder access to Apple meeting minutes - San Jose Mercury News (153.18 ) -Update-
San Jose Mercury News reports California Superior Court Judge Jack Komar said at a hearing in San Jose Monday that he would order Apple to turn over to the Boston Retirement Board minutes from the meetings of Apple's board of directors and board committees from 1997 to the present.
Komar also said he would order Apple to give the retirement board records relating to how it accounted for the stock options it handed out during that period. Any documents that Apple hands over to the retirement board will be under a protective order, meaning they can't be disclosed to anyone else.
What's more, Apple may be able to avoid handing over certain meeting minutes or accounting records if it can prove to the judge that they are covered by attorney-client or some other privilege.
04:16 AAPL Apple profiled in Inside Wall Street - BusinessWeek Online (140.31 )
BusinessWeek Online reports of the 27 of the analysts who track Apple (AAPL), none recommend selling. No way are we selling, says Sean Kraus of Provident Investment Counsel, who bought at 47 in mid-2005 and hasn't sold a share. "Apple is still one of the best investments in technology," adds Kraus, who sees it hitting 180 in 12 months. Others see Apple even higher. Kraus expects Apple to beat the Street's sales forecasts for iPhones, iPods, and Mac computers this fall. Long-term, he sees Apple creating new markets with "revolutionary" products and marketing muscle.
Kathryn Huberty of Morgan Stanley, who rates it "overweight," says the 30% price cut on iPhone was a "positive move" to stimulate holiday demand. Operating margins should expand, she adds, as Apple's innovative products continue to boost sales. She sees Apple earning $3.68 a share in 2007, $4.80 in 2008, and $5.99 in 2009, up from $2.18 in 2006. Could Apple hit 200? Piper Jaffray's Eugene Munster has a has a higher forecast: 211 in 12 months.
07:46 AAPL Apple: Bloomberg story discusses Jobs subpoena - Bloomberg (140.77 )
Bloomberg reports the co's CEO, Steve Jobs, was subpoenaed by the SEC to give a deposition in a backdating lawsuit against the co's former general counsel, two people familiar with the matter said. The subpoena isn't part of an SEC investigation, one of the people said. It seeks Jobs's testimony in the SEC's lawsuit against Nancy Heinen, who was sued April 24 for allegedly backdating stock-option grants to Jobs and members of his executive team, said the people, who requested anonymity because deposition subpoenas aren't made public. (Briefing.com note: There were rumors related to this in the mkt yesterday.)
08:42 AAPL Apple UK special event Sep 18, iPhone UK launch? - Macworld.co.uk (136.85 )
Macworld.co.uk reports the co is inviting UK media to a special event at its flagship London store on Regents Street next week. The event invitation proclaims: "Mum is no longer the word", and asks media and analysts to turn up at 10am, Tuesday, Sep 18, for a press conference.
Macworld's editor Mark Hattersley said: "it's a UK-specific event and we know the iPhone is due to be launched in the UK, so that's the most likely scenario." However, it could be simply an announcement regarding the UK operator for the iPhone.
Or Apple could be launching an extended television or film service in the UK. The could also be ready to add Beatles to iTunes, although the general consensus is that these scenarios would involve either a world-wide announcement, or a different venue to the Apple store.
12:14 AAPL Beatles' Paul McCartney to make "special announcement" -- appearance likely to coincide with announcement from AAPL - AppleInsider (144.42 +0.26)
AppleInsider reports Paul McCartney, one of the founding members of The Beatles, is scheduled to to appear on BBC Radio 1 later this afternoon to make "very special announcement." McCartney, whose appearance is likely to coincide with announcements from Apple around the same time, will join BBC Radio 1's Edith Bowman at approximately 1:00 pm Eastern.
Rumors that Apple and the Beatles have finally reached terms to bring the Fab Four's music catalog to Apple's ubiquitous iTunes Store received a shot in the arm last week when Apple issued digital invites to its special media event on September 5th, with the caption "The beat goes on."
16:33 AAPL Apple: Future iPods to control iTunes wirelessly? - LoopRumors (132.25 -3.05)
New information coming into LOOPRumors indicates that future iPods will wirelessly control iTunes. Two different methods will be used to do this. One would enable iPods to act as a remote and control playlists by queuing a song from the iTunes data file, instead of streaming the file. The other method is using AirTunes, by streaming the MP3 files.
The wireless technology is said to be Wi-Fi, enabling the remote operations to work through walls, and allowing compatible with all shipping Macs and wireless networks. While the info we received didn't specify the following, the idea of sharing music wirelessly from iPod to iPod (as the Zune does) is also a possibility for music that has no DRM.
07:58 AAPL Apple to usher in era of Mac OS X-based iPods - AppleInsider (132.51 )
AppleInsider reports Apple will use a media event next month to unveil a new breed of iPod digital music players that have been injected with the co's most vital asset -- the Mac OS. In surgically replacing the iPod's Pixo-influenced OS with a modern-day variant of its homebred software, the co will have effectively scaled the Mac OS across its entire product matrix.
Internally, Apple is much further along, according to sources, who say the co will again tap an embedded version of the Mac OS to form the foundation of yet another business segment and digital device family in 2008.
In the meantime, however, the co's efforts will reportedly focus on maturing its already established product families. People familiar with this year's plans say Apple's iPod roadmap for the fall now calls for as many as four new models -- most, if not all, will employ NAND flash -- including major evolutions of both the flagship video iPod and iPod nano lines. It's these two iPod product families which are expected to receive the Mac OS treatment, though to varying degrees.
Sources in the Far East have recently vouched for sightings of a "full screen" iPod, which they believe will finally make its debut ahead of this year's holiday shopping season. The players are said to run a derivative of the Mac OS-based iPod software introduced as part of the co's iPhone handset back in June.
Might also try Camino 1.5.1. Fixed a crash on shutdown problem for me.
http://www.caminobrowser.org/releases/1.5.1/
Annie - With Comcast I bought the Belkin router and it has been absolutely flawless. I must add that the cable lines in our development are almost new - about two years old - and buried.
07:54 AAPL Apple: AT&T/iPhone deal under scrutiny by government, Verizon - AppleInsider (132.39 )
AppleInsider reports Apple's multi-year iPhone contract with AT&T (T) has become the poster child for the ills of the cellphone industry in a U.S. House committee debate, with Verizon also casting its own doubts on the device.
Although the debate on Wednesday was officially held to discuss the possibility of forbidding individual states from setting their own laws for wireless use, the focus quickly shifted towards what many believe are abuses of the open mkt that prevent genuine competition.
Representatives from Congress specifically accused exclusivity deals, like AT&T's agreement for the iPhone, of trapping customers. These terms have forced users to stay with their providers as long as they want to use certain devices, no matter the conditions.
Subscribers using the iPhone can't switch once their contracts expire or if they are unhappy with network quality, members of Congress said. AT&T's primary challenger in the wireless industry, Verizon (VZ), indirectly used the iPhone as proof that exclusive models were no guarantee of success.
A high-profile launch aside, the long-term future of the iPhone was still in doubt and Verizon felt no qualms about turning down the iPhone deal because it wasn't the "right opportunity" at the time, said the carrier's legal counsel Steve Zipperstein.
No mention of where the cash came from. That's really more important than the repayment itself.
08:34 AAPL Apple says iPhone will be able to be activated at home without waiting in store while phone is activated; announces service plans (122.34 )
Co announces that iPhone users will be able to activate their new iPhones using Apple's popular iTunes software running on a PC or Mac computer in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated.
Co also announces three service plans for iPhone which start at just $59.99 per month. All three plans include unlimited data, Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll-over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling.
With everything else already included, iPhone customers can easily choose the plan that's right for them based on the amount of voice minutes they plan to use each month. In addition, iPhone customers can choose from any of AT&T's standard service plans.
<thugocrat> Very nice.
08:16 AAPL Apple: Analyzing and pricing out the components of co's new "Apple TV" reveal uncharacteristically slim profits - Businessweek.com (122.67 )
Businessweek.com reports that by typical AAPL standards, the new set-top video box may as well be a hobby given how unprofitable it is in its current form. That's one conclusion you can draw from research firm iSuppli's analysis of the innards of the device, which connects a TV to videos stored on a Mac or Windows computer.
Having taken it apart, iSuppli estimates that the components and materials used to make Apple TV cost $237. Since AAPL sells it for $299, that would leave a gross profit of $62, or about 20%, before marketing costs. That would be a big change from AAPL's penchant for gross margins in excess of 50% outside its computer lineup.
Analyst Wendy Abramowitz, who covers AAPL for Argus Research, says that a lower gross margin on Apple TV probably won't have much effect on AAPL's financial picture. "I wouldn't even look for this product to be a substantial part of the revenue base initially," she says. Yet Abramowitz also points out that AAPL has warned analysts that overall gross margins will drop somewhat in coming quarters, in part because of new products.
09:26 AAPL Apple hides account info in DRM-free music - arstechnica.com (118.77 )
According to arstechnica, Apple's new DRM-free music, songs sold without DRM still have a user's full name and account e-mail embedded in them, which means that dropping that new DRM-free song on your favorite P2P network could come back to bite you.
The big question, of course, is what might Apple do with this information? Because it can be spoofed, it's not exactly the best way to determine who is sharing music, and in any case, tracing a link back such as this would leave a copyright holder in a gray area. Embedded data or not, the mere presence of the data in a file found on a share is not an unassailable indicator of copyright infringement.
07:42 AAPL Apple iPhone demand to outpace supply?- Looprumors.com (112.89 ) -Update-
Looprumors.com is reporting a research group observes that demand for Apple's upcoming iPhone looks set to exceed supply. The survey conducted by The Channel Checkers included 36 U.S. AT&T stores and found that 64% of of them have an average of 25 persons on their waiting lists. The other stores are only allowing sales to occur on a first come, first served basis.
The group also reports results from other outlets with surprising findings: "We did have one outlier in New York City, which we excluded from our average, that had 1,979 people on its waiting list. Another store said "we cannot give out that figure but the waiting list is running into the thousands", another store reported that the number of calls for the phone was "indeterminable" as the numbers were massive."
07:09 AAPL Apple: McCartney goes digital, Beatles 'virtually settled' - Billboard.com (107.34 )
Billboard.com reports Paul McCartney's new album, "Memory Almost Full," will be his first solo release available for download and streaming on PCs and mobile phones. As previously reported, the set is due June 5 via Starbucks' (SBUX) new Hear Music label. In addition,
McCartney tells Billboard in an interview to be published tomorrow that a deal to finally make the Beatles catalog available for sale online is "virtually settled." As part of its digital marketing strategy, Starbucks plans to give "Memory Almost Full" prime positioning in its Hear Music area in the Apple iTunes Store.
The digital distribution deal for McCartney is believed to pertain solely to the new album and not back catalog. However, the pact signals increased willingness on the part of the former Beatles to make music available for consumption online.
08:01 AAPL Apple still considering 3rd party iPhone app development? - MacRumors (107.34 ) -Update-
MacRumors reports one additional tidbit from Apple's shareholder meeting notes was a revealing blurb that Apple still hadn't completely decided whether or not they will open the iPhone to 3rd party developers. Jobs did acknowledge that the co is still struggling to decide if third-party developers will be able to create software that will run on the iPhone. It's a decision Apple "is wrestling with," according to Jobs.
Apple's choice to limit iPhone development has been the target of a lot of criticism against the iPhone. In the days after the iPhone announcement, Jobs stated that while you will be able to purchase and install additional applications on the iPhone, that this would be limited and in a "controlled environment". As a result, the iPhone has been described as a "closed device" which could make enterprise mkt penetration difficult.
10:01 AAPL Apple: Burst.com edges Apple in pre-trial rulings - AppleInsider (106.96 +0.08)
AppleInsider reports Apple may be faced with an uphill battle in its patent litigation with Burst.com after the courts issued a Markman Claim Construction Memorandum that largely sided with its opponent. In some situations, Markman results have virtually ended trials before they began by almost entirely destroying one side's arguments.
In the case of Burst.com versus Apple, a 48-page Markman decision issued on Tuesday could pose a similar danger to Apple's defense against an April 2006 countersuit by validating many of Burst's concerns over computer media transmission patents, all four of which may cover Apple's iPod and iTunes software.
A Northern District of California judge handling the case has found that about two thirds of Apple's arguments made in the hearing would have created overly narrow definitions of key terms, artificially excluding many of Burst's general but potentially relevant points.
OT: I knew Bill Richardson as a member of the House and would vote for him over any other candidate, R or D.
His first instinct is to sit down at the table, roll up his sleeves, look you in the eye, and say "How can we work this out?"
07:46 AAPL Apple execs confident iPhone will ship on time and in volume - AppleInsider (105.06 )
AppleInsider reports investment banking analysts for UBS just returned from a meeting in Cupertino with members of Apple's exec team, who were described as being "confident" about their co's strategy and "very upbeat" about the prospect for new products.
"While Apple obviously did not reveal any new products, management still seems very confident in its market position in music and its ability to drive the 'multiplier effect' in various other businesses including Macs, iPhones and much more to come," UBS analyst Ben Reitzes wrote in a report shortly after the sit-down.
When speaking about the impending iPhone launch, mgmt seemed "confident the product will ship on time with volumes to meet customer demand," said Reitzes."We believe Apple will provide customers with an innovative method of in-store activation and in-store displays for the iPhone, along with customer-friendly billing that could tie customers further into the Apple online store," the analyst wrote. "We believe Apple will introduce new models and partners for the iPhone in Europe and Asia within a year.
07:29 AAPL Apple: MacBook Pro update planned for June with new display - Think Secret (103.92 )
Think Secret reports Apple placed its first order in mid-April looking for in excess of 100,000 15.4-inch LED backlight displays. The call went out to a number of LED backlight display manufacturers, including Samsung. Apple's order for the displays called on a delivery schedule of mid May, sources say. Based on Apple's standard schedule that is has used in the past, it would allow for a three to four week window to manufacture and ship. That would coincide with Jobs' keynote address on Monday, June 11th in San Francisco where Apple is likely to announce a new MacBook Pro using a LED backlight display.
Those same sources report Apple did not place an order for 13.3.-inch LED backlight displays used in the MacBook line, but that based on discussions with a variety of component manufacturers, the Mac maker was targeting a third-quarter rollout of the low-end laptop. Sources report the displays will come from a number of makers simply because availability is tight as Asian manufacturers begin to ramp up production of the brighter, lower-power and environmentally-friendly displays.
Syncing iCal
Are there any acceptable alternatives to .mac for synching or sharing the iCals between macs on a home network?
iSyncal is the only one I've found on Version Tracker, and the user reviews are not good.
13:46 AAPL Apple: New iMacs at WWDC? - LOOPRumors (100.59 +0.20) -Update-
LOOPRumors reports it is hearing rumblings that Apple may be planning to introduce new iMacs at this year's WWDC. Previous reports indicated that Apple was preparing a black iMac following the success of the black iPods. The new machines are said so be housed in a much slimmer form factor, be faster, with larger displays and be ready for the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
An introduction of new iMacs would be a 'one more thing' surprise that is long overdue for the co's all-in-one computer. The last time Apple updated the iMac was in Sept when it added a 24-inch model to its line. Apple also plans to showcase Leopard during Steve Jobs' keynote address.
Recently, Apple has become more revealing about their future plans and product releases, showcasing Apple TV while it was still in development, and offering a sneak peek at the iPhone, both six months prior to their release dates.
13:10 AAPL Apple: European iPhone provider remains up in the air - Think Secret (100.10 +0.63)
Think Secret reports while U.S. customers are preparing for the launch of Apple's iPhone next month, customers in Europe remain in the dark regarding both when and from which co they will be able to purchase the iPhone from. Execs from Orange and Vodaphone (VOD) continue to actively court Apple, sources report, as each carrier eagerly works to convince the iPhone maker that they would be the better provider for the phone.
Sources expect Apple to lock in a single carrier for the European territory, making the stakes especially high for Orange and Vodaphone. Vodaphone, for its part, would seem to be the natural choice, as it has a greater presence in the region. Apple is expected to announce its selection of the European iPhone carrier no later than Sept, although a date earlier in the summer is more likely. The iPhone remains on track to launch in select European mkts by Dec.
10:28 AAPL Apple's Mac share inches upwards during first quarter - AppleInsider (100.77 +0.85) -Update-
AppleInsider reports data just released by mkt research firm I.D.C indicates that Apple's share of the worldwide personal computer mkt rose slightly during the first calendar quarter of the year, despite the simultaneous launch of Microsoft's (MSFT) first major operating system upgrade in over five years.
For the three-month period ending March, the Mac maker registered a 2.6% global share, up from 2.5% during the Dec quarter and from 2.1% during the year-ago quarter. "Due to Vista's January 30 release and the PC sales that resulted from pent-up demand after its lengthy delay, we expected a slight sequential downtick in Mac market share," said Gene Munster, an analyst with PiperJaffray.
But strong Mac sales in Apple's March quarter enabled the company to gain share despite stronger than normal PC sales." The analyst expects yr/yr mkt share gains to continue for the co on a quarterly basis, especially as it enters three quarters of significant product releases (iPhone, Leopard, new iPods) and the educational buying season (July).
08:19 AAPL Resetting the timeline for Apple's ultra-portable initiative - AppleInsider (99.92 )
AppleInsider reports an effort on the part of Apple to develop an ultra-thin and lightweight notebook with next-generation technologies such as on-board NAND flash may take a bit more time than initially reported. The co's return to the sub-notebook mkt had the Mac maker scurrying to complete its initial design around mid-year.
Evidence suggested the Apple World Wide Developers Conference, which invades San Francisco in June, could have served as an ideal venue for co chief executive Steve Jobs to first flaunt the device. That's now unlikely to be the case. Citing a maturing timeline, people familiar with the initiative now have the chic notebook tracking for the latter half of the year, with a contingency plan in place to transition the device into a Macworld 2008 product should engineers require the additional time.
10:42 AAPL AppleInsider discusses AmTech's note on Apple's earnings (99.60 +4.25) -Update-
AppleInsider reports Apple on Wednesday again showed its unparalleled ability to think and execute the unconventional, says American Technology Analyst Shaw Wu, who in a note to clients argued that EPS may no longer be the best way to value the consumer electronics maker.
Wu says there were "three notable surprises" in the co's March quarter report. Notably, its ability to capitalize in a favorable component pricing environment, strong Mac shipments despite evidence of a pause ahead of Leopard, and its grander plans with iPhone and Apple TV.
In his note to clients, the AmTech analyst argued that EPS may no longer be the right way to value the multi-directional electronics co. "In our view, Apple's move to subscription accounting in its new, high-growth business areas iPhone and Apple TV may signal that EPS is not the best way to value Apple shares," he wrote. "This is because EPS is amortized and understated on a quarterly basis while cash flow remains the same. Because of this, cash flow from operations may be a more appropriate way to value Apple shares."
08:14 AAPL Apple: Color on quarter (95.34 +2.10)
Credit Suisse notes APPL delivered strong 2Q07 results as better than expected sales of Macs and a favorable component pricing environment combined to deliver upside to both consensus rev and EPS ests. Rev of $5.26 bln was ahead of the Street's $5.17 bln while EPS of $0.87 exceeded consensus of $0.64. Firm says the highlight of the quarter was AAPL's gross margin, which increased to 35.1% from 31.2% in the DecQ driven by a favorable component pricing environment, particularly in NAND flash and memory. Firm is actually reducing their rev ests for FY07 and FY08 to sync with AAPL's accounting treatment of iPhone and Apple TV sales, which will be recognized on a subscription basis over a 2 year life. However, they are increasing their earnings ests for FY07 to $3.56 from $3.21 and FY08 to $4.30 from $3.84 to incorporate improved business mix...
Prudential notes AAPL reported a strong MarQ, with EPS of $0.87 and rev of $5.29 bln. The earnings upside was primarily driven by significantly higher than expected gross margin, attributed to a highly favorable component cost environment. Firm says AAPL's JunQ guidance of $0.66 EPS appears conservative. We believe that Apple will continue to benefit from a favorable component cost environment and are forecasting $0.77 EPS for JunQ on gross margin of 33.2%. Firm expects Mac strength, higher gross margin, and new products ramps to continue to drive earnings upside for AAPL over the next several quarters. Firm raises their tgt to $115 from $110.
14:50 AAPL Apple: Earnings Preview (94.85 +1.61) -Update-
Today after the close AAPL is scheduled to report Q2 results, with analysts expecting EPS of $0.63 on revs of $5.16 bln.
JMP expects in-line revenue with top line upside potentially coming from the Mac business and the iTunes business (gift cards from the holidays). For the past several quarters, the firm notes Apple has beaten gross margin forecasts, and EPS upside is likely to come from better-than-expected margins due to continued favorable component pricing, particularly N.A.N.D flash pricing, which continues to fall. The firm is forecasting rev of $5.0 bln and EPS of $0.59. Their gross margin est is 29.7%, and a 50 basis point out-performance would translate to $0.02 of upside...
Amtech believes Macs will likely come in towards the lower-end of expectations due to a pause ahead of Mac OS X Leopard's launch and anticipation of new 8-core Mac Pros. However, the firm says sales of iPods appear better than expected. They believe that following the likely launch of Leopard at its WWDC 2007 conference starting on June 11, Mac sales are positioned to resume accelerated growth. The firm says for the June quarter, AAPL will likely offer its usual conservative guidance. They are modeling $5.3 bln and $0.65 which compares to consensus ests of $5.5 bln and $0.68. Click here for technical levels of interest.
13:15 AAPL Apple: Former Apple CFO Anderson said CEO Jobs, board approved grants, says Jobs gave him 'reassurance' on grants (93.02 -0.51) -Update-
The following statement is attributed to Mr. Fred Anderson's attorney Jerome Roth, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in San Francisco. This statement was issued following the announcement by the United States S.E.C t had settled claims against Mr. Anderson arising from his tenure as Chief Financial Officer at Apple (AAPL).
"... With respect to the Executive Team grant that is the subject of the complaint against him: -- Fred was told by Steve Jobs in late January 2001 that Mr. Jobs had the agreement of the Board of Directors for the Executive Team grant on January 2, 2001.
"At the time Mr. Jobs provided Fred this assurance, Fred cautioned Mr. Jobs that the Executive Team grant would have to be priced based on the date of the actual Board agreement or there could be an accounting charge.
"He further advised Mr. Jobs that the Board would have to confirm its prior approval in a legally satisfactory method. He was told by Mr. Jobs that the Board had given its prior approval and the Board would verify it.
"Fred relied on these statements by Mr. Jobs and from them concluded the grant was being properly handled. --
"Finally, Mr. Anderson understood that the Board of Directors, which consisted of sophisticated corporate executives of national stature, including the former Chief Financial Officer of IBM, verified the January 17 date by signing in early February 2001 a Unanimous Written Consent with an effective date of January 17.
"It now appears the Board may not have given the necessary prior approval to the grants, contrary to what Mr. Anderson understood from Mr. Jobs and from the Board's signing of the UWC with an effective date of January 17..."
07:46 AAPL Apple, Amazon set to squeeze music labels over DRM - AppleInsider (93.51 ) -Update-
AppleInsider reports following its landmark deal with EMI this month to banish digital rights mgmt from the label's iTunes tracks, Apple is said to be flush with confidence and is pushing the other three major labels into an unenviable negotiating position, according to clandestine sources within the organizations.
Though Sony-BMG (SNE), Universal and Warner (WMG)have all to date successfully resisted calls to end the use of DRM, the cos now find themselves on the defensive. The iTunes operator is allegedly using the clout gained from the EMI contract to push for DRM-free music when royalties and variable pricing had been the focal points until April.
The situation was made all the worse on Monday when Britain's paper The Times caught word of a potential Amazon (AMZN) deal that would also have the web retailer sell music without digital padlocks, but choosing MP3 files over Apple's preferred AAC formats.
Taking an even more bullish stance than its prospective rival, Amazon is reportedly drawing on the momentum of the EMI decision in hopes that it can secure ideal terms for its store's May debut -- even if it means dropping most major-label music in favor of EMI and independents, as the co doesn't have the safety net of protected but lower-quality DRM should talks end in failure.
07:37 AAPL Apple: Criminal case on backdating looks unlikely against Jobs - Mercury News (90.97 )
Mercury News reports months into a federal investigation of stock-option backdating at Apple, prospects for a criminal case against powerhouse CEO Steve Jobs appear dim. A Mercury News examination of a massive 2001 stock-options grant to Jobs that was backdated through bogus documentation - the central focus of the federal probe - shows there is scant evidence, if any, to support criminal charges against the Silicon Valley icon.
Despite Apple's disclosure that Jobs approved widespread backdating at Apple, there is no evidence he directed the backdating of his own grant or covered it up afterward, based on a review of regulatory filings and interviews with lawyers intimately familiar with the grant who asked not to be identified. Without such proof, federal prosecutors cannot show the type of egregious misconduct they've targeted in the blossoming options scandal.
A close review of the events that led to the controversial grant reveals that the backdating emerged from a good-faith, although clumsy, attempt by Apple's board of directors to reward its star chief executive for resurrecting a moribund co.
07:44 AAPL Apple: Target stores to pick up Apple TV - AppleInsider (90.27 )
AppleInsider reports Target (TGT) is poised to become just the second third-party retailer to market Apple's new Apple TV device at its brick-and-mortar retail stores. The shop will join Best Buy (BBY), which agreed to carry the inaugural Apple living room device just last month.
People familiar with Target's plans say units should turn up in official capacity at several locations by month's end, exploiting the monthly rollover to establish a presence. Like Apple's own retail stores, Target will reportedly equip at least some locations with a full-blown demonstration unit hooked up to a widescreen HDTV, showcasing the product for shoppers unfamiliar with its concept.
It's unclear at this time how many of Target's stores plan to carry the Apple media system or, similarly, the size of the merchant's commitment to flashy showfloor display units.
While undoubtedly welcome as another means of exposing newcomers to its 40GB wireless media streamer, Apple's move into Target may initially see slow results. Checks with Best Buy reveal that the retailer's own foray into Apple TV sales has turned up a relatively low level of interest from shoppers thus far -- in some cases leaving stores with the majority of their initial allotments.
06:41 AAPL Apple: iPhone on target for end of June launch, AT&T says - Reuters.com (90.40 )
Reuters.com reports the iPhone, Apple's first mobile handset, is on schedule to hit the U.S. mkt at the end of June, a senior exec with AT&T (T) said on Wednesday. "Our expectations are good. Our testing has been good," said AT&T COO Randall Stephenson. "The iPhone is on target to launch in June."
There had been speculation by some blogs and reports that the iPhone could be delayed due to technical issues. He made the comments while in Boston to speak at a Boston College Chief Executives' Club luncheon.
Stephenson said he was not sure how many iPhones will be available at launch. "We're sorting through that right now," he said. "We got a million people waiting to buy it so we're hoping we get a million."
09:09 AAPL Apple: AmTech adds AAPL to focus list; tgt raised to $145 (91.43 ) -Update-
AmTech adds AAPL to their Focus List and raises their tgt to $145 from $118. Firm says that while they have been AAPL bulls for years, they were hoping to see a similar pullback to last year to become even more aggressive in their stance.
Given recent datapoints, they are incrementally bullish and believe investors should buy AAPL aggressively at current levels as they add it to their Focus List today.
Firm notes three reasons for adding AAPL to their focus list: 1) sources indicate that a rebate or carrier subsidy for iPhone of $50-150 is under serious consideration; 2) believe AAPL will be paid a "bounty" for each customer signed up through its stores; and 3) sources indicate that Vodafone is most likely iPhone's European carrier partner.
Bootz-Is there a direct play on physical cobalt like U.TO on uranium?