Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Thursday:
Let’s Make a Deal: While the next iPhone won’t be compatible with AT&T’s (NYSE:T) and Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) 4G networks, future models will be after a new deal struck between Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Chinese telecom China Mobile (NYSE:CHL). Marketwatch has reported that Apple has agreed to make an iPhone that will work on China Mobile’s 4G network.
RetailMe Goes iPad: Apple is making the iPad a central feature of its retail operation — beyond just being a hot item with customers. Apple Insider is saying Apple has accumulated a large number of iPads fixed with magnetic “smart covers,” which will be used as check-out tools by Apple store employees. The iPod already uses the iPod Touch handheld device in conjunction with its RetailMe service (an Apple program developed specifically for retail employees), but the new iPads will streamline the process, allowing customers to sign for credit card purchases on the device rather than at a register or on paper. The rollout of these new devices could very well be the rumored Apple retail event some outlets have been murmuring about, which could be disappointing for investors and consumers since it means an absence of any new product announcement to celebrate the retail chain’s 10th anniversary.
Go West: Apple recently spent $1 billion to open a new data center in Maiden, N.C., that’s expected to be the epicenter of Apple’s new web-based services like iCloud and MobileMe, a massive bank of servers holding information for Apple users from music purchases to event calendars. A Wednesday report from Data Center Knowledge (via Mac Rumors) said that Apple is now going to be investing more capital in its data center operation by purchasing space at an existing data center owned by third party in Santa Clara, Calif. This is the first time Apple has purchased server space from another company, suggesting that its cloud-based service plans may be expanding at a greater rate than it can build its own massive data centers.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.
