Hasta La Gadget!

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Watchismo)

I’m one of those people who doesn’t wear a watch, depending instead on my mobile phone for time. The good thing about doing that is if you set your phone’s time to follow the operator’s, you never have to adjust the time when traveling …

Apple‘s fiscal Q4 2009 conference call is just about to begin, but the press release is already out and about. Wondering how Jobs and Company did? Precisely like you thought they would: they’re making out like gangbusters over there. While the rest of the world slowly sees profits inching back up, Apple’s relishing in $1.67 billion worth of net profit it pulled in from $9.87 billion in revenue. A year ago, the outfit managed to post a quarterly profit of “just” $1.14 billion, and we’re also told that gross margin was up 36.6 percent. It should be noted that international sales accounted for a whopping 46 percent of this quarter’s revenue, and Mac computer sales managed to shoot up some 17 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. In keeping with Apple’s own acknowledgment that the standalone iPod is dying, sales of the iconic media player dipped 8 percent year-over-year (10.2 million units were sold), while 7.4 million iPhones were moved representing a 7 percent uptick from this period a year ago.

Stevie J himself is quoted as saying that Apple is “thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter,” and in case you haven’t noticed, the holiday quarter hasn’t even been completed yet. Oh, and if you were looking for bread crumbs as for what’s on deck, chew on this: “We’ve got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010.” Great new products, you say? Would one of them happen to include some sort of, say, tablet PC?

Catch our updates after the break…

Continue reading Apple reports fiscal Q4 earnings: $1.67b profit, Mac sales way up, iPod sales down, ‘great new products’ for 2010

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

Apple reports fiscal Q4 earnings: $1.67b profit, Mac sales way up, iPod sales down, ‘great new products’ for 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rock Band for iPhone does a nice job recreating the look of the original, if not the feel.

Rock Band's biggest disappointment: When you play vocals, you don't get to sing.

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Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

It was inevitable: The phenomenally popular rhythm game Rock Band has jammed into the phenomenally popular iPhone. Indeed, the mobile version shows loyalty to the console title, delivering elegant graphics, flashy animations and, of course, a store to purchase more tunes. But the iPhone game is loyal to a fault, because the Rock Band experience just doesn’t translate very well onto the handset’s touchscreen interface. Plus, it’s too expensive.

Rock Band for iPhone retains the interface in which colorful “notes” scroll down a screen, requiring you to match them once they reach the bottom. In the iPhone version, you tap the respective color for a note to play it — same gameplay for each of the four instruments: lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and microphone. You heard right: even for the microphone you’re tapping notes to sing; you don’t actually get to sing into the iPhone’s microphone (which seems like a missed opportunity).

The gameplay sounds easy, but those skinny, rectangular bars representing the notes are pretty difficult to see on the iPhone’s screen as opposed to a large television. It’ll take some time — lots of missed notes and failed “performances” — getting used to the game, and bottom line, it just isn’t that fun. (Disclosure: I speak from the perspective of a Rock Band enthusiast who plays expert mode on all the instruments for the PlayStation 3 game.)

Playing guitar is especially rough. In the console version, there are many incidents where you must hold multiple frets and strum to play a chord. The iPhone’s touchscreen is too small for these gestures. It creates an ergonomically awkward experience, which isn’t anything like the joy of shredding a plastic guitar for the console system.

And then there’s price. The Rock Band Music Store (right) sells songs in packs of 2 for $1. For the console version, tracks costs $2 a piece, which seems like a reasonable amount to pay to entertain a living room full of guests. But $0.50 per track to tap around to songs on your iPhone? Over time, including the cost of the game ($10), you could be spending a pretty hefty amount.

The result of Rock Band for iPhone unfortunately appears to be the case where a big software developer (Electronic Arts) believes its game is so popular that it needn’t be modified much in order to attract mobile customers. We think it needs some adjustments in gameplay and pricing to be a compelling iPhone game. Currently it’s no. 3 in Apple’s list of Top Grossing apps in the App Store, but we doubt this will stay popular over a long term.

We’re willing to bet most iPhone customers will stick with Tap Tap Revenge, which demonstrates a smarter understanding of how to create an enjoyable rhythm game for the iPhone. For notes, rather than squint-inducing rectangles, Tap Tap Revenge displays glowing dots, which are much easier to see and tap on the iPhone’s touchscreen. The latest version, Tap Tap Revenge 3, is priced at a reasonable $1 and introduces a music store charging 50 cents per track as well.

Update: Corrected an error about song pricing for Rock Band.

Product Page [Electronic Arts]

Download Link

See Also:

• Nine Inch Nails-Branded Tap Tap Revenge Coming to iPhone …
• iPhone Rhythm Game Tap Tap Revenge 3 Strutting Into App Store Soon …
• Gadgets, Games Help Musicians Offset Declining Sales

Innovating is hard! But there’s one trick that can pull any engineer right out of that rut: the extra display. Here are eight of the most surprising, audacious, and weird places ever to be graced with a display panel.

Nothing is immune, be it cameras, laptops, game controllers or ebook readers, and the trend is showing no signs of stopping. The consumer electronics industry, it seems, is slowly become one big episode of Pimp My Ride. Anyway, on with the screens.

An ill-timed half-step in the generational console wars, the Sega Dreamcast is remembered primarily as a failure. But for the purposes of this list, we’ll rosily remember it as the first console to include displays in its controller. Strictly speaking, the “display” was one of the functions of the Visual Memory System cartridges, which each contained its own processor, memory, battery and, of course, 48×32 monochrome panel. Despite some genuinely OK uses—keeping certain controls secret during multiplayer games, or displaying FPS stats—the hardware couldn’t really do the concept justice. [Pic via Axess]

When switched off, Samsung’s TL220 and TL225 point-and-shoots look like any other boring camera. Switched on, they still look like any other boring camera, except for an odd-looking, forward-facing second display. Samsung’s advertising angle is all about MySpace-style self-portraiture and making babies smile with horrifying clown animations, but the visual countdown timer is the only feature I think I’d ever end up appreciating.

Every stumble Barnes & Noble’s eReader takes into the limlight reveals something stranger. First, we find out it’ll run Android, a smartphone OS. Then we discover it’s going to have two screens—a traditional E-ink display up top, and a multitouch LCD down below. There’s no denying this makes for some great gadget porn, but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if it’s a good idea, because really, that’s not at all clear.

Nintendo’s entire DS pitch was about the second display, which was intended mainly as a touchscreen control interface. Early reviewers didn’t really know what to make of it. Now, reviewers take Nintendo’s two-screened style for granted.

The Eee Keyboard looks more like a one-off Ben Heck mod than it does a real product—a theory almost supported by its endlessly creeping release date. Today, units are about ready to ship, meaning that you’ll be able to buy a QWERTY keyboard with a full-fledged computer in it, and a secondary touchscreen display crammed into the right-hand side.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad W700ds captures the spirit of the extraneous second screen perfectly. One second you’re just tapping away at your big, bland, work-issued laptop, then BAM! A secret monitor pops out of the side of your main screen. This is pure Inspector Gadget, right here. And man, the pitch for this thing over at Lenovo HQ must’ve been utterly spectacular. Thanks, namely Lenovo engineer! I hope this worked out for you.

Lenovo’s secondary displays are covert; you know, hush hush. Sharp’s, on the other hand, are out ‘n’ proud—in fact, Sharp’s Mebius NJ70A carries its extra pixels right in the middle of its face, where you’d normally find a trackpad. Actually, this multitouch capacitive display is the trackpad.

The first generation of OLPC hardware was, despite some interesting flourishes, pure laptop. The first few generations of tablets PCs were nothing more than notebooks with an extra hinge. The next take on both concepts, the XO 2 and Microsoft’s Courier, respectively, took everyone by surprise by killing keyboards in favor of displays. Neither is available yet, so the jury is out—way out—on whether or not our future has two screens, or just one.