Mark Gurman

From Apple’s press release: 

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 third quarter ended June 30, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $35.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $28.6 billion and net profit of $7.3 billion, or $7.79 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 42.8 percent compared to 41.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

“We’re continuing to invest in the growth of our business and are pleased to be declaring a dividend of $2.65 per share today”

The Company sold 26.0 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 28 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 17.0 million iPads during the quarter, an 84 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.0 million Macs during the quarter, a two percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 6.8 million iPods, a 10 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on August 16, 2012, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 13, 2012.

“We’re thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we’ve got in the pipeline.”

“We’re continuing to invest in the growth of our business and are pleased to be declaring a dividend of $2.65 per share today,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter, we expect revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $7.65.”

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Today, Apple is announcing its Q3 2012 earnings results.

This past quarter has been a phenomenal one for Apple in terms of products. Last month, Apple announced major software updates for iOS and OS X, iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion. In addition, the company released major updates to both the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air notebook families. Apple has been selling its new Retina display third-generation iPad, 1080P-capable Apple TV, and iPhone 4S for many months now, so it will be interesting to see the continuous sales numbers for those products. While Apple has been selling those aforementioned products, rumors and reports with information about a smaller version of the iPad and an iPhone with a larger display have been rampant.

In any case, we’ll be covering Apple’s Q3 financial results conference call here. It starts at 2 PM Pacific/5 PM Eastern time. Additionally, we will be covering all the announcements from the financial results call on 9to5Mac.com’s homepage.

Updates: 

– Apple reports Q3 2012 results: 35 billion in revenue, $8.8b profit, 26m iPhones, 17m iPads, 4m Macs  

– OS X Mountain Lion will be out on the Mac App Store tomorrow 

You can find the live blog of the call – where Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer typically speak – after the break:

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We’ve gotten word that Apple has slightly tweaked its Thunderbolt Display SKU, and these units have begun shipping to Apple Stores and Apple Official Resellers worldwide. The change was first noticed by our sources when Apple retired the Thunderbolt Display‘s MC914LL/A part code and replaced it with MC914LL/B just a couple of days ago.

It was not immediately clear what the very minor part number change entails, but we speculate that it could point to the inclusion of a MagSafe to MagSafe 2 adapter in Thunderbolt Display shipments:

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Reuters adds its voice to the continuous next-generation iPhone rumor-mill, saying that the next-generation Apple smartphone will feature a smaller dock connector. The report goes on to say that the new connector will feature 19 pins, an 11-pin drop from the current 30-pin design. We note this report as Reuters is the first mainstream publication to call for a smaller connector:

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In the latest sign of OS X Mountain Lion’s imminent release to the public, Apple has seeded the next-generation Mac operating system to its AppleCare representatives. AppleCare representatives have been testing OS X Mountain Lion on special Macs and via remote computing for the past few weeks, but today’s news marks that the OS X Mountain Lion Golden Master seed has been supplied to representatives to be installed on their main work Macs. More details after the break:

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Apple has responded to the recent App Store in-app-purchase bug and fraud with an email and temporary solution for registered iOS developers. This email includes a link to a new Apple developer web document that describes the issue and teaches developers how to temporarily plug the issue. Apple says that it will fix the bug completely with the upcoming release of iOS 6 (thanks, @natesiphone).

A vulnerability has been discovered in iOS 5.1 and earlier related to validating in-app purchase receipts by connecting to the App Store server directly from an iOS device. An attacker can alter the DNS table to redirect these requests to a server controlled by the attacker. Using a certificate authority controlled by the attacker and installed on the device by the user, the attacker can issue a SSL certificate that fraudulently identifies the attacker’s server as an App Store server. When this fraudulent server is asked to validate an invalid receipt, it responds as if the receipt were valid.

iOS 6 will address this vulnerability. If your app follows the best practices described below then it is not affected by this attack.

Apple has provided a question, answer, and solution section for three common questions from developers during the past few days (since the major App Store flaw was discovered):

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Sparrow has just announced that it has been acquired by Google. The company’s team will be integrated within the Google Gmail team.

We’re excited to announce that Sparrow has been acquired by Google!

We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most intuitive and pleasurable mailing experience.

Now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to all of our users who have supported us, advised us, given us priceless feedback and allowed us to build a better mail application. While we’ll be working on new things at Google, we will continue to make Sparrow available and provide support for our users.

We had an amazing ride and can’t thank you enough.

Full speed ahead!

Dom Leca
CEO
Sparrow

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lYitaF4lDo]Promo video for Sparrow for iPhone

Sparrow has long been noted as a great third-party email app for both the Mac and iOS, specifically on the iPhone. The application has a unique user interface that is intuitive and very well integrated into social networks.

Teaser for Sparrow for iPad

The company said that an iPad app is in the works, but it is unclear if this app will launch now that the team is integrated into Google. Notably, Sparrow says that its current apps will stay available. Sparrow will also still provide support for its users.

Sparrow has also long been noted as a great Gmail solution for iPhone users. Google’s official iOS Gmail application is definitely in need of new features – beyond just a web view – and we hope that Sparrow’s team has a part in creating a new Gmail experience for iOS users.

Screenshot of Sparrow for Mac

Sparrow has also just sent out a different, more personal note to its users. Notably: no new features or updates coming.

Hello,

We’re excited to let you know that Sparrow has been acquired by Google! You can view our public announcement here, but I wanted to reach out directly to make sure you were aware of the news.We will continue to make available our existing products, and we will provide support and critical updates to our users. However, as we’ll be busy with new projects at Google, we do not plan to release new features for the Sparrow apps.

It’s been an honor and a pleasure to build products for all of our wonderful users who have supported us over the years. We can’t thank you enough.

We look forward to working on some new and exciting projects at Google!

A Google spokesperson has reached out to provide the following statement:

The Sparrow team has always put their users first by focusing on building a seamlessly simple and intuitive interface for their email client. We look forward to bringing them aboard the Gmail team, where they’ll be working on new projects.

We’re also told that Google will support Sparrow in supporting its current Sparrow user-base and in providing essential app updates. The Sparrow team is also said to be focusing on new Google projects, likely related to Gmail. Google would not comment on specific future product plans.

The Verge says the purchase price was under $25 million.

One of the most widely publicized and important knocks against Sparrow’s iOS application is the lack of push notifications. As Sparrow CEO Dom Leca said, “now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.” We think that bigger vision includes more resources; assets that will help Sparrow make email even better for everyone with features like push alerts.

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The iPhone includes a great built-in weather application that is easy and intuitive. However, an even simpler, more intuitive weather application for iOS is making the rounds today. It’s not an App Store app, but a free web application for iOS Safari called Sun. When saved to your home screen, it appears just like a native iOS application, and it lacks the Safari menu bars. More screenshots and details:

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Click for larger

Given that we reported that Apple had acquired C3 Technologies – a 3D mapping company – last year, we don’t think there has been any doubt that Apple is using C3’s data for iOS 6’s 3D Maps feature. However, we thought it would be interesting to show a comparison of how similar Apple’s implementation is to C3’s web implementation by way of Nokia. Notice the same iPad billboard and the alignment of the cars in the parking lot.

Some interesting things to note:

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Apple has released a software update for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models introduced in June 2012. The update is mostly a bug fix release that improves USB device compatibility and issues that unnecessarily use more CPU power. The update is not supported by OS X Mountain Lion:

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BusinessInsider highlights an upcoming story from Bloomberg stating that a UK Judge has ruled that Apple must publicly state that Samsung did not copy the iPad design for its tablets. The public statements by Apple must be carried out in two ways:

• Apple must post a message up on its website
• Apple must post this message in British newspapers

Thanks Filomeno!

The report says that Apple must leave the notice up on its website for six months. Details about the notice in British newspapers are currently less clear. We will update when Bloomberg’s report with more details becomes available. (Image: DigitalTrends)

Update: Bloomberg has published its full report on the matter. According to the report, the ruling is noted as an “advertisment” from Apple for Samsung on its UK official website and in several UK-based news publications:

The notice should outline the July 9 London court decision that Samsung’s Galaxy tablets don’t infringe Apple’s registered designs, Judge Colin Birss said. It should be posted on Apple’s U.K. website for six months and published in several newspapers and magazines to correct the damaging impression the South Korea-based company was copying Apple’s product, Birss said.

Apple nor Samsung have yet to comment on the ruling.

Tablet design before and after the iPad (via OS X Daily):

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The Wall Street Journal has just issued an alert saying that Apple’s next-generation iPhone will sport a new screen technology. According to the publication, this new technology will make this new iPhone’s display even thinner. This will likely yield a thinner device overall, something corroborated by the numerous part leaks thus far.

Breaking: Apple’s next iPhone will use a new technology that makes the smartphone’s screen thinner. wsj.com

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 17, 2012

The Journal‘s full story claims that Sharp, LG, and a new company called Japan Display are developing the new screen technology for the next-generation iPhone. The new, “in-cell” technology does not seperate the touch sensors from the LCD itself, making the screen thinner:

The technology integrates touch sensors into the LCD, making it unnecessary to have a separate touch-screen layer. The absence of the layer, usually about half a millimeter thick, not only makes the whole screen thinner, but the quality of displayed images would improve, said DisplaySearch analyst Hiroshi Hayase.

The report notes that dropping the additional touch sensor layer will make gearing up the supply chain for production of the new device an apparently easier task.

For Apple, the new technology would also simplify the supply chain and help cut costs as it would no longer have to buy touch panels and LCD panels from separate suppliers.

David Hsieh, also an analyst from DisplaySearch, first reported on Apple’s move to in-cell touch screen technology for the 2012 iPhone in April.

Notably, the report also says that Wintek, the supplier of the Retina Display LCD found in the iPhone 4S, is currently left out of the next-generation iPhone part supply deals.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoqiPzij26Y]

The next iPhone will likely launch in the fall, and past reports point to the new device carrying a taller, four-inch display, a redesigned, smaller dock connector, LTE network-support, and possibly support for a smaller SIM card standard.

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Like it does with the iOS Personal Hotspot feature, U.S. carrier AT&T appears set to control and charge for the iOS 6 FaceTime over Cellular feature. This iOS 6 enhancement brings the formally WiFi only iOS device video calling feature into a more useful state, letting people use the feature practically anywhere they may be. AT&T provided us with the following statement:

We’re working closely with Apple on the new developer build of iOS6 and we’ll share more information with our customers as it becomes available.

We attempted to bring up the same same error message when enabling the FaceTime over Cellular feature on a Verizon iPad WiFi + Cellular, but the feature enabled without an issue. AT&T charges for a separate plan to use Personal Hotspot on its network, and the carrier appears set to replicate that process with FaceTime over Cellular.

To replicate the process of receiving the above error message, you need to restore your network settings. It is also appearing for some people who have restored to iOS 6 beta 3.

With the large amount of data that a FaceTime call over Cellular uses, it doesn’t seem like a stretch for AT&T to want to charge for the feature. At this time, other iOS device carrier-partner plans are unclear, but AT&T is the first carrier that demonstrates evidence (in iOS 6 beta 3) for a plan to charge for the feature.

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Here’s what’s new so far in iOS 6 beta 3. Let us know if you find anything else:

-There is a new Maps section in Settings for controlling unit labels (miles or kilometers), label sizes, and label language. Users are also able to now control the volume of turn-by-turn navigation.

More:

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Three weeks after it released iOS 6 beta 2, Apple has unleashed a third-beta of the next-generation version of iOS to developers. The new beta is currently available as an over-the-air update to those running iOS 6 beta 2, and the new version should be hitting Apple’s iOS Developer Center shortly.

It is unclear what changes this new beta holds, but they likely revolve around bug fixes and performance enhancements. We’ll be going through this new beta and will update with anything new that we find. If you find anything new, you can tip us at tips@9to5mac.com. 

iOS 6 is launching to the public this fall, and it is a major release with over 200 new features. Some new features include an all-new Maps application with an Apple backend and 3D Flyover, Facebook integration, improved Siri, enhanced Phone features, improved Safari, improved Mail, and iCloud enhancements such as Shared Photo Streams.

Download sizes: 323MB/347MB delta on iPhone 4S, 424MB delta on third-generation iPad.

Here’s our post with all the changes found thus far in the beta 3 release. 

Xcode Preview 3 has now been seeded:

Rrelease notes after the break: 

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