Safari was my main browser from when I first used my Mac up until about two months ago. Safari updates had made the browser insecure and unstable. That’s when I switched to Google Chrome. The atrocity that is Safari wasn’t the only reason, however. The tabs are pinnable and easy to organize. The Chrome Web Store has thousands of useful extensions and all of your data can be synced to Chrome from any other computer. Fast rendering, the Omnibar, and Incognito Mode are also three great features.
Apple has blown past the expectations in their earnings call for the fourth quarter. Since I’m too lazy to type it all, here’s the press release from Apple:
CUPERTINO, California—January 24, 2012—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 first quarter which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and record quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $26.74 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 44.7 percent compared to 38.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The Company sold 37.04 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 128 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, a 111 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 5.2 million Macs during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.4 million iPods, a 21 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.
“We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”
“We are very happy to have generated over $17.5 billion in cash flow from operations during the December quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2012, which will span 13 weeks, we expect revenue of about $32.5 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $8.50.”
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2012 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 24, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq112. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.
This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company’s estimated revenue and earnings per share. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company’s reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company’s products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product introductions and transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company’s gross margin; the inventory risk associated with the Company’s need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components and services essential to the Company’s business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the effect that the Company’s dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; risks associated with the Company’s international operations; the Company’s reliance on third-party intellectual property and digital content; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the Company’s dependency on the performance of distributors, carriers and other resellers of the Company’s products; the effect that product and service quality problems could have on the Company’s sales and operating profits; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; and unfavorable results of other legal proceedings. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 24, 2011 and its Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2011 to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
All of the news today can be summarized easily, so here it is: Apple sold 350,000 textbooks on the first three days of availability, an Apple Store could open in Amsterdam as early as February 18 (guess what the next day is), and Apple is having to pay $100 million just for the legal fees of the HTC lawsuit. However, Apple’s quarterly earnings report is going to be released on Thursday afternoon. Most analysts are predicting quarterly revenue in the $40 billion range. AppleInsider says that the next Apple products could support the new 802.11ac WiFi specs, which would basically mean gigabit connectivity.
It seems that I have started a series of “The Best…”. In fact, I think I will add that to the upper tabs. Anyways, Terminal is an application that can pull off some awesome shit. Here’s a list of its best capabilities. Many of these can be undone by changing “true” to “false” and vice-versa.
1. Cleaning out Launchpad
Let’s face it – Launchpad can be a mess at times. If you have ever wanted to clear out all of the apps in Launchpad, then use the following command:
sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps; DELETE from groups WHERE title<>''; DELETE from items WHERE rowid>2;"; Killall Dock
After that, you should be able to drag and drop the applications you want in Launchpad. If you want the overstuffed Launchpad, then use this:
rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db; killall Dock
2. Showing Hidden Files
Mac OS X doesn’t put any emphasis on hidden files, but if you still want to show them, here’s the command:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles true
3. The 2D Dock
Some people like the 2D dock that existed prior to Mac OS X 10.5. If one of those people are you, then use this:
defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
After that, restart the dock:
killall Dock
If you want to undo it, change “YES” to “NO”.
4. Show the Library Folder
Why did Apple decide to hide the Library folder in Lion? I use the Library folder commonly. In fact, it was one of the “new features” I noticed in Lion. After trying to find it, I stumbled upon this command:
chflags nohidden ~/Library/
5. Hide Desktop Icons
Ever wanted to hide the icons on your desktop? Use this:
defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool false
6. Disable Dashboard
I like Dashboard, but for those that don’t, it can easily be disabled.
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
Then restart the Dock:
killall Dock
And those are the Terminal tricks that actually change the computer’s function. Have you ever used Terminal? I’ve been using it years.
What is the greatest icon set ever? Well, it’s the Flurry icon set. Flurry was created by David Lanham in 2009 as five volumes of iOS style icons. There have been thousands of renditions of Flurry since then. Making them yourself with Photoshop is quite easy too:
- Make a new Photoshop (or whatever) document that’s 512×512 pixels.
- Make a rounded-rectangle that’s 483×483 pixels with an edge radius of 80 pixels.
- Paste a graphic into the rectangle.
- Add a drop shadow, and perhaps a stroke, using Photoshop’s built-in layer effects.
- If you want to add glossiness to the icon, you can just make a new layer and paint white diagonally across the icon, covering up one half of the rectangle. Next, reduce the opacity to about 20% and it’ll have a glossy effect. You may want to use a soft brush so the glossy, reflective quality isn’t too harsh but it’s completely up to you.
- Save as a PNG24 file (with a transparent background) and add the PNG to CandyBar.
These icons are quite popular and I use them on my desktop. If Lanham’s isn’t enough for you, then look at Matthew Rex’s “Phoney”.
The new Absinthe is out and allows a one click untethered jailbreak for all current A5 devices, which are:
After several slow news days, Apple had its media event today. During the event, they introduced iBooks 2, the second version of Apple’s software for iOS devices. Apple has partnered with several major publishers to provide textbooks for iOS. Here’s the press release:
Introducing iBooks 2 — now with iBooks textbooks.
- Experience gorgeous Multi-Touch textbooks designed for iPad
- iBooks textbooks are filled with interactive features, diagrams, photos, and videos
- Tap to dive into images with interactive captions, rotate 3D objects, swipe through image galleries, watch videos in full screen, and more
- Use a finger as a highlighter when swiping over text in a textbook
- Take advantage of Study Cards to help you memorize important highlights, notes, and glossary terms
- Tap glossary terms to see definitions of key topics and concepts without leaving the page
The application will mainly focus on textbooks for high schoolers. These features are available in iTunes 10.5.3. Apple has also released an application called “iBooks Author”, which allows authors to create their own interactive books. Will this change the industry? Well, probably so, but it could also end up as Ping part 2.
