Order online at Apple's website

Search as you will for the deals from Apple’s retail outlets on Friday. The supplier advertises special deals on its products for the day after Thanksgiving, and the retail store pricing on Wednesday appears was as it’s always been on products at its retail outlets. The iPad, for example, was at $499 rock bottom. The retail outlets clambered onto the Black Friday bandwagon with slight discounts, matching those online.

The Apple Store online posts discounts only on Nov. 25. Apple’s got iPad 2s at $458 (plus tax) through the end of Friday (looks like they’re running that sale through midnight PST, judging from when they updated the store page early Friday), as well as the iPod Touch, the Nano, the iMac, Macbook Pro and the Macbook Air. The Air has the steepest discounts at $101 off the regular $999 price for the 11.6-inch model. That Air is a great alternative to the iPad if you need a keyboard — and the more recent models have a backlit keypad, too.

Check the Apple Store webpage for details. Shipping is free.

We’ve found the iPad for about $21 less, at $473.99, at MacMall on a Friday only sale. You have to call and talk to a sales rep to buy the iPad 2 at MacMall, mostly so they can offer you an upsell of a protection plan (which is a pretty good investment). MacMall’s at 800-622-6225.

Apple has announced that customers who replaced a MagSafe power adapter for Macbooks or Macbook Pros might be entitled to a settlement. The early versions of these adapters, introduced in 2005, had a T-junction on the part that attaches to the laptop. Some cords frayed and could start fires.

Settlements range from the cost you paid to replace the adapter (within 1 year of replacement) down to $35. What’s more, if your MagSafe from that era is showing signs of wear, Apple has a Adapter Replacement Program. You get your adapter replaced for free by taking your adapter and computer to an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider, or by contacting AppleCare.

Apple says that adapters which show “Strain Relief Damage” are eligible. Strain Relief Damage “means fraying, melting, straining, sparking, weakening, discoloration, bubbling, overheating and/or separation of the Adapter’s strain reliefs.”

You can apply for your cash compensation online at www.AdapterSettlement.com or by calling 888-332-0277.

The man who brought more innovation to 21st Century computing than any other has died at age 56. Steve Jobs passed away with his family earlier today, falling victim to the pancreatic cancer he’d been battling for more than five years. His passing marks the end of one era in business computing: The period when a CEO and company leader used vision and desire to lift a sinking ship into leadership, powered by his control and drive and passion for tomorrows.

I had a brush up against his darkest era while I was a journalist nearly two decades ago. He’d been exiled from the company he created and so went out to found Object-Oriented pioneer NeXT and then Oscar-snatching Pixar. I had a near-miss in getting to interview him while he was toiling away at NeXT. At PCI, where we published and I edited the HP Chronicle, we were starting up NeXT World, and he was to be the interview for our inaugural issue. I left the company, ultimately to start our other HP newsletter, the The 3000 NewsWire, and NeXT then withdrew the interview access. It was a matter of timing, but now it’s a time for some personal regret. feel like I’ve lost a bigger brother today. He was maddening and a lightning rod for criticism and never somebody you wanted to ride in an elevator with — unless you had a great answer to “what are you working on today?”

Nobody ever missed NeXT World, or even NeXT. But for the computer world, a big disturbance in the force opened up today. He never took more than $1 a year as a salary, instead compensated in stock, shares whose value rose from below $15 each to form the largest capitalized company in the world this summer. A CEO who takes that compensation, and then leaves in a golden parachute that’s drifting as high as his ideals and ideas, may not grace our industry for a long time to come.

In 2009 he had a liver transplant to treat a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, his mortal diagnosis that he outlived for an extra two years. But even earlier, in 2005 when his doctor had told him to go home and get his affairs in order, he gave a now-legendary address to the Stanford graduating class entitled How to Live Before You Die. It’s up on TED, that nexus of brilliant talks about humanity and technology and science. (Being a brilliant writer, Jobs had this words worked out on paper before he talked, and the transcript is online, too.) His own words on that day serve as the best epitaph, and the brightest light forward, now that his own searchlight has gone dark. There’s advice in there for anyone who’s still distilling a future in their computing life. You can only see how the dots of your life connect looking backward, he said, not forward. but faith is essential to doing good. “You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Getting kicked out of Apple may have had the same sting as watching anything you love taken away. “It was awful tasting medicine,” he said of losing Apple. “But I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. Don’t waste a minute of your life,” he says in that speech. His own achievements and leadership, from a man who built a computer “for the rest of us,” are a marker for the rest of us and what we might do so long as we believe in what we love.

A colleague of mine in the analysis business bets the Barnes & Noble Nook can become the first tablet to hit a magic, cheaper price point. Guy Smith is fond of calling tablets “slabs,” which is one way to cheapen the iPad’s innovation. After all, nobody’s come close to making a comparable tablet that is cheaper to own.

Looks like the B&N Nook may be the $250 slab we have discussed. Given recent software upgrades and a cottage industry into making them full Android slabs, the Early Majority market seems to be defined as under $250, powerful enough to read, surf and play a few games.

If it weren’t for the blasted “take up all the supply” deals that Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook negotiated for tablet components, maybe Lenovo could afford to build a sub-$250 tablet. It’ll happen one day, and the people who waited will be glad to pay less. For the next year, the cheap tablet is something like what we call a jackalope here in Texas, a mythic cross of jackrabbit and antelope. You can imagine one, but that’s as far as you’ll get.

Guy is reading from Crossing the Chasm to get that Early Majority Market label. The book was written 20 years ago and has not been refreshed in this century. But even by those aged measures, the Nook won’t be measuring up. While people are “rooting” their Nooks to turn them into Android tablets, they’re playing with a toy that doesn’t have a strong future. It’s the old Windows world dream of getting some big part of $500 worth of value by spending $250, just because there’s a lot of demand. This chestnut is the “nice try Apple, and very clever: but cheap, primitive copycats will overrun you.”

No product is perfect, but it will take bigger treads than the Nook’s to do that running. I’d be betting on something besides any book reader that needs its users to slap a new operating system into it. There are some other Nook problems, and all of them point to strengths in Apple’s tablet model.

– Barnes & Noble, the Nook’s maker, was hoping for a buyout this summer and had to settle for about $200 million in fresh investment. This sounds a lot like Palm, which was building the iPhone killer WebOS until it got bought out by HP. And then got killed by HP in the wake of the TouchPad debacle.

– About 270 people comprise the Nook technical team. Apple probably has more than that in California alone.

– Barnes & Noble is suing the content providers who stock the Nook with many of its books. B&N hates the $9.99 or better pricing Apple negotiated with the top six publishers. Apple negotiated, while B&N pushes back with a lawsuit.

It might be worthwhile to see what tablet Amazon brings out this fall. But compared to a real tablet, it is likely to be a primitive device that performs the browse and email and listen and watch functions that make up the biggest part of iPad ownership. It takes passion about a product — not an operating system like Android or just the content — to give a tablet purchaser lasting value. Read the rest of this entry »

The Great Presenter, in his element in earlier days

Steve Jobs, 56 years old and on his third medical leave, has resigned from his job at Apple as CEO. He also left the company with a heritage and credo that can only be compared to Walt Disney’s. Jobs did Walt’s exit even better, naming Tim Cook as successor to the CEO position. Jobs is also remaining as Apple’s Chairman of the Board and a director.

Cook doesn’t have to move anything into a new office, because he’s been running Apple as CEO in fact for much of the last three years. Cook, 50, has been performing CEO duties since the start of this year. He’s been a constant presence in the Apple analyst briefings about the spectacular quarterly results the company has posted for more than six quarters by now. As Jobs’ resignation letter confirms, Apple had a succession plan in place for this day. The succession was swift, unlike the last three changes to the CEO position of Hewlett-Packard. Cook’s election to the CEO post was immediate by the Apple board, based on instructions in the brief letter Jobs used to file his resignation.

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

The markets were skittish about this news in after-hours trading, just as analysts predicted they would be. It will take a few more product introductions to convince investors nothing essential is just about to change, simply because a temporary medical leave became permanent.

In the tone of Jobs’ letter I heard an echo of another that I saw him write. This one was to the employees of NeXT Computer, celebrating the birth of his daughter in 1992. Simple, direct and hopeful. This voice is what’s going to echo through the near future in Cupertino and beyond. It’s the voice that banished doubts about whether simple computing would succeed against popular PCs, and so carve out a future where Apple would become the largest creator of technology in a world that’s still hungry for magic — the kind that Walt gave us. Read the rest of this entry »

Pogue and his boys review the newest iPad

The only iPad you can buy today is the original generation’s models. Apple sold out its first build of the product in less than a day over the kickoff weekend. Apple built up less than enough inventory to immediately satisfy customers hungry for the iPad 2. Delivery times at 1 AM Pacific were quoted at 2-3 business days, regardless of model. By mid-morning the deliveries were 5-7 business days. Now the orders placed will be fulfilled through Apple’s online store in 3-4 weeks.

That’s right; it means that unless you were up ordering at early morning, the soonest you will receive a new iPad model will be April 1-2. That’s one week after the device goes on sale outside the US. Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray estimated the company sold 500,000 across retail outlets and Apple’s online stores. The first edition of the tablet sold 300,000 units.

Despite the simultaneous outlets of Best Buy, Walmart, Target and the two phone carriers in the US, nothing was available to purchase one hour after the iPad 2 went on sale in retail settings. The tablets disappeared in 37 minutes at a local Verizon shop here in Austin. The ATT outlet across the parking lot had only four on hand to begin with. At Verizon, they were eager to order one, to arrive in the official monthlong waiting period.

The prices at retail outlets are no better than those at the Apple Stores, and an online order costs the same. Free shipping is part of every order now — but the Apple Store online offers free engraving.

The most fun review that I’ve seen so far comes from the New York Times’ David Pogue, who employs his two young sons in explaining what’s improved while we see the boys goof and cavort and even drop the new iPad. They demonstrate the most sizzling apps on the new device, Garage Band and iMovie. The latter obviously has more business uses than the former. Also mentioned is the new gyroscope, which when developers tap into it, gives app users the chance to observe a product in 3D and manipulate moving parts. Great prospect for an interactive sales catalog.

The latest version of iOS that drives Apple’s mobile products expands the utility of the iPhone 4 and iPads in ways that are easy to see.

To start, the iPad now supports FaceTime, using its new video cameras. CEO Steve Jobs said in a presentation today that “the iPad is the ideal size for video conferencing.”

FaceTime now allows a user to flip the front and rear facing cameras of both the iPhone and the iPad 2.

The iPhone 4 includes tethering, to deliver a 3G connection to a device.

iMovie for iPad (a new app) has a precision editor, multitrack audio recording, new themes and AirPlay to work with Apple TV. Apple has created a full-featured video editor on a mobile device that can play videos created with the product.

The iMovie app is available at the App Store for $4.99.

Led by an appearance from its CEO Steve Jobs, Apple today announced the specifics of its new iPad 2, still priced starting at $499. All of the prices are the same as the original iPad, running up to an $829 model including 3G and 64GB of storage. All models ship on March 11, the first day anyone can order the device. Models that add 3G will be “Coming Soon,” the same advice Apple is supplying for the wi-fi model. It appears that there will be no delay in getting 3G on the new iPad, unlike the original model. Ordering will be online and in stores on the same day. Overseas, in 26 countries, the wi-fi device ships on March 26.

It’s up to twice as fast, with graphics 9x faster — but same 10-hour battery life, relying on the new A5 processor. The design of the new device will give 9 hours of video watching time using 3G, according to Apple’s specs.

“We’ve done things with this iPad that we never could have done before,” Steve Jobs told the crowd of analysts and media at the Yerba Buena Events Center in an hour-plus unveiling.

The iPad 2 will ship in both white and black models. The resolution of the screen on the new device is the same as the original model.

Apple has full specs on the new iPad online at its website. It also has a business-focused roundup of the new product’s features at http://www.apple.com/ipad/business/

The device supplies HDMI graphics out through a new $39  accessory cable. Output is up to 1080p. This can mirror what’s on the iPad screen.

Front and back-facing cameras have been added, video-capable. In another improvement, Apple has returned the ability to use the outside switch as either a way to mute the sound or lock the screen rotation.

It’s 33 percent thinner, 8.8 mm, thinner than the iPhone. Its weight has dropped from 1.5 lbs to 1.3, but it still uses a metal case.

Speaking of cases, the new iPad case has microfiber to clean the screen, starts up the device when you open it, and acts as a stand while it protects the screen. Apple has built magnets into the iPad, along with magnets on the case’s hinge cover.

Cases, perhaps to the consternation of the vast case industry, will sell in both leather ($69) and vinyl ($39). And come in a raft of colors.

Apple has replaced its original iPad with the new model, having pulled down the ability to order the older devices from its online store. It has added a free engraving feature along with the usual free shipping offer.

Customers, vendors, users and hawkers are putting their cards, demos, data sheets and gimcrack giveaways in order this week after four days of Macworld 2011. Attendance was up 10 percent, we’re told, and the number of exhibitors is on the rise, too.

Although the number of vendors selling solutions, apps and hardware is below the gaudy days when this show spanned both North and South Moscone halls, plus Moscone West for sessions, a rough survey of the 2011 show revealed a bigger share of business-ready help: in apps, in hardware, in Mac software and in advice. Macworld 2009, Apple’s last, had more of everything except business: especially iPhone cases and iPod accessories. Those were still on display last week, along with a wave of iPad holders.

But 2011 was the year when Apple business users could find a Macworld supplier a-selling with no effort at all.

Two years ago, the Enterprise Software Alliance was about the only booth where Windows-friendly Mac software for business was showcased. This year a veteran firm from the Windows virus battlefields, ESET, was selling antivirus and giving away security training. The company said it has muscled antivirus maker Intego out of Apple’s retail store slots with NOD Antivirus 4. It’s called the Business Edition of antivirus for endpoints — what you’d call Macs, but now ESET uses the enterprise-savvy terminology, and perhaps technology, too. Read the rest of this entry »

The financial reports coming from Apple yesterday made me take a sharp breath, and for all the most impressive reasons. The company derided as dead during the late ’90s announced sales of $26 billion over the holiday quarter. Apple’s on a run rate to post a $100 million fiscal year in 2011. All that, plus $6 billion in profits on a lineup with few products priced over $4,000, and most less than half that.

HP had a fine quarter in its last report, announced in late November. But the company needed more than 300,000 employees to sell $33 billion and post $8.7 billion in profits. The new CEO Leo Apotheker warned that profits would take a hit on increased R&D at HP. Apple’s R&D has been built-in to its profits, at levels HP hasn’t seen in a decade. At its flashiest, HP can point to a fall tablet from its Palm labs that could deliver hardware innovation to draw people to the brand. (The Topaz renderings, at left, show a 7-inch device sporting WebOS, innovation HP bought last year, rather than built.)

Apple’s new numbers put the company within 25 percent of HP’s sales and a $3 higher profit per share. There’s something special in any computer vendor’s sauce that lets it change the rules, as with the iPad, while it cranks out 71 percent higher sales than one year ago.

But it’s the combination of innovation and integration that Apple’s COO Tim Cook talked up the most in the company’s quarterly analyst call yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »