I wonder whether the iPod-user-struck-by-a-lightning will become a story. Reminds me of recent (infamous) high school science study and its CNBC coverage.

(iPod doesn’t increase the odds of being hit if you were wondering but makes it a bit worse if you are just like any other electronic device.)

This story…

08:43 Samsung Electronics shares rise on Icahn bid report - Bloomberg

Bloomberg.com reports that Samsung Electronics reported its smallest quarterly profit in four years after a glut drove prices of computer memory chips to record lows. Second-quarter net income fell 5% from a year earlier, the co said in a filing today. That’s the lowest profit since the second quarter of 2003. Samsung’s stock had the biggest gain in more than three years after the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said billionaire Carl Icahn may be planning a hostile bid.

... may have some interesting ramifications for Apple. Letting my imagination run a bit here but wouldn’t Mr Icahn be the perfect agent to buy this company for Apple? Crazy huh?

[quote author=“pethr”]I wonder whether the iPod-user-struck-by-a-lightning will become a story. Reminds me of recent (infamous) high school science study and its CNBC coverage.

(iPod doesn’t increase the odds of being hit if you were wondering but makes it a bit worse if you are just like any other electronic device.)

Last night’s local news carried the story, but instead of interviewing the latest victim, they focused on a victim from last year, and showed his disintegrated iPod. His ear drums were “blown out” but the scars from the burns had healed. The story stressed what pethr says about the iPod and odds of a strike.

07:24 EDT AAPL
theflyonthewall.com:  Apple-AAPL Best Buy relationship should drive incremental sales-Buy@SOLE
Soleil notes that their local Best Buy (BBY) for Business has just finished setting up its Apple “store-in-a-store” display. They feel the new display is a material improvement over the initial pilots from last summer and thinks this relationship could drive incremental Mac, software, and peripherals sales.

09:24   AAPL Apple: iPhone helping T win customers; VOD remains most likely European partner- Amtech (134.07 )  -Update-

Amtech notes recently there has been renewed speculation over which carriers could end up being the partner for iPhone in Europe. The firm notes that around 25% of iPhone-AT&T customers are “switchers” from other carriers. Firm also says sources continue to indicate that VOD remains the front runner in Europe. However, firm believes there could be a scenario where iPhone is sold by multiple carriers with each tailored for specific regions/countries. Firm says regardless of which companies get picked for iPhone rights in Europe, they believe AAPL is in a strong position to end up with favorable terms similar to what it was able to get from AT&T (T). Firm says shares could pull back on high expectations and near-term concerns. However, they are buyers on weakness and see upside to $165.

I can see the roll out in the EU being fractured by different carriers in different regions. I like the $165 estimate.

[quote author=“DawnTreader”]I can see the roll out in the EU being fractured by different carriers in different regions. I like the $165 estimate.

YES, and it is the best approach if you think of it. The best available carrier in every country.

Wired news: Intel to join $100 laptop project. (Would have linked but can’t cut & paste on iPhone.

I know Apple offered their OS and was rebuffed. So maybe now Intel can drop a few hints? “Hey, we’ve been working with a company known for well designed hardware and software, who just released a breakthrough mobile device with good power management…”

Actually, I think iPhone could turn out to be the real hundred dollar laptop. The cellphone is a vital part of transforming the economy in third world countries which lack traditional infrastructure. iPhone combines the cellphone with the essentials of the hundred dollar laptop. Let’s see how far iPhone reaches in five years time.

[quote author=“sleepygeek”]Actually, I think iPhone could turn out to be the real hundred dollar laptop. The cellphone is a vital part of transforming the economy in third world countries which lack traditional infrastructure. iPhone combines the cellphone with the essentials of the hundred dollar laptop. Let’s see how far iPhone reaches in five years time.

Excellent point. They could include a hand crank charger , or even embed a solar panel on the back. The built in Wifi could be part of a mesh network to move bandwidth from a central spot to remote handsets. Talk about OS X market share!

a phone as the 100$ laptop makes sense as the third world (especially Africa) has practically no landlines, but a decent network of towers for cellphones!

Still, the iPhone is not rugged enough (vs dust, heat, etc…) while a simple laptop using rugged materials may do the trick. In any case, we’re far from seeing iPhones in the hands of the poorest for a long time, it’s not SJ’s style to commit his leading product to saving the world

[quote author=“MaCroissant”]a phone as the 100$ laptop makes sense as the third world (especially Africa) has practically no landlines, but a decent network of towers for cellphones!

Still, the iPhone is not rugged enough (vs dust, heat, etc…) while a simple laptop using rugged materials may do the trick. In any case, we’re far from seeing iPhones in the hands of the poorest for a long time, it’s not SJ’s style to commit his leading product to saving the world

Maybe not in this incarnation, but imagine the cut-down, memory-friendly, power-saving iPhone version of OS X running on a dirt-cheap ARM processor on a tiny circuit board bundled in a simple, cheap enclosure perhaps 3x the size of the current iPhone… with iWork, Safari, and iTunes… simple, cheap, easy, reliable.. everything the OLPC is trying to achieve in half the size, cost, and bulk with none of the bloat or expense of current designs.

I love the potential irony of Somalia, Ethiopia and the Sudan getting iPhones before we in Canada get them because of the greed of the only Canadian carrier capable of GSM (Rogers) 

‘Association for Downloadable Media’ Announces Formation

Providing standards for advertising and audience measurement for episodic
                  and downloadable media.

  NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, July 15 /PRNewswire/—Industry leaders
from the podcasting community announced today the formation of the
Association for Downloadable Media (ADM). The goal of the ADM is to develop
standardization of audience measurement and advertising for downloadable
media. The ADM will focus primarily on the world of podcasting,
downloadable media and portable content monetized by advertising and
sponsorship. The ADM will create a landscape that facilitates the
commercialization of this growing audience.
  The purview of the ADM includes revenue generation from advertising and
sponsorships of podcasts, vodcasts (aka vidcasts, video podcasts, or
vlogs), and other audio/video digital content distributed via RSS, ATOM,
peer-to-peer, mobile devices, downloads from Web sites and other platforms
to come.
  The organization has been formed to focus specifically on any content
downloaded by consumers, and will work in collaboration with related
industry organizations, publishers and agencies such as the Interactive
Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the American Association of Advertising
Agencies (AAAA).
  The ADM will support the needs of publishers, producers, advertisers,
agencies, vendors, research/measurement companies, as well as hardware and
software manufacturers who are involved with the production or distribution
of downloadable media. Monetization of podcasts is a growing opportunity
for these parties, and the ADM supports the momentum of this channel
through the collective mindshare of its members.
  There has been a need for industry standards in the podosphere, and the
ADM will help accelerate its growth into a commercially viable medium.
Podcast advertising is a burgeoning medium for marketers. Spending on
podcasting advertising will quintuple over the next five years, from an $80
million market in 2006 to $400 million in 2011 according to eMarketer, Inc.
Apple, Inc. has sold more than 100 million iPods, and more than 300 million
copies of iTunes have been installed. According to an Arbitron/Edison
Internet and Multimedia 2007 study, the number of people in the U.S. who
have listened to a podcast has grown to 13% in 2007.
  The ADM will comprise an interim board of representatives from the
following fifteen companies who met initially to establish the
organization: Apple Inc., BlogTalkRadio, Kiptronic, LibSyn, IndieFeed, NPR,
Nielsen//NetRatings, Personal Life Media, Inc., Podbridge, PodTech,
PodShow, Podtrac, Porter Novelli, Rev3 and Vogele Law.
  Five initial committees will be formed immediately to address:
advertising standards, measurement, outreach/education, terminology and
membership. Membership application is now open on the ADM Web site at
http://www.downloadablemedia.org. Nominations for the executive seats,
advisory board and committee chairs will take place this summer.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY;=/www/story/07-15-2007/0004625675&EDATE;=

Lets hope this news starts a flood of other analysts.. numbers are still light but at least these guys are headed in the right direction

Soleil raises their tgt on AAPL to $175 from $125 following the successful  
launch of the iPhone. Assuming firm’s assumptions play out, they est that AAPL
will have approx $37 in cash per share by FYE2009 and be generating almost  
$8.00 per share in cash flow. Therefore, on these ests, Apple is currently  
trading at an attractive 12x cash flow plus cash. Firm also notes AAPL should
report 3Q7 results on July 24. Firm believes solid Mac sales, a favorable    
commodity pricing environment, and initial benefit from the iPhone will    
provide upside to Street ests for the quarter. Firm ests revs of $5.4 bln.   
They expect F3Q07 EPS of $0.79. 

Their date is also wrong. Earnings are the 25th.