If Palm has problems now, wait until this summer, one analyst predicts. Not only will Apple likely have introduced a new iPhone, but there is BlackBerry-maker RIM, as well as the growing strength of Android-powered handsets. UBS analyst Maynard Um predicts Apple will unveil a new iPhone in June. Although Palm has a deal to promote

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Analyst: Next iPhone Means More Trouble for Palm

After being promised several months ago, Amazon’s free Kindle for Mac has finally arrived in beta form — right as Apple’s iPad and its accompanying iBooks app looms large over the horizon. Kindle for Mac joins a vast array of available options for Amazon e-book buyers. In addition to the company’s own $259 Kindle 2 and $489 Kindle DX hardware options, e-books purchased through Amazon can also be read on the iPhone or iPod touch, Blackberry, Windows PC and now Mac — and presumably an updated iPad version is yet to come as well. According to AppleInsider , Kindle for Mac allows users to purchase and download from Amazon’s ever-expanding catalog of more than 450,000 e-books and read them on the device of your choice. Amazon’s Whispersync technology is featured on all versions of the software and hardware, which automatically saves and synchronizes bookmarks and the last page read across devices. For instance, you can start reading an e-book on the new Mac version, then open the same tome on your iPhone and pick right up where you left off, on the go. "Kindle for Mac is the perfect companion application for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX," said Amazon Kindle director Jay Marine. "For those customers around the world who don’t yet have a Kindle, Kindle for Mac is a great way to instantly access and read the most popular new releases as well as their old favorites." Of course, Amazon would probably prefer that e-book buyers still favor the hardware Kindle over the software options, but ultimately the company has done the right thing by making it available on every possible platform — especially given that Apple will likely have its own iBooks for iPad in its own walled garden as usual. Kindle for Mac isn’t quite feature complete yet — Amazon plans to add more new features, such as full text search and the ability to create and edit notes and highlights. The free beta version is available for download now and requires Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 or greater and an Intel processor

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Amazon Kindle for Mac Beta Now Available

A new survey by research firm Crowd Science brings bad news for BlackBerry maker RIM , and some good news for Apple. The company that comes out best of all, though, is Google, whose Android operating system seems poised to see some major growth in the near future. The survey, which Crowd Science performs semi-annually, addresses smartphone brand loyalty. This time around, it found that iPhone and Android customers were well satisfied with their choice of smartphone, but that BlackBerry is hemorrhaging users badly to both of those primary competitors. A little over 90 percent of both iPhone and Android smartphone owners plan to stay with that OS when they purchase their next device, while nearly 40 percent of BlackBerry owners said they would opt for an iPhone next time around, and 34 percent said they’d go with Android instead of a RIM device. It’s bad news for the Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry maker, and this latest survey shows that Apple isn’t exclusively to blame for the company’s steady decline. According to Crowd Science CEO John Martin: These results show that the restlessness of Blackberry users with their current brand hasn’t just been driven by the allure of iPhone. Rather, Blackberry as a brand just isn’t garnering the loyalty seen with other mobile operating systems

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BlackBerry to Lose More Ground to iPhone, Android: Survey

A few years ago it would’ve been only the insane and the insanely prescient who were predicting that Apple would replace RIM in terms of world mobile phone market share. Now it doesn’t seem that outlandish, but the question of how soon we’ll actually see it happen remains up in the air. According to a new financial analysis company, Trefis (via Forbes ), the iPhone will pass BlackBerries in 2011. So as of next year, the iPhone will supposedly overtake RIM’s varied line of smartphones, despite offering far less in terms of consumer choice, and being limited to only one network in major markets like the U.S. So how’s that supposed to happen? Before we get to how , let’s look at why Trefis thinks this information is important. If you’re looking to buy Apple stock, then it’s very important indeed. Trefis estimates that around 52 percent of Apple’s stock value is dependent upon its mobile phone business, so that as the iPhone’s global market share continues to grow, the stock price will climb accordingly. They have a neat little tool that illustrates this, and you can set your own prediction to see how it affects the model.

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Analyst: iPhone to Overtake BlackBerry in 2011

Yeah, yeah, we all know those cell phones glued to our ears are little microwave ovens beaming their death rays directly into our pineal glands.  And for years, the debate about how dangerous (or not) that might be has raged. An Israeli app-development startup called Tawkon decided to attack the issue head-on, creating an iPhone app that predicts the amount of radiation your phone is pumping out, based on factors like how far you are from a cell tower, whether you’re in standby mode or actually on a call, even what kind of iPhone you own (e.g. the 3GS’s improved chipset produce lower radiation levels). Not surprisingly, the House of Jobs isn’t happy that an app exists that’ll tell you how big a death ray your telephone is.  So far, they’ve rejected Tawkon’s App Store submissions, on the grounds that a diagnostic tool of this nature would create confusion with iPhone owners from a usability perspective.  Undeterred, Tawkon continues to petition Apple for App Store approval (and a suggested price tag between US$5.00-10.00) while developing Blackberry and Android versions.  [Via TechCrunch ]

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New App Measures iPhone Radiation: Apple, In Turn, Radiates Annoyance

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , Mac Software Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for March 2, 2010: Macintosh iPod Macintosh The Mac Sale is now live with a new bundle. This bundle includes amazing apps such as PathFinder and VideoConverter Pro. As usual, the bundle costs $49.99—a steal for over $500 worth of applications. Yazsoft has announced Playback 1.5 , a major update to their popular zero configuration media server for Mac OS X. Playback allows anyone to share their media with any Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or other supported UPnP compatible device. Playback can also share media stored in folders or even make entire disks available to a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. By default, Playback will share almost any content on the users system. UNIEA has kicked off their UNIEA Omniverse Photo Contest . They’re looking for Omniverse case users to submit photos of their Omniverse in action for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to unieastore.com. Plus, all photo submissions will be used to create a new Omniverse video that they’ll be publishing in the Spring. In order to give folks who want to be in the contest a chance to pick up an Omniverse case (in case they already don’t have one), they’re giving all registrants a 20% off coupon code to use at unieastore.com. Mac users can now benefit from secure connections to remote business networks over the Internet

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Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – March 2, 2010

According to new data from Gartner, Apple’s iPhone operating system is the third most dominant smartphone platform in the world, with a 14.4% market share. The iPhone still trails Nokia’s Symbian operating system and RIM’s BlackBerry OS. The discrepancy between RIM and Apple is only by five percent… but RIM has only grown their market share

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Gartner data places iPhone OS as third biggest smartphone platform globally

Google’s first smartphone tries to give the iPhone a run for its money.   Hot on the heels of the Motorola Droid release, Google entered the mobile-phone market full-bore with its HTC-built Nexus One. Sporting the Android 2.1 OS, the first official Google phone has been deemed magical enough to be sold exclusively by the search giant and can only be purchased directly from the big G’s online store–with or without a calling plan. The Nexus One has a pleasing heft (4.6 ounces with removable battery) and fits nicely in our hands. The phone is constructed with a volume rocker button on the side and a Sleep/Wake button at the top of the device, but no hard Mute button. Beneath the capacitive touchscreen, there’s a Blackberry-style trackball. We had high hopes for the trackball, but in fact its only redeeming quality was its ability to emit a warm glow announcing the occasional notification–navigating via the trackball felt cumbersome and imprecise. Nexus One also has the four buttons we’ve become accustomed to on the Android phones–Back, Menu, Home, and Search. Unfortunately they aren’t terribly touch-sensitive, and we frequently found ourselves mashing them more than once to get the phone to execute commands. They’re also quite close to the bottom of the touchscreen, and we often hit them instead of the spacebar while typing. Still, the Nexus One’s OLED screen is 800×480 pixels of gorgeous blazing color.

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Google Nexus One

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , Mac Software , Originals Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for February 22, 2010: Macintosh iPod Macintosh Kanex has announced the official pre-order availability of its Macworld 2010 Best of Show Award Winner: Kanex XD . This HDMI to Mini DisplayPort converter is specifically designed to give you multiple functionalities with your Apple iMac 27-inch display. Now you can enjoy your iMac 27-inch as both a desktop computer and an HDTV with the Kanex XD. Using the iMac’s beautifully backlit LED display, you can play your PlayStation3, Xbox 360 Elite, and Blu-Ray DVDs experiencing amazing HD visuals. Audio is also transmitted through the Mini DisplayPort into the iMac 27-inch for audio playback. Independent software developer Christian Kienle today announced Ebbinghaus 3.2 for Mac OS X. Ebbinghaus is an easy-to-use flash card application with a beautiful iTunes-like user interface. Organize your cards in decks, folders and smart decks. Ebbinghaus 3.2 comes with a lot of new refinements, including the ability to resize the study window

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Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – February 22, 2010

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Accessories , iPod , iPod Accessories , iPod Docks and Speakers , Reviews Provides: Backup battery and home charging for USB devices Developer: Technocel Minimum Requirements: Compatible USB device Price: $49.99 Availability: Now Pretty much everything that can be thrown into a pocket or purse these days can be recharged, and why not? Keep those landfills free of batteries, we say (although full of rechargeable devices, so I don’t think we’re making much progress there). Trouble is, your variety of devices have a variety of plugs, so what’s good for recharging one of them will likely not work with another. Technocel’s Universal PowerPak aims to solve that problem by giving you a combination backup rechargeable battery pack and home charger with 10 power tips to accomodate a wide variety of devices. The device itself measures nearly 3” high by about 2-1/2” wide and a little over 1-3/4” deep. It features nice rounded edges and a smooth, matte black finish. The outlet prongs on the back can be flipped up to hide when not in use, and the single USB port is located on the bottom (a dual USB model is forthcoming). If you’re plugging a USB device into the PowerPak, such as an iPhone or iPod, you’re set; no extra cable required. If your device’s connector port is a bit more proprietary—as with a Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Casio, or other device—you’ll need to also use two of the included cables. The first is a USB system cable to plug into the PowerPak. The second is the power tip for your particular device. The good news is that the tips are interchangeable, so you’d be hard pressed to find a device at your house that can’t be charged that with this (Technocel claims 95% compatibility out of the box). The bad news is that you have to screw the tips in, so switching from one to another is more work than it needs to be. The included power tips are: Micro USB (black) interchangeable tip for use with devices supporting a Micro USB connector from Motorola, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Kyocera, Sanyo and Toshiba Micro USB (gray) interchangeable tip for use with devices supporting a Micro USB connector from BlackBerry and Palm Mini USB (black) interchangeable tip for use with devices supporting a Mini USB connector from Motorola and Nextel Mini USB (gray) interchangeable tip for use with devices supporting a mini USB connector from BlackBerry and HTC Samsung compatible 520-pin interchangeable tip Casio compatible interchangeable tip Sony Ericsson compatible interchangeable tip Pantech compatible interchangeable tip Nokia compatible 2mm barrel plug / DC jack interchangeable tip LG compatible 18-pin interchangeable tip When the PowerPak is plugged into the wall, you can use it as a charger by plugging your device into the USB port; it’ll charge as if you’re plugging your device directly into the wall

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Appletell reviews the Technocel PowerPak portable battery and home charger