Here is your daily Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock news and rumors for September 20, 2010. Apple further develops its digital publications business with the announcement of a new digital newsstand for iPad and iPhone editions of newspapers and magazines. Also, Google Voice and Google Talk make their way back to the app store thanks to the new app approval process. Finally, the iPhone 4 goes to China.
AAPL Creating New Digital Newstand: While the iBookstore is still barely more than a twinkle in Apple Inc.’s eye, six months after the service’s launch alongside the iPad tablet computer, the Cupertino, California is already preparing to launch its little brother. A new report in Bloomberg has shed light on APPL’s plans for a new digital newsstand for its iPad and iPhone 4 mobile devices, offering use of a wide selection of both mobile edition newspapers and magazines. The still unnamed service would be separate from the Apple App Store, like the iTunes media store and the iBookstore itself. While a handful of newspapers are already available in specially made iPhone and iPad formats, including The New York Times and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) publication, Wall Street Journal, the new service would make many more American newspapers available through the service. While the expanded readership will undoubtedly be a boon to print outlets whose readership has been decimated in recent years, many publishers are wary of the notoriously high fees that Apple charges for placement in their proprietary stores. Time Warner has apparently refused to sign the current agreement that would see their Time Inc. publications included in the new digital newsstand. Apple and Time Warner recently settled a dispute over how digital subscriptions to Time Inc.’s magazines on the iPad and iPhone should be handled. The dispute was concluded when Apple allowed Time Inc. to sell subscriptions to publications like Sports Illustrated but barred them from being sold through the App Store.
Google Voice Apps Approved for App Store: In the days following APPL’s announcement that they would be easing restrictions on app development, there was a flurry of speculation over which previously banned big name apps would reappear in the App Store over the coming weeks. Among those most heavily scrutinized were those apps built to use Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) VoIP service Google Voice. Over the weekend, Apple approved two previously banned Google Voice apps that will bring the VoIP service to the iPhone. GV Mobile+ and GV Connect. The apps allow users to take advantage of the recently launched Gmail-incorporated Google Voice feature, Google Talk, that provides free incoming and outgoing call service over the internet to and from any phone in North America and low fee international calling. Whether or not Apple or AT&T (NYSE: T) will step in to prevent any erosion of the iPhone’s numerous call plans remains to be seen.
iPhone 4 Comes to China on September 25 to Coincide With New Apple Stores: Following the summer launches for the WiFi-enabled iPhone 3 in China as well as the WiFi iPad comes the announcement that APPL’s flagship smartphone, the iPhone 4, will be available for purchase in China this coming Saturday. The device’s release will be used to draw customers in to Apple’s brand new Apple Stores in Shanghai’s Hong Kong Plaza and Beijing’s Xidan Joe City. Chinese users will be paying a significant premium for the new smartphones. According to the Wall Street Journal, China Unicom is charging around $874 for an iPhone 4 with a mandatory two-year contract.
As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
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