Apple patent hints at satellite radio...

A recently discovered patent application from Apple hints at the company's exploration into satellite radio technology. The filing -- published on October 19th and originally filed in August of 2005 -- refers to two distinct methods of integrating the iPod with satellite services. The first aspect of the patent describes the ability to tune "into a wireless signal (e.g., AM/FM radio, digital radio, or Wi-Fi)" using an iPod-style player with "the capability to accept accessories to add the necessary functionality." While this may refer to Apple's Radio Remote released late in 2005, the patent's explicit mention of support well beyond AM/FM radio is significant and may signal a future add-on that would supply satellite radio directly to the iPod, according to Electronista.

Macworld 2007 feature presentations...

IDG World Expo today announced the feature presentations lineup for Macworld, listing the primary events to take place alongside Apple CEO Steve Jobs scheduled keynote speech. This year's feature presenters include actor, writer and film producer Kevin Smith; professional photographer and digital photography pioneer Joel Meyerowitz; and New York Times technology columnist and Mac luminary David Pogue. Feature presentations are open to all registered Macworld attendees and include "Q&A with Kevin Smith," "Photography and the Digital Experience," "Macworld Live! with David Pogue," "Macworld Best Of Show 2007," and "MacBrainiac Challenge." Macworld is scheduled to take place January 8-12th, 2007 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, with expected product introductions by Apple chief Steve Jobs during his keynote presentation.

Neon ships "Universal" LANsurveyor 8.6

Neon Software today shipped LANsurveyor 8.6 for the Macintosh, which enables administrators to efficiently safeguard and monitor their networks with automated graphical network mapping, asset management reports, and network monitoring. LANsurveyor, easy to configure and operate, is designed for by small-to-medium organizations as well as organizations with thousands of network nodes. "Unlike expensive solutions that require extensive training or a team of consultants to master and install, LANsurveyor is inexpensive, installs quickly and easily, and scales to meet customer requirements," the company said. Version 8.6 offers a new Universal version of the Neon Responder, complete support for the new Linux-based Neon Responder, more than 150 new vendor icons, and an updated user interface. The all-new Mac OS X Neon Responder now functions as a daemon, client management capabilities such as shutting down or restarting computers without a user logged in. It is available for $1,000. [updated]

Apple's financials signal confidence

Apple's disclosure of full financial results is a vote of confidence for the company, according to one industry analyst, following an ongoing stock options investigation which threatens to force Apple to restate its financial data. Investors worried that the investigation would result in the Cupertino-based company only partially disclosing its financial data during its live webcast conference call yesterday, bolstered by fears of suggested slumping iPod sales. Apple delivered, however, beating expectations across the board with 8.7 million iPod shipments and a 21 percent gain in Intel Mac sales to 1.6 million units as it careens toward the busy holiday shopping season. Senior analyst Shaw Wu of American Technology Research says the complete disclosure comes as a big surprise, alongside the company's "nearly flawless" September quarter. "We view this as a vote of confidence that the current management team is not likely liable of wrongdoing," Wu said.

"Apple should license the Mac to Dell"...

Gartner research in a bold report has stated that Apple should license the Mac to Dell and concentrate on creating software while making use of Dell's production and distribution capabilities. The firm says increasing component costs and pressure to cut its prices mean that Apple's best decision for long-term success is to leave the hardware business, according to Gartner. "Apple should leverage its close relationship with Intel and team up with Intel's closest ally, Dell," the firm wrote. "We recognize that this move would surprise and even shock many. We are aware that Steve Jobs cancelled previous Mac licenses when he took over at Apple and that he guards the Apple brand zealously."

Merill Lynch on Apple's fourth quarter

Research firm Merill Lynch today advised investors that Apple's September quarter revealed a solid upside, signaling a bright future for the Mac and iPod maker moving forward. "Apple reported iPod units of 8.7 million, about 1 million above our 7.7 million estimate and Mac units of 1.6 million vs. our 1.5 million estimate," wrote Merill Lynch analyst Richard Farmer. "Revenue of $4.84 billion was 3.8 percent above our $4.61 billion estimate. Earnings-per-share of $0.55 (excluding a tax benefit of $0.06) beat our estimate and consensus of $0.51." Farmer believes Apple's revenue outlook for December of $6.1 billion -- 6 percent below the analyst's original $6.5 billion estimate -- looks conservative. The firm raised its earnings-per-share estimate for December by $0.02 to $0.77, tweaked its base case fiscal year 2007 earnings-per-share estimate from $2.65 to $2.71, and bumped its fiscal year 2008 estimate from $3.54 to $3.62. Merill Lynch reiterated its "Buy" rating on Apple shares with a price objective of $88.

Mac, iPod sales surprise analysts...

Apple's fourth quarter financial results, which the company released yesterday and discussed via a conference call, caught analysts by surprise with higher than expected Mac and iPod sales. "On the strength of the Mac's forthcoming ability to run Windows applications, we thought 2007 would be a breakout year for Mac sales," said Needham & Company analyst Charles Wolf. "We were wrong. The breakout appears to be already occurring." Apple's revenues of $4.837 billion were up 32 percent year-over-year, easily beating the analyst's estimate of $4.612 billion, as did GAAP earnings per share of $0.61 vs. Wolf's estimate of $0.49 -- which was partially due to a $0.06 lower tax rate. As Apple Store Mac sales rose to 323,000 units, up from 202,000 a year ago, Needham & Company cites Apple's note that over half of the sales were to first-time Mac owners. The firm raised its 2007 earnings per share estimate from $2.50 to $2.60 on a $22 billion revenue estimate.

Mac sales validate market share gains...

Apple's "blowout Mac quarter" validates the company's 32 percent surge in U.S. PC market share that resulted in 6.1 percent of the total market for the Cupertino-based company, according to one research firm. Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster expects the "halo effect" -- which describes consumers who are introduced to Macs via their iPod purchases -- will drive continued market share gains moving forward. "The 68m iPods sold in the past five years (39 million of those were sold in the last 12 months) are translating to the resurgence in the Mac platform with worldwide Mac market share increasing from 2.1 percent in March of 2006 to 2.8 percent today," the analyst said. "We believe in six months the halo effect will expand beyond a simple iPod-to-Mac correlation into a four-way relationship with iPod, Mac, iPhone, and iTV benefiting from each other's success."

Adobe acquires Serious Magic...

Adobe today announced its acquisition of Serious Magic, a maker of video software and communications tools for creative professionals, businesses, consumers, and educational institutions. Adobe hopes the move will strengthen its position in the video software realm via Serious Magic's DV Rack -- which extends direct-to-disk recording and monitoring into the field -- alongside the company's Visual Communicator and Vlog It products. "The huge momentum behind Flash video, which is powering everything from online TV shows to YouTube and MySpace, is turbo-charging Adobe's video business," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe. "The purchase of Serious Magic accelerates our vision to make, not just video but all dynamic media, an even more ubiquitous communications vehicle, whether you're delivering content for the broadcast market, over the Web or on mobile devices."

Logitech aquires Slim...

Slim Devices CEO Sean Adams has announced via the company's online forum that it has been acquired by Logitech. "We have been building a relationship with Logitech for quite some time. As we got to know their executive team, it became clear that there was a compelling opportunity for us to work together to bring Slim Devices' products to the mainstream market. As you may know, Logitech recently launched the Wireless DJ music system, and also produces Harmony remote controls, which many of our customers already use with their Squeezeboxes," Adams wrote. Slim Devices manufactures its Transporter -- a network player designed for "audiophiles" -- as well as the Squeezebox -- an affordable digital music player designed for home use.

MS chides Apple for passing worm blame...

The man in charge of Microsoft's product release virus scanning has chided Apple for trying to blame Microsoft after it was discovered that a small batch of the Cupertino-based company's video iPods shipped with a worm. "It's not a matter of which platform the virus originated [on]. The fact that it's found on the portable player means that there's an issue with how the quality checks, specifically the content check, was done," wrote Jonathan Poon, who oversees Microsoft's efforts to scan products for viruses before they ship. Apple yesterday issued a statement via its website, admitting that some of its iPods shipped with a worm and stating that "we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it." The worm does not damage data on infected Windows systems, but can lower the security settings of an infected system.

Briefly: Apple patents, trademarks...

In brief: The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has published Apple's patent application titled "Multiple-panel scrolling," which relates generally to scrolling windows in a user interface, and more particularly to techniques for scrolling a window having two or more panels.... The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office today also published Apple's patent application titled "Audio sampling and acquisition system," relating to media identification as well as purchase and distribution of media, specifically detailing an in-vehicle media environment using an iPod.... Apple is facing further difficulties abroad in its attempts to trademark the "iPhone" slogan, as new data recently surfaced in the IPAustralia database with regards to two new filings for iPhone that originated in Trinidad and Tobago....

GizMac's 25U XRackPro2 server cabinet

GizMac today announced that it has begun shipping its new 25U XRackPro2 server rack mount cabinet. Building on its success with the 4U and 12U XRackPro noise reduction server rack mount cabinets, GizMac is releasing their new 25U XRackPro for customers with more rackmount cabinet capacity needs. By reducing noise levels, the company said that the 25U XRackPro2 server rack mount cabinet allows computer, audio / video, medical and other equipment to be placed in areas that require low noise, including post-production film studios for video and audio editing; television, cable and radio broadcasting; health care, dental and veterinary locations; military, and education and business offices. The cabinet features locking front and rear doors and pre-installed caster wheels for easy mobility. Pricing for the 25U XRackPro2 rack mount cabinet is $2,200 and it is available in platinum or black.

Epson "Ultra High-Definition" printers...

Epson has unveiled three new inkjet printers -- the Stylus Photo R260, R380, and RX580 All-In-One -- which it claims are better professional photo labs. All three printers are capable of "Ultra High-Definition prints," according to Epson, using a new "MicroPiezo" print head that allows the new models to adjust the ink drops to one of five different sizes depending on what needs to be drawn, eliminating much of the coarseness common to printing photos at home. The new print head is also said to print photos extremely quickly, producing a basic 4 x 6-inch photo in as little as 13 seconds, while a full-quality image takes as little as 32 seconds to complete. In combination with the company's new six-color Claria ink, the new technology is expected to produce photos at least as sharp and vivid as commercial labs, according to Epson. The R260 is available for $130, while the R380 and RX580 ship for $200.

Apple US marketshare surges 32%...

Apple currently holds 6.1 percent of the U.S. PC market, making the company the fourth most popular PC maker in the country. Gartner today released data suggesting that sales of Macs over the last year have grown faster than any other major PC manufacturer in the country, following the company's assertion in its quarterly conference call that its September quarter Mac shipments grew 30 percent over the prior year--more than three times IBC's latest published market growth projections for the quarter. However, Apple failed to place in the top five PC manufacturers worldwide (and thus data was not available). According to Gartner, Apple shipped 975,000 Macs, just 38,000 CPUs behind third place maker, Gateway, and ahead of its 744,000 units in the same quarter a year ago. The company saw its marketshare surge by 32.3 percent to 6.1 of the US market. [updated]

PC Mag reviews iPod nano, Mac Pro

PC Magazine has posted a review of Apple's second-generation iPod nano and its recently released Mac Pro, giving each 4.5 stars out of 5. The review notes that the black matte surface of the iPod nano still picks up fingerprints, the new music search feature, but that it has a significantly longer battery life. "When all is said and done, the second-gen iPod nano is an excellent product. It is slim, attractive, sturdy, and easy to use, not to mention the excellent integration with iTunes. But more important, the sound quality is very good (until you push the volume near the limit), it supports lossless compression and gapless playback." In addition, the publication reviewed a "totally tricked out" Mac Pro workstation worth nearly $8,000. Despite scoring some of the highest benchmark scores of any Mac or PC, the review notes a bug that slows disk transfers when running Boot Camp/Windows (but not running the same config on other Intel-based Macs or when running Mac OS X natively).

Apple: edu sales "very, very strong"

Apple's education sales had a very strong quarter. The company said it sold a a record number of Macs and saw 20 percent year-over-year growth, which is significantly greater than IDC's most recently published forecast for the U.S. education market for the quarter. "It was the most successful back-to-school quarter ever for our higher ed business, where shipments of Mac portables increased 49% year over year," Apple told investors on the conference call. "This result was due in large part to the popularity of the MacBook in higher ed, as well as our very successful back-to-school promotion." Apple also noted that it had a "very, very strong" back to school and education sales season and two including two large K-12 deals that totaled 50,000 units during the quarter, which helped it reach its record Mac sales of 1.6 million in the quarter, significantly greater than the previous quarterly record of 1.38 million Macs sold in the first quarter of Apple's fiscal 2000.

Apple: music products see strong 4Q...

Apple's music products generated another quarter of strong results, according to executives. The company's generated 42 percent of its total revenue from the iPod and related products, an increase of 36 percent year over year. iPod shipments also grew 35 percent year over year, to $8.73 million, bolstered by the announcement of our new iPods on September 12th, and the company's "very popular" back-to-school promotion. "Reviews of the new iPods have been very positive, and we are very confident in our new line-up, despite increased competition this holiday season," Apple executives told investors on Wednesday's conference call, echoing Apple CEO Steve Jobs earlier comments on entrance of Microsoft to the music/media player business.