Type of Article: MacTech Blog

What’s in store for the Mac? Part one

Needham & Company analyst Charles Wolf, predicts that Apple will sell nearly 13 million Macs this year. With those figures in mind, you have to wonder if that number would increase still more if Apple released a Mac with some really bang-up features rather than incremental improvements.

As Wolf points out, Apple sells Macs for nearly twice the price of Windows boxes, yet the sales keep growing faster than the rest of the industry. Of course, we’re not figuring in return-on-investment, but that’s a topic for another day.

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Market for US mobile broadband about to speed up

The market for mobile broadband connectivity for portable computers has been slow to gain momentum over the past several years. But that’s apparently about to change.

Only in the past 18 months has the U.S. market taken significant steps toward broader adoption beyond the traditional mobile worker. According to a new International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast, the U.S. mobile broadband market will grow from 6.5 million subscribers in 2009 to 30.2 million in 2014, which accounts for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.1% over the forecast period.

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More US consumers eyeing femtocells

I’d love — REALLY LOVE — to have an iPhone 4 (assuming, of course, I could get my hands on one). However, AT&T’s crappy wireless service in my neck of the woods prevents this — though Verizon’s service has gotten increasingly worse. Maybe I need a femtocell.

International research firm Parks Associates today announced the results of the most comprehensive survey to date of U.S. consumer attitudes to femtocells, conducted on behalf of the Femto Forum.

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Apple hints at future devices with multiple feedback responses

An Apple patent (number 20100156818) for a multi touch with haptics has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. It hints at upcoming iPhones, iPod touches and iPads that would accept a number of physical feedback responses through haptic feedback.

Haptic technology, or haptics, is a tactile feedback technology that takes advantage of a user’s sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, and/or motions to the user. When referring to mobile devices, this generally means the use of vibrations from the device’s vibration alarm to denote that a touchscreen button has been pressed.

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Another reason why Apple would be nuts to give up the Mac

Amid all the hoopla over the iPad and iPhone 4, a handful of folks have predicted that the Macs days were numbered. If so, it’s because that Apple wants to lose money.

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com) has released its “Global Top 10 Computer and Peripherals Companies — Industry, Financial and SWOT Analysis. Apple is, of course, in that group, along with HP, IBM, Toshiba, Dell, NEC, Canon, Asustek, Acer and Lenova.

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