Apple shares touch $200; new iPhone panels in spring?

[AppleInsider]

Shares in Apple Inc. temporarily broke the $200 barrier as investor enthusiasm took hold. Meanwhile, Apple may receive new iPhone touchscreen panels just in time for a potential model upgrade next year.

AAPL crosses $200 mark for the first time

On its first day after Dow Jones trading resumed following the Christmas break, Apple stock has crested the symbolic $200 mark -- if temporarily.

Following a brief sell-off, shares climbed steadily and remained above the $200 level for about an hour in mid-afternoon trading, peaking at $200.96. The stock ultimately gained only slightly as the session closed, finishing at $198.95.

The gains are believed by analysts and investors to reflect an optimistic outlook on Apple's iPod sales during the holidays, which are allegedly the only ones unfazed by a downturn in the media player market as a whole.

Innolux may play role in 3G iPhone

The timing for the 3G iPhone may have been revealed by Taiwanese part supplier Innolux, according to a report from the region's Economic Daily News picked up by DigiTimes.

The paper refers to "industry sources" who claim Innolux will begin supplying touchscreens for the iPhone during the second quarter of 2008. To date, rival manufacturer Wintek has enjoyed much of the success along with multiple Japanese companies.

While potentially a coincidence, the timeframe lines up with assertions made by CNBC host Jim Goldman that an iPhone with faster 3G Internet access will be available by June.

Report: Apple investigating Brooklyn retail location

Apple is strongly considering one of Brooklyn's most upscale districts for its first retail shop in New York City outside of Manhattan and Staten Island, according to real estate sources in contact with ifo Apple Store.

The Mac maker is said to be considering 345 Adams Street, a public location in the borough's west end of which 40,000 square feet is being converted from offices to retail space.

A Marriott hotel sits nearby, but the space itself is allegedly coveted by several well-known retailers, including Banana Republic, Barney's, and The Gap.

Nokia invites Apple to its Ovi mobile portal

Nokia would be willing to link its Ovi web portal to the iTunes Store if Apple returns the favor, says one of the Finnish handset maker's board members, Anssi Vanjoki.

"In Finnish, Ovi means door," he says. "And our door is open. Of course, Apple can get into our portal. We even invite [Apple chief] Steve Jobs to do so."

The executive does not elaborate on how such a service would work, however. Protected songs from Apple's music service are incompatible with Nokia's cellphones and would require a license for FairPlay copy protection -- a grant which Apple has historically resisted and provided only once as part of its early attempts at cellphone music.

Motorola's 2005-era ROKR had the ability to play the otherwise locked files through its iTunes client but lost that ability a year later, when Apple changed its protection formats in a way that prevented the playback of newer iTunes purchases.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[josa92]

Ridiculous.
Just like Starbuck's Coffee, Apple will overreach itself and lose its novelty and value. Three stores in NYC is more than enough. The one on 67th in Manhattan doesn't make sense, and this one in Brooklyn is just a bad idea altogether. Oh well. They should spend their time making sure their products were consistently of good quality and not second-rate and not scour neighborhoods for new saturation points. iMac panels, macbooks discoloring, ibook logic boards, ipod battery failures, nanos with crooked screens; enough. aich.

[Tannerozzy]

yeaaaaa. why can't apple be perfect like windows.

idiot

[josh59x]

The phrase that this would be Apple's first store in New York City outside of Manhattan is not true. Apple has a store in Staten Island, which is part of NYC.

http://www.apple.com/retail/statenisland/

[iPeon]

Originally Posted by Tannerozzy

yeaaaaa. why can't apple be perfect like windows.

idiot

Nice entrance.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

"In Finnish, Ovi means door," he says. "And, our door is open.

In English, 'ovi' sounds like the plural of 'ovum.'

And, I won't fin(n)ish the rest of that sentence......

[city]

Banana Republic is part The Gap. I don't think the Gap itself is opening new stores.

[merdhead]

I think its getting more certain that there will be a 3G iPhone before June. Consider:

- The Japan negotiations
- This panel rumour
- The fact that if they waited until the end of the year it would be 18 months between updates, which is just too long

I think we might get an announcement at MacWorld or maybe in Feb when the SDK is supposed to be released.

[Samnuva]

Originally Posted by josh59x

The phrase that this would be Apple's first store in New York City outside of Manhattan is not true. Apple has a store in Staten Island, which is part of NYC.

http://www.apple.com/retail/statenisland/

They said that it was the first store outsidde manhatten OR statan island

[theapplegenius]

I still think apple killing compatbility with the ROKR is pretty shitty.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by theapplegenius

I still think apple killing compatbility with the ROKR is pretty shitty.

I do too, but I don't remember it being pointed out before. It might not have sold in very big numbers. I wonder how much money MOTO lost on that piece of crap.

[Giovanni]

Today (Dec. 28th), in an article titled "Jobs e Murdoch alleati e il film si noleggia su iTunes" (Jobs and Murdoch allies, and movies can be rented at iTunes), the Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera" - a leading newspaper in Italy - hints that yesterday's rise of Apple's shares might be caused by an agreement signed between Murdoch's News Corporation and Apple, allowing all Fox' movies to be available through iTunes. The same agreement would allow Fox' DVDs to be encripted by Apple's Fair Play protection software, thus tying their use to Apple Tv decoder (and iPods). This agreement should be made public during Jobs' speech at MacWorld 2008 in San Francisco on next January 14th. Anyone hearing such news in the US?