Apple has finally launched its wildly successful iPads internationally on the 28th May 2010. And guess what, the crowd responded by going wild! The first wave of International launch will hit nine countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The second phase of launch(expected to be in July) will include countries like Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore.
Apple is currently selling about 200,000 iPads every week. It achieved its first million iPad sales after only 28 days. This is even better than the successful launch of its big brother iPhone which managed to achieve the 1,000,000 unit sales in 74 days. Below is an image of the people waiting outside the retail store to get in to purchase the iPad when it was launched internationally.
With this feat, it comes as no surprise that Apple has now officially become the largest market capitalized technology stock in the US. As of today, the market capitalization of Apple share is about USD232Billion. The next largest capitalized technology stock is Microsoft with a market capitalization of USD225.5Billion. Below is the comparison chart of how the Apple stock fared compared to Microsoft and Google.
No wonder Steve Jobs has been named as CEO of the decade by Fortune sometime end of last year. To achieve such a feat is indeed no simple task. :-)
He has once again revolutionize the tablet PC. As you know, the tabled PC has been quite a failure for many companies. Not for Apple though. It sold more than 300,000 iPads on the first day of launch and is expected to touch half a million within the weekend.
On the 8th April 2010, Steve Jobs gave a big presentation on what’s coming in the next version of the iPhone operating system.
He said there will be 1,500 new APIs for developers. Of that, he highlighted 7 big new features that most of us iPhone users will be eagerly looking forward to in the new(yet to be released) iPhone OS 4 :-
1. Multitasking
This is the biggest news of the day from a user’s perspective. Apple is adding multitasking to the iPhone. With Apple’s multitasking, you’ll hit your home button twice. A tray will pop up with the apps you have running in the background.
It is 100% true multitasking though, rather an advanced form of app switching. Apple wants to preserve battery life, while still allowing some background processing. So, the specific functions listed below can run in the background:
Background audio for an app like Pandora.
VoIP so you can get Skype calls at any time.
Push notifications
Local notifications
Task completion
Fast app switching
multitasking
2. Folders to organize apps
Apple is adding a way to organize all apps into folders. With your current OS, you can probably store up to only about 9 pages of apps on your iPhone. With the new iPhone OS 4.0, you will be able to store over 2,000 apps on your iPhone. You can make a new folder, label it, then throw apps into it. Click on it, and you can see all the apps in there. So, in future, you will not need to delete apps if you wanted to add more apps. :-)
3. A unified inbox
With the iPhone OS4.0, you can get all the inbox in one place. In addition to that, you will also be able to have multiple exchange accounts.
4. iBooks
Apple is confirmed bringing its iBooks application to the iPhone. Previously, it was for iPads only. Well, for a smart person like Steve, why would he want to limit his sales of the iBooks to iPad users only? If he enable it for the iPhone users as well, he will be able to multiply his earnings. i foresee this is going to be a big revenue earner for Apple in the future. With ebooks priced much cheaper than the hardcopy editions, and the ease of reading an ebook using the iPad or iPhone, this new app should do well.
5. Enterprise enhancements
Apple’s fifth big announcement for the day was more for enterprise. Apple would like to see more Enterprise users for this neat device and give BlackBerry a run for their money. The below features will be added to enhance the Enterprise iPhone offering:-
(a) Even better data protection
(b) Mobile Device Management
(c) Wireless app distribution
(d) Multiple exchange accounts
(e) Exchange Server 2010
(f) SSL VPN support
6. Social network for gaming
One of the key reasons why many people loves the iPhone and iPad is because of their super solid apps especially their gaming experience. To make the experience even better, Apple is adding a social network for gaming called the Game Center. In a press release, Apple says it will allow “developers to create apps with the ability to invite friends to play a game, start a multiplayer game through matchmaking and track achievements and compare high scores on a leader board.” This is gonna be a good addition for the gamers out there.
7. iAd
Mobile ads suck says Steve Jobs, so he’s introducing the iAd. With the iAd, Apple is hoping to help developers that give away apps for free make some money. Developers get 60% of the ad sales revenue, Apple gets the rest. During his presentation Steve Jobs took a swipe at Google saying the search doesn’t work on mobile like it does on desktop. Apple wants iAds to be more interactive, and keep people in the applications. This is a genius enhancement(not so much for the users of iPhones, though) for Apple to make more money from advertisements as well as to encourage more developers to develop free Apps that could benefit the iPhone community. This is what a win-win-win is all about. Win for the developer who develops free apps. Win for iPhone users who will see more free apps offered because of the first win to the developer. And a big win for Apple who shares in the ad revenues as well as more devices sold.
Below is the video of what Steve Jobs shared with the developers recently on the new features of OS4.0 which is coming mid of 2010:-
There have been a lot of buzz around the new Apple’s launch aka the iPAD. So, i thought i should also blog about this. In my personal opinion the iPAD is essentially an “oversized” iPod Touch/iPhone. Having said that, knowing Apple’s previous launches, they can normally turn something very ordinary into an extraordinary launch.
Here is what my “predictions” for the iPAD:-
1. Apple die-hards will still get one unit for themselves…… :-)
2. Apple will likely launch a whole new service for ebooks similar like the iTunes Apps. Apple has just found a new way to monetize ebooks. This unit will definitely give other ebook readers like Amazon’s Kindle a run for their money. In the near future, the iTunes will be selling a lot more ebooks than they are currently offering and this can be another potential boost in revenue for Apple.
3. Tablet PCs will give the laptops a run for their money and there will be more launches of tablet PCs by other manufacturers in the future to tap into this market(if Apple is successful in this launch). Tablet PCs are not something new but failed to kick off in the past. It is yet to be seen if Apple manage to pull this off using the iPAD. My view is that this launch will generate enough buzz and excitement and will eventually contribute to Apple’s revenues in the future.
Below is the video on the launch of the iPAD by Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs:-
Below is another article by New York Times which commented on the new Apple’s iPad.
For now, i am happy with my iPhone and has no intention of getting the iPad. :-)
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This blog is dedicated to provide the latest updates on the happenings around the iPhone in Malaysia as well as to provide useful information on how to make the full use of the coolest gadget on earth, i.e. the iPhone.
