iCloud climbs to 85 million users

Posted by Tim Stevens on January 24, 2012
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iCloud climbs to 85 million usersIt seems like only yesterday Apple unveiled iCloud to the world at WWDC, just a puff of vapor. Now look at it. The company has just confirmed the service has swelled to 85 million users as part of its Q1 2012 earnings call. That's more than twice as many iPhones as it sold in the same period, but of course it's worth noting that iCloud is, of course, free, so there's no penalty in people sticking their head in and seeing how things feel.

iCloud climbs to 85 million users originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tim Cook says Apple TV is still ‘a hobby,’ can’t live without it

Posted by Billy Steele on January 24, 2012
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Looking forward to an update to your beloved Apple TV? It seems the company still fancies the device as well. On the quarterly numbers call today, Tim Cook quipped that "we still classify this as a hobby, but we continue to add things to it." He went on to say that the company will "continue to pull strings and see where we can take it." This comes on the heels of Cupertino seeing a record 1.4 million units sold last quarter.

Tim Cook says Apple TV is still 'a hobby,' can't live without it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tim Cook: the tablet will be bigger than the PC one day

Posted by Terrence O'Brien on January 24, 2012
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iPad 2
This probably shouldn't shock too many people but, Tim Cook believes the future isn't with the PC, but with the tablet. After shipping 15.4 million iPads in Q1 Cupertino is clearly comfortable with the idea that tablets are taking off and, as we begin to demand our devices become more mobile, it only makes sense that these finger-friendly slates will one day outsell less portable options like laptops and desktops. When might that day come? Well, Mr. Cook refused to speculate, but he was confident that the tablet market will be bigger, at least in terms of units sold, than traditional computers. Cook is already seeing a shift, with the iPad cannibalizing some Mac sale, but he does believe "there's more cannibalization of Windows PCs by the iPad," a trend he clearly loves. We hope, for their own sake, Dell and HP are ready for the coming revolution.

Tim Cook: the tablet will be bigger than the PC one day originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s Q1 hardware sales: 37 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads, 5.2 million Macs, 15.4 million iPods

Posted by Donald Melanson on January 24, 2012
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We touched on the numbers in our report on Apple's Q1 earnings, but the company's throwing out a lot of "record" figures so we thought we'd take a moment to focus on just how its hardware sales stack up. The standout figure is, of course, the 37.04 million iPhones sold during the quarter, which is up 128 percent from the same quarter a year ago (and up from 17 million in the previous quarter, a jump of 117 percent). That also puts it back ahead of Samsung, which sold a total of 35 million total smartphones in its most recent quarter. As if that wasn't enough, Apple's Tim Cook also said on the company's earnings call that it could have sold even more if it had more supply.

iPad sales also set a new record with 15.43 units sold during the quarter, which is a 111 percent jump from the 7.3 million sold a year ago, and a 39 percent increase from the 11.1 million moved in Q4 2011. Once again, however, iPods are the one category that continues to decline in the face of the growth of smartphones. Apple sold a total of 15.4 million iPods -- over half of which were iPod touches -- which represents a 21 percent decline from the 19.4 million sold a year ago. The holiday shopping season did boost sales considerably from the 6.6 million sold in the previous quarter though.

Mac sales were also on the upswing, totaling 5.2 million units -- a 26 percent increase year-over-year. Breaking things down further, that translates to 1.48 million desktops (including iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro), and 3.7 million laptops (including the basic MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro). As for the company's "hobby," the Apple TV, it rang up 1.4 million in sales for the quarter, and 2.8 million for the 2011 fiscal year.

Apple's Q1 hardware sales: 37 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads, 5.2 million Macs, 15.4 million iPods originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iBooks Author sees 600,000 initial downloads, 3 million for iTunes U app

Posted by Billy Steele on January 24, 2012
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Apple announced on its quarterly earnings call this afternoon that iBooks Author had seen 600,000 downloads since its unveiling last week. The folks in Cupertino also mentioned that iTunes U has seen 3 million app downloads, feeling a bump from the announcement a few days ago. One other interesting tidbit: currently, 1.5 million iPads have been deployed in schools. We'd surmise that those numbers will continue to increase as iBooks 2 and iBook Author start to pound the pavement in the months ahead.

iBooks Author sees 600,000 initial downloads, 3 million for iTunes U app originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eye3 hexicopter helps your DSLR take flight for $999

Posted by Andrew Munchbach on January 24, 2012
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Your camera wants to take flight -- trust us, it does -- and an ambitious new project aims to make your DSLR's aeronautic ambitions a reality. The eye3 hexacopter is a six-armed carbon-fiber unmanned arial vehicle (UAV) that hopes to make aerial photography accessible to the masses. Designed by a couple with a hankering for robotics, the flying machine is modular (for easy repair) and navigates using a combination of Google Maps and open-source code. Those without a pilot license need not worry: the eye3 utilizes the oft-improving APM2 software for a "compact yet powerful" autopilot experience. The UAV can carry a payload of five to ten pounds, boasts three CPUs and has a 350-watt motor strapped to each tentacle. Fly past the break to watch a video from eye3's creators... get to the choppa'!

Continue reading eye3 hexicopter helps your DSLR take flight for $999

eye3 hexicopter helps your DSLR take flight for $999 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ExtremeTech  |  sourceKickstarter  | Email this | Comments

Apple announces Q1 earnings, sets quarterly record with $46.33 billion in revenue

Posted by Terrence O'Brien on January 24, 2012
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Apple Store Grand Central
It's that time folks: time for the quarterly running of the spreadsheets. Today Apple, one the most anticipated of all, is revealing its earnings for the past three months and let's just say things are lookin' pretty good for the Cupertino crew. The company set a new record for quarterly revenue and profit in Q1 of 2012, netting $46.33 billion in total with $13.06 billion earnings -- the latter number representing about half of the company's annual profit. That's nearly twice what Apple announced for the same (at the time record-setting) period last year -- $26.74 billion and $6 billion, respectively. In total the company shipped 15.4 million iPads, 15.4 million iPods and 5.2 million Macs this quarter. That last number is particularly surprising since it represents a growth of 26 percent over last year, bucking trends that indicated PC growth would remain flat. Even the Apple TV enjoyed a record quarter, selling 1.4 million units.

Perhaps more importantly, though, the company sold just over 37 million iPhones -- a 128 percent increase over the same quarter last year and greatly exceeding industry estimates. This also moves Apple back into the number one slot, ahead of Samsung which sold a stunning 35 million units this last quarter. Sales of iPhones and accessories accounted for 24.4 billion of the quarter's revenue. Apple also anticipates to have a strong Q2, though maybe not a record-breaking one, thanks to "some amazing new products in the pipeline." But even if Q2 turns out to be a slow one, Cupertino should be perfectly fine thanks to its $97 billion in cash on hand. Check out the complete PR after the break.

Continue reading Apple announces Q1 earnings, sets quarterly record with $46.33 billion in revenue

Apple announces Q1 earnings, sets quarterly record with $46.33 billion in revenue originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Magnetic soap could make your next oil spill less oily

Posted by Amar Toor on January 24, 2012
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Instead of spending millions upon millions to clean up the next oil spill, why don't we just all pitch in and buy some soap? That's basically what researchers at the University of Bristol are proposing, with a new kind of soap that's apparently like no other. This soap, you see, is magnetic, which means it could be easily removed from water without leaving behind any hazardous chemicals -- a potentially major selling point for cleanup crews and environmentalists alike. To create it, the team collected water with chlorine and bromine ions, and used it to dissolve iron particles, creating a metallic core. They proceeded to test their creation by placing the soapy particles within a test tube, underneath layers of water and oil. Much to their delight, they were able to remove the particles with only a magnet, ostensibly providing a template upon which disaster response crews may build.

Magnetic soap could make your next oil spill less oily originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNew Scientist  | Email this | Comments

Sony reminds Japan that Walkmans still exist, new E series packs built-in noise cancellation

Posted by Mat Smith on January 24, 2012
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The latest addition Walkman series continues the petite styling we've seen over the years, and Sony's cheerleading that it's both thinner (9.1mm) and lighter (37g) than its predecessor. The E-series includes a 1.4-inch colour LCD display, while we're promised at around 30 hours of music playback per charge. Alongside the standard NW-E060 model (9,000 yen, $116) the NW-E060K (11,000 yen, $142) throws in a plug-in speaker. Both models offer noise-cancelling features and promise to cut surrounding noise by around 98 percent, with train, flight and indoor modes hopefully able to absorb most audio irritations.

The new music players are joined by a pair of new docks. The RDP-NWG400B (13,000 yen, $181) can connect to devices through Bluetooth, while the RDP-NWM7 (8,000 yen, $140) wants to take your music outside, bigging up the built-in handle for that very reason. Both are available now in white and black. No news on whether the player refreshes and docks will travel beyond the Land of the Rising Sun, but we'd imagine it's pretty likely. Check out the docks after the break and get the whole (Google-translated) picture at the source below.

Continue reading Sony reminds Japan that Walkmans still exist, new E series packs built-in noise cancellation

Sony reminds Japan that Walkmans still exist, new E series packs built-in noise cancellation originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceSony (translated) (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Microsoft’s MIX is no more, to be rolled into another BUILD-like conference

Posted by Dante Cesa on January 24, 2012
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Microsoft's MIX is no more, to be rolled into another BUILD-like conference
Whispers that Microsoft's MIX conference was on life support have just proven true. Redmond confirmed on its blog that the yearly web-centric conference will no longer be held, as it refocuses its efforts on larger and more broad platform-centric events, much in the vein of last year's BUILD. Following its pull-out from CES, the company muses focusing on less events means it'll maximize the effectiveness of its engineers and the press alike. We're also told, an event on the calibre of BUILD is still in the cards, and that more details will follow later in the year. Full explanation awaits at the source.

Microsoft's MIX is no more, to be rolled into another BUILD-like conference originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge, ZDNet  |  sourceThe Official Microsoft Blog  | Email this | Comments