Friday, November 25, 2016

iPod's disappearance from top of Apple website signals further slide into obscurity - Apple Insider

 

Apple quietly removed the iPod category from the top menu of its website earlier this week, in yet another sign that Apple is further sidelining the aging portable media player product category.

The iPod’s place in Apple’s website main menu has been taken up by Apple Music, which was announced during Monday’s WWDC keynote. In the company’s current product lineup, the menu space is otherwise reserved for hardware, including the Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch.

The disappearance from the top menu does not mean the end of the iPod yet: iPods are still being sold, but can only be found by going to the online Apple Store, or scrolling to the bottom of the Apple Music page.

The iPod lineup has become increasingly marginal to Apple financially, with sales declining every quarter for the past several years, and the company even declining to reveal quarterly sales going forward. This was precipitated at first by the iPhone, and then by the general popularity of smartphones, which have all but eliminated the need to carry a separate portable device for music.

No major iPod updates have been made since 2012. The iPod classic was in fact discontinued in September 2014, and recently the only sign of life has been a rumor that a product refresh could happen later this year.

If it does happen, changes are expected to revolve around the iPod touch, which might gain things like a faster processor and more memory. Less certain is the fate of the Nano, which sports an operating system that mimics iOS without using the same software architecture.

Apple could be grooming the Apple Watch as a kind of replacement. Although it costs at least $ 349 —$ 50 more than the most expensive 64-gigabyte iPod touch —it includes 8 gigabytes of onboard storage, capable of music playback when an iPhone is left at home. Future versions of the Watch could increase that storage and come down in price, and offer greater connectivity, such as tapping into the Apple Music streaming service.


ipod – Google News

Black Friday 2016 UK deals - Tesco Direct UPDATED DEALS include PS4, Xbox and Apple iPad - Express.co.uk

Black Friday is finally here and Tesco has now revealed its official Black Friday deals.

The supermarket giant has been running offers all week but the biggest bargains have just gone live on the firm’s website.

These offers include money off the PlayStation 4 Slim, Xbox One S and Apple’s iPad tablet.

THere’s also deals on Sky’s NOW TV box, Dyson cleaners and Google’s Chromecast which includes a one-month subscription to Netflix.

Express.co.uk has taken a look at what’s on offer from Tesco and here’s the pick of the deals.

Tesco Black Friday UKGETTY

Tesco Black Friday UK 2016

Thu, November 17, 2016
Best Black Friday 2016 deals UK Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

GETTY

1 of 10

Kindle Paperwhite: £79.99 from Amazon (Was £109.99)

TESCO DIRECT BLACK FRIDAY DEALS

Xbox One S 500GB FIFA 17 Console – NOW £229
• GET THE DEAL HERE

PS4 Slim 500GB Console Black – NOW £199.99saving £28
• GET THE DEAL HERE

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Xbox One – NOW £29saving £17
• GET THE DEAL HERE

Xbox One S 500GB Minecraft Console – NOW £229
• GET THE DEAL HERE

iPad mini 2, 32GB, WiFi – Silver - NOW £189 - saving £50
• GET THE DEAL HERE

NOW TV Box with Sky Cinema 4 Month Pass - NOW £19saving £16
• GET THE DEAL HERE

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, 6" - NOW £79 - saving £25
• GET THE DEAL HERE

Apple iPad 4, 9.7" - NOW £239 - saving £60
• GET THE DEAL HERE

Acer ES15, 15.6″ Laptop - NOW £199 - saving £80
• GET THE DEAL HERE

Beats by Dr. Dre Studio 2.0 Over-Ear Noise Cancelling Headphones  - NOW £129 saving £13
• GET THE DEAL HERE

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But Currys PC World is not the only store offering customers the chance to get their Christmas shopping done at a discounted rate.

Here’s the other stores with deals at the moment –

The best Black Friday deals on Apple MacBook laptops, Mac desktops - ZDNet

black-friday-2016-best-buy-apple-macbook-imac-mac-desktop-laptop-deals.jpg

Best Buy has a number of Black Friday deals on Apple MacBook laptops and iMac desktops.

Apple isn’t big on discounting, especially when it comes to its computers, which remain much higher priced than most Windows PCs. As hard as it’s getting to find iPad specials on Black Friday, it’s even harder to locate sales for MacBooks and iMacs. If you’re set on buying a Mac during this shopping holiday, however, there are a handful of deals we’ve tracked down below.

Black Friday 2016

  • CNET 2016 Holiday Gift Guide
  • Fry’s Black Friday deals include $ 98 Dell laptop, Apple Mac sales
  • Apple hints at Black Friday deals after skipping sales last year
  • Barnes & Noble launches $ 50 Nook Tablet 7-inch
  • Samsung’s laptop, Galaxy tablet deals
  • Microsoft preview of Surface devices, Windows laptops
  • Hhgregg ad has 12.9-inch iPad Pro deal
  • Office Depot/OfficeMax ad features $ 119 Windows 2-in-1 tablet, $ 169 HP laptop
  • Best Buy ad reveals $ 100 Windows laptop deal, $ 125 iPad Air 2, Pro savings
  • Walmart ad features $ 199 Apple iPad mini 2, $ 119 Chromebook deals
  • Target ad has iPad Pro for $ 449, iPad Air 2 for $ 274
  • HP ad leaks with PC deals from $ 250
  • Staples ad leaks with laptops, tablet deals
  • Costco ad leaks with laptop, desktop, tablet deals
  • Ads for Dell Small Business leak
  • BJ’s Wholesale ad features $ 33.33 Amazon Fire tablet
  • Sam’s Club ad leaks with HP laptop, desktop deals
  • Dell’s ad leaks with $ 100 laptop, desktop deals

We’ll be updating this when and if new deals arise. Also note that some of these sales won’t be available online, or will be gone quickly, so you may have to endure all of the pain of Black Friday shopping to snatch one up.

Apple MacBook Air

Apple’s cheapest laptop, relatively speaking, is now limited to a 13.3-inch version, as the 11-inch model has been discontinued. Best Buy takes $ 200 off the base configuration, lowering the price to $ 799. It also knocks the same amount offer the $ 1,199 version with double the solid-state storage, as does regional retailer Fry’s. If you want to upgrade to a Core i7 processor, B&H Photo takes anywhere from $ 100 to $ 200 off, depending on the specific configuration.

Apple MacBook

The most design-conscious Apple laptop gets little discount love from Best Buy, which is selling it at the regular price. You’ll have to rely on Amazon and B&H, both of which take $ 100 off the two basic models (regular prices of $ 1,299 and $ 1,599, respectively) and B&H knocking $ 150 off the pricier configuration with a Core m7 processor update.

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple just updated its pro-level laptop, which means you aren’t likely to see deals on the controversial refresh that are more than a few dollars off. Again, the exceptions are Amazon and B&H Photo, both of which cut $ 100 from the base 13-inch version. B&H Photo also offers discounts ranging from $ 100 to $ 200 on additional 13-inch configurations, but does not offer any specials on the 15-inch MacBook Pro. On the other hand, there will be plenty of price cuts on the now-discontinued configurations, so if you don’t want the latest and greatest MacBook Pro, this is your chance to save on older hardware.

Apple Mac mini

The least expensive Mac of all, the diminuitive mini hasn’t been updated in a while, and doesn’t receive much in the way of discounts. Best Buy has deals that take a smidge off the price of the base $ 499 version ($ 37 off) and the step-up version ($ 29 off), but you’ll have better luck through Amazon, which takes $ 70 off either the base config or the most expensive model (normally $ 999). B&H matches Amazon’s savings, but slashes $ 100 from the middle $ 699 edition.

Apple iMac

Apple’s popular all-in-one has three distinct versions currently available (21.5-inch, 21.5-inch with Retina 4k display, 27-inch with Retina 5k display), all of which have deals available from the same sources as above. Best Buy has the best price on the cheapest version, the 21.5-inch system that normally runs $ 1,099 receives a $ 200 discount. In comparison, B&H only offers $ 100 off, but does take $ 120 away from the $ 1,299 configuration price. It also does a little better on the base Retina 4k iMac, chopping $ 150 off the $ 1,499 price whereas Best Buy offers $ 100 off.

Amazon joins the other two retailers in discounting the Retina 5k base model by $ 200, knocking the price down to $ 1,599. Best Buy also has sales on the other 5k configurations, taking $ 100 from the mid-range edition and $ 156 from the top-end one. You’ll have better luck at B&H, though, as it takes $ 170 and $ 250 off, respectively, from the same models.

Apple Mac Pro

You don’t buy a Mac Pro if you’re looking to save money, but just because you can spend at least $ 2,999 on a computer doesn’t mean you wouldn’t appreciate a discount if you can get it. Amazon and B&H take a hundred bucks off the base model’s price — Best Buy offered the same price cut, but is sold out online — while B&H slices $ 300 off the pricier edition that regularly costs $ 3,999.


mac – Google News

I would break this iPhone 8 concept in 10 seconds or less - BGR

This iPhone 8 concept is actually close to what the iPhone 8 is rumored to look like. That's rare for a concept mockup, and also bad news for those of us who like our iPhones non-smashed.

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Current wisdom has the iPhone 7 returning to the design language of the iPhone 4 generation, but with some changes. It's supposed to be glass front and back, with slightly curved screen edges, an aluminum chassis, and much thinner than the older generation.

Frankly, it looks fantastic. The thin design, bigger screen and wider camera lens look fantastic, and very evocative of the Jet Black color that's been so popular with the iPhone 8. Unfortunately, no one is ever going to see the design, because it's going to be perma-covered with a case.

Let's face it: an all-glass smartphone is going to get scratched and smashed so quickly. From my experience with all-glass Android phones, they're intensely slippery, so if you put it down on a table that's not perfectly flat, it's going to end on the floor, guaranteed.

I appreciate the design aesthetic that drives Apple, but iPhones are ultimately meant to be practical devices that everyone carries around. Why bother designing a phone so beautiful when it's going to be hidden in a $ 14.99 Amazon case for its entire life? The iPhone 5 and 6 series nailed the design: provided you're remotely careful, you can (and should) use the phone naked. This iPhone concept? Not so much.


iphone – Google News

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Apple's latest secret: Its advertising budget - Cult of Mac

Apple's latest secret: Its advertising budget

people are switching from Android to iPhone than before. Yet another secret cost.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Whether it's its new heartwarming Christmas ad or its giant iPhone 7 billboards, Apple frequently leads the way on both quality and quantity for its advertising.

But according to Apple's most recent 10-K annual report, recently filed with the SEC, it's no longer revealing what it spends to get to this point.

Instead, under the section of the report titled "advertising costs," Apple notes that such costs, "are expensed as incurred and included in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses."

Last year, Apple's ad spend increased by 50 percent to a $ 1.8 billion. According to an analyst at Wells Fargo, the reason Apple may now be clamming up about advertising spend could be because Apple is spending more advertising dollars per sale, which could be a boon to critics if news got out.

Interestingly, while it would make sense for Apple advertising costs to be even higher this year (or at least the same), SG&A — Selling, General and Administrative Expenses — were actually down by 1 percent in 2016. Apple notes that:

"The decrease in selling, general and administrative expense in 2016 compared to 2015 was due primarily to lower discretionary expenditures and advertising costs, partially offset by an increase in headcount and related expenses."

While that may be true, however, Wells Fargo also points out that S&GA expenses as an overall percentage of Apple sales is actually up this year to 7 percent.

With Apple ending 2016 with its lowest margins since 2009, it's quite possibly that Apple is spending more cash to persuade customers to part with their hard-earned money.

Source: Business Insider

Luke Dormehl is a UK-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems, And Create More and The Apple Revolution, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme, and other publications. He’d like you a lot if you followed him on Twitter.


mac – Google News

Apple tipped to launch two new iPad lines we've never seen before - BGR

The iPad might not be as popular with buyers as it used to be, but Apple still sells millions of them each quarter. Apple is very committed to the iPad, a device it sees as a PC replacement for most people, and it'll continue to launch new models in the coming years. A new report says that Apple is getting ready to launch two iPad lines that have not seen before in Apple's lineup, including a new size and a cheaper version of the iPad Pro.

DEAL ALERT: The best Black Friday sale of the year is happening right now!

The report comes from Digitimes and seems to corroborate an August research note from noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple is tipped to be prepping a 10.5-inch iPad that will be released next year, with production set to start in December. The device will join Apple's existing 7.9-inch iPad mini, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Apple's 10.5-inch iPad will supposedly cater to the enterprise and the education sector in the US, where 10-inch and larger tablets have been popular among customers. The device would pack an A10X processor, just like the one found in Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Apple is expected to sell 2 million 10.5-iPads in the first quarter of 2017, and up to 6 million over the course of 2017. Interestingly, the sources noted that Apple will also launch lower-price versions of the 9.7-inch iPad to compete with Android tablets, but more details about such devices were not shared with the Taiwanese news site.

It's unclear whether the 7.9-inch iPad mini will receive any updates in the future, but Digitimes indicates the smaller tablet will still be found in Apple's product lineup.

Kuo also said in August that Apple plans to launch an OLED iPad in the future, but that won't happen until sometime in 2018.


ipad – Google News

Waterford Valley High Hosting iPod Drive - VOCM

Waterford Valley High School students are hosting an iPod drive this week to contribute to Eastern Health’s Music & Memory program.

The therapeutic program uses iPods to bring personalized music to residents living in long-term care homes.

Dr. Aaron McKim told VOCM Nightline with Jonathan Richler that music triggers memory, even in patients with advanced dementia.

Often songs people learn between the ages of 16 and 26 are the ones that stick with them for life.

You can donate an iPod by contacting [email protected].


ipod – Google News