IT Director for a non-profit in Washington, DC. Man About Internet.
The correct way for an Apple user to configure their iPhones.
You do listen to Dan Benjamin's shows, right? RIGHT?!? I recommend The Talk Show, Build & Analyze, The Daily Edition (new as of today!), Briefly Awesome, and The Pipeline. So good.
At an event in New York City today which kicked off at 11 am EST, executives from Verizon took stage and announced, before the tech/apple community press, that they will begin selling a CDMA variant of the iPhone 4.
Many press were invited to this event. The invites made the news as they were sent out last Thursday. MG Siegler of Techcrunch even noted that Jon Oliver from the daily show was there. Press in attendance reported that the voice-over announcer for the event was John Hodgman of Daily Show fame (and PC Guy from the Apple commercials). Andy Ihnatko reported that, at one point, John Oliver stood up and screamed "Fuck yeah!" to the stage.
As reported by Engadget:
10:56AM Whoa. John Oliver just screamed "F*ck yeah! Thank you!" -- Apparently he's doing a bit. Wait, he's doing it again. "Oh thank god! Thank you!" Ha!
COO of Apple, Tim Cook, too the stage with Verizon executive Lowell Macadam, and jointly announced the iPhone 4 coming to Verizon. The phone will be available in 16GB models for $199.99, and $299.99 for 32 GB devices (both with a 2 year contract). Unlike AT&T, there will also be a Wi-Fi hotspot feature where you can connect up to 5 devices. The device will go on sale February 10, but existing Verizon customers will be able to pre-order starting February 3.
On notable drawback is one that many people have always stated is true with CDMA devices. When you receive a phone call, your data will drop. Tim Cook ood questions from the press in regards to why they didn't release the phone as an LTE phone. Cook said, "Two reasons -- the first gen LTW chipsets force design changes we wouldn't make. And Verizon customers told us they want the iPhone now. I can't tell you the number of times we've been asked 'when will it work on Verizon'". He did say the CDMA phone was non-exclusive to Verizon. Hmm..Sprint maybe in the future too?
One other notable feature: No pre-installed Verizon "crapps" to muck up your phone. This phone will be just like an AT&T phone, but on Verizon (with the slight CDMA drawback & wifi hotspot bonus).
It only took 3.5 years, but it's finally here.
On April 28, 2008, Dan Benjamin & John Gruber recorded Episode 20 of The Talk Show (the old one) entitled "RE: The Keyboard Episode". First, go listen to that. It will take you 1:02:02 min. Go ahead. I'll wait.
Okay, done now? Good. I was intrigued. Over the past four years I had begun appreciating quality technology hardware. I was beyond the phase in my life of wanting to tinker with hardware and experiment. I was tired of hardware failing on me, being unreliable and having to maintain it. I switched to Apple and have loved their products since fall '06. Their peripherals were another story
I despise Apple Mice and can barely tolerate their keyboards. I've used Logitech Mice for well on 8 years or so and feel they make the best mice in the world. My current favorite is my G500. Their keyboards, however, I feel are not of the same quality. Up until a few days ago I was using a Microsoft Natural ergonomic keyboard. I'd been using this for years. It was just 'okay'. Nothing spectacular but I couldn't really find an alternative that I felt was far superior.
This has been nagging me ever since I listened to that episode of the old Talk Show from April 2008. For Christmas this year I asked my lovely wife to get me a Matias Tactile Pro 3 Keyboard because it was supposed to be a modern version of the famous Apple IIe keyboard that Gruber spoke of from that podcast episode. And boy, let me tell you...
This thing is amazing. Please see my Twitter timeline from yesterday evening:
Link to the audio recording contained within this tweet & the Amazon link.
This keyboard feels nice to type on. Each key press gives this very satisfyingly resonating click that your fingers get used to. It is substantial. I'm back at work in my office this morning typing on an old keyboard (Apple style circa 2005) and this thing feels like a toy compared to The Beast I have at home on my desk.
Would it be too over the top to carry my own keyboard into work each day in my messenger bag? That's not weird, right? Right guys? Anyone?
This video has been making its rounds on Twitter and various blogs this morning. I first saw it over on my wife's website, so I wanted to make sure I give her credit for discovery.
To quote John Gruber, "These guys must have missed the memo that the iPad was for consumption only and not creativity.
From Matt Drace at Apple Outsider:
The Definition of “Echo Chamber”
Google’s Android VP Andy Rubin was apparently so hurt by Steve Jobs’ earnings call comments about Android that he created a Twitter account. The result was classic: A socially awkward outburst about open source software… on a closed source social network. No news on when we’ll be able to clone AdWords from GitHub.
It’s particularly awkward because it’s obtuse and evasive. Jobs wasn’t debating definitions; he said Google’s use of the word was a smokescreen. So Rubin responds with a smokescreen. Nothing in his tweet, or in his recent defense of the carriers (!!!), explains why “open” automatically means “better.” Google is so drunk on its keyword that it has lost the ability to explain it.
In essence, Apple turned the propaganda tables and put Google executives on their heels within ten hours. Steve Jobs doesn’t write code. Andy Rubin shouldn’t do PR.
So Andy Rubin fancies himself as up to the task of winning an argument with Steve Jobs? Good luck with that.
CUPERTINO, California—October 18, 2010—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2010 fourth quarter ended September 25, 2010. The Company posted record revenue of $20.34 billion and net quarterly profit of $4.31 billion, or $4.64 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $12.21 billion and net quarterly profit of $2.53 billion, or $2.77 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 41.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Apple sold 3.89 million Macs during the quarter, a 27 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 14.1 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 91 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.05 million iPods during the quarter, representing an 11 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company also sold 4.19 million iPads during the quarter.
“We are blown away to report over $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings—both all-time records for Apple,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPhone sales of 14.1 million were up 91 percent year-over-year, handily beating the 12.1 million phones RIM sold in their most recent quarter. We still have a few surprises left for the remainder of this calendar year.”
“We’re thrilled with the performance and strength of our business, generating almost $5.7 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2011, we expect revenue of about $23 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $4.80.”
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2010 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on October 18, 2010 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq410/. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.
You don’t need to look any further than Apple’s stock price over the past several months to know that they’re on a roll. A year ago, the stock price was at about $190 a share. Today, it closed at $317.93 a share — an all-time high. In fact, they’ve hit several all-time highs this month alone. Their market cap is quickly approach $300 billion. And now the company has just announced their Q4 earnings. And once again — boom.
Just as with last quarter, Apple easily beat the earnings estimates. The company posted $20.34 billion in revenue and $4.31 billion in profit — both new records for Apple. EPS was $4.64 (Wall Street consensus had been $4.06 and Apple’s guidance had been $3.44). A year ago, Apple posted revenue of $12.21 billion with a profit of $2.53 billion ($2.77 EPS). All that said, gross margin did drop a bit, to 36.9 percent down from 41.8 percent a year ago.
The key product numbers: 3.89 million Macs during the quarter, 14.1 million iPhones, 9.05 million iPods, and 4.19 million iPads. Aside from iPods, each of those is a new record for the company. The number of iPhones sold is probably the most amazing stat there.
On the conference call, Steve Jobs was bragging about the iPhone and commenting about the tablet market:
"We've now passed RIM, and I don't see them catching up with us." They must now leave their comfort zone, and will be a challenge for them to get developers to embrace their platform. What about Google? Activating 200,000 Android devices per day, and 90,000 apps in App store. Apple activated about 275,000 iOS devices per day over past 30 days, with peak around 300,0000 on some of those days. With 300,000 apps on App Store. No solid data for Android phone shipments. Google loves to characterize Android as open, and iOS and iPhone as closed. We find this a bit disingenuous. First thing most of us think as open is Windows. Unlike Windows, where most PCs have same UI and run the same apps, Android is fragmented. Many Android OEMs install proprietary UIs."
"Tweetdeck contends that it has to deal with over 100 versions of Android, and over 200 handsets. Makes this much more complicated. And this is for handsets that have been shipped less than 12 months ago. Compare this with iPhone, with 2 versions to test against. Amazon, Verizon, and Vodafone have all created their own app stores. "This is going to be a mess for both users and developers."
"Open doesn't always win. Look at PlaysForSure Microsoft music system. Even Microsoft dumped this in favor of Apple's approach, screwing OEMs. And Google's integrated Nexus One flopped. Open versus closed is a smokescreen. What matters more is what's best for the customers. Users want devices to "just work" and believe integrated will trump fragmented every time."
"I'd like to comment on avalanche of tablets poised to enter the market. It appears to be just a handful of credible entrants, not an avalanche. Nearly all use 7-inch screen. One thinks this would offer 70% of benefits of 10-inch screen. But it's only 45% as large as the iPhone's 10-inch screen. If you cut iPad screen in half, that's what you're looking at. Not enough for good tablet apps. You'd also need to include sandpaper so people could make their fingers smaller."
"Even Google is telling tablet companies to wait for new release of Android next year. What does it mean when software supplier says not to use software for tablets, and you ignore them and use it anyway? New tablets won't have any apps. And competitors having a hard time coming close to pricing, even with cheaper, smaller screens. These new tablets will be DOA: Dead on arrival. Sounds like lots of fun ahead."
