CUPERTINO- Apple Computer announced to the surprise of the computer
industry that it plans to partner with a number of other companies to
supply products in deals similar to that announced recently between the
Company and Hewlett-Packard. Among these new cooperative ventures
are:
Apple and Campbell's, maker of the world-famous soup, announced
today that consumers will get a free iTunes code with every can of
Campbell's soup. Purchasers will need to eat their entire bowl of soup
to see the code at the bottom spelled out in Alphabet Soup letters.
Apple and car parts maker CarQuest will begin marketing an iPod
upgrade kit that will accompany their Octaphonic 2 MegaWatt QuakeShaker
stereo system. A built-in dock includes a vibration dampener, which is
needed to isolate the iPod's hard drive from the earth-shattering
vibration that can, incidentally, initiate nuclear fusion in soda cups
in your SUV's cup-holder.
Apple and online bookseller Amazon.com
have announced a deal with authors Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Michael
Chrichton, Dave Barry, and John Grisham to provide exclusive audio book
content playable only on Apple iPods and available only through
Amazon.com. The authors issued a joint press release stating that while
they didn't expect to make much money on the deal, they were doing it
to keep the maximum "cool factor" they could with their
grandchildren.
Apple and the Fox television network have announced that through a
promotion this spring, the audio track from its show The Simple
Life will be playable only through Apple iPods. The transmission
will appear to be silent to all other users, and in appreciation cable
ratings for Fox and sales of iPods are both expected to skyrocket,
although it is unclear if the majority of iPod sales will be to fans of
the show or their housemates.
Apple announced it would include a free iMac with the sale of every
new top of the line iPodDeluxe (the model built around a RAID pair of
200 GB 3.5" drives), effectively partnering with itself to increase
sales of its desktop computer system. "We think that the success of the
iPod will ultimately translate into greater market share for the iMac,
and what better way to do it than to directly force purchasers of an
iPod to take home an iMac as well," said iCEO Steve Jobs. The new price
of the iPod combo, clumsily named the combo Mac with iPodDeluxe, is
expected to debut at $1,895 US.
Stay tuned for other partnership announcements as we unearth
them.
