“A series of recent trademark filings by Apple Computer is stoking speculation that the firm may be ready to leap ahead with plans to combine its popular iPod music player with its own mobile phone,” Ryan Kim reports for The San Francisco Chronicle. “Earlier this month, Apple filed four trademark applications for the term ‘Mobile Me,’ covering a broad array of possibilities, including ‘digital music,’ ‘cellular’ and ‘telecommunications.’ The move would make sense for Apple, whose popular line of iPod music player is facing competition from a bevy of music-playing cell phones.”
“In a research note, analysts Albert Lin and Shaw Wu of American Technology Research said Apple appears to be extending its iTunes and Mac product lines into new areas, including phones and mobile content services. They speculated that Apple could be looking to beef up its partnership with Motorola for future iTunes phones like the Rokr, or it could in fact be preparing to start its own phone network. ‘Apple has long been rumored to be a (niche phone carrier) candidate. We believe this would be a successful strategy, given the type of content and markets Apple has had success in. … We believe additional branding for services coming to the market would heavily involve wireless downloading of content to maximize sales and meet customer expectations for ease of use,’ they wrote. The barriers are low for companies seeking to become a niche carrier, also known as a mobile virtual network operator [MVNO],” Kim reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader “editg5” for the link.]
[UPDATE: 11:18am ET: fixed headline typo.]
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I want my iPod/Phone/PDA!!!
http://musobs.blogspot.com
The San Fransicso Chronicle? Is that kinda like the San Fran-sicko Chronicle?
“The San Fransicso Chronicle? Is that kinda like the San Fran-sicko Chronicle?”
How so?
The iPod HAS been facing competition from music playing cellphones for some time and the verdict is in. People don’t want to use their phones as music players.
14 MILLION iPods last quarter. If Apple does a cellphone it’s because they think they can do it better, not because they see it eroding iPod sales.
To complete the picture we need an iPod with built-in iSight and WiFi Max for video conferencing to all the new MacBooks and iMacs.
But what if it included an optional Front Row interface, wouldn’t that be cool. After all it has the wheel already. Add the PhotoBooth software and the iTunes ‘Visual Effects’ for good measure.
Macromancer – you are a genius.
Macnut222,
Not to offend the scores of level-headed San Franciscans, but San Francisco does have a reputation for harboring some serious “sickos” within…
M.W. “place” as in San Francisco is one *weird* place.
phone makers are getting closer to getting the all-in-one “right” apple needs get there first. i know a few people very happy with their sonyericcson walkman phones especially as they are free from most networks and they don’t have to buy and ipod. seen it happen.
To complete the picture we need an iPod with built-in iSight and WiFi Max for video conferencing to all the new MacBooks and iMacs.
But what if it included an optional Front Row interface, wouldn’t that be cool. After all it has the wheel already. Add the PhotoBooth software and the iTunes ‘Visual Effects’ for good measure.
Sounds great, but it’ll need a few dilithium crystals to power all that swag.
Apple should not get involved in making phones. These are commodity items whose designs change monthly to keep up with the cycle time of a phone service plan. I don’t see any successful Apple business there. However: If Apple made their iPod bluetooth/wifi compatible so you could put on a set of wifi headphones, keep your wifi phone in one pocket, an iPod in the other pocket and have the iPod actually controlling the users interface to allow phone communication when a call comes in then back to music when done, all while still maintaining a discrete iPod device, I believe that would be a workable business venture. Don’t try to replace everyone’s phone, just find ways to work with more of them.
My guess would be that Voyager is engaging in gay-bashing.
Voyager
Have you ever heard the song “Harper Valley PTA”?
No, Dave H.
Relevance?
Wonder if Voyager has ever been to the city by the bay ?
It only seems wierd to those who fail to understand that the social / political diversity that is the hallmark of the Bay Area, is actually a positive thing…
As far as the speculation about an Apple phone goes .. it seems to me that we heard a rumor awhile back about our friend… “The Woz”.. had been working on something called the iPhone …
Like the rumor about the Apple plasma displays … I’ll believe it when I see it..
Let’s see… I get a new phone every 12 months via t-mobile. So, is the ipod/iphone going to be a premium device that I won’t be benefitting from the annual upgrade. Seems to me it’s a different market. Also, with all cell providers, plans and phones are constantly changing. I see the ipod as truly personal device that I’ll hang onto for a while, but my phone is a commodity item I’ll upgrade every change I get.. with the GSM phones, I just move my sim card to the new phone, and have all my old phones as backups… not something I see happening with an iPhone..
I think the smart money is having the iPod work with the cell phone, not replace it.
As well, why not put a camera in the iPod, a la the phone. Then you can take the photos, store them, and put them into iPhoto with ease. Seems like a better solution than the cell phone has now.
Mac dood:
Diversity (be it ethnic, political, or social) is not usually a bad thing, and as you say, often is a positive thing. However, some forms of diversity also have a tendency to become *perversity*, and that is when it becomes a negative and immoral influence on society. San Francisco (which I have, by the way, been to) is simply a highly condensed microcosm of the “diversity become perversity” problem.
Paul August:
I don’t “bash” anyone. To do so is unkind and unethical. On the contrary, logical and factual analyses of situations… or lifestyles, is not bashing. Since you suggest I am speaking of the gay lifestyle so prevalent in San Francisco, take this for an example. If everyone decided that the gay lifestyle was the best way and became gay, what would happen to human civilization? Let’s see……. there wouldn’t be a living human on earth in 100 years or so. Doesn’t sound like a positive societal influence to me. The mega AIDS problem in Africa causing countless loss of (mostly innocent) lives? Due ALMOST entirely to homosexuality. Doesn’t sound like a positive societal influence to me.
There is a definite right way for humanity to healthily live and reproduce, and a definite wrong way.
Anyway, we are WAY off topic here.
I am almost positively sure that we are more likely (though still not very likely at all) to see the rumored 42 and 50 inch plasma SuperMacs (how’s that one sound?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />) than an Apple branded cell phone/iPod due to the huge competition, as well as the general lack of care of the average consumer as to which cell phone they buy. They are commodity items whose manufacturers for the most part seem to give little attention to quality of the features, and instead focus on the *quantity* of features. A market like this where new, supposedly better products are introduced on such a rapid schedule is not the place for Apple to excel.
Wow… and they say you can’t find true intelligence on message boards nowadays!
Voyager
It’s about a group of people who sit in judgement on another person’s behaviour whilst ignoring their own less than perfect lifestyles.
Just thought you might have heard of it.
BTW
“The mega AIDS problem in Africa causing countless loss of (mostly innocent) lives? Due ALMOST entirely to homosexuality”
So you’ve also never been to Africa. You really are quite educated, aren’t you?
Would I like to see Apple release a phone – sure. The problem in the US is that each carrier makes the manufacturers “cripple” their GSM phones so it will only work on their system. A rather stupid approach in my opinion, but one that might present problems for Apple. The more intelligent international carriers allow real (non-croppled) GSM so you can change cards as you move from country to country.
We’ll see what happens, but if Apple releases an iPhone I hope they go the MVNO route so it will be full GSM functioning.
Voyager,
Next time you visit San Francisco, get away from Fisherman’s Wharf (Pier 39)… Those are all tourists.
Well, as an Ipod user and of course as a mobule phone user, I’m happy listening music with my Ipod and just want to be able to answer a phone easily. I would like also to change my mobile phone when I want. I already have also two mobile phones (private and business).
Why Apple wouldn’t just offer a bluetooth Ipod?
The mega AIDS problem in Africa causing countless loss of (mostly innocent) lives? Due ALMOST entirely to homosexuality.
You’ve got to be shitting me. The AIDs problem in Africa is caused by large numbers of people ill educated about the dangers of unprotected sex. The catholic church doesn’t help either.
Can we keep the bigotry off this page please Voyager. Just because you’re an ignorant fuck, doesn’t mean I want to read it about it. Go tell it to someone who cares.
I was reading the article “san francisco chronicle”, and then the full
article link. at the bottom of the full article the following quote is in
the article
“But some analysts like Julie Ask, research director and senior analyst for
Jupiter Research, said it’s unlikely Apple will stray from its roots. She
said the company will probably release its own iPod phone rather than take
the larger step of creating a mobile phone operator.
Apple sells hardware and software. They don’t have an existing subscriber
base like cable companies, and they don’t have content like ESPN that people
have an affinity to,” said Ask.”
Is this woman mad, what about the 10 million + itunes subscribers ????
Hugh