Posts in news


Looking for a Bag to Go with your New Mac?

We’re assuming at least one of our lovely readers has helped Apple reach new record breaking levels with all those Macs selling like hotcakes, and we wouldn’t be surprised if you were in need of a tote to carry your precious machine. Gizmodo reports that Timbuk2 is having one helluva sale right now if you’re interested in some quality bags, so we suggest you check out their (up to) 60% off promo-a-day for the opportunity to save some bucks and score some sweet shwag.

Timbuk2 Promo

[via Gizmodo]


Notes from Apple’s Earnings Call

Here are some notes we’re taking from the call:

Mac growth 33% vs. 22% PC;

iTunes Store revenue over $1 billion and growing 25% year over year;

Over 5 billions apps downloaded;

Over 100 million iOS devices sold;

9 million average revenue per Apple Store, 5.9MM a year ago;

60.5MM visitors compared to 38.6 a year ago;

Estimate cost of the iPhone 4 cases is about $175m ;

“We thought capacity of 1M iPad units per month was very bold. Analysts thought we might sell 1M units in the whole year.”

Tim Cook on the iPad: “It’s not following a typical early adopter curve taking a long time to cross into the mainstream”

[updating…]


Steve Jobs: “We have amazing new products coming this year”

Apple has just posted the official financial results for its fiscal 2010 third quarter, and once again they broke records established just a few months earlier in the first quarter.

Skimming through the press release this caught my attention:

“It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.”

Of course they have new products coming this year. He’s stating the obvious, but let me make a few considerations about it. The iPod Touch is set to go under a major overhaul in September, perhaps with the addition of a camera and FaceTime capabilities. We can pretty much bet on it.

What intrigues me is thinking about new Apple TVs and new Macbooks for the holiday season. Apple TV has been marked as a hobby many times in the past, but judging from Apple’s press releases and conferences, they keep on mentioning the device as if they’re teasing us. And what about Macs, which had the most successful quarter ever? What about rumors of Mac OS X 10.7 approaching advanced development stages?

My best guess is, Apple will roll out new Apple TVs (perhaps with Magic Trackpads) later this year, together with new Macbooks by the holiday season and new iPod Touches in September.

The Mac isn’t dead. The iPad 2 won’t be released until next year. Steve, surprise us.


Apple Breaking Records with Third Quarter Results

Apple has just announced their third quarter fiscal results for 2010. 3.47 million Macs were sold this quarter, setting a quarterly record with a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. iPod sales have predictably declined by 8 percent over the year-ago quarter, all while Apple managed to sell 9.41 million units. 8.4 million iPhones have been sold, representing a 61 precent increase, with 3.21 million iPads sold.

These are incredibly positive numbers for Apple all around, and Cupertino is claiming new records have been broken with record revenue earnings increase of 78 percent – a revenue of 15.7 billion dollars, with a new quarterly profit of 3.25 billion.

From Apple’s press statement:

“We’re really pleased to have generated over $4 billion of cash during the quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue of about $18 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $3.44”

Steve Jobs is reported as saying, “iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.”

The numbers for Macs sold are quite amazing, especially as people expected sales to be cannibalized by the iPad. Even when Apple’s not showcasing their prime product, Macs are practically flying off the shelves.

You can catch Apple’s entire third quarter press release here.


MacTech Conference 2010

Are you an IT professional looking at ways you can hone your skills on the Macintosh? Check out the MacTech Conference in Los Angeles from November 3-5th. Not only do you get to see Andy Ihnatko in his prime and glory, but you have the opportunity to listen to the great folks behind Delicious Monster and Red Sweater Software.

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US Mac Sales Grow 11% in June

How do you end a good fiscal quarter? By announcing that US Mac sales have grown 11% this month. While they’re merely estimates at the moment, the NPD Group revealed that Macs have been selling quite well, which should foreshadow positive results with this evenings release earnings report. As reported by AppleInsider, Analyst Gene Munster said that likely puts Apple on track to announce sales of between 3.1 million and 3.2 million in its quarterly earnings.

Mac sales were up a strong 35 percent stateside in May, following the introduction of the iPad in both Wi-Fi and 3G models. Those sales figures have been interpreted to suggest that Apple’s new portable multitouch device will not cannibalize Mac sales.

The iPod has taken somewhat of a hit, decreasing at rate of 10% year over year, which should result in an estimate of 9 to 10 million iPods sold.

[via AppleInsider]


Apps, Apps, and More Apps

What are the exact numbers behind the App Store? And the Android marketplace, or Palm’s one? What’s the most downloaded paid app ever? And average app prices? Here’s a interesting “infographic” for you, courtesy of Online MBA.

“They have become a filter for out world. Through them we can access information, games, entire virtual worlds. Not the internet, nor our computers, not tablets or laptops – just little programs on our phones. Millions of little programs. What are the real numbers behind these programs, and why are there so many of them?”

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