MacDirectory Magazine

Winter-Spring 2010 (#44)

MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.

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30 MacDirectory DEPARTMENT A Google Smartphone > Google finally released its Nexus One phone and the reviews are already out. In general, the consensus appears to be that it's a great phone, but not a revolutionary phone. TechCrunch calls Nexus One the "Android signature device" and praises the "gorgeous" touchscreen and powerful graphics processor. The major downside is the "woefully brief" battery life. The bottom line from TechCrunch: "Overall the Android is a superior mobile device, particularly when paired with Google Voice. Google is calling this the first of the Super Phones. And they may not be exaggerating all that much." The PCWorld review also gives props to the Nexus One's screen, as well as the "zippy" processor, although points are taken away for the "skimpy" program storage of 190MB for apps. But how does the Nexus One stack up to the iPhone? From PCWorld: "Bottom line: The iPhone is a more highly evolved, refined device." David Pogue of the New York Times agreed: "The Nexus One is an excellent app phone, fast and powerful but marred by some glitches and missing features — a worthy competitor to the Droid, if not the iPhone. " Android Gains > The iPhone is still the king among smartphone operating systems, but Google's Android has seen its demand skyrocket in a recent survey by research firm ChangeWave. While 28 percent of the surveyed consumers who plan to buy a smartphone in the next three months want an iPhone, 21 percent say they want Android running on their new phone - a huge leap from the measly 6 percent who expressed the same wish three months ago. Android's spike in demand carries it into second place on the smartphone food chain, leapfrogging Research in Motion's OS (18 percent), Windows Mobile (6 percent) and Palm OS/Web OS (3 percent). The iPhone's OS X and Google's Android are also running one-two when it comes to customer satisfaction ratings. About 77 percent of consumers with the iPhone OS say they are very satisfied while 72 percent of consumers running Android say the same thing. Only 41 percent of RIM OS users say they are very satisfied as well as 33 percent of Palm/Web OS users and a quarter of Windows Mobile users. 3 Billion Downloads > Apple's App Store is kind of a big deal. Just how big, you ask? Well, more than 3 billion downloads have been downloaded from it less than two years. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is understandably pleased. "Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months—this is like nothing we've ever seen before," Jobs said in a press release. Keep in mind that the App Store didn't reach 1 billion downloads until about nine months after launching. Which means Apps have been downloaded at more than double the rate since then, and it's probably a safe prediction to say that that rate will continue to increase as more people buy iPhones and iPod touches. Apple Acquires Quattro Wireless > Mobile advertising company Quattro Wireless confirmed on its official Web site that it was acquired by Apple. The amount of money exchanging hands in the deal has not been confirmed yet. Quattro VP Andy Miller wrote on the company Web site: "We are thrilled to let you know that Apple has acquired Quattro. We want to share with you our excitement about this news and what it means for our customers." The move likely marks an increased effort by Apple to draw greater revenue from Apps sold for its iPhone. Acquiring the start-up is likely a move by Apple to push advertising on its iPhone (and possibly its tablet computer?) and pull greater revenue from Apps that are ad-supported. By purchasing Quattro, Apple seems to be finding an alternate route into mobile advertising that was temporarily blocked for a time when Google purchased AdMob after Apple had reportedly pursued the other mobile advertiser. Record-Breaking Mac Sales > Analysts have predicted Apple sold a record-breaking 3.3 million Macs during the holiday quarter, according to a report by MacNN. The prediction comes from Broadpoint.AmTech analyst Brian Marshall, and, if accurate, means Apple will have broken its old record set the previous quarter when it sold 3.05 million Macs. The same period last year saw sales of 2.3 million units, which would produce a growth of 31 percent year over year if Marshall's prediction holds true. To put this in layman's terms, Apple has sold a lot of Macs lately. This expected sales growth would mark the largest spike since way back in 2008 when Apple grew by as much as 51 percent between quarters, according to MacNN. Marshall suggests that a rise in desktop sales has helped propel the increase in sales to go along with the recent selling strength of MacBooks. Apple News Compiled from MacDirectory.com's eMacDaily.

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