Here are your daily Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) news items and rumors for Tuesday:
Verizon’s One Data Plan: A Verizon (NYSE:VZ) memo leaked to tech blog Engadget Tuesday indicates that the telecom will only offer a single data plan when it releases an iPhone next month. Verizon customers will reportedly be required to subscribe to a $30 a month unlimited data allowance plan. It’s surprising that Verizon has decided to forego its current entry-level data plan that provides users with a capped 150MB data allowance for a monthly $15 fee. Competitor and original iPhone carrier AT&T (NYSE:T) offers an entry-level plan that provides 200MB of data for $15 a month — a data plan that has proven popular with younger mobile users. Verizon’s single plan is also more expensive than AT&T’s $25 “DataPro” plan that gives users a capped 2GB data allowance.
Open Your e-Wallet: Speaking with Bloomberg on Tuesday, Envisioneering Group director Richard Doherty said the next generation of tablet PCs and smartphones from Apple will include near-field communication technology — wireless transmitters that allow instant data transfer between devices that are just within 4 inches apart. Apple patents made public last summer highlighted a number of new features that would incorporate the technology into the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, but this is the first time an industry head has confirmed that Apple will be using NFC chips in the iPhone 5 and iPad 2.
Doherty, citing engineers he says are working on the hardware, said, “Apple’s services may be able to tap into user information already on file, including credit card numbers, iTunes gift card balance, and bank data.” Businesses like Starbucks (NYSE:SBUX) and Target (NYSE:TGT) have already begun testing using smartphones from Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Apple for in-store payments. The new technology would conceivably allow Apple to compete with credit card companies as well as other tech-product manufacturers.
Mandatory iPad: The Webb School in Knoxville, Tenn., is making Apple’s tablet computer a mandatory purchase for all students. Starting in August 2011, students from grades 4 through 12 will be required to carry an iPad for use in class. Parents can also lease WiFi-only models of the tablet for $20 a month. While the iPad won’t replace traditional textbooks at the Webb School right away, the school’s administrators do see the device eventually replacing regular books in classrooms.
Waiting for High-Resolution: Conflicting rumors continue to swirl surrounding how improved the second-generation iPad 2’s screen will be. A beta version of iOS 4.3 indicated that the iPad 2 would feature a display with 2048 X 1536 resolution, double that of the current iPad. The latest wrinkle comes from PC World, where IDC analyst Tom Mainelli says the double-resolution screen won’t be included in the iPad 2, but in the iPad 3. John Gruber of Daring Fireball said last Wednesday that reports of the double-resolution screen in the iPad 2 were “too good to be true,” but that it would feature a brighter screen that consumed less battery life.
At the time of publication, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
