Apple may sell 400,000 iPads during the first week of accepting pre-orders for the tablet device, according to two reports Thursday. Apple may sell 200,000 iPads online by mid-Friday for delivery and an equal number destined for pick-up at Apple retail locations. The Cupertino, Calif. company said it will begin shipping iPads April 3. “I

View original here:
Report: 400K iPads May Be Pre-Sold By Friday

Apple has devs to the grindstone for a new social networking app called iGroups. Patently Apple reports that docs out today from the US Patent Office describe a new service that would work on your iPhone and probably MobileMe, too. Let’s say you’re attending SXSW: iGroups would keep you in touch with your co-workers and friends by

See more here:
Up Next: iGroups, Apple’s Social Location App

9to5Mac reports that Wired magazine showed off the tablet version of their magazine at SXSW , and dropped hints of an iPhone version soon to come. It’s a whole lot more than a screen version of a print product! Wired simply ported over their entire March issue into tablet form. Swiping horizontally acts a bit like a table of contents, taking you through the ads and the first pages of sections and stories. Scrolling vertically lets you scan through the whole content of longer stories. The app is very sensitive to orientation, with different images being displayed for an article based on whether the device was tilted in portrait or landscape mode. See about 3:30 into the video below for an example. A tap brings up a scrubber that lets you scroll through the magazine, seeing thumbnails–perfect for those who tend to riffle through publications. Some articles included tap links, bringing up additional information at a touch

View original here:
Wired Demonstrates its iPad Version of the Magazine

At least two media sites are following Apple’s no-Flash policy when it comes to the iPad. The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio have produced versions of their Web sites with front pages that do not require Adobe’s Flash, reports say. However, possibly more interesting is how publishers view the iPad experience differently than

View original post here:
WSJ, NPR to Create iPad Web Sites with Limited Flash

While traditional print publishers are practically falling over themselves to get their product on Apple’s new iPad, the new media has taken the attitude of “Talk to the hand.” Cult of Mac is reporting on an Association of Online Publishers poll which hit up 1,500 members and asked their opinion about where the business is heading this year. The good news is, most of them were optimistic — just not about iPads or even e-readers in general. Half of the poll’s respondents predicted “strong growth” as high as 10 percent, “mainly from display ads and an uptick in video, with a number of smaller revenue streams adding to the bottom line.” But for whatever reason, when asked about tablets and e-readers this year, “that sunny outlook was a bit scarce.” Here’s a sampling of what the Association of Online Publishers had to say in video interviews, courtesy of Cult of Mac : “These are still really really embryonic devices that are great and fantastic, and I want to be at the top of the queue to buy one and play with it,” remarks Mail Online MD James Bromley. “But we’re talking about a very, very narrow subsection of society that will have these in 2010. This is the time that we learn about these devices — ‘11, ‘12, ‘13 is when these might become slightly more mainstream.” Conde Nast Digital UK manager Emanuela Pignataro was even more direct: “E-readers will be the novelty of 2010. I don’t think it is a short-term adoption — it will take years.” “I don’t think we’re quite there yet,” says Thomson Reuters consumer GM Tim Faircliff. Finally, Incisive Media digital manager John Barnes: “The issue with tablets is, they’re not really servicing the needs of color, with graphics and diagrams — it’s a bit like version one of the iPod.” Somebody should tell all of this to the rumored 150,000 people who preordered their iPad last Friday…

Read the original:
iPad Will Have “Absolutely No” Impact in 2010, Says Online Publishers

Electronista reports that Wearable began shipping their AirStash wireless flash drive today. Those concerned about the lack of an SD card slot now have a highly portable way of accessing media on SD/SDHC cards wirelessly. The AirStash is effectively a portable WiFi access point with an SD slot. It has a pop-out USB plus for easily loading files from your computer to an SD card. Then carry the small unit with you and access it as a wireless network through the iPhone app. It has its own battery, so it doesn’t add any extra drain on your iPhone. It connects at 802.11g rather than 802.11n, so don’t be expecting 720p HD video on an iPad. But they claim a full 30 frames per second at 640×480. The AirStash supports a wide variety of video, audio, and image formats, but surprisingly also claims support for web pages, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, PowerPoint, and Acrobat files. Since it acts as a WiFi access point, it should let you take extra documents with you on a trip and share them with every laptop in the meeting. Don’t have a DVD system in your car? Your kids in the back can watch movies on their iPod touches streamed from an AirStash as seen in the video below:      

See more here:
Stream Media from an SD card on the iPhone and iPad

Gizmodo reports that Stephen Vale has filed suit against Apple on five break-of-warranty counts and one claim of unfair competition. Why? He perspired so heavily that the headphone inline controller shorted out. According to the filing, Vale perspired heavily during a workout session and the moisture ran down the cord into the inline controller. He took it to his local Apple Store, and they gave him a replacement cord–presumably without handling the original unit. Apparently the new cord didn’t work, which got Vale worked up into a…well, you know. Vale’s point is that Apple advertises the Shuffle as being perfect for "working out," "running" and "on the road"–which he says is false. The filing also states that when he went to the Apple Store, "Plaintiff was told it was alright to exercise with the music player, but not to sweat." The class action suit is filed in the state of California, and seeks unspecified damages for Vale and other sweaty Californians who join the class.

View post: 
Apple Sweats Out iPod Shuffle Lawsuit

DigiTimes reported today that NAND flash memory manufacturers have been caught in a tight situation. Apple may be moving to secure long-term supply contracts to ensure they have all they need for iPods, iPhones, and iPads. The demand for flash memory has been steady, but manufacturers haven’t invested in new capacity because keeping the supply limited enables them to keep prices up. But, "some NAND flash controller suppliers have indicated that their supply may not be able to satisfy customer demand in the second quarter." A shortage of flash memory could be disastrous as Apple hopes to push millions of iPads and, hopefully, a refresh of the iPhone. In November 2005, Apple signed long-term deals with flash memory suppliers that included prepaying up to $1.25 billion in three months to ensure a steady supply through 2010. But since then, they have launched the iPhone and now the iPad. Apple’s demand is a significant chunk of the NAND flash memory market, and "sources said Apple may start negotiating long-term supply contracts with its chip partners in the second quarter." Samsung Electronics is said to continue favoring profitability over shipment volume, meaning they may choose not to be part of Apple’s new deal as they were in 2005. Some manufacturer will see the potential and bite the expansion bullet, though. The opportunity is too great to ignore.

Read more: 
Apple Looking to Ensure Supply of Flash Memory

CNN Money and Fortune Brainstorm Tech reported that a new analysis from Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster continued to advise clients to invest in Apple. He pointed to Mac and iPod sales as reasons for optimism. Wall Street estimated a 22% increase in Mac unit sales for the first quarter of 2010, but January and February numbers show a 39% increase over 2009. The iPod models have turned a corner in sales as well. After sales drops for 16 months in a row, January and February revenue was up 7%. Munster points out that the increases are skewed somewhat by the fact that the beginning of 2009 was the midst of the recession, so sales were down. In addition, the average selling price of both Macs and iPods is down, meaning people are looking for lower priced models. DailyTech considers the Mac numbers surprising because of the age of Apple’s lineup

Read the original: 
Mac Sales Go Up 39% in 2010

CNN Money and Fortune Brainstorm Tech reported that a new analysis from Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster continued to advise clients to invest in Apple. He pointed to Mac and iPod sales as reasons for optimism. Wall Street estimated a 22% increase in Mac unit sales for the first quarter of 2010, but January and February numbers show a 39% increase over 2009. The iPod models have turned a corner in sales as well. After sales drops for 16 months in a row, January and February revenue was up 7%. Munster points out that the increases are skewed somewhat by the fact that the beginning of 2009 was the midst of the recession, so sales were down. In addition, the average selling price of both Macs and iPods is down, meaning people are looking for lower priced models. DailyTech considers the Mac numbers surprising because of the age of Apple’s lineup. "Apple’s computer lineup, with the exception of the new i7 iMacs, is rather dated.  The problem is particularly severe in the MacBook Pro series, whose hardware currently trails even drastically cheaper models from competitors like ASUSTek." There’s room for even more optimism considering the future. The iPad launch in April should be a huge shot of revenue, and an iPhone update is expected this summer.

See more here:
Mac Sales Go Up 39% in 2010