The smartphone revolution is well under way, and its latest advances could eventually let it replace your wallet. But the adoption of these new technologies can do more than reshape how you pay for purchases -- it can also pay off for your portfolio.
A Best Buy online survey is asking participants how they would feel about a 42-inch HDTV from Apple. The specs it describes are impressive. But at $1,499, Apple's plan to revolutionize the way we watch TV could be priced out of the market.
Prerecorded music has been a fading industry for years, and herding struggling labels together will only make it that much easier to identify the remains. And there aren't too many people mourning major labels' passing.
We've seen vinyl, 8-track and cassettes come and go. Why should the CD be any different? Side-Line Music Magazine reports that major record labels plan to abandon the CD by the end of 2012 -- if not sooner.
The company has already proved that it can thrive while the CEO is away. But what's still not clear is whether Apple can remain far more than a tech company once he truly retires. Whose vision can possibly keep Apple the cultural phenomenon that Jobs has made it?
Just one week ago, Apple announced a deal to sell Beatles's music on iTunes. Since then, the company has already sold 2 million Beatles songs and 450,000 full albums. Which song and album has proven most popular so far?
The consumer technology giant brags that its iTunes announcement later today will be unforgettable. But the news likely won't be too memorable for investors, even if it turns out to be a Beatles deal, predicts one analyst.
After much criticism about its capriciousness, Apple has published new guidelines to help developers know what sort of apps are likely to get approved or rejected. Sounds good. But if anything, they only add to the confusion.
Poor Apple. Steve Jobs and Co. have lined up all the pieces to take over the media industry, but the big music labels and movie studios keep standing in its way. So Apple has been forced to build its media empire in a stealthy, piecemeal fashion. It may just work.
The iPod, first introduced in 2001, has been overshadowed in recent years by the iPad and iPhone. But it was the foundation of Apple's revived success and the cornerstone of CEO Steve Jobs's creative vision for the company.
Consumers, propelled by the ease of buying digital songs piecemeal, have increasingly decided that the single unit of music is their unit of choice. But the music-buying audience is notoriously fickle: Just look at the momentary mania about ringtones.
