10 Weirdest iPod Accessories
This post by PCMag caught my attention, it was a pretty good read. The Hymn Book case is quite possibly the weirdest iPod accessory I’ve ever seen or heard of.
Not sure how something like this gets developed, or what type of people decide I have to have one of these (seeing as how 70% of all purchases are impulse buys). But I have to say, I think I’m gonna get one now 
Apples 10M iPhone Target Comes Under Scrutiny
Apple’s goal of 10 million iPhones to be sold in 2008 has been called everything from ‘optimistic’ to ‘crazy’. And this is looking to be truth. The fourth quarter of 2007 (with the holiday season) yeilded sales of about 180,000 iPhones per week. This comes out to 7.9 million units a year. Not only is this too low to hit the 10 million mark but this was the busiest quarter Apple has had since the launch of the iPhone, and things are now slowing down.
The only solution I can see to drive iPhone sales up is Apple’s iPod marketing solution. Cut the price a bit and release a new model every couple of months that looks cooler and has more features. I would guesstimate that somewhere around 15% of iPod users buy the new thing every time its released, and 20% more buy a new model once a year or so. If they could drive new iPhones to become trendy like this they may have a shot.
My second bit of advice would be to drop the carrier plan in emerging markets. Its working okay in the US but if they opened it up to all providers in far eastern markets where there is currently no iPhone support I think they could crank up maybe a million or so sales over the year.
iPod Shuffle - Is It Even Really An iPod?
I read an interesting article today at Macenstein and would have to say that I agree! I would like to elaborate on a few of the key points.
The biggest thing I realized after reading this article was the Shuffle is probably only called an iPod to boost sales figures. If they can say “we sold 6 million iPods this quarter” it sounds a lot better than “we sold 1 million iPods this quarter, and a bunch of those cheap $30 mp3 player wannabe’s”.
The only similarities in my eyes are:
- Plays music, and this music comes out through headphones
- Can carry it around with you, in your pocket or something
- Has a battery that you can recharge
- Can sync to iTunes
- Has the word iPod in its name
So is the Shuffle really an iPod? I’ll let you decide…
Dave Chappelle Uses An Mac (Pretty Funny)
Found this one on Digg, definitely goes in the Apple Randoms section. Anyways its good for a laugh, hope you like it.
iPoPho Rumor Mill: iPhone And iPod Touch To Get $100 Price Drop
This rumor has been flying around like crazy the last couple of days. It comes from leaked sources inside of Apple, but still nothing official. Price break down will be as follows: 16 Gig iPhone down to around $399 with the new 3 Gig iPhone coming in at a really cheap price (unknown at this time), 16 Gig iPod Touch at $299, and 32 Gig iPod Touch at $399.
It is also speculated that the 8 Gig iPod Touch, instead of a lower price, will be discontinued. The iPod Nano should be going for dirt cheap a few weeks after price drops, but don’t expect anything immediate.
BBC TV Programs Added To iTunes
Well this one was called way in advance by quite a few Apple news sources. BBC has added their TV shows to iTunes for the price of 1.89 pounds per episode. It seems programs that air on BBC will be available for purchase and download eight days after their television debut. If you’re unfamiliar with iPod and iPhone Torrents, I suggest you look into it, forking over cash each time adds up!
iPhone 1.1.4 Firmware Seems Imminent
There are many reasons leading to this assumption, which is shared by most Apple and iPhone communities on the web. The first ‘official’ hint to it comes from Tiny Code:
”Tiny Code no longer produces fixes or applications for firmware 1.1.3.
We can’t say much, but we are working with Apple and with their SDK for the next firmware release and SDK applications and we shouldn’t be missed for long. We will no longer update our Installer.app repo for legality reasons and you should see us soon on iTunes.”
Jailbreak Any Version Of iPhone, Even 1.1.3, Easily
This is pretty cool. If you haven’t heard yet ZiPhone has been released by a guy named Zibri. It will unlock any iPhone, including 1.1.3, right out of the box. Its a pretty simple program to. Check it out if you’re having troubles.
More Unlocked iPhones In China Than All iPhones In Europe
And you wonder why talks between China Mobile and Apple broke down. They don’t need to partner and share revenue with Apple, everyone is already using unlocked iPhones with them anyways, and probably paying a pretty penny for data transfers even without a special iPhone plan. Just to give you a little perspective, that comes down to more unlocked iPhones in use in China than legal iPhones in all of Europe! And I think I may know why! It has recently been brought to my attention that iPhone theft from Chinese factories, if you can call it that… everyone employed there is on it, is skyrocketing. Even internal documents such as schematics for production and the famous plans that allow the iPhone to become easily unlocked without the use of a new jailbreak every couple months or special SIM card appear to have originated from Chinese iPhone Factories. By the looks of things those exporting these stolen phones are also selling quite a few inside of China and Apple’s profits could be greatly improved if they could figure out some better management over there!
Apple Reduces Both iPod And iPhone Production, Increases iMac Build Rate
So it would appear after the initial launch iPhone sales are slowing, and without a new release of the iPod for almost 2 days (i made a funny) iPod sales are slowing as well. This has prompted a cutback on the production of both of Apple’s hottest items. In addition the MacBook is a bit overstocked and production on this bad boy has slowed as well. However a few things should be noted; this does not mean less money for Apple. They manage their inventory very well, in fact this means they are doing well, not overproducing and will still produce as many as needed. Also the iMac seems to be soaring in sales so production will shift over and there will be an estimated 35% increase in iMac sales over the next quarter.
There Are Up To 1 Million Unlocked iPhones Floating Around
Not only does a new report show that there is somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million unlocked iPhones floating around; it also accuses Apple employees of being behind a large portion of them. (In case you were wondering, 1 million is about 25% of all iPhones sold worldwide!). Anyways this report shows that a distributor of the iPhone has internal documents from Apple. These documents include a diagram and repair guide that allow the iPhone to be unlocked without any ’special’ SIM card. Better start cracking down Apple!
Unlocked iPhone (Legally) From France - The Reality
Basically it seems that once your 12 or 24 month contract expires, if you do not renew, when you sync your iPhone to iTunes it will auto unlock your iPhone! This could be great for all of you that are constantly trying to figure out how to unlock your new iPhone!
iPhone Rumors: Italy, Switzerland, And Spain To Get iPhone
After Apple’s iPhone launch in the UK, Germany, and France it seems they’re looking to make even more cash. Rumors are running all over the place that Italy, Switzerland, and Spain may get their shot at the iPhone as early as this month. Keep your eyes open!
Where Have All The iPhones Gone? To Hong Kong!
The iPhones shipped doesn’t come close to the number used by providers that have the contracts with Apple. Even after the numbers for iPhones no longer in service (poor people) and for folks who unlocked their iPhones, there is a huge number that seemed to have vanished. Now it seems people are buying them up and shipping them off to Hong Kong, where they are being unlocked and resold.