July 16 - 5:10pm EDT   Research firm IDC reports that worldwide PC shipments grew at 15 percent in the second quarter of 2008. The quarter also saw Apple roughly tie Acer in the US market, assuming fourth place and missing third place by only a few thousand units. Demand in the United States suffered from the ongoing economic pressure, with rowth in the low single-digits. Dell continued its recovery with another quarter of double-digit growth, while HP saw year on year growth rise from the first quarter. Portable adoption continues to be a key driver, even though consumer share is generally at its lowest during the second quarter. [full story]

June 24 - 9:20pm EDT   Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled updates for Office 2004 and 2008, offering users some stability, security, performance, and compatibility fixes with the two business productivity suites. Office 2004 11.5.0 adds compatibility with documents from Office 2008 for Mac and Office 2007 for Windows by offering an update to the Open XML File Format Converter, allowing users to convert files from the newer versions of the suite. [full story]

June 11 - 3:20pm EDT   IDC is projecting worldwide PC shipment growth of 15.2 percent in 2008, reaching 310 million units. The analysis firm predicts that growth will remain in the double-digits through 2010, followed by high single-digit growth through 2012, boosting annual shipments to over 472 million in 2012. Meanwhile, the fall in average PC selling price will be offset by an ongoing transition to sale of notebooks, which generally cost more than desktops. IDC's report also says that the Asia/Pacific region excluding Japan (APeJ) surpassed the United States as the region with the largest PC market in total annual shipments at the end of 2007. [full story]

June 11 - 1:40pm EDT   Despite a series of conflicting news releases, Vodafone has confirmed that there will not be a pay-as-you-go version of the iPhone 3G available in New Zealand. NZMac.com first spotted the confusion in statements from Vodafone and Apple New Zealand which announced both contract and prepaid versions of the iPhone in various press releases. Vodafone cleared things up this morning, saying only the contract versions will be available in New Zealand and Portugal beginning in July 11. [full story]

April 30 - 4:45pm EDT   Rogers Communications recently unveiled plans for a Canadian iPhone release, and while official details are scarce, RBC analyst Jonathan Allan predicts the plan will include a "virtually unlimited" data portion of 100 to 200MB per month. According to the National Post, Rogers would offer consumers 250 to 500 anytime minutes, as well as unlimited evenings and weekends after 9PM. Allen suggested the data plan could run for $35 per month, while the phone plan itself would range between $80 and $100. [full story]

April 18 - 3:10pm EDT  Shares of Apple Computer Inc. are up $6.51 to $161 near the end of trading on friday, representing a gain of 4.21 percent. The uptick could be due, at least in part, to strong market share gains posted by the company in recent surveys from various research firms. Apple saw the biggest gain among the top 5 vendors in the U.S. market according to Gartner, enjoying strong retail sales coupled with "decent growth" in the professional market. According to IDC, Apple is expected to come in at fourth place and ship 950,000 Macs to Americans during the first quarter of 2008, earning itself an increase from 5.7 percent in the prior quarter to 6 percent. The increase is a 25.1 percent jump over sales in ... [full story]

April 18 - 12:35am EDT   Google today posted its first quarter profits, thoroughly outpacing Wall Street analyst estimates, which were based on the effects a slowing economy would have on sales and earnings. According to CNN Money, the news follows a weak fourth quarter last year, with earnings coming in under analyst estimates. The report shows Google's income rising 30 percent to $1.31 billion – $4.12 a share – with $1.54 billion before one-time charges. [full story]

April 2 - 6:40pm EDT   BlackBerry manufacturer RIM today posted its fourth quarter and year-end results for fiscal 2008, with quarterly revenue topping 1.88 billion, or a 102-percent increase from the year ago quarter. RIM boasts a user base of 14 million, 2.18 million of which were new subscribers for the quarter, or an increase of 32-percent from the previous quarter. Overall, RIM posted a 98-percent revenue increase for the year, with total revenue sitting at $6.01 billion. [full story]

April 2 - 3:10pm EDT   As part of his "3 Cylinder Engine" report on Apple's three core product lines, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster recently looked at Apple's iPod, discussing the business unit's growth trajectory, upcoming iPods and more. Saying that the iPod will be a slower growing segment than the Mac or iPhone, Munster expects iPod unit growth to be flat in the calendar year 2008, but also thinks that Apple can maintain iPod unit growth and slightly exceed street expectations. Munster believes that the iPhone will replace the iPod as a driver of significant growth for the company. [full story]

March 4 - 10:10am EST   Iomega today announced the REV 120GB Backup Drive, as well as the accompanying disks, and it will show the offerings at CeBIT 2008 in Hanover, Germany. The third-generation offering adds to a current user base of over 350,000 drives, with over 2 million disks in circulation. The drive will be available with a USB 2.0 connection in April, while Iomega expects to release an ATAPI version later in the summer. Pricing was not immediately available. [full story]

February 20 - 1:00pm EST   FileMaker today announced the start of registration for the 2008 FileMaker Developer Conference, which takes placefrom July 13th to the 17th at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. FileMaker is offering a $200 discount to registrants who act before May 16th, while all attendees will be given a complimentary copy of FileMaker Pro 9 Advanced. Registration fees for the conference start at $1200 for the basic package, and $2000 for the Passport tier pass. [full story]

February 15 - 6:10pm EST   The International Olympics Committee today gave its official approval for athletes to blog while at the Beijing games in August, providing that they do not publish media of the event or Olympic properties. Reuters reports that the IOC recognizes blogging as a form of personal expression, and not that of a journalistic nature. An additional stipulation states that any postings must adhere to the Olympic spirit, being "dignified and in good taste." [full story]

January 22 - 5:15pm EST   Apple today reported record breaking earnings that soared above all previous quarterly results, marking the best three-month period for the Cupertino-based company since its inception in 1976. "We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We have an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals in the first two weeks." [full story]

January 22 - 12:15am EST   Apple on Tuesday will release its Q1 fiscal results, which are expected to show better-than-anticipated numbers, mainly due to strong Mac sales. Despite a steady tumble in share price starting in early January, analysts are predicting that Apple could be worth close to $600 per share within 18 months. In addition to strong machine sales, the optimistic outlook is fueled by Apple's desire to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, as well as the prospect of an iPhone "nano". [full story]

January 11 - 6:50pm EST   In anticipation of Office 2008’s upcoming release at Macworld Expo in San Francisco, Microsoft has given the Mactopia page a facelift, with a design reminiscent of the Office Mac site. The redesigned page is fairly lean, opting for an automated search of Microsoft’s main site for Mac software, rather than supplying a list of products on the left-hand side of the page. Promotions and Mac Mojo are still linked from the page, however; Microsoft’s current promotion entitles users to a free upgrade to Office 2008 when purchasing 2004 before January 14th. [full story]