Earlier this year, Apple launched Express Lane, a support site designed to help consumers diagnose problems with Apple products through category selection. With an Apple ID, visitors could also see a list of their registered products and get help with common issues, as well as look up repair cases. Now, Apple has taken the idea of customized help a step further with the My Support Profile website.

Logging onto My Support Profile for the first time with your Apple ID, you’ll immediately see a list of all support activity between you and Apple, from phone calls made to repairs taking place, as well as a list of registered products. You will also see your contact information, and if you live in the U.S. or Canada, an option for VoicePass.

VoicePass matches a phone number with your product information, so when you call Customer Support you won’t have to go through the process of identifying which product you’re calling about. You can also communicate with Apple Support via SMS, presumably for repair updates.

If you’re like me, you may be surprised at how many Apple products you’ve purchased, as listed by the new Support Profile. I found every single Apple product (18) I’ve bought going back almost a decade, though a few were gifts that apparently weren’t registered by the recipients. Besides serial numbers, each device can be given a “nickname,” and the page for each product contains tabs for warranty details, case and repair activity, and support resources. There are also links for calling support or scheduling a repair. Of course, you can also register any product not listed.

Overall, My Support Profile improves the Apple support experience, which is already rated as industry leading. Hopefully, future improvements will make the site more interactive, possibly through the introduction of live text chat or support account e-mail links. An option for FaceTime or Remote Desktop from Apple’s end would be even better. Nonetheless, My Support Profile makes technical support a less painful experience for customers, and that’s always a good thing.

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Whitmore’s checks covered more than 50 Apple retail stores, and stores belonging to retail partners like Best Buy. His inquiries found that demand was very high, but Apple was well-prepared for said demand, and few stores experienced complete sell-outs of any product.

The iPad was a strong seller, so much so that Whitmore increased his estimate for quarterly sales for the device from 6.0 to 6.5 million. The best-selling model of iPad according to the channel checks was the 32 GB 3G + Wi-Fi iPad: the most expensive one available.

Whitmore also increased his iPhone and Mac sales estimates. iPhone sales are projected to be around 16 million (in keeping with earlier estimates, since Whitmore isn’t counting on a Verizon iPhone), while Macs (the lowest selling category) should see around 14.2 million, according to the analyst’s calculations. iPods were the only device category whose sales estimates Whitmore did not increase.

Holiday sales estimates for Apple products, and the iPad especially, have been all over the place, but a recent roundup of various analyst predictions by Fortune found the average of iPad sales estimates to be around 6.53 million sold during the quarter including December, which is very much in line with Whitmore’s figures.

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The new Apple TV’s price point at $99 definitely helped it gain traction with consumers. The version it replaced cost $229, though it did ship with a 160GB hard drive. And streaming iTunes rentals may be a draw for some, although reading between the lines of Apple’s press release, that isn’t the impression you get. Apple says that “iTunes users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day,” but doesn’t make any specific mention of how much of that is happening directly on the Apple TV platform.

No, the real key to Apple’s success with this iteration of the Apple TV is the introduction of Netflix streaming. Some were skeptical the introduction of Netflix would have any effect on Apple TV’s sales, but those naysayers probably didn’t take into account the new, lower price point for the Apple TV. It’s true that Netflix is already available on every major console, but Apple’s price of entry is cheaper for those just looking for a way to cut the cord without the frills. The Roku XD may be cheaper, and also provides Netflix, but it doesn’t have the brand cache and market reach that Apple does.

Netflix now has presence in 23 percent of homes with broadband internet access according to Seeking Alpha, which is up 52 percent from last year, for a total of around 20 million subscribers. Goldman Sachs also predicts that its total subscriber base will continue to experience strong growth, reaching 50 million subscribers by 2015. Since it moved into the Canadian market this fall, Netflix has been able to reach a much broader audience. Apple may have a lot of things going for it in other areas, but Netflix is the beast that’s driving its living room success.

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Facebook 2010 Memology

According to Facebook, the iPhone 4 and iPad came in together at number four in their overall top ten “memes” of 2010:

In May, Apple surpassed long-time rival Microsoft in market capitalization, thanks in large part to two of the most discussed products of the year: the iPad and iPhone 4. These two products combined to account for over 25 million bragging, lusting or the occasional condemning posts during the year.

Interestingly, no other technology vendor or consumer electronics product makes Facebook’s top ten, which is curious given the stupendous sales and market share growth of Android devices in the last twelve months. Perhaps this means that while Android owners might be ubiquitous, they’re not as keen to brag about their handsets? Or maybe they really are just settling.

Personally, I’m astonished there was no mention of Microsoft’s Kin, what with it being such a runaway smash-hit success… oh, wait…

Google Zeitgeist 2010

While Facebook might have five hundred million users, Google seems to somehow have more users than there are human beings alive on Earth, so its top ten lists are particularly interesting. Google explains;

Based on the aggregation of billions of search queries people typed into Google this year, Zeitgeist captures the spirit of 2010.

Apparently, the spirit of 2010 personified is something of an Apple fanboy. The iPad appeared at number two in Google’s “Fastest Rising” top ten overall search terms, and achieved first place in the “Fastest Rising in Consumer Electronics” chart, where it was joined by the iPhone 4 at number two.

An Android device did manage to make it to number four in the “Fastest Rising in Consumer Electronics” list. The HTC Evo 4G grabbed that spot. Meanwhile, the iPhone 4 also managed to appear in Google’s “In the News” top ten, at number six. “Mobile Technology” managed to nudge its way in at number 9 – a category that at least broadly includes Android handsets and tablets.

Twitter 2010: Year in Review

Over on Twitter, Apple makes some impressive appearances in the year’s top ten lists, starting with the iPad at number six in “Overall Top Trends:” a list that also features Justin Bieber (8), Harry Potter (9) and Pulpo Paul, a precognitive octopus (no, really).

Where Apple truly cleans up is in Twitter’s Technology top ten with iPad in first place (Android takes runner-up in second place), Apple iOS at number three, Apple iPhone at number four and MacBook Air bringing up the rear at number nine. HTC did appear at number seven in that same list, so with one OS mention and one hardware partner, Twitter is where Google is closest to matching Apple in mindshare.

All Your Trends Are Belong to Us

Overall, Apple gets more mentions across these charts than Google, RIM and Microsoft put together, and that’s fascinating. These companies all spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually in marketing and advertising, but these end-of-year lists surely demonstrate how much more mindshare Apple apparently commands.

One can argue about the relative merits of each company’s mobile OS, but I don’t think there’s any room for debate as to which company’s message is most effective. In 2010, everyone was talking about iPad and iPhone. As Oscar Wilde once said, “the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”

You might say Apple is the Justin Bieber of this year’s worldwide technology chatter. Only, y’know, a Justin Bieber with actual substance, talent and significance. And note that it’s Apple’s mobile products (even the MacBook Air is its most mobile OS X machine) that are making the biggest waves. Mobile is Apple’s future, and that includes the iPad, even if TIME’s Man of the Year doesn’t agree.

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The event will be held on Jan. 21, 2011. We have a new location this year: The Crunchies are going to be held at The Palace of Fine Arts Theater & Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts, 3301-3601 Lyon Street, in San Francisco.

There are 20 categories — and you can submit your nominations for the awards through Dec. 24, 2010. Tickets for Crunchies go on sale Dec. 15, 2010. Look forward to seeing you there!

A new ChangeWave survey of some 2,800 consumers suggests single-purpose e-readers are doomed, which isn’t surprising. However, the fact that it’s happening so quickly certainly is. The iPad was launched in April of this year, more than two years after the Kindle. That’s a considerable length of time to establish customer loyalty, and for a while, it looked like the Kindle had that in spades. As August, the Kindle accounted for more than 60 percent of e-reader ownership, compared to 16 percent for the iPad. However, by November, that had changed drastically, with the Kindle at 47 percent and the iPad at 32 percent.

Looking forward, not even prices as low as $89 (the price of the Kindle 2 during a promotion last week) appear enough to keep the Kindle in its position of preference among e-readers. The iPad is now the choice of 42 percent of prospective buyers, versus 32 percent for the Kindle. If there’s any good news for the Kindle, it’s that the iPad is its only real competition among e-readers. The Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony Reader barely register at 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively. More people prefer using software on their smartphone than either of those devices.

Looking into why the Kindle is losing ground so quickly, the ChangeWave survey suggests content is the answer. When asked what types of content owners use their device for, the Kindle was more popular than the iPad for books — 93 percent to 76 percent — but for magazines, newspapers, and other reading, the iPad won handily.

If there’s any downside for the iPad, it’s probably that iBooks has failed as a competitor to the Kindle Store for book buying. Apple has yet to challenge Amazon in book sales or catalog size. For that matter, the iBooks software is, in my opinion, fatally flawed without wireless bookmarking across multiple devices like the Kindle App provides.

Another competitor for both stores looms on the horizon. The Wall Street Journal reports Google is preparing to launch the company’s long-delayed e-bookstore by the end of the year. Unlike Amazon and Apple with their proprietary stores, formats, and applications, Google Editions will be much more open. Consumers will be able to buy books from multiple online retailers, storing books in an online library through an account with Google. Books can be read online using a web browser on a traditional computer, tablet, or handheld device, and will also be available offline. Details of the format are not yet known, but I expect we’ll see an app for that, too.

For Amazon, this is more trouble. Having lost the ability to set book prices because of Apple and iBooks, the online book retailer is now facing in Google a competitor selling books everywhere on any device. For Apple, lets just say it: iBooks is doomed. What possible reason would there be for buying books from Apple now? Google Editions will let you shop around for the best price from many retailers, read your books on any device with a web browser, and bookmark without having to sync to iTunes.

If Apple keeps gaining ground on Amazon at this rate in the hardware battle, it’s bound to come out as the clear winner. Amazon looks to be doing fairly well in the short term in the fight between digital storefronts, but Google Editions will definitely give it a run for its money. No matter which angle you approach it from, Amazon looks to be in for one heck of a fight.

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As Fortune‘s Apple 2.0 blog reports, a ChangeWave survey of 2,812 American consumers shows increasing interest in Mac laptops, up from 25 percent in October to 36 percent in November. Not coincidentally, that time frame covers the launch of the rejuvenated MacBook Air, and DigiTimes is confirming the success of the new portable. According to component suppliers, shipments of Mac laptops will average one million per month during the fourth quarter, with 20 to 25 percent of that volume attributed to the MacBook Air.

While desktop enthusiasm remains flat at 24 percent, Apple’s share still stands to grow as demand overall in the PC market is down. This suggests another big quarter is coming for Mac sales. Last year, the increase in Mac desktop sales from the pre-holiday quarter to the holiday quarter was about ten percent. This year, if Apple manages to repeat that feat, it will result in 4.3 million Macs sold for the holiday quarter. That’s a lot of Macs, especially as the desktop market overall continues to shrink.

But Apple will likely sell even more iPads. AppleInsider quotes an NPD survey asserting that 11 percent of respondents are planning to purchase an iPad by February 2011. How many of those purchases will occur before January, when some anticipate the iPad 2 to be unveiled, is unknown, but analysts have been adjusting their estimates of iPad sales for the holiday quarter upward. With Apple selling 4.19 million iPads last quarter, six million iPads before the close of January doesn’t seem unrealistic. To put that in perspective, iPod sales routinely double from around ten million to 20 million during the holiday quarter.

That leaves only the iPhone as the unknown this quarter. While it’s hard to imagine surpassing the 14.1 million sold last quarter, expectations of ten million or better certainly aren’t far-fetched. Apple sold 8.7 million iPhones during the holiday quarter in 2009. Put this all together, and the conclusion is pretty simple: Apple will take home quite a haul from the holidays.

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“The rumor is false,” Wi-Gear CEO Mark Pundsack said via e-mail in response to an inquiry from Tech Trader Daily. “Wi-Gear and its IP are still available for sale.”

We’ve updated the story throughout to reflect this new information.

Apple has acquired Bluetooth headphone maker Wi-Gear, according to a new report. The Such a purchase could result in new Bluetooth headsets for use with iOS devices and Mac computers, but what’s more interesting is what it a purchase says about Apple’s acquisition strategy and the future of accessory makers working in its ecosystem.

Why Wi-Gear

Wi-Gear, which made the iMuffs A2DP stereo headphones for the iPhone, as well as a Bluetooth 2.0 adapter for earlier generation devices which lacked onboard support for the communication technology, was bought by Apple around two months ago, according to 9t05mac. The report is further supported by evidence found on LinkedIn. A former Wi-Gear engineer’s profile says that he joined Apple’s Bluetooth team exactly two months ago, precisely when Apple is supposed to have acquired the accessory-maker. This is the same method used to ferret out Apple’s purchase of semiconductor IP firm Intrinsity.

While initially, Wi-Gear may seem like an unlikely target, a simple search reveals that reviewers consistently give the iMuffs very high marks. It’s It would be a buy that keeps with Apple’s overall strategy of acquiring smaller companies that excel at what they do, but aren’t yet at an advanced state of maturity. Wi-Gear is only five years old, and would brings highly specialized IP into the Apple fold. However, the company is now confirmed to be out of business.

How it Would Fits Apple’s Overall Acquisition Plan

If you look at GigaOM Pro analyst Michaels Wolf’s acquisition rubric governing Apple’s purchases (subscription required), a Wi-Gear buy would makes perfect sense. Apple would gets increased control over call and music quality associated with its devices; it can now would be able to create a high-quality, Apple-branded Bluetooth stereo solution tailored to iPhone that will help further differentiate it from Google’s all-third party hardware strategy; and it can would be able to cash in directly on the wireless headphone accessory market that has sprung up around its products.

A Warning Shot for Accessory Makers

It’s that last point that should have accessory makers worried. The iOS accessory ecosystem is one of the most profitable for third-party device manufacturers. Much like Twitter did in early days with third-party apps, Apple has used that accessories ecosystem to provide value-add incentives to draw customers to its products. Now that Apple’s available cash exceeds $50 billion, the company is keen on making strategic acquisitions, and part of that strategy could involve profiting more directly from the ecosystem third-party companies have helped create and grow.

As Geoffrey Goetz noted, Apple’s past two media events have had potentially devastating consequences for businesses and even entire industries that depend on the Mac-maker in one way or another to make money. Until now, those consequences have been largely the result of component decisions or software releases, but this latest acquisition could signal the beginning of the end for accessory makers closest to Apple’s core business, too.

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The report found that nearly 30 percent of Android users surveyed would rather have an iPhone. Many users indicated that price is the only barrier holding them back. “I think it’s telling that so many Android owners desire, yet don’t own an iPhone, which I believe points to price being the prohibitive factor,” a spokesperson for MyPhoneDeals told PC Pro. Another contributing factor is network choice, though that may change soon with the arrival of a Verizon iPhone.

On the flip side, only 7 percent of iPhone users would consider jumping to the Android side of the fence. “I think the biggest problem Android-based smartphones face is that they’re constantly playing catch-up to the iPhone. Every time Apple does something new the competition follows, which makes the iPhone always seem the most innovative product.” While in fact Apple was actually behind on several major OS features, such as multi-tasking, the unique innovations they do introduce, like the App Store and the Retina Display, have apparently kept them ahead of the game, at least in terms of user perception.

Only 16 percent of those not currently on any platform indicated that they’d seek out an Android phone. Yet 40 percent of smartphones sold during the past quarter were Android devices. Why? Mainly because Android OS runs on a variety of devices, while Apple OS is exclusively on the iPhone. “Android still faces a lack of recognition among consumers, especially women. For example, many consumers may want a HTC Desire HD, yet are unaware that it’s running Android software.”

The bottom line for Apple? Lower prices and freedom of choice when it comes to carrier would draw many Android users into the iOS fold. But Cupertino should act soon, since as users grow used to and invest in a platform (via app purchases), it will become more and more difficult to win them back.

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The Air is marketed around the idea of portability, of which battery life is a major component.  A “long-lasting battery” is one of the four major features mentioned in Apple’s advertisements for its slim notebook. Ars claims that they weren’t intending to test the notebook’s interaction with Flash, while investigating these claims, but couldn’t ignore the obvious problems when the plugin, not pre-installed on the MacBook Air, is added to the mix:

Having Flash installed can cut battery runtime considerably—as much as 33 percent in our testing. With a handful of websites loaded in Safari, Flash-based ads kept the CPU running far more than seemed necessary, and the best time I recorded with Flash installed was just 4 hours. After deleting Flash, however, the MacBook Air ran for 6:02—with the exact same set of websites reloaded in Safari, and with static ads replacing the CPU-sucking Flash versions.

Ars is clear to state that, with light web surfing, users should be able to enjoy a full workday on a single charge. But heavy Flash usage, such as gaming and video, will usually require carrying your power adapter. In fact, many won’t encounter enough Flash through regular usage to merit a major problem if they don’t have the plugin installed, not with the success of HTML5.

As web developers debate over whether to use HTML5 (suggested by Jobs & widely considered more efficient) or stick with Flash, Apple continues to make the decision easier by not including Flash in its new machines, and now we see why. Adobe can’t be enjoying the media attention this latest development will bring to its web video and interactive media platform. Now that I’ve seen that it might actually impede performance, I’m going to try going without Flash entirely. Who else is jumping ship?

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Apple does assure customers that any Xserve already sold up until that day will be fully supported, however. So your warranties, AppleCare, etc. will all be taken care of. And for those customers concerned about not being able to use OS X to run their servers, Apple has some “transition options,” which it details in a .PDF released specifically to address the Xserve end-0f-life.

Cupertino offers either the Mac Pro or the Mac mini as viable alternatives for use as servers, when installed with Snow Leopard Server. In the document, Apple describes the advantages of each alternate setup, and even provides comparative performance benchmarks. The Mac Pro, it maintains, is more powerful than the Xserve, though it doesn’t support rack mounting, obviously, and it also draws more power.

The Mac mini, on the other hand, is laughably underpowered compared to the Xserve, though it can be made to work with server racks via third-party hardware brackets. And, it’s much much cheaper, obviously. Apple also points out that mini is in fact currently Apple’s most popular server option.

Xserve’s demise will probably come as a disappointment to a few dedicated enterprise and small business customers, but it’ll free up resources and time that Apple can then devote to its continued consumer market expansion. I certainly won’t miss it. Will you?

UPDATE: Apple now offers a “Server” configuration of its Mac Pro desktop, which includes one 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor, 8GB of RAM, two 1TB hard drives and an ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card with 1GB of dedicated RAM. It also comes with an unlimited-client license of Mac OS X Server.

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As mentioned, only songs over 2:30 in length will benefit from the change, with shorter songs retaining the current 30 second preview length. We expect that the move will come to global stores not long after its introduction in the U.S., but at launch only the American store will be affected.

Apple has faced some opposition in pursuing longer previews, forcing the Cupertino-based company to approach groups like the National Music Publishers Association and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) to ensure their support. Reportedly, some labels and publishers still aren’t on board with the change. But, to force the hands of those holdouts, the only way to deny the new terms and thus block longer previews is to remove your entire catalogue from the iTunes Store.

News of the lack of support from some music distributors will likely only frustrate consumers who already feel that these groups are often out of touch with their wants. However, as Apple fights to compete with ground-breaking amounts of piracy, and competing digital music stores like gomusicnow.com which offer drastically cheaper prices, consumers will continue to benefit, regardless of what labels think of its tactics.

However, many music providers, such as Symphonic Distribution, feel the coming change is for the better, stating yesterday on their blog “…we believe this is great news for all involved, as it provides the consumer with more time to preview the material they wish to buy.”

Regardless of opinions on either side, it seems the change is coming soon. So, kick back, relax, and enjoy yet more incentive to hand Apple still more of your money.

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The lead plaintiff in the case, Bianca Wofford, claims the update effectively turned her iPhone into an “iBrick,” rendering it pretty much unusable. She says Apple informed customers that iOS 4 would be an upgrade for their 3G phones, even though it wouldn’t bring all of the features that later devices would get. Instead, she got a device that’s not only much, much slower, but also prone to crashing.

The complaint, filed with the Superior Court of California, asserts that Apple did this knowingly:

Since the release of iOS4 in conjunction with the sale and release of the fourth generation iPhone, or the iPhone 4 in June 2010, Apple has falsely, intentionally and repeatedly represented to owners and consumers of the iPhone 3G that its new operating system for the device, iOS4, was of a nature, quality, and a significant upgrade for the functionality of all iPhone devices, when in fact, the installation and use of iOS4 on the iPhone 3G resulted in the opposite – a device with little more use than that of a paper weight.

Wofford and her attorneys further justify this claim by pointing out the Apple practice of not allowing customers to downgrade their iPhone’s operating system. She says there isn’t a way to get back to iOS 3.x without resorting to “hacker tactics” that void warranties and iPhone user agreements.

All of these, taken together, amount to an intentional move by Apple to force customers into a situation where they’d have to purchase new hardware in the form of the iPhone 4. According to Wofford, Apple knew full well that iOS 4 was actually a downgrade for older devices, and used its release as an artificial upgrade incentive.

Wofford is seeking restitution, the return of Apple’s “ill-gotten” gains and damages resulting from false advertising, unfair competition and the violation of state consumer protection laws for herself and each member of the plaintiff group associated with the class action suit.

Is Wofford right? Apple has held back updates in the past from legacy hardware, presumably because it knew those devices weren’t up to the task of running them. It must have conducted tests in-house to determine how well iOS 4 worked on older iPhones before releasing the software. But then why release a limited version of iOS 4 for the 3G and 3GS, instead of the full one if its intention was to slow performance? Maybe the full update rendered it actually unusable instead of just badly hobbled?

Regardless of the accuracy of the claims, Apple will probably move quickly to either quash this or settle out of court, since it could be potentially damaging to its reputation among consumers. If the upcoming iOS 4.2 brings any relief to iPhone 3G owners, that could go a long way toward preserving that reputation.

What do you think? Did Apple intentionally encourage iPhone owners to do harm to their own devices? And even if not, shouldn’t they provide a legitimate downgrade process in instances where performance, stability and usability are affected?

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Netbook Demand

Survey respondents who said they planned on buying a netbook within the next 90 days dropped drastically over the course of the past year. It accounted for 20 percent of laptop-buying consumer’s intentions in Oct. 2009, and now represents only 14 percent. Netbook demand has been dropping steadily since its peak in June 2009.

The iPad fills the hole many were looking to fill with a netbook, specifically, that of a portable device for web browsing and media consumption. Pricing on the iPad is comparable to higher-priced netbooks, and Apple’s introduction of the MacBook Air should reel in consumers who want the portability of a netbook with a little more power, and have slightly larger budgets.

iPad Demand and Satisfaction

ChangeWave found iPad owner satisfaction among respondents to be very high; 72 percent replied that they were “Very Satisfied” with Apple’s tablet, while another 23 percent said they were “Somewhat Satisfied.” The next largest group, representing only 3 percent of those surveyed, answered that they either didn’t know either way.

Going forward, the prospects are good for the tablet market: 26 percent of all respondents say they’re planning a purchase in the future. Apple will reel in the majority of those customers, if current sentiment remains the same; 80 percent of those likely to buy a tablet are planning to get an iPad. RIM’s PlayBook is the next closest in terms of anticipated demand, with 8 percent of respondents choosing the BlackBerry solution.

Double Advantage

The iPad’s success in the survey shows it has two major advantages over its competitors. First, it’s far and away the first thing consumers are thinking about when considering a tablet computer purchase. Second, its very high customer satisfaction means that once customers do opt for an iPad, it will take a lot to convince them to switch device makers for future purchases.

Apple is sitting pretty atop a market that should show a lot of growth in the coming year. Whatever the future brings from the competition, it’s very unlikely Apple won’t emerge the winner once again in 2011.

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There’s a pretty big difference for those buying with Euros, however, as the price of the base 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor-powered Mac mini is now only 709 € ($993.80 USD), down from 809 €. The 2.66GHz Snow Leopard Server mini also got a price cut of 150 €, down to 999 € from 1149 €. In the UK, Apple instituted a £50 price reduction across the board, making the two Mac mini models £599 ($959.77 USD) and £879 respectively.

New pricing could be a reflection of the weak U.S. dollar, but if that were the only reason, Canada would definitely have been included, since its currency is doing quite well. More likely, the changes reflect a refining of the backend processes related to international retail that allowed Apple to keep its margins while offering consumers a break, or awareness on Apple’s part that it was pricing itself out of European and other markets, as stagnant growth worldwide for Mac market share would seem to suggest.

Whatever the reason, it does make the Mac mini a far more attractive option to international customers. The mini has always been the cheapest way to get into OS X, and now it’s cheaper still. I only hope that Apple sees overwhelming positive response to the drops in price, since maybe then we’ll see the same strategy applied to other offerings, too.

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The rumor about NFC in the next iPhone revision comes courtesy of a source talking to Cult of Mac, who wished to remain anonymous. Initially, according to the report, the iPhone 5 would work sort of like an electronic wallet that carries around your personal information and allows you to use it on other Macs. That could include address book information, logins and more. Later, it could fully transform any Mac into a mirror image of your own.

Of course, the NFC tech needs both a transmitter and receiver, so Macs would have to be outfitted with the tech to take advantage, but that’s an easy enough addition to future models on the manufacturing side of things.

Apple’s recent hiring decisions back up these new rumors. Recent hires include a leading expert in the NFC field, and Apple has a lot of related patents on the books, so it’s likely that they are working on something to do with the tech. Whether what they’re working on will every see the light of day is another story.

If implemented, the new system could have a positive impact on Apple’s presence in enterprise. Imagine being able to change virtually any Mac into your own personal workstation just by being in proximity and entering a passcode. It’s something people who work on the road would really appreciate, and likely something that hotels and other businesses that cater to those travellers would have strong financial reason to implement.

It also would help Apple transition more of OS X to the cloud, a likely direction for all operating systems to take in the future, and it would be another link between Apple’s notebook and desktop OS and its mobile products. Greater integration is clearly a goal for the Mac maker going forward. Plus, if made available to iOS and Mac developers as a public API, there’s no telling what kind of innovative software we could see.

RFID is already rumored to be coming to iPhones sometime down the road, and that’s a type of NFC, so this is definitely one to watch. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see at least the seeds for this kind of remote portability sewn in Apple’s next round of major mobile hardware revisions.

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