Reuters: Apple to Release Two iPhones At End Of Sept

Apple will release two models of iPhones.  Reuters along with other news organizations have been getting into the Apple product speculation game, WSJ, Fox, Associated Press, and it looks like they just might have something more meaty than we can expect from a news organization.

Obviously, we need to take them with a grain of salt until Apple does what it does and we find out if Reuters is correct.

The gist is that Apple will release two models of iPhones.

iPhone With Dual CDMA And GSM Modes Detected

According to MacNN, an iPhone with both CDMA and GSM modes have been detected.  According the original link, Techcrunch, an iPhone was detected using both AT&T and Verizon networks.  However, this isn't surprising given the rumors for months that the next iPhone will be able to work on both more networks using one iPhone model - both GSM and CDMA.

Although that was expected, it seems a bit late in the cycle for just such an iPhone to appear.  Considering, this should be have seen a while back.

However, such an iPhone does mean that it will most certainly not support LTE.  You can't have it both way, apparently.

Source:  Techcrunch via MacNN.

Mac Sales Outpaces PC; iPad Foot Still On Netbook's Neck

Lion has blurred the line a bit between the iPad and the Macs.  And judging by the news via Macdailynews that the Mac sales continue to rocket, Apple's OS X changes may be a hit.

First, Apple's mobile strategy is a bunch of moving pieces.  It's complication and Apple's ability to wield it so effortlessly is probably why PC guys are very afraid of where things are going.

So, 6.5X Mac growth over PC growth can be very scary.  And while the iPad cannot replace a laptop yet, it is cannibalizing netbook sales.  And aren't netbooks just smaller and underpowered PC laptops?

Tablet: Is the $499 the New $999?

Apple has no Mac for sale below the $999 price.  Previously, it was the white polycarbonate Macbook and now it's the 11.6" Macbook Air.  And during the short lived era of the netbooks, analysts and a few a pundits argued that Apple has to sell some netbook like device below the $999 price.  Apple responded that they could not make a $500 laptop that was no a piece of junk. That was a couple of years ago.

Fast forward to today.  the iPad and other Android tablets like the Xoom and Galaxy Tab start around $500 when they went on sale.  However, as Apple went from the iPad to iPad 2, some tablets have begun to be priced lower.  Let's forget about the Touchpad.  Xoom (currently $489 at Buy.com) is sometimes be yours for $400.  The Asus Transformer is consistently at $386 at Buy.com and had gone down to around $350 at times.

I also figure that by Black Friday, many tablets could drop as low as $300 on a consistent basis - especially as competition among Android tablets heat up.  Furthermore, the 10" versions will also feel pricing pressure from their 7" brethren starting out around $300 from Chinese makers.

With Apple probably holding the iPad starting at $500, I wonder if $300 to $350 for tablets will be the equivalent of $500 is for PC laptops.

Tablet: Amazon's Kindle Tablet To Be Called "Kindle Scribe"?

I like it.  I like it a lot.  It looks like after Amazon registered the domain names for kindlescribe.com and Kindlesribes.com, we can expect Amazon to called its Kindle tablet "Kindle Scribe".  

I highly doubt that it could be for anything else.  Now, it is entirely possible that this could be a touch-based e-ink Kindle.  

If this is happening now, we could be weeks away from an unveiling.  Just a couple of months before the iPad was introduced, there was a couple of URLs that Apple bought (admittedly, turned out to be nothing).  

This is very exciting.  Amazon is looking to duplicate Apple's ecosystem with its own assortment of media stores.  It's got books, muisc, and video.  Now, all Amazon needs is an Android-based tablet.  The Kindle Scribe is a rather handsome and respectable name

Source: Phandroid, Fusible.

Mobile: Apple and Starbucks Expand iTunes Song Giveaways To iBooks, Apps, and Video

First, there was the pick of the week song on iTunes that you can redeem when you visit Starbucks.  I like to think it was a success and now it looks like Apple and Starbucks are working closer together for other give-aways.

Now, we can expect iBooks, TV shows, and even iOS apps that are given away on a regular basis.

I find this kind of symbiotic relationship among vastly different companies (maybe not their philosophies) that can come together and make some magic.

But if you consider just how deeply in tuned both companies are in mobile, you cannot help but not be surprised.  Maybe Apple should so something and forge an even closer relationship with something like the iPod touch or the iPad.  Go to any Starbucks and you'll find it difficult to not see an iOS device or a Macbook at the coffee tables.  In some areas, they outnumber even PCs.

This has the feeling of something that Starbucks pursued and Apple quickly see value in this.  You want to drive traffic and free content is definitely something that will work.  These days, apps, music, and video are the bulk of media consumed on mobile devices.

On top of that, if your user can pay $4 for a drink a few times a week you want those kinds of customers come back for more.  

For Apple, this is a very important step to further step into the mobile mindset of the average user.  And this is particularly important with iBooks selections.  So far, they'll be offering excerpts from iBooks.  Maybe this is what the future bookstores are about?  Go into a coffee shop to browse books.  

Source:  Mashable.

Social: Reason For Apple Working with Twitter Instead of Facebook

Here's a must read post on why Apple added Twitter into iOS 5.  Apple really really thinks Mark Zuckerberg is a major (you fill in the blank but must be something negative).  

With the rise of Google+ and the threat it possess, I wonder if Facebook will mellow out a bit and try to try to work with other companies like Apple.  Yes, I did purposely write "try to try". 

Google will stop at nothing to come after Facebook.  And by working with another successful company with a strong mobile following like Apple, it provides an insurance policy of sort.  Facebook will stumble and fall.  At least by working with the likes of Apple, Facebook at least has some real friends.  

Or at the very least, not make an enemy of a company that has a very vindictive CEO.

The implications of the previous Apple-Facebook over iTunes user data has left Apple's Ping without a link to the outside world.  With Twitter, things will change for iOS mobile warriors.

There are also signs of thawing between the icy relationships between the two companies.  On the online Apple stores, Apple appears to be experimenting with Facebook and Twitter updates.  

Source:  Scoble G+, MacTrast, Cult of Mac.