Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Thursday:
Canon Coupling: The two new high-definition cameras in the iPad 2 aren’t the only exciting photography-related features coming from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). The website CanonRumors said Wednesday that it has received information that Apple and Canon (NYSE:CAJ) are working on a still-unspecified collaboration. The report speculates that the two companies will work on Apple’s Final Cut Pro 8 video-editing software. AppleInsider meanwhile speculates that the success of Apple’s Aperture app, an $80 photo-editing software suite that has been the Mac App Store’s No. 1 grossing product, would suggest that the two companies will promote both the app and Canon’s cameras.
Where Pro Sports Happen: Apple released the 4.3 update for its iOS mobile operating system on Wednesday, two days earlier than expected. The update brings a number of new features for the iPod Touch, iPhone 4, original iPad, and Apple’s oft-overlooked set-top box, the Apple TV. The Apple TV, in particular, got a compelling selection of new features that could boost its marketability. Both the NBA and MLB are bringing live sporting events to Apple TV. The MLB.TV addition brings on-demand baseball games as well as access to stats, scores, and standings. The NBA will bring its League Pass Broadband subscription service to the device, allowing subscribers to watch live games through Apple TV. These are certainly appealing to a certain type of customer, but if Apple really wants to leverage professional sports as a selling point for the Apple TV, they’ll have to integrate fantasy league tools from Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) ESPN.com and Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) Sports.
SXSW’s Apple Store: If the massive variety of independent music, movies, art, and video games descending on Austin, Texas for the SXSW festival wasn’t enough to guarantee its cool factor, the temporary South by Southwest Apple Store opening on Friday should be the proverbial icing on the cake. After all, how can everyone at the conference be cool unless they’re all able to pick up an iPad 2 on the day it comes out? Apple has opened its temporary retail outlet in downtown Austin solely for SXSW. Apple already has two permanent retail stores in the city.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
