MacRumors

Last month, we noted that major U.S. banks Bank of America and Citigroup have been running pilot tests with an eye toward allowing their employees to abandon their corporate-standard BlackBerry devices in favor of the iPhone, demonstrating Apple's growing place in the business world and a increasing threat to Research in Motion's position in that market.

Bloomberg now reports that Research in Motion is facing challenges on the tablet front before it can even get its PlayBook out the door, with investment bank JPMorgan Chase opting to provide its employees with iPads to assist them with their work as part of a pilot study to gauge their effectiveness.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will give its investment bankers iPads to provide an additional mobile tool as Apple Inc. expands its domain to Wall Street, threatening Research in Motion Ltd. in a market it traditionally dominated.

"We believe there are real benefits in our working environment that can be realized using this device - as well as the personal productivity and enjoyment that come as part of the package," two managing directors at New York-based JPMorgan said in an e-mail obtained by Bloomberg News.

According to the email, all associates in JPMorgan's global investment banking division will be eligible to receive free iPads, with the pilot program extending through May 1st, 2011.

Bankers will be able to access e-mails, contacts, calendar and attachments via Microsoft Outlook, as well as have the ability to mark-up and annotate confidential documents and make client presentations, according to the e-mail. They will also be allowed to download applications for personal use.

"There are a variety of ways to leverage the iPad. Some work off-the-shelf whilst others rely on JPMorgan software/security tools," the managing directors said. "Depending on its success we will evaluate if we should repeat this one time initiative and/or expand it to others."

Apple has been increasing its focus on enterprise deployment for the iPhone and iPad as the company has worked to build corporate-friendly features into iOS. The company has targeted Research in Motion's leadership position in the market, even going as far as to hire away a number of Research in Motion's key sales employees to head up its own efforts.

Update: Swiss bank UBS is also reportedly piloting the iPhone and iPad for its employees.

In a blog post, Nokia Siemens Networks reveals that Apple's iOS 4.2 released last week supports new technology known as Network Controlled Fast Dormancy (NFCD) that can reduce strain on cellular networks while also improving battery life for devices. The technology allows devices to remain in an "intermediate state" instead of constantly alternating between active and idle states when sharing information with cellular networks.

All this disconnecting and reconnecting takes time and can cause a frustratingly slow network response. On the other hand, leaving the smartphone in an active mode all the time drains the battery very quickly.

To overcome the problem Nokia Siemens Networks introduced a method that, instead of putting the handset into idle or keeping it always active, keeps the handset in an intermediate state. From here, a smartphone can wake up much more quickly and needs to send far fewer signals to and from the network to start a data connection. You get a fast network response and a longer battery life.

The report notes that Nokia implemented the technology in its smartphones earlier this year, and with Nokia and Apple together accounting for half of all new smartphone sales on a global basis, the change is now widespread enough to be contributing to noticeably improved user experiences and cost reductions for cellular providers.

The post specifically references the network of one Middle Eastern cellular provider that has seen smartphone devices reach an average battery life of 11 hours on its networks, compared to six hours on competing networks. Meanwhile, testing in North America has shown reductions in signaling between smartphones and networks of up to 50%.

The technology does, however, require that Nokia Siemens' network equipment be used in order for the improvements to be possible, and it is unclear which regions and carriers have embraced the company's products. For example, AT&T noted earlier this year that upload issues being experienced by iPhone users were caused by software problems in network equipment from Nokia Siemens competitors Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson have also been selected to provide equipment for AT&T's next-generation LTE (4G) network.

Research firm ChangeWave today released the results of a new survey of its audience of professionals and early-adopter consumers, showing that the iPad is quickly gaining ground on Amazon's Kindle in the eReader market, despite its different feature set and higher price point. According to the survey, the Kindle leads the iPad 47% to 32%, a dramatically smaller margin than the 62%-16% spread of just three months ago. Both devices dwarf Sony's Reader (5%) and Barnes & Noble's Nook (4%) in popularity.

Based on the survey, Apple appears poised to continue to make gains on the Kindle, with 42% of respondents looking to purchase an eReader over the next 90 days planning to buy an iPad, while only 33% plan to purchase a Kindle.

The iPad's strength is mirrored in its user satisfaction ratings, with 75% of iPad owners in the survey calling themselves "very satisfied" with their purchase, as opposed to 54% of Kindle owners registering with the same level of satisfaction. Finally, the survey found that while iPad owners are less likely to read eBooks than Kindle owners (76% vs. 93%), they are much more likely to consume other types of digital reading material such as newspapers, magazines, and blog and news feed content.

One of the major new features deployed in iOS 4.2 last week was AirPlay, Apple's solution for streaming video, audio, and photos from portable iOS devices to the new Apple TV for display on users' televisions. Unfortunately, the feature's debut came with a few more limitations than users had originally hoped for, with streaming from third-party applications and even Safari limited to audio-only.

While some hackers have been able to discover how Apple has coded the restrictions on video streaming and ways to work around it in a proof-of-concept implementation, mainstream users would obviously prefer Apple to offer full-fledged support for the feature on third-party apps through a public API developers could use for their apps.

One MacRumors reader emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs about the future of video streaming via AirPlay and reportedly received a response noting that Apple hopes to bring additional functionality to AirPlay sometime next year.

Q: Hi, I recently updated both my iPhone 4 and iPad to 4.2. I think my favourite feature is airplay. This is seriously amazing and makes sharing content seamless. I just purchased Apple TV and was wondering are you ever going to make airplay video work for videos in safari and 3rd party apps? I hope to get a response. :)

A: Yep, hope to add these features to Airplay in 2011.

The AirPlay functionality appears to have a few other quirks as well, as noted by Daring Fireball's John Gruber. One such quirk involves the fact that the iPhone 4 is unable to stream via AirPlay video shot directly on the iPhone.

The most obvious shortcoming: You can't use AirPlay to play videos shot on your iPhone. That's an obvious feature, right? Shoot a video on your iPhone, then play it back for family and friends on your big TV via AirPlay. No syncing, no docking, no moving files around. Just hit play. But it doesn't work in iOS 4.2.1 - even though you can use AirPlay to show still photos from the Photos app.

While some had theorized that the issue was related to bandwidth required to stream the high-definition footage shot on the iPhone 4, video footage shot on the device and then synced to iTunes and back to the device will stream via AirPlay. Gruber theorizes that Apple had to roll out incomplete AirPlay functionality in order to meet its goal of releasing iOS 4.2 by the end of November and that we will see increased functionality coming in the future, as Jobs' purported email suggests.

Over the weekend, PC World published the results of its annual reliability survey, incorporating reports from 79,000 tech users to assess customer satisfaction with reliability and tech support for a wide variety of products. As in previous surveys, Apple topped the rankings in an assortment of categories, with PC World going as far as to say that Apple "once again smoked the competition", despite a few stumbles from the iPhone.

Apple once again smoked the competition in the desktop, notebook, and smartphone categories, winning high praise from customers in all reliability and service categories. The Macintosh and iPhone maker did so well that virtually all its scores were above average. Apple's only average scores were related to the company's deftness at replacing failed notebook components, and in two areas pertaining to serious problems with the iPhone, the latter perhaps stemming from the iPhone 4's well-publicized antenna issue that resulted in dropped calls for some users.

The report points to Apple's use of high-quality components and a straightforward software experience for providing customers with high levels of satisfaction. In addition, the company's retail stores with Genius Bars offering service and support are seen as a key component to Apple's customer care initiatives.

In the desktop category, Apple, Asus and Alienware topped the rankings, with Apple receiving "above average" ratings in all nine categories measured. According to the survey, under 9% of customers surveyed reported an issue that was unable to be resolved by Apple's support staff, significantly better than the 21% industry average.

It was a similar story for the laptops, where Apple received above average scores in eight of nine categories. Apple scored only "average" in its performance when it comes to replacing failed components. Apple was followed in the rankings by Asus and Toshiba.

When it comes to smartphones, Apple's iPhone swept the top spot with above average ratings in all five categories related to ease of use. But Apple trailed Motorola's offerings in the reliability portion of the survey, ranking above average in two categories and merely average in two categories related to problems experienced out of the box and severe problems experienced by users. In general, the report noted that users are very satisfied with the iPhone itself but frustrated with carrier partner AT&T, which ranks last among major U.S. carriers in PC World's survey of network service.

While we noted yesterday that the iPad appeared set to launch in Scandinavia today, Apple's new round of international launches for the popular tablet device has extended to a total of eleven countries scattered around the globe: Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan.

Pricing and retail distribution partners vary from country to country, so customers should check with Apple and their favorite retailers regarding availability. Customers interested in 3G-capable iPad models should also check to see which carriers are supporting service in their country and determine data service pricing options.

Feeding rumors and expectations that Apple will include at least a front-facing camera in the next-generation iPad, DigiTimes reports that market rumors in the region are pegging Taiwanese firm Largan Precision as having been selected to provide camera lens modules for the device. The company, however, refuses to comment on the rumors.

Largan Precision has declined to comment on market rumors indicating the company will be the sole lens module supplier for Apple's upcoming iPad 2 tablet with shipments to kick off in the first quarter of 2011, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).

While the report does not specify whether Largan has been claimed to be providing VGA-resolution front-facing cameras or higher-resolution rear-facing cameras (or both), the report comes just as Largan has reportedly begun shipping 5-megapixel lens modules for tablet devices. According to that report, Largan has begun outsourcing production of VGA-resolution models in order to focus on the higher-resolution versions, leading to speculation that the company may be gearing up for high-volume production of the 5-megapixel module for a rear-facing camera on the iPad.

Largan currently supplies the 5-megapixel lens module for the iPhone 4's rear-facing camera.

9to5Mac claims that Apple has asked Taiwanese company PhotoFast to stop sales of their SSD upgrade kits for the new MacBook Air.

Now, according to some sources close to the company, Apple phoned PhotoFast last week and had them stop all sales of their new MacBook Air SSD upgrades. PhotoFast is complying with Apple's request for them to stop production of the product and one of the leading reasons for this is because PhotoFast is in Apple's MFi program.

The reason for Apple's demand is unclear, as the same SSD parts are also available from Toshiba. In fact, Toshiba supplies the exact same parts used in the MacBook Air and is making those parts available to other manufacturers. The devices use a standard mSATA connector rather than any proprietary solution.

Since the SSD parts will become available from other parties, it seems unlikely that Apple's motivation is to prevent the upgrade from being available at all. PhotoFast was, however, marketing the part specifically as a MacBook Air upgrade.

Last Friday marked the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season with Black Friday, and Apple's discounts seem to have driven high traffic to its retail stores if a number of reports from research analysts are any indication.

The Wall Street Journal summarizes the thoughts of four such analysts, who saw strong foot traffic at Apple's stores, solid product availability, and enticing (albeit modest by Black Friday standards) discounts on a number of Apple products. While some analysts saw a potential minor hit to Apple's bottom line given the volume of customers taking advantage of the discounts, particularly on the iPad, the strategy is being viewed as an excellent opportunity to gain customer attention during the holiday shopping season.

A number of analysts did take the time to send out research staff to physically observe the traffic at Apple's retail stores, and they appear to have come away impressed with the results. Barron's reports that Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White saw strong traffic throughout the post-Thanksgiving weekend, with particular interest in the iPad (which saw Black Friday discounts of $41) and the MacBook Air.

Fortune notes that Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore oversaw a phone survey of over 100 Apple retail stores and 50 third-party reseller stores and similarly determined that iPads and the 11-inch MacBook Air were the most popular items among customers. Finally, Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster performed some quantitative analysis at a limited selection of Apple retail stores, finding sales rates of about 8.2 Macs per hour (on par with last year's results) and strong iPad sales of 8.8 units per hour.

Research firm Gartner today announced that it is reducing its worldwide PC shipment estimates for 2010 and 2011 from earlier levels, citing increasing strength of media tablets such as the iPad. Gartner predicts that worldwide PC shipments will reach 352.4 million this year, an increase of 14.3% over last year but down from the 17.9% increase that had been predicted just two months ago. Similarly, 2011 shipments are now predicted to see 15.9% growth to 409 million units, down from 18.1% growth predicted previously.

"These results reflect marked reductions in expected near-term unit growth based on expectations of weaker consumer demand, due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "Over the longer term, media tablets are expected to displace around 10 percent of PC units by 2014."

The report notes that tablets such as the iPad offer improved "on-the-go content consumption" and sees consumers looking to the devices as complements or even alternatives to traditional PCs. Even those customers who opt to use tablet as complements to traditional PCs are seen as likely to extend the replacement cycles of their existing computers as they embrace tablet technology, slowing growth in PC sales.

Barron's reports that other research firms have reached similar conclusions, with Citigroup reporting that booming tablet sales will result in approximately 11 million fewer PCs sold next year than would otherwise have been expected. Overall, Citigroup predicts 2011 tablet sales of about 35 million units, with Apple's iPad representing about 75% of that total.

Other analysts are predicting an even bigger bite from tablets, with some claiming overall tablet sales in the range of 70-100 million next year, with one PC unit sale estimated to be lost from every 2.5 tablet units sold.

Bloomberg offers a look at Apple's involvement in numerous patent lawsuits, noting that the company is the most-targeted technology company for such actions since 2008 and reporting that Apple is bringing on board some of the industry's highest-profile lawyers to help defend it against the suits and pursue its own actions.

Apple has been the most-sued technology company since 2008, the year after the iPhone was introduced, topping Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., according to LegalMetric Inc., a compiler of litigation data based in St. Louis.

Jobs, Apple's chief executive officer, is firing back by recruiting lawyers who have fought for and against some of the world's largest companies, including Microsoft, Intel Corp. and Broadcom Corp. Broadcom won a patent dispute with Qualcomm Inc. last year that ended with Qualcomm paying $891 million in cash over four years.

The report summarizes recent patent lawsuits involving Apple and such firms as Nokia, HTC and Motorola, specifically identifying some the top lawyers Apple has brought on as outside counsel to augment its own legal team headed by former Intel general counsel Bruce Sewell.

Apple has hired some of the nation's top patent lawyers as outside counsel. They include Robert Krupka of Kirkland & Ellis, who negotiated a 2005 settlement in which Apple agreed to pay $100 million to Creative Technology Ltd., maker of the Zen music player; William Lee of WilmerHale in Boston, who successfully represented Broadcom Corp. in its fight against Qualcomm; and Matt Powers of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, who successfully defended the patent on Merck & Co.'s biggest product, the $4.7 billion-a-year asthma drug Singulair.

This year, Apple added an in-house attorney, Noreen Krall, to focus on intellectual property litigation. Krall had been chief IP counsel for Sun Microsystems Inc. and a staff attorney at International Business Machines Corp., according to the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

As the report notes, most patent lawsuits of the sort being filed by and against Apple are settled, with the companies reaching agreements on licensing their intellectual property. But considerable time, effort, and expense are being dedicated to the pursuit of these claims as each company seeks to defend its own position in the market and either bring down or benefit from the success of other major players.

Several items of interest to certain European Apple fans have surfaced over the past few days, including news of a forthcoming retail store in Amsterdam that would be the company's first in the Netherlands, as well as reports of the iPad launching throughout Scandinavia tomorrow.

Dutch site One More Thing reports [Google translation] that Apple is preparing to open its first retail store in that country. The store, reportedly set for a debut in the spring of 2011, is said to occupy a portion of the ground floor of the Hirsch building on Leidseplein in Amsterdam. Apple's corporate headquarters for the Benelux region already occupy the third floor of the building.

Meanwhile, numerous news sources out of Scandinavia are reporting that the iPad will officially launch in their countries tomorrow, with third-party retail partners gearing up with early store openings to support the launch. Reports have been coming in today from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland regarding the iPad debut, with Apple spokesmen in several of those countries confirming the launch.

Apple is offering a small selection of accessories on sale for Cyber Monday. Apple had discounted some of their Macs, iPads and iPod Touches on Black Friday, but the sales lasted for that day only.

3rd party retailers have continued their sales going from Black Friday through today: MacConnection appears to have the most substantial discounts for the majority of Macs by combining instant and mail-in rebate discounts.

Prices for MacMall, MacConnection and Amazon have been included, with the best price in bold.

Note: Amazon's prices are in flux throughout the day, so they may change.

Software / Other

- VMWare Fusion 3.1 for $39.99 (normally $79.99)
- Microsoft Office 2011 (Home and Student) for $79.99 (normally $119.99)
- Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 for $44.56 after discount/rebate (normally $99.99).

Several of the vendors listed are affiliate partners with MacRumors and sales benefit the site financially

Digitimes relays a report from Chinese-language Economy Daily News which claims that Apple's next generation iPad will add 5 distinct new features. The newspaper cites industry sources for the information.

The five new features include "video phone, better mobility, USB port, new display technology and 3-axis gyroscopes."

The gyroscope, video phone (FaceTime) and better mobility (thinner/smaller) have been expected features of the new iPad. Meanwhile, the quote from the paper suggests the new displays will be "Retina Display" technology that will enhance "image and color output". Finally, the USB connector is perhaps the most surprising.

All of Apple's iOS devices have been based around the dock connector for charging and syncing. This proprietary connector also gives Apple some control over the accessory market for their devices. But, this isn't the first time we've heard that Apple will be adding a USB connector to their next iPad. Back in September, Goldman Sachs analysts described the next iPad as a lighter/thinner and with a mini USB connector. Apple's adoption of USB may be due to regulations passed in Europe requiring the adoption of a universal USB charging standard amongst mobile phone manufacturers including Apple.

Apple has officially unveiled their U.S. Black Friday sales for their online and retail stores. The discounts are in line with past year events, around 8% depending on the product.

- iMac ($101 Discount across all models)
- MacBook Pro ($101 Discount across all models)
- MacBook Air ($101 Discount on 13" Models%)
- iPod Nano ($11 Discount on 8GB, $21 Discount on 16GB)
- iPad ($41 Discount across all models)
- iPod Touch ($21-$41 Discount depending on model)

The discounts are available on Apple's online store and retail stores on Friday. Meanwhile, 3rd party retailers are offering larger discounts, and depending on your geographical location, you may not have to pay sales tax on the purchase.

Big Apple and Mac Discounts: MacBook Pros, iPod Touches and More...

This year, MacConnection appears to have the most substantial discounts for the majority of Macs by combining instant and mail-in rebate discounts. In particular, MacBook Pros are seeing as high as $240 (13%) discounts. However, MacMall and Amazon discounts are applied instantly so no mail-in rebate is required.

Prices for MacMall, MacConnection and Amazon have been included, with the best price in bold.

Note: Amazon's prices are in flux throughout the day, so they may change.

App Store Discounts

iPhone developers are discounting their iPhone apps again this holiday season. A full list of discounts can be found at AppShopper, or through AppShopper's App Store App [iTunes Link]

Software / Other

- Microsoft Office 2011 (Home and Student) for $88.99 (normally $119.99)
- Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 for $44.99 after discount/rebate (normally $99.99).

Several of the vendors listed are affiliate partners with MacRumors and sales benefit the site financially

Mercury News reports that Apple has purchased 98 acres of land in Cupertino which was owned by HP:

Apple's latest acquisition is the longtime Cupertino campus of rival tech giant Hewlett-Packard, the Mercury News learned Wednesday. HP announced over the summer that it planned to move out of that site, which it had occupied for decades, as it consolidates operations at its Palo Alto headquarters over the next two years.

The extra land will be used by Apple to expand their existing Cupertino campus.

Three Guys and a Podcast are claiming that Apple will be holding two special events next year:

- January 2011 - New iPad
- April 2011 - All New Mac Book Pros + Final Cut Pro Update

They don't list their source for the information, so we're not sure how much is speculative, but they claim the MacBook Pro will follow the MacBook Airs move to Solid State Storage and removal of an optical drive.

The Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. has triggered massive sales in the App Store. TouchArcade has consolidated a massive list of notable gaming sales. Meanwhile, AppShopper offers a running list of every App Store sale as they happen. The Universal App let's you find sales on your iOS device.

Apple Australia has already begun their Black Friday sales with the following discounts:

-A$51 on iPad (8%)
-A$121 on MBP (8%)
-A$15 or 25 on Nano (respective sizes) (up to 12%)
-A$25, 45 or 51 on iPod Touch (respective sizes) (up to 18%)
-A$121 on MBA (only 13") (7.5%)
-A$121 on iMac (8%)

We'll cover Apple's U.S. Black Friday sales tomorrow, which should offer similar savings.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) yesterday announced that it has agreed to investigate Apple's claims of patent infringement lodged against Motorola late last month, indicating that a preliminary examination of the case has yielded sufficient cause for the agency to pursue a closer look.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain mobile devices and related software. The products at issue in this investigation are mobile devices, such as smartphones, and their operating systems, user interfaces, and other application software.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Apple, Inc., f/k/a Apple Computer, Inc. Of Cupertino, CA, on October 29, 2010. The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain mobile devices and related software that infringe patents asserted by Apple. The complainant requests that the USITC issue an exclusion order and a cease and desist order.

The dispute between Apple and Motorola, one of many in the tech industry, was launched in early October when Motorola filed suit against Apple alleging infringement of eighteen Motorola patents by a variety of Apple products including the iPhone, iPad, "iTouch" (presumably iPod touch), and certain Mac computers. The ITC announced earlier this month that it would investigate Motorola's claims against Apple.

Apple fired back at Motorola in late October with its own claims that a number of Motorola smartphones infringe six Apple patents related to multi-touch technology, claims which the ITC has now also agreed to investigate.

Earlier this year, we reported that Sling Media was "hard at work" on an iPad version of its SlingPlayer Mobile application, which offers iOS device compatibility with the company's service designed to "sling" television content from a set-top box connected to a user's television to computers and mobile devices.

Sling Media today announced that SlingPlayer Mobile for iPad [App Store, $29.99] is now available in the App Store, offering higher-resolution video than its iPhone counterpart.

Available for purchase on the iTunes App Store, SlingPlayer Mobile software for iPad lets Slingbox owners extend their living room TV experience to their iPad and takes advantage of the iPad's high-resolution, 9.7-inch LED-backlit display for great video quality. The revamped program guide uses the iPad's intuitive native interface, and a recent channels feature puts a viewer's recent channels at his fingertips.

Compatible with Slingbox SOLO and PRO-HD set-top boxes, the software allows users to change channels, control their DVR, and watch shows over Wi-Fi and 3G.

The original SlingPlayer Mobile application for iPhone generated significant attention after it was approved in May 2009 without support for streaming over 3G, a limitation imposed by AT&T over concerns regarding the strain 3G streaming functionality could place on its network. AT&T eventually relented, and a 3G-capable version of SlingPlayer Mobile appeared in the App Store in February of this year.