LITTLE ROCK — Apple unveils updated Mac Mini
Apple Inc. last week introduced a redesigned Mac Mini, raising the price of its least-expensive Macintosh personal computer by $100 after updating the chassis and making it faster.
The Mac Mini, priced from $699, is more energy-efficient, has a faster processor and graphics chips, and is built on an aluminum unibody frame, Apple said in a statement. The 7.7-inch square computer is sold without a monitor, keyboard or mouse. Previous models started at $599.
Apple is looking to expand its flagship Mac business even as it promotes the iPhone and iPad tablet. Macs accounted for about 28 percent of revenue last quarter, while the iPhone was its top-selling product, making up 40 percent of sales. Apple also revamped its aluminumclad MacBook Pro notebooks this year.
“This is the most significant form factor change for the Mac Mini since it was introduced in January 2005,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Bros LP in San Francisco.
He recommends buying Apple shares and doesn’t own them. Wu said the only disappointment is the higher price point even though the features are more advanced.
IBM expands mobile-device software
International Business Machines Corp. is introducing new software for mobile devices, expanding its push into the growing wireless market. The programs include one that analyzes data from cell towers, helping carriers detect problems before failures occur, the company said last week. Another connects voice and Web communications, speeding up actions such as filing an insurance claim.
IBM is betting that software for smart phones and other hand-held devices can generate more profit. The market for mobile computing, including hardware, software and services, could reach $250 billion by 2015, according to IBM.
“If hand-held mobile devices didn’t exist, fine, we would get by with PCs and laptops,” said Steve Mills, head of IBM’s software division. “But mobile devices, they expand the use scenarios. They increase accessibility. We see a lot of growth opportunity.”
IBM already works with mobile-services providers, helping manage networks and cellular towers, and develops other software for mobile phones. It also has put messaging and social-networking programs on handsets, such as Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
Microsoft expands anti-fraud efforts
Microsoft Corp. said it has teamed with banks and cyber-security groups to allow faster reporting of stolen financial information found online.
The new reporting system, Internet Fraud Alert, is based on the company’s software and provides a way for researchers and investigators to securely inform banks of stolen user names, passwords and credit-card numbers discovered in Internet searches, Microsoft said last week.
Internet Fraud Alert is a “valuable new tool in the fight against cyber-crime,” Nancy Anderson, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel, said in a statement.
Others involved in the effort include eBay Inc., the American Bankers Association, and the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit research group.
Last year, the Anti-Phishing Work Group, an industry group that is part of the new anti-fraud effort, received more than 410,000 reports on hackers obtaining data through e-mails that contain malicious software, a practice called phishing.
Until now, computer security experts haven’t had an easy way to tell banks about stolen information they have uncovered, according to Microsoft.
AT&T ends test of ’Net data limits
NEW YORK - AT&T Inc. recently imposed limits on the data consumption of its customers with smart phones, but it has ended a test of such limits for home Internet connections.
The phone company confirmed last week that it is no longer holding DSL subscribers in Reno, Nev., and Beaumont, Texas, to data consumption limits and charging them extra if they go over.
With AT&T’s retreat, no major Internet service provider is championing the idea of charging subscribers for their data usage. Time Warner Cable Inc. was a proponent of the idea and also conducted a trial in Beaumont, but backed away last summer after its plan to expand metered billing to other cities met resistance from consumers and legislators.
AT&T’s trial started in November 2008 in Reno and was later extended to Beaumont. It ended on April 1 this year, AT&T spokesman Dawn Benton said.
“We’re reviewing data from the trial, and this feedback will guide us as we evaluate our next steps,” Benton said.
Business, Pages 20 on 06/21/2010