Leave it to Steve Jobs to upstage his own products. Rumored by some analysts to be a nonevent, Apple’s invitation-only music gathering today is already proving quite eventful. Audience members expecting Apple exec Phil Schiller to quarterback today’s proceedings were given a welcome surprise when CEO Steve Jobs took the stage in his first public appearance since his liver transplant surgery.
At 10 am PDT, Apple’s music-centric September event kicks off in San Francisco. All bets are off as to what the focus will be, but the faces and personalities–as well as the show from the stage–will be chronicled LIVE, right here. Stay tuned!
Today’s Apple event isn’t even underway yet and already the company is making adjustments to its iPod line. Early this morning, with no fanfare whatsoever, not even a “Back Soon” note on the Apple Store, the company lowered the prices of all its iPods save one–the Shuffle.
When Steve Jobs described the iPhone at D5 as “the best iPod we’ve ever made,” he set the bar high for future iterations of the iconic device. Now, in the run-up to tomorrow’s invitation-only Apple event, the question is: Will Apple reach the bar? And with what? The answer, if the latest rumors prove true, depends on your feelings about iPods with cameras.
The week that took us from August to September was one for the books over at BoomTown, especially if you’re 12.
Kara spent Monday morning at Activision Blizzard, where they are pushing forward with the entire Guitar Hero line, even as the game industry faces a nearly 50 percent decline in U.S. sales this year. Kara got to play hero to several of the forthcoming releases, including previewing the much anticipated DJ Hero console.
Sony’s Walkman outsold Apple’s iPod in Japan for the first time in more than four years last week, according to a report from research outfit BCN, which doesn’t count the iPhone as a portable media player.
Apple is indeed hosting a music-related event next Wednesday, Sept. 9, as first reported by Digital Daily. This morning, the company broadcast invitations to a product launch gathering to be held on that day at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
iPhone sales are trending well in the September quarter and Apple has app developers and its rivals to thank for it. This according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who says those two groups are doing a great deal to reinforce Apple’s brand.
If you’re a student planning on taking advantage of Apple’s “Buy a Mac, get a Free iPod touch” back-to-school promotion, you might want to plan a trip to the Apple Store in the very near future. Because sources in the Apple reseller community tell Ars Technica that it looks like the company’s current iPod line is being discontinued.
RealNetworks has submitted to Apple a free application that will bring its $15-a-month Rhapsody subscription music service to anyone with an iPhone or iPod touch and an EDGE, 3G, or Wi-Fi connection–assuming it’s approved by Apple, which is anything but a sure thing at this point.
Long-suffering Sirius XM investors who’ve held onto the company’s stock despite its troubles are being rewarded for their perseverance. Sirius shares are up over 13 percent today at 68 cents. And they’re up about 26 percent for the week. Why? A few reasons. The government’s “cash for clunkers” program and rumors of new iPod dock.
Apple appears to have a particular affinity for the unwritten no-poaching agreements said to be so popular among the nation’s biggest tech companies. Earlier this summer, the New York Times reported that Apple may have quietly negotiated an agreement with Google not to hire away each other’s top talent. Now, Bloomberg claims that the company attempted to win a similar commitment from Palm, but was rebuffed.
It has happened every September since 2005, and in a few short weeks it will happen once again. Apple is indeed planning a keynote event for the week of Sept. 7. And according to sources close to the company, the date is Wednesday, Sept. 9. Sadly, it will not feature the tablet device the company is rumored to be developing.
With the iPhone, Apple is doing to the handset industry what it has done to the PC industry with the Mac: Claiming an inordinate share of profits relative to revenue. Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimates that Apple, though it is only the fifth-largest handset vendor, claimed nearly a third of handset industry profits in the first half of 2009.
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
Best use of the Beeker “meee” ever.
While the technology behind the Telephone is new, the design is reassuringly old-fashioned, reminiscent of a phrenologist’s horn or ear-candle in form. We found the experience far more comfortable than the one we had with the Telegraph.
12:58 AM: Breakfast: Two schools of fish from Tokyo Bay. Calories: 782,000. How I was feeling when I ate this: confused, irradiated, hating my size.
11:37 AM: Exercise: “Taxi Stomp” (alternating legs, for 30 blocks). Calories burned: 148,900,183.
1983. The Beatles announce their first tour in thirteen years, but likewise announce that Michael Jackson will be going on tour with them as a one gigantic mega-concert event.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
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