It cost Apple $178.96 to make its newest iPhone, the 3G S, according to a teardown analysis by research firm iSuppli.
The 16GB iPhone retails in the U.S. for $199 with a two-year contract with AT&T, Apple’s exclusive carrier.
The iSuppli analysis is based on its own physical deconstruction of the 16GB device and the firm’s estimates of component costs.
Like most manufacturers, Apple doesn’t release costs or detailed component information, which can sometimes make it hard to identify parts that aren’t always labeled or for which the cost isn’t readily available. Click here for the full story from InternetNews.com.
June 22, 2009
VoIP services provider Taridium announced Wednesday that customers using iPhone can now access internal enterprise PBX extensions from that device. The new feature is the latest addition to the company’s IPBX service offering.
“One of the big advantages of the Taridium ipbx iPhone interface is that users can now access internal PBX extensions directly from their mobile phone with a single click—it basically allows you to take your office extension with you,” Taridium chief technology officer Dominique Kull said in a statement.
The iPhone functionality extends toIPBX’s visual voicemail system, which lets iPhone users check—and listen to—voicemails from their mobile phone, as well as return calls and host multi-party conferences.
The interface also permits enterprises to record and review phone calls for compliance reasons, Taridium said. For the full story at EnterpriseVoIPPlanet.com, click here.
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The consumer electronics giant remains mum on exactly when and how Jobs will come back, repeating the now-familiar mantra that Apple looks forward to his return at the end of June.
It is possible, analysts say, that Jobs could soon shift to a new post that would allow him to focus on big-picture issues and products, while Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, currently acting CEO, manages the company. For the full story from InternetNews, click here.
June 16, 2009
Microsoft is getting ready to unveil a long-anticipated free antivirus service for personal computers that will compete with products sold by Symantec and McAfee.
A Microsoft spokesman said on Wednesday that the world’s biggest software maker is testing an early version of the product with its own employees. Microsoft would “soon” make a trial version, or product beta, available via its Web site, he added, but declined to provide a specific date.
Symantec shares fell 0.5 percent on NASDAQ and McAfee fell 1.3 percent on the New York Stock Exchange, while Microsoft was up 2.1 percent. The NASDAQ composite index was down 0.47 percent.
Investors are closely monitoring the free service, codenamed Morro after Brazil’s Morro de Sao Paolo beach, amid concern it could hurt sales of products from Symantec and McAfee, which generate billions of dollars of revenue a year protecting Windows PCs from attacks by hackers. For the full story at InternetNews.com, click here.
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Yet another BlackBerry without Wi-Fi was announced by RIM today. The BlackBerry Tour smartphone will be available from carriers in North America this summer. It features: built-in GPS; 3.2 MP camera with flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus, and video recording; full HTML Web browser, including support for streaming audio and video (RTSP); and 256MB Flash memory. More details at the RIM Web site.
June 9, 2009
Although a blog reported Monday that T-Mobile was hacked, all the hackers actually seemed to have was a list of T-Mobile server names.
A T-Mobile spokesperson told our sister site InternetNews.com in an e-mail, “The protection of our customers’ information, and the safety and security of our systems, is absolutely paramount at T-Mobile. Regarding the recent claim, we are fully investigating the matter. As is our standard practice, if there is any evidence that customer information has been compromised, we would inform those affected as soon as possible.”
Security experts are left to guess at what happened.
Some thought that perhaps the hackers got into the network but did not get far. “Hackers have posted a list of servers they allegedly accessed and it is very comprehensive with some sensitive info in it. My guess is that they have been able to get access to the list of servers but not much more,” Amichai Shulman, CTO of data security vendor Imperva, wrote in an e-mail to InternetNews.com. For the full InternetNews.com story, click here.
T-Mobile issued a revised statement to the press on Tuesday afternoon, which read: “Following a recent online posting that someone allegedly accessed T-Mobile servers, the company is conducting a thorough investigation and at this time has found no evidence that customer information, or other company information, has been compromised. Reports to the contrary are inaccurate and should be corrected. T-Mobile continues to monitor this situation and as a precaution has taken additional measures to further ensure our customers’ information and our systems are protected. As is our standard practice, customers can be assured if there is any evidence that customer or system information has been compromised, we would inform those affected as quickly as possible.”
June 8, 2009
For the Palm Pre’s launch, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Now that the embattled handset maker’s do-or-die smartphone is on sale, analysts see a number of challenges ahead both for Palm and the rest of the smartphone market.
While Palm may have wanted to have the Pre on store shelves before any new iPhones come out, the timing of the launch, two days before the Apple developer conference, is being called a strategic mistake by industry watchers.
“Palm’s launch of the Pre at Sprint revives Palm as a company and brand. Unfortunately, the timing just ahead of Apple’s next iPhone launch limits Palm’s time in the press spotlight,” Avi Greengart, analyst at Current Analysis, told InternetNews.com. Click here for the full story.
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Before a packed hall of more than 5,000 attendees, Apple kicked off its Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC)with new MacBook Pro notebooks. Apple’s vice president of marketing, Phil Schiller unveiled new notebooks in its MacBook Pro line.
Key to the announcements was rounding out its MacBook Pro line by upgrading the 13-inch MacBook into the Pro line with new features and a price cut. The base model now starts at $1,199 with a 2.26 Intel dual-core processor, 2 GB RAM and 256 GB storage.
All of the MacBook Pro’s sport a lithium ion battery that Schiller says boasts a 7-hour battery life. The 15-inch MacBook Pro now has a lower price starting at $1,699. Apple also updated its MacBook Air, one of the world’s thinnest notebooks, dropping the price to $1,499 (a $300 decrease) with a 120 GB hard drive. A model with a 128 GB solid state drive is now $1,799, a $700 drop from the earlier price.
The pricing news from Apple comes at a time of notebook price cuts across the industry and the rise a new generation of smaller netbooks priced from $199 to $500. For the rest of the story from InternetNews, click here. For Wi-Fi Planet’s coverage, read:
June 4, 2009
Ruckus Wireless this week launched its new Ruckus WiSE Guy (Wi-Fi Solutions Engineer) Smart Wi-Fi certification program for channel partners and end users.
The certification program was developed to help channel partners, integrators, and end users better cope with the nuances of indoor and outdoor wireless deployments using Ruckus’s patented dynamic beamforming Wi-Fi technology.
“In a short period of time, Ruckus has established a following for delivering carrier-quality Wi-Fi products and world class support services that go along with it,” said Kyung Yi, vice president of Customer Advocacy at Ruckus Wireless in a press release Wednesday. “The explosive growth in the number of Ruckus solution partners, along with our installed base of wireless systems, has driven the need for a formal certification program.”
Ruckus has shipped 1.5 million Ruckus-branded Wi-Fi systems worldwide.
More on Ruckus:
Industry Insiders: Ruckus Wireless CEO, Selina Lo
Ruckus Wireless IPTV in OK Homes
Review: Ruckus Wireless ZoneFlex 7942 Access Point
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In addition to this week’s Computex in Taipei, the 2009 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC 09) is also taking place in Tampa, Florida.
Wi-Fi news out of conference includes the Luxul Wireless announcement today it has signed an agreement with Smartronix, a supplier of turnkey system solutions used in military and government applications. The agreement will allow Luxul products to be integrated within Smartronix systems and kits.
Initially, Smartronix will integrate Luxul’s Shock-WAV Frequency Translating Amplifier (FTA), which converts standard 5GHz signals to the U.S. government restricted 4.4GHz band, and Luxul’s X-WAV Antenna products into its LastLink solution. LastLink is “targeted for use” by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to deliver secure point-to-point links between military locations, while also enabling local Wi-Fi access at those locations.
The Luxul Wireless FTA allows commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies to be adapted for use within secure government band applications. Luxul says its X-WAV antennas “deliver superior signal range in challenging environments where obstructions often impede signal propagation or where mobility is a requirement.”
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