Apple has sorta kinda gotten its way - like it got its way with the iPhone trademark. It wanted IBM VP and MPU maven Mark Papermaster, portrayed by IBM as a walking library of IBM trade secrets, to start running its iPod and iPhone engineering in November; IBM sued to enforce Papermaster's sacred year-on-the-beach non-compete and persuaded a court to enjoined the guy from working at Apple. On Tuesday the companies came to terms.
Despite the recession and consumer fears, Apple posted record numbers for the fourth calendar quarter, surpassing $10 billion in revenues for the first time in its life, hitting $10.17 billion, up 5.8%, on earning of $1.6 billion, or $1.78 a share, whizzing past its $1.06-$1.35 guidance. Wall Street thought it was good for $1.39 on $9.75 billion. Mac sales were up 9% to 2.5 million units, which is what estimates had forecast down about 100k units sequentially – Apple blew off any netbook threat – but iPods, regarded as something of loss leader, were up 3% to 22.7 units thanks to international sales. iPhone unit sales were up 88% to 4.4 million units, down from 6.9 million in the September quarter and short of expectations. The sales at Apple retail stores were down to $7 million a site from $8.5 million. Apple is notorious for its soft guidance. It said it expects to realize 90 cents-$1 on revenue of $7.6 billion-$8 billion. Wall Street had Apple down for $1.13 on $8.2 billion. Apple figures its gross margin will be 32.5%, down a little more two points. The launch date of Snow Leopard, the next Apple OS, is still a mystery like Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ health. Apple had nothing to contribute to that discussion. It did however suggest that it might take the Palm and its new Pre multi-touch interface to court. Apple COO Tim Cook, Steve Jobs’ stand-in while he’s on medical leave, said – without talking about “any specific company” of course – “We will not stand for having our IP ripped off.” Jon Rubenstein, the former head of Apple hardware, is now executive chairman of Palm.
No one can doubt the success of Apple's iPhone, as it's now sold in over 70 countries and to date has well over 13 million units in use. I have been keeping a close watch and I’m sure that each one of us can say that they have seen one in use by a friend, neighbor and even a passerby in the street. It is my opinion that the success story has happened not just because the iPhone is a great device, but it is the all-around user experience that it creates which makes it so compelling!
Bloomberg says that the SEC is reviewing Apple’s disclosures about the health of its CEO Steve Jobs “to ensure investors weren’t misled.” Great, Apple has little credibility and the SEC is trying to redeem its own sunken reputation. In a separate story Bloomberg said Jobs, now suddenly on medical leave until June after claiming a few days before that his anorexic-like condition could be fixed simply enough – a turnabout that whipsawed Apple’s stock – may have a liver transplant as a result of complications from his 2004 cancer surgery.
The iPhone 3G has arrived in Thailand with the mobile operator True Move. According to the website iPhones Talk, Apple reportedly negotiated for some time to get the phone into the country. Despite its potential appeal in the Thai market, there is speculation surrounding how many Thai users will be able to take full advantage of the iPhone 3G’s rich features due to spotty 3G coverage and lack of education about the phone’s advantages, in addition to the lack of heavy data related usage there.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Wednesday in a company e-mail that he’s going to take a medical leave of absence until June and that COO Tim Cook will take over day-to-day operations as interim CEO. The news is bound to set off speculation that Jobs won’t be coming back. In his last message right before MacWorld Jobs explained that his gaunt appearance was due to an undisclosed hormonal imbalance and that he would remain on the job while he recovers.
i2Telecom International announced that its mobile phone solution, MyGlobalTalk, has been submitted to Apple for inclusion on its iPhone App Store. MyGlobalTalk is a free downloadable application that will allow iPhone users to place inexpensive phone calls to destinations anywhere in the world for as little as two to three cents per minute via their carriers’ cellular voice networks. This contrasts sharply with the current methods in which users place regular calls via their mobile phone service providers at prices that can easily reach or exceed one dollar per minute when calling locations outside of the U.S.
Quickoffice announced the release of MobileFiles Pro, said to be the first application to include editable Office functionality for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The upgrade brings comprehensive editing and saving of Microsoft Office Excel files in the .xls format, Wi-Fi file transfer to and from a desktop (Mac and PC), and the ability to access and synchronize with Apple MobileMe accounts.
AssistiveWare announced that it will preview its product, Proloquo2Go, which uses Acapela Group’s forthcoming iPhone text-to-speech to provide a full-fledged communication solution on the iPhone and iPod touch for people who cannot speak. Also to show is the upcoming version of Infovox iVox, which introduces new British, Italian, Greek, Norwegian and Russian voices for the Mac.
IGG Software announced the forthcoming release of iBank Mobile, a native iPhone counterpart to iBank 3. Capable of running on both the iPhone and iPod Touch, this new release will be available exclusively for download from the iTunes App Store in the first quarter of this year. Among the new application’s highlights: — iBank Mobile can be run as a stand-alone app. — Existing iBank users can sync iBank data and new transactions from mobile devices using a MobileMe account for continual updating with a WebDAV server; or directly via Wi-Fi to a local machine running iBank.
Recursion Software announced the release of Voyager 7.1, a pervasive software platform that now enables Smartphones and other small devices to access OSGi services remotely. OSGi-based architecture is predominantly used in embedded environments, yet the mobile and embedded software landscape continues to merge with products like Voyager and OSGi-enabled hardware, such as Sprint Titan OS-based phones, MIDP 3.0 phones, and internet and telco routers from companies such as Cisco and Eurotech.
Palm took the wraps off its overhauled mobile operating system introducing a touch-screen phone in hopes of winning back customers from rivals like Nokia and Apple. Palm debuted the Palm Web OS, the new operating system created under the watch of former Apple executive Jon Rubenstein, who helped create the iPod. Palm also introduced the Pre smartphone, a touch-screen device enabled with GPS, Wi-Fi, and a slide out full keyboard. It will be available in the first half of 2009.
... Since there was not many new exciting iPhone demos at the MacWorld Keynote, we decided to release some of our own. Check out Cut & Paste from a real PowerPoint doc to Word. It works with Citrix! Let us know what you think of the file navigation application as well. Nothing to announce regarding release date...but we are making good progress.
Best Buy announced that it is offering refreshed Apple iPhone 3Gs at store locations nationwide, claiming to be the first retailer to do so on a national scale. Three-hundred and fifty Best Buy Mobile stores have begun selling the Refreshed iPhone 3G at $149 for the 8GB model and $249 for the 16G model, with both requiring a two-year service contract. New iPhone 3Gs currently retail for $199 (8G) and $299 (16G) at Best Buy Mobile.
The reason Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been looking like a wraith is due to a mysterious new hormone imbalance that was hard to diagnose but now it has and Jobs expects to fatten up by summer. Jobs released a statement saying so Monday morning hours ahead of MacWorld opening apparently to head off further distracting speculation that he’s on his deathbed because his 2004 pancreatic cancer is back. It’s something he could have done when Apple suddenly announced last month that he wasn’t going to give his famous keynote at MacWorld, a move – officially attributed to some mumble about it being Apple’s last appearance at the IDG show – that simply fed the speculation and depressed Apple’s fragile stock price.
iHome unveiled the details of its 2009 home audio product line, including a variety of new speaker solutions featuring a wide range of styles, price points and feature sets. iHome’s 2009 line-up includes: iP1 Speaker System for iPod/iPhone, iP71 iPhone/iPod Computer Speaker System with Computer Sync allowing users to hook up their iPhone/iPod to a PC, and the iH15 LED Color Changing Stereo System. Other iHome home audio units include the iP9, iH4, iP41, iH12, iP47 and iH51.
Transparent Language announced the release of its new Byki language-learning application for the iPhoneand iPod touch. Byki for iPhone and iPod touch sells for $9.99 per language – with an early-bird price of only $7.99 during the first 30 days of availability for each language. It currently comes in French and Spanish, with more languages – such as German, Italian, Japanese, and others – in the works.
NuageProduction released four applications for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch that help users customize access to thousands of international media sources. The NuageProduction solutions enable users to personalize content index from ever-expanding directories of TV networks, radio stations, print media, RSS feeds, and Web pages. The applications work on 3G, Edge and Wi-Fi networks, and in Airplane Mode with unique streaming and downloading options. Video access requires a Wi-Fi connection.
Soonr has announced the launch of an iPhone application that uses cloud computing to keep users in touch with their documents. A free version is available from the Apple App Store with expanded versions offered through mobile operators and SaaS providers. Soonr makes the documents on a Mac or PC completely mobile. When the computer is online, Soonr automatically and instantly backs up the user’s files in a "personal cloud." iPhone users get a view of all their documents - whether they are Word, Excel, PowerPoint or virtually any other file type.
"As many of you know," Steve Jobs tells the Apple worldwide community in a heart-rendingly frank memo, "I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority." He's gotten a diagnosis, is now undergoing treatment, and intends to continue as Apple's CEO during his recovery.
ShapeWriter simultaneously announced the launch of its text entry products on Windows Mobile, Android, and Windows XP/Vista with its upgrades to WritingPad 1.0 for the iPhone, now called ShapeWriter 2.0. Rather than “hunting and pecking,” ShapeWriter 2.0 allows users to produce an entire word on a touch keyboard with a few gestures. For example: a stroke that roughly connects the w, o, r and d keys is recognized by ShapeWriter’s algorithms as the word “word.”
SayType.com is offering a service that uses voicemail to instantly turn talk into text and send converted messages to any phone, e-mail address or license plate. SayType also searches the internet and translates messages into selected languages. In 2008, the CTIA reported 85 billion text messages are now sent each month, a number expected to reach 8 trillion annually by 2014. According to AAA, nearly every person admits touch texting while driving is dangerous yet many drivers continue texting while driving regardless of the potential consequences. SayType now provides English and Spanish speaking drivers with an alternative to touch typing while driving.
What new cloud technologies are coming over the horizon? Which vendors are driving the most Enterprise-relevant innovation? SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Journal expands its list of most active players in the fast-emerging Cloud Ecosystem.
Cloud computing has the power to revolutionize non-information "soft" product sectors. We haven’t seen too much clear synergistic benefits between mobile apps PLUS cloud computing/SaaS yet, but I sense that we can expect to see more good things out of the intersection of these two. I’ll be tracking the landscape closely.
It’s time to wrap up the year 2008 - a year of change with Obama, the Olympic Games and the financial crisis. It was also the year when Yahoo said no to Microsoft. 2009 will be all about Cloud Computing: the technological hype has started already but the commercial breakthrough will come in 2009 - driven by providers including Amazon, Google, HP, IBM, Intel and Microsoft. The potential of the hype maybe will be clearer with the fact that Amazon's price for one GB in the cloud is only $0.150 at this moment.