iHate PCs

The iPhone can be a potential breeding ground for hackers, according to Marius van Oers, a researcher for McAfee's AVERT Labs in Amsterdam. When your iPhone is on the internet, there are numerous ways for hackers to gain control over your phone and personal information. The most common way to have your iPhone hacked is to receive an SMS (Short Messaging Service) or an e-mail with a website link. Often times when you follow the link, the server will use code which allows a hacker to get control of your phone. It is even possible for a hacker to get your phone to autodial or auto-text a certain phone number so they can gain a profit from it. To read the whole story, check out Yahoo! Tech News.

written by admin

This week Apple finally unveiled their latest creation: iPod Touch. As rumored, the new iPods will feature a touch screen, along with wi-fi access and Safari browser. The retail price will be $299 for the 8gb or $399 for the 16gb, and they will be available later on this month - so you can start your holiday shopping early.

Apple also announced this week that they would be reducing the price of iPhones by $200 in an effort to reach a broader market. Amazingly this will mean that the iPhone will now cost the same as Apple's new iPod Touch which begs the question - what is Apple really doing here?

First off, it's somewhat shocking that Apple would roll back the price on their summer hype machine - the iPhone, only 2 months following the launch. Perhaps this is because Apple may have been too greedy to begin with. Sure, there are thousands of college students and young adults willing to stand in line for days to be one of the first people to get the new $600 iPhone, but for the vast majority of consumers the price tag may have simply been too high. Although the iPhone outsold all other smartphones in July, the first full month on the market, initial projections by some experts saw iPhone sales potentially reaching 500,000 to as many as 700,000 units during their opening weekend, but AT&T reported activating only 140,000 phones on June 29th and 30th.

Here's the biggest justification for excitement towards the new iPod Touch that I've been hearing for quite a while:

"I love the features of the iPhone, but I still want to keep my regular phone."

Totally understandable. Let's examine - the iPhone started out with a price tag of over $500, and more importantly requires a 2 year contract with AT&T. Of course many consumers would rather keep their regular phone!  The best smartphones and blackberrys on the market right now only cost a fraction of the iPhone and many even carry more useful features than the iPhone, the main difference being the touch screen. Many businessmen are not going to be willing to give up their mobile Outlook so that they can see the most popular YouTube videos on a 3.5 inch widescreen display. More importantly, many people already have commitments with other cellular providers making it very difficult to justify spending upwards of $500 plus a 2 year contract with a different provider.

Just in the last week, Apple has had to reduce the cost of the iPhone by $200, Steve Jobs has had to issue a personal apology and a $100 credit to all the people who had to stand in line to be the first to get a $600 iPhone, and oddly, Apple will now be selling the iPhone and the new iPod Touch for virtually the same price. The only difference will be slightly more memory for the iPod Touch and no cellular capability... I wonder if they planned it this way?

The big question for Apple is: what will happen to the iPhone? The iPod Touch is hip and dynamic product that will appeal to a mass audience. There are no service contracts and the pricing is nothing out of the ordinary for a cutting edge iPod. This holiday season everyone is going to have their eye on a flashy new iPod Touch, but will that have a negative impact on the popularity and holiday sales of the iPhone? Hasn't Apple just given consumers an excuse not to buy an iPhone, and keep the phone they already have? With the iPod Touch leaving little incentive for current cellphone users to switch to an iPhone, it seems like Steve Jobs will have to find a way to give the iPhone a second wind this holiday season.

written by admin

In the past 2 days, Apple's stock has fallen 6% to $135.01 per share. The biggest reason that this happened is because Apple customers who bought the iPhone are miffed that they paid $200 more than people are now going to pay for a new iPhone. The iPhone was unveiled in June and it cost upwards of $600; now it will be under $400. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has received literally hundreds of e-mails from complaining customers. He released an apology on Apple's website stating that anyone who bought an iPhone for the original price of $600 will now be able to obtain a $100 credit. To read more about this, check out Yahoo! News.

written by admin