iApp To Organize Your Business Cards

Apple Observer readers if you are anything like me you probably take every new business card you receive and log its information into a database of some kind. Insane and time consuming isn’t it?

I have my own system: One black card book for important cards, and a small tin can for more less important ones.

Great news, mobile app developers are trying to break people like me by offering a way to quickly scan and organize business cards. ScanBizCards ($7 on iPhones) and WorldCard Mobile ($6 on iPhones) are now ready and available for downloading.

If you already have CamCard, as your business card management system then you are ahead of the curve.. Reviewers on iTunes, Android’s Market and BlackBerry’s App World have lauded the app for its simplicity and versatility.

The app can scans cards in 12 languages, while others focus on English or, in the case of WorldCard Mobile, English and Chinese. CamCard also allows editing of the card’s image, which will appeal to those who would prefer not to see a coffee, tea or soda stain each time they view an important card.

CamCard renders nearly every letter and number correctly. After the scan, CamCard places the information into a virtual card holder that can be sorted by name. It also includes a search box at the top, a welcome feature that the other apps lacked.

The other apps were good, but over all, CamCard felt more refined.

And for those who cannot bear the thought of spending $7 on an app, CamCard offers free “lite” versions that scans cards but stores only a few.

Digital music sales level off this year

Reuters reports on data from research firm Nielsen showing that U.S. digital music sales plateaued in the first half of 2010, marking a dramatic decrease from the 28% growth enjoyed just two years ago.

According to research group Nielsen, digital sales were flat in the U.S. market after a 13 percent increase from 2008 to 2009 and 28 percent growth from 2007 to 2008.

Nielsen points to a variety of factors, including economic uncertainty, a lack of appeal for new releases, and confusion over digital sales options as possible reasons for the leveling off.

Apple has long dominated the digital download market in the U.S. and many other countries, consistently registering on the order of 70% of digital industry sales and now exceeding a quarter of all music sales. Consequently, a plateauing of digital music sales growth set against a backdrop of stagnating overall music sales suggests that Apple may have a difficult time growing its iTunes music business in the U.S. if the trend continues, given the company’s already-high market share. Data from Apple’s announced milestones for iTunes music sales already reveals a leveling off at around 250 million downloads per month.

Some hope may remain in international markets, however, as Nielsen notes growth in digital music sales in a number of other countries.

According to the Nielsen research, digital music sales were up 7 percent in Britain, up 13 percent in Germany and up 19 percent in France.

Apple has also become less reliant on iTunes Store music sales for driving hardware purchases as the company’s media devices have become more capable, allowing the company to branch out into applications, movies, and TV.

source: reuters

Apple gearing up to release the iPhone to Verizon customers.

Theappleobserver.com reports that  Apple’s suppliers indicate that the company is gearing up for an initial production run of 3 million CDMA iPhones in December of this year. This is a a follow up to a  report  last month claiming that Apple had ordered CDMA chips for just such a December production run.
The CDMA phones would allow Apple to extend the iPhone to carriers such as Verizon in the United States that run on the alternative cellular technology to the GSM standard used by all of the company’s existing iPhone partners. Reports have claimed that Apple is looking to launch a Verizon iPhone in January 2011.

Analyst Jeffrey Fidacaro with Susquehanna Financial Group said in a note to investors on Wednesday that checks with overseas suppliers indicated Apple is prepared to build 3 million CDMA iPhones in December, keeping the device on track for an early 2011 launch. That would put total GSM and CDMA iPhone production for the quarter at between 21 million and 22 million.

Fidacaro also weighed in on Apple’s production for several other products this quarter, including the iPad, MacBook, iPod, and new Apple TV. According to Fidacaro, Apple will likely see production of 7 million iPads this quarter, shipping about 4.75 million of them to customers while the rest are used to fill sales channels that have remained essentially empty as company has struggled to meet demand.

The report also shares expectations of a record 11.6 million iPhones sold during the quarter, along with production of 12 million iPods, although some of that will also be dedicated to channel fill of the new models. Finally, the report claims production of several hundred thousand units of the new Apple TV at launch, increasing to a million in December.

source : macrumors.com

More Claims of Smaller, Square iPod Nano This Week, Along With Possible 3G iPod Touch and iLife

Apple is poised to introduce a radically redesigned iPod nano this week that will retain its trademark I/O connector despite its drastically reduced form factor. Meanwhile, rumors pertaining to 3G-enabled iPod touches and a new version of iLife are also on the table.

Mockup comparing possible next-generation iPod nano form factor to 2nd-generation model

New claims of a significant redesign of the iPod nano scheduled for release at this week’s media event, lending additional weight to the square cases and earlier rumors associated with the device.

People familiar with the matter indicated that the size and shape of the device, revealed this week through photos of third-party cases, will be more akin to the iPod shuffle than the current-generation iPod nano. Even with this small size, however, it is expected to have a traditional iPod dock connector, allowing compatibility with the existing iPod accessory ecosystem.

The new iPod nano is said to utilize a tiny 3cm-by-3cm display that was revealed in its bare form as unknown Apple-branded component earlier this summer. For comparison, the second-generation iPod nano had a screen that was about 3cm by 2.5cm.

In addition to the iPod nano, the report notes that Apple has been toying with plans to release a version of the iPod touch offering 3G cellular data access. The company is said to have begun seriously considering the idea after seeing the success of the 3G-capable version of the iPad released earlier this year, and prototypes of 3G-capable iPod touches are claimed to be in existence.

Finally, rumors of an update to Apple’s iLife suite persist, with Friday’s report suggesting that a portion of next week’s media event might be devoted to a new version of Apple’s multimedia suite. With Apple having moved to an approximately 18-month release cycle over the last few versions of iLife and the current version having been released in early 2009, an update in the near future would be a reasonable guess. One claim from late last month predicted an August 17th release for “iLife ’11″, which is rumored to see the discontinuation of iDVD, a significant revamp of iWeb, and a new “mystery” application. The claimed release did not, however, occur on the predicted date.

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