Hasta La Gadget!

Apple might not be too happy about having a fourth-gen iPhone prototype get stolen, but there’s nothing like cold, hard cash to turn a frown upside-down — and the company certainly made plenty of it in the second quarter of 2010, posting a $3.07b profit on $13.5b in revenue. That’s the Apple’s best non-holiday quarter ever — profits were up 90 percent while revenue was up 49 percent — and yet another record quarter for Steve and the gang. Mac sales were up 33 percent from a year ago with 2.94m units sold, iPhone sales were up 131 percent with 8.75m units sold, and iPod sales were down one point with 10.89m units sold. We’re just about to jump on the analyst conference call, we’ll let you know if we hear anything good — we wonder what people might be asking about?

Update: Oh, why not — let’s liveblog this thing. Follow along after the break at 5PM ET.

Continue reading Apple has another record quarter, posts $3.07b profit

Apple has another record quarter, posts $3.07b profit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple would seem to have been optimizing its code in the time between sending its latest MacBook Pro models into mass production and yesterday’s launch, as we’ve just come across a software update for the brand new 2010 laptop models. Specifically aimed at the 15- and 17-inch machines — which differ from the 13-incher with their Core 2010 CPUs and automatically switching graphics subsystem — the patch is aimed at improving “graphics stability for high-performance video and gaming applications” while also squashing a variety of bugs. That hardly sounds like you’d be in danger if you didn’t update, but we’d still advise swallowing the 258MB pill just to keep your aluminum-clad investment safe.

Apple issues software update for new 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re just as annoyed as you are when certain rumor sites claim that Apple is on the verge of selling a new gadget just because it has submitted a patent application. After all, a large company will patent every idea it has, just in case. It’s like that junk-drawer in the kitchen, full of things you may need one day.

This little filing, although far from being made (and surely far from being a patentable idea) is worth a look. It shows MacBooks with pico projectors, those tiny little projectors that sit inside cellphones, cameras and even matchbox-sized standalone packages.

The filing’s diagrams show the projectors in various places on the notebook’s body, although to us the most useful seems to be the one on the top of the lid, on the opposite side to the iSight webcam. This would allow you to beam an image of your boring business presentation whilst reading every word on the PowerPoint slide. It would also let you fold the lid almost shut and project the latest 30 Rock onto the ceiling as you lie in bed.

The filing adds some extras, such as sensors which would detect the position of the surfaces around the MacBook and process the image to fall square, even if coming from an angle. I’m all in on this one, although I doubt we’ll see it for some years, if ever. It’s not something you’d use every day, but if it is built-in, why not have it?

Apple Illustrates Pico Projector Coming to MacBooks [Patently Apple]

Portable Computing System With a Secondary Image Output [USPTO]

We’re not quite at the height of Apple frenzy, but looking at the bell curve, we’re only a standard deviation or two from its zenith (we imagine the fever pitch will be in tandem with Saturday’s iPad launch, if history and human nature tells us anything). Of course, that doesn’t stop the rumor mill from amping up production, and so on with the show! First on the docket, remember last month’s discovery of multitasking comments in the iPhone SDK 3.2 beta? Well, Apple Insider’s apparently got it on word from its network of sources that OS 4.0 will in fact include multitasking, with app switching purportedly done by double-tapping the home button and selecting the appropriate active app icon. If you ask us, that sounds similar in function to command / tab switching, but the people claiming to be in the know liken it more to Expose for OS X.

Taking a step back to focus on the actual hardware for a moment, iPad in Canada is hearing that local Apple store employees have been told April 24th is a “black out period,” meaning no one is allowed to take that day off. That usually coincides with major product launch, and we did hear the international iPad debut would be late April, but Apple’s yet to make its non-US plans concrete. It is the last Saturday of the month, however, and perhaps it’ll coincide with the other countries as well. As always, none of this is confirmed and shouldn’t be taken as gospel in any way, shape, or form. We can’t stop you from getting your hopes up, but don’t blame us if those dreams get shattered by a sucker punch of reality.

Apple rumor twofer: Expose-like multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0, international iPad launch on April 24th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nearly five months after OS X 10.6.2 hit the pipes (and just seven months after 10.6.1), Apple has updated its Snow Leopard operating system to v10.6.3. Weighing in rather heavily at 757.3MB (when you upgrade from 10.6.2, anyway), this mammoth update brings along a laundry list of fixes, including improved reliability and compatibility of QuickTime X, a resolution to an issue that prevented files from copying to Windows file servers and boosted reliability of third-party USB input devices. You can check the full changelog after the break, but in all honesty, we’re guessing that the unwritten change is integrated support for Intel’s mobile Core i5 / Core i7 chips, both of which should become options on the MacBook Pro line as early as tomorrow last week. Fire up Software Update to get the download rolling, but only if you’re kosher with subjecting yourself to all sorts of unknown application breaks. We’re installing it ourselves here at Engadget HQ, and we’ll update the post if anything catastrophic happens.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Apple updates Snow Leopard to 10.6.3, loads of minor quirks get patched

Apple updates Snow Leopard to 10.6.3, loads of minor quirks get patched originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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