Here is your daily Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock news and rumors for August 10th, 2010. More rumors about the next generation of iPad. Meanwhile, AT&T’s Form-10Q indicates an end to iPhone exclusivity and Microsoft hosts a website to convince computer shoppers to purchase machines running their software and operating system over Apple’s.
Apple Relaunches iPad Line in 2011 With Arm Holdings Cortex-A9 Processor: More rumors about AAPL’s 2011 plans from DigitTimes. Following up their reports on plans for a Verizon-compatible CMDA iPhone 4 and a new Apple TV with cloud-based streaming service comes the latest murmuring about the next generation of iPads. Like previous rumors about the iPad refresh, DigiTimes claims that the new model will feature a 7-inch screen. While smaller, it will offer the same 1024 X 768 resolution as the current model of the tablet. A fresh wrinkle in the report, however, is that the new iPad will use a processor based on Arm Holdings’ (NASDAQ: ARMH) Cortex-A9 design, a step up from Apple’s current A4 chip which is based on the ARM Cortex-A8. Word is that the new iPad will also double its memory, up to 512MB of RAM from the current 256MB.
AT&T Starts Readying Investors for the End of iPhone Exclusivity: AT&T (NYSE: ATT) filed a Form-10Q with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday that seems to indicate that the phone company’s exclusivity agreement with Apple pertaining to iPhone smartphone support will soon be a thing of the past. CLSA analyst Steven Fox noted “significant new language about exclusivity” in the filing, citing it as evidence that AT&T is hoping to convince shareholders to hold tight when Apple begins offering their phone through services like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and T-Mobile in the near future. The language in question reads, “Offering a number of attractive handsets on an exclusive basis distinguishes us from our competitors. As these exclusivity arrangements end, we expect to continue to offer such handsets (based on historical industry practice), and we believe our service plan offerings will help to retain our customers by providing incentives not to move to a new carrier.” While Fox’s take on the filing is speculation, it would seem that AT&T is indeed preparing for the end of their smartphone salad days.
Microsoft Windows 7 Website Includes “PC vs. Mac” Section: As AAPL rushed to fix their image in the wake of the iPhone 4’s troubled launch last month, the company indulged in a bit of smack talking. Hosted at apple.com/antenna, Apple maintained a website that showed how competing smartphones’ antennas were just as faulty as the iPhone 4s. They went as far as to include video showing other companies’ phones, Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Phone 7 among them, dropping calls just as often as the new iPhone. While the comparison videos and text have since been taken down, Microsoft is lashing back. The homepage for Windows 7 now includes a section titled “PC vs. Mac,” featuring breakdowns of how Windows-based computers compare with Macs in terms of software compatibility, price range, and numerous other options. Microsoft should hope that the site is well-trafficked during the back to school season; Fortune just published a report that Apple is currently the #1 brand amongst new college students shopping for notebook computers.
