FASB approves accounting changes that will allow Apple to realize revenue sooner
Call your broker! The FASB has changed its accounting rules this morning, allowing Apple to realize the revenue from its iPhones and AppleTV devices at purchase rather than slowly over two years. It also allows Apple to stop charging nominal fees for iPod Touch software updates – when it doesn’t necessarily want to. AAPL is up almost 4 points on the day.
Apple Inc. is expected to be one of the major beneficiaries of the change, since it would dramatically change how the company reports revenues from its iPhone [and AppleTV]. Currently, Apple recognizes iPhone revenue over a two-year period, and said recently that overall revenues and earnings in its latest quarter would have been much higher if it didn’t have to defer revenues for the iPhone and its Apple TV product. An Apple spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
How to get TimeMachine working again…
If you’ve been having problems with an AirPort Extreme-connected hard drive and Apple’s Time Machine feature, you’re not alone – turns out a lot of us have been afflicted by the bug.
What takes place: You connect your drive, set it up using AirPort Utility and begin to save those valuable Time Machine files for back-up, recovery and data protection. It all goes swimmingly, and then you install AirPort 7.4.2…and a few hours later, your drive stops working. You can’t even access them using the Finder until you reboot your AirPort Extreme. And then, it only lasts a few hours and you must reboot all over again. Annoying…
MacOSXHints has figured out a fix, of sorts, suggesting afflicted users revert to AirPort 7.4.1. To roll back to that version you must run AirPort Utility, click on the Summary tab (in Manual set-up) and click on the word, ‘version’, there you get to choose the software version to install, as MacOSXHints informs.
Handy hint, which also underlines the likelihood of a new version of AirPort soon(ish).
Preview: Garmin Edge 500
We at 9to5Mac like the cycling. And we love cycling gear. Here’s a little ditty on a forthcoming product that we think will be a hit.
On this blogger’s second century ride of the season, I noticed the groan-inducing "low battery" icon on my near-antique Polar S710 cyclecomputer/HRM–I now have to send it to Polar for a battery and chest strap replacement. The Polar product has always been a bit of a disappointment to me. It has an unintuitive interface, is prone to interference, and is infamously inaccurate. Since the S710 is eight years old already, I thought I’d take a look at what else is available, and see if the time was right for an upgrade.
I had already considered going without a cycle computer in favor of using the B.iCycle or iMapMyRide apps for the iPhone. When the 3.0 SDK came out I had visions of mounting my iPhone to my handlebar and purchasing external speed, cadence and HRM units that would communicate via bluetooth with one of these apps. Unfortunately, the apps haven’t attained that level of maturity yet, though developers of B.iCycle have assured me that they are "eager to improve it with the support for external hardware." On the Long Island Harbors Century this summer, I tested B.iCycle, and it sapped my iPhone 3GS battery completely by mile 56. There were also accuracy problems, since speed is calculated by GPS. And forget about cadence or heart rate. So, I decided to look elsewhere.
A few of my cyclebuddies have Garmin Edge units. Their 605 and 705 products even offer turn-by-turn directions, which is pretty cool, except for the fact that the units are 2" wide by 4.3" tall and weigh 3.7 ounces, which isn’t terribly heavy in principle, but is still about twice as large and heavy as anything else out there, and is kind of horsey (and not aero, if you care about that) when mounted on your stem or bar. Garmin Slipstream star Christian Van De Velde had the same complaint, and Garmin worked with him and the rest of the team to develop the new Edge 500.
The Edge 500 (with HRM bundle) shares many of the top-of-the-line 705′s features, such as GPS, wireless HRM cadence and speed, Garmin Training Center software (which unlike the Polar offering, IS Mac-compatible, though there are some hiccups with SL that will hopefully be resolved soon), and ANT+ power meter compatibility. The Edge 500 also adds heart rate based calorie computation, which the 705 doesn’t have, and has an extra 3 hours of battery life (up to 18 hours). But the Edge 500 has no maps, turn-by-turn directions, routes or waypoints, and no microSD slot, which brings the unit down in size to 1.9" x 2.7" and 2 oz in weight. There has also been some sniping on cycling forums about the mysterious omission of some 705 features that have nothing to do with mapping, like training against a virtual partner, custom workouts, pace alerts, interval training, and unit-to-unit data transfer. Perhaps some of these will roll out in future firmware updates, along with SL bug fixes in the Garmin software.
On balance, I think the Garmin Edge has the mix of form and features to make it the best cyclecomputer on the market when it comes out in December. The sacrifice of mapping and directions for size is actually a good call for many cyclists who train and race on established routes. They are still able to analyze their route and performance post-ride on Garmin Connect, the online community of Edge users. Touring cyclists will probably want the mapping features of the 605 and 705, and probably don’t mind the additional bulk on their bikes. Per Van De Velde’s advice, the Edge 500 is a more durable unit and has a sturdier mount than the 605 and 705, which will be welcome news for mountain bikers and anyone who has lost their $550 Edge 705 in a crash…
…which brings us to price. Garmin’s own press release boasts that "the Edge 500 streamlines your cycling statistics for a fraction of the cost of comparable head units" and lists the MSRP as $249.99 for the base unit and $349.99 when bundled with HRM and cadence sensors. However, if you click over to Garmin’s Edge 500 product page, you’ll find an MSRP of $274.99/$399.99.
I called Garmin Product Support to ask about the disparity, and a very friendly representative named Vern informed me that the MSRP was subject to change between now and the product release. I can only imagine the controversy that such pre-launch MSRP fluctuations would foment in an Apple gadget, but so far, there has been very little noise about this in the cycle forums. Amazon’s Edge 500 page features the unit with the HRM and cadence, and their list is $367.48, but you can pre-order now for just $342.99 with free shipping, which is $7 off the original MSRP from the press release.
New Seagate FreeAgent Theater is a solid AppleTV competitor
Seagate sent us their new $150 FreeAgent Theater+ HD to review yesterday and we haven’t really put the remote down since. The device picks up a bit from where AppleTV leaves off in terms of format compatibility. Is the interface as polished as AppleTV? Of course not. But it plays just about every media type (movies, photos and music) from your network shares, not just Apple’s preferred file types. It will even play 1080P videos with Dolby sound over Gigabit Ethernet without skipping.
Seagate tells us they are working on additional content from premium content vendors such as Netflix and the hardware/software solution here is an in-house development, not pulled from 3rd party technology. We asked about Hulu, they said we have no announcements at this time. Updates to the platform come via software update from the Internet. It is definitely wandering into the Plex or Boxee space.
This is an interesting product because Seagate is a hard drive company first and foremost but they don’t require you to buy another drive for this thing beyond what you already have (but it is tempting). Seagate’s own drives do fit neatly inside the dock bay but it also has USB ports on the front and back to play from USB sticks or plug-in hard drives. Obviously, network shares and NAS drives might be the best way to share video, however.
The device is an upgrade from the previous FreeAgent Theater which lacked Ethernet, HDMI, or the ability to read Mac HFS formatted volumes. (which we got a review unit for and could do nothing with it, it was essentially useless). This version is quite th opposite. You don’t even need to buy a hard drive with this one, it will stream what you already have.
We’ll put up some videos soon. You can pre-order the device now from Amazon.
Press Release Below:
Seagate FreeAgent Theater+™ (Plus), the next generation of the company’s home theater solution, offers customer a rich user experience and simple way to enjoy digital media on their TV Seagate (NASDAQ: STX), the worldwide leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, today unveiled its new FreeAgent Theater+™ [Plus] HD media player, the next generation home theater solution designed to instantly and easily connect your digital media library to your home entertainment system.
The FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player leverages a docking system unique to Seagate FreeAgent Go™ portable drives and accessories, providing a quick and easy way to connect your external hard drive to your television or home entertainment center. After loading the drive with your favorite movies, videos, music and pictures from the home PC, simply slide it into the FreeAgent Theater+ dock to get instant access to your digital media library. With the FreeAgent Theater+ player, you can just sit back, relax, point, click and enjoy as digitally captured memories and your favorite movies come to life in 1080p HD video, DTS™ 2.0 + Digital Out, or Dolby Digital technology. The interface is easily navigated with the included remote control, and you can choose from video, photos or music with the up/down arrows on the remote to make your selection.
The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player includes two additional USB ports for connecting other USB attached storage devices. Also incorporated into FreeAgent Theater+ is an Ethernet port for network connectivity, which allows access to digital media through your home network. Seagate intends to launch a USB Wireless Adapter in October to enable this same access with 802.11n wireless connectivity to a home network. Enjoy it all, with the included new and improved remote control, from the comfort of your couch.
“There is so much media that is now being captured and created through various methods and stored on the PC, yet the computer is not the ideal way to enjoy these photos and videos,” said Terry Cunningham, senior vice president, Seagate Branded Solutions. “The FreeAgent Theater provides the easiest way to view and enjoy video and photos on your HDTV. Simply load up a Seagate FreeAgent Go™ hard drive and drop it into the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player dock. It’s a behavior we’ve all been familiar with for years with VHS and DVDs, but now with digital HD enjoyment.”
The new FreeAgent Theater+™ HD media player solution includes:
HDMI with 1080p HD video playback for high-definition content viewing
Dolby® Digital and DTS™ 2.0 + Digital Out audio support surround sound where available.
Unique docking system eliminates fumbling with cables and connections
Ethernet connection for accessing shared content on your network or streaming of content from the Internet
The optional wireless connectivity feature, expected to be available in October, will allow you to access stored content on any networked computer in the home at your fingertips
Two additional USB ports and one front-mounted port for digital cameras and additional storage devices
Simple sync software for PC and Mac® computers
Intuitive user interface with DVD-style navigation
Support for Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows® 7, and Mac OS® X operating systems, as well as NTFS, FAT, FAT32, HFS+ file support
Component video and Composite video support
Optical S/PDIF audio and Stereo RCA sound options
The software included with FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player is a rich media-specific synchronization application that enables the automatic transfer and organization of all photo, music, video and movie files stored on your computer.
Technical Specifications
The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player now supports even more Audio/Video and sound formats including MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (VOB/ISO), MPEG-4 (DivX® /Xvid formats), DivX HD, Xvid HD, AVI, MOV, MKV, RMVB, AVC HD, H.264, WMV9, VC-1, M2TS, TS/TP/M2T, JPEG files up to 20 megapixels, BMP, GIF, PNG and TIFF. Audio formats supported include 5.1 channel surround sound, where available, and popular digital audio formats including: AAC, MP3, Dolby Digital, DTS, ASF, FLAC, WMA, LPCM, ADPCM, WAV and OGG. The FreeAgent Theater+ player also offers support for SAMI (smi), SRT and SUB subtitles. To download and transfer content to a Seagate FreeAgent Go portable drive using a Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 operated PC, a 256MB RAM and an available USB port is required. Mac computer users must be running Mac OS X 10.4.11 or 10.5.6 or later and have an available USB port. FreeAgent Theater connects to any TV with composite, component video or HDMI connection and stereo, optical S/PDIF or HDMI audio connection
Pricing and Availability
The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player is available immediately via Seagate.com and other online retailers. It comes as a stand-alone unit for use with any USB storage device for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $149.99, or bundled with a 500GB FreeAgent Go drive for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $289.99. The FreeAgent Theater+ Wireless Adapter is expected to be available in October as a separate accessory through Seagate.com for $69.99.
Build a stylish iPod dock from a piece of cardpaper
Dessine Moi Un Objet has a nice little howto on building an iPod touch or iPhone dock out of a piece of cardpaper. Apple’s first generation iPhones came with a dock, however subsequent models lost the dock and it became an accessory. Download the template here. Video below.
Original soundtrack by Florent Paris from Hors Sujet
Apple applies stealth Aperture Snow Leopard "tax"
Apple has applied a quiet “Snow Leopard Tax” against professional photographers using earlier versions of popular pro software package, Aperture.
Digital imaging professionals who rushed to upgrade to the new OS have been distressed when they attempt to open their essential photogs tool, as Apple’s big cat is not prepared to support versions of Aperture earlier than 2.1.4.
An Apple tech support document published in the early hours of this morning confirms the news, warning: “When you attempt to open Aperture 1.5.6 on a computer running Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard, the following alert appears: "You can’t use this version of the Application Aperture with this version of Mac OS X."”
Apple then helpfully informs users that the problem “is expected as Aperture 2.1.4 is required for Snow Leopard compatibility.”
Apple has made the Aperture 2.1.4 update available for download by users upgrading to Snow Leopard. The software was introduced near the ship date for Snow Leopard, August 27.
To be fair, Apple released Aperture 2.0 almost 18 months ago. An upgrade from a previous version to the current, supported version, costs c.$100.
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