Just as we promised in last week's Weekend Warrior feature, we kept a close eye on the aftermath of Apple's new releases and found that the Cupertino-based company had nothing but good things going for them this week. As a result, the homebrew community was also optimistic in its efforts to deliver substantial alternatives for iPhone users who are looking for goodies outside of the Apple box. Find out more of what we were able to cover over the past week in our full article.

Recent reports from Gartner's Client Computing Markets group revealed that Apple is now one of the top three PC vendors in North America. The Cupertino-based company saw phenomenal sales during the second quarter of the year, with a spike of 38% in sales alongside Dell and HP. Find out more in our full article after the jump.

Ever wonder when we'll ever see a 3G-compatible Apple iPhone? Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney thinks that we won't have to wait very long, and we won't be running out of stock soon either. Read more on what Ken Dulaney has to say about the iPhone's future, based on information he's received from certain Asian circles. All the information after the jump.

While it's good news that Intel and Micron introduced the fastest NAND flash memory chip to date, there's more good news on the horizon. A substantial decline in the price of NAND flash memory has gadget companies in a race to bring forward tech with larger storage capacities and lower pricetags. Details in the full article.

The iPod was a success - the iPhone was a success - the iPod Touch is a success. The effect? The word is spreading and the Mac is more popular than ever: research indicates that the company may move to become third strongest computer company in the US when it releases its latest quarterly report.

Currently, Apple may be moving at a faster pace than Microsoft which took nearly seven years to launch the Vista after Windows XP. Apple, on the other hand, is releasing a new operating system almost every year. Their latest, the Leopard version of the OS X, will actually be released this Friday.

Steve Jobs, on comparing the Vista and Leopard, commented that Apple's gives more value for money than Microsoft's Ultimate Edition (Vista's most elite version): "Everybody gets the Ultimate edition and it sells for 129 bucks, [...] the Ultimate edition of Vista [...] sells for 250 bucks."

Apple is particularly popular for its laptops. Two-thirds of a Apple machines sold in the US are laptops. In terms of revenue, Apple already outstripped the competition (because their machines are [generally] more expensive). A lot of their consumers are former Windows users who have crossed over to the other side, partly in thanks to the success of the iPod and iPhone.

The research firm Gartner has forecasted that Apple will rise 37% in the market. And if Leopard continues the tradition and sweeps the market off its feet, what's Apple's plan? Upgrades. Lots of product upgrades for the Leopard that might last for as long as a decade, says Jobs.

Research group Gartner has released the preliminary results of their Q3 2007 marketing report, which indicates Apple Inc.'s share of the U.S. computer market to be at 8.1%. As a point of comparison, Apple's market shares from the same time frame last year were at 6.2% - this indicates that the company enjoyed a 37.2% boost in growth compared to last year's figures.

Delving into these figures further, we find that Apple's U.S.-based Mac shipments for Q3 2007 totalled at around 1,338,000. The figures for last year are recorded to be 975,000 shipments. The Gartner report marks Apple as holding the third largest share among the U.S. PC market's top five vendors, although the company has experienced the biggest year-to-year growth among its competitors.

Hewlett-Packard experienced similar growth, with its market share increasing by 16.5% as compared to its figures from last year. Toshiba, just below Apple in Gartner's top five, reports 16.3% growth, while current market leader Dell experienced a 5.5% drop.

It'll be interesting to see how far Apple will go in the near future, or how the recently announced  Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 will affect their future sales.

This should spark some debates among the die-hard Apple-addicts reading this. Analyst house Gartner says that if Apple wants long-term success, it should do what game firm Sega did in response to the Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox. In case you're not a gamer, what Sega did was to retire from the game console manufacturing business and concentrate on software publishing and development.

Yep. In an ambitious analytical report, entitled "Apple Should License the Mac to Dell," Gartner is suggesting exactly that. Apple licenses Mac-making to Dell, and quit hardware manufacturing altogether, to concentrate on OS and software.

Why, oh why must Cupertino give up on those little bundles of computing joy to Dell? Same reason Sega bailed on their Dreamcast: competition. In Apple's case, Gartner believes that increasing market pressure will cut into Apple's profit margins with the Mac. This is because Apple is recently using Intel chips, which is also a big reason for a surge in Mac popularity, says Gartner. They also say that Intel, as a component maker, effectively "subsidizes" Apple production.

But with pricing pressure from other computer firms like HP, Gartner believes that Intel "cannot go on supporting Apple (or any other customer) indefinitely." Instead, Apple could license Mac production over to Dell - which also uses Intel chips, and is "Intel's closest ally" - which has a more robust production and marketing infrastructure in place. The firm even believes that by doing so, Mac OS could capture 20% of the market, and Macs themselves could become more affordable.

Will Steve Jobs take heed? Silicon.com's conclusion is that he's not worried much about Apple's position in the market - or about the competition either. Most likely not, in that case. Nothing in the report either about other Apple hardware, like the iPod and upcoming iTV. What do you guys think?

Mac OS X users are now safer from worms such as Blaster and they can thank virus-prone Windows for it.  According to the research group Gartner, Microsoft has more security plugs than Ted Danson's scalp that mass attacks have finally ceased.

Allthough the OS X has always been less attractive to attackers it doesn't translate to total invincibility. For one, Apple people are not safe from spyware. While there are not enough Macs around that make mass attacks worth the time, threats from deliberate attacks remain a possibility.

"Targeted attacks are difficult to prevent because many of them look like something that a user would do. The Mac OS puts good security around user activity, but this can still be overridden. Bottom line: pay attention to odd behaviour from any computer, it could be a hacker after your stuff. Don't just authorise anything that asks, think about it first," according to the firm.

It seems that as the demand for the iPod is growing, so does the market for flash memory. Even if shares of Apple Computer dipped to its 8-month low, there's no denying the fact that the iPod is still the most talked about and the most sought after mp3 player as of now.

The demand for mp3 players in general is what's keeping sales of NAND flash memories afloat. NAND flash-based players accounted for 80 percent of the market in 2005. On the other hand, hard disk drive (HDD)-based portable music players make up the remaining 20 percent of the market.

The conclusion that the high demand for mp3 players will equate to a high demand for flash memory was cemented by the study from research consultancy Gartner. According to Jon Erensen, Gartner research analyst:

"We expect Apple to introduce a new, high-end NAND flash-based iPod by the fourth quarter of 2006, and this player will most likely have 10GB to 12GB of storage capacity... The impact of an iPod with this storage capacity will have significant implications for the NAND flash market."

And since more demand means more profit in a lesser price, it isn't surprising to note that prices for NAND Flash-based players also went down which is a good thing for consumers everywhere. Erensen further speculates that a 16GB memory chip will be available in the third quarter for about $30, down from its current price of about $35. Apple's procurement power and investment totals are substation, so it is conceivable that it could get pricing for a device at $25 or even $20.

On one hand, Gartner predicts a 5.8 percent shortage of NAND flash supply in the fourth quarter of 2006 that will persist into the first quarter of 2007 with a 2.6 percent shortage. But amidst that, the research firm also wants to note that the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) market has been a direct beneficiary of the strength in the NAND flash market as massive capacity was converted from DRAM to NAND flash in 2005.

When I first got my hands on a 4GB iPod, I thought the memory is big enough to handle the songs I want following me in my everyday life. But as days pass, more and more more songs come out and my 4GB iPod is now down to a 100MB memory. I'm panicking. I want a bigger memory.

For most iPod users, the nicest choice in the market right now - in terms of sleekness - is the iPod Nano. But when it comes to memory, the smallest of the iPod's memory just doesn't cut it. The 30GB iPod is good, but it's just too bulky.

A Gartner report hints at a possible answer to this dilemma. The report looks into the possibility of NAND flash prices going down due to Apple's buying power. This will lead to Nano's increased capacity. The report goes:

"Gartner forecasts that a 16Gb (2GB) device will be available in the third quarter for about $30, down from its current price of about $35. Due to Apple's procurement power and investment, it is conceivable that it could get pricing for a device at $25 or even $20. This pricing would enable capacities of 12GB, leaving enough room for the remaining component and manufacturing costs as well as Apple's margin, while still reaching a $250 price point."

Hmm, a 12GB Nano? Sounds nice. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.