apple

Apple will take its keynote show on the road to London next week, with speculation mostly centered on the carriers for a European iPhone.

The company sent out invitations to a Tuesday press conference, but didn't specify the topic. "Mum is no longer the word," was the tagline attached to this invitation, stirring up talk across the pond that Apple is ready to announce its plans for European iPhone sales. The company has previously said that it wants to start selling iPhones in Europe by the end of the year.

The Times Online reported that Peter Erskine, … Read more

NBC's recent withdraw from the iTunes store leaves the millions of users of Apple iPods without a legitimate way to purchase and watch NBC's content. Could this be the push that brings easy-to-use 'piracy' to the masses? This article discusses the issues, and then provides step-by-step instructions to setup a computer to automatically download any of hundreds of TV shows as soon as they are broadcast and put online.

With Apple's recent lovers's spat with NBC making the headlines, it seems like a good opportunity to examine the state of the online TV downloads, be they … Read more

On Monday evening, I posted my first impressions of my new iPod classic 160GB. The first accessory I needed for my new iPod was a microphone so I can record conferences, meetings, and voice memos.

Right after receiving the iPod, I looked around online and found a comparative review of three iPod microphones by Mark Nelson on the O'Reilly Digital Media site. The review helped me settle on the Belkin TuneTalk Stereo for iPod.

I checked the Belkin Web site to make sure this model is compatible with the iPod classic. There's a page on the Belkin site just for that model, and the TuneTalk Stereo is on there--Belkin part number F8Z082-BLK.

I then went to the local Apple Store (at the Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara, Calif.) since I remembered seeing this gizmo for sale there a couple of months ago. Sure enough, they were still there. In fact, there were two different… Read more

With last week's announcement by Steve Jobs that his company would be reducing the price of the iPhone from $599 to $399, many people were wondering why.

Some said it dropped the price to look more attractive to holiday shoppers. Others claimed it was due to the fact that production costs were lower, and Apple could afford to drop the price and still make a nice profit. And as for me? Well, I think Apple dropped the price because its fanboy well dried up, and the average consumer wasn't willing to spend that kind of money for a cell phone.… Read more

CEO compensation. That's all you have to say to get some people jumping up and down, screaming, and sputtering like raving lunatics. Me, I'm not sure how I feel about executive pay. After all, I was an executive, even a CEO, however briefly. But don't hold that against me.

In any case, I'll try to come up with an objective position by the end of the post.

In the meantime, let's take a look at some CEOs of high-profile, publicly traded technology companies. To be sure, these folks have some things in common. They shoulder a great deal of responsibility and risk; they have really tough jobs; and like it or not, they make tons of dough.

Do shareholders always get their money's worth? Well, not exactly.

Let's start with Mark Hurd of Hewlett-Packard. In fiscal 2006, Mark's total compensation--including equity-based compensation--was at least $19 million. That's a lot of money, right? Let's reserve judgment for the moment.

HP's performance during that time frame was $92 billion in revenue, $6 billion in net income, and $2.18 earnings per share. The stock responded accordingly; shareholders were treated to a market cap gain of $28 billion. For every dollar earned, Hurd returned roughly $1,500 to shareholders. I'd say he earned his keep.… Read more

There's some more juicy info in the NPD's recent look at Office and Vista sales.

One of the most intriguing bits is where customers are getting their copies of Office. It turns out a whole lot of them are buying Office directly from Microsoft.

"Microsoft is now the second largest retailer of its own productivity suite," said NPD analyst Chris Swenson. It's not that people are going to Microsoft.com and clicking buy. Rather, they are opting to buy a product code from Microsoft after using trial versions of the software.

The program has been … Read more

After awarding Apple's iPod Classic and iPod Nano an 8 out of 10 rating over on CNET Reviews, I think it's fair to say that I think both products are exceptional. Still, the iPod is not for everybody. If you're thinking about using that $100 iPhone credit toward a shiny new Nano or Classic, here are five reasons that might give you pause.

5. iTunes 7.4 is required

Requiring the latest version of iTunes might not seem like such a big deal, but if your computer doesn't play friendly with the latest build of iTunes--you're screwed. iTunes 7.4 requires OSX 10.3.9 or later for Mac users, and Windows XP or 32-bit editions of Windows Vista for the PC.

4. No more built-in video output

Gone are the days when you could just plug a $10 minijack AV cable… Read more

While the iPhone may not be ready for business, it doesn't mean you can't take advantage of its big screen and keyboard to get some blogging done. The folks at Movable Type have a new plug-in that makes the blogging tool's interface very finger-friendly, with tabs, and a touch-to-edit function that's a little bit like Facebook's iPhone app. You can create new blog entries and edit old ones, although keep in mind you're still short on copy and paste, so if you're trying to add links from one browser window to the other (… Read more

Free yourself from AT&T! The iPhone revolution is at hand! You'll no longer suffer the tyranny of forced cell phone use for at least another, uh, couple of weeks!

Through the magic of technology, it's now possible to unlock an iPhone from AT&T's network through a software download developed by iPhoneSimFree.com. Engadget and Gizmodo tested out the process, and it does appear that the software will let you use the iPhone on any GSM network either inside the U.S. or overseas.

It's not the first piece of iPhone unlocking technology. … Read more