Around the Web – April 23

Apple’s PA Semi acquisition is the biggest news since the Intel switch, take a look at what our team’s dug up around the site. We expect more revelations during the company’s financial results call tonight. Despite the importance of Apple’s big news, the Mac news web is on fire this morning, read on…

Mac share doubles

Lehman Brothers yesterday began coverage of Apple stock, offering a $195 target price and predicting Apple’s market share will double by 2013. "Macs may have reached a tipping point with share on its way toward doubling over the next 3-5 years," said analyst Ben Reitzes. The analyst also observes Apple to be the most well positioned company to exploit the move toward mobile smart devices. More here.

Sony buys Gracenote

Look, Sony America has bought the Gracenote service. We don’t know how this is going to play out. It’s important because Gracenote (once known as the CDDB) is the software technology that drives the track and album recognition facility in iTunes – it’s what iTunes uses to identify the contents of CDs as you put them into your Mac or PC. And Gracenote is used by other media playing software, too. We’d like to know just how much data Gracenote has collected on user’s personal collections, and we’d also like to know what Sony plans to do with the service?

Yahoo earnings climb

Yahoo management seem to us to be doing a pretty good job of keeping Microsoft’s hostile takeover at bay, revealing a strong set of results (PDF). Microsoft is threatening to get dirty in its takeover bid with a proxy war, we just wonder how many of Microsoft’s former competitors also plan to engage in a protective mission. And if Microsoft fails in its attempt, well, will it be the beginning of the end for the world’s largest software company?

Microsoft dumps on customers

Remember MSN Music? Microsoft’s first attempt at an iTunes-killer? We do. Remember the DRM it used, and the way the company then dumped on its partners when it introduced the Zune? We do. Remember the debate about DRM, and what happens if the company that creates the DRM on music purchases ceases to support it? We do. Well, now Microsoft has royally dumped on MSN Music customers, announcing that it will no longer supply authorization keys for songs purchased from the defunct MSN Music service. That means that when your authorised set of computers stop working, so will the music you paid for. This underlines the inherent danger of DRM in general, and reinforces music fans in their negative perception of Yahoo’s unwanted suitor. We think former MSN Music customers should kick up a fuss, or switch to Mac.

Apple and design

Apple is the world’s leading designer of consumer electronics products, winning prestigious design awards on a regular basis. No surprise then that the company is once again in the running for the world’s most important design awards, with no less than eight products nominated for this year’s D&AD awards. 

Steve Jobs, Apple and Disney

Not news, per se, but fascinating all the same. Take a look at SeekingAlpha’s interesting opinion piece, in which Jason Schwarz speculates Apple boss, Steve Jobs, used Eisner’s Disney turnaround as a partial blueprint to transform Apple’s fortunes on his return to the company.

Mac’s get satellite TV

From the whisper and rumour dept., Terratec and Elgato are developing a USB TV card for Macs that accommodates a slot for a satellite TV validation card, effectively opening your Mac up to become a satellite TV receiver. It’s pretty cool.

Sorry for the late arrival of the round-up today – we’ve had a lot on our mind.