WSJ on touch BlackBerry; Intel 4-core; T-Mobile at 100K iPhones

[AppleInsider]

A report by the Wall Street Journal further kindles rumors of a touchscreen BlackBerry going toe-to-toe with the iPhone this year. Meanwhile, T-Mobile Germany reports selling more than 100,000 iPhones since launch, Singapore Airlines offers passengers iPhone- and iPod-friendly in-seat entertainment, and Intel's first quad-core notebook chip may fit systems like the MacBook Pro.

WSJ backs claims of BlackBerry Thunder

Adding to speculation, the Wall Street Journal now says that it, too, has information supporting rumors of a rapidly-nearing launch for the BlackBerry Thunder.

Less non-committal than the original Boy Genius report, the newspaper's report cites anonymous people familiar with the smartphone who agree that the Thunder, also known as the BlackBerry 9500, will natively support both the Verizon and Vodafone wireless networks in addition to shedding a physical keyboard.

Little else is revealed in the Journal's account, though the earlier story would have the phone support both third- and fourth-generation data, despite neither Verizon nor Vodafone planning to debut 4G services for at least a year.

Nonetheless, the report bolsters the initial claims and says to expect a launch in summer that would pit both the Thunder and the Bold against an all but confirmed 3G iPhone.

T-Mobile Germany sells 100,000 iPhones since launch

Deutsche Telekom chief Rene Obermann on Thursday revealed that T-Mobile Germany has sold more than 100,000 iPhones since the Apple handsets first went on sale in November.

The report is the first since the end of January from T-Mobile, when the cellular provider said it had sold 70,000 units -- indicating a significant slowdown after the iPhone's first few months in local stores.

Separately, T-Mobile board member Hamid Akhavan says the sales are still "in line" with predictions but admits that a promotional price cut has spiked sales since it was introduced in early April.

Singapore Airlines offers iPhone, iPod ports on flights

US travelers to the city-state of Singapore now have the option of plugging in their iPhone or iPod for most of the trip, Singapore Airlines announced on Thursday.

Effective immediately, certain long-distance flights will include special connectors to plug in dockable Apple devices and feed both audio and video to an in-seat entertainment system dubbed KrisWorld that will also keep the handhelds charged.

The system is intelligent enough to momentarily override audio in the event of a cabin announcement, the airline says, but must be used in Airplane Mode by iPhones to prevent interference.

Service starts with all Airbus A345 flights from Newark, New Jersey but should ultimately include all A340 airliners leaving Los Angeles starting from August and will spread to New York at a later date.

Intel quad-core notebook processor fit for thin systems?

A new report from the Inquirer alleges that Intel has refined the efficiency of its first quad-core mobile processor ahead of its summer release.

Although numerous sources have claimed the 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300 will chew as much as 45 watts of peak power at its design limits -- ruling it out for all but the heftiest notebooks -- the British site now says Intel has reduced the processor's power draw to 35 watts without sacrificing its 12MB of Level 2 cache or other features.

The chip is believed to be part of the second wave of processors built for Intel's Centrino 2 platform, which enables a faster 1,066MHz bus speed and better power management, among other new features.

The drop would give it the same power consumption as most Core 2 Duo processors today, expanding the usefulness of the chip to thin-and-light notebooks. The processors in Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro both consume 35 watts.

The cost of the chip, however, still calls into question its suitability for the MacBook Pro. A single QX9300 costs $1,038, or nearly twice as much as the 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo that Apple reserves as a build-to-order option for its premium MacBook Pro models.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[MiMiC]

I would pay the extra to get this in an iMac!!

[nagromme]

Version 1 of a non-Apple product that doesn't exist yet... vs. version 2 of an Apple product that has been out for a year. Sounds like a common scenario for Apple competition

[machei]

Mark my words, RIM will not leave behind the keyboard. It's pretty much the only trump it has. Touchscreen, yes. Good for all sorts of things, but they'll keep the keyboard. It's still toted as an enterprise solution for mobile e-mail and they're not about to screw that one up.

[macinthe408]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Singapore Airlines offers iPhone, iPod ports on flights

US travelers to the city-state of Singapore now have the option of plugging in their iPhone or iPod for most of the trip, Singapore Airlines announced on Thursday.

Effective immediately, certain long-distance flights will include special connectors to plug in dockable Apple devices and feed both audio and video to an in-seat entertainment system dubbed KrisWorld that will also keep the handhelds charged.

The system is intelligent enough to momentarily override audio in the event of a cabin announcement, the airline says, but must be used in Airplane Mode by iPhones to prevent interference.

Service starts with all Airbus A345 flights from Newark, New Jersey but should ultimately include all A340 airliners leaving Los Angeles starting from August and will spread to New York at a later date.

I heard POS Air (as see in 'South Park') will provide similar functionality for Zunes.

[jasenj1]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Singapore Airlines offers iPhone, iPod ports on flights

US travelers to the city-state of Singapore now have the option of plugging in their iPhone or iPod for most of the trip, Singapore Airlines announced on Thursday.

Effective immediately, certain long-distance flights will include special connectors to plug in dockable Apple devices and feed both audio and video to an in-seat entertainment system dubbed KrisWorld that will also keep the handhelds charged.

At some point I really think Apple will be forced to make their dock connector and control protocol available to other manufacturers - like Creative, Samsung, et al. Unless, of course, these connectors are some sort of standard and the iPhone name is just being invoked as a generic media device.

- Jasen.

[wirc]

Originally Posted by jasenj1

At some point I really think Apple will be forced to make their dock connector and control protocol available to other manufacturers - like Creative, Samsung, et al. Unless, of course, these connectors are some sort of standard and the iPhone name is just being invoked as a generic media device.

- Jasen.

They could probably make a strong return on licenses, which is never a bad thing, especially as the new players coming out would then encourage even more third-party devices with 60-pin docks.

[wally007]

only 100 000 iPhones sold in germany ? That sounds pretty bad . i guess germans dont feel like getting raped by 50% mark up.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by wally007

only 100 000 iPhones sold in germany ? That sounds pretty bad . i guess germans dont feel like getting raped by 50% mark up.

I'm sure it had nothing to do with what the US pays before taxes, and more with the price compared to other phones, the lack of 3G and the available plans.

[8CoreWhore]

What kind of retarded name is that? Does make a loud clapping noise?

[Dreil]

No, but it does come right after...... LIGHTNING!

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by machei

Mark my words, RIM will not leave behind the keyboard. It's pretty much the only trump it has. Touchscreen, yes. Good for all sorts of things, but they'll keep the keyboard. It's still toted as an enterprise solution for mobile e-mail and they're not about to screw that one up.

Why is it not possible that they could offer different models at the same time aimed at different segments?

They could offer the Bold as their tried and true "enterprise solution" with the standard keyboard and they could experiment with the Thunder as their consumer, touchscreen, iPod Killer.
Are you suggesting that their enterprise customers are so flakey thta they will drop RIM because they offered a phone in their lineup without a physical keyboard?

[satchmo]

RIM may have a touchscreen smart phone on the horizon, but they're new to this interface.

Just because it exists, doesn't mean it will be any good. It's the implementation and usability that determines whether or not it's a worthy competitor to the iPhone. I'd be surprised if they hit one out of the park on their first model.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by Dreil

No, but it does come right after...... LIGHTNING!

You forgot this..... CACHAAAAAW


My sons favorite movie.. also made on a Mac

[melgross]

Originally Posted by satchmo

RIM may have a touchscreen smart phone on the horizon, but they're new to this interface.

Just because it exists, doesn't mean it will be any good. It's the implementation and usability that determines whether or not it's a worthy competitor to the iPhone. I'd be surprised if they hit one out of the park on their first model.

What are you trying to say here? Apple was also new to this kind of interface. What happened with the Newton many years ago doesn't count. It's likely that no one from those days is even around Apple now.

Besides, Apple being the first one with this interface us likely to not have found all of the best ways for it to function. RIM might fix some problems that Apple has.

Remember that we often talk about Apple coming late to the party, and learning from others mistakes.

Unless you think that Apple's implementation is perfect. You don't think that do you?

[John French]

Toss one of those QX9300s and an Nvidia 8800M GTS w/ 512 MB GDDR3 VRAM into a new MBP case and you get one lust-worthy machine!

[sachxn]

I will travel only with Singapore Airlines only from now onwards.

Sachin

[palegolas]

Concidering apple is taking orders of the premium macbook AIR with flash drive at a crazy price point why not a premium mbp at a high price point? It would also help to further differentiate the notebook models.

[Tailpipe]

The prospect of Centrino 2 equipped Apple notebooks that combine a significant leap in computing power with same power consumption of existing MacBooks is very enticing. I wonder if such a chip will be found in the new MacBook Pro? The answer has to be a 'yes'.

Penryn,combined with Montevina appears to be a giant leap forward versus Santa Rosa, so I can't understand why so many people are fixated on Nehalem, which is more than a year down the track.

[netdog]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

What kind of retarded name is that? Does make a loud clapping noise?

The name Air comes to mind.

Great computer. Odd name.

[sennen]

Originally Posted by Tailpipe

The prospect of Centrino 2 equipped Apple notebooks that combine a significant leap in computing power with same power consumption of existing MacBooks is very enticing. I wonder if such a chip will be found in the new MacBook Pro? The answer has to be a 'yes'.

Penryn,combined with Montevina appears to be a giant leap forward versus Santa Rosa, so I can't understand why so many people are fixated on Nehalem, which is more than a year down the track.

I'll be very interested to see how the MBP lines up in it's next iteration. i'm chomping at the bit for a hi-res 17".

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by jasenj1

At some point I really think Apple will be forced to make their dock connector and control protocol available to other manufacturers - like Creative, Samsung, et al. Unless, of course, these connectors are some sort of standard and the iPhone name is just being invoked as a generic media device.

I'm not sure how Apple would be forced to do that at all anytime in the next several years. There either needs to be serious competition or significant resistance in a very important industry such that Apple's willing to give up their control in exchange for something that's more important.

There was a competing dock connector consortium announced about 18 months ago, but nothing happened.

[jasenj1]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

I'm not sure how Apple would be forced to do that at all anytime in the next several years. There either needs to be serious competition or significant resistance in a very important industry such that Apple's willing to give up their control in exchange for something that's more important.

I was thinking more from a Nanny State perspective. Already countries and companies are whining that Apple's iPod is an unfair monopoly, they should be forced to make their protected AAC available to any and all, blah, blah, blah. How much penetration does the iPod dock need to have before bureaucrats and lobbyists start whining that Apple is mean and should be forced to open the dock?

There was a competing dock connector consortium announced about 18 months ago, but nothing happened.

I'm not surprised.

- Jasen.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by sennen

I'll be very interested to see how the MBP lines up in it's next iteration. i'm chomping at the bit for a hi-res 17".

You're talking about the one like what's already available as an option for the current 17", right?

[sennen]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

You're talking about the one like what's already available as an option for the current 17", right?

yes, of course. various circumstances conspire to stop me from getting one now. i was going to get a refurb but the longer it takes the closer an update we get, so i might as well see what comes out.

[DOSbox-gamer]

I second MiMiC. While dual-core is fine for most of today's general processing tasks, for heavy-duty video editing and encoding, nothing less than quad-core will do. Hey Apple, how'd you like to sell a couple million iMacs at $2899 apiece? Maybe even more for Blu-Ray!