In a research note to clients obtained by The Mac Observer, Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich said that Apple could see a "significant share gain" for the Macintosh after Apple reported a 26% growth in Mac unit sales for the December quarter on Wednesday. Based on Apple’s earnings report, the iPod Halo Effect, and possible…
Bryan Chaffin
Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.
Articles by Bryan Chaffin
Cisco Systems Chooses Mac OS X, Xserve, Xserve RAID and Xsan
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Cisco Systems, the world’s largest networking equipment manufacturer, chose Apple’s Mac OS X, Xserve, Xserve RAID, and Xsan networking software for an e-mail archival system. Digital Strata, an Agile-IT development firm in the Enterprise space, implemented the system for Cisco Xsan is a DIY (Do It Yourself) grid software tool for…
Apple Adds NFL Highlights to iTMS
S AN FRANCISCO, CA — Late on Monday night, Apple added a new feature to the iTunes Music Store called NFL Wild Card Highlights. NFL Wild Card Essentials offer short audio books for this weekis NFL games. Highlights are 2-3 minute audio books of information about recent NFL football games. Each Highlight is priced at…
Power Your iPod With Solar Power
S AN FRANCISCO, CA — Better Energy Systems announced Monday Solio, a solar power charging solution for iPods and other portable devices. Consisting of a collapsible array of three solar panels that fits in your pocket, the device connects to your iPod with a cable (see image below). The company said it will be introducing…
Altec Lansing Moves iPod Speakers to Other Music Players [PHOTO ADDED]
L AS VEGAS, NV — Altec Lansing has introduced a new portable speaker system for non-iPod music players based on the companyis original inMotion iPod speaker system. The new unit is called the iM4, and was introduced at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, NV. The company said that it supports any player from…
Apple Ships Xsan Storage Area Network File System
Apple announced Tuesday that it has begun shipping Xsan, the company’s enterprise-class Storage Area Network (SAN) file system. Xsan is a 64-bit cluster file system for Mac OS X that allows users to share storage resources over Fibre Channel. Aimed at both video professionals and IT networks, Xsan supports very high data throughput for multiple…
Apple Sues Mac Site For Publishing "Trade Secrets"
A pple has filed suit against Think Secret, the Mac rumor and news site, according to a report by CNet News. Apple sued the site for publishing what it calls trade secrets regarding unannounced products. ThinkSecret has recently published stories about a headless Mac and an Apple productivity suite, neither of which have been announced…
Recording Industry Sells More Music While Apple Sells More iPods
T he New York Times reported that record sales increased in 2004, the first increase in some three years. The newspaper reported that the recording industry reported sales of some 667 million albums, a 1.6% increase over 2003. The increase sales in music came during a time when the recording industry said that piracy was…
Apple Hot Deals Update For J&R, Publishing Perfection
A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for J&R and Publishing Perfection at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several Mac retailers and special offers that one can only get,…
Adobe Releases Acrobat 7
L AS VEGAS, NV — Adobe announced Wednesday the release of Acrobat 7, the companyis PDF creation software family. Version 7 provides users the ability to assemble documents from multiple sources, create intelligent forms, and collaborate on projects inside and outside the firewall. Adobe has three versions of the software, Professional, Standard, and LE. Acrobat…
Apple Upgrades Xserve G5 to 2.3 GHz
Apple announced Tuesday upgraded Xserve G5 systems. One week in advance of Macworld Expo, a venue Apple usually reserves for new product announcements, the company announced an upgraded 2.0 GHz single processor Xserve and a dual 2.3 GHz Xserve. The dual-processor system also sports a faster front side bus, which now runs at 1.15 GHz,…
The Back Page - IBM: The NeXT Mac Cloner?
AudioGoGo.com has published its predictions for 2005, where, as we have seen with other tech media outlets, Apple figured prominently. The magazine had five major predictions concerning Apple, including Apple having a big year for the Mac, Apple losing iPod market share, Apple upgrading the audio quality of the iTunes Music Store, and the Sony…
iPod Helps Seattle Area Mac Retailers
A ccording to the Seattle Times, iPods have been good for Appleis third party retail stores. The newspaper reported on Monday that a five store chain called The Mac Store saw its business grow in 2004, and the companyis president and CEO, Kevin Anderson, attributed at least some of that growth to the iPod. "The…
Tunewear Announces Cases & Clips for iPod/iPod mini
< A href="http://www.tunewear.com/">Tunewear has announced several iPod and iPod mini accessories today, including the WATERWEAR cases, POPTUNE wrappers, PRIE HOOK hooks, and the ALUMINUM CLIP for ICEWEAR cases. WATERWEAR for 4G iPods and WATERWEAR mini for iPod minis are water resistant cases made of “hard toughened plastic” that includes a waterproof seal. The scroll wheel…
The Back Page - Dvorak: Mac Platform Stagnant; Cheap Mac Needed
John C. Dvorak has a new column about Apple in which he said "the Mac platform is essentially stagnant." The problem, according to Mr. Dvorak, is "Apple’s inability to make the Mac a commodity computer by pricing it to compete with PCs made inexpensively in China and selling with razor-thin margins." In other words, Mr.…
Seattle Times Compares Apple and Google to Microsoft "of Old"
I n a sign of the ever-changing times, the Seattle Times has published an editorial by Paul Andrews that compares both Apple and Google to not only Microsoft, but the Microsoft "of old." Mr. Andrew looks at Appleis successful iPod and Googleis successful Internet and desktop search platforms, and wonders how it is that Microsoft…
Piper Jaffray Sees Bigger iPod mini, Flash iPod, Moto Phone for Mac Expo
< A href="http://www.piperjaffray.com/">Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has told investors to expect bigger iPod minis, a new iTunes phone from Motorola, and a flash-based iPod during Januaryis Mac Expo. Listing a higher-capacity iPod mini, a flash-based iPod, and an iTunes-capable cellular phone from Motorola as “likely” products to be announced, Mr. Munster wrote a G5…
Merrill Lynch Reiterates "Buy" on AAPL; Sees Mac Market Share Growth in 2005
Steven Milunovich of Merrill Lynch reiterated his “Buy” rating on Apple’s stock Thursday, as well as his US$78 per share 12 month target price. In a research note to his clients obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Milunovich offered a variety of anecdotal notes that indicate that Apple’s current quarter continues to go well, and…
eMac Makes PC Magazine's "10 Worst Products of the Year"
The end of the year inevitably brings with it scores of “Best of” lists from a variety of sources. Such lists from this year frequently have Apple’s iPod at or near the top, but Apple also made another kind of list this year: PC Magazine’s “Worst Products of the Year” list, where the eMac was…
Baltimore Sun Names iPod mini This Year's "Must-Have" Gift
T he Baltimore Sun has added to the coverage Appleis iPod is getting. Naming the iPod mini, in particular, as this yearis "must-have" gift, the article looks at how hard the mini has become to find. "From New York to San Francisco, there are reports of shoppers entering Apple and other retail stores seeking the…
Jim Lehrer News Hour Examines Apple
The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, the flagship news program for PBS, has broadcast a story examining Apple. The show, which was first aired Friday, December 10th, looks at all the usual suspects for Apple’s current prospects, including the company’s success with the iTunes Music Store and iPod, as well as Apple’s market share in…
MacSoft Brings Breakout, Centipede, Pong to OS X
< A href="http://macsoftgames.com/">MacSoft has announced a three-in-one pack of Atari arcade games that have been redeveloped for Mac OS X. The three titles are Breakout — a game originally developed by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs* for Atari — Centipede, and Pong. "Each game in Atari Arcade Classics gives you a nostalgic game redone in…
New Refurb Products At The Apple Store
A pple has updated the Hot Deals pages for B&H Photo-Video, Publishing Perfection, OiReilly, the new Clearance" section, and the Apple Store itself at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several…
TMO Reports - ATR Urges 'Buy' of Apple; Targets $78 Price
American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu has initiated coverage of Apple Computer (AAPL) with a ‘buy’ recommendation, and a 12-month target of US$78 per share. The firm cited Apple’s growing iPod success and the oft-mentioned iPod ‘Halo Effect’ that could boost Mac sales as reasons for optimism. “We believe (Apple) is well-positioned to capitalize on…