12-March-2009
Apple launches the new, third-generation iPod Shuffle
This related article by TidBITS linked to a funny skit made way back in 2006 (hosted on NerdNirvana.org) that has a fake Steve Jobs showing off the “iPod Micro” and successively smaller iPods.
The 3rd-generation Shuffle sure looks uncannily similar to the “Micro”.
View high-quality unboxing photos of the new shuffle. There are ample close-up images and side-by-side pics comparing the 3G shuffle with the second-generation unit.
23-January-2009
Gary Hustwit posts a rare photo of Jonathan Ives inside the design studio of Apple at California
(Full copyright to this photo belongs to Gary Hustwit of ObjectifiedFilm.com)
A short snippet on what the movie Objectified is all about can be found at MacRumors.com.
22-January-2009
Apple’s Q1 2009 financial results
Apple just announced its quarterly results, and it looks the brutal economy isn’t bruising the fruit at all — the company posted a record $1.61B profit on $10.17B in revenue. Adjusted to reflect the subscription accounting Apple uses for the iPhone and Apple TV, that’s $2.3B of income on $11.8B of revenue.
More coverage:
- Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 first quarter ended December 27, 2008.
- Apple’s best quarter ever: revenue, iPods, earnings
- Apple reports record profit for first quarter – tons of charts to look at.
- Apple Earnings Call: Live Update
- Liveblog: Apple’s Q1-2009 conference call
- Notes of interest for Apple’s Q1 2009 financial results call
- Apple Posts $10.2 Billion Q1 2009 Results
- Apple: We’re not a one-man show Tim Cook, Apple’s COO, was quoted in full as saying:
There is an extraordinary breadth and depth and tenure among the Apple executive team. And these executives lead over 35,000 employees that I would call all “wicked smart.” And that’s in all areas of the company, from engineering, to marketing, to operations, sales, and all the rest.
And the values of our company are extremely well-entrenched. You know, we believe we’re on the face of the Earth to make great products, and that’s not changing. We’re constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple, not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollinization of our groups, which allows us to innovate in a way others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit where we’re wrong, and the courage to change.
And I think regardless of who is in what job, those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well. And I would just reiterate a point Peter made in his opening comment, that I strongly believe that Apple is doing the best work in its history.
- International sales rescue Apple from US retail slump
22-January-2009
New QuickTime 7.6 addresses quality, security
Quicktime 7.6 fixes these security issues.
21-January-2009
Apple upgrades plastic MacBook with 9400M
Apple has without fanfare updated the white
plasticpolycarbonate MacBook to use NVIDIA’s 9400M platform. The upgrade gives the least expensive portable the same graphics performance as the aluminum model and upgrades the processor to the same 2GHz Core 2 Duo and 1,066MHz system bus as the mid-range version. It also doubles the amount of minimum built-in memory to 2GB.
21-January-2009
The Mac at 25
MacWorld has written this article to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Mac and the MacWorld magazine. I like the cover photo of Steve Jobs introducing the world to the Mac:
Other related articles to celebrate the event:
- The Mac at 25: Interface design
- The best Mac ever
- Three things OS X could learn from the Classic Mac OS
- The Mac at 25: Processors
- The Mac at 25: Successes, regrets, Apple’s had a few
- Six things Apple needs to do right now
- The Mac at 25: Portability
- The Mac at 25: Software
15-January-2009
Four third-party Web browsers appear on Apple’s App Store
Some new, nifty web broswers for your iPhone, but nope, not Opera of Firefox.
15-January-2009
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees:
Team,
I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.
In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.
I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.
I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.
Steve
MacWorld has put together a report covering this email. Read a related discussion thread at AppleInsider.
Well, get well soon, Steve, and all the best to you and your family during this difficult period.
13-January-2009
Apple inks 5-year, $500 million display deal with LG
AppleInsider says:
Apple has entered into a strategic, long-term agreement with LG Display Co. for the supply of flat panel displays through the year 2013, according to regulatory filings made Monday with Securities and Exchange Commission.
07-January-2009
Apple introduces iLife ’09 – read the press release. TidBITS gives a summary of the huge improvements in iMovie ’09.
07-January-2009
iTunes goes DRM-free. Read reports by:
- CNet. The file format will still be AAC-based.
- MacWorld.com:
It’s the culmination of something Steve Jobs said that he was setting out to accomplish way back in February of 2007 when he published his open letter, Thoughts on Music.
07-January-2009
The new, 17-inch “unibody” MacBook Pro is announced.
07-January-2009
MacWorld 2009 coverage link list:
- A recap by CNet.
- MacWorld Expo 2009 summary at Obsessable.
- MacWorld.com.
- Engadget.
- MacRumorsLive.com. For live coverage, I think this site does it the best. It updates in real time, you just leave your browser open at the page and the information updates on its own. The photos stream in automatically – it’s as if you were viewing a time-lapse photography in process.
- Leaked screen capture of iWork ’09 being listed in Apple’s Top Downloads.
06-January-2009
Sources: Apple to expand DRM-free music, new pricing
If true, this means you’ll be able to finally buy DRM-free songs from iTunes. AppleInsider has an analysis on this piece of news.
06-January-2009
Announcing Picasa for Mac
After a long wait, Google finally releases a version of Picasa for the Apple Macintosh platform. Read about my experience using Google Picasa for the Mac.
06-January-2009
Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs
Steve assures everybody that his health is fine, and also says:
For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.
03-January-2009
Enjoying the show, avoiding the flamethrower: life inside Apple
This article by Chuq von Rospach provides additional insight into how it’s like working in Apple, and for Steve Jobs.
15-December-2008
Amazon MP3 (AMZN) Not Killing iTunes Yet (AAPL)
How was Amazon’s (AMZN) first year in the MP3 business? Not great: Music industry execs peg Amazon’s market share between 5% and 10%, according to MediaMemo — similar to the 8% to 10% we reported in July. Meanwhile, Apple’s kept its 70%+ share.
19-December-2008
Apple TV at the center of Apple’s latest lawsuit:
Specifically, EZ4Media claims that Apple TV, AirPort Express, and Macintosh personal computers infringe upon patents 7,130,616, 7,142,934, 7,142,935, and 7,167,765, which were issued between October 31, 2006 and January 23, 2007. Each of the patents were obtained by EZ4Media from Universal Electronics, Inc. this past March.