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Analysts on Wall Street are worried that Apple may have passed its peak in attracting consumers to the latest, newest iPhone offering.  Traditionally releasing a new iteration of the popular smart phone every year, the iPhone has become the phone of choice for many of the nation’s tech-savvy and fashion conscious.  Now, however, that trend may be changing as more and more are purchasing older, less costly last-generation phones instead.

The shift towards cheaper phones has begun to nibble at Apple’s profit margins, as these older phones are often sold by stores and providers at deeply discounted prices as Apple sells off its remaining old-generation inventory at bargain basement prices to promote its latest and greatest.  Currently, many service providers like AT&T and Verizon are giving away the iPhone 4 for free or nearly so with a contract signing or renewal.  Compared to the $199+ iPhone 5 (with contract), that becomes a no-brainer for many consumers intent on keeping costs low and who seem to see little to entice them with the newest Apple offering.

Apple, of course, downplays the significance of this and points to its “black hole ecosystem” – a tendency of new Apple customers to remain Apple consumers, coming back again and again as brand loyalty remains high for the company.

Further, Apple’s self-released sales figures show continual growth.  The company sold 4 million of the iPhone 4S in 2011 in its first three days whereas the iPhone 5 sold five million in that same amount of time last September.  Further, prices for the new iPhone 5 have dropped earlier than with older models on their release, indicating that Apple may be seeing the sales slump and working to mitigate it.

Finally, the growing trend of buying older phones also means that Apple’s other profitable venue, apps, are suffering as those who purchase older, less capable phones tend to also buy fewer apps for them.

Nissan teamed up with Microsoft’s DigiGirlz program to host a technology open house at its American headquarters in Tennessee.  The event, lead by former Tennessee Titans cheerleader Jennifer Hill – who is now a process engineer at Nissan – brought in teenage girls from the area to showcase the high-technology that goes into today’s automobile and give them a glimpse into the types of work they could be doing were they to choose science and tech as a career choice.

Nissan says that, like most companies, it’s struggling to find qualified, talented engineers to fill its needs and that of those who do apply, only about eighteen percent are women.  Many, like Hill, have a passion for engineering but choose to pursue other careers first because they believe they won’t get the opportunity again.  Hill says that she is an example of how women can choose to pursue all their dreams, not just one, and become what they want to be.  In her case, she was a professional dancer for two Tennessee sports teams and used that to pay for her college education to pursue an interest in engineering.  ”I wanted to dance and I also wanted to pursue a career in technology, and I decided to do both,” she said in a keynote.

You can see some of the young women Hill inspired during the event in Tennessee in a video by going to this Nissan video.  Nissan is aggressively targeting technology for in-house development and recently opened a new tech center in Silicon Valley to more than double the size of its tech arm in the Americas.

In today’s digital society, people, especially the younger generations, often share more over social media than they should, according to Lane Sutton, a 15-year-old social media coach and entrepreneur.

According to the “State of the Net” report, a staggering 52 per cent of social media users disseminate risky information online. Only 20 per cent of teens change their privacy settings to make sure that their content can only be viewed by friends, reported McAfee.

For teens, the issue with over-sharing is not just limited to the act itself but also its subsequent effect. For example, a 17-year-old who posted pictures of money was later robbed, while a waitress was fired for complaining via Facebook about a couple who only left a US$5 tip despite occupying a table for three hours.

Although sharing online makes it easier for people to remember and enjoy photos, memories, and other important things, sharing could also lead to problems like those encountered by the teens mentioned above.

To avoid giving away a dangerous amount of information, you should only share with real friends. If you want to share something personal, do it in person and talk about it with people you trust. Moreover, don’t blurt out something online that you would never say in real life.

Second, disable location services on applications in your smartphone so that unscrupulous individuals can’t track you down. Bear in mind that some apps such as Girls Around Me and WeKnowWhatYou’reDoing facilitate stalking by gathering information on online users who have enabled their location services.

A new video from MySpace features its new front man, Justin Timberlake, and shows the new direction the former social networking giant plans to take.

As Facebook began to dominate the social networking scene, MySpace found itself losing relevance – fast.  The network morphed, somewhat haphazardly, into a music-centric “band profiles” network, replacing its former social networking with a more artist-focused persona instead.  Integrating song players and other tools, it has come to be the place for independent artists as well as well-known artists who want to cultivate an “indie” image.  While not as financially successful or user-intensive as its former self, MySpace has continued to soldier on as a social destination.

Not long ago, new direction was given when singer Justin Timberlake became a front man and investor in the company, promising to turn the musician’s network into a bigger, better platform.

Now, with the release of this video, MySpace is showing how they will be doing that.  It looks like one part Facebook, one part Pinterest, and one part iTunes mixed into a bowl to make a new MySpace cake.

Just going by the video, this new MySpace will be prettier, more socially music oriented, and much easier to navigate and use.  Gone is the old, oudated format the site has relied on for years and in comes a new graphics-centered layout with a more intuitive, smart phone-like look and feel.

Definitely an improvement and it will be fun to see how quickly this rolls out and how well accepted it will be once it does.  I see good things for MySpace.

Apple is expanding its iDevice buyback program to include the iPhone 4S.  Many take this as further indication that a new iPhone will be launching this month.  The 4S buyback is part of Apple’s recycling program.

Apple stores buy back Apple devices from users looking to trade up, taking both inoperable electronics (phones, tablets, notebooks) and ones in perfectly good working order for resale.  In return, sellers get store gift cards to use towards their next purchase or for anything else in the Apple Store, including iTunes.

While the iPhone 4S was not announced as a new buyback item, it was quietly added to the list last week and recent retail discounts on the phone are both seen an indication that Apple will be launching a media event for a new iPhone sometime very soon – most assume this month.

Currently, Apple is paying over $200 for a working 32GB iPhone 4S if it has all accessories.  One in good shape can fetch as high as $280, in fact, and is pretty close to what many who purchased a subsidized phone from a plan last year through Verizon or AT&T probably paid.

Apple isn’t alone with this type of program.  Most of the major cellular carriers are doing so now as well, with all Apple carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon) all offering buybacks for in-store (online or off) credit. The difference is that those carriers will only sell you a phone that works on their network, so if you switch, you’re out of luck.

Apple has partnered with PowerON for this buyback and to whom devices mailed in go for evaluation.  While your dollar figure might vary according to your phone’s type and condition, this may be a good way to take some of the sting out of a costly upgrade.

Capitalizing on America’s fastest-growing televised sport, Twitter began a slew of Nascar-based (or should we say #NASCAR based) ads during the 2012 Pocono 400.  The ad features driver Brad Kaselowski using his phone to share his point of view with the world.

Brad finished 24th in the race, by the way. Not a very promising start if Twitter wants to get into racing itself, but the commercials are a good beginning for the social media giant.

A series of ads then commenced, both online and off, promoting the #NASCAR hashtag, which has its own page on Twitter now at http://twitter.com/#nascar.  That leads to a NASCAR branded page which syndicates tweets using the tag.  It’s the first of what will likely be many corporate-sponsored hashtag pages on Twitter.

The hashtag plan for NASCAR was announced last week by the Twitter Sports & Entertainment Team, which shows that the company is getting serious about that kind of advertising.  Team lead Omid Ashtari explained how the hashtag pages work in a blog post last week:

Throughout the weekend – but especially during the race – a combination of algorithms and curation will surface the most interesting Tweets to bring you closer to all of the action happening around the track, from the garage to the victory lane.Anyone watching the Pocono 400 on Sunday — even if you’re not a current Twitter user — can visit twitter.com/#NASCAR watch the race unfold from every angle, and get insider access to all the places the cameras can’t take you. For example, teams will update you with information about how their car is performing in the race and what their strategy will be when they come into pit road. You’ll also see photos from the pit and read what the drivers and spotters are saying in the heat of the moment.

The use of hashtags in commercials on TV and billboards is not unusual anymore and Twitter would have been remiss had they not tried to capitalize on that as a marketing plan.

Here’s the first commercial aired, called Brad’s View: