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BGR: Walmart to sell $99 iPhone?Filed under: Retail, Rumors, iPhoneYour source for all iPhone-slash-Walmart news, BoyGeniusReport, has a whopper for you: Walmart might offer the 4GB iPhone for $99 when they start selling the handsets after Christmas. Even they're skeptical, though: Their tipster isn't one of their regulars, and so they can't say with any certainty that it will come to pass. The discount makes sense, in a way. Selling the low-end iPhone at a ridiculous price will turn it into the new Motorola RAZR. Apple would love everyone in the country to own one, I'm sure. It's not clear who will eat the discount, though -- Apple, AT&T, or Walmart -- but my guess is that it's mostly Apple. Apple has other revenue streams for the iPhone, such as the App Store and iTunes, and AT&T still has its spendy two-year contract. If this is what Apple needs to do to make this the ubiquitous handset to have, then it may be worth the cost to them. On the other hand, as many commenters at BGR have pointed out, with ubiquity comes rejection. Suddenly, the iPhone isn't the cool status symbol to have anymore. This doesn't bother me one bit, but to some people -- for whatever reason -- it's important to them. (I have special names for those people.) Nevertheless -- will it impact sales? How much is the "hip" coefficient driving purchases? In any event, consider this one of those situations where the Internet is writing checks that Walmart's butt might not be able to cash. But pretty sweet if it does.TUAWBGR: Walmart to sell $99 iPhone? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments- Boxee releases new alpha, adds Netflix supportFiled under: Multimedia, Software, Video, Mac mini, Apple TV It's a pretty awesome day to be a Netflix fan. Not only is the Watch Instantly service officially available for OS X, it's also now working via boxee, my favorite media center application!Boxee pushed out an impromptu update last week for Apple TV owners, specifically to address issues with the 2.3 firmware update. Today's update is targeted at all boxee versions and adds a host of new features, including the big dog: Netflix support for US customers. Note: Netflix support is currently only in the Mac version of boxee. The boxee team is working hard to bring it to the Apple TV, but they need to work around some of the hardware limitations. They'll be posting updates on the boxee blog on their progress.Here's the rundown: Netflix support for Mac users Improved Hulu performance and a new Hulu interface, including access to your personal Hulu queues Access to TheWB.com (US only unless you use a proxy) The Boston Globe's Big Picture blog - amazing photos from around the world MTVMusic - songs/artists in your collection are now linked with music videos New YouTube interface, improved performance and .h264 support Custom interfaces and improved playback for CNN, Flickr and Picasa All in all, this is a pretty stellar update. When I talked to the team from boxee last week, they made it clear that Neflix was the #1 priority. That they got Netflx running in boxee in under two weeks is nothing short of amazing. Yes, I do wish that support would be extended to Apple TV users, but I can be patient. If you haven't tried boxee, you can go to http://boxee.tv/tuaw and get an invite. You'll need an Intel Mac running OS X 10.4 or OS X 10.5 or an Apple TV. Boxee is also available for Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04, though I'm unsure if the team was able to implement Netflix support for Ubuntu yet.Give it a shot and tell us what you think in the comments! TUAWBoxee releases new alpha, adds Netflix support originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
- Livestation iPhone app promises live TV over wifiFiled under: Analysis / Opinion, Multimedia, Odds and ends, Internet, Developer We'll believe it when we see it, of course. Livestation is a service that claims to be "Slingbox without the box." Once subscribed, you can watch television streamed to your computer, via peer-to-peer, from anywhere. And now they're apparently set to announce an iPhone app that will do the same thing. Like we said, it seems like a great idea -- who wouldn't want to watch some TV while waiting for the train or sitting the doctor's office -- but investment money and promises do not a working iPhone app make.Even the Livestation rep says it's still in development right now, and he won't give a date other than "soon." I have no doubt that we'll soon see streaming TV on the iPhone -- with the growing popularity of sites like Hulu and Netflix's own streaming video service, and a similar promise of streaming shows from i.TV, it definitely seems like that's where media is headed, even portable media. But this isn't something to hold your breath for quite yet -- I'm happy with Weatherbug's already-working video weather reports.TUAWLivestation iPhone app promises live TV over wifi originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
- Netflix Streaming officially comes to the MacFiled under: Multimedia, Video, Internet, Internet Tools Update: As the commenters have noted -- this service is currently only available for US customers. I truly apologize for my US-centric slant.Last month, Netflix finally started to roll out its Watch Instantly service to Mac users. You needed to opt-in to use the feature, but it was available for those who wanted to access it. Today, Watch Instantly is available for Mac users without having to opt-in -- as long as you meet the minimum system requirements (Intel Mac running OS X 10.4.8 or higher, and at least one GB of RAM).Watch Instantly is a great way to catch up on a movie, TV show or documentary without having to wait for the movie to come in the mail. You don't get the extra features or super surround sound, but it's fast, the quality is good and it is free to use. If you have a Netflix Unlimited plan, you can watch as many movies a month as you want. If you have a limited plan, the number of films you can stream is also limited.You can access Watch Instantly from the tab on the main Netflix page and browse through the selection of movies and TV shows. You still need to install the Microsoft Silverlight plugin, if you don't already have it installed. Watch Instantly works in Firefox 2 or higher and Safari 3 and up. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!TUAWNetflix Streaming officially comes to the Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
- Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes impresses as an iPhone shooterFiled under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Odds and ends, Software Update, iPhone, App Store, iPod touchHere we go -- Doom on the jailbreak aside, the iPhone hasn't really had a nice example of shooter gameplay, though Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes (iTunes link) seems like it might be the breakout. It's made by Gameloft, who've been making mobile games for a while now, but the good news is that it doesn't look like a mobile game at all. The graphics are 3D and vibrant, and the sounds are very impressive. The control scheme is interesting -- it's more of a third person shooter, as you use the lower left wheel to move your character, and you can use the touchscreen to move the aiming reticule (seems like there's a little autoaim help in there as well). There are even cutscenes, multiple weapons to choose from, vehicles to drive, and a cover system (though there kind of has to be, with aiming that slow in places).Still, very impressive for an iPhone game, and a very good bar-setter for the first major shooter we've seen on the platform. As you might expect, this isn't going to be cheap -- it's $9.99 in the App Store, and while this would be the perfect title for a demo (how else do you expect to sell a $10 app?), there's not one to be found at all. Still, if there's going to be such a thing as a premium game on the iPhone, this is probably it. For all of the colorful little puzzle and wordplay games on the iPhone, sometimes you just want to shoot some Nazis.TUAWBrothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes impresses as an iPhone shooter originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
- Analysis: iTunes holds 12.6% of the US music marketFiled under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, Apple Financial, iTunes, iPod touch Stick with us here: a new report by Forrester Research claims that of all the music purchased in the US, digital purchases have jumped to 18% of the total, and they expect it to go up to 41% of total sales over the next five years. That means that about 20% of all the music sold in the US is bought digitally. And distorted-loop.com is doing a little reasoning from those numbers -- since Apple's iTunes accounts for 70% of US digital sales, DL has decided that Apple accounts for 12.6% of all music sold in the US.Can't really argue with that reasoning, and given that we know iPod sales are up (and increased sales of the iPod touch means more people can buy from iTunes straight to their iPods, not to mention that one of the biggest days for iTunes sales is Christmas, thanks to all the new iPods under the tree), we can probably look for that number to head even further north next year.TUAWAnalysis: iTunes holds 12.6% of the US music market originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
- Apple: Psystar clones part of a larger conspiracyFiled under: Apple Corporate, HardwareEarlier this year, manufacturer Psystar began selling computers capable of running Mac OS X Leopard. They've gotten the Mac community's attention, and Apple's. Of course, Psystar found themselves involved with Apple legal shortly after their announcement. That was no surprise, but this week's news kind of is.Apple is claiming that Psystar is part of a larger group of individuals or corporations. Here's a quote from the recently amended claim:"...persons other than Psystar are involved in Psystar's unlawful and improper activities described in this Amended Complaint. The true names or capacities, whether individual, corporate, or otherwise, of these persons are unknown to Apple. Consequently they are referred to herein as ... the "John Doe Defendants"...Apple will seek leave to amend this complaint to show the unknown John Doe Defendants' true names and capacities when they are ascertained."Yikes. What does make sense in light of this accusation, if proven to be true, is Psystar's apparent brashness. When faced with an opponent as high-profile and well-funded as Apple, they've continued to sell machines. Either they're crazy or they've got some serious backbone. We shall see.[Via World Of Apple]TUAWApple: Psystar clones part of a larger conspiracy originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
