As relayed by AppleInsider, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White has issued a new research note discussing the possibility of Apple releasing a “Smart TV” as soon as later this year. White’s speculation comes from “data points” picked up at a Chinese electronics trade show being held this week.
“Our research suggests this Smart TV would go well beyond the miniature $99 second-generation Apple TV that the company released last fall and provide a full-blown TV product for consumers,” White said.
He went on to say that although Apple has long been projected by company watchers to enter the HDTV market, the Mac maker now appears to be “moving down this pace at a faster pace than the market expected.”
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been the most vocal proponent of the idea of an Apple-branded television set integrating iTunes-focused video subscription services, but even Munster has typically seen such a release happening a bit further down the road than pegged in White’s new claims.
Apple executives have said in the past that the company has no interest in the television market given slim profit margins and an already-crowded field, but Munster has remained steadfast in his belief that Apple does have plans for this market, and White now appears to be joining him.
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Branding website Brandchannel today announced the results of its annual Brandcameo Product Placement Awards, offering a look at the brands and products featured in the films that topped the U.S. box office in 2010. According to the survey, Apple topped the overall charts with its products appearing in 30% of the top films for the year.
Apple products appeared in 30% of all films that were number one at the US box office in 2010, outstripping product placements by any other single brand. Nike, Chevrolet and Ford all tied for second most, each appearing in 24% of top films. Sony, Dell, Land Rover, and Glock appeared in at least 15% of top films.
Apple-branded products appeared in more than one-third of all number one films at the US box office between 2001 to 2010 (making 112 of the 334 #1 films in America since 2001). That is second only to Ford (144 of 334) and well ahead of third place Coca-Cola (96 of 334).
But while Apple did manage to top the list in 2010, its performance has actually declined over the past few years from a high of nearly 50% in 2008 to 44% in 2009 to 30% in 2010. The report claims that the decline is a result of other computer and electronic brands stepping up their product placement efforts in emulation of Apple’s success, with Sony’s film studios even going as far as to virtually eliminate Apple products from its films, instead inserting Sony VAIO products whenever possible.
Apple also fared well in Brandchannel‘s reader survey of the most memorable product placements of 2010, topping the rankings with 25% of respondents citing Apple or one of its products.
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Keyboard Buddy Case for iPhone 4
Taiwanese site Apple.pro reports (via AppleInsider) that Apple has been testing three separate prototypes for the fifth-generation iPhone, including one with a slide-out keyboard.
There are three iPhone5 prototype
one is a sliding cover which
Is the introduction of the keyboard after the side cover
Other prototypes are said to be similar to the iPhone 4 except with an upgraded battery and apparently an 8-megapixel camera, up from the 5-megapixel sensor found on the iPhone 4′s rear-facing camera. The report likens those prototypes to the transition from iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS, with the same basic design augmented primarily by improvements in the device’s internals.
As for claims of a slide-out keyboard, the rumor seems incongruous with Apple’s devotion to multi-touch functionality with on-screen virtual keyboards. Normally, we would simply cast such suggestions aside, but Apple.pro has a strong track record of providing leaked information from Apple’s product pipeline. Most recently, the site posted photos of a small Apple-branded touchscreen that appeared a few months later in the company’s latest iPod nano.
The site also notes several times that these are prototypes, suggesting that the model sporting a slide-out keyboard could simply a design put together by Apple for the purposes of testing out various form factors, and may never be intended for a public release.
Today’s report from Apple.pro also reiterates ongoing claims that the next-generation iPad will be thinner and will carry at least one built-in camera.
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Earlier today, we reported that Apple and Rovi have signed a “multi-year agreement” for Apple to license certain portions of Rovi’s intellectual property portfolio. While the regulatory filing revealing the deal offered no insight into which of Rovi’s several areas of operation Apple is lining up to utilize, one analyst believes that Apple may be targeting Rovi’s interactive television program guides as part of an initiative into live TV and DVR capabilities, possibly stretching as far as an Apple-branded television set.
The report comes from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster (via Silicon Alley Insider), who has long been a proponent of the theory that Apple will eventually launch television set products offering integration with the company’s existing media services.
We believe this announcement is further evidence that Apple is developing live TV and DVR features for its Apple TV product, and will likely launch an all-in-one Apple Television in the next 2-4 years. Following its deal with Rovi, Apple would be clear to add live TV, DVR, and guidance features to its Apple TV product, which we believe is a critical step towards an all-in-one Apple Television.
We currently believe Munster’s comments to be pure speculation, as we have seen no evidence that Apple has specifically licensed Rovi’s guide technology, although that could certainly be the case. Interest in the new Apple TV and iTunes Store offerings have, however, been sparking interest in Apple’s TV plans, and the possibility of Apple entering the live TV/DVR market and eventually the television set market have certainly already been on the minds of many.
Update: As 9 to 5 Mac points out, Apple is already a customer of Rovi, which reportedly provides metadata for iTunes Store content. Consequently, it is unclear whether today’s announcement is even related to anything substantial or if it simply an extension of the two companies’ existing agreements.
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Mockup comparing possible next-generation iPod nano form factor to 2nd-generation model
AppleInsider offers new claims of a significant redesign of the iPod nano scheduled for release at next week’s media event, lending additional weight to the square cases and earlier rumors associated with the device.
People familiar with the matter indicated that the size and shape of the device, revealed this week through photos of third-party cases, will be more akin to the iPod shuffle than the current-generation iPod nano. Even with this small size, however, it is expected to have a traditional iPod dock connector, allowing compatibility with the existing iPod accessory ecosystem.
The new iPod nano is said to utilize a tiny 3cm-by-3cm display that was revealed in its bare form as unknown Apple-branded component earlier this summer. For comparison, the second-generation iPod nano had a screen that was about 3cm by 2.5cm.
In addition to the iPod nano, the report notes that Apple has been toying with plans to release a version of the iPod touch offering 3G cellular data access. The company is said to have begun seriously considering the idea after seeing the success of the 3G-capable version of the iPad released earlier this year, and prototypes of 3G-capable iPod touches are claimed to be in existence.
Finally, rumors of an update to Apple’s iLife suite persist, with today’s report suggesting that a portion of next week’s media event might be devoted to a new version of Apple’s multimedia suite. With Apple having moved to an approximately 18-month release cycle over the last few versions of iLife and the current version having been released in early 2009, an update in the near future would be a reasonable guess. One claim from late last month predicted an August 17th release for “iLife ’11″, which is rumored to see the discontinuation of iDVD, a significant revamp of iWeb, and a new “mystery” application. The claimed release did not, however, occur on the predicted date.
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Hackers have released a package that jailbreaks the iPad and newer iPhone OS, allowing users to install hundreds to unapproved apps on their Apple-branded device. by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
See more here:
Jailbreak for iPad and newer iPhone released
Car kits for iPods and iPhones aren’t exactly big news, with plenty of third party accessory companies feeding off the ecosystem already. But an Apple-branded kit, found buried in iPhone OS 4?
Excerpt from:
Apple-Branded Car Kit Found Within iPhone OS 4 Code – Apple car …