News tagged ‘price’

This time we talk about Algoriddin’s djay 3, new apps from Frog Design, 4iThumbs product and WebIS Pocket Informant organizer.

Algoriddin’s djay 3 is an excellent app with easy-to-use interface designed to allow you to mix and play music. The price is US 50$ in stores and on the website.

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We're continuing to cover news from the MWSF 2010, and this time the talk will be about MacSpeech Scribe app, MusicSkins accesories, Kanex adapter and CarMD device.

MacSpeech is known for its MacSpeech Dictate program that allows user to speak to Mac and wind up with formatted text. At the MWSF company released MacSpeech Scribe (US 149$), which turns recorded audio into RTF-files (that are readable by any word processor). It doesn't create text with punctuation and you have to train the program by correcting its mistakes, but with the Nuance engine from the previous app it looks really impressive.

MusicSkins was also present at the MacWorld 2010. This time there were vinyl skins not only for Apple devices, but for any gadgets known (at least they say they add 5-10 devices to their roster per week). Company reps told us the accessories for the iPad are also ready to be printed, but before it’ll go to the market they want to make sure their production will work well and fit correctly to the device. At this moment skins for iPod and iPhone (US 15$) and for the Macbook (US 30$) are available.

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Steve Jobs’s attempts to convince publishers to provide the content in a useful digital form were not that successful and the negotiations initiated in February have "stumbled."

Some newsmakers report of "friendly" talks, but speak of Apple's business model as a crucial change for the publishing business. They aware of the impact iTunes had had on the songs industry in 2003. Then the number of downloads of single songs from Apple influenced the resulting purchases of the singers’ albums.

Apple has been conquering the e-reader market long before the new iPad was on offer. So that is not a surprise that such companies as Amazon, which previously dominated the market have to increase their prices in response to the iPad’s outbreak.

Several users report that Apple started allowing iPod touch owners to upgrade to iPhone OS 3 for no charge.

The information initially comes from PocketGamer's Tracy Erickson:

Syncing a second generation iPod touch today with an older version of the software prompted me to accept the free upgrade. How exciting.

Just as when asked to download and install the latest firmware on an iPhone, iTunes simply asks for confirmation - no signing in to pay for the software.

Sounds like free a good price for iPod touch 3.1.3 upgrade.

PS: Jailbreakers: think before updating - you might lose the ability to jailbreak your device if you upgrade the firmware.

Update: Several users confirmed the free update. However a number of users report that they are still asked to pay for the update.

iPhone 3G is on left and 4G is on the right

iPhone repair site iResQ.com has posted photos of the parts for the iPhone 4G that will be released later this year.

As we can see, the most notable feature is a front panel, which is approximately 1/4” taller than the iPhone 3GS.

You can also notice the reflective surface on the new front panel that is located just above the earpiece slot. iResQ suggests it is a likely location for a proximity sensor, though that wouldn’t explain the need for the mirrored surface to be visible on the front of the device.

The LCD appears to be factory glued to the digitizer. This looks more like the iPhone 2G than the 3G or 3GS, as the latest versions have a digitizer that can be separated from the LCD. This means for us that the 4G screen repair prices will be much higher since both parts will have to be replaced at once.

Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope recently met with Apple executives:

Apple wants the iPad to be the best device for a few key use cases. For instance, the company believes it could eventually be seen as superior to both handheld and notebook devices for browsing the Internet, using the App Store, and consuming mobile media (video, photos, and e-books). Nevertheless, in other areas, notebooks, the iPhone, or an iPod may be more appropriate. This clear segmentation of capabilities suggests that cannibalization may be less of a concern than most currently believe.

Shope writes about the price:

it remains to be seen how much traction the iPad gets initially, management noted that it will remain nimble (pricing could change if the company is not attracting as many customers as anticipated).

Sounds great. What do you think about $200 iPad? Would you buy one?

Debra Shinder from TechRepublic posted an article about 10 reasons why she won’t buy an iPad. As time passes by her thoughts provoke more and more passionate discussions on this topic. So here are these 10 reasons:

1. There is no physical keyboard (or you need to buy an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard).
2. One size doesn’t fit all (it doesn’t fill the gap between mobiles and netbooks as 9.7” inches is an exact screen size of netbook, and you cannot put it into your pocket).
3. It runs iPhone OS (so there is no multi-tasking).
4. There’s not enough storage (and you cannot expand it via USB-flashdrives).
5. There’s no HDMI output or camera (if you can watch video, why you can’t make videoconferences with your friends?).
6. There are no USB ports (and you would not be able to connect your own web-cam, for example).
7. There is no flash memory slot.
8. The price is not right (it just seems to be illogical to pay 200$ for additional 48 GB )
9. It is locked in. All apps are in AppStore, and good ones cost money.
10. It is all about network (why should people change their internet provider to AT&T just because of purchasing some new device?).

While Debra compares fully-equipped 829$ iPad with a powerful and though compact laptop, it seems like she’s looking for an ability to make use of all its capacities. On the other hand, TUAW critics and Apple fans say that iPad is designed to be an enhanced ebook-reader that makes it easy to handle everyday operations like checking e-mails or surfing the web.

What do you think?

BroadPoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall calculated the real price of the Apple iPad. His numbers are based on the price of all components.

The flash memory and the aluminum case both cost about $25, while the Apple A4 processor is just $15. The total cost for 16GB Wi-Fi iPad (US$499) is just $270.50. Manufacturing adds $10 and warranty service costs add up to $20.

Thr 32GB and 64GB Wi-Fi models add even more margin. The 32GB model costs only $25.50 more than the 16GB, but the suggested retail price is $100 more. Apple will really make money on the 64GB model, which costs $76.50 more than the 16GB device but sells for $200 more.

After the iPad presentation on Wednesday Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal journalist, had a conversation with Steve Jobs who revealed interesting information about the new product.

Books for the iPad were rumored to cost between $13 and $15, and Mossberg asked, why customers will purchase books on this price if Amazon charges only $9.99. Jobs answered: “The prices will be the same”.

Later Mossberg inquired Steve whether he can use Pages application to write his review and then send it to his editors in the Microsoft Word format, as his colleagues doesn't know anything about Pages. Jobs told that the mobile version of Pages allows saving files as Word documents.

The journalist also asked about battery life on the device, and Jobs answered that iPad offers 140 hours of music playback with the screen off or 10 hours of reading. It seems not so much in the comparison with e-books, but Jobs revealed that 10 hours is enough, as nobody reads for 10 hours, and plugging the device or docking it in the end is "not a big deal".

Apple's finally announced the iPad (Apple Tablet). It is perfect for tasks like browsing, email, photos, e-books and videos. It's a half-inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds (680g), with a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen IPS LCD display and it's running a custom 1GHz Apple "A4" chip developed by the P.A. Semi team. The 10-hour battery life and a month of standby is quite exciting.

There will be devices with 16, 32 and 64GB. All iPads will get a 30-pin Dock connector, a speaker, a microphone, Bluetooth, 802.11n WiFi and optional 3G, as well as an accelerometer and a compass. There's also a keyboard dock, which connects underneath in the portrait orientation. iPad supports up to 1024x768 VGA out and 480p composite out through dock adapter cables. There is a camera attachment kit that lets you import photos from your camera over USB or directly through an SD reader.

The device is managed by iTunes, just like the iPhone and iPod Touch. iPad can run iPhone apps: either pixel-for-pixel in a window, or pixel-doubled fullscreen. Developers can also target the new screen size using the updated iPhone OS SDK, which is available today.

The 3G version runs on AT&T and comes with new data plans: 250MB for $14.99 and an unlimited plan for $29.99 a month contract-free. Activations are handled on the iPad, so you can activate and cancel whenever you want. Every iPad is unlocked (!) and comes with a GSM "micro-SIM".

The price starts at $499 for 16GB, 32GB for $599, and $699 64GB. Adding 3G costs a $130 per model, so the most expensive model (64GB / 3G) is $829. The WiFi-only model will ship in 60 days, and the 3G models will come in 90.

UPDATE: The 3G version will also have A-GPS.

Here is our live blog from Apple's event:

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There is only one day left until Apple's event on Jan 27, where Apple Tablet is expected to be presented. The number of rumors thow grow rapidly. There are discussions about the name, the price, specifications and much more.

Here are two images published on TechCrunch:

The photos are really well done. In previous rumors we have heard that the tablet should have a shape similar to that of the iPhone and a Home button. How Apple Tablet will actually look like? Nobody knows yet.

In addition to the photos here are couple videos, which look like fake, but a very good one.

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According to a (now deleted) tweet by major German electronics retailer Media Markt, the Apple iPad will go on sale March 1st at a price of 499 Euros (~$700) with T-Mobile contract or 899 Euros (~$1200) without. In the US prices would likely be around $500-$600 with contract and $999 without. These numbers were calculated comparing Apple items sold in Euros and USD (Mac Mini: 549 Euros / $599 USD, MacBook 899 Euros / $999 USD).

The company, however, quickly deleted the tweet but not before it was retweeted a number of times.

Analyst Ashok Kumar of Northeast Securities shared his ideas about the future Apple Tablet device. Kumar said the tablet processor will be manufactured by Samsung and will be based on the Cortex-A8 ARM architecture with a speed of about 1GHz. There are also rumors that the tablet, along with the next generation iPhone, would be based on ARM's new Cortex-A9 architecture with two or four cores.

Also this week, Jeffrey Fidacaro of Susquehanna Financial provided a projection of how much the internal components of Apple's tablet might cost without even knowing for sure what they are. The analyst assumes the device will run on an Intel Atom processor, would include 2GB of DRAM, and sport a 3.2 megapixel camera. If Apple went with an ARM-based processor, Fidacaro said, the tablet's cost could be reduced by as much as $50. If Apple will use a 128GB SSD, the price will be increased by several hundred dollars. Here is a quick list:

The Wall Street Journal reports, that Apple will begin shipping its rumored tablet in March for about $1000.

While the shipping time hasn't been finalized and could change, people briefed on the matter said the new tablet device will come with a 10- to 11-inch touch screen. One of the people briefed on the matter added that Apple was working on two different material finishes for the tablet, though it was unclear whether the Cupertino, Calif., company was just testing them or planning to come out with multiple versions of the device at different prices.

Analysts say thatthis price might include a subscription to a nationwide Wi-Fi wireless service.