iPhone 4 News

New iPhone helping Apple stocks, but it’s still getting creamed by Verizon and AT&T

Over the past several years, Apple has arguably gotten the better end of its iPhone partnership with the carriers — but right now, it’s the telecoms that have investors more excited.

Since April 9, Verizon and AT&T are the second- and third-best performers among the 30 Dow Jones industrial average stocks, rising 8.2% and 7.8% respectively. In a tumultuous month for the stock market, the only Dow company to outpace the two telecom giants is Travelers.

During that same one-month period, Apple’s stock, which is not in the Dow, has tumbled by nearly 11%.

That drop is particularly head-scratching given the strength of Apple’s recent earnings report. The tech behemoth reported much better-than-expected sales and profits, particularly from the iPhone, which made its debut in China.

The telecoms had some surprises of their own last quarter. A sharp sequential decline in iPhone sales in the United States provided Verizon and AT&T’s wireless service profit margins with a much-needed shot in the arm. Both companies pay heavy up-front subsidies to bring the cost of iPhones down to $200 for their customers.

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Apple’s iPhone was No. 1 smartphone in Japan in 2011 with 7.25M sold

The data comes from a report issued by MM Research, translated by Macotakara on Thursday, which shows that Apple represented 30 percent of smartphone sales in Japan. Among all cell phones, including “feature” phones,” Apple took 17 percent of the market.

Though Apple was the leading hardware vendor, Google’s Android was the most popular mobile operating system platform among smartphones sold in Japan in 2011. Google’s Android represented 69 percent, meaning that together, Google and Apple controlled a whopping 99 percent of smartphone sales by platform in Japan.

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iPhone 4S on sale for $149 at RadioShack

iPhone buyers looking for a healthy discount on a new phone can find one at their local RadioShack store, the company tweeted this week.

The retailer is selling the 16GB iPhone 4S for $149.99, the 32GB edition for $249.99, and the 8GB iPhone 4 for $49, all three a full $50 off the retail price.

The promotion is in-store only, so customers can’t score the lower price by ordering online. As expected, the sale price requires the usual two-year contract. RadioShack doesn’t indicate if all three U.S. iPhone carriers are an option. The company suggests calling or visiting your local store for further details.

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iPhone App Video Review: Ski Safari

Ski Safari is the latest title from Defiant Development, who also brought us the fun title Rocket Bunnies. It’s a kind of endless goal runner with plenty of familiar aspects, but it also does plenty of new of things. The simple art is well done, the sound is good, and the gameplay is fast paced and fun even if it is repetitive. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a simple new quick-fix game to enjoy.

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iPhone tools get fingerprints, get loud and get you charged up

In today’s world of touchscreens, each generation has gotten better but they all seem to be magnets for fingerprints and smudges.

The iEraser cleaning block is about the size of a deck of cards and has what the company website calls “a stable and uniform cleaning surface” on one side to clean your screen.

It’s basically what we know as the chalkboard eraser of the past or dry eraser boards of today, and it works pretty much the same way.

Just take the microfiber cloth-like side and, with pressure, wipe it up and down until your device’s screen is clean. There’s no need for solutions or cleaners.

After using it for a few weeks on an iPad and iPhone, it still looks new and according to the company will never need cleaning itself.

Details: http://bestiproducts.com. $14.95, available in black, pink or white

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iTalkFast Releases Free iPhone Player App That Improves Time Management

Cory Boatright, recently named the 4th out of 1.6 million unique individuals measured for Influence by Fast Company Magazine on the Internet, has developed a new mobile app that is causing quite a stir. Boatright is a serial entrepreneur who has been published in Wall Street Journal for his keen “business aptitude”. He’s started over forty different businesses, yet didn’t even graduate from high school. “Most of the businesses weren’t successful”, says Boatright and he chalked them up as “good business therapy”. However iTalkFast has grabbed the attention of national companies and thousands of Cory’s “tribe members” are fueling the momentum.

The concept behind this “sexy” free app is a free iPhone audio app with great sound that allows the user to listen to a myriad of their favorite Podcasts and audio books at 2.5 times the normal speed. The research behind the free mobile app indicates that an average person speaks at 125 words per minute, yet the mind can comprehend 400-500 words a minute. Therefore comprehension and retention are vastly improved when applying the iTalkFast speed listening process. The high quality free iphone player allows access to speed listening to virtually anything of interest that isn’t DRM protected. The result is that the brain remains focused in order to keep up with the fast moving content. The voice recordings are clear and quick without sounding like chipmunk chatter.

In addition, the time saving factor plays a large part when much of learning is done through something Cory calls “speed listening retention”. If learning is done through reading, even if it is speed-reading, there are few other activities that can be done simultaneously. Not only does listening to recordings faster help you focus and retain more, it can save you time and help you become more efficient. This could mean listening to an hour long missed college lecture in less than 20 minutes and actually retaining more than if you listened at normal speed.

Learning at this level does not need to be a sedentary activity. In fact, physical activity such as jogging or even walking while listening helps the mind take in the information more effectively. The brain takes in more oxygen as the body moves and increases circulation in a sense clearing the mind to make way for new information. The wonderful power of this free app player can be used when forced down time is in effect such as being stuck driving in heavy traffic for example.

For more information about iTalkFast and Cory Boatright contact 888-476-4114 or email cory(at)italkfast.com Download the iTalkFast mobile app here www.iTalkfast.com.

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Ban.jo for iPhone

Feel like you’re missing nearby friends or nearby fun? Ban.jo, a free iPhone/iPod touch app, is designed to fix that problem.

The app lets you plug into five different social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram, or Google+. If one of your friends on those networks checks in or updates a geotagged status, Ban.jo alerts you if that activity is taking place nearby. The idea, according to Ban.jo’s developers, is to eliminate those times when you and your friends are within shouting distance of each other but might not know it.

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iPhone Boom Mic by Photojojo will improve your audio recording quality

We’ve seen several iPhone camera lens attachments in the past, but if you’ve always wanted to use your iPhone mainly as a recording device or to boost your iPhone videography creations to the next level, Photojojo has recently announced the availability of the iPhone Boom Mic.

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U.S. Wireless Seen Contracting After Consumer IPhone Binge: Tech

The U.S. wireless market, long the fastest-growing sector in the telecommunications industry, looks like it’s headed for a wall.

Sales of wireless contracts, the most lucrative segment of the business because it locks in monthly payments over long periods, may have shrunk for the first time ever in the first quarter. One big reason for the sharp reversal: Soaring iPhone sales in late 2011 may have satiated consumers’ appetites for wireless plans.

A decline would mark a turning point for the previously rapid-growth business, leaving carriers such as AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. fighting over a shrinking pool of customers. A slowdown also forces device manufacturers such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. to battle more intensely for customers.

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Small phone companies to sell iPhone at discount

A group of small, regional cellphone companies announced Wednesday that they’re going to start selling the iPhone, at prices that undercut the big carriers.

NTelos Wireless of Virginia; Appalachian Wireless of Kentucky; and Alaska Communications, Matanuska Telephone Association and GCI of Alaska all said they will begin selling the iPhone on April 20.

Cellcom of Wisconsin told WSAW, a Wausau TV station, that it would be part of the launch. Cellcom didn’t return messages left by The Associated Press.

The companies said they will charge $150 for the basic 4S model. That’s $49 less than what AT&T, Verizon and Sprint charge. A two-year service contract is required.

Another small regional phone company, Mississippi-based C Spire Wireless, started selling the iPhone last year. A bigger regional company, U.S. Cellular, has said it turned down the iPhone because it was too expensive.

Phone companies subsidize the iPhone, which costs about $600 wholesale. Selling it means shouldering a big upfront cost. Ntelos Chief Financial Officer Stebbins Chandor said the phone would start paying off in 2014.

Ntelos CEO James Hyde said it needed the iPhone to fill a gap in its smartphone lineup and compete with other carriers. In the first quarter, the company lost about 5,000 subscribers from its contract-based plans, which are the most lucrative, while adding subscribers to cheaper prepaid services.

Shares of Ntelos, Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc. and General Communication Inc. all fell Wednesday, a down day for the broader market. The other companies are privately held.

Ntelos Holdings Corp. is based in Waynesboro and has about 421,000 subscribers in Virginia, West Virginia and portions of Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky under the nTelos Wireless brand.

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