Apple’s share on smartphone market up to 17%
Thirty percent of U.S. consumers who purchased the Apple iPhone 3G ditched their previous wireless carrier to go with AT&T, the iPhone’s exclusive stateside carrier, according to a new report from the NPD Group. In the report, NPD Group, a wireless market research firm, said carrier defectors made the leap from June through August 2008. The iPhone 3G was released in mid-July. The AT&T boom surpassed industry standards, which saw just 23 percent of consumers, on average, switch carriers in the same time period. NPD Group estimated that 47 percent of new AT&T iPhone users that switched came from Verizon Wireless, while another 24 percent left T-Mobile and 19 percent jumped from Sprint.
The launch of Apple’s latest generation iPhone also boosted the device’s clout in the consumer smart phone market. Before the 3G, iPhone sales accounted for 11 percent of the consumer market for smart phones, while after the 3G model’s launch, Apple propelled to 17 percent of the market. That jump in market share helped make the Apple iPhone 3G the top-selling consumer smart phone from June to August. The iPhone 3G was followed by Research In Motion (RIM) Ltd.’s BlackBerry Curve, the BlackBerry Pearl and the Palm Centro. NPD Group’s report also found that average smart phone prices are on the decline. Between June and August 2008, the average smart phone ran $174, a 26 percent drop from the same period last year, when the average smart phone had a price tag of $236.
Source: CRN
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Microsoft revamps Zune to compete with Apple
In response to Apple’s ongoing revamping spell of its iPod line-up, Microsoft has come up with all new refreshed series of its Zune media players. Now, Zune users would be able to mark the songs they listen on the built-in FM radio of device, and subsequently purchase it, as soon as they reach any Wi-Fi hotspot. Furthermore, the storage capacities of the Zune players are also being upgraded with a 16 GB flash memory support, which will have a price tag of USD200, and a 120 GB hard drive version, which will cost around USD250.
In addition Zune users can use the wireless connectivity - the feature that scores over Apple’s iPod series - for syncing music, images and videos with their PCs and other Zune players. Launching on 16th of September, the new improved Zune series would allow third party creation of music channels that would help users in exploring new melodies. Chris Stephenson, GM Global Marketing Zune stated that the feature of discovering pleasurable music would fuel new life into digital music services.
Source: ITProPortal
Apple sues Psystar for cloning Mac
When Florida-based Psystar, a small startup, announced that it was going to make Mac clones for dirt cheap, many rolled their eyes — they’d heard that line before. During Gil Amelio’s tenure at Apple, clones were briefly allowed, but when Steve Jobs returned to the company he carried out a campaign to purge the market of every last clone. So when Psystar announced a $399 Mac with strong specs comparable to a $949 Mac Mini desktop, many figured the end was near for the company. These thoughts were put on hold about whether Psystar would deliver, as some found a handful of evidence to indicate the company might be a farce. However, Psystar proved itself to be real, shipping units to reviewers. It also unveiled a small server lineup to compete with Apple’s niche offerings in the server market.
