Good morning all, welcome to our Friday collection of under the radar stories, your one-stop shop primer for all the rest of the Apple news today.. So what have we got?
Apple’s iPhone sales are bigger than ever and will exceed Wall Street estimates, an analyst has expressed – and we’ll be able to check these estimates on Monday when Apple has at last confirmed it will offer its Q4 financial call.
With Windows 7 looming, if you use virtualisation software, good news, VMware Fusion 3 (which is fast and recommended) is available now for pre-order on Amazon; If you’ve been investing enough in Apple stock you may already be a millionaire, and there’s an App for you if you are; also on an iPhone tip, the first paid for app has gone free with a changed business model following Apple’s introduction of in-app purchasing for free Apps yesterday; there’s some move in Apple retail; Michael Jackson will be making it to iTunes (well, he won’t be, but his label and his estate have figured a way to make a little money in his memory); oh, and Google announces stellar Q3 results and reveals a platform-agnostic eBook plan (tablet tablet). Brief news: iPhone partner for Guam while Apple dominates Twitter buzz. And the usual pair of rather attractive bargains for our US and UK readers. — All after the blip…
iPhone sales up, up and away
Analyst Ashok Kumar says shipments of the iPhone in September exceeded Wall Street estimates of 7 million units by 25-30 percent. According to Kumar, the iPhone now accounts for 15 percent of the smartphone segment.
Apple to webcast Q4 results, company confirms
“FY 09 Fourth Quarter Results Conference Call
WHAT: Apple® FY 09 Fourth Quarter Results Conference Call
WHEN: Monday, October 19, 2009, 10:00 p.m. BST
WEBCAST: Apple will provide live audio streaming of its FY 09 Fourth Quarter Results Conference Call using Apple’s industry-leading QuickTime® multimedia software. The live webcast will begin at 10:00 p.m. BST on October 19, 2009 and be available for two weeks.
(We mentioned this was coming weeks ago, folks – Read it here)
VMWare Fusion 3.0
Set to ship October 27, we enjoyed a demonstration of this yesterday at London’s Digital Winter event. While we are diehard Mac users we were impressed by the speed and parity with which both platforms performed. The Unity engine is extremely stable (as far as we can tell), the integration between the OS’s impresses, and it opens your Mac up for Open GL and Directx support. VMware Fusion 3 is available for pre-order.
iVIP
Something deeply decadent about this, we think it may be a fail, but for pure cheek alone, here we go: “iVIP Black is the iPhone’s first premium lifestyle application, an exclusive network of privileges and benefits across a range of luxury partners…users who download the app are required to complete a High Net Worth Individual certification, restricting use of the app to ‘Millionaires’.” Hmmm – your thoughts, people??
Paid goes free for in-app upgrade deals
Push notification app, Boxcar, has gone free following Apple’s move to enable in-app purchases for free Apps yesterday. The free version offers you access to one service – so Facebook notifications or Twitter Stream, for example, and you bolt on other services at $1.99 each.
We expect much more of this as some developers experiment with the possibilities here, we also predict subscription-based App purchases are next in Apple’s sights, at which point Hulu may finally introduce its very own iPhone app…
Apple retail draws more top-tier talent
Cushman & Wakefield retail team partner Will Vogt is leaving in mid-November to work with former colleague Chris Braithwaite at retailer Apple.
Vogt has experience in buying, selling, financing, leasing, managing and valuing of assets, and providing strategic planning and research, portfolio analysis, site selection and space location for property. We suspect he’s to be of some importance in developing Apple’s European retail expansion plans.
iTunes makes a compromise, Jacko will be on iTunes
“An exclusive report by Digital Music News on Tuesday quickly reignited negotiations between the companies, thanks partly to a quick pickup by the Wall Street Journal and a pile-on by other news outlets. On Thursday afternoon, Apple reached out to confirm that a deal was signed with Sony, after bundling specifics were ironed out.”
Apple actually conceded on one critical point, offering to bundle the lead single, "This Is It," into a larger album purchase. The rest of the tracks, largely older Jackson classics, appear to be purchasable a-la-carte, though Apple will also position an EP alongside the full album download. According to iTunes executive Jason Roth, the EP will contain six previously unreleased tracks, and "This Is It" must be purchased as either a full-album or EP bundle. The availability starts October 26th.
Google makes $1.64b, announces giant book shop plan
Google last night reported revenues of $5.94 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, an increase of 7% compared to the third quarter of 2008. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs (TAC). In the third quarter of 2009, TAC totaled $1.56 billion, or 27% of advertising revenues. GAAP net income in the third quarter of 2009 was $1.64 billion, compared to $1.29 billion in the third quarter of 2008.
The company also confirmed its intent to launch Google Editions in the first half of next year, initially offering about half a million e-books in partnership with publishers. These titles will be made available to any platform, conceivably including Android netbooks, Apple iPhones and any future eBook-friendly, erm, Apple tablet.
iPhone comes to Guam
GTA TeleGuam and Apple have reached an agreement to bring the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS to Guam later this year.
Apple, Google are the buzz online
Apple, Microsoft and Google are the major brands generating the largest amounts of online "buzz" among users of social media services like Facebook and Twitter, said social media analytics firm. Sysmos.
Google took the top spot. Apple took second, and Microsoft fell into third place, just ahead of BMW.
Deals from the Toy Section
Do look at these deals, we try to find you something good each day…see more great deals in 9to5 Toys.
US Deal
There’s some steep – up to 65 percent – discounts on a huge collection of SwissGear laptop bags. These bags are tough and hard-wearing, look cool and, better yet, don’t look like laptop bags so you won’t stand out as a mugger’s target if you – or your child – ends up in a dodgy zone. Go take a look, with discount prices start at just $35.
UK Deal
We’ve stumbled across a great deal on one of the most essential books on Apple history that any convinced Mac, iPod or iPhone user should take a look at, Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World’s Most Colorful Company: The Real Story of Apple Computer, Inc. by Owen W Linzmayer. Normally retailing at £18.49, it’s currently available for just £12.45, and is without doubt one of the six books we’d most recommend you read if you want a strong understanding of the computer company. Go see…
Check back later on for more of our fast and actual, independent Apple news coverage….
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