Apple and iPhone related stories
Can Apple break the too-expensive image?
The big knock on Apple–whether or not it’s always been accurate–is that its products are more expensive than most of its competitors.
But in the keynote speech Monday that opened Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, it became clear the company is tackling the price question head on.The best example of this new attitude is the decision to keep the 8GB iPhone 3G, but sell it at $99.
As of the beginning of the year, Apple owns just under 11 percent of the smartphone market, and that could increase exponentially now. In order to figure out just how much a price cut from $199 to $99 on the 8GB version will affect consumers, the best example is what happened when Apple cut the iPhone from $399 to $199 last year. That was also a 50 percent price reduction.
There are two things that lowering the price of the iPhone to $99 does: It broadens the potential base of people who can now afford the iPhone. It also kneecaps Palm. The $199 8GB Palm Pre has been touted as a potential "iPhone killer," or at least a very nice alternative to Apple’s device. But the Pre is now $100 more than the comparable device from Apple. That could make the decision very easy for people who are on the fence.
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Apple refreshes iPhones, MacBooks, and OS X at WWDC
At Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference on Monday, the company announced refreshes to its flagship hardware and software. Included was a new version of the iPhone called the iPhone 3G S, which will be in stores later this month. This version sports a faster processor, longer battery life, video recording, and a digital compass. It also comes with higher memory capacity than previous models.
In addition, Apple unveiled refreshed versions of its notebooks, which are headed to store shelves starting today. Along with the usual speed increases, the newer 13-inch and 15-inch models cost less and include SD card slots. The entire line is also using the same non-removable battery technology found in the MacBook AIR and the 17-inch model of the MacBook Pro.
Here’s a quick recap of everything that was announced:
- New iPhone hardware
- New iPhone software
- Changes to Apple’s notebook lineup
Apple’s new iPhone 3G S sports new camera, video
The camera in Apple’s upcoming iPhone 3G S sports not just video, but also some new features besides the usual not-so-useful bump in megapixels.
The phone, available next week in the United States and some other countries, comes with a 3-megapixel camera compared to the current iPhone 3G’s 2 megapixels. It can shoot video at 30 frames per second at VGA (640×480) resolution, matching competing phones and addressing a shortcoming of the current phones.
But the iPhone 3G S can do more than just shoot video, said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, at the company’s Apple Worldwide Developer Conference here. People can share videos through e-mail, MMS, Apple’s MobileMe service, and YouTube.
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