This week started off with quite a shock as Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced another medical leave. He will remain CEO of the company, but COO Tim Cook will once again take over the day-to-day operations.
We don’t know what prompted this third medical leave in the last 7 years, and no indication was given how long it will be until his return. Jobs received treatment for pancreatic cancer in 2004 and a liver transplant in 2009. Reportedly it is common to have periods of immune system trouble after a liver transplant.
On Tuesday Apple announced yet another record-setting quarter. The company had $6 billion in profits on $26.7 billion in revenue, more than 70 percent higher than last year’s numbers.
So with this new app I press a button and dinner is automatically served in a bowl on the floor.
Wow, it is great that you can take care of your dog like that.
What dog? This is for my husband.
Rumors of a Verizon iPhone have been circulating for four years. This week the rumors became fact as Verizon and Apple jointly announced the coming of the iPhone to Verizon.
The launch of a slightly different iPhone 4, customized for Verizon’s CDMA network, will occur on February 10 in Apple and Verizon stores. Verizon customers can pre-order an iPhone on February 3.
The design of the iPhone 4 for Verizon is slightly different to accommodate the CDMA antenna and lack of a SIM card slot. The CDMA network differs from AT&T’s GSM network in that voice and data cannot be used at the same time. GSM also has faster data speeds and can be used in more countries for those that travel with their iPhone. But CDMA may offer better call reliability.
The new GarageBand is so advanced it does it all by itself. My iMac has a record contract and starts a 30-city tour next week.
The Mac App Store is now up and running with more than 1,000 Macintosh applications. To view the Mac App Store you need to use Software Update to get Mac OS X 10.6.6. This adds a Mac App Store icon to the dock. You can also access the store form the Apple Menu.
The store looks similar to the iOS App Store in the iTunes application. You can browse and search for applications. The main page shows featured apps. Other pages show top charts and categories. You use your iTunes account to make purchases.
The launch features many familiar third-party applications like Evernote, BBEdit, Pixelmator, Stuffit Expander, and Transmit. The three iWork applications are also present, as well as iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand from iLife 11. You can buy each individually, which is a first for those applications. Prices for apps vary from $0.99 for some, to more standard software prices of $10, $20 or more. Some apps are available for free.
So the new Mac App Store lets you find, buy and download software online? Isn’ that how we did it before?
While 2010 was another record year for Apple in many ways, the company may have plans for 2011 to grow even larger. Apple news for the last week of any year is hard to find, but rumors always seem to appear to fill the void.
We’re about to enter into the fourth year of iPhone-on-Verizon rumors. This week we hear that Apple projects an unusually high number of iPhone shipments in the first quarter, which leads many to believe they must be launching on Verizon. There is even a specific rumor of a February 14 announcement date.
The other side to those rumors is that the increased numbers could simply be due to new sales initiatives in other countries like China. A more plausible rumor is that the next version of the iPad will have a model compatible with Verizon’s network. This makes sense since Verizon already sells iPads, and AT&T has no exclusivity over the iPad.
Rumors of the iPad 2 are also floating, including a March or April release date. The new version may include a front-facing camera, a USB port, wide-range speakers and a iPod Touch-like design according to some.
What is certain is that one week from today the Mac App Store launches, ushering in a new era for Mac software. This will be a game changer for Mac developers who may have to get into the store or face difficulties being found by Mac users.
Yep, that’s a Mac 128K from 1984. Ever year he decides to upgrade, then he hears a rumor of a new Mac coming out soon and he decides to wait.