Quoted – Apple’s Leaky Vietnamese Connection

Apple bling iPhone wallpaper
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Why so many Apple leaks from Vietnam? Once again, the Vietnamese blog Tinhte has revealed what could be a real-deal upcoming Apple product. The blog recently showed a new MacBook days before Apple announced it, as well as an iPhone prototype that looks very much like the 4th-gen device Gizmodo obtained last month. This time, Tinthe has shown an iPod touch with a 2MP camera.

Since tight control over new product information is an important part of Apple’s success strategy in its markets, this latest rash of leaks — multiple fourth-generation iPhones, information on MacBooks and now this supposed iPod — must be disturbing to the company. However, it shouldn’t be surprising, according to Scott Testa, a professor of business administration at Cabrini College in Philadelphia.

“If you’re a large company, and you’re outsourcing R&D and manufacturing, you’re going to have leaks,” he told MacNewsWorld. “That stuff is going to happen.”

While the Tinhte leaks may have minimal impact on Apple’s marketing strategy, Cabrini contended, that’s not the case with another lapse in the company’s information control: the obtaining of an iPhone prototype by the gadget website Gizmodo.

“Apple gains a lot marketing firepower from the secrecy of their products,” he asserted. “The loss of the prototype did much more damage than the other [leaks].”

While the Tinhte leaks may have minimal impact on Apple’s marketing strategy, Cabrini contended, that’s not the case with another lapse in the company’s information control: the obtaining of an iPhone prototype by the gadget website Gizmodo.

“Apple gains a lot marketing firepower from the secrecy of their products,” he asserted. “The loss of the prototype did much more damage than the other [leaks].”

http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/Apples-Leaky-Vietnamese-Connection-70042.html

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Quoted – Could an Apple ‘iPad’ Make E-Readers Irrelevant? – Macnewsworld.com

Apple Inc - Photo from my iBook
Image by Farid Iqbal via Flickr

Quoted – Could an Apple ‘iPad’ Make E-Readers Irrelevant? –  Macnewsworld.com

Rumor has it Apple’s begun shopping a tablet computer — or “iPad,” as it’s been unofficially dubbed — to publishers. Would Apple’s entry into the e-book market spell doom for the Kindle, Nook and Daily Edition? Or is it more likely that an iPad might be a nice device for everything but books?

Rumors that Apple has been approaching major publishers about a content distribution deal suggest it is well-poised to make a disruptive play in the e-reader field, suggested Scott Testa, a professor of business at Cabrini College.

“I think Apple has the potential to do what they have with smartphones and music to the publishing industry,” Testa told MacNewsWorld.

One major hurdle could be standing in its way, if the rumor mills are right: The projected high cost of the Apple device could be a barrier to adoption for many enthusiastic consumers.

Unlike an iPhone, which can be had for as little as $99 up front, or a Kindle, with a base price of $259, the rumored iPad could involve an investment of $600 or more — and it could carry ongoing fees for data access, according to many reports.

“It goes from a great Christmas gift to a luxury item,” remarked Testa.

http://www.macnewsworld.com/rsstory/68932.html

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Quoted – Verizon’s Tough-Guy Droid Bullies Sissy iPhone – Technewsworld

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What’s Verizon trying to accomplish with its characterization of the iPhone as a vapid female in contrast to the testosterone-soaked Droid? Will male AT&T subscribers drop their iPhones — and their carrier — in order to prove their manliness? Will women lust after a sexy robot? Are we living in the 1960s? Has Verizon’s ad agency lost its mind?

Successful ads, particularly in the tech industry, are usually the edgy ones or the funny ones — or, best of all, both.

“Being serious and straightforward all the time is not good for the advertising industry,” said Scott Testa, a business professor at Cabrini College.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/68816.html

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Quoted – Linuxinsider – Dell building Android Powered Internet Device

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Quoted – Linuxinsider – Dell building Android Powered Internet Device

http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/67473.html?wlc=1246629342

In pursuing this path, Dell may be looking for another way to differentiate itself in the netbook market — though a pocket-sized Internet device is not a netbook, noted Scott Testa, a marketing Grow Your Business-Fast! Sign up for a FREE trial of Infusionsoft and double your sales in 12 months. consultant and professor of marketing at St. Joseph’s University.

Still, using Android and the ARM architecture could give product makers such as Dell a lower-cost product. At a time when PC devices and smartphones are converging, a return to the PDA mentality could offer Dell some possibilities, he said.

“There is no license fee and no Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) More about Microsoft tax to pay for the operating system. I can see an opening for them,” Testa told LinuxInsider.

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AT&T’s iPhone Dilemm

Image representing iPhone as depicted in Crunc...
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http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090429_594307.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

If Apple widens the circle of iPhone carriers beyond AT&T, those new partners will grab a highly profitable slice of customers

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