Stories Tagged: Apple | nobosh.com

Apple CEOs Health Stays On the Radar

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:13:01 -0600

Investors debate whether the companys nondisclosure regarding Steve Jobs is the right move.

Steve Jobs health Whats going on

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:01:17 -0600

The Apple CEO looks ill. The company wont talk about it. And investors are nervous. Heres one plausible explanation for Jobs gaunt appearance.

Dividend.com AT&T Has Apple Juice

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:13:01 -0600

iPhone sales have helped AT&T become No. 1 in the number of mobile-service customers.

AT&T iPhone 3G Sales Are Skyrocketing

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:01:08 -0600

Apples exclusive iPhone reseller in the U.S. AT&T just reported its second-quarter results this morning. And on the conference call with investors CFO Rick Lidner said that the new iPhone 3G has sold double the number of units of the original iPhone in the last few days of the quarter.

Apple Steve Jobs Was Ill Now Hes Fine. But We Wont Say That On The Record AAPL

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:13:32 -0600

After describing Steve Jobs health as a private matter during Mondays earnings call and sparking even more discussion about Steves health Apple appears to be trying a new tactic Unofficially spreading the word via the press that Steve is OK.A source close to Apple told BusinessWeek that they have near-certainty that Jobs cancer has not returned. And the NYT reports that Jobs has reassured several people that he is doing well and that four years after a successful operation to treat a rare form of pancreatic cancer he is cancer free.Thats great to hear. But the Times story citing Apple sources also notes that Jobs has been suffering from nutritional problems in the wake of his cancer surgery and that earlier this year he had a surgical procedure this year to address a problem that was contributing to a loss of weight. In other words Anyone who thought Steve Jobs looked unhealthy this year isnt imagining it -- the problem is serious enough that Steve has gone under the knife.Apple is now is in an unpleasant bind one that we dont see getting resolved soon Its CEO for reasons we can sympathize with doesnt want to open up his medical records to the world. But because the company cant or wont come out and emphatically state hes in good health his condition is going to remain under scrutiny. And if you dont believe us ask the Wall Street JournalThe dearth of information has led investors to do their own digging over the years. In 2004 one hedge fund hired private investigators to tail Mr. Jobs to hospital appointments in the hopes of figuring out how sick he was said a portfolio manager at the fund. Eventually he said Mr. Jobs seemed to catch on and became harder to track.More recently hedge-fund managers said Tuesday fund managers have talked of asking doctors to closely analyze pictures of Mr. Jobs to monitor changes in his physical appearance and have been talking about once again hiring investigators to find out Mr. Jobss prognosis.

AT&T Posts Solid Q2 Says Its Selling New iPhones Twice As Fast As Old iPhones

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:01:37 -0600

A solid Q2 from AT&T T despite concerns that a weaker U.S. economy would pinch the telco. AT&T posted $30.9 billion in revenue up 4.7% year-over-year and slightly short of Wall Streets $31.2 billion estimate. EPS came in at $0.76 in line with analysts expectations.No color about the economy or Q3 in AT&Ts release so well wait until the conference call starts at 10 a.m. ET for that well update during and after the call with any highlights.AT&Ts wireless unit continued to lead growth. The company posted $10.9 billion of wireless revenue during the quarter up $1.4 billion or 14.5% from Q2 2007. Revenue from wireless data services like text messaging and email grew 52% year-over-year to $2.5 billion. Specifically wireless internet access revenue more than doubled year-over-year thanks in part to massively increased sales of smartphones which often require subscribers to buy an Internet access plan $30month. AT&T says 18% of its subscribers now use smartphones up from 8% a year ago.Customer growth ticked down AT&T added 1.3 million net new wireless subscribers during the quarter down 123000 from a year ago and short of the 1.5 million that archrival Verizon Wireless says it added last quarter.No big deal AT&T should have a monster Q3 thanks to Apples AAPL new iPhone 3G which launched exclusively on AT&T on July 11. AT&T says sales of the new iPhone 3G after 12 days and despite short supply are nearly double the levels at which AT&T sold the first iPhone last summer. No surprise -- its $400 cheaper -- but still a good trend. Tradeoff The company has already warned that subsidizing the new iPhones several hundreds of dollars apiece would ding its earnings by 10 to 12 cents per share this year and next and that the phone wont be accretive until 2010.AT&T signed up 170000 subscribers to its fledgling U-Verse cable TV service during Q2 bringing total subscribers to 549000. The company says its on track for more than a million subscribers by the end of the year. Related Well pay close attention during the call to any information about ditching Dish Network DISH its satellite TV resale partner.See AlsoAT&T New 3G iPhone Will Whack Our Earnings MarginsAT&T Dumps Dish Network. Whats Next?Where Apples New iPhone Doesnt Help AT&Ts 3G Dead Zones

USPTO Says No More Software Patents

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:02:05 -0600

Patent law is confusing. I&#8217ve filed for and received a couple patents filed under the names of companies I&#8217ve worked for in the past and I&#8217m still not sure exactly how that worked. I know I wrote up a pretty complex description of the process which was a combination of hardware and software - it had to do with the automation of fax receipt and transmission on a bulk level and I drew out a number of charts graphs and illustrations. I signed on the dotted line handed it to the company attorney and presumably the company I worked for received a patent on my work.Additionally I&#8217ve written about patent abuse here at Mashable before. It&#8217s easy to spot abuse particularly when companies like Amazon patent things like &#8220one click&#8221 or Z4 Technologies patents the usage of two passwords as a security method. I suppose I could learn more about it fairly easily if I wanted. Marshall Texas is the town where a large portion of patent lawsuits end up being tried due to a reputation for being kind to patent trolls Marshall is about 45 minutes down the road from where I live.The problem is that I like most of you probably do find patent law very confusing tedious and boring. That&#8217s why I&#8217m not sure if the analysis being pitched over at Patently is spot on or not but judging by the comments from regular readers it doesn&#8217t appear to be far off the mark.The analysis? Patents on software may be a thing of the past and furthermore all existing patents on software might be useless or invalidated.Warning Legalese below. Possibly boring.From PatentlyIn a series of cases including In re Nuijten In re Comiskey and In re Bilski the Patent and Trademark Office has argued in favor of imposing new restrictions on the scope of patentable subject matter set forth by Congress in 101 of the Patent Act. In the most recent of these three-the currently pending en banc Bilski appeal-the Office takes the position that process inventions generally are unpatentable unless they &#8220result in a physical transformation of an article&#8221 or are &#8220tied to a particular machine.&#8221The logic of the PTO&#8217s positions in Nuijten Comiskey and Bilski has always threatened to destabilize whole fields of patenting most especially in the field of software patents. If the PTO&#8217s test is followed the crucial question for the vitality of patents on computer implemented inventions is whether a general purpose computer qualifies as a &#8220particular&#8221 machine within the meaning of the agency&#8217s test. In two recent decisions announced after the oral arguments in the Bilski case Ex parte Langemyr May 28 2008 and Ex parte Wasynczuk June 2 20083 the PTO Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences has now supplied an answer to that question A general purpose computer is not a particular machine and thus innovative software processes are unpatentable if they are tied only to a general purpose computer.In essence it seems to be saying if I&#8217ve got my legalese option on Babelfish working properly that in these particular cases where Google&#8217s patents are at stake it is the opinion of the US patent office that unless a software patent is particular to a unique machine that physically transforms it or if the software in question only works on some proprietary platform it isn&#8217t unique enough to patent.The object of this rule shift obviously is to keep folks from patenting silly things that are mundane and commonly found in a wide variety of software see one-click checkout.To further translate it from legalese to geekish it sounds like just about any piece of software or algorithm you write won&#8217t be patentable. If you do a hardware or hardwaresoftware hack so long as it isn&#8217t written on a commonly used computing platform i.e. PC or Apple architecture it just might be patentable.What I Think Of It. Probably Less Boring.I&#8217m initially inclined to speak out in favor of this opinion. On the whole software gets written regardless of what patents may or may not be in existence. I know that when I have a hankerin&#8217 to write a piece of code to fill a need for myself my company or my community the first thing I don&#8217t do is check the patent office for something that may cover my idea. I just write it.That&#8217s the process for most folks. It&#8217s only when that software gets particularly popular and profitable do the folks who had the idea but not the gumption to do the work come out of the woodwork and start suing.It&#8217s unfortunate but from where I sit it looks like that patent system functions currently in the opposite manner it was meant to. It was meant to protect and reward innovation yet it seems that the only times I hear of a patent in the news is when a deep pocket is being sued by a corporate entity that does little else than collect patents. The ex

Mark Hulbert Three of four top newsletters maintain Apple buy rating

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:37:00 -0600

ANNANDALE Va. MarketWatch -- The stock market made a big deal on Tuesday out of Apples unexpectedly weak earnings guidance.

A Shopping Trip To the App Store For Your iPhone The Mossberg Solution

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:49:19 -0600

The best feature in Apples second-generation iPhone 3G is the App Store a distribution mechanism for third-party programs. In general the process of choosing and downloading apps is easy and quick and most of the programs are useful or entertaining. Heres a guide to choosing the apps for your iPhone.

Sometimes The Customer Is Wrong

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:13:24 -0600

My friend Jacob Grier weighs in on a story thats been getting a ton of attention some guy went into a DC-area coffee shop called Murky Coffee where Jacob once worked and asked for an iced espresso. The barista told him that the shop has a policy against making iced espresso. The barista agreed to give the guy an espresso and a cup of ice so he could ice his own espresso but a shouting match ensued and the customer wound up leaving a dollar tip with a message thats not printable in a family blog. The owner of Murkys Coffee responded here.At first glance it seems like if the customer wants his espresso poured over ice thats what the customer should get. But Jacob makes an interesting point Murkys fastidiousness or pig-headedness depending on your perspective about coffee quality is part of what sets it apart from the run-of-the-mill coffee shops. Murky isnt just selling coffee theyre also trying to build up a clientele that takes coffee seriously. This reminds me of a great post Don Marti wrote a couple of years ago called FUD is good for you. Marti pointed out that while its true that Microsofts disinformation about free software could actually drive away some potential customers from free software thats not necessarily a bad thing. These are after all likely to be the least technically-savvy customers customers who will consume a disproportionate share of tech support resources and unlikely to be repeat customers. In the long run the company might find its actually more successful because some of its customers were scared away by FUD. I think we can see the same kind of attitude at Apple. For example Steve Jobs took a lot of heat when he unveiled the iMac in 1998 without a floppy drive -- one small part of a broader strategy of giving customers what Jobs thought was good for them rather than what they asked for. That attitude has alienated a lot of potential customers over the years but it has also produced a lot of repeat customers who are more loyal than the customers of any other computer company. In contrast the PC vendors that have tried to serve every customer have wound up in a brutally competitive market with razor-thin margins.There are two lessons here. One not all customers are created equal. To most customers coffee is all pretty much the same and one coffee shop is about as good as another. Just as one all PCs and software stacks are pretty much the same. But theres also a minority of customers who pay more attention to quality and the latter will tend to be a lot more valuable because theyll be more loyal and more prepared to pay a premium for quality. If its true that icing an espresso ruins it personally I think coffee is all revolting so Im agnostic on the question refusing to serve iced espressos may be a good business strategy the customers it drives away probably wouldnt have stuck around for very long anyway. Similarly Apples high-handed approach to its customers seems to have worked fairly well for it. Its a niche player in the PC market but it has proven to be an extremely profitable niche. Second sometimes customers only discover quality after its shown to them. It turned out that Jobs was basically right about the floppy drive I bought an external floppy drive for my iMac but almost never used it. Similarly Jacob notes that the coffee shop customer seems to have enjoyed the alternative iced beverage that was suggested to him. I doubt that particular customer will be back but there may be others who develop a taste for the specialty coffee served at Murky and then start to notice the defects of coffee from run-of-the-mill coffee shops. Niche businesses can create loyal customers by guiding them towards more refined tastes and this can be more rewarding than trying to comply with every whim of every customer. Timothy Lee is an expert at the Techdirt Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Timothy Lee and other experts on challenges your company faces click here. Permalink Comments Email This Story

Talk of Chiefs Health Weighs on Apples Share Price

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:49:31 -0600

Despite reassurances that he is cancer free four years after he was treated for pancreatic cancer analysts are worried that Steven P. Jobs might be sick again.

BusinessWeek Source Near-Certain Steve Jobs Cancer Has Not Returned AAPL

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:25:32 -0600

Good news from BusinessWeeks Arik Hesseldahl on the sensitive -- but important -- topic of Apple AAPL CEO Steve Jobs healthAfter the earnings call last night I talked with a source who is close to Apple and who who has in the past proven very well informed on the concerns of Apple senior management. This source told me with near-certainty that Jobs cancer has not returned.This isnt the same thing as Apple officially saying Steve is fine -- and we doubt the speculation will stop any time soon. But its good news nonetheless.See AlsoApples Year Ahead Slashing Mac Prices To Boost Market Share?Whats Apples Mystery Future Product Transition?Sorry Apple Steve Jobs Health Is NOT Just a Private Matter

Earnings alert Yahoo earnings drop

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:25:21 -0600

Plus Mac shipments set Apple record...Google misses profit expectation...Microsoft earnings dont wow.

Thrifty U.S. shoppers could bruise gadget maker profits

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:25:05 -0600

SAN FRANCISCO Reuters - Fears that belt-tightening U.S. consumers will bruise third-quarter earnings for makers of MP3 players cell phones and other gadgets pummeled the stocks of consumer electronics companies like Apple Inc and SanDisk Corp on Tuesday a day after they issued grim forecasts.

CW Reverses Itself New Gossip Girl Episodes Coming Back To The Site

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:49:30 -0600

Back in April The CW network said it would no longer stream new episodes of its most successful show Gossip Girl on its site. The TV network is now reversing that decision and will begin showing first-run Gossip Girl streams online when the new season starts on September 1 TVWeek reported. At the time The CW was concerned that viewers werent watching the show on TV and so hoping to bump up ratings it pulled new shows of the web as last season was winding down. In the meantime it turned out that ratings did not get a boost. Instead the shows fans were outraged despite the fact that they could have bought original episodes on iTuneswhich will still be available in the Apple NSDQ AAPL download store even when they return to streaming on CWTV.com.RelatedGossip Girl Streams Pulled Off CWs Site Due To Well Popularity Cannibalization FearsCheck out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.

Apple Launching App Store Beta Program

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:01:24 -0600

Apple&#8217s App Store has seen an unprecedented amount of success and exposure since its launch with millions of total downloads and 909 applications already available. Unfortunately Apple has been unable to keep up with the influx of submissions from developers each app must be approved before it appears on the store leaving many companies ...

Apples Gift To A-List iPhone Developers Help Building Their Apps

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:13:31 -0600

Developers released some 500 programs for the debut of Apples iTunes App store earlier this month. But not all apps were created equally At least one premier iPhone developer -- The New York Times -- got a helping hand from Apple itself.This is explained in a nugget buried in a very cool blog post by Felix Sockwell -- who helped design the user interface for the NYTimes app -- illustrating how the apps simple attractive icons evolved.Once approved the ... art was sent to Apple where they integrated into the app he writes.We double-checked with Felix and he confirmed what that meant Apple employees took the images the NYT guys had created -- see the icons on the image to the right -- and inserted them into the NYT app. Thats not heavy-duty coding work but we imagine that its more help than other app developers got.This also makes perfect sense to us Having apps from big-name partners like the Times NYT is key for any platform launch so its understandable that Apple would pay extra attention to certain apps. But we imagine there are a lot of developers wishing they could even get a fraction of that kind of attention from Apple AAPL.See AlsoWhats Next For The NYTimes Online? Widgets iPhone Apps APIs And MoreiPhone App Advertising Barely There But InterestingiPhone Developers Lament Apple Wont Let Us Fix Bugs

What new products could Apple have in mind?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:13:00 -0600

For a company as secretive about its upcoming products as Apple Inc. comments from Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer might as well have been equal to giving up the launch codes for the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Apples Guidance Troubles the Street

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:01:16 -0600

Some analysts want the company to come up with better numbers for its guidance.

Analyst Actions Apple SanDisk Assured Guaranty

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:01:07 -0600

Tech Winners & Losers Apple

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:49:01 -0600

The companys ligher-than-normal forecast sends shares lower.

AOLs Engadget Shuffles Editors As Ryan Block Leaves For Startup

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:13:40 -0600

Big staffing changes coming to Engadget AOLs top tech blog Editor-in-chief Ryan Block is as rumored leaving in late August to launch a startup and staffer Josh Topolsky will take his position.Engadget Managing Editor Joshua Fruhlinger -- a candidate for Blocks old job -- gets kicked upstairs hell be overseeing the AOL Tech network which includes Engadget and its various spinoffs and sites like Switched The Unofficial Apple Weblog and Download Squad.Block says hell continue to contribute to Engadget in an advisory role. His new gig? Not saying much yet but he notes it wont compete with Engadget. Really? TechCrunchs Michael Arrington reports that itll be another content site focusing on the consumer electronics space involving Engadget co-founder Peter Rojas. Rojas is also working on RCRD LBL a music JV with Downtown Records.

New Apple Pricing Strategy Bad News For RIM Dell and Hewlett-Packard

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:37:34 -0600

Stating the obvious here but if Apple AAPL really plans to cut prices on Macs and iPhones Research in Motion RIMM Dell DELL and Hewlett-Packard HPQ are going to lose one of the few remaining competitive advantages they have.As weve discussed Apple captured a third of the growth of the US PC market in Q2 where it grew 9X as fast as the PC market overall. This is especially surprising given the pricing premium that Macs still command over similar models from Dell and HP. If that premium is reduced or eliminated Macs are likely to gain share that much more quickly. This will force Dell and HP to either cut prices which will depress their own margins or accept lower market share which seems unwise in an economy-of-scale business.Similarly Apples original iPhone sold spectacularly well despite a huge price premium to its closest competitor RIMs Blackberry. Even the new iPhone which sells for $199 is almost twice as expensive as RIMs Blackberry Curve. Although the high end of the consumer and business market will pay anything to have the products they want the consumer mass market wont. And further price cuts in the iPhone--even if it stays a premium product--will force competitors to respond.RIM HP and DELL still have one major competitive advantage that Apple doesnt--well-developed corporate sales and service organizations. It will take a while for Apple to develop this and price cuts on Apple products obviously wont turn the industry on its head overnight. But slowly and steadily Apple is working its way into both the corporate and mainstream consumer markets and theyre both zero-sum games.See Also Microsofts Real Problem The Second Coming of AppleApples Secret Plan Cut Prices on Macs and iPhones To Gain Share

WordPress Launches Mobile Blogging App for iPhone

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:13:33 -0600

Though it is late to the scene relative to its competitor TypePad WordPress has now unveiled its own application for iPhone and iPod touch users for mobile management of blogs built upon its platform. And while it is somewhat generic-looking in presentation &#8212 TypePads own welcome mat is a bit less drab and more original in design &#8212 the WordPress download is off to a reasonably good start. First-comers are already speaking quite warmly of it.Within the realm of desktop Web browsers WordPress has largely reigned supreme as far as utility is concerned. Its support for plugins is pretty much unmatched by any other. But in the mobile realm particularly when sized up against its rival TypePad on Apples mobile platform Wordpress has been playing catch-up.Todays WordPress release touts a number of similar features found in TypePads application. A highlight is WordPresss ability to recover posts in the case of unexpected telephone calls. Still where TypePad appears to one-up its competitor is in its multi-lingual support. WordPress arrives only for English-speaking users. TypePad meanwhile is compatible both with English and French. A nice option given the iPhones now international reach.Of course which application you use depends almost entirely on which platform youre most familiar with. Some iPhone and iPod touch users have surely adopted the TypePad application and started a blog fresh. But for the most part I imagine most operate their mobile devices as extensions of their desktop or laptop machines and thus will tend toward what they are used to. If youve managed a WordPress blog for a considerable period of time todays launch is clearly the optimal option to take. The same for TypePad use.However discounting any habits or loyalties or whathaveyou if both applications are to be taken on technical merit alone Ill venture to give TypePad the edge. With blogging being the global activity that it is the more languages supported is simply a better card to play.---Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking BlogWorld&#8217s Simplest iPhone AppWordpress 2.3 ReleasediPhone to Launch in Germany on T-Mobile3G iPhone Confirmed for 2008Wordpress Plugins Directory - Thanks Wordpress!Mundu Optimizes Multi-Client Chat Tool for the iPhone7 Tools For Blogging On Your Phone

Apples Forecast Sets Off a Stock Slide

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:13:06 -0600

Despite boffo quarterly earnings and record Mac sales Apples announcement that margins will soon shrink had investors reeling

Apple Announces Mysterious Transition Beta Digital Daily

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:37:28 -0600

What sort of product innovation would compel Apple to forecast a nearly 5% drop in gross profit margin for its next quarter? Thats a question the Mac faithful are asking themselves today after the companys quarterly conference call with investors Monday.

Glam Media Follows Major Ad Push with App Platform Debut

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:13:37 -0600

Glam Media the self-described distributed media network that sits atop the women-centric market of the Web with either a whole or partial role in over 600 websites and blogs is expanding its sights yet again this year just weeks after it introduced a new advertisement marketplace called GlamX Ad Exchange. Today the company unveiled its very own application platform. It is dubbed simply enough Glam Application Platform.Glam is inviting publishers developers and advertisers alike to exercise the platform which it has code-named Atako and currently has positioned as a private beta. The company believes the strength of the release resides at its core where an open-source design has been implemented. Said to be based on the Google Gadget spec the platform may also take advantage of OpenSocial and OpenID.The Glam Application Platform also arrives with levers to monetize developments easily with or without advertisements. If application creators wish to go without marketing developments may be distributed freely as they would ordinarily or through direct payments. Any applications borne of the Glam Application Platform will be delivered through a system called the Glam Apps Store.Whether or not Glam has taken cue from Apples own App Store initiative whose design was first publicly introduced earlier this year Glam is no doubt employing the concept to further its mission to tap its increasingly valuable content network as broadly and deeply as possible. Since the point at which Glam surpassed iVillage last year as the dominant force in online media space specific to the female demographic the flash terms vertical and network have in kind been touted ever more strongly by the company. With the Glam Application Platform theres no doubt that the company sees its global audience of roughly 77 million monthly users as carrying considerably more value than has so far been realized.The initial establishment of the Glam App Platform because it is private beta may have a limited impact at first but it likely wont be long before it does away with developer invitations. In the meantime the effectiveness of the debut will hinge largely on which designers gain entry to start.---Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking BlogGlam Launches Distributed Media PlatformLifetime to Use Glam&#8217s Managed Vertical NetworkGlam&#8217s New Ad Exchange Connects Marketers Publishers &#038 Ad NetworksGlam Media Steals Executive Talent from MySpaceGlam Reigns over iVillage as the No. 1 Network for WomenGlam Signs Google for Ad Brokerage and SearchGlamMedia Launches GlamTV Offering Indie and Mainstream an Internet Platform

Whats Apples Big Mystery Product?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:13:01 -0600

From comments made on the companys earnings call it sounds like executives have something up their sleeves.

Apples outlook disappoints

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:01:03 -0600

Computer and consumer electronics maker Apple reported fiscal third-quarter earnings Monday that beat forecasts on strong sales of Mac computers and iPhones. But shares fell after-hours on the companys outlook for the fourth quarter.

Apples product transition

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:01:03 -0600

Time Warner Cables Plan To Fend Off Verizon Less-Crappy Service Long-Term Contracts

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:49:35 -0600

How will Time Warner Cable TWC protect its near-monopoly in New York City now that Verizon has a license to sell cable TV here? TWC chief operating officer Landel Hobbs tells the WSJLess-crappy customer service. In Staten Island where Verizon has been most aggressive Time Warner Cable has narrowed the window within which one of its representatives will visit a customers house to two hours from four. The company will similarly narrow the window in other New York City boroughs in the coming months.Long-term contracts like the cellphone industry. The company will also start offering discounted prices to customers who commit to longer-term contracts on video data or phone services.More footsoldiers. The company is also sending out a growing number of door-to-door sales representatives to reach customers before Verizon does.The good news for Time Warner Cable It will take a long time -- years -- before Verizon VZ can build out its fiber-optic FiOS network into allmost of New York Citys thousands of apartment buildings. The less-good news By then it will have to deal with a host of new rivals angling for attention in the living room like Internet movieTV services from Apple AAPL Hulu Microsoft MSFT Amazon AMZN and Netflix NFLX which should only get easier to hook up to TVs.See Also Hulu Household Why I Got Rid Of CableTime Warner Cable Not Well-Prepared For Verizon Threat In NYC Pali Cuts To SellVerizon Gets NYC Cable License For FiOS Look Out Time Warner CablevisionAre Internet Providers Making Broadband More Expensive To Protect Their TV Businesses?

Verizon on the defensive

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:49:32 -0600

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg used to bristle about how Apple was crowned a wireless success without earning the title. But with Apple announcing it sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs in just three days the AT&TApple partnership is starting to look like a formidable contender.

Movers Apple Wachovia American Express Texas Instruments

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:25:07 -0600

Stocks on the move on Tuesday

Retail Stocks Retail shares hit amid worries on corporate profits

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:25:00 -0600

Retail shares fall after disappointing profit results or outlooks from credit card giant American Express Co. to Apple Inc. ignite further concerns about the health of the U.S. economy and corporate profits.

Tech Stocks Apple TI SanDisk lead broad sell-off on tech shares

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:25:00 -0600

SAN FRANCISCO MarketWatch - Technology stocks went straight into the red Tuesday morning as a series of weak earnings outlooks from the likes of Apple Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. added up to drag the entire tech sector down with broad losses.

Stocks Stumble on Disappointing Profit Reports

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:13:01 -0600

Earnings reports from the likes of AmEx and Texas Instruments and guidance from Apple weigh on investor sentiment.

Stocks to Open Lower on Earnings News

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:01:33 -0600

A huge loss by Wachovia and disapppinting results from Apple were pressuring equities while oil prices were steady on reduced hurricane fears

Market Snapshot U.S. stocks slump at the start on soft earnings reports

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:01:00 -0600

NEW YORK MarketWatch -- U.S. stocks on Tuesday opened lower after earnings results and guidance from American Express Co. Apple Inc. and Wachovia Corp. intensified worries about the continuing credit crisis and its impact on the already ailing economy.

XM XMSR Q2 In-Line Still Waiting On Ridiculous FCC Approval For Sirius SIRI Merger

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:49:34 -0600

As expected XM posted a decent Q2 this morning The satellite radio broadcaster posted $318 million in revenue up 15% year-over-year and about $5 million shy of the Streets anticipated $323.2 million. And XMs loss was less than expected -- it lost 38 cents per share versus the 41 cents per share loss Wall Street had estimated. And we already knew XM had a decent quarter attracting new customers because it told us yesterday XMs customer base increased 17% year-over-year to more than 9.6 million. Solid even though most of those new customers just happened to be buying new cars with XM pre-installed.Fine for now. But XMs XMSR future is still mostly based on the assumption that it will be able to merge with its larger rival Sirius SIRI a merger thats been held up by an absurdly long FCC review process. And according to the Motley Fools Rick Munarriz the FCCs not making it any easier.The 17-month courtship got some pro-merger news on Friday when it was reported that another FCC member -- Jonathan Adelstein -- is on board. Unfortunately for the satellite-radio providers Adelsteins proposed concessions go even deeper than what FCC chair Kevin Martin wants.Adelstein is looking to freeze subscription rates for six years with 25% of the channels earmarked for public-interest programming. He also stipulates that any subsidized receivers must also allow for the open reception of HD radio.This is getting ridiculous. If this is what it takes to get hitched I have just one word of advice for Sirius Run!Ricks right -- this is ridiculous. What are we going to do with 25% of channels serving up public-interest programming?Moreover Do the FCC commissioners not see the same lines we see and wait in to buy Apple AAPL iPhones? Have they not checked out the app store which includes not one but at least three free streaming radio services? Plus an iPod! Do they not realize that satellite radio is losing any technical advantage it has every day and that these two cash-burning companies need each other to survive? We guess not.See AlsoThe iPhones AOL Radio Bad News For Sirius-XM Good News For The Music BizXM Sirius Last Straw Time To Fire The FCCFCC Chairman Martin Sirius-XM Difficult Unusual

NewsWatch Apple AmEx worries knock U.S. stock futures

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:13:00 -0600

Weak outlooks from a raft of companies including Apple Inc. American Express Texas Instruments and Vodafone Group sent stock futures lower Tuesday morning.