iPod Shuffle: the tiny device with the huge profits

BusinessWeek is reporting that Apple’s Shuffle 3G – retail price $79.99 – is made up of parts costing just $21.77.

Those costs, which include the headphones and packaging, represent just 28% of the retail price, meaning the tiny device likely has a huge profit margin. To put things into context, the components of the first iPod touch cost 49% of the retail price, while those used in the 3G iPod nano were around 40%.

Perhaps surprisingly given the low costs, the key components come from a big-name firm. Samsung provides both the main chip (at $5.98) and the flash memory ($10). The power comes from a lithium battery costing $1.20 which research firm iSuppli says is the smallest it’s ever seen.

Of course, there are other costs involved in producing a device such as research, staff wages and distribution. Apple says its overall gross margin on products is 34.7%. If that same margin applies to the Shuffle it will be taking in just over $20 per unit.

Given the price-to-cost ratio, you may be wondering why nobody has yet produced a ‘clone’ version which is considerably cheaper than the Shuffle 3G, but still gives the makers a healthy profit. PMP Today notes that though the components are cheap, the sheer task of fitting such small parts together requires a technology which is beyond the budgets of most knock-off firms.



Exmovere chariot transforms amputees into cyborgs look alike

Apart from looking extremely cool (For a geek, at least), Exmovere’s new chariot system will transform anyone who steps into it into a cyborg look alike. With a top speed of 12 mph, the device can be controlled by moving your torso around, allowing you to keep your hands free at all time. Even though anyone could use it, the chariot was primarily designed for disabled members of the US army, offering them “dignity, strength and increased mobility.”

[Via BotJunkie]

Eminem’s Bizarre Star Trek Homage

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Eminem’s unapologetic celebrity bashing isn’t exactly anything new, but the video released last week for the first single of his new album, “We Made You,” is actually kind of interesting (if at times kind of offensive) in that it’s almost like a pop culture time capsule for the last couple of years. One mostly about celebrity couples.

Though even if you’re not big on tabloid fodder, you might be amused by the rapper’s impersonation of Spock – on the bridge of the Enterprise, spying on Jessica Alba in the shower, and battling Samantha Ronson ala “Amok Time” while Lindsay Lohan watches from a nearby cage. There’s also a nod to Guitar Hero and Transformers.

If you missed them, the list of Eminem’s “Rock of Love”-style suitors is as follows (alphabetically): Jessica Alba, Jennifer Anniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Palin, Portia de Rossi, Samantha Ronson, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, and Amy Winehouse. And in case you didn’t notice, Britney Spears is a man, though quite a good likeness, I think. Also, Sarah Palin is portrayed by the same woman who starred in the “Nailin’ Paylin” porn film.

[Eminem – We Made You]



No Wrong Way to Eat a Peep? [Pics]

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

We’ve been told that there’s no wrong way to eat a Reeses, but what about a peep? In the tradition of some of the terrible, terrible things you can put into your body that this blog has shown you, I thought I would bring you one more. Serious Eats has convinced me that peeps are probably one more food that should not be deep fried:

peeps

If you think that looks yummy, you can follow the step-by-step recipe. But in the meantime, I’ve scoured up some other ways that people eat their peeps… After all, with peeps and other Easter candies half off on Monday, the frugal chef could make a few peeps go a long way.

Steeped Peep
peep1

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Leonard Nimoy Joining “Fringe”

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

My apologies for the unimaginative headline, but after reading several news stories yesterday with titles that involved Leonard Nimoy “beaming up” or “trekking over” to FOX’s show Fringe, I simply couldn’t perpetuate the lameness. (And I should note that what follows should not be considered any kind of spoiler for the show, as it has been fairly clear since the first episode that the character would show up eventually. Unlike recent Doctor Who casting spoilers.)

So yes, Nimoy has been cast as a peripherally important character that has yet to appear on-screen in the show – William Bell, the founder of the ominous Massive Dynamic corporation. My first thought was: isn’t he a little old for that role? But then I realized that though the character was once colleagues with John Noble’s Walter Bishop, I suppose there has been nothing to imply that they are the same age.

Still, I kind of dig the idea of him for that character; it makes me think of when he played Mustapha Mond in the made-for-TV version of Brave New World years ago… scientist-turned-all-powerful. Though my concern is that this might mean that the character gets short-changed, since I find it unlikely that Nimoy would be gearing up to be a regular on a TV series (though I could be wrong about that). I thought it was pretty tragic when Christopher Eccleston’s invisible man character on Heroes (one of the most interesting of the series, in my opinion) made a rather abrupt exit – and since it also seems unlikely that Eccleston will make a serious return to American television, it seems like a missed opportunity.

In any case, if you’re a fan of Nimoy and haven’t been watching Fringe you should check it out; you can catch up on Hulu, at least part of the way. The show’s really not bad at all – it’s been described as an X-Files wannabe, which is fairly accurate, but I think it’s entertaining enough to stand on its own. And Joshua Jackson is a decent enough actor that I’ve stopped having Dawson’s Creek flashbacks.

Only one in 40 e-mails is NOT spam

Microsoft has revealed that almost all e-mails sent today are spam – though the figure fell slightly with the disconnection of a hosting provider which numbered a major spam network among its customers.

The figures only relate to e-mails sent to customers of the Microsoft Forefront Online Security for Exchange service (FOSE) rather than the internet as a whole, though that’s a sample group big enough that it should be pretty representative of all web users.

In the second half of last year, 97.3% of all e-mails which went through FOSE were filtered out as spam. That figure is actually a slight drop on the first half of the year as the number of spam messages picked up by the system fell from around 80 billion to 50 billion after web hosting firm McColo had its connection cut.

Two internet service providers ditched McColo as a customer after an industry-wide investigation in conjunction with the Washington Post concluded the firm was hosting sites responsible for three-quarters of the world’s spam. It also hosted the bogus sales sites which many of the spam messages linked to.

As the Microsoft figures only go up until December, they don’t give any answer to the question of whether the spammers have been able to find new hosts and rebuild their network.

The report also shows that Microsoft’s anti-spam techniques continue to work more effectively. Until 2007, only around 60% of messages were marked as spam at the first filtering stage which looks at the origins of the message and whether it is properly addressed. Today that figure is 89.7%, meaning barely a tenth of spam makes it to the content filtering stage which looks for keywords.

There are also some cultural changes in the tactics of spammers. Microsoft broke down the subjects of spam mails for the first and second half of the year. The biggest rises were among general product advertising and pharmaceutical products, while there were sharp falls in the proportion of spams dealing with sexual performance drugs and stock tips.

The stock tips drop is likely down to the economy and a widespread lack of confidence in even ‘hot tip’ investments. The sexual performance drop (so to speak) may be misleading as there has been a large rise in the number of spams which come in the form of an image and thus the wording can’t easily be scanned.