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2011年6月6日星期一

Apple unveils iMessage, its BBM competitor, at WWDC

It's here, the moment BlackBerry owners been waiting for since the original iPhone launched: iMessage. Apple has just announced its new data-based push messaging service at WWDC, which looks to be a full-on competitor to the venerable BBM. This service works on an iOS device of any flavor, and lets you send text messages, photos, videos, and contacts to anyone else with one too. It also supports group chats and integrates with the new Notification Center in iOS 5. According to Scott Forstall, it "works over WiFi or 3G, in case you were wondering," which is yet another blow for RIM. The final nail in the coffin for those of you who simply 'can't live without BBM:' delivery and read confirmations. Boom.
sources from: http://www.adapterlist.com/

2011年6月3日星期五

Apple iCloud: Nice incremental revenue boost, but halo effect more notable

Apple has inked its licensing pact with Universal Music Group and will reportedly charge $25 a year for an iCloud subscription. That revenue stream—once you factor in splits with the music industry—is essentially peanuts, but the value of iCloud will go well beyond the profit and loss statement.
First the news, CNet News’ Greg Sandoval reports that Apple has cut a licensing deal with Universal Music. That move gives Apple all the major labels and Universal brings U2 and Lady Gaga to the iCloud party. Meanwhile, the LA Times reports that Apple will “eventually” charge $25 a year for iCloud and sell advertising around the service.

When you factor in the revenue split with the music industry—labels 58 percent, publishers 12 percent and Apple 30 percent—Steve Jobs & Co. will get $7.50 in revenue for each iCloud subscription.
As for the rudimentary math, Apple is projected to move 184 million iPhone units in calendar 2011 and 2012, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. We’ll assume that half of those iPhone subscribers will ultimately pay for iCloud with Apple getting $7.50. That’s $690 million in revenue a calendar year.
Apple is also expected to sell 75 million iPad units over calendar 2011 and 2012. Again we’ll assume half of those iPad users buy the iCloud subscription. Those iPad units will deliver $281 million in revenue a year in calendar 2012.
Related: iCloud unveiled as Apple readies Moscone for WWDC (photos)
As for the iPod, Apple is expected to move 81 million units over calendar 2011 and 2012. We’ll assume one third of those iPod users will get iCloud—it’s unclear whether the nano will be able to tap into Apple’s cloud service. One-third of that iPod base still gets you $200 million in revenue a year.
The grand total for Apple from iCloud at $25 translates into about $1.2 billion in annual revenue for the company. That’s not a huge deal for a company the size of Apple, but it’s not chump change either. In Apple’s most recent quarterly SEC filing sales of music related products—iTunes sales—were $574 million for the first six months of Apple’s fiscal year.
In a nutshell, iCloud will at least double Apple’s music related revenue if that $25 a year figure is accurate. The math obviously gets more interesting for Apple if it gets 75 percent of its iPhone, iPad and iPod users on iCloud. And the figures would really look good if you assume that Apple goes with a working-class iPhone that gives it a much larger addressable market of 500 million units or so.
However, given that Apple is expected to report revenue of $103 billion in its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, iCloud is a nice add-on, but not a financial boon.
So what’s the big deal? For Apple, iCloud and streaming music gives the company a nice moat against Google and Amazon, two companies that jumped first into the music locker business. In addition, Apple ensures that iTunes becomes more of a platform.
In the big picture, however, iCloud is more about the halo effect for Apple. The direct revenue attributed to iCloud doesn’t matter as much as the value in the Apple chain. When we get real numbers to play with, the iCloud revenue impact will be more clear. For now, there’s enough information to get a rough idea of how iCloud fits into Apple’s revenue machine.
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu summed up the iCloud impact, which goes beyond direct revenue.

iCloud could be a very big deal, making iTunes even more powerful and useful by allowing access to content from any device, anywhere. In addition, we notice that every time a major new feature is added to iTunes (like TV and movie rentals), its utility value increases, which in turn drives more hardware sales, i.e., iPhone, iPad, and Macs. Press reports indicate that Apple has reached cloud licensing agreements with the major music labels. What is less clear is if Apple has also reached deals with providers of TV shows, movies, and e-books. Regardless, we believe reaching cloud music deals would be a great start and further distance Apple from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and others, which in the last 10 years or so have failed to put even a minor dent to iTunes

postrank has been acquired by google

From the seed of an idea in late 2006, to the launch of PostRank in mid 2007, and an incredible four years of continuous learning, iteration, and developing and launching new products—what an amazing experience it has been. And yet, the best is still yet to come. Today, we are excited to announce that PostRank has been acquired by Google!
We know that making sense of social engagement data is important for online businesses, which is why we have worked hard to monitor where and when content generates meaningful interactions across the web. Indeed, conversations online are an important signal for advertisers, publishers, developers and consumers—but today’s tools only skim the surface of what we think is possible.

We are extremely excited to join Google. We believe there is simply no better company on the web today that both understands the value of the engagement data we have been focusing on, and has the platform and reach to bring its benefits to the untold millions of daily, active Internet users. Stay tuned, we’ll be sure to share details on our progress in the coming months!
Of course, we wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for all the help, feedback, and support we’ve received from our community over the past four years—thank you all, you know who you are, and we truly couldn’t have done it without you!
sources from : http://www.adapterlist.com/
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2011年6月2日星期四

Apple Execs Are Absolutely Giddy Right Now Says Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope has a report out on Apple this morning that is very bullish.
He met with COO Tim Cook, retail SVP Ron Johnson, and CFO Peter Oppenheimer.
Shope says, "the company appeared more overtly optimistic on the long-term prospects for the iOS platform than it has been in quite some time."
The execs wouldn't divulge much about new iOS features, but they did talk about a few other wholesale things.
Cook said, "he sees no reason why the tablet market shouldn’t eclipse the PC market over the next several years," according to Shope's note.
By "tablet" we assume Cook means iPads.
Shope thinks Apple will be able to sell 8.1 million iPads for the June quarter, a 72% increase from the year prior.
Other reasons for the execs to be happy? Apple now has the iPhone on 200 carriers worldwide, and it's retail stores are doing very well says Shope.
article sources from: http://www.adapterlist.com/

Major labels, music publishers lining up behind Apple's iCloud

Apple Inc. has just sewn up its contracts with the four major record labels Thursday for a cloud music service, with agreements from music publishers to follow on Friday, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Dubbed iCloud, the service initially will be offered for a free period to people who buy music from Apple's iTunes digital download store, allowing users to upload their music to Apple's computers where they can then play from a Web browser or Internet-connected Apple device.wholesale
The company plans to eventually charge a subscription fee, about $25 a year, for the service. Apple would also sell advertising around its iCloud service.
The agreements, finalized this week, call for Apple to share 70% of any revenue from iCloud's music service with record labels, as well as 12% with music publishers holding the songwriting rights. Apple is expected to keep the remaining 18%, said people knowledgeable with the terms.
Music companies that have signed on to iCloud include Warner Music Group, EMI Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Representatives from the four companies could not be immediately reached for comment.
though the service is initially focused on allowing consumers to store their music on Apple's servers, the Cupertino, Calif., technology company ultimately envisions the service to be used for movies, TV shows and other digital content sold through iTunes, said a person knowledgeable of the company's plans.
Apple, whose iTunes music store is the dominant purveyor of music downloads with between 75% and 85% of the market, has been carefully monitoring moves by rival Amazon.com as well as newcomers to the digital music space, including Google and, in Europe, Spotify.
Amazon pounced first in March when it launched a music "locker" service, dubbed Amazon Cloud Player, that lets users upload their music to Amazon's computers and listen to their songs from any browser. Google followed suit in May with its Music Beta service.
article from: http://www.batterylaptoppower.com/

Apple signs Universal Music to iCloud

Apple has cut a licensing deal with Universal Music Group that will enable Apple's online music store to offer songs from the largest of the four top record companies, sources with knowledge of the talks told CNET.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs

(Credit: James Martin)

The agreement means Apple now has the rights to offer recordings from all of the major labels. In addition, Apple has reached agreements with some of the large music publishers, the sources said.
Apple announced Tuesday that it would unveil a long-anticipated service called iCloud on June 6 at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Apple did not disclose whether iCloud would include any music features, but we do know that Apple managers have sought for more than a year to create a music feature for the service.
Details about the agreements are few, but here's how the revenue from iCloud's music service will be split, according to the sources: the labels will get 58 percent and publishers will receive 12 percent. Apple will take 30 percent.
Streaming will not be available on Monday but will be offered soon, the sources said. They added that an Apple digital locker will store only music purchased at iTunes. The company is said to have plans to store songs acquired from outside iTunes sometime in the future. A year ago, when Apple first discussed a cloud-music service with the labels, creating digital shelves for people to store all their songs was part of Apple's vision.

Obtaining rights from Universal Music, home of such acts as Lady Gaga, U2, and Kanye West, gave Apple the final piece of the puzzle as far as recording rights are concerned. When it comes to publishing and performance rights, Apple still has more deals to negotiate, and at this point it appears the talks will go to the wire. According to The New York Times, Apple has penned publishing deals with Universal Music Publishing and Sony/ATV, the publishing arms of Universal and Sony and the two largest record companies. The Times reports that EMI and Warner/Chappell have yet to reach an agreement. wholesale
Apple, the country's dominate music distributor, is setting up to be a major player in cloud computing, the name given when Internet users complete computing chores via a third-party's servers instead of their PC. Cloud music is supposed to be the format that succeeds the CD and digital download.
Consumers will have the final say, but so far much of the music industry as well as Apple, Amazon, and Google appear to be making big cloud bets. Amazon and Google have each debuted their own cloud services. What makes Apple's different is that it will be the first among the big three to offer licensed music. This is supposed to give Apple much more flexibility in terms of what it can offer consumers.
Apple's iCloud will be much more than a music service. On Tuesday, CNET reported that in recent weeks Apple has raced to license movies and TV shows from Hollywood film studios and TV networks. Apple, however, faces more obstacles in licensing video for iCloud. The hold-up is due in part to exclusive licensing arrangements that some of the studios have entered into with HBO.
Nonetheless, expect to see the iCloud come with more than just music features--if not on Monday--than sometime in the future.
sources from http://www.adapterlist.com/

2011年6月1日星期三

Google: Group In China Targeted Senior US Officials, Chinese Activists, Others With Phishing Attack

Google has just revealed that it has detected a phishing attack originating from Jinan, China that targeted hundreds of people, including “senior U.S. government officials, Chinese political activists, officials in several Asian countries (predominantly South Korea), military personnel and journalists”.
The attack itself — which relied on phishing passwords — doesn’t appear to be overly sophisticated, according to a report that identified it back in February. But it was very targeted, which is unusual for phishing schemes. Google says that the perpetrators were stealing user passwords, then setting Gmail accounts to automatically forward messages to other inboxes (delegation settings, which can grant other people access to accounts, were also changed).
Google says that it ”detected and disrupted this campaign” and that it has already notified affected victims, as well as government authorities. It then goes on to detail some of the things you can use to secure your account, including 2-step verification , strong passwords, and by checking to make sure you aren’t forwarding your email to any inboxes you don’t know. Google’s post emphasizes that this was not an issue with Gmail itself and that its internal systems weren’t attacked.
This isn’t the first time Google has had issues with cyberattacks originating in China. Early last year, Google revealed that it had been the target of a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” that originated there, prompting the company to radically revise its operations in China. Google doesn’t mention anything in today’s blog post about the attacks being related, but the previous attack also targeted the accounts of Chinese activists.
sources from: http://www.adapterlist.com/

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