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What’s new on the app stores on Wednesday 1 February 2012

A selection of 17 apps for you today:

The Humble Bundle for Android

Bundles of independently-developed games have been very popular on PC, but now the idea has come to Android. The latest Humble Bundle includes Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Osmos and Edge – all marvellous – with a pay-what-you-want model. Pay more than the average user, though, and you’ll get World of Goo thrown in too. What’s more, buying the Humble Bundle for Android also gets you the games for Mac, Windows or Linux, as well as the soundtracks. At the time of writing the average purchase price is $5.91.
Android

BBC News

The BBC has upsized its Android news app to make it native for Android tablets, initially in the UK but with a global edition to follow. It runs on Honeycomb-toting devices, with tablets running earlier versions of Android sticking with the smartphone version.
Android

TNW Magazine

Excellent tech website TheNextWeb has launched a “digital monthly magazine”, pulling in some of the key articles from each month online, as well as exclusive content. Available as a free iPad download, it costs $1.99 a month or $9.99 for an annual subscription.
iPad

Being Global

iOS and Android book-app Being Global is aimed at parents who want to “cultivate conscious little ones” – kids who respect other traditions, religions and values. Besides the story, there is a colouring feature, a quiz game and a digital diary.
Android / iPhone / iPad

Aviary Photo Editor

Startup Aviary’s photo-editing SDK has been used by a number of apps, but now it has a standalone plug-in for Android devices. It’s not a standalone app – instead, it’s accessed through the share option when viewing photos on the device. A range of editing features are included, as well as effects packs bought in-app.
Android

Bosch Navigation UK & IRE

Bosch is the latest company to enter the mobile satnav market, with its iOS app for the UK and Ireland (separate versions are available for other countries). Expect 3D maps, offline navigation to save on data costs, and integration with Facebook and Twitter.
iPhone / iPad

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land

H.P. Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu is reborn as an iOS turn-based strategy RPG. Battle against an “ancient enemy” in a First World War setting, with beefy visuals and a choice of tactics.
iPhone / iPad

Likes!

Android app Likes! uses Facebook to pull in things your friends have liked on the social network – everything from restaurants and pubs through to films and plumbers, apparently. It also uses location to show the things that are nearest to you right now.
Android

Inside the World of Dinosaurs

Stephen Fry provides voice narration for this new book-app, which claims to be “the most comprehensive interactive dinosaur encyclopedia on the iPad”. More than 60 dinos are included, with 200 pages of text, 84 videos and – wait for it – 60 “original dinosaur sounds”.
iPad

Tag your Love by Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial

Brands’ desire to spend money on commissioning social apps knows no bounds. Here’s champers brand Moët & Chandon with an app encouraging people to get “tagging your photos with a touch of graffiti chic and discover the secrets of the world’s most loved champagne”.
iPhone

Edge Extended

Mobigame’s block-based puzzler got an extended edition for iOS last year, and it has now made the leap to Android. Roll your cube around 48 levels, evading obstacles and recording the best times.
Android

PhatPad

PhatPad is a new Android note-taking and collaboration app that includes handwriting recognition features and Dropbox integration. The idea being that Android tablet users can scribble notes and pictures (and even record voice notes) before sharing the documents with friends and colleagues.
Android

Luster

iPhone app Luster promises “your fashion world on the go”. Which means a way for people to take photos of their new clobber, tag the location it was found in, and share it with other Luster users.
iPhone

Ghost Finder London

Take a tour of the capital’s spooks with this iPhone app, which maps more than 300 haunted locations across the city. Stories are included on each so you know which ghoul should be doing what, wherever you are.
iPhone

Report A Taxi

Report A Taxi helps people to report poor service from cab drivers, for the benefit of other users. It’s initially only for New York City and iPhone, but Android and BlackBerry versions are on the way, along with global support (including London).
iPhone

Kidz4Mation

iPhone book-app Kidz4Mation stars a cheerful monkey called Mikey, who aims to help children be “more confident, stronger and happier”. The idea being a story that also inspires self-confidence in kids.
iPhone

Shrek Forever After

Android has lagged far behind iOS in the number of good book-apps for kids, but there’s a discernible tide-turn happening in 2012. iStoryTime’s Shrek Forever After has made the jump from iOS to Android, with a story based on the film of the same name.
Android

What’s new on the app stores on Wednesday 1 February 2012

A selection of 17 apps for you today:

The Humble Bundle for Android

Bundles of independently-developed games have been very popular on PC, but now the idea has come to Android. The latest Humble Bundle includes Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Osmos and Edge – all marvellous – with a pay-what-you-want model. Pay more than the average user, though, and you’ll get World of Goo thrown in too. What’s more, buying the Humble Bundle for Android also gets you the games for Mac, Windows or Linux, as well as the soundtracks. At the time of writing the average purchase price is $5.91.
Android

BBC News

The BBC has upsized its Android news app to make it native for Android tablets, initially in the UK but with a global edition to follow. It runs on Honeycomb-toting devices, with tablets running earlier versions of Android sticking with the smartphone version.
Android

TNW Magazine

Excellent tech website TheNextWeb has launched a “digital monthly magazine”, pulling in some of the key articles from each month online, as well as exclusive content. Available as a free iPad download, it costs $1.99 a month or $9.99 for an annual subscription.
iPad

Being Global

iOS and Android book-app Being Global is aimed at parents who want to “cultivate conscious little ones” – kids who respect other traditions, religions and values. Besides the story, there is a colouring feature, a quiz game and a digital diary.
Android / iPhone / iPad

Aviary Photo Editor

Startup Aviary’s photo-editing SDK has been used by a number of apps, but now it has a standalone plug-in for Android devices. It’s not a standalone app – instead, it’s accessed through the share option when viewing photos on the device. A range of editing features are included, as well as effects packs bought in-app.
Android

Bosch Navigation UK & IRE

Bosch is the latest company to enter the mobile satnav market, with its iOS app for the UK and Ireland (separate versions are available for other countries). Expect 3D maps, offline navigation to save on data costs, and integration with Facebook and Twitter.
iPhone / iPad

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land

H.P. Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu is reborn as an iOS turn-based strategy RPG. Battle against an “ancient enemy” in a First World War setting, with beefy visuals and a choice of tactics.
iPhone / iPad

Likes!

Android app Likes! uses Facebook to pull in things your friends have liked on the social network – everything from restaurants and pubs through to films and plumbers, apparently. It also uses location to show the things that are nearest to you right now.
Android

Inside the World of Dinosaurs

Stephen Fry provides voice narration for this new book-app, which claims to be “the most comprehensive interactive dinosaur encyclopedia on the iPad”. More than 60 dinos are included, with 200 pages of text, 84 videos and – wait for it – 60 “original dinosaur sounds”.
iPad

Tag your Love by Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial

Brands’ desire to spend money on commissioning social apps knows no bounds. Here’s champers brand Moët & Chandon with an app encouraging people to get “tagging your photos with a touch of graffiti chic and discover the secrets of the world’s most loved champagne”.
iPhone

Edge Extended

Mobigame’s block-based puzzler got an extended edition for iOS last year, and it has now made the leap to Android. Roll your cube around 48 levels, evading obstacles and recording the best times.
Android

PhatPad

PhatPad is a new Android note-taking and collaboration app that includes handwriting recognition features and Dropbox integration. The idea being that Android tablet users can scribble notes and pictures (and even record voice notes) before sharing the documents with friends and colleagues.
Android

Luster

iPhone app Luster promises “your fashion world on the go”. Which means a way for people to take photos of their new clobber, tag the location it was found in, and share it with other Luster users.
iPhone

Ghost Finder London

Take a tour of the capital’s spooks with this iPhone app, which maps more than 300 haunted locations across the city. Stories are included on each so you know which ghoul should be doing what, wherever you are.
iPhone

Report A Taxi

Report A Taxi helps people to report poor service from cab drivers, for the benefit of other users. It’s initially only for New York City and iPhone, but Android and BlackBerry versions are on the way, along with global support (including London).
iPhone

Kidz4Mation

iPhone book-app Kidz4Mation stars a cheerful monkey called Mikey, who aims to help children be “more confident, stronger and happier”. The idea being a story that also inspires self-confidence in kids.
iPhone

Shrek Forever After

Android has lagged far behind iOS in the number of good book-apps for kids, but there’s a discernible tide-turn happening in 2012. iStoryTime’s Shrek Forever After has made the jump from iOS to Android, with a story based on the film of the same name.
Android

What’s new on the app stores on Wednesday 1 February 2012

A selection of 17 apps for you today:

The Humble Bundle for Android

Bundles of independently-developed games have been very popular on PC, but now the idea has come to Android. The latest Humble Bundle includes Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Osmos and Edge – all marvellous – with a pay-what-you-want model. Pay more than the average user, though, and you’ll get World of Goo thrown in too. What’s more, buying the Humble Bundle for Android also gets you the games for Mac, Windows or Linux, as well as the soundtracks. At the time of writing the average purchase price is $5.91.
Android

BBC News

The BBC has upsized its Android news app to make it native for Android tablets, initially in the UK but with a global edition to follow. It runs on Honeycomb-toting devices, with tablets running earlier versions of Android sticking with the smartphone version.
Android

TNW Magazine

Excellent tech website TheNextWeb has launched a “digital monthly magazine”, pulling in some of the key articles from each month online, as well as exclusive content. Available as a free iPad download, it costs $1.99 a month or $9.99 for an annual subscription.
iPad

Being Global

iOS and Android book-app Being Global is aimed at parents who want to “cultivate conscious little ones” – kids who respect other traditions, religions and values. Besides the story, there is a colouring feature, a quiz game and a digital diary.
Android / iPhone / iPad

Aviary Photo Editor

Startup Aviary’s photo-editing SDK has been used by a number of apps, but now it has a standalone plug-in for Android devices. It’s not a standalone app – instead, it’s accessed through the share option when viewing photos on the device. A range of editing features are included, as well as effects packs bought in-app.
Android

Bosch Navigation UK & IRE

Bosch is the latest company to enter the mobile satnav market, with its iOS app for the UK and Ireland (separate versions are available for other countries). Expect 3D maps, offline navigation to save on data costs, and integration with Facebook and Twitter.
iPhone / iPad

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land

H.P. Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu is reborn as an iOS turn-based strategy RPG. Battle against an “ancient enemy” in a First World War setting, with beefy visuals and a choice of tactics.
iPhone / iPad

Likes!

Android app Likes! uses Facebook to pull in things your friends have liked on the social network – everything from restaurants and pubs through to films and plumbers, apparently. It also uses location to show the things that are nearest to you right now.
Android

Inside the World of Dinosaurs

Stephen Fry provides voice narration for this new book-app, which claims to be “the most comprehensive interactive dinosaur encyclopedia on the iPad”. More than 60 dinos are included, with 200 pages of text, 84 videos and – wait for it – 60 “original dinosaur sounds”.
iPad

Tag your Love by Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial

Brands’ desire to spend money on commissioning social apps knows no bounds. Here’s champers brand Moët & Chandon with an app encouraging people to get “tagging your photos with a touch of graffiti chic and discover the secrets of the world’s most loved champagne”.
iPhone

Edge Extended

Mobigame’s block-based puzzler got an extended edition for iOS last year, and it has now made the leap to Android. Roll your cube around 48 levels, evading obstacles and recording the best times.
Android

PhatPad

PhatPad is a new Android note-taking and collaboration app that includes handwriting recognition features and Dropbox integration. The idea being that Android tablet users can scribble notes and pictures (and even record voice notes) before sharing the documents with friends and colleagues.
Android

Luster

iPhone app Luster promises “your fashion world on the go”. Which means a way for people to take photos of their new clobber, tag the location it was found in, and share it with other Luster users.
iPhone

Ghost Finder London

Take a tour of the capital’s spooks with this iPhone app, which maps more than 300 haunted locations across the city. Stories are included on each so you know which ghoul should be doing what, wherever you are.
iPhone

Report A Taxi

Report A Taxi helps people to report poor service from cab drivers, for the benefit of other users. It’s initially only for New York City and iPhone, but Android and BlackBerry versions are on the way, along with global support (including London).
iPhone

Kidz4Mation

iPhone book-app Kidz4Mation stars a cheerful monkey called Mikey, who aims to help children be “more confident, stronger and happier”. The idea being a story that also inspires self-confidence in kids.
iPhone

Shrek Forever After

Android has lagged far behind iOS in the number of good book-apps for kids, but there’s a discernible tide-turn happening in 2012. iStoryTime’s Shrek Forever After has made the jump from iOS to Android, with a story based on the film of the same name.
Android

Almost 150,000 people sign online petition which calls for tech giant to clean up its act on alleged human rights abuses in China

Mark Shields, a communications worker in Washington DC, did not intend to become an activist calling for Apple to clean up its act over allegations of brutal labour abuses in its Chinese supplier network.

But, listening to a recent radio show on the subject, Shields, a dedicated user and fan of Apple products, felt he had to act. He was going to write a letter to Apple until a friend suggested he start a petition at change.org, an online group that facilitates campaigning on controversial subjects.

In its first 48 hours, Shield’s petition attracted more than 140,000 signatures. Now more 147,000 people from all around the world have signed up, and it has become one of the main focuses of consumer discontent at the way Apple makes its sleek computer products that have become a mainstay of much of modern life. “I am an accidental activist here. I have never started a petition before,” Shields, 35, told the Guardian. “I am an Apple person, I have my MacBook and iPhone. I love all that stuff. These products have changed my life,
but they are coming at a cost in human suffering,” he added.

Apple is current facing a wave of bad publicity over a New York Times story that exposed many problems with Apple suppliers in China. They included industrial accidents, abuse of workers for long hours and the use of underage labour. Though such problems also occur at many other western consumer electrical companies that have their products made in China, Apple’s position as a brand leader – and its huge profits – make it a high-profile case.

The Times story itself followed on the work of playwright Mike Daisey, whose one-man show, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, has highlighted the issue, and was featured on the National Public Radio show that Shields listened to.

Some columnists and observers of the American tech scene have warned that Apple might now face a boycott of its iPhones, iPads and iPods: products that have made it one of the biggest companies in the world. Shields said that he himself did not advocate a boycott. “I don’t think they really help,” he said.

But at the same time he had found himself unable to buy a new Apple gadget. “I would really like to go and buy an Apple TV and I can’t do that right now in good conscience. I would feel bad about it,” he said.

Instead, Shields’ petition asks Apple to release a new worker protection strategy for the period around its product releases, when the huge pressure to deliver a high volume of sought-after new products could potentially cause a spike in worker abuses. It also asks Apple to increase transparency and publish the names of its suppliers who have violated labour standards and exactly what those violations were.

“Please make these changes immediately, so that each of us can once again hold our heads high and say: ‘I’m a Mac person,’” the petition said.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the petition. However, last week, Apple chief executive Tim Cook did send an email to the firm’s staff – leaked to the media – which promised to crack down on problems, while admitting that issues had occurred. “Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are,” Cook said in the email.

He added that the firm was working hard to resolve things and discover abuses.

“No one has been more up front about the challenges we face. We are attacking problems aggressively with the help of the world’s foremost authorities on safety, the environment and fair labour,” Cook wrote.

However, the rapid growth of the petition shows the depth of the potential PR disaster that Apple is facing. Many comments written on the petition expressed similar sentiments to Shields’ views, coming from dedicated Apple fans.

“Apple, you have the power, and most certainly the resources to change things,” wrote “Gabrielle” of Grandville, Michigan, who confessed to standing in line for hours to buy an iPad when the tablet was first released. The success of the petition was also hailed by organisers at change.org for its swift growth.

“It has been incredible to see the resonance Mark’s campaign has had with other Apple users, and to watch him become part of a growing movement of consumer-driven change,” said Amanda Kloer, change.org’s director of organizing.

Apple posted its Q4 earnings last week and reports of its imminent demise have been greatly exaggerated

As if you haven’t heard, Apple posted its Q4 earnings last week. I’ll spare you my own encomium and refer you to these links:

• Despite its title, Business Insider’s list of Facts About Apple’s Business That Will Blow Your Mind contains little or no hype.
• TechCrunch provides context for Apple’s “massive numbers”.
• Brian Hall offers his trademark combination of eloquent and factual commentary while arguing that We’re Not Talking Enough About Apple or About iPhone.
• And this list wouldn’t be complete without Horace Dediu’s keen insight: Apple’s Fourth quarter 2011 Growth Scorecard.

For complete numbers, you can go to SEC filings 8-K and 10-Q. If you have the time and inclination, I recommend a walk through the MD&A (Management Discussion & Analysis) in the 10-Q. Never boring, it’s filled with meaningful details and decently written — I couldn’t find a single instance of whereas, forthwith, or insofar.
With this out of the way, a few thoughts and questions are prompted by the earnings release fever:

What happened to the “Android Is Winning” meme?

Google’s Trojan Horse has made tremendous headway, powering more than 50% of all smartphones worldwide. It’s a technically robust product (comrades of mine from a previous OS war work on Android, so I could be biased) and the “free and open” pitch works wonders with handset manufacturers.

Rev 1.0 of the meme held no hope for Apple: Android will kill iOS just like Windows crushed the Mac. (We’ll deal with the Windows v Mac part in a moment.) But where’s the evidence Android is in any way ”killing” the iPhone? It’s certainly not happening in the US: The iPhone Accounted for 80 Percent of AT&T Smartphone Sales Last Quarter; for Verizon the portion was closer to 70%. Apple sold 62m iOS devices last quarter; reports of Apple’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. (The actual numbers might include some statistical double dipping due to activations, but that applies equally to all brands so the picture remains the same.)

In the meantime, an ABI Research study shows Android is losing market share. As with all research, we’ll keep the usual caveats in mind … and wait for the next study.

Let’s not forget the usual litany: Ah, yes, this is great, but Apple’s success can’t last. Some day, they’ll ship a dud; their arrogance will blind them; the toxic waste of success will kill them.

Sure, we all die. But when?

And aren’t those supposed to defeat Apple exposed to the same hubris, creeping mediocrity and belief in their own BS?

Another question: Where are Nokia, Motorola, RIM? The short answer: They’re all hurting:

• Nokia just posted a steep loss for the quarter, its smartphone revenue declined by 38%.
• Motorola (in the Android camp and soon part of Google) posted an $80M quarterly loss, selling only 200,000 tablets and 5.3M smartphones.
• As for RIM, we know they’re in a tailspin. RIM just kicked Messrs. Lazaridis and Balsillie upstairs and got itself a new CEO (actually, a recycled co-COO). Last year, RIM’s share of the US smartphone market fell from 19.7% to 16.6%. (I don’t know how market research firms justify the digit after the decimal point…)

And there’s more: It now looks like Nokia has taken the lead in a race to the bottom. According to Forbes, Nokia’s “feature phones” (aka “dumbphones”), make more money than mid-market Androids.
Nokia‘s $40 feature phones are vastly more profitable than Sony Ericsson‘s $200 Android models. This is not how the smartphone revolution was supposed to turn out.

This would explain why Nokia acquired Smarterphone AS, a Swedish company specialising in “highly advanced functionality on very moderate hardware.” Goodbye Symbian and Meego, hello Windows Phone and Smarterphone. This is going to be interesting.

Speaking of Microsoft, the Redmond company stubbornly refuses to recognise that it’s a Post-PC world. Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft’s articulate chief propagandist, contends that we’ve entered the “PC-Plus” era: The PC still holds center stage, and is enhanced by these new “companion devices’”.

With 15 million iPads and large numbers of Kindle Fires and other tablets, Microsoft’s PC For Ever cant is wearing thin. In 2012, Apple will sell between 50m and 60m tablets; we can assume that total industry sales will be in the neighborhood of 100m units. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, openly admits that the iPad cannibalizes Mac sales – and quickly points out that there’s much more to cannibalize on the Windows side.

Last quarter, the Windows business declined by some 6%. Worldwide PC sales were, at best, stagnant; if we remove the nicely growing Mac business from global numbers, Windows PC units actually declined by 8.5%. One you’re over the hill, you pick up speed …

But this shouldn’t be news. Read Paul Robinson’s comment on a Fraser Speirs’ blog post:
There will still be computers and laptops but we will return to a time when they are bought by programmers, hobbyists and tinkerers. Everyone else will buy a ‘computing device’ of some sort and be all the happier for it.

This was written exactly two years ago, on January 29th, 2010. The iPad had just been announced — and criticized for [insert your favorite faults here]. Fraser’s own post, aptly titled Future Shock, deserves to be read in its entirety. I’ll quote two choice morsels:
For years we’ve all held to the belief that computing had to be made simpler for the ‘average person’. I find it difficult to come to any conclusion other than that we have totally failed in this effort.

Secretly, I suspect, we technologists quite liked the idea that Normals would be dependent on us for our technological shamanism. Those incantations that only we can perform to heal their computers, those oracular proclamations that we make over the future and the blessings we bestow on purchasing choices.

…and…
If the iPad and its successor devices free these people to focus on what they do best, it will dramatically change people’s perceptions of computing from something to fear to something to engage enthusiastically with. I find it hard to believe that the loss of background processing isn’t a price worth paying to have a computer that isn’t frightening anymore.

In the meantime, Adobe and Microsoft will continue to stamp their feet and whine.

(See also Fraser’s concise explanation of iOS multitasking here and here.)

Microsoft isn’t stupid. They’re just saying what they have to say for today’s business. We’ll see how their PC-Plus story evolves when their ARM-based Windows 8 tablets ship later this year.

Third and last for today: Macintosh.

Although it now plays third fiddle to its iPhone and iPad siblings, the “historic” Macintosh looks hale: +26% in units, +22% in revenue. That’s $6.6B with an operating margin in the 25% range. Compare this to HP, the world’s largest PC maker. In its last reported quarter, HP booked about $10B of PC revenue, with a 6% margin.

The Mac has lost the pole position before: In 2006, Apple saw $7.4B in Macintosh revenue versus $7.7B for the iPod. Right before the iPhone introduction, Apple’s halo product was its music player.

Now, Apple is the iOS company. While the Mac first donated its software DNA to iOS, in the latest OS X Lion we witness the iPadification of the elder.

So far, my experience of OS X Lion is mixed. Is it because the gene splicing is still in transition? Or maybe simply Apple committed its elite troops to the iOS front, leaving things half-done on the Mac…

I’ll leave that discussion for another Monday Note.

—JLG@mondaynote.com

Up to 30 jobs are to go at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph. The papers’ publisher announced that the redundancies – which are not voluntary – are required in order to invest in new digital services.

Telegraph Media Group’s (TMG) chief executive, Murdoch MacLennan, wrote to staff on Monday to explain the company’s reasoning.

In the emailed letter, he conceded there are “very demanding” business prospects for the coming year, implying that it is a cost-saving exercise.

But he said the money saved would be reinvested in digital innovation, particularly in developing the papers’ iPad and Kindle editions.

He stressed that, despite the reductions, the overall staffing of the TMG titles is still larger than when the company was acquired in 2005 by the Barclay Brothers.

MacLennan wrote: “Today we have more reporters working here than we did then [in 2005], unlike many of our competitors who are struggling commercially, and in some cases making heavy losses.”

He also referred to the group’s wishes to capitalise on the 2012 Olympics, though was unspecific about what that meant in concrete terms.

TMG currently employs more than 500 editorial staff.

Source: Confidential private information

The creator of the iPhone may soon have more ready cash than the US government and analysts are speculating about acquisitions. But the firm may be more focused on a daring foray into pay television

Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, may be top of the league of America’s best-paid company bosses, newly showered with $378m (£240m) in cash and stock options, but his consumption has never been conspicuous. There are no superyachts, no garages full of luxury cars. Even after selling more than $100m in stock, Cook continued to rent a modest home. In 2010, with the multimillion-dollar Californian real estate market at his mercy, he eventually bought a four-bedroom, ungated property in Palo Alto for a grand total of $1.9m.

There may have been growing concerns about Apple’s human rights record at the factories in China that manufacture some of its products; but there was little evidence in its recent record-breaking results of consumers voting with their wallets.

Apple has now amassed an extraordinary $98bn cash pile. For the frugal Cook, it is an almost embarrassingly large sum. The hoard could easily reach $150bn by the end of this year – more than the US government’s operating cash balance.

Wall Street speculation about how Cook will choose to spend his reserves is now at fever pitch. Unconfirmed reports suggest the company is about to take one of the biggest gambles in its history: an internet-connected TV. If it works in the way the iPod and iPhone worked, the iTV will light a fire under Hollywood’s mighty film and cable television conglomerates in the way its predecessors disrupted the giants of music and mobile telephony.

An exciting prospect, but a frightening one for investors, who would prefer Apple to share some of its profits before gambling them on new ventures. The company’s late founder, Steve Jobs, was not a fan of dividends, and between 1995 and his death last year, Apple steadfastly refused to pay one.

Under Cook, the mood music has softened. “I would characterise our discussions today as active, about what makes the most sense to do with the cash balance,” chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said during a conference call last week. “But we don’t have anything to announce specifically today.”

After such hints, analysts now expect a payout this year. They may have an ally in Disney chief executive Bob Iger, who took Jobs’s seat on the Apple board. After successful collaborations on hit films Toy Story and Finding Nemo, Iger made Jobs his largest shareholder in 2006, when Disney paid $7.4bn in shares for Jobs’s computer animation studio Pixar (bought for a mere $5m in 1986).

Disney is a fan of big dividends. After record sales and profits, it increased its own shareholder payouts in December by 50% to $0.60 a share. The irony was not lost on Apple investors, who watched Jobs’s estate, the Steven P Jobs Trust, reap $82.8m from 138m Disney shares.

Around two-thirds of Apple’s hoard is held overseas, which limits the amount of cash that can be shared with investors because the US government allows businesses to defer paying tax on money earned abroad until it is repatriated.

Apple and two other technology giants, Google and Cisco, are lobbying Congress for a tax holiday on more than $1 trillion in offshore profits, but even so, Tavis McCourt at broker Morgan Keegan reckons Apple could fund a dividend from its US-earned cashflow alone, without having to dip into the reserves. This would produce a payout of between $10 and $11 a share each year. Failing that, a share buyback would be welcome – or Apple could blow a few billion on a major acquisition.

“Investors get scared about large accumulations,” warns McCourt. “The more cash stockpiles, the more fear builds they could make a big dumb acquisition.”

There are precedents for this among technology companies, as fading giants turn to retail therapy in search of a pick-me-up. Last year, Microsoft paid $8.5bn for loss-making internet telephony group Skype, while Hewlett-Packard, the world’s largest PC maker, parted with an extraordinary £7bn for the British search software group Autonomy after being faced with a decline in its core products, as tablets and smartphones gain popularity.

The often-cited possibility of Apple buying a mobile phone network would get a thumbs-down from Wall Street. Networks are expensive: America’s smallest national operator, T-Mobile, would have cost AT&T $39bn had the takeover deal been approved. Apple’s cash could buy it masts in its home market and two or three others – not enough to compete with a Vodafone or a Telefónica, but a surefire way of angering its best customers, the mobile firms.

There are two obvious big-ticket investments Apple might contemplate. The first would be to expand its army of 350 stores, particularly in the far east. As it branches out, Apple could accept lower retail margins in favour of better customer service.

Last year Chad Ramey, one of Apple’s “geniuses”, as it calls its technology helpdesk staff, quit its Arrowhead store in Glendale, Arizona after three years and published an open letter complaining of a drop in standards. The retail experience had gone from “something truly spectacular” to Walmart-style “big-box retail”, he warned. Employees were “forced to worry more about pushing business leads and reaching numbers, rather than truly focus[ing] on the customer’s problems,” wrote Ramey. A few more staff in a few more Apple stores could help customers feel more supported as they wrestle with all the new technology in their homes. The shops could have an important role to play if Apple forges ahead with its rumoured foray into television.

The company’s lips are sealed, but factory reports suggest a fully-fledged smart TV is planned for later this year. Unlike Apple’s existing TV gadget, a small box that connects your existing set to the internet, the iTV will come with a screen as well as a brain – and a subscription to iTunes, according to professional Apple-watcher Carolina Milanesi at research firm Gartner.

In the same way that iPhone buyers cut the upfront cost of the handset by signing a two-year calls contract with a network, customers could spread the cost of a TV by taking a subscription to rent films and drama series from the iTunes store.

Milanesi is convinced that the new device “will definitely come with a service”. “It will be what you have today on iTunes, with a subscription rather than just pay-per-view. What are they going to offer that Netflix doesn’t? It comes down to content. It has to.” To persuade customers to spend more, or even swap their Sky or Virgin premium channels in favour of an iTunes subscription, Apple will need an eye-catching array of content. But exclusive first-run pay-TV rights do not come cheaply.

Does Apple want to be a media company? Arguably, it already is. Gross revenues from iTunes, which totalled $5bn (£3.2bn) in 2011, are greater than ITV’s £2bn turnover and on a par with the BBC’s annual budget of £3.5bn. They are equivalent to a third of Amazon’s $15bn takings in 2010 for global media sales.

Of course, Apple may prefer to let others do the work. Its spokespeople took the rare step of going on the record to deny a recent report that it was planning to bid against Sky for English Premier League football TV rights.

In any case, online TV and film rental services such as Netflix and LoveFilm have financial firepower and are already snapping up top-flight content. And, foreseeing the threat, incumbent pay-TV operators like America’s cable companies or Sky in the UK will be manoeuvring to shore up their own position.

What video-on-demand companies need in order to achieve lift-off is the kind of user-friendly, elegant interface that Apple excels at creating. But whether or not Cook decides the future lies in selling pay TV, he will find it increasingly hard to resist sharing the spoils with Apple’s shareholders.