iPhone

Apple analyst lowers estimates, shares fall

Correction, 11:06 a.m. PST: This story initially misstated the day the report was released. It was Friday.

Update at 10:31 a.m. PST, with more information from the analyst report and a chart.

A J.P. Morgan analyst cut his financial estimates for Apple's fiscal second quarter and fiscal 2009 on Friday, pointing to expectations that its iPhone and Mac sales may be weaker than previously anticipated.

Apple fell as low as 7.3 percent in early morning trading Friday to $82.33 a share.

"We are lowering our estimates for the March quarter and … Read more

Unauthorized iPhone app stores emerging

Apple may have some competition when it comes to selling applications for the iPhone, as developers decide to launch their own stores to hawk unauthorized apps for the device.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a developer is planning to launch on Friday a new service called Cydia Store that could sell hundreds of iPhone applications. The apps aren't available through Apple's official store, and they require "jailbroken" iPhones. Such iPhones have software downloaded that modifies the device to run any application.

The article also mentioned another developer, Rock Your Phone, which also plans to sell … Read more

Kindle books, meet iPhone readers

roundup Got an iPhone or iPod Touch? Amazon's new Kindle for iPhone app lets you use those gadgets to read electronic books.

Kindle is not the best iPhone e-reader Who needs a Kindle when you have an iPhone? We take a look at some of the best ways to read eBooks on your iPhone or iPod Touch. (Posted in Webware by Don Reisinger) March 6, 2009 7:30 AM PST

First Look video: Kindle for iPhone Here are some first impressions of Amazon's new Kindle application for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. (Posted in The Download Blog … Read more

Apple developers mark a year of iPhone apps

Apple's success with iPhone applications wasn't preordained, but the company had a huge leg up on the competition with a hit device, a mature software platform, and the one of the biggest online stores on the planet.

"They had all three sitting there, and that's very difficult to create in this industry," said Travis Boatman, vice president of worldwide studios for EA Mobile, creator of iPhone games such as Spore and Sim City.

But for all the work Apple has done to make the iPhone a success over the past year, its future lies in … Read more

Buy an iPhone game and donate to charity

An iPhone app developer is donating to a nonprofit for each sale made, in what is believed to be a first.

Appropriately, the app is called ShiveringKittens and the charity is the ASPCA, which works to protect cruelty to animals.

For every sale of the $2.99 app during March and April the developer, GiantCrayon Games, will donate $1 to the ASPCA.

In the game, players arrange falling blocks to rescue animated kittens who are stuck in a Minnesota winter and win points. A video preview is on YouTube.

If only rescuing real kittens were that simple.

Melinda Gates admits to having iPhone envy

A few tech blogs on Monday morning are highlighting some choice quotes from a Melinda Gates interview that appears in the most recent issue of Vogue.

According to the Vogue piece, Bill and Melinda Gates, in addition to making their home a no-iPhone/iPod zone, have forbidden their three children from using the devices (no word on rules for other Apple products).

The article's mainly about the Gates Foundation and how it's trying to solve "hunger in the world." We certainly appreciate that, but we'll stick with the inane superficial stuff here, thank you very … Read more

Apple gives up a little Internet usage share

Apple gave up a sliver of Internet market share last month, according to preliminary figures released Sunday by Web metrics company Net Applications.

The Mac OS had been hovering around the 10 percent mark among operating systems accessing the Web. But in its Operating System Market Share report for February, Net Applications showed the Mac OS at 9.71 percent, down from 9.93 percent in January. Meanwhile, Microsoft Windows' Internet share increased to 89.37 percent from 88.26 percent in January.

In a separate report, Net Applications reported spikes in usage share of Windows 7--the follow-on to Windows … Read more

Softbank to give 8GB iPhones away for free

Softbank Mobile, the iPhone carrier in Japan, plans to introduce a new program Friday that will give some iPhones away for free with a new two-year contract.

The 8GB iPhone will be free to new subscribers who sign up for a plan starting on Friday, likely to disappoint those who paid the equivalent of $235 (22,782 yen) in the recent past, according to CrunchGear. Softbank is also reducing the price of the 16GB version from $350 to $118 as part of the new "iPhone for everybody Campaign."

Softbank also cut the cost of its maximum data plan … Read more

Ballmer keeps close watch on Apple and Android

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer knows not to blink.

On the desktop front, Microsoft is not discounting the approximately 1 percent market share gain Apple has garnered in the past year, bolstering its position as the No. 4 player in operating systems behind Linux, said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, during a midyear update with analysts Tuesday.

"We're very focused on both Apple as a competitor and Linux as a competitor," Ballmer said.

And concerns regarding Google's open-source mobile operating system Android are not far behind.

"I think the dynamics with Linux is changing somewhat," Ballmer … Read more