Technology Blog

Week in Apple: Macs, iPods see sales boost, more iPad news

The iPad launch is drawing near, so it's not surprising that much of our most popular Apple news for the week was about the highly anticipated device. However, we also saw some news about iPhone app use, Kindle software coming to the Mac, and more.

iPad mania: hot presales, iBooks info, 3G model semipopular: Here's a round-up of iPad-related details we discovered today, including some good news about iBooks and why the $130 extra for the 3G + WiFi model might be worth it after all.
40% of Blackberry users willing to trade in for an iPhone: BlackBerry users tended to have fierce brand loyalty, but the iPhone is apparently changing that. And, while more BlackBerry users are planning to switch to an iPhone, Android-based devices are starting to garner more attention as well.

Survey: Macs cost notably less to support than Windows PCs: IT admins that manage mixed-platform environments agree that Macs cost less to support than Windows PCs. In fact, 66 percent plan to increase the number of Macs in the coming year.

Bed readers rejoice: iPad gains last-minute rotation lock: It wasn't there in January, but it's sure there now: the iPad seems to have traded its mute switch for a screen rotation lock ahead of its official launch on April 3.

Keyboard dock, other iPad accessories will be MIA on April 3: The launch of the WiFi iPad is only a couple weeks away, but only two of the advertised accessories will be available on that day. The rest have been delayed until May, and one seems to be missing from the store altogether.

Surprise: iPhone app use heaviest at night and on weekends: Third-party app analytics statistics suggest that the majority of iPhones are used for personal, and not business use—at least when it comes to third-party apps.

Wearable computing expert now Apple "prototype scientist": Apple has hired Richard DeVaul, an expert in mobile and wearable computing applications, to head prototyping for top-secret research projects.

iMacs expected to boost desktop market growth in 2010: iMac sales are expected to account for a full quarter of the small growth expected for desktop PCs in the next year.

Hands-on: Kindle books finally come to the Mac desktop: Readers have long been able to read their Kindle books on actual Kindles, iPhones, BlackBerrys, and on the PC. Now, they can read them on the Mac too with the just-released Kindle for Mac software, and it works just as expected.

Mac, iPod sales grow once again in February: Mac and iPod sales were both up again in February of 2010. That marks the second consecutive month of growth for the iPod, after 16 months of negative year-over-year growth.


(from internet)