Oct 20, 2008 Oct 22, 2008 Tuesday October 21, 2008
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MMQuery plug-in update adds VersionAutoUpdate, more
Posted by Dennis SellersComm-Unity Networking Systems has released MMQuery 1.0.1, an update of the plug-in for FileMaker Pro that lets you work with your data through the calculation engine. The upgrade adds a VersionAutoUpdate function, ports changes and enhancements from other CNS Plug-ins and sees the addition of a Server Edition of the...
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Tonight on the 'Your Mac Life Show'
Posted by Dave MertenBob Staake is an award winning illustrator with not only a unique and distinctive style but also an unique philosophy regarding aspects of technology—for example, he's still using Adobe Photoshop v3! We'll talk to Bob about his art and his software on tonight's show.
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Lingoport, ENLASO webinar to be held Oct. 30
Posted by Dennis SellersLiningoport, a provider of internationalization services and tools, and Enlaso Corp., a provider of translation and localization solutions, will co-present a live webinar on Oct. 30, entitled “Managing Internationalization and Localization.”
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★ The Phone Company
For a long time — the entire decade of the ’90s and the first few years of this decade — the story of Apple was the story of a company searching for a way to be something other than “the Mac company”. From a financial perspective of revenue and profit, the Mac was Apple, and Apple was the Mac. This was problematic on two fronts. First, it was an “all of their eggs in one basket” scenario. If the Mac had sunk, the company would have gone under. Second, the potential for growth was severely limited by the fantastic success of Windows. The iPod was Apple’s first breakthrough success after the Macintosh. During some quarters in recent years, iPod revenue has run even with or (in holiday quarters) exceeded Mac revenue. The iPod solved both of the problems Apple faced as “the Mac company”: its eggs were now divided between two baskets, and they’d entered a field with room for significant growth. Last year, immediately after its debut, Steve Jobs began describing the iPhone as the third leg of the company. The numbers Apple released yesterday for its fourth quarter of financial year 2008 (July through September) back this up. The main thing you must keep in mind regarding Apple’s reported numbers for the iPhone is that they’re using subscription-based accounting for it. When you buy a Mac or an iPod today, Apple reports the entire sale as revenue for this quarter. When you buy an iPhone today, however, Apple reports the revenue split evenly over eight quarters. Apple’s interpretation of U.S. accounting regulations is that this is only way they can provide free feature upgrades over the course of two years. That’s why iPhone OS 2.0 was a free update for existing iPhone owners, but a paid update for iPod Touch owners. In the long run, Apple doesn’t make any more or less money from this. It’s just a method of accounting for the money they have made. (Indirectly, Apple clearly hopes that it helps sell additional iPhones, on the grounds that people enjoy getting “free” OS upgrades.) But in the short run, Apple’s iPhone revenue and profit are underrepresented in the company’s quarterly results — only one-eighth of the revenue from iPhones sold during the just-completed quarter appear in the quarter’s results. It also makes the iPhone numbers hard to compare against those of the Mac and iPod. So, Apple is now providing two sets of quarterly numbers. First, GAAP results with subscription-based accounting for iPhones and Apple TV. (GAAP stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.) Second, a new set up numbers — non-GAAP results — which, more or less, show what Apple’s quarterly numbers would look like if they weren’t using subscription-based accounting for the iPhone and Apple TV. Here’s what Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said during his opening remarks of yesterday’s analyst conference call: As we reported in our press release, iPhone unit sales grew significantly in the September quarter, resulting in a material increase in the amount of iPhone revenue and product costs that had been deferred for recognition in future periods. Specifically, deferred revenue from iPhone and Apple TV sales grew to $5.8 billion at the end of the September quarter, an increase of nearly $3.8 billion from the end of the June quarter. If iPhone revenue was not deferred, iPhone would have represented 39% of Apple’s revenue in the September quarter. This means, I think, that Apple generated more revenue last quarter from iPhone sales than from either Mac or iPod sales. The iPhone, just 15 months old, is perhaps already the strongest of the company’s three legs. And it’s not like iPod or Mac sales are down — compared to the year-ago quarter, Mac sales are up 21 percent in terms of units and 17 percent in terms of revenue, and iPods are up 8 percent in units and 3 percent in revenue. And in terms of the momentum of the iPhone OS as a platform, keep in mind that the iPod Touch is put on the books as an iPod, not an iPhone. (And Apple does not break those “iPod” numbers out into specific models; no one other than Apple’s top executives know exactly how many iPod Touches have been sold.) Steve Jobs rarely appears on Apple’s quarterly analyst calls. I’m pretty you can count on one hand Jobs’s appearances on these calls over the last 10 years. Typically, Jobs has appeared when Apple has bad news to announce. (His appearance yesterday seems to have been about addressing Apple’s plans for weathering the current worldwide economic downturn.) Here’s what Jobs had to say in his prepared remarks regarding Apple’s revenue and profit from the iPhone: As you can see, the non-GAAP financial results are truly stunning. By eliminating subscription accounting, adjusted sales for the quarter were $11.68 billion, 48% higher than the reported revenue of $7.9 billion, while adjusted income was $2.44 billion, 115% higher than the reported net income of $1.14 billion. Adjusted net income that is more than double our reported income — if this isn’t stunning, I don’t know what is, all due to the incredible success of the iPhone 3G. I would like to now highlight two remarkable milestones resulting from iPhone’s outstanding performance last quarter. The first is that Apple beat RIM. In their most recent quarter, Research in Motion, or RIM, reported selling 6.1 million BlackBerry devices. Compared to our most recent quarter sales of 6.9 million iPhones, Apple outsold RIM last quarter and this is a milestone for us. RIM is a good company that makes good products and so it is surprising that after only 15 months in the market, we could outsell them in any quarter. But even more remarkable is this — measured by revenues, Apple has become the world’s third-largest mobile phone supplier. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s true — as measured in revenues, not units, Apple has become the third largest mobile phone supplier. Let’s look at the ranking — Nokia is clearly number one at 12.7 billion; Samsung number two at 5.9 billion; Apple is number three at 4.6 billion; Sony Ericsson, number four at 4.2; LG, number five at 3.4 billion; Motorola, number six at 3.2; and RIM number seven at 2.1. Pretty amazing. So, last quarter: (1) the iPhone was a bigger revenue and profit generator than either the iPod or Mac; (2) Apple sold more iPhones than RIM sold BlackBerrys; and (3) Apple trailed only Nokia and Samsung in worldwide mobile phone handset revenue (and they’re not far behind Samsung). Jobs followed with this caveat: Now, both of these things, beating RIM in units and becoming the third largest mobile supplier in revenues are amazing feats but part of this was the result of expanding into over 50 countries and there’s no guarantee that sustained sales will equal initial sales. And who knows what the future results will be, given the worldwide economic slowdown but we actually outsold RIM last quarter and ranked as the third largest mobile phone supplier in revenues. Not bad for being in the market for only 15 months. He’s right that no one knows what the results will be for the current quarter (which start three weeks ago, and runs through the end of December) — but we can make an educated guess. Because it encompasses the entire holiday season, Apple’s October-December quarter has always been the strongest for iPod sales. A year ago, iPod sales went from 10.2 to 22.1 million from Q4 (Jul.–Sep.) to Q1 (Oct.–Dec.). Two years ago, they went from 8.7 to 21.0 million. Three years ago, 6.5 to 14.0 million. In terms of a multiplier, that works out to 2.17, 2.41, and 2.15, respectively. I.e., Apple consistently sells a little more than twice as many iPods in the holiday quarter than in the preceding quarter. We only have one year of data for the iPhone. Last year, Apple sold 1.1 million iPhones in Q4 2007. It went on to sell 2.3 million iPhones in Q1 2008 — a multiplier of 2.09, very much in line with previous years of holiday-quarter iPod sales. So, it seems quite possible that Apple could sell twice as many iPhones during the current quarter as it did in the just-reported quarter. If they did, that would be 13.8 million iPhones. Even if they fall short of that mark, they seem poised to sell about 20 million iPhones in calendar year 2008 — more than double their oft-stated goal of 10 million. Many analysts doubted that 10 million iPhone goal for the year; Apple might in fact sell 10 million iPhones in a single quarter. Even if sales are flat in the current quarter, it seems almost certain they’ll sell more than 10 million units in the first six months after the iPhone 3G went on sale. As for where this growth positions the iPhone industry-wide, recall Microsoft’s projections for Windows Mobile licenses this year: The warning signs were there. After boldly proclaiming that it would sell “more than” 20 million licenses to its Windows Mobile operating system by the end of its fiscal year on June 30, Microsoft later scaled that prediction back to “nearly” 20 million units. This week, however, the software giant conceded it did not hit its target: The company sold just 18 million units in the fiscal year. So not only is Windows Mobile growth significantly slower than what Microsoft had publicly anticipated, but the iPhone seems set to surpass unit sales of all Windows Mobile phones combined next year. In fact, given that Apple acknowledged during yesterday’s conference call that, including October sales to date, they’ve already surpassed 10 million iPhones sold for calendar year 2008, the iPhone may well already be outselling all Windows Mobile phones combined. The entire iPhone platform is only 15 months old. The cheapest model still costs $199. The room for growth in this market is unlike anything Apple has ever seen. So the question is: Despite continuing strong iPod sales and record-breaking Mac sales, how long until the iPhone is undeniably the primary product and platform made by Apple? My answer: Not long. And I think Apple’s executive team sees it the same way.
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Weightbot is new weight watching app for iPhone, iPod touch
Posted by Dennis SellersWeightBot is a new app for the iPhone and iPod touch that's available at the Apple App Store for US$1.99.
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Mac OS Ken: 10.22.2008
On today's special edition we talk with artist P.J. Holden about the app that didnât make the App Store â Murderdrome â and his time in Mega City 1.
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TAB Welcomes: Omar McFarlane
About time for a bit of a formal introduction. I officially started writing for TAB about a week ago and thus far have been loving my cohorts. I'm known to be a “jack of all trades”, so you will be seeing a wide array of posts coming from my direction. I tend to be a bleeding edge consumer when it comes to gadgets and am overly conscious of products' designs—nine times out of ten, if it looks unpleasant, I won't buy it. In terms of Apple fan-boy-ism, I'm no so much one as I am a person that generally agrees with Apple's overall decisions. As for my setup, I work on a Rev. A white MacBook, a 24″ iMac, iPhone 3G, and an Airport Express (which is solely for its AirTunes capabilities). Hopefully, come November, I'll be upgrading to the new MacBook, add on the LED Cinema Display, and bump up my Airport Express to the 802.11n version. Anything that increases productivity and reduces cable clutter is a plus in my book. I am so excited to be part of The Apple Blog team and look forward to reading your comments on what I write in the future. Cheers!
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PureBlend releases Maildash for iPhone, iPod touch
Posted by Dennis SellersPureBlend Software has released Maildash for the iPhone and iPod touch. It's available at the Apple App Store for US$1.99.
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Apple pulls Software Update for AirPort Extreme
Filed under: Airport, Software UpdateApple released AirPort Extreme Update 2008-003, but then pulled it several minutes later. The update now no longer shows up in Software Update, and the page it was on is missing from Apple's site. The update was originally recommended for all Intel-based Macs with Mac OS X 10.5.5. The update said it resolved "some issues with AirPort connections when roaming in large Wi-Fi networks." The file was available from this page on Apple's website, and via Software Update. It's unclear why the update was pulled, or if there are any consequences for those who have installed it already. If you installed the update, do you notice anything amiss? Let us know by leaving a comment. Thanks, Danny and Randall!Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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AdMob Bucks the Downtrend
AdMob is a rare start-up these days: its venture backers are happily forking over more money and it is hiring instead of firing.
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Lextech Labs' iRa Brings mobile surveillance to the iPhone
Posted by Dennis SellersLextech Labs has introduced iRa, a mobile high-end surveillance application. iRa is a remote surveillance viewing and control system that offers multiple live video feeds and direct camera pan-tilt-zoom control in an iPhone or iPod touch.
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Why the iPhone is now Apple's most important product
It's not just buzz that is generated by the iPhone: it throws off quite a bit of cash as well. Just under 40 percent of Apple's revenue can now be attributed to the iPhone.
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Other voices on the Apple earnings
Here's a roundup of what a few other publications had to say after Apple's earnings call.
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App stores shift power balance in mobile market
Apple, Google, and now Research In Motion are launching new application stores that will allow users to get third-party applications from them instead of their wireless carrier.
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Credit Market Trend - Fast Money Recap (10/21/08)
Recap of CNBC's Fast Money, Tuesday October 21. The Mood of the Markets
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After Hours: Apple, Yahoo led tech stocks higher in evening trades
Shares of Apple Inc. and Yahoo Inc. logged wins Tuesday evening, with stock in the computer and multimedia devices maker up by double digits after the company's quarterly profit exceeded Wall Street's outlook.
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iKey releases Keyboard with Bluetooth technology
Posted by Dennis SellersiKey has released a new industrial keyboard featuring Bluetooth wireless technology. It's a fully sealed, wireless industrial keyboard with an integrated touchpad.
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds court on earnings day
The rare appearance by the Apple CEO produces a few more pithy quotes than you would usually hear on an earnings call. Here are a few.
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New version of Boxee supports Hulu
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Apple TVWe've covered the Boxee social-networking media center application before, including the recent release that runs on the Apple TV. Now yet another alpha has been released that adds a long sought-after feature: internet flash video playback for "Hulu, CBS, Comedy Central and MySpaceTV." Other updates include improvement to UI performance as well as the ability to add your own RSS feeds manually, including those containing audio and video payloads (i.e. podcasts). This naturally opens the door to considerably more content for your Boxee device, whether it be a Mac, Apple TV, or even, perish the thought, an Ubuntu Linux machine.Unfortunately, Boxee remains invitation-only. However, you may register at the Boxee site to receive a future invitation.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Seeking Alpha’s Apple Earnings Call Transcript
These transcripts are a terrific resource provided by Seeking Alpha. ★
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Mac mini may have had the final nail put it its coffin
Two European retailers have allegedly been told by Apple that Mac minis are no longer available for order. Is this a signal of an update, or the Mac mini's retirement? Read More...
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Sonic Boom Makes a Firecracker Out of Your iPhone
Smule — of Sonic Lighter fame — launched their second app over the weekend, Sonic Boom. As you can probably imagine, it turns your iPhone into a virtual firecracker that can be lit, either with your finger (as a virtual match that you actually have to strike to ignite) or a second iPhone running Sonic Lighter. Sonic Boom, like its sister app, is more gimmicky than anything else and is hardly feature intensive. You can change the size of the firecracker or the fuse, slow down the explosion, and wrap your stick with a picture from your camera roll. You can also rummage through the debris afterward, however the graphics are nothing to phone home about and are on par with what you would expect from a 99¢ app. (more…)
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H2O Audio iDive 300 makes scuba diving iPod compatible
Posted by Dennis SellersH2O Audio, a watersports music company, has announced its new solution for scuba diving, free diving and snorkeling: the iDive 300 (US$349.99). The new iDive “Deep Dive” waterproof housing and over ear speakers provide iPod users with the ability to take their podcasts, training videos, music and movies to an...
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Apple F4Q08 (Qtr End 9/27/08) Earnings Call Transcript
Apple Inc. (AAPL) F4Q08 Earnings Call
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Apple up 11 after Q4 conference call
Filed under: Apple FinancialApple shares were higher by over 11 points in after-hours trading following a very positive Q4 conference call where the company announced a profit of $1.26 per diluted share. As we noted in our liveblog earlier, Apple posted a profit of $1.14 billion on revenues of $7.9 billion for the quarter. The company also said it had sold 2.6 million Macs, 11 million iPods, and 6.8 million iPhones in the three months ending September 27. It's safe to say we're past the 10 million mark for iPhone unit sales. Apple's margins for the quarter fell by a tenth of a percent from Q3 to 34.7 percent. During the Q3 conference call, Apple was careful to mention that margins would be lower for the quarter due to a new product announcement. That guidance was out of an abundance of caution, and executives noted that all new product announcements related to that margin guidance have been made. Apple's margins this time a year ago were 1.1 percent lower, at 33.6 percent. Steve Jobs himself was on the call, a rarity, and he crowed about how Apple sold more handsets than RIM did. He also mentioned Apple's significant cash reserves of $25 billion and lack of debt. The conference call made no mention of the exclusion of FireWire on new MacBooks, nor any confirmation that the Mac mini line could either be seeing a refresh or end-of-life. Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Read My Lips: Apple Is a Netbook Maker
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs hinted Tuesday that the company will jump into the netbook category.
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MacBook and MacBook Pro review
Filed under: Laptops Way back in the hazy salad days of 2001, Apple worked up a bold revamp of its flagship laptop line, the Powerbook. The company, in the pursuit of stronger, lighter, more attractive materials, moved from the black plastic casings it had used for its G3 computers to a sleek titanium shell. It was the onset of a new era in Macs. The basic look was clean and simple: squared edges, a roomy and functional layout, a matching pair of stereo speakers to either side of the keyboard, a consistent silver coloring throughout. In 2003, the company refined this design, replacing the titanium with lighter-weight aluminum and heralding in one of the most recognizable and persistent pieces of industrial design in the computer industry. The MacBook Pro (as it became known) has remained largely unchanged in the five years of its existence -- in fact, the look and feel of the laptop has become such a staple of the Apple lineup that it's almost as representative of the company as the Apple logo itself. But five years (or seven in the long view) is an awful long time to see one design, and the user outcry for significant updates has been nearly constant. Those cries were answered last Tuesday, when the company announced the long-rumored (and badly leaked) refreshes for both the MacBook Pro and MacBook lines. As with most of the modern designs emanating from Cupertino, these are evolutionary -- not revolutionary -- steps, but they're drastic in comparison to the stale, familiar versions of our not-so-distant past. Beyond the spit and polish of the Air- and iMac-inspired casings, the company has re-upped the internals as well; new graphics chips, a completely new motherboard design, and some slashing and burning of familiar ports are part of the new packages. So did Apple deliver the goods on what is arguably the most anticipated laptop release in recent memory, or has it failed to meet the absurdly high expectations placed upon it... and is that even possible? Read on to find out. Continue reading MacBook and MacBook Pro reviewPermalink|Email this|Comments
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Kerio MailServer 6.6 takes another swing at Exchange
Filed under: Software, ProductivityKerio has released version 6.6 of Kerio MailServer, another push forward in their campaign to take a bite out of the Microsoft Exchange market. We mentioned the ActiveSync capabilities of Kerio MailServer in July, and have noted the expanding capabilities of the 6.x releases as an increasingly viable alternative to Exchange. Version 6.6 encompasses a variety of improvements, including expanded features for mobile and iPhone users. Two items which stand out prominently are the addition of resource scheduling and the Exchange Migration Tool. Resource scheduling allows shared company resources -- anything from conference rooms and projectors to company cars -- to be scheduled and reserved using MailServer's shared calendars. Access controls can be specified by administrators for each resource, and a "Reservation Manager" can be assigned with add/edit/delete priveleges. Mac users can access the resource schedules through Entourage or iCal (although Kerio is less thrilled with the inelegance of the iCal solution and its LDAP dependencies). PC users have access through Outlook, and everyone can schedule resources through Kerio Webmail, which is fully compatible with Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer. The Kerio Exchange Migration Tool is provided free of charge to Kerio 6.6 users, and is designed to take a lot of the fear out of making a transition from Exchange to Kerio. It runs on a Windows box (works fine with virtualization) between the Exchange and Kerio servers and, in about 4 clicks, transfers all of the existing Exchange data, users, etc. to Kerio MailServer. Additional features in 6.6 include improved iPhone support (with HTML email and attachment viewing), and an iCal auto-configuration script which is generated by the server for each Mac user. The auto-configuration sets up CalDAV and LDAP to work with Kerio, handling all of the details without requiring the user to know anything more than their own machine's administrative password and their Kerio MailServer login information. The new version maintains the same prices, starting at $499 for 10 users ($599 with McAfee Anti-Virus) and add-on packages for additional users starting at $120 (+5 users). Current users with a subscription can, as far as I can tell, upgrade for free.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple releases AirPort Extreme Update 2008-003
Posted by Dennis SellersApple has posted AirPort Extreme Update 2008-003 . This update is recommended for all Intel-based Macintosh computers running Mac OS 10.5.5 and resolves some issues with AirPort connections when roaming in large Wi-Fi networks.
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Macworld: New MacBook Pro Benchmarks
Fast. ★
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MarketWatch First Take: Apple trots out special guest to quell investors' nerves
Your next-door neighbor probably can predict what's going to happen with the economy about as well as Apple Inc. can.
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The iPhone hockey stick
Apple sold more iPhones in the quarter ending September 30 than it sold during the entire first generation.
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Dave Shea on CameraBag
Fun $5 iPhone app that runs photos through filters that attempt to replicate the look of old cameras. As Shea says, it makes lemonade out of the iPhone’s lemon of a camera. ★
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Oct. 21 'Macsimum Podcast' now available
Posted by Dennis SellersThe Macsimum Podcast for Oct. 21 is now available here and the RSS feed is here.
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Apple Gazette Daily 369 - Q4 Financial Results, iPhone Dev Interview, Macworld 2009
podcast sponsor link:Click Here to check out Blogflux Groups! Today's Show: Q4 Financial Results, iPhone Dev Interview, Macworld 2009 You can subscribe via iTunes, or by RSS feed, or… you can listen to the episode right here: In addition to that, you can also download the Apple Gazette Daily Widget and listen to every episode of the show right on your Dashboard. Click Here to download.
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Apple Q408 results out: 6.9m iPhones sold, record Mac sales UPDATE: Steve answers analysts' questions
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, LaptopsHey, turns out that people seem to like a little thing called the iPhone 3G. Apple just announced that it's sold 6.9 million of 'em during its financial fourth quarter, beating out the 6.1 million total first-gen iPhones sold in the previous five quarters -- and beating RIM's total sales this quarter, which Apple seems excited about. Of course, that represents worldwide availability in 51 countries vs the initial US-only launch, so it's not totally unexpected that the numbers are up, but it means that Apple's hit its goal of 10 million iPhones sold in 2008, which should cause some celebration in Cupertino. Apple also seems pleased with Mac sales, which are up 21 percent over a year ago to 2.6 million -- more than it's sold in any other quarter ever. All that combines with 11 million iPods sold for a total profit of $1.1 billion on revenues of $7.9 billion -- that's a lot of scratch. Still, times are tough, so Steve, do you have a seemingly-cautious statement about the US economy that also doubles as a smug shot at your competitors? "We don't yet know how this economic downturn will affect Apple. But we're armed with the strongest product line in our history, the most talented employees and the best customers in our industry. And $25 billion of cash safely in the bank with zero debt." Yeah, we thought you might.PS.- The analyst call just finished with a special appearance from Steve Jobs, who took questions. Head past the break for our semi-liveblog transcript of the good parts. Continue reading Apple Q408 results out: 6.9m iPhones sold, record Mac sales UPDATE: Steve answers analysts' questionsRead|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Steve Jobs discusses low cost computers, the economy, the Apple TV, netbooks, more
Posted by Dennis Sellers In Apple's conference with the press and analysts regarding Apple's fourth fiscal quarter, CEO Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance. He usually leaves this to Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer and Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook (who were also on hand).
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Apple Q4 Earnings Call Liveblog
Filed under: Apple Financial, LiveblogWe're covering the Apple earnings call live via CoverItLive, starting at 5 pm ET; you can listen to the call in QuickTime here.Topline results from Apple: 1.26 per share on revenue of 7.9B, net quarterly profit of 1.14B. 34.7 % gross margin. 2.6M Macs shipped in the quarter, 11M iPods, 6.9M iPhones. Sold more phones than RIM (!). For up-to-the minute coverage of AAPL, check out AOL Money or BloggingStocks.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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News: Additional notes from Apple's Q4 2008 conference call
In its fourth-quarter 2008 Quarterly Results Conference Call, Apple Inc. executives CEO Steve Jobs, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and COO Tim Cook made several comments concerning the iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. At the start of the call, Oppenheimer stated that because deferred iPhone revenue has grown so much — to $5.8 billion at the end of the September quarter, or more than 39% of Apple's total revenue had it not been deferred — the company…
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Apple sells most Macs ever in a quarter
Posted by Dennis SellersIn a conference with the press and analysts regarding Apple's fourth fiscal quarter, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer says that Apple sold more Macs during the quarter than at any other quarter in the company's history. Over 2.6 million Macs were sold.
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Macworld hotel booking under the magnifying glass
Filed under: Macworld, Analysis / OpinionAre you planning on attending Macworld Expo in January? If you are, you might want to start the process of booking a hotel room (if you have not already) so that you can ensure close proximity to the Moscone Center and (theoretically) better rates.Today on Twitter, @MacworldExpo tweeted the following message:Beware of imposters. IDG World Expo is the only company authorized to contract with hotels for rooms for Macworld. http://tinyurl.com/5emlyeThat link goes to the Macworld Expo Hotel site, where you can review the approved show hotels and rates. While we think that attendees should certainly be warned about "imposters" or "fraudulent" booking companies, there is something about the underlying message that just doesn't sit right with us.Continue reading Macworld hotel booking under the magnifying glassRead|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple officially surpasses 10 million iPhones sold in 2008
Apple announced its Q4 2008 financial results today, and revealed that it has already met its goal of selling 10 million iPhones in the calendar year of 2008 with several months to go. Read More...
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Macworld’s Live Coverage of Apple’s Quarterly Earnings Call
Rare appearance from Steve Jobs — he’s only appeared on a handful of quarterly financial calls since 1999. Also: Apple is officially past goal of 10 million iPhones for calendar year 2008, with the entire holiday season ahead. The main points: Apple’s subscription-based accounting for iPhone sales makes it easier to overlook just how much money they’re making from the iPhone. If not for subscription accounting, iPhone would account for 39 percent of Apple’s quarter. Apple sold more phones than RIM last quarter: 6.9 vs. 6.1 million. Measured by revenue, Apple is the third-largest mobile phone supplier in the world, behind only Nokia and Samsung. And they’ve been in the market for just 15 months. Also: Excellent live coverage from MacJournals on Twitter. ★
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Apple Q4 2008 earnings highlights (updated 2x)
Apple’s fourth quarter 2008 earnings conference call is currently under way, you can listen live via QuickTime. Highlights include: Revenue of $7.9 billion ($6.22 billion in Q4 2007) Net quarterly profit $1.14 billion ($904 million in Q4′07) Net quarterly profit $1.26 per diluted share ($1.01 in Q4′07) Gross margin was 34.7 percent (up from 33.6 percent in Q4′07) International sales accounted [...]
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Podcast #61: Is the Mac mini Dead?
Rumors swirl over the death of the Mac mini and Apple and Psystar agree to settle out of court. An indie-pop band is chosen for our weekly, "Keep or Delete." Each week we download and review the free iTunes song of the week and decide whether we're going to keep or delete the file. This week's artist: read more
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Apple profit rise 26%; iPhone sales reach almost 7 million units
Apple Inc. reports a fiscal fourth-quarter profit that rose 26% from a year ago on revenue of almost $8 billion and increases in sales of its Macintosh computers, iPods and iPhones.
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Apple Beats on Profits, Misses on Sales, Cautions on Future
Apple (AAPL) this evening reported sales that just missed estimates, but profit that was well ahead of expectations for its fiscal Q4 ending in September. The company forecast both profit and sales lower than estimates for the current quarter. Sales rose 27%, year over year, to $7.9 billion, while profit came in at $1.26 per share.
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Social networking for iPhone: Fliq your friends
Filed under: Software, Freeware, iPhone, App Store, iPod touchLongtime Mac developer Mark/Space, Inc. has just announced their first app for iPhone, and it's free.Fliq (click opens iTunes) runs on the iPhone and iPod touch and is billed as a "real-time social networking app between friends in close proximity." If you and your friends are on the same Wi-Fi network, and if the free Fliq app is running on all of your iPhone or iPod touch devices, you can send contacts and photos to each other. Upon launching Fliq, a list of nearby devices also running Fliq is displayed (see screenshot). After selecting who to Fliq information to, a screen prompts you to send your pre-selected "business card", another contact, or a photo to the other iPhone.In practice, Fliq works very well. My wife and I were able to send photos and contact information back and forth with no issues. I'd like to see Bluetooth transfer capabilities built in for those situations where there's no nearby Wi-Fi network.The Fliq Web page notes that Fliq will soon have the ability to transfer contacts and photos to a Mac or Windows PC.In the interest of full disclosure, blogger Steve Sande has done consulting work for Mark/Space in the past, although not for this product.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Macs in Your Neighborhood: Des Moines, IA
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Haddock, President of the Haddock Corporation, an Apple reseller that has been in the Mac business seriously since there have been Macs. I first found Haddock a couple of years ago when, in a panic over accidentally wiping out my hard drive in some kind of strange Linux experiment, I needed OS X installed and couldn't find my install disks. Not only that, but loading Linux had rewritten the boot record of the disk and wiped out how the Mac looked at it, resetting it from GUID, which the Mac installer requires, to MBR. Long story short, I couldn't load OS X back on my MacBook. So, I called around town and was pointed at Haddock. I dropped by and explained my problem, and the staff booted my MacBook into target disk mode and mounted it on another Mac, and then fixed the disk with Disk Utility. I was very, very grateful for their help, I almost thought I had ruined my Mac! Haddock earned a customer that day with their honest help and technical expertise. (more…)
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Apple announces $7.9 billion in revenue
Posted by Dennis SellersApple has announced financial results for its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter that ended Sept. 27. The company posted revenue of US$7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share.
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Bloomingdales selling Beatles-themed iPods
Posted by Dennis SellersUS department store Bloomingdales is selling Beatles-themed iPod classics, reports Macworld UK. The price tag? US$795.
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News: Apple CEO Steve Jobs: iPhone sales “too big to ignore”
Making a rare appearance during the company's quarterly results conference call, Apple CEO Steve Jobs discussed several topics, including iPhone sales, the App Store, and the economy. Notably, Jobs compared Apple's iPhone sales in the quarter to that of rival Research In Motion, stating that Apple “beat” RIM by selling 6.9 million iPhones compared to RIM's sales of 6.1 Blackberry devices. “Even more remarkable,”…
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Review: Fieldrunners for iPhone appeals to Tower Defense nerds
Tower Defense for the iPhone? Where do we sign up? Ars takes a look at Fieldrunners and finds that it's an addictive game at a good price, despite its foibles. Read More...
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iPhone 3G has record-breaking quarter
Posted by Dennis SellersIn a conference with the press and analysts regarding Apple's fourth fiscal quarter, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer says that Apple sold more iPhone 3Gs in the quarter than it sold during the entire run of the original iPhone.
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Apple sells most iPods ever in non-holiday quarter
Posted by Dennis SellersDuring the fourth fiscal quarter, Apple sold more iPods than it ever has in any non-holiday quarter. The company sold 11,052,000 iPods during the quarter, representing eight percent unit growth and three percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter.
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Apple Q4 2008 Financial Results
iPhone, iPod, and Mac sales are all strong: Apple shipped 2,611,000 Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing 21 percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 11,052,000 iPods during the quarter, representing eight percent unit growth and three percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 6,892,000 compared to 1,119,000 in the year-ago-quarter. “Apple just reported one of the best quarters in its history, with a spectacular performance by the iPhone — we sold more phones than RIM,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We don’t yet know how this economic downturn will affect Apple. But we’re armed with the strongest product line in our history, the most talented employees and the best customers in our industry. And $25 billion of cash safely in the bank with zero debt.” So they’ve sold just over 13 million iPhones to date, and over 9 million in calendar 2008 alone. Given that the remaining three months of 2008 are the holiday season, Apple’s “10 million in 2008” goal looks like a sure thing — given that the current quarter started three weeks ago, they’ve probably already done it. Also, the 6.9 million iPhones sold last quarter are more than the 6.1 million iPhones sold in the previous five quarters combined. ★
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Apple retail store revenues grow 37 percent year-over-year
Posted by Dennis Sellers In the fiscal 2008 fourth quarter that ended Sept. 27, Apple Store revenues grew 37 percent year-over-year. Apple opened 31 new stores, bringing the total to 247 worldwide.
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Apple announces Q4 Results - 6.9 Million iPhones Sold
Full Press Release below — Apple(R) today announced financial results for its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter ended September 27, 2008. The Company posted revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $6.22 billion and net quarterly profit of $904 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, up from 33.6 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 41 percent of the quarter's revenue. In accordance with the subscription accounting treatment required by GAAP, the Company recognizes revenue and cost of goods sold for iPhone(TM) and Apple TV(R) over their economic lives. Adjusting GAAP sales and product costs to eliminate the impact of subscription accounting, the corresponding non-GAAP measures* for the quarter are $11.68 billion of “Adjusted Sales” and $2.44 billion of “Adjusted Net Income.” Apple shipped 2,611,000 Macintosh(R) computers during the quarter, representing 21 percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 11,052,000 iPods during the quarter, representing eight percent unit growth and three percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 6,892,000 compared to 1,119,000 in the year-ago-quarter. “Apple just reported one of the best quarters in its history, with a spectacular performance by the iPhone — we sold more phones than RIM,” said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. “We don't yet know how this economic downturn will affect Apple. But we're armed with the strongest product line in our history, the most talented employees and the best customers in our industry. And $25 billion of cash safely in the bank with zero debt.” “We're very pleased to have grown revenue 35 percent and to have generated $9.1 billion in cash in fiscal 2008,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. “Looking ahead, visibility is low and forecasting is challenging, and as a result we are going to be prudent in predicting the December quarter. We are providing a wide range for our guidance, targeting revenue of $9.0 to $10.0 billion and earnings per diluted share between $1.06 and $1.35.” Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2008 financial results conference call utilizing QuickTime(R), Apple's standards-based technology for live and on-demand audio and video streaming. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq408/ and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.
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Apple profit soars, but outlook 'challenging'
The quarter gone by was excellent, as expected, but the company offers cautious guidance for the current quarter, which coincides with the all-important holiday shopping season.
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Apple's New Ads Ridicule Microsoft's New Ads
"Metamarketing" may not exist in Merriam-Webster's files, but for a visual definition, all one has to do is check out the latest Apple ads that are all about -- the latest Microsoft ads. If you're a fan of the "I'm a PC, and I'm a Mac" ads featuring actor/writer John Hodgman as the Microsoft whipping boy and actor Justin Long as the epitome of Apple coolness, then you may have been waiting for this latest shot across Microsoft's bow from Steve Jobs ever since the world's largest software company pulled its expensive Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercials out of network rotation.
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New MacBooks adding NVIDIA hardware H.264 decoding?
Filed under: iTS, Multimedia, Rumors, Macbook Pro, MacBookSomething interesting has popped up with the new NVIDIA graphics hardware in the unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros: hardware H.264 decoding. MacRumors is reporting that owners of the new MacBooks are seeing considerably less CPU usage when playing high definition H.264 content on the new machines versus the previous generation. One user reported his new MacBook running at only 28% CPU utilization while playing a 1080p video versus 100% for his older MacBook Pro running at the same clock speed.It's been known for some time that NVIDIA has been including hardware decoding in their chips, but this appears to be the first time that Apple has actually implemented support for it in OS X. Some are speculating that this signals big things for the future of QuickTime X in Apple's forthcoming Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) and future 1080p video content in the iTunes Store and may be connected to Steve Jobs' recent dismissal of Blu-ray. Of course, none of this has been confirmed by Apple, but it does appear to be the best explanation for the performance increase we're seeing in the new machines.[via I, Cringley]Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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News: iPods sales top 174 million, 13 million iPhones sold
According to sales numbers provided by Apple in its quarterly results releases, the company has now sold more than 174 million iPods, and more than 13 million iPhones. “iPhone had a breakout quarter. Nearly 6.9 million sold, exceeding the 6.1 million shipped during entire lifetime of first-gen iPhone,” said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, speaking during the company's quarterly results conference call. Oppenheimer added that Apple has…
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CNET News Daily Podcast: Will there be an Android invasion?
Our mobile phone reviewer thinks the G1 hype is unlikely to rival that of the iPhone. Also: job cuts in the tech sector might not be as bad as you think.
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Earnings alert: Yahoo posts earnings, confirms layoffs
Plus: Apple posts strong profit, but hedges on next quarter...VMware profits up 28 percent...AMD reports smaller loss, better revenues...Google notches profit gain.
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Cooliris brings Web image search to the iPhone
Cooliris' eye candy-filled Web image search tool is now available on the iPhone and it's bound to knock your socks off.
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LittleSnapper sneak peek
Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Internet Tools Video link Last month, our friends at Realmac Software teased us with some screenshots of their newest application, LittleSnapper. LittleSnapper is a program that will let you take screenshots of full web pages, with adjustment and sharing features similar to Skitch. The Realmac team has now produced a video (above) showing off how you can capture a web page, select a specific element from that page and quickly upload the image to Flickr. The video also shows off how LittleSnapper can be used to organize web screenshots into collections -- kind of like iPhoto -- complete with metadata. For me, the DOM selector (it looks similar to what CSSEdit uses) is the most intriguing aspect of LittleSnapper. It isn't uncommon for me to want to grab a specific section from a web page, only to find that the image is embedded within the stylesheet. I can manually select that section with Snapz Pro or Skitch, but that can lack precision and will ultimately require me to spend more time prepping screenshots. LittleSnapper is expected to be released at the end of the year.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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'Macsimum Recommended Reading' for Oct. 21
Posted by Dennis Sellers“Apple's next act: Changing PC buying habits: With all the presidential campaign talk about American exceptionalism, it might be easy to forget that we do a pretty unexceptional job at some things — like shopping for computers.”—Fortune
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News: Apple sells 11.05 million iPods, 6.89 million iPhones in Q4
Reporting its fourth-quarter financial results today, Apple said it sold 11.05 million iPods during the quarter — more than an eight percent increase compared to the same quarter last year, and slightly more than the 11.011 million sold in Q3. It also sold 6.89 million iPhones in the quarter, up from 1.119 million in the year-ago quarter and an artificially-low 717,000 in Q3 2008. The company posted revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly…
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DroboApps go live, they grow up so fast
Filed under: StorageData Robotics launched the Drobo dev program in beta back in July, and it looks like things have worked out swimmingly -- the company just officially launched the first set of DroboApps, including an iTunes server, DLNA server, BitTorrent client, and FTP server. Over 100 developers have joined the Drobo Developer Connection, and there are more than 20 apps available now -- a number Data Robotics expects to grow quickly. You'll need a DroboShare NAS adapter to take advantage of the new apps, of course -- a $199 toll we'd like to see integrated into a future unit. We'll see how it goes, though -- we see a lot of potential in this sort of NAS / server hybrid.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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LittleSnapper Preview Screencast
After loving Plasq's Skitch for a while now, I didn't think I could have feelings for another screen capture utility. At an early glance, it appears I may need to re-evaluate my former stance. Now a days, I'm really looking forward to LittleSnapper from Real Mac Software. Today the Real Mac folks have released a great screencast of the application doing its thing, sharing screen captures, and I can't be more excited! It looks very slick visually, and extremely organized for those hoping to keep their Pictures folder in a somewhat presentable state. Writing for The Apple Blog — and for far less important reasons — I take lots of screen shots, so features such as these have a lot of utility for me. There's a lot of other great looking features that I can't wait to play with. Go ahead and take a look at the video below and you too can get excited. (more…)
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Apple stops shipments of Mac Minis
According to Gizmodo Apple has apparently stopped shipping new units of Mac Minis to retailers. The two major European retailers who are cited as the primary sources also note that they have both been told not to expect any future shipments — which pretty much kills the idea that this is going to lead to a refresh. The last time the Mini was updated was Nov of last year, and while I would like to think that this all means that we'll be getting a Mac Nano in the near future (I mean they did just FINALLY release an updated display) - but it's far more likely that this is the end of the road for the consumer Mac that isn't an All-in-One. We may hear something about this today on the quarterly conference call which will be held today at 2:00 PT/5:00 ET. You can listen to it here. I'll be very sad to see the Mini go. It was my first Mac - and without it, this blog would not exist. Ye will be missed little fella. *sniff*
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Whither the Mac mini?
Filed under: Rumors, Mac miniGizmodo is citing two major European retailers, who have said they are not expecting any more Mac mini shipments from Apple. This could mean one of two things: either a new model is soon to be announced, or the line will be discontinued as early as today's Q4 conference call. Many people love their Mac minis, turning them into everything from low-cost web servers to roll-your-own DVRs. It was originally intended for switchers who didn't want or need to replace their screen, keyboard or mouse, but wanted the Mac experience. On Amazon.com, the MacBook continues to be Apple's best-selling computer, followed by the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The Mac mini comes in third, ahead of the 24-inch iMac. As someone with a family member interested in a Mac mini, this doesn't bode well. What do you think this means? Will Apple have another ultra-low-cost Mac waiting in the wings? Leave us a comment with your predictions.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Yamaha ships AudioGram, offers rebate
Posted by Dennis SellersYamaha Corp. of America is now shipping their new AudioGram 6 (pictured) and AudioGram 3 Computer Recording Systems. Recently named Best in Show at the annual NAMM music trade show, these audio interfaces are designed to turn a computer into a tool for recording from virtually any microphone, instrument or...
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Apple's Guiding Light
How will the market respond to Apple's (AAPL) Q4 earnings expected out later today?What key factors should we look at to determine if Apple is a Buy at these levels? I see four key elements to analyze regarding Apple's current position and today's earnings release:
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Apple: Common Sense Ahead of Earnings
Investors now stare face to face with what has become the most terrifying day on the calendar: Apple (AAPL) earnings. Apple is leading the technology revolution with their innovation. They have transformed the music industry. They have transformed the cellphone industry. Their computers are selling at better than 6 times the industry average. The consumer slowdown hasn't touched sales. So why are shares down below $100? Why can't this stock separate itself from broad market fears? Will money ever return to high growth? Could Apple really drop down to the $80s after this report?Questions like these are on the minds of investors everywhere; here is a dose of much needed perspective:
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App Store continues to exceed iTunes song sales growth
Prince McLean, AppleInsider Mobile software sales for the iPhone and iPod touch continue to grow faster than even iTunes’ groundbreaking song sales growth, building a critical mass to attract both new iPhone buyers and additional Cocoa Touch software development for Apple’s mobile platform. iPhone App Store continues to exceed iTunes song sales growth
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Apple patent involves method, system for controlling an accessory having a tuner
Posted by Dennis SellersAn Apple patent (number 7441058) for a method and system for controlling an accessory having a tuner has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. The invention relates generally to electrical devices and more particularly to electrical devices such as portable media players that communicate with accessory devices.
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iPhone App Graveyard: It's where unloved apps go
Filed under: Developer, iPhone, App Store, SDK, iPod touch, Jailbreak/pwnageWe know of a few iPhone applications that were unloved by Apple. What are we talking about? You know ... the cool iPhone applications that developers make -- then Apple doesn't approve of them, and they never see the light of day again (or maybe they do). Needless to say, there are probably more iPhone applications out there that we don't know about. That is the basis of the iPhone Application Graveyard -- it is a website designed to document all of the rejected iPhone applications. The site is run by Peter Hosey of Growl and Adium fame. Developers can email him tidbits of information about their unloved application, and he will post it to the site. Which rejected application do you wish you could have on the App Store?Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Ramjet offers memory for MacBook, MacBook Pro
Posted by Dennis SellersRamjet now carries DDR3-1066 RAM for the new aluminum MacBook and the black bezel MacBook Pro. The new MacBooks and MacBook Pros have two slots, and memory is to be installed in matched pairs.
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Some MacBooks shipping with loose battery covers
According to a thread on MacRumors some people have reported problems with the new aluminum MacBook’s battery cover coming loose. One user writes: The cover was fine at first, but after i took it off for the first time, when I put it back on it didn’t go as tight, and started moving around creating gaps [...]
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invisibleSHIELD released for new Apple laptops
Posted by Dennis SellersZAGG a company providing protective film coverings for personal electronics, has introduced the invisibleSHIELD for the new MacBook 13-inch and MacBook Pro 15-inch models. You can order them now for US$43.96, 20 percent off the regular price.
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Apple patent involves connector interface system
Posted by Dennis SellersAn Apple patent (number 7441062) for a connector interface system for enabling data communication with a multi-communication device has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. The invention relates generally to multi-communication devices and more particularly to a connector interface system for such devices.
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Enfocus introduces PitStop Extreme
Posted by Dennis SellersEnfocus has announced the availability of a new addition to the PitStop product family. PitStop Extreme is a standalone PDF editor for checking and correcting PDF files. PitStop Extreme also incorporates Enfocus' preflighting engine and Certified PDF technology to prevent editing errors and safeguard the file.
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Apple patent is for computer system for automatically instantiating tasks designated by a user
Posted by Dennis SellersAn Apple patent (number 7441250) for a computer system for automatically instantiating tasks designated by a user has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. The invention is directed to the interface between a computer and a human user of that computer, and more particularly to an interface which...