iPad (2021)

Previously, we covered Apple’s announcement that it had won a large contract to supply iPads to LA Unified School District. The program will equip students across the nation’s second biggest school district with iPads that include the Pearson Common Core System of Courses delivered via a new app as part of the integrated solution. Additionally, each iPad will come preloaded with Apple’s iWork (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) and iLife (iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand) suites in addition to a range of educational third-party apps. Apple noted that the $30 million commitment is only the first phase of a larger roll out for Los Angeles schools.

In a new report today, we see how big that buy really is.

The first 31,000 iPads are only the initial phase of the program, which plans to buy and distribute iPads to all 640,000 students in the nation’s second-largest school district by late 2014, Mark Hovatter, the chief facilities executive for the LAUSD, told CITEworld.

“The most important thing is to try to prepare the kids for the technology they are going to face when they are going to graduate,” said Hovatter. “This is phase one, a mix of high school, middle school, and elementary students. We’re targeting kids who most likely don’t have their own computers or laptops or iPads. Their only exposure to computers now is going to be in their schools.”

That’s a huge number to add to Apple’s iPad numbers over the next year. As it stands, if Apple reaped $400 of revenue from each iPad, it would receive $256M for the deal. More importantly, it lays the groundwork for other school districts that may want to emulate this adoption.

Best of all, it exposes a massive amount of children to Apple’s technology that might not already have access to it.

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[youtube=http://youtu.be/mSsXrPxJ2rc]

“How can we create high quality, easy-to-use software for both professional and novice DJs?”

That’s the question that inspired co-founders Karim and Christoph to make Algoriddim’s djay, the award-winning music production software. At the time, DJ software was extremely expensive and complex, but the pair were determined to create meaningful change in an industry they were both tremendously passionate about. While they both enjoyed the art of scratching, in between attending classes and studying for exams at college, the two had vastly different skill levels.

Karim was the expert. With ten years of experience under his belt, Karim had his fair share of knowledge about the industry and had used some of the most popular DJ software available. But with every gig he played, Karim found each solution clunky and downright confounding. He could manage, as digital software proved to have a superior functionality compared to his old analog favorites, but the situation wasn’t even close to ideal.

Christoph, on the other hand, had an extraordinary admiration for DJing, but didn’t have the experience or expertise of his buddy Karim. No matter what software he tried, Christoph was often puzzled as most professional software featured an overwhelming set of controls and required an insanely high level of manual skill, which made performing all the more difficult.

As such, the duo wanted to make something new; software that they and similar people could both use.
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As planned, Apple today announced its earnings results for the Q3 2013 quarter.

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 third quarter ended June 29, 2013. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $35.3 billion and quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $35 billion and net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 42.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

The Company sold 31.2 million iPhones, a record for the June quarter, compared to 26 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 17 million in the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.8 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $3.05 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on August 15, 2013, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 12, 2013.

Apple reported revenues for Q3 of $35.3 billion, which is within Apple’s estimates for the quarter of between $33.5 billion and $35.5 billion. This compares to $35 billion in revenues in the year-ago Q3.

Apple also reported net profit of $6.9 billion. This compares to $8.8 billion in profit during the year-ago Q3 quarter.

In terms of product sales, Apple reports that it sold 31.2 million iPhones, 14.6 million iPads, 3.8 million Macs, and 4.57 million iPods. This compares to the 2012 Q3 quarter in which Apple sold: 26 million iPhones, 17 million iPads, and 4 million Macs, and 6.8 million iPods.

Apple CEO Tim Cook on the results:

“We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.”

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer on the results:

“We generated $7.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and are pleased to have returned $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.

Apple’s guidance for next quarter (Q3 2013) is revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion.

At 2 PM Pacific time, Apple will hold a broadcasted earnings call. We will conduct a live blog of the call with interesting notes in a separate post. Full press release below:

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Analyst Ming-Chi-Kuo, who has a fairly strong track record in predicting future Apple products (timing not withstanding), has issued a new report with claims for some of Apple’s new products for the rest of 2013. The following is a breakdown of Kuo’s claims by product:

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According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Apple and its suppliers are testing versions of the iPad and iPhone with larger displays.

Apple and its Asian component makers are testing larger screens for iPhones and tablets, officials at the company’s suppliers say.

Due to mounting competition from hardware competitors like Samsung, a larger-screened iPhone has long been expected and rumored. However, this is one of the first specific claims for a larger sized iPad. In March of this year, an unverified claim emerged for a 12.9-inch iPad model being in the works with a rather unlikely name. WSJ‘s report points to a display “measuring slightly less than 13 inches diagonally.”

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE7AQY5Xk9w&feature=youtu.be

Despite Microsoft’s disastrous quarterly earnings report, in which it took a $900M writedown on discounted Surfaces, the company has just pushed out a new ad for its Surface v. iPad campaign.

As with its previous advertisements, Microsoft bashes the iPad’s inability to perform certain tasks that the Surface is specifically designed to handle. This particular ad highlights the iPad’s lack of built-in back stand, USB port, and keyboard accessory, all of which are not built-in to or included with the iPad.

Interestingly, in this ad, the Siri-inspired voiceover says, “This isn’t going to end well for me, is it? Nope definitely not ending well,” which is particularly intriguing given yesterday’s financial results. As evidenced by these results, it would appear that Microsoft’s Surface is  in a precarious position, and not Apple’s iPad.
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Apple’s Tim Cook, Bob Mansfield, Kevin Lynch

Apple has begun assembling a team of hardware and software engineering, medical sensor, manufacturing, and fitness experts, indicating the company is moving forward with a project to build a fitness-oriented, sensor-laden wearable computer, according to our sources.

Over the past half-decade-or-so, Apple has experimented with and shelved numerous wearable computer designs. Internal prototypes have included designs that could clip onto different pieces of clothing (like an iPod shuffle/nano) in addition to devices that could wrap around a wrist.

Based on comments from Apple CEO Tim Cook and numerous reports, the wrist is the part of the body in which top Apple executives are currently targeting…

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Google has just issued a big update to its Chrome app for iPhone and iPad that brings new “interoperability with other Google Apps” and a number of other notable features. That means that you’ll now be able to open all links for YouTube, Maps, Google+ and Drive in their native apps instead of in the browser. You’ll also now be able to access the apps with a single tap from within Chrome.

The update also brings enhancements to the newly introduced voice search capabilities, including: always visible controls from the toolbar and text-to-speech support for “all variations of English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Japanese, and Korean.”

Other improvements in today’s update include fullscreen support on iPad, easier access to browser history, and, according to Google, data cost savings:

Reduce data usage and speed up page load times. View data savings in Bandwidth Management settings. This feature is being rolled out and will be available to all users over time.

Google explained the experimental data cost savings feature in a whitepaper when it was first introduced on Android. In the document, Google says its tests showed the feature can reduce data usage by up to 50%:
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Update: Logic Pro X is now available in the Mac App Store for $199 and the new Logic Remote companion iPad app is available for free. MainStage 3 is also now live on the App Store.

Something that we’ve been expecting for quite sometime is happening today as Apple follows in the footsteps of “Final Cut Pro X” with the release of a brand new version of Logic dubbed “Logic Pro X“. The release of updated app comes with a ton of new features on top of  a revamped UI and a new version of MainStage 3. The question is, has Apple stripped away some of the core features professionals rely on, or has it learned from its mistakes with the controversy surrounding Final Cut Pro X?
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AT&T <a href="http://www.wap.org/journal/iphoneeverywhere/">Line</a>

Following major announcements from T-Mobile and Sprint (and rumors about big device upgrade changes at Verizon Wireless), AT&T has made its “network related” announcement that it teased last week. The company has introduced a new program named “AT&T Next.” Similar to T-Mobile’s new “Un-carrier” offering, AT&T Next allows users to upgrade their smartphone or tablet device each year (T-Mobile, though, allows this to happen twice a year).

“With AT&T Next, customers can get the newest smartphone or tablet every year with no down payment. That’s hard to beat, and it’s an incredible value for customers who want the latest and greatest every year,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility.

In a change from the typical ways of purchasing a phone upfront with no contract or at a subsidy with a contract, AT&T Next allows a customer to purchase a smartphone or tablet with $0 down payment and pay for the device with a monthly cost. For example, according to AT&T, a customer who wants a Samsung Galaxy S4 can purchase the device with no down payment and pay an extra $32 per month (on top of their standard monthly service bill). More details below:

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This upcoming Friday and Saturday, Best Buy will hold an iPad trade-in-program, the company told AllThingsD. The promotion will give at least a $200 gift card in exchange for iPad 2s and third-generation iPads. The iPad-focused promotion is reportedly in response to the successful iPhone version that occurred last month.

Update: the Best Buy iPad Trade-in Sale has gone live, below:

Note: Your best trade-in bet might be at other locations like Amazon which starts iPad 2s at $210 or Gazelle where 9to5Mac readers get $10 off with this link.

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Gartner is today out with a report detailing its estimates for Q2 2013 global and U.S. PC shipments. Globally, the industry average for shipments is down 10.9%. This is the fifth consecutive decline for this specific metric.

“We are seeing the PC market reduction directly tied to the shrinking installed base of PCs, as inexpensive tablets displace the low-end machines used primarily for consumption in mature and developed markets,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “In emerging markets, inexpensive tablets have become the first computing device for many people, who at best are deferring the purchase of a PC. This is also accounting for the collapse of the mini notebook market.”

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As reported on 9to5Google last night, Google is rolling out a huge update to its maps app for Android but they are also promising the updates will hit iOS ‘soon’.

• Designed for tablets: A dedicated tablet design brings all the features of this new app to Android tablets and iPads, which makes exploring the world from the comfort of your living room much more fluid, smooth and fun.
• Enhanced navigation: In addition to current traffic conditions, we’ve added two new features to help you navigate around traffic. You can now see reports of problems on the road that you can tap to see incident details [Hello Waze]. While on the road, Google Maps will also alert you if a better route becomes available and reroute you to your destination faster. This feature is available only on Android and is coming soon to iOS.
• Reviews, Zagat and Offers: There’s a new 5.0 star rating system that gives you a quick read on how your friends and others rate places like restaurants, bars and cafes. For an expert’s opinion, the Zagat badge of excellence and curated lists are integrated into search results so you can quickly spot the very best places. From “Best Restaurants to meet for a drink in NYC” to “Best Restaurants in the Mission” in San Francisco, Zagat’s there to help you uncover the local gems.

There’s also a lot of housecleaning, including retiring Latitude (another one bites the dust!) and some changes to offline and My Maps.

The updated Android app looks a lot like the Maps app Google released for iOS at the end of last year (prominent reviewers called the iOS Maps app much better than Android’s Maps app). Another interesting fun fact: Because carriers and manufacturers are so slow to update Android, only 60% of Android users will be able to use the new maps (Android 4.03+ only), while over 90% of iOS users are on iOS 6+, which will get the new features.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG0yZLEPN_Y&feature=youtu.be

Microsoft is continuing its Windows 8 vs iPad TV commercial series by airing a new ad squarely focused on the multitasking capabilities in Windows 8 (via Tom Warren). On Windows 8 tablet devices, users can work in two apps side-by-side. Microsoft demonstrates this comparison in terms of work: agents communicating about baseball player prospects to their offices. Interestingly, MLB.com digital head said this earlier this year: “There’s no other [mobile platform]. It’s Apple and it’s Android.”

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