Apple Australia Black Friday Sale – Starts 25-11-11
Apple Australia occasionally sneak in a quick sale when no one is looking, and this year is no exception! Luckily we here at Computer Coupons are on the case when it comes to reporting the best deals that are available for you, and again we have come up trumps.
Be sure to put this Friday 25th November 2011 in the diary to check out savings across a whole host of Apple products for one day only. This 24 hour sale will be done and gone in a flash, so be sure to click on the link below first thing on Friday to unveil these perfect pre Christmas savings.
Apple only do one sale day a year, and YOU now know when it is, so be sure to make the most of it folks!
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Apple Is The World’s Most Valuable Brand
Apple Inc, which trades in the country as Apple Computers Australia, maker of the iMac, iPhone and iPad, has overtaken Google and according to global advertising agency WPP, is now the world’s most valuable brand.
WPP says that the value of Apple’s brand grew by 84 per cent over the last year and estimates its value at $153.3 billion, compared with Google, whose brand value fell by 2 per cent and is valued at $111.5 billion. Rounding out the top four brands are IBM, whose brand value rose by 17 per cent helping it leapfrog last year’s number 3 McDonald’s
Refreshed versions of the iMac and iPhone as well as the successful launch of its iPad tablet device has helped Cupertino California based Apple generate an astonishing near doubling in sales and profits during its most recent quarter. In May last year Apple reached another milestone when it overtook Microsoft to become the most valuable technology company as measured by market capitalisation.
“It’s clear that every single Apple employee, from Steve Jobs and Tim Cook to the summer interns, see protecting and nurturing that brand as a top priority,” Millward Brown Chief Executive Officer Eileen Campbell wrote in the report. “Tablet computing also drove value growth not just for Apple, but also for the providers who support yet another networked device.”
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Apple Collects Location Data Of iPhone And iPad users
Apple Inc, which trades in the country as Apple Computers Australia has been secretly storing and recording the movement details of iPhone and 3G iPad owners according to researchers.
Security experts Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden say that the devices record location data which is kept hidden in an unencrypted file that can be used to map exactly where a user has been using the right software.
Apple has remained silent on the revelation, which is in fact a tacit admission, though it must be said that it has not been suggested that the company has been using the information.
iPhones and iPads do not as such visually indicate to their users that such data is in fact being recorded. However although the practice is not explicitly stated, it does appear to be covered in the company’s terms of use.
“We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behaviour and improve our products, services, and advertising”
Mr. Allan and Mr. Warden say they are unaware why iPhones and iPads were collecting location information but it was “clearly intentional”.
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Apple Achieves Dominance In Teen Market
A new survey suggests that Apple, which trades in the country as Apple Computers Australia has managed to achieve dominance with teenagers, having achieved 17 per cent mobile phone market share with its iPhone offering in the teen segment of the market. A further 37 per cent of those polled indicated they were interested in buying an iPhone within six months.
The survey conducted by investment bank Piper Jaffray polled 4,500 high school students, and found that the company continues to dominate the teen segment of the market, a market which has show surprisingly quick adoption of tablets.
“Apple’s dominance in the mobile and online music markets is going seemingly unchecked, coupled with rising interest in the iPhone and iPad,” the survey concluded.
The proportion of teenagers who owned an iPhone leapt from 14 per cent in October 2010, to 17 per cent in the spring of 2011. The number of teenagers who expressed an interest in buying an iPhone rose from 33 per cent to 37 per cent during the same time frame. Piper Jaffrey says that intent to buy has historically translated into market share gains.
“Interest among teens in purchasing an iPhone has grown steadily since Apple introduced the iPhone, and we expect this to continue,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster noted.
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Apple Unveils Much Hyped iPad 2
So Apple which trades in the country as Apple Computers Australia finally confirmed all the rumours that have been swirling for the last few months and finally unveiled its second generation tablet device the iPad 2.
Of course not only was there speculation of the impending launch but much has been speculated about what new features the iPad 2 would come with. The iPad 2 will be powered by a dual core processor, which means it will be at par with its two nearest competitors the Xoom from Motorola and the PlayBook from BlackBerry. Apple also reckons that the new graphics would boost performance by a factor of nine.
The second generation tablet will come with back and front facing cameras, an omission which was strongly criticized in the first generation device and allows users to engage in video calling using FaceTime.
The iPad two will also be 33 per cent thinner than an iPhone 4 and weigh 0.2 pounds less than the first iPad. Battery life will supposedly stay the same, even with the increased power, and the price in the US will also remain at the $499 starting point.
The iPad 2 will run iOS 4.3 making the switch multifunctional and allowing it to act as either a mute button or a rotational lock. Both GarageBand and iMovie will also be coming to the iPad 2, with multi-track recording and HD sharing capabilities.
The second generation tablet did however leave some disappointed by its continued lack of a USB port, which would make the lives of business users so much easier. And some are puzzled by Apple’s insistence that iPad owners use its HDMI cable which costs US$39 and wonder whether standard cables will do.
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Apple Continues To Dominate Market For Tablet Devices
ABI Research, a tech industry market research firm estimates that roughly 4.5 million tablet devices were sold during the third quarter of 2010, and of those, nearly 93 per cent were iPads, marketed in Australia by Apple Computers Australia.
ABI says the sales figures look extremely promising and senior practice director Jeff Orr in a statement said “Over time, Apple’s first-to-market iPad advantage will inevitably erode to some extent. ABI Research has been tracking media tablets since December 2009; future quarterly editions of this Market Data product will include market share tracking of all the major media tablet vendors.”
It comes as no surprise that Apple has managed to achieve dominance in the market for tablets having been the only option available to consumers until Samsung launched its Galaxy Tab. The Motorola Xoom was launched last week and has so far received some pretty good reviews.
ABI also looked at e-books and netbooks. E-books reader vendors “continued to do well,” the firm said, while the first half of 2010 was slow for netbooks. That was partially due to the fact that few companies introduced new netbooks.
“The third quarter saw PC OEMs again breathe life into the segment by introducing new platforms that offered dual-core processors, and lighter/thinner devices with significantly better performance, sleek styling, and visual appeal,” Orr said.
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Apple Unveils Upgraded MacBook Pro
Apple Computers which trades in the country as Apple Computers Australia is set to launch upgraded versions of its popular MacBook Pro laptops, the model which is frequently seen in coffee shops and on popular television shows.
Apple usually updates the MacBook Pro annually, and the latest set of upgrades include faster processors, a higher resolution in built camera for video chat and the inclusion of the latest data transfer technology known as Thunderbolt.
Thunderbolt is USB 3.0 transfer technology that promises to deliver data between devices at the rate of 10 gigabytes per second compared with USB 2.0 which promises 480 megabytes per second.
Thunderbolt is being developed by Intel, and according to the company, a full length HD movie can be transferred in less than 30 seconds. Thunderbolt sockets can also be used to connect computers to external monitors.
Another upgrade to the MacBook Pro is the inclusion of a built in front facing camera above the screen which is being called FaceTime HD Camera, which makes use of Apple’s proprietary software which enables users to engage in video chats using a Wi-Fi connection.
The camera upgrade effectively bins Apple’s old camera technology called iSight. FaceTime HD allows for high-resolution, widescreen video chats and photos, and works with most other Macs, as well as the iPhone 4 and the latest iPod Touch.
Pricing in Australia has yet to be announced, however in the US, the 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at US$1.199, the 15-inch model costs US$1,799 and the 17-inch model costs $2,499.
Apple says that an upgrade to its operating system is imminent and that the new OS is inspired by the look and feel of its iPad operating system. Programs will now fill more screen space and allow more complex touch gestures using the trackpad, and allow users to download applications from a centralized store.
The new version of the operating system, which Apple has dubbed Lion, will be available to consumers this summer, the company said.
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Second Generation iPad Likely To Be Unveiled This Week
Cupertino California Based Apple, which operates in the country as Apple Computers Australia is likely to announce the launch of the second generation iPad tablet device this week, news which has been greeted by many in the technology world with surprise.
Until recently there had been a lot of speculation that the second generation iPad has been suffering from delay, however it now appears extremely likely that Apple will launch its latest tablet offering on March 2nd at its preferred venue San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
The next generation iPad will likely be different from its highly successful predecessor in a number of way. It is widely expected that the device will have a higher resolution, have front and rear facing cameras, as well as being both slimmer and lighter than its previous incarnation.
The latest version iPad is also likely to have a carbon fibre shell, replacing the heavier aluminium of the original version, following many complaints that the device was just too heavy.
The second generation tablet from Apple is expected to have a 9.7 inch screen, and there are rumours that the company has plans of releasing a smaller 7-inch version of the tablet.
Speculation that the iPad 2 would have its launch delayed until June have been dismissed by sources within the company as simply being untrue.
Apple is said to be keen on launching its second generation product at the same time of year as its first version, which went on sale in April last year.
Neither release date nor price has been set yet.
The iPad was the hottest technology device of 2010, selling nearly 15million units and sparking a slew of copycat devices from rivals.
More than 50million tablets are expected to be sold this year, with Apple capturing the bulk of the demand.
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Apple Now Tops Market For Mobile PC’s
Market research firm DisplaySearch says it believes that Apple Inc, which operates in the country as Apple Computers Australia has leapt to the top spot in global market share for mobile computing, leapfrogging both HP and Acer due in large part to the incredible popularity of its iPad tablet device.
“While we anticipate increased competition in the tablet PC market later this year with the introduction of Android Honeycomb-based tablets. Apple’s iPad business is complementing a notebook line whose shipments widely exceed the industry average growth rate.” said DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim.
Not all analysts agree with DisplaySearch’s findings, since many believe that tablet devices cannot be counted as PC’s, DisplaySearch however has no such doubts.
According to the results of the research firm’s survey, Apple controls a 17.2 per cent market share having shifted 10.2 million units, which is nearly one million more units than traditional market leader HP, who shifted 9.3 million units during the quarter, whilst traditional second placed Acer shifted 8.4 million.
Apple’s rise to the top has been meteoric, in the previous quarter, the company was in third place with a 12.4 per cent market share, lagging behind Acer which had 16.5 per cent and HP with 17.3 per cent.
Apple has clearly benefited from what DisplaySearch calls its “first-mover advantage”, essentially owning the tablet market by itself. This year, however, will be different as the Motorola Xoom, HP TouchPad, RIM PlayBook, and a host of others jockey for some of that worldwide tablet (PC) action.
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Apple Flash Crash Wiped US$10 Billion In Value In 4 Minutes
Technology Titan Apple which operates in the country as Apple Computers Australia had nearly US$10 billion wiped off its market value within just four minutes after unsubstantiated rumours that chief executive Steve Jobs was in hospital resulted in a flash crash in the company’s stock price last Thursday.
Apple shares had been trading at a near all time high of US$360 last Thursday, when it suddenly crashed to $350 or fell by $10 in the space of four minutes shaving $9.9 billion from the market valuation before the stock began to rebound again.
The flash crash was a little embarrassing for experts who just the previous day had been predicting that the company was on course to leapfrog oil giant Exxon Mobil as the world’s most valuable company. The crash left traders baffled over the cause.
Financial analyst Andy Zaky told CNN: ‘The selling is not normal just for negative news. There was a huge spike where dollars were being skipped in the selling. There’s something else. It wasn’t orderly.’
One possible reason for the sell off was that the company was selling less iPhones than initially expected through Verizon. That reason was then disregarded as speculation was renewed over the state of the health of Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, who last month took a medical leave of absence.
Mr. Job’s health is of extreme importance, and is looked upon as a bellwether of the company’s fortunes.
Nobody is aware of how the hospital rumour was started, but it is believed that he was seen at Apple headquarters recently looking healthy.
Mr Jobs was also spotted having an Indian meal in nearby Mountain View on Thursday. He was treated for a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 and had a liver transplant two years ago. Apple has refused to comment any further about his health.
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