Next iTunes update to support Blu-Ray?

A MacRumors forum poster pointed out that in the iTunes 8.2 beta About iTunes window, a reference to Blu-ray can be found:

… DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and music and video-related data from Gracenote, Inc., copyright © 2000…

This has led to speculations that the next version of iTunes will be able to read or recognize Blu-ray discs. Seems like a big deal to some.

But what does this mean to me, as a Mac user?

For the answer, I need to quote Rhett Butler:

Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.

What’s the big deal anyway?

Filed under: iTunes, blu-ray, rumor, update

The Macalope speaketh

This week on The Macalope Weekly:

Apple had another record quarter, even if it was asterisked with “non-holiday,” and it’s getting awfully hard to complain about success these days. But there’s still room for improvement in the App Store world. Who let these awful users in?

Click on the link to read about the Macalope’s take on Apple’s second quarter earnings call, and how iPhone/iPod touch apps users have gone amuck, those ungrateful bastards.

Filed under: App Store, Apple, Inc., Macalope

Apple nixes the idea of a Mac netbook. Again.

When asked about Apple and netbooks, Apple’s Chief Operating Office, Tim Cook, has this to say:

For us, it’s about doing great products. And when I look at what is being sold in the netbook space today, I see cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens, and just not a consumer experience… that we would put the Mac brand on, quite frankly. And so it’s not a space, as it exists today, that we’re interested in, nor do we believe that customers in the long term would be interested in. That said, we do look at the space and are interested to see how customers respond to it.

…And if we can find a way to deliver an innovative product that really makes a contribution, then we’ll do that. We have some interesting ideas in this space.

Tim Cook’s sentiment is pretty much the same from what he said during last quarter’s financial call:

We’re watching that space, but right now, from our point of view, the products in there are principally based on hardware that’s much less powerful than we think customers want, software technology that is not good, cramped keyboards, small displays, et cetera. …About 3% of the PC industry was in this netbook kind of category so it’s a category we watch. We’ve got some ideas here. But right now, we think the products there are inferior and will not provided an experience to customers that they are happy with.

Apple’s COO also added during the second quarter conference call that people interested in a “small computer” can opt for the iPod touch or iPhone, which can do browsing and e-mail, among other things.

As a final rub:

“… If you look at these very low-cost netbooks… I think [it] is a stretch to call it a personal computer…”

Filed under: Apple, Inc., financial call, netbook

Apple profit up for second fiscal quarter 2009

Apple reported $1.21 billion in earnings for their second fiscal quarter which ended on March 28, 2009, beating estimates. With a revenue of $8.16 billion, it’s the best non-holiday quarter in the company’s history. Apple has $28.9 billion in cash, up from $28.1 billion from last quarter.

Highlights from the conference call:

• 2.216 million Macs sold with $2.9 billion in revenue, down 3% year-over-year for units shipped. Portables accounted for 63% of sales (1,398,000 units) while desktops accounted for the rest (818,000). Mac sales shrank less compared to rest of the industry (3% vs 7%).
• 3.793 million iPhones sold producing $1.521 billion in revenue. An increase of 123% in terms of units sold and up 302% in revenue.
• 11.013 million iPods sold resulting in $1.665 billion in revenue, up 3% year-over-year for items shipped but down 8% in revenue. iPod touch considered as a “runaway hit”.
• iPhone + iPod touch represents 37 million units in total for OS X iPhone devices.
• Apple retail generated  $1.471 billion in revenue, 15% decline in both units and revenue from last quarter. Year-over-year, 4% decrease in sales but 1% increase in revenue.
• Macworld’s graphs compare Mac and iPod revenue and units sold for every quarter since 2006.

Apple expects revenues for the next fiscal quarter to be between $7.7 to $7.9 billion. Apple expects NAND flash prices to go up but component pricing is still favorable.

Steve Jobs is still expected to return by the end of June.

[From AppleInsider]

Filed under: Apple, Inc., financial call

iTunes 8.1.1 update released

From Apple’s support page:

iTunes 8.1.1 adds support for renting HD movies and provides a number of bug fixes, including addressing issues with VoiceOver and syncing with iPhone or iPod touch.

It’s a 66MB download for Mac users and a 70.9MB download for Windows users.

Filed under: iTunes, update