Recently I pondered (http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/is_closer_integration_betw...) whether closer integration between Mac OS X proper and the iPhone OS was coming. Regarding that convergence, I would like to see Apple either license or get into the business of helping a lot of different companies upgrade their interfaces.

Like what? Home phones, office phone systems, auto information displays and controls, ATM machines, home information and security systems, etc. I could go on, but you get the idea.

Now I don't think Apple will license the Mac or iPhone OS. However, there many areas where Apple isn't likely to get directly involved or where the company has little or no interest in making hardware/...

Many of the trends that influenced the worldwide computer market in 2009 will continue to resonate in 2010, but their impact will change as new market forces come into play. The news is good for Apple laptops and the iMac and, well, not bad for the iPad.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the lower prices brought on by last year’s challenging economy will create new opportunities for emerging sub form factors, such as ultrathin portables and all-in-one desktops.

“We’re expecting consumer and commercial personal computer buyers alike to be more experimental with new types of computer, especially because of their lower price points,” says Bob O’Donnell, program vice president, Clients and Displays. “Hardware vendors and software developers should seize the opportunity to promote differentiation by rewriting the computing experience to match the new variety of Personal Computer sub form factors arriving in the market.”

IDC’s predictions for...

In a note to clients, Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig thinks Apple will see 33 million iPhones this year even without a deal with Verizon deal, as many folks have expected -- or at least hoped for (including Yours Truly).

However, for Apple to continue to grow the iPhone market, it has to had more carriers at some point, he told clients. If Apple did indeed add a Verizon iPhone to its offering, Craig predicts that would see another eight million of the devices sold in 2011.

Without a Verizon deal, Craig told clients he's upping his “base case” for the iPhone next year. He thinks 2011 units could go as high as 55 million if more carriers, including Verizon, are added by Apple.

An Apple patent (number 20100052870) for an intelligent infrared remote pairing has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. It indicates that Apple may be eyeing its own universal remote control or, more likely, expanding the range of the current (or future versions of the) Apple Remote.

Systems and methods for associating a remote controller with a device are provided. The systems and methods generally relate to receiving a request from a remote controller to pair the remote controller to a device at several devices and determining at each of the several devices the strength of the wireless pairing request signal received by that device. If a device determines that its received signal is the strongest, the device may be paired with the remote controller. If instead a device determines that its received signal is not the strongest, it may ignore subsequent communications received from the remote controller. The inventor is Nicholas Vincent King.

Here's...

Will the iPad launch be delayed? Yes, no, and maybe.

Checks in Taiwan find some minor delays on production of the Apple device, according to ThinkEquity analyst Vijay Rakesh -- as noted by "Barron's" (http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/03/04/apple-thinkequity-re...). His findings echo a similar assertion by Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek. However, Misek's assertions were contradicted by a "DigiTimes" report that said there are no delays.

“The manufacturing of the iPads was supposed to pick up in February, buy volumes in March are still low,” Rakesh wrote in note to clients. “But checks are indicating iPad volumes will pick back up to the 800,000-1 million units/month [range] into...

Apple's trademark applications (77946787 and 77946791) for "iFrame" have appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. When Apple introduced iMovie '09, it also introduced iFrame, a new video format it developed.

iFrame captures video at a resolution of 960 x 540 at 30 frames per second and uses a 16:9 aspect ratio (a la all the HD and DVD standards). It's slightly lower in quality than 720p and takes up at least a little less space. iFrame works with Mac and PC video-editing applications such as iMovie '09 and uses industry-standard codecs such as MP4, H.264, AAC and QuickTime. According to Apple "iFrame is designed to make importing and editing video fast and easy without taking up a lot of space on your hard drive."

Currently, the only two camcorders using iFrame are the Sanyo VPC-HD2000A (see today's review) and VPC-FH1A. The question is if other camera manufacturers will adopt it and whether it will become a "real"standard. The jury's still out on this.

Worldwide computer shipments are projected to total 366.1 million units in 2010, a 19.7% increase from 305.8 million units shipped in 2009, according to the latest preliminary forecast by Gartner (http://www.gartner.com). And the iPad will figure heavily into the equation.

According to the research group, worldwide computer spending is forecast to reach $245 billion in 2010, up 12.2 percent from 2009. This forecast is more optimistic than Gartner's December 2009 forecast, which anticipated 13.3% growth in computer shipments in 2010 and 1.9% growth in spending.

Gartner anticipates all regional markets will return to growth and exhibit more normal seasonality in 2010. The market will remain robust with unit growth continuing to increase strongly over the next few years as home computer demand accelerates and professional replacements rise in the recovery from the global recession.

"The personal...

“North of Northeast” is a column that offers commentaries from a Canadian perspective. Google's invested millions in it. Apple's moving steadily towards it and Microsoft's Office isn't far behind.

Everywhere you turn, more and more companies are extolling the virtues of "the cloud." My colleague, Dennis Sellers just wrote an interesting piece where he quotes an unnamed executive as saying "Apple want's to eliminate the hard drive." 

I am skeptical. But then again I live a fair portion of my life under a "cloudless" sky. We may do a lot of talking about how connected we are becoming, but for a very large percentage of us, reliable, high bandwidth access to the Internet is still just a dream. My own son, living just forty-five minutes outside of Toronto, surrounded by millions of people, is in a small rural pocket that still relies on dial-up.

Even here, on the remote tip of southwestern Nova Scotia I have 15MBPS Internet access, but with very...

Watch for it ... the discussion on what Apple is going to name it's next generation of iPhone. Will it be the iPhone 4G? The 3.5? The some-other-name-that-doesn't-include-G? It's hard to say. G here could easily mean the generation of the iPhone, or it could mean the G for mobile technology (e.g., 4G comes after the 3G service that AT&T has).

What do you think it will be?

Apple store employees will get a glimpse of the iPad on March with the device likely to go on sale March 26, according to a report at the "LA Gadgets Examiner" (http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-11295-LA-Gadgets-Examiner~y2010m3d2-i...).

The article says that this release date is for the Wi-Fi versions only, and that the 3G models won't be available until April or May. Also, commercials will purportedly start airing on March 15.

When it was unveiled by Apple, it was announced that the iPad would be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of US$499 for the 16GB model, $599 for the 32GB model, $699 for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad would be...

Erick Maronak, manager of the Victory Large Cap Growth Fund, says Apple is the best-run company in the U.S., helping to make it the most attractive stock investment. It and Teva Pharmaceuticals are his top stock picks.

"Apple and Teva Pharmaceuticals are top picks due to their dominant industry positions, strong financials, capable management teams and the ability to provide 17% to 20% growth against very reasonable valuations," he told "TheStreet.com" (http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/10693524/1/apple-little-understood...). "Apple is hardly undiscovered yet not fully understood. Arguably the best-run company today, Apple has five segments in computing, consumer...

A recent survey of e-book reader owners and intenders shows that prior to the release of the iPad, Apple ranks just behind Amazon in the US and UK in terms of preferred brand. If the iPad provides a compelling eReader experience, it may overtake Amazon’s Kindle, according to Strategy Analytics (http://www.strategyanalytics.com).

Current e-book reader owners report being extremely satisfied with their devices. Four out of five US owners prefer e-book readers to physical books, according to the research group. Potential e-book customers prefer: ease of access to books; ease of content transfer; and
newspaper and magazine availability.

“While brand name is still an important factor for current owners when choosing their next e-book reader,” says Chris Schreiner, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics. “Consumers buying their first e-book reader will focus more on the durability...