My name is Anders and I’m an Apple skeptic. I made that clear two years ago, and the stock has more than doubled since then. So far, I’ve been very, very wrong.

Ok – so what’s your take on why you were wrong? Mis-overestimating the competition?

Being an Apple skeptic is not a terribly popular position today. Cupertino just posted a monster quarter, breaking records left and right. iPhones are beating the entire Android ecosystem, iPads outsell market-leading Hewlett-Packard’s PC systems, the company is richer than King Midas and Croesus put together, and CEO Tim Cook can probably blow gold bars out his nose at will.

It has been a good run and its not without reason. The products are exemplary, the distribution is outstanding & sales/post-sales service is bar none. Still, there are arguments that can be made against Apple. Even just saying law of large numbers is adequate. But no, Anders goes another way:

But empires fall all the time. What makes this one any different?

The transcontinental dominions of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great fell apart.

Um, what? That’s it? Genghis Khan and Alexander the freaking Great? This is your rationale for why you are an Apple bear. Hey, don’t forget Hannibal & Caligula. Yes, empires do fall – so are you saying Apple has a 10 year run left in it or 30 years? Genghis Khan lived for 60 years and left behind the Mongol empire. But, you are right, he & his empire did die .. eventually. Good point.

Just before the scandal blew up, Enron had been named “Most Admired” by Fortune six years running. If everybody says they love your company, don’t believe the hype.

You mean the company that hired temp workers & put up a bunch of computers to pretend they were trading energy? That’s the best comparison you conjure up?

Apple admittedly had a huge quarter, but there are plenty of other companies out there that investors need to watch during this earnings season.

And if you lost money listening to Anders over the past two years, well, booyah, good for you. Because, at least, you avoided the indignity of having your horse slayed in India .. or something like that. After all, companies don’t last long .. at all … just ask the NYSE, founded 1792.

With Siri TV, Apple Will Dismantle the TV Networks

Apple Siri Television “guaranteed product”

Apple will ‘absolutely’ launch a TV, Siri to replace remote according to report

Yes, Apple’s Building A TV — And It Will Be Powered By Siri

What’s Really Next for Apple in Television

Apple Looking to Launch Siri-Enabled Television Set by 2013

Will Siri Drive New Big Screen Apple TV?

So much so, that there’s even a burgeoning backlash against a product that’s never seen the light of day. That’s how CARS works!

It’s not ‘Apple TV’ any more, it’s ‘Siri TV’ … ugh …

I think its not going to happen, though it has gotten Samsung in a tizzy & everybody releasing TVs with voice control (Microsoft, following someone’s lead again, of course).

Here’s the deal. Apple really doesn’t force actions that don’t make natural sense on some other object. Siri for iPhone (or iPad) makes sense. You are on the go, dont have the ability to search or edit using your hand and choose to dictate or query Siri. Easy, simple, and intuitive. Besides, you already talk into the phone – its a natural act. Imagine you are watching TV, does anyone talk to their TV (unless you are a 60 year old Southern gentleman watching Katie Couric interview Sarah Palin)?

Apple TV, which is probably inevitable , is going to be a delivery break through with a very natural interface:

Can the remote include Siri? Maybe, but, again, who the eff talks to their remote? That’s as natural as talking to camera. Imagine Apple signing deals with networks to aggregate HD feeds, independent, but professionally produced (because Apple hates amateur stuff), video content, and deliver it in a natural regular TV like interface with new pricing scheme? You manage it like your iTunes podcasts, create genius playlists, shuffle the damn thing six ways to Sunday, but its all delivered using a simple, intuitive, and easy interface – a remote that people already use & don’t seem particularly eager to get rid off. It’s a more natural way to interact with a TV.

iOS devices, of course, can offer additional capabilities to manage the iTV - similar to the Home Sharing, Remote apps that are already available, maybe there’s a bookshelf like interface that replaces (enhances?) channel surfing like behavior?

So, will the device need 30 different ports? No. Sorry, folks, the old cable interface is gone. Apple TV is going to be IP delivered TV – probably with 2 HDMI slots, built-in 802.11n (maybe even 802.11ac?), an Ethernet port, and optical audio output. That’s it. That’s the equivalent of Apple losing a CD slot, floppies, multiple USB ports etc. You want cable? Hook-up a set-top with HDMI output. You want OTC? Hmm, forget it – you can get network HD programs from Apple. Umm, local TV – individual stations will have to create their own apps if they want to get on Apple TV (pss. there already available:

Get the New 6abc iPhone Application

New and Enhanced FOX Toledo iPad App

CBS BOSTON MOBILE APPS

KQED iPhone/iOS app

Hell! Even CW has apps!

Get the CW Cincinnati app on your iPhone or your Android mobile phone

Finally, I can get rid off all those damn religious channels I don’t want/need. Thank you, Jeebus.

Hiding in plain sight, indeed. No Siri needed. This is, obviously, different from Google TV, which just wants to extend YouTube & helter-skelter nature of web videos to your TV. No, thanks!

Today’s Stupidest “Exclusive Report” Says Apple’s Siri-Controlled iTV Will Arrive By April [Uh, No.]

Not gonna happen

Shares in LG Electronics plunged 14% on Thursday as the company announced a 1.06tn won (£590m) rights issue which will be used mainly to fund a revival of its loss-making smartphone business.

Cult of Mac:

Think Android phones are pieces of junk? Now you’ve got the data to prove it. A recent study has conclusively proven Android phones are much more prone to breaking than iPhones and even BlackBerries, and their cheapness is costing telecoms big: up to $2 billion a year, in fact

Proof that Android is the news Windows:

Norton Tablet Security is an updated version of Symantec’s Android app, Norton Mobile Security. The Tablet Security version comes with an interface optimized for Android tablets.

And this:

My dad is retired, but he expressed interest in being able to check his email on his phone, the sales rep lured me into getting both my dad and myself a T-Mobile g2x smartphone since they are running a promotion where they are free, big mistake.

The phone has been freezing 5-10 times a day, I basically tried everything including running the phone stock for a few weeks by not installing any apps (which defeats the purpose of having a smartphone) but it still had issues. The GPS loses signal all the time. But the biggest problem is that I tried to use the phone to call into my daily teleconference for work, and it won’t pick up the keys that I enter for the access code, I’ve tried calling using my sister’s phone and it works perfectly fine.

Awesome!

Tablets an “Interesting Opportunity,” Says Nokia CEO

Maybe you guys should prove your chops with the phone first?

Also, too, such as:

BlackBerry Porsche P9981: RIM Fiddles While Rome is Burning

RIM is releasing a product that epitomizes its lack of vision: The Blackberry Porsche P9981.

The device is essentially a Blackberry 9900 in a designer outfit, with a stainless steel body and a leather case. Retail price: $2,000. Market: wealthy, image-conscious tech laggards?

RIM has delayed the 2.0 release of its tablet’s Playbook OS until 2012, and admitted it won’t have the BlackBerry email app. PlayBook users will only be able to do BlackBerry email on their tablets by linking with a BlackBerry phone

They included HDMI video but not email or calendar because they’re enterprise experts.

So, Nokia thinks that after $400 carrier subsidy, folks are going to pony up $185 when they can get an iPhone 4S for $199 or an iPhone 4 for $99? What’s the value proposition? Metro? Ok, then

“If the Lumia 800 appears like a well rounded phone with a nice and fairly distinctive design (similar to the N9), I see the launch price point as a deal breaker. I don’t think Nokia can regain anything in the $580 price band, in which Android and iOS probably have over 95% market share. This phone [is] condemned to be either anecdotic or go through massive price cuts in the next 6 months.

I see a TouchPad like price cut in the future.

And Apple blows it up with Siri. LOL.

I cant wait for Ballmer’s next talk about VUIs. Also, its more than 4 years ago now when dome-head uttered this:

“There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance”

Mango or Papaya or whatever sold a total of 1.6MM phones, leading the footstool  to utter this:

“I’m not saying I love where we are, but I’m very optimistic to where I think we can be,”

So the clog believes in hope and change, ehh?

Anyway:

Apple’s iPhone 4S sales top 4 million in three days

Oh. I’m sure its all marketing and some such brain-washing

Sprint-Nextel (S) this afternoon reported it had its “best ever day of sales in retail, Web, and telesales for a device family” after it put Apple‘s (AAPL) iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S on sale this morning, the first time Sprint has ever carried Apple’s product

Evo, what?

Apple is suing Samsung for creating lookalike products. Samsung is suing back. Who will win?

JENNIFER COLLINS: Full disclosure: I have a Samsung smartphone, and sometimes people mistake it for an iPhone.

Yep, that’s the crux of the lawsuit. Apple wants Samsung to stop copying everything Apple does. In fact, it may have been important to point out that Steve Jobs personally requested Samsung CEO to change the look and avoid a lawsuit. Just the look. Because it was completely mimicking the iPhone

So why would Apple go after its supplier? And why would Samsung fight back?

Because Apple wants Samsung to create their own look & feel and not piggyback on Apple’s design (the phone, packaging, fonts, icon placements, adaptors etc.)

Lichtman says its likely Samsung will pay Apple a licensing fee and be forced to stop producing lookalike products.

Wrong. Apple does not play the patent troll, licensing scheme. It is out of character. Apple wants one of two resolutions: (a) Samsung stop making phones, tablets that completely mimic the iPhone or (b) Samsung stop making phones, tablets. Period.

A better analyst would have known that. A better journalist would have found that out.

The Samsung device costs $230 and the HTC phone is $260, both with two-year wireless contracts, while the new iPhone 4S starts at $199.

“People want to make an investment in a phone and keep it for years,” Mr. Sherrard said. “Even at that price, they will choose to get a higher-quality product.”

And people will choose a crappy phone that’s more expensive on a network no one cares about because … ?