I have to hand it to Apple. In only a couple short years they’ve turned me from a nay sayer to a complete believer. I’ve never been happier with a suite of devices. I’ve purchased their iPhones, iPads, iPods, Apple Tvs, a MacBook Air, an iMac, and a Mac mini, and every time I’ve been completely satisfied and ready to buy the next best thing. Because that’s what they are – the best thing. And their latest Q2 2012 results prove that.

In the face of all nay sayers everywhere ( even here ), Apple posted their second best quarter ever (only second to the one just past – Q1 2012).
35.1 Million iPhones were sold
11.8 Million iPads
4 million Macs
$39 Billion in revenue and $11.6 Billion in Profit.
They have over $110 Billion in cash.

Yep. They’re a failing company alright. lol

Their stock is up over 9% in pre trading.

Here’s a small excerpt from their earnings statement which you can read here.

CUPERTINO, California—April 24, 2012—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 second quarter ended March 31, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $39.2 billion and quarterly net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $24.7 billion and net profit of $6.0 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 47.4 percent compared to 41.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

The Company sold 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, a 151 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4 million Macs during the quarter, a 7 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7.7 million iPods, a 15 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

I’ve been looking at getting these headphones for a really long time, and I had made up my mind on my last flight to CA that I would get the  Bose QuietComfort 15 Headphones before I fly again. I’m sitting on an airplane right now with these things on and they are simply incredible. Even before you connect them to an audio source, they almost completely remove the sound of the engines, the air flow over the chassis, and the other ambient noise, yet still allow you to hear someone talking to you. But what I love most about them is how they perform with audio. I watched 3 movies with the volume just under 50% and didn’t miss a word. They’re crystal clear in voice and bass, and performed flawlessly when the action got intense. A stewardess asked me a question and I removed the headphones after about 2 hours of use and was incredibly surprised at how loud the cabin actually was!

Bose QuietComfort 15 Headphones are $299, which is a lot of money for a pair of headphones, even ones that have active noise cancellation, but after trying a few other models from Sony and other big name brands, the quality of the audio can’t be beat.  The build quality also seems to be top notch the ear cups and head band are covered in a very nice leather like material and are extremely comfortable to wear for long periods of time (I’ve had them on for over 5 hours and they feel just
as good as the moment I first put them on).

Bose QuietComfort 15 Headphones come with a nice zip-up carrying case with a standard 3.5mm cable that you can use with any audio source, an airplane connector adaptor, and a special cable for iPhone, iPad, iPod or MacBook connections which includes a remote for volume, play/pause, and forward/reverse controls. They are powered by a single AAA battery (included) and can be used with out any cables at all if you’re simply looking for noise cancellation. Also included with the headphones, and placed inside their carrying case are a handful of information cards which have the model number and a website link to give to people if they ask you about the headphones. And as silly as that might sound at first, this is the first time I’ve ever used these and I already gave one to the guy sitting next to me.

I highly recommend the Bose QuietComfort 15 Headphones if you’re on the go, constantly in a loud environment, or just want to enjoy quality sound without interruption.

Earlier today, OnLive released a new application for the iPad (soon to be released for other devices, computers, and TVs as well). It’s a FREE app which gives you silky smooth access to a Windows 7 Cloud virtual machine which is fully Touch enabled. It’s loaded with Office Software like Work, Excel, and Powerpoint, and a few touch related demos. I could spit out some specs and facts, or I can just show it running on my iPad.

Guess which I choose to do?

There are pro user rates and free user limits and blah dee blah blah.. All anyone really should care about is the fact that it works so amazingly well compared to other remote desktop applications like LogMeIn or Splashtop. If there were a solution for consumers on personal computers that worked like this, I would buy it as soon as it were available.  Of course, I’d like it to be universal to any VM, not just Windows… but that’s just me.

Check out the official OnLive Desktop Page.

Get the iPad app here: iTunes Link

I was watching the excellent Monday Night Football game just now, and enjoying a cold brew, when I glanced through some emails and came across a comment from one of our readers on an older article. The article was about AT&T’s seemingly ‘Spanish Inquisition’-like audit of their subscriber base and their unholy and  unsanctioned tethering tendencies with iPhones and other devices. Many of us have received texts, emails and calls about this; claiming we are the devil – and must be punished. Reader Athanasios has brought forward an even more interesting side to this story. Maybe you’ve heard that AT&T seems to think that they can claim that TV output via HDMI is tethering. Or that they will force you into a ridiculously expensive plan if you want a LapDock for your Atrix. But have you heard this one?

Author: Athanasios
Comment:
So I got done talking to customer service today. They told me, “tethering data to anything electronic” is considered “tethering”. I explained that I use a small pair of Sony speakers, they fit in the palm of my hand, and listen to Pandora with them . They told me that was Tethering and there “system” showed I was tethering….  
She said, “speakers are considered as electronic devices and fall under tethering. 

I was at 2gigs for October and they sent the letter…. I explained I do all my work on my phone…  A lot of e-mails, I use my GPS a lot and my son watches a lot of Netflix… She asked if I connect the phone to the TV.. I told her no, and she said that would be tethering if I did…..

I am truly amazed at this. Stunned is the word…. Headphones, she said, were not tethering by the way…??? 

So, what are the possible repercussions of this statement (which must be false, or else the entirety of AT&T’s subscriber base would surely walk away… right? RIGHT?) if it were accurate? All those iPod docks, portable speakers, BT kits in cars? Against the user agreement and would require you to spend a ridiculous amount of money to pick up a tethering plan just because you want to listen to music. And of course, you’re damned if you want to watch a movie on your TV via HDMI. That’s not kosher and you will be charged for the…… I don’t even know what. Or why. Oh.. and they know. THEY KNOW.

AT&T: If you pursue this, I am leaving you. I use my iPhone for music primarily. I ‘tether’ to my car daily. I ‘tether’ to my Apple TV daily. I ‘tether’ to my TV to watch movies when I’m on the road. I ‘tether’ to some battery powered speakers when I want to listen to music outside.

And since Headphones aren’t speakers (what?) and aren’t ‘tethering’… I’m assuming that we’ll be looking at this issue again in the near future when one of AT&T’s ridiculously horrible customer ‘service’ reps makes another insane statement.

This just in: Holding your phone in your left hand requires a tethering plan and nulls your Unlimited Data account.

I travel A LOT for my job, and I’ve been using AT&T for data on my iPad 2, but when it comes to my laptop or PSP, I’m left to trying to find a Panera Bread or pray for a hotel with decent internet access (which is extremely rare). With things like the Sony Playstation Vita coming out early next year, and a few other devices that I usually travel with requiring WiFi or dedicated 3G cellular data accounts, I’ve decided to look into a HotSpot device that can support them all and also consolidate the data plans. I was tethering on my iPhone 4 up until AT&T announced that they were performing a kind of Spanish Inquisition

to find those of us that felt that we should be able to use our data anyway we wished. And doing that with the iPhone 4 worked great, but just adding a tethering plan to my iPhone is out of the question as I use WAY over 5-10GB of data a month just on that one device (in March alone I used over 90GB….) and adding a tethering plan automatically removes my unlimited data plan.

So I leave it to you: What device/plan is the best bet for someone like me that is traveling all over the country on a regular basis and has anywhere from 3-5 devices that need WiFi. I would like 10GB/month at a bare minimum. 3G, 4G, 4G LTE? AT&T, Sprint, Verizon?  You tell me.

Also, how much data do you use on average per month?

Yesterday, after the markets closed, RIM announced its earnings for the Quarter and they were a lot worse than analysts had predicted. This prompted after hours trading drops of more than 20% for RIM stocks. As Doug Simmons has been saying for a long time now: Short RIMM.

Part of the quarterly earnings statement included information about the shipments of their Playbook tablet device. Shipments of the device plummeted from 500,000 shipments last quarter to only 200,000 this past quarter. To put that into perspective, that is about 2% of what Apple shipped last quarter with their iPad tablet.

Their Blackberry handset sales also fell. From around 13 million to just over 10 million. And over all profits fell to $329 million, down from $695 million the previous quarter.

Previously it appeared as if the international sales of Blackberry devices and services would survive the Apple and Android assault a bit better than they have here in the US, but trading in international markets have(or maybe ‘had’ by the time you read this) the stocks even lower than Wall Street.

In the end, I’m not surprised at what has happened to RIM’s Blackberry lineup. They had a unique and useful solution for communicating many years ago, but have since fallen behind the innovative curve and seem unwilling to embrace the future. Through all of this, RIM’s CEOs and Chairmen all remain incredibly positive and optimistic..

Source: Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Google News, Google Finance

[spoiler]Research In Motion Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2012 Results
WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Sept. 15, 2011) – Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported second quarter results for the three months ended August 27, 2011 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP, except where otherwise indicated).

Highlights:
Revenue in the second quarter was $4.2 billion and service revenue surpassed $1 billion for the first time
GAAP net income of $329 million or $0.63 per fully diluted share; adjusted net income of $419 million or $0.80 per fully diluted share
The BlackBerry subscriber base grew 40% year over year to surpass 70 million
RIM’s largest roll-out of BlackBerry smartphones was initiated with 7 new smartphones launched with over 90 carrier and distribution partners in 30 countries during the latter part of Q2
Approximately $780 million was invested as part of a consortium of companies that successfully bid to acquire intellectual property assets from Nortel
BlackBerry smartphone shipments in Q3 are estimated to grow between 27-37% over Q2 shipments

Q2 Results:

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM, Research In Motion and BlackBerry are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in other countries. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.[/spoiler]

Today, the sequel to the insanely popular game ‘Cut the Rope’ was released. We ran a brief story about it this morning, and were asked to review it. Since I love the original game, I decided to give this one a go too.

Cut the Rope: Experiments adds a couple of new game mechanics to the already stellar Cut the Rope formula which include a new rope gun and suction cups. They help to create some incredibly thought provoking levels (75 in all!) which will try your patience and skill. Feeding Om Nom has never been this difficult!

If you’re not familiar with the Cut the Rope game mechanics, you are basically given a simple set of tools (ropes, blowers, bouncers, balloons, and ‘auto-rope-zones’) which will help you navigate the various levels. You guide a piece of candy to the ever cute Om Nom and try to collect three stars scattered around the particular level before feeding the little guy. The more stars you get in the least amount of time, the better your score.

The new suction cups and rope guns allow you to precisely control the candy’s ascent or descent in the level. This game is very addictive and you’ll find yourself trying to perfect every level. I just wish the initial release of this update to Cut the Rope had a few more levels. 75 sounds like a lot, but I finished it pretty quickly.

The iPhone / iPod version is only $.99 and the iPad ‘HD’ version is only $1.99 and they are both available on the Apple App Store.

This game is rather short, so I feel a quick review is fair. However, I recommend this game and look forward to all of it’s upcoming updates! Thumbs up!

The native iPad app for Skype has finally been released. Making it’s debut at precisely midnight, it is a welcome replacement for the iPhone app – this is not an update to the existing iPhone version, it’s completely separate.

It is capable of making and receiving voice and video calls (and of course text chats) over both 3G and Wifi and has a very slick interface. If you’ve got an iPad 2, jump on this quick and call everyone you know to let them know you… have Skype on your iPad….

Get it here: App Store

Google’s newest attempt at Social Networking is more popular than many of us thought it would be at first. And now that there’s an iOS app which replicates all or most of the functionality of the full website and the Android versions. It’s VERY fast, it’s very smooth, and I’m very much a fan.

Get it on the iTunes App Store at THIS LINK

Take your happy little self on over to JailBreakMe.com and remove the limitations from your idevice of choice (as long as it’s not a 1st gen iPhone or iPhone 3G)

Here’s a photo of cydia running on my personal iPad 2 ATT 3G 64GB :)

Have fun.