Apple said to be in 'crunch mode' to ready 'iPad 3' apps for on-stage demos, ads - Apple Insider

Apple said to be in 'crunch mode' to ready 'iPad 3' apps for on-stage demos, ads

By Josh Ong

Published: 08:40 PM EST (05:40 PM PST)

As evidence continues to point toward an early March launch for the next-generation iPad, a new report claims that Apple is now in "crunch mode" as it prepares for on-stage demonstrations and television commercials highlighting apps for the device.

Sources intimated to The Next Web on Thursday that the Cupertino, Calif., company's selection process is proceeding at an "increased rate." Of course, it is to be expected that Apple would be under more pressure as the event approaches, but the report does triangulate other recent reports that have pegged a Retina Display-equipped third-generation iPad for an early March launch.

Apple has traditionally showcased some of its own apps, such as GarageBand and iMovie, as well as exemplary third-party apps at its media events for new iOS devices. According to the report, the company is placing an emphasis on "graphics-oriented applications with high-definition assets" to spotlight the rumored Retina Display on the device.

The iPad maker is also reportedly forwarding some apps to its advertising partner TWBA/Chiat/Day as the agency readies commercials for the third-generation tablet. Author Matthew Panzarino noted that the process is entering its "final phase" and is on a tight deadline for the presentation and subsequent television broadcast.

Speculation surrounding the so-called "iPad 3" has reached a fever pitch in recent days as more specific details appear to have emerged. AllThingsD reported on Thursday that the special event for the next-gen tablet will take place during the first week in March. The publication also affirmed that the tablet will have a resolution of 2,048 by 1,536 pixels, a "much faster" processor and improved graphics performance. Also on Thursday, The New York Times cited an Apple employee as saying the new iPad will have a "truly amazing" screen.

In addition, several photos purportedly of next-generation iPad components have surfaced this week. Images of an alleged back panel for the device appeared to show "very different" mounts for the logic board and a larger battery, as well as a "different" camera and LCD display. Meanwhile, a picture that may have been of the outside of a back panel suggested that Apple does not plan to make any major design changes to the form factor of the device. Finally, a photo has emerged of a high-resolution LCD panel manufactured by Sharp that "seems to be" bound for the next iPad.

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Report: iPad will grow 250% in 2011 at the expense of PCs - Apple Insider

Report: iPad will grow 250% in 2011 at the expense of PCs

By Daniel Eran Dilger

Published: 03:00 PM EST

A new report claims tablet sales will more than triple next year, but says Apple will hold on to its dominant position with the iPad, jumping from 14 million units in 2010 to 36 million next year.

The report, cited by John Paczkowski of the Wall Street Journal Digital Daily blog, was prepared by Caris & Co. analyst Robert Cihra.

"We model Apple?s iPad continuing to dominate [?] in 2011,? Cihra wrote. "iPad not only launched with phenomenal early uptake but effectively sent all wannabes back to the drawing board, delaying most competitive tablet launches well into CY11.

"Yet we now already look forward to the first iPad 2 refresh in March (i.e., establishing annual cadence for iPads in March, iPhone each June and iPods in Sept). An enormous multi-year opportunity, we continue to view iPads less about the ?product? but rather igniting an explosion toward ?thin-client? Access computing.?

Android licensees, including Acer, Motorola and possibly HTC, are expected to demo new tablets at CES, but those devices won't be ready until Google finishes Android OS 3.0 Honeycomb, which isn't expected for release until March 2011. RIM is still struggling to put its PlayBook technologies together, while HP prepares its first webOS tablet, expected to be named PalmPad. Microsoft is also believed to be attempting a second shot at launching tablets running Windows 7 at CES.

A large number of new competing mobile platforms will make it easier for Apple's iPad to stand up as an established product, with thousands of apps and mature enterprise support, in a sea of incompatible tablet designs attempting to deliver a wide range of screen sizes and other feature packages.

Tablets to expand at the expense of conventional PCs

Cihra estimates global tablet sales at 54 million in 2011, with Apple taking 67 percent market share with its iPad. That growth, he said, would come at the expense of PCs.

"We see cannibalization from ?thin-client? iPads/tablets, particularly vs. netbooks and in multi-PC homes, already growing to 1/7th the size of the overall PC market in 2011 and shaving 5 percentage points off what PC growth might otherwise have been,? Cihra wrote. PC growth, excluding tablets, is expected to drop from 14 percent this year to just 9 percent in 2011.

However, if tablets are defined as a new PC form factor they would turn the situation around, as Cihra presented graphically in the report (below).

Defining the iPad as a PC, which Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer did earlier this year, also more than doubles Apple's market share and establishes the company as the largest mobile PC maker in the US and the third largest worldwide, behind only HP and Acer, and just ahead of Dell.

While the iPad is devastating growth among low end notebooks and netbooks, they haven't had a discernible impact upon Apple's MacBook sales, which have been bolstered by the recent release of the MacBook Air. Apple doesn't sell any PCs on the extreme low end, isolating it from the cannibalization other PC makers are experiencing in the wake of the iPad's release. Instead, the iPad has bolstered Apple's earnings while appearing to only offer a halo effect that supports Mac sales and growth.

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Mobiles, iPod touch killing off Nintendo DS, Sony PSP - Apple Insider

Mobiles, iPod touch killing off Nintendo DS, Sony PSP

By Daniel Eran Dilger

Published: 04:00 PM EST

In contrast to all the "iPod-killers" imagined by Apple's competitors, new research quantifies just how much Apple's iOS platform has done to actually displace standalone gaming devices like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

According to a new report by Interpret, mobile phones now make up 43.8 percent of the mobile gaming market, which includes Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP lines of handheld devices.

While the proportion of games played on phones has increased by 53.2 percent over the last year, the number played on the DS and PSP have actually fallen by 13 percent.

The firm noted that "a full 27.2% of consumers who indicate that they play games on their phones only (and not on the DS/PSP) actually own a DS or PSP, but do not actively use the device(s)."

Courtney Johnson, a research and analysis manager at Interpret, added that "the proliferation of highly multifunctional smartphones and messaging phones is a very real threat to the dominance by the DS and PSP of the handheld gaming market. Devices which satisfy a variety of entertainment and utility are fast outstripping single-function devices as consumer favorites."

Adapting to a changing market

Prior to the appearance of the iPhone, Apple faced similar threats to its iPod lineup at the hands of smartphones, which analysts predicted would eat into iPod sales by offering MP3 features that made standalone players obsolete. However, the iPhone and iPod touch helped Apple to maintain its position with the iPod while leveraging its existing economies of scale to successfully enter the smartphone market.

Additionally, Apple's release of an open Software Development Kit for iPhone in 2008 helped create an entirely new market for paid downloadable apps, one that hadn't ever really taken off for previous mobile platforms before.

By that time, the hardware of the late 2004 Nintendo DS and Sony PSP were already being challenged by the new iPhone. By the end of 2008, gaming legend Jon Carmack of id Software went on record as saying the iPhone was "more powerful than a Nintendo DS and PSP combined," and praised Apple's App Store revenue sharing model in the App Store.

Since then, smartphones have advanced significantly in processor and graphics capabilities while Nintendo has largely only offered a bigger DS screen and Sony has done little to advance the PSP. Both Nintendo and Sony have also made only the barest of attempts to push downloadable games, likely out of fear of disrupting the highly lucrative market for licensing third party titles.

Bleak future for PSP2, 3DS

Sony is rumored to be readying a PSP2 as a successor to the existing PSP toward the end of 2011, and Sony Ericsson is also working to create an Android phone cable of playing PSP games, expected in February 2011.

Nintendo has released subtle improvements to the DS line, but will be launching its first major upgrade in the spring of 2011 under then name 3DS, featuring games with 3D screen effects that don't require glasses, 3G mobile connectivity, an accelerometer and GPS features.

Apple's iPhone 4 and iPod touch already deliver a host of gaming related hardware features, including a gyroscope and a high resolution Retina Display. Unlike the DS and PSP line, Apple's iOS also features strong web browsing and productivity apps, a high quality mobile camera with video capture and editing and FaceTime video chat, and other software titles that move well beyond gaming (in addition to the iPhone working as a phone).

iOS cracks open mobile gaming

Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, recently stated that mobile games were "approaching saturation on the handheld market. We?re starting to see DS hardware sales crack," he said.

"I think the big woody of the iPod Touch is cutting into the handheld market, I think the PSP is dead on arrival and I think the PSP2 is going to be dead on arrival. It looks to me like young kids are just as happy playing with an iPod Touch or a Nano.?

Pachter asked, ?what?s the difference if you play Tetris on an iPod Touch or on a DS? Well, you pay a buck on the iPod Touch, you pay $20 on the DS. Parents prefer $1 or free software. I think the iPod Touch is going to sell really, really well. I really think as the iPod Touch gets more and more powerful, you?re going to see a lot of free games over there."

Pachter predicted that Nintendo's forthcoming 3DS "will prolong the handheld market for the game manufacturers, but ultimately, I think handhelds are in trouble. After the 3DS has had its little rush I think the handhelds will continue to decline.?

The top titles for Nintendo's DS are primarily first party games created by Nintendo. If the market for standalone handheld game hardware collapses at the foot of smartphones and the iPod touch, Nintendo may find itself in the position of Sega after the failure of the Dreamcast console.

Sega gave up on building hardware and began creating games for existing platforms, including some of the first games for Apple's iOS.

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Global mobile split between Apple's iOS and Symbian - Apple Insider

Global mobile split between Apple's iOS and Symbian

By Daniel Eran Dilger

Published: 02:00 PM EST

December began with an blizzard, dumping heavy and dense piles of StatCounter web analytics about mobile users, each offering an apparently contradictory look at which vendors were ahead in the race to blanket the world with mobile devices.

StatCounter's headlines

An initial report on StatCounter's data suggested an American comeback by RIM's BlackBerry, shored up by data that showed RIM grabbing the lead in the US with 34.3 percent of all web traffic from smartphone users, just two years after Apple trounced RIM with three times its presence in US web stats.

Mike Abramsky of RBC Capital Markets explained in a note that RIM's sudden assent in browser stats was "likely on uptake of the release of new BlackBerry [OS] 6 devices (with their improved [Web Kit] browser." He added, "alternatively, it may also reflect how Apple and Android users are doing more apps than browsing on their devices."

Reports of data culled from web analytics firms like StatCounter only take into account web traffic, and aren't able to monitor how phones are being used. They can also offer misleading slices of accurate data that are nearly meaningless to the market because they overrate the importance of a headline-grabbing detail while ignoring surrounding facts of greater significance.

iOS with the iPod touch

Pingdom, a vendor of network server monitoring tools, has supplied its own take on StatCounter's figures with a global look at mobile OS usage. While the first StatCounter report presented data only on smartphones, Pingdom included stats for the iPod touch (but not the iPad) in its iOS figures.

Apple's market position with iPhone is supported by iPod touch sales; long before the company could line up distribution deals for the iPhone with carriers globally, the iPod touch was bundled with other phones by those carriers, introducing their users to the iOS and likely tilting their next phone purchase in favor of the iPhone.

Other mobile device makers also offer iPod touch-like devices, but none have become very popular. Smartphone stats that ignore the iPod touch don't provide a realistic view of the mobile market, and in particular the demand for software specific to a given mobile platform.

For example, while sales of all phones from all manufacturers using some version of Android have overtaken the iPhone in the US, they haven't eclipsed the unified market for all iOS devices, which helps to explain (in part) why Android Market isn't leading in mobile software sales, or attracting the same interest from developers and marketers.

Think globally

Additionally, the US is only one part of the global market for mobile devices. Apple has rapidly rolled out both device sales and its App Store to more countries than Android Market, BlackBerry App World, and Microsoft's previous Windows Marketplace for Mobile or its fledgling Windows Phone 7 app store.

This has enabled Apple to take the market share lead in mobile devices away from Symbian in a variety of key markets. Pingdom's stats show the iOS has taken the lead across North America, Australia, and even Symbian's home turf of Europe.

Symbian still leads in Asia, Africa and South America, and not just because cheaper feature phones are selling in massive volume to third world countries. The figures are based on web share, so the mobile devices portrayed in the numbers must at least have a web browser. Entry level Symbian devices do sell for considerably less than full fledged smartphones however.

Beyond Nokia's first place position, Apple is in second place globally, with RIM's BlackBerry in third and Android in fourth place. The report notes that "BlackBerry?s strongest region is North America, but it is still behind iOS there. Android might be growing fast, but it?s still far from dominating any part of the world."

In global numbers, HP's Palm webOS "hardly made a dent," while the report stated that "WinCE is pretty much universally dead. Windows Mobile reaches a couple of percent in a few countries, but that?s about it. We?ll see what happens with Microsoft?s Windows Phone 7."

By nation

Symbian's global lead comes without much presence in the US at all; only 1.36 percent of web traffic in the US comes from Symbian phones. However, Symbian is the leading mobile OS for 100 other countries, and accounts for half or more of the mobile web traffic in 75 of them. Symbian's top ten nations where it is the most popular are Chad, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Somalia, Mozambique and Paraguay; Symbian phones account for 84 to 94 percent of all mobile web traffic in these countries.

Apple's iOS leads in 30 countries, and in 21 of these it accounts for half or more of the country's mobile web traffic. Its top ten countries are Canada, Cuba, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, France, Singapore, Denmark and Sweden; iOS devices account for between 62 and 84 percent of all mobile traffic in these countries. Japan and Belgium are nearly tied with Sweden, with iOS taking a 61 percent share of all web traffic in those two nations.

In the US, Apple accounts for just over 35 of all mobile web traffic with the iOS, as it competes directly with RIM's BlackBerry and Android. RIM's share of web traffic is 32 percent, lower than the iOS because these numbers include iPod touch.

BlackBerry commands a slight lead when it is only compared against the iPhone, as noted above. RIM doesn't sell an iPod touch-like product, but is planning to enter the non-phone tablet market to compete against the iPad (these stats do not include iPad use however).

BlackBerry is the leading mobile OS in four countries (all in Central and South America), and is tied with iOS in a fifth (the UK). The only nation where BlackBerry enjoys more than half of all web traffic is the Dominican Republic.

Pingdom points out that "interesting enough, considering RIM is a Canadian company, it isn?t all that strong in its native Canada, where it accounts for a mere 3.6% of the country?s mobile web traffic." It also notes that RIM has a stronger presence in the UK than in the US.

Android has a 23 percent share of US traffic, and only leads in one country: South Korea. That's where Samsung has been selling its Galaxy S. There are no other countries where Android makes up more than half of the nation's web traffic.

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In battle of iPad vs. Android-based Galaxy Tab, 85% prefer Apple - Apple Insider

In battle of iPad vs. Android-based Galaxy Tab, 85% prefer Apple

By Neil Hughes

Published: 07:55 AM EST

A new consumer poll pitting the Samsung Galaxy Tab against the iPad discovered that an overwhelming majority -- 85 percent -- prefer Apple's touchscreen tablet.

Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray revealed the results of a survey he and his team recently conducted. The Galaxy Tab got off to a relatively strong start, selling 600,000 worldwide in its first month of availability.

In the survey of 65 consumers, customers were asked to share what they believe the "perceived value" of each tablet is. Those polled indicated they felt the 3G-capable iPad is worth about $417 -- less than its actual price of $629, but also much higher than the $283 perceived value of the Galaxy Tab.

The survey indicates that customers believe both products should have lower prices, but also shows that respondents felt that the iPad is a product of more valuable than the Android-based Galaxy Tab.

"We note that the Galaxy Tab is not available in a Wi-Fi only model, which would compare to the Wi-Fi only iPad at $499," Munster wrote. "That said, we would expect the results of a similar survey conducted with the less expensive Wi-Fi only iPad to amplify the difference in perceived value relative to the MSRP. In other words, the perceived value of an iPad is actually slightly closer to its base-MSRP than our survey suggests."

Munster said he expects both the iPad and Android-based tablets to succeed, but Apple has the advantage of a head start. He has forecast that the tablet market will grow 205 percent year over year in calendar year 2011, hitting 44.2 million units.

He has predicted that Apple will sell 13 million iPads in calendar year 2010, representing an 89 percent market share. But Apple's share is projected to dip to 53 percent in calendar year 2011, with sales of 23.3 million units. He sees Android taking a 33 percent share, with 14.4 million total units.

Munster has referred to the iPad as the "Mac of the masses," as Apple's tablet is already outselling the Mac. After tracking sales on Black Friday last week, Piper Jaffray found that consumer interest in the iPad was significantly strong for the holidays.

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Apple iPad widely expected to lead tablet disruption of PCs in 2011 - Apple Insider

Apple iPad widely expected to lead tablet disruption of PCs in 2011

By Daniel Eran Dilger

Published: 03:00 PM EST

Reports from a variety of analysts predict a huge swell in tablet computer sales next year ranging from 35 to 100 million units in total, with Apple's iPad accounting for the largest number sold by far.

A report by Barrons compared the predictions of analysts from Citigroup, FBR Capital Markets and Gartner; reports from each differ widely on the number of tablets that will be sold next year, but all agree Apple will lead the pack.

Citigroup's estimates say 35 million tablet devices will ship in 2011, with Apple's iPad representing three quarters of the total (around 26 million), giving it a share of the market similar to the company's dominant position in music players with the iPod.

Citigroup sees 400 million PCs being sold next year, but estimates that growth in tablets will come at the expense of 11 million PCs (which would have been sold had the iPad not shaken up the market). That's enough to have prompted the group to reduce its expected growth of the PC market from 12 percent to just 9 percent over this year's sales.

Craig Berger of FBR Capital Markets says Apple will sell 40 million iPads next year, and that other makers will mange to sell another 30 million. He indicates that every 2.5 tablets sold will result in a lost PC sale, or a total of 28 million fewer conventional PCs.

While often missing the mark on its reports, DigiTimes has reported Apple is gearing up manufacturing to reach annual production of 70 million iPads, and expected other makers to contribute an additional 30 million to tablet sales.

Gartner noted that the last quarter of PC sales was "the weakest in several years," but does not include iPads in its definition of PCs sold.

Weathering the iPad storm

Apple's sales of iPads are cutting into PC makers' profit margins, including Apple's own. Of course, Apple also enjoys the fattest profit margins of PC makers, thanks to its ability to attract buyers to machines with a higher average sales price.

Company executives began warning about more aggressive prices on upcoming products, a ruthless strategy intended to keep the iPad from repeating the mistake of isolating a leading product into an upscale market niche as it did with the Macintosh in the late 80s.

By leveraging the vast economies of scale inherent in building tens of millions of iPods and iPhones, Apple can sell the nearly 10 inch iPad for the same price or less than competitors can afford to sell their much smaller 7 inch tablets, which Apple insists can't deliver a differentiated experience over existing smartphone-class devices the way that the iPad can.

While Apple's successful growth in entering the existing smartphone business has been duplicated and in some cases exceeded in sales volumes by Android, Googles operating system hasn't produced competitive music players or tablets, both markets that were largely defined by Apple with the iPod and iPad and, in the case of the iPod, a market Apple maintained a dominant position in for years even under the onslaught of supposed "iPod-killers" promised by Creative, Sony, Microsoft, and others.

iPad contenders

Meanwhile, rival PC makers are left to use Microsoft's Windows 7, which hasn't done well in the Tablet PC/Slate PC market before; or adopt Google's current Android OS, which the company itself doesn't yet recommend for tablet-sized devices but is already being sold on devices such as the Galaxy Tab; or use Google's still unfinished Chrome OS, which delivers a browser-centric experience.

Other companies, including RIM and HP, have decided to build their own iOS competitors, with RIM embarking on a new tablet environment for its PlayBook that pairs the QNX kernel with Adobe's AIR (a derivative of Flash) to provide a development environment for apps and the overall system.

HP's acquisition of Palm and its WebOS promises to bring another option to the tablet market sometime next year, sporting the web-based environment that didn't help Palm remain self sufficient in its efforts to rebuild its smartphone business with the Palm Pre. HP's previous attempt to deliver a Slate PC running Windows 7 failed miserably.

Sony adopts, then drops, Cocoa-like GNUStep plans to rival Apple iOS Apple iPad widely expected to lead tablet disruption of PCs in 2011Black Friday Macs: Save up to $130 on MacBook Airs, $150 on MacBooks, $270 on MacBook Pros, $180 on iMacs, $100 on Mac minis and $400 on Mac Pros Black Friday Software: 80% off Adobe CS5, Office 2011 for $89, Final Cut Studio for $799 Black Friday Electronics: AirPrint-ready printers, Apple accessories, and digital cameras Black Friday iOS devices: Apple TV for $79.99, 8GB iPod touches for $199.99Apple nabs HP's former 98 acre campus in CupertinoApple resellers launch early Black Friday sales: up to $150 off MacBooks, $270 off MacBook Pros, $180 off iMacs, $100 off MacBook AirsEarly Black Friday: Apple TV for $79.99, Office 2011 for $89.99, VMWare Fusion for $27.99 Apple posts Black Friday deals [u]Report predicts "monster holiday season" for AppleRIM's PlayBook may undercut Apple iPad at $399 - reportNPD: 11% of consumers likely to purchase Apple iPad by FebruaryOprah declares Apple's iPad her 'favorite thing ever,' gives away 275


Sony adopts, then drops, Cocoa-like GNUStep plans to rival Apple iOS
Apple iPad widely expected to lead tablet disruption of PCs in 2011
Black Friday Macs: Save up to $130 on MacBook Airs, $150 on MacBooks, $270 on MacBook Pros, $180 on iMacs, $100 on Mac minis and $400 on Mac Pros
Black Friday Software: 80% off Adobe CS5, Office 2011 for $89, Final Cut Studio for $799
Black Friday Electronics: AirPrint-ready printers, Apple accessories, and digital cameras
Black Friday iOS devices: Apple TV for $79.99, 8GB iPod touches for $199.99
Apple nabs HP's former 98 acre campus in Cupertino
Apple resellers launch early Black Friday sales: up to $150 off MacBooks, $270 off MacBook Pros, $180 off iMacs, $100 off MacBook Airs
Early Black Friday: Apple TV for $79.99, Office 2011 for $89.99, VMWare Fusion for $27.99
Apple posts Black Friday deals [u]
Report predicts "monster holiday season" for Apple
RIM's PlayBook may undercut Apple iPad at $399 - report
NPD: 11% of consumers likely to purchase Apple iPad by February
Oprah declares Apple's iPad her 'favorite thing ever,' gives away 275
Acer unveils Windows, Android tablets to compete with Apple's iPad
Apple analysts under SEC investigation for 'channel checks'
ITC to investigate Apple's patent case against Motorola
Apple I computer sells for $174K at London auction
Apple hiring members of rival RIM's enterprise sales team
iTunes sales of Beatles albums top 450,000 in first week
Apple adds accelerometer, WebSockets support to Safari in iOS 4.2
Apple rumored to release iOS 4.3 with app subscriptions in December
St. Clair accuses Apple, RIM, HTC of patent infringement
iPhone music vanishes with Apple's iOS 4.2, hackers release 'jailbreak'
Mac pricing gives Apple top dollar share in U.S. home PC market
Foxconn adds new production plants to meet demand for Apple's iPad
Apple posts Black Friday sale teaser
Briefly: Orange UK subsidizing iPad, iPhone 4 Torx screws, Apple Store burglarized
Apple updates iWork for iPad with multitasking, AirPrint support
Apple may introduce iPad news subscriptions at media event Dec. 9
Samsung's global Galaxy Tab sales lag behind Apple iPad at 600K
Apple releases iOS 4.2 for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch [u]
AirPlay streaming arrives with Apple TV 4.1 update
AT&T boasts 20%-60% faster wireless speeds than competitors
Apple makes Find My iPhone service free for iOS devices
Rumors of Apple's second-generation iPad expected to weaken tablet sales
Carriers' threats force Apple to abandon embedded iPhone SIM plans
News Corp, Apple building tablet-only iPad newspaper together - rumor
iPad coming to northern Europe, iOS 4.2 hints at free MobileMe accounts
Angry Birds maker apologizes for Android fragmentation issues

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Europeans wake up an hour late as Apple fails to fix iPhone alarm clock bug - Apple Insider

Europeans wake up an hour late as Apple fails to fix iPhone alarm clock bug

By Katie Marsal

Published: 07:40 AM EST

A still-unfixed bug with Apple's iPhone caused alarms in Europe to go off an hour late Monday as the continent switched from daylight saving time, but their phone's alarms did not.

A number of readers contacted AppleInsider Monday to note that their handset's alarms failed to go off Monday morning. Instead, alarms went off an hour late, not automatically adjusting for the change in clocks.

"Both iPhones (3GS and 4) in my house failed to go off this morning," one reader said. "Even after checking and switching the settings in time/date and in the alarm app, there is still no alarm going off. Apparently this happened before. I had to delete, all the alarms, restart my phone then re-set the alarms before they worked as expected."

Most countries in Europe conclude daylight saving time on the last Sunday in October. The same bug affected iPhone users in Australia and New Zealand in September, causing their alarms to go off an hour early in the southern hemisphere.

In North America, the switch from daylight saving time occurs later this week. Clocks will be rolled back on Sunday, Nov., 7, and if Apple doesn't issue an update for iOS, the glitch will likely affect users there as well.

In October, Apple said it was aware of the issue and had "already developed" a fix that would be available to users in an upcoming software update. That fix could be a part of iOS 4.2, which Apple said would be released for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in November.

Though Apple indicated last month that the software fix had already been developed, it was not issued in time for the end of daylight saving time in Europe.

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Apple's iPhone tops US smartphone shipments, but Android devices take 44% - Apple Insider

Apple's iPhone tops US smartphone shipments, but Android devices take 44%

By Neil Hughes

Published: 09:45 AM EST

Apple's iPhone was the best-selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2010, taking 26.2 percent of the market, but the wide variety of handsets running Google's Android represented a commanding 43.6 percent.

New data from Canalys released on Monday shows that Apple took the top spot in the U.S. as the best-selling smartphone vendor in the country. Apple's 26.2 percent share edged Research in Motion's 24.2 percent, giving Apple the greatest shipments of any vendor in the U.S., which is the largest smartphone market in the world.

However, Canalys also found that devices running Google's Android mobile operating system represented 43.6 percent of U.S.shipments in the third quarter of 2010. Worldwide, Android grew 1,309 percent from the same period a year ago, from 1.4 million shipments in the third quarter of 2009 to more than 20 million units during the three-month span this year.

"With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world," said Canalys Senior Analyst Pete Cunningham.

"Android has been well received by the market and in some geographies it is becoming a sought-after consumer brand. It has rapidly become the platform to watch, and its growing volumes will help to entice developers, ensuring consumers have access to an increasingly rich and vibrant mobile content and application ecosystem."

The numbers show a total of 9.1 million smartphones running Android from the Open Handset Alliance being shipped in the third quarter of 2010. That was ahead of the estimated 5.5 million iPhones sold in the three-month frame. Research in Motion's BlackBerry came in third in the mobile operating system race, shipping an estimated 5.1 million, followed by Microsoft with 600,000.

Recent studies have repeatedly shown that Android-based smartphone shipments have eclipsed Apple's iPhone in 2010. Some have shown that Android's growth was not slowed by the launch of the iPhone 4 this summer.

Apple and Android have publicly disputed one another over new device activation numbers throughout 2010. But on last month, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs admitted that Android outsold the iPhone in the June quarter, citing numbers from Gartner which he said he believes are "pretty accurate."

Jobs said during his company's quarterly earnings call that in the June quarter, many customers were waiting to buy the iPhone 4. He said his company is waiting to find out what happened in the September quarter, but it's hard to track because there is no "solid data" on how many Android devices are shipped each quarter.

Apple just had its best quarter ever, selling a record 14.1 million iPhones. That helped the company achieve 70 percent growth in profits to $4.31 billion.

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Mossberg reviews, recommends Office for Mac 2011 - Apple Insider

Mossberg reviews, recommends Office for Mac 2011

By Josh Ong

Published: 10:30 PM EST

After reviewing Microsoft's upcoming Office for Mac 2011, which now includes Outlook, Walt Mossberg concluded that it was "by far the best Mac version of the suite" and recommended it to users.

The newest version of Microsoft's office suite is faster and better, although it is missing a few minor features from the Windows version, Mossberg said in his review for the Wall Street Journal. Office for Mac 2011 is due out Oct. 26.

One of the main draws of Office for Mac 2011 is the addition of Outlook, the email, calendar and contacts program popular with business users. Outlook, which has been built as a Cocoa application from the ground up, will replace Entourage, a Mac-specific email client bundled with previous versions of Office for Mac. Office for Mac 2011 will allow users to import Outlook data files, but it is currently unable to export its data to Windows.

Office for Mac 2011 also adds the ribbon interface that was added to Windows Office several years ago. However, unlike the Windows version, the ribbons can be disabled in favor of the more familiar menu and toolbars, which have been retained in the Mac version.

Though Office for Mac 2011 is missing several features from its Windows counterpart, it has also gained some Mac-only features. According to Mossberg, the "Dynamic Re-order" feature and a new Full Screen view with minimal distractions are features specific to the Mac. Pivot charts in Excel, full video editing in PowerPoint, and a "backstage" feature are missing from the Mac version.

Mossberg conducted several compatibility and fidelity tests between the Windows and Mac versions of Office with generally favorable results, especially with documents created in the most recent Windows version, Office 2010. Cross-compatibility between Windows and Mac versions of Office has been an issue in the past.

Office Mac 2011 is currently available for pre-order from Amazon.com, which is offering release-date delivery. The Home and Student edition is $110 while the Home and Business edition is priced at $175.

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Verizon says iPhone announcement would come from Apple - Apple Insider

Verizon says iPhone announcement would come from Apple

By Josh Ong

Published: 08:30 PM EST

A Verizon executive responded to reports of a Verizon iPhone by telling the press that any news would come from Apple, not Verizon.

Macworld reports that Verizon President and COO Lowell McAdam made the comments at a press conference at the CTIA conference in San Francisco.

When asked to comment about a story from The Wall Street Journal that Apple will begin building a Verizon-compatible iPhone by the end of the year, McAdam dismissed the story as "one of those things that rolls out every few weeks whether there's a basis for it or not."

"I can't give you any insights," he continued. "But I think Apple is the one that has to make that announcement."

McAdam remains hopeful that a deal will eventually be reached, especially as Verizon rolls out its Long-Term Evolution 4G data network.

?What I?ve always said is I expect at some point in time our business interests are going to align," McAdam said. "I think things like LTE are another great reason why they?d want a device or tablet on that network. But I don?t have anything to say today about timing.?

In September, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg downplayed rumors of an upcoming Verizon iPhone by telling investors that he hopes Apple will work with Verizon to sell an LTE 4G smartphone.

Despite the remarks, rumors have persisted that a CDMA iPhone will arrive in early 2011.

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Adidas cancels $10M iAd contract due to Apple's control - rumor - Apple Insider

Adidas cancels $10M iAd contract due to Apple's control - rumor

By Sam Oliver

Published: 02:00 PM EST

Shoemaker Adidas has reportedly canceled a $10 million deal for mobile advertisements on Apple's iAd service, because the iPhone maker has allegedly exerted too much control over the process.

Citing two mobile industry executives, Silicon Alley Insider has claimed that Adidas pulled its campaign because "Apple CEO Steve Jobs was being too much of a control freak." Adidas is rumored to have a creative concept rejected three times, prompting the move.

"In addition to Apple's unusual control over the ad creation process, advertisers complain about the lack of control over visibility into where their ads appear, lack of third-party ad serving tools, and other issues," the report said. "Apple plans to open up the process once its' more comfortable with the program, but it appears some advertisers have lost their patience."

The report largely reaffirms what The Wall Street Journal claimed in August, when the paper said that advertisers have been frustrated over Apple's "tight control over the creative process" for iAds. It was said that Apple's mobile advertisements take between eight and 10 weeks from start to finish, and Apple, which builds the ads itself, was taking two weeks longer than advertisers expected.

It was noted that Chanel, one of the launch partners with iAd, decided to cancel its campaign. If true, the departure of Adidas would be the second high-profile customer lost.

iAds provide richly interactive ad experiences inside developers' apps, providing them a 60 percent cut of the advertising revenue. The hope is the advertisements -- noted by the iAd logo in the corner -- will be more compelling to users, because they don't have to leave their app and launch a browser to view them.

Competitors have been quick to highlight Apple's unconventional approach with iAds. In September, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said she thinks Apple's tight control will drive advertisers away and cause the fledgling service to "fall apart."

Adidas cancels $10M iAd contract due to Apple's control - rumor
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RIM unveils 7-inch 'PlayBook' tablet set to launch in early 2011
Media coverage of Apple found to be overwhelmingly positive
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iAd poised to take 21% of market as Google loses share to Apple
Apple TV preorders now shipping in time for Sept. launch [u]

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