Apple says it will disclose its Q2 2012 financial results on Tuesday, April 24 at 2:00 pm PT (5:00 pm ET) and will provide a live audio webcast of the earnings conference call.
Hilarious vintage ads from the early days of the PC
Daily Mail:
Companies such as Apple have made their name by marketing their products not just as technological tools but as glamorous and fun toys.But this marketing technique is nothing new, as these vintage adverts from the early days of PCs show.They portray computers as fun, easy to use – and even sexy, with the help of a few eager-looking models.
Look how sexy that 4800 baud modem is!
iPhone tops sales charts at each of its U.S. carriers
AllThingsD:
Led by the 4S, Apple’s iPhone line continues to rack up strong sales at AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. So strong that some believe it’s likely the top-selling phone at all three of those carriers.“Our March checks indicated the iPhone continues to extend its market share gains,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley writes in a note to clients today. “In fact, we believe iPhones are outselling all other smartphones combined at Sprint and AT&T and selling at roughly equal volume to all Android smartphones at Verizon.”That’s pretty astonishing, all things considered.
But Android is still “winning”.
So you won the Mega Millions jackpot. What now?
TIME:
With a half-billion-dollar multistate lottery jackpot up for grabs, plenty of folks are fantasizing about how to spend the money. But doing it the right way — protecting your riches, your identity and your sanity — takes some thought and planning.Making sure you don’t blow the nation’s largest-ever lottery jackpot within a few years means some advice is in order before the Mega Millions drawing Friday, especially if you’re really, really, really lucky.
I got my ticket – how about you?
Apple supplier in China pledges big changes in working conditions
New York Times:
Foxconn, which manufactures more than 40 percent of the world’s electronics for such companies as Apple, Dell, Amazon and others, has pledged to sharply curtail the number of working hours within its Chinese factories and significantly increase wages, a move that could improve working conditions across China.The shift comes after a far-ranging inspection by the Fair Labor Association, a monitoring group, found widespread problems.Apple, in a statement, said the company fully supports the monitoring group’s recommendations. “We think empowering workers and helping them understand their rights is essential. Our team has been working for years to educate workers, improve conditions and make Apple’s supply chain a model for the industry, which is why we asked the F.L.A. to conduct these audits.”
The 10 best startups from Y Combinator Demo Day
TechCrunch:
After talking to VCs and tech moguls, the TechCrunch teamed huddled up and picked these 10 companies as the best. They’re disrupting commerce, evolving how we communicate, and making our phones even more powerful.Here’s a cheat sheet to the startups we think are going to remodel big industries, change the world, or at least make a ton of money.
Some of these you’ll have no interest in but some of them might just peak your interest further.
Your own toilet paper with your own tweets on it
The Next Web:
Most of the tweets you read on Twitter are forgettable, at best. Some of them are pure gold and worth memorializing in some fashion. But how? A favorite? A retweet? Emailing them to a friend?How about printing them out on toilet paper and wiping your butt with them? Amazing idea right?
No…just…no.
The 8 remaining “Worst Company in America” contenders
WOO HOO! It’s time for March Madness! We’re down to the Elite 8!
Final Four? No – we’re not talking about Ohio State, Louisville, Kentucky or Kansas. We’re talking about The Consumerist’s “Worst Company In America” contest.
Companies like Wells Fargo and Netflix, UPS and Comcast, even Apple have been voted on at The Consumerist web site all month. There are only eight wide ranging companies left vying for the title – Bank of America, AT&T, Ticketmaster, Paypal, Walmart, Facebook, Comcast and Electronic Arts.
This is a contest none of these companies wants to win.
World’s coolest grandpa and his SR-71
Do you have a cool grandfather? Do you think you are a cool grandfather? Well, you’ll have to go a long way to beat this guy.
He’s built an absolutely amazing remote controlled plane – a scale model of the SR-71 “Blackbird”. Not only did they build its jet engines and include retractable landing gear, the thing sounds amazing.
My grandfather made aquariums. Nice but not nearly as cool as jet planes!
Harry Potter eBooks now available
While J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore web site is still in beta, the store to sell you stuff is up and running.
If you have an EPUB reader and a Harry Potter fan in your life, the Pottermore Shop is the only place you can buy the Harry Potter series digitally.
The EPUB format is “the world’s most popular and open eBook standard” and the files are compatible with the vast majority of computers and devices. The eBooks are also in Kindle format for use on Amazon devices and on your iOS devices.
The individual eBooks are between $7.99 and $9.99 but you’ll want to buy “The Complete Harry Potter Collection” for $ 57.54.
7 laughable lawsuits against Apple
The Week:
Apple has no shortage of cash in its vaults, so it’s pretty easy to see why the tech giant is constantly slapped with lawsuits of questionable merit. From disillusioned complaints of Siri’s capabilities to a bizarre sodomy suit filed against late founder Steve Jobs, here, seven of the sillier challenges the Cupertino powerhouse has faced through the years.
Apple gets sued frequently by other entities – Motorola, Samsung, the Australian government, etc – and you’ve all heard about the unfortunate grandmother who broke her nose walking into the glass window of a Long Island Apple Store (she is now suing Apple for $1 million dollars). But that’s not even the oddest lawsuit served against Apple. Did you know that one person sued Apple because he alleged O.J. Simpson had been working as a hit man for Steve Jobs?
Meet the winner of 25 billionth Apple App Store download
M.I.C Gadget:
Fu Chunli, a citizen of Qingdao, China, downloaded the 25 billionth app from Apple’s App Store early this month, pushing the mobile software store to a new milestone. The young lady downloaded a free version of Disney’s popular mobile game ‘Where’s my water?’As the winner, she received an iTunes gift card worth 10,000 US dollars. Last week, Apple invited her to the Beijing Apple store to collect her prize.
Easter egg hunt canceled due to aggressive parents
TIME:
An annual Easter egg hunt attended by hundreds of children has been canceled because of misbehavior last year. Not by the kids, but by the grown-ups.Too many parents determined to see their children get an egg jumped a rope marking the boundaries of the children-only hunt at Bancroft Park last year. The hunt was over in seconds, to the consternation of eggless tots and the rules-abiding parents.
One four year old’s dad is quoted as saying, “You have all these eggs just lying around, and parents helping out. You better believe I’m going to help my kid get one of those eggs. I promised my kid an Easter egg hunt, and I’d want to give him an even edge.”
“An edge”? It’s an Easer egg, not a college scholarship.
Shuttle Orbiter autopsies
Smithsonian Air and Space:
After flying 148 million miles and orbiting Earth 5,830 times, Discovery, first flown in August 1984, was being decommissioned and readied for its trip to the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia, where it will arrive in mid-April.The three main engines had been removed from the shuttle’s aft end, which was now covered by a tightly fitted mask with three white discs the size of the engine bells. Clear plastic stretched across the crater in the orbiter’s nose, where the forward reaction control system—small thrusters that maneuvered the spacecraft in orbit—had been removed.And this harvesting of the orbiter’s components was only the beginning.
I always wish I had seen one of these launches in person.
Best Buy sells Nearly as many iPhones as Apple
AllThingsD: Apple’s move to make Best Buy an outlet for the iPhone back in 2008 is proving a wise one — lucrative, too. Over the past few years, the retail chain has become an increasingly important outlet for Apple, extending … Continued
Watch a rare Disney documentary called “The Sweatbox”
SlashFilm:
Disney is a prolific company with its name on a great many successes, and it likes to hide its missteps and failures. The process of doing so sometimes helps those mistakes become things of legend. Song of the South, with its politically incorrect and racist portrayals of certain characters, is likely the most famous example. Another example might be The Sweatbox, a very rarely-seen documentary about the failed making of an animated film called Kingdom of the Sun, which eventually morphed into The Emperor’s New Groove.The Sweatbox filmmakers John-Paul Davidson and Trudie Styler were given unprecedented access to Disney’s process and the resulting film painted the executives in such a negative light, they more or less made sure the film would never been seen in public.
A harsh look at the process of making movies with some cool behind the scenes footage.
Blackhawk and Mayfair Secretary Trunks
Would you like a new desk or cubicle? What if you could have one of these two designs? The Blackhawk Trunk is “inspired by the gleaming nose cones and fuselages of mid-20th-century aircraft” and the Mayfair Trunk “spares no detail with handmade distressed cigar leather, a solid wood frame and over 3000 hand-hammered brass nail heads.” Both are gorgeous and would look great in your home or office!
Audio of Apple’s Conference Call March 2012
On Monday morning Apple told the world what they plan to do with its almost $100 billion in cash – later this year, Apple will begin paying dividends and will buy back shares.
You can listen to streaming audio from the conference call now from Apple’s site.
The iPad of 1935
Smithsonian:
The April, 1935 issue of Everyday Science and Mechanics included this nifty invention which was to be the next logical step in the world of publishing. Basically a microfilm reader mounted on a large pole, the media device was supposed to let you sit back in your favorite chair while reading your latest tome of choice.
Don’t show this to Michael Dell. He might think it’s a good idea and start making them.
Apple Conference Call
Apple:
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, will host a conference call to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its cash balance. Apple® will not be providing an update on the current quarter nor will any topics be discussed other than cash.Apple will provide live audio streaming of its conference call using Apple’s industry-leading QuickTime® multimedia software. The live webcast will begin at 6:00 a.m. PDT on March 19, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/call31912.
Short version: “We have a buttload of cash. Here’s what we’re going to do with it.”
The world’s most beautiful turntables
CNET:
The iPhone and iPad are truly elegant designs, but they are the rare exceptions in the rather drab world of consumer electronics. Most cameras, printers, computers, home theater receivers, and speakers are pretty sedate, but there is one product category that stands out: turntables. I’ve picked a choice selection that represents remarkable achievements in industrial design, and they’re highly functional, exquisitely engineered products.
If you have to check Wikipedia to find out what a “turntable” is, please ignore this article.
Take a wild ride on a Shuttle solid rocket booster
Bad Astronomy:
On Google+, Michael Interbartolo — who worked for ten years on the Space Shuttle Program in Mission Control in Houston — just posted about this amazing video from cameras mounted on the Shuttle solid rockets as they rode into space.On the upper left is elapsed time, and on the upper right is the air speed as calculated using on board instruments. Watch as the speed increases… and then the increase increases!
iFixit’s iPad 3 4G teardown
iFixIt:
Is it “The New iPad?” “iPad HD?” “iPad 3?” Who cares? All we know is this: It’s here!Our CXO flew to the Telstra store in Melbourne, Australia and was first in line to get the iPad 3 for our deconstructive pleasure.
For your geeky pleasure, here is the traditional iFixIt abuse of a brand new Apple product.
Survey says: iPad most popular tablet for first time buyers
Dealnews:
A reader survey discovered 55% of current iPad owners said they would update to the third generation.But what about consumers who are currently tablet-free and finally ready to jump aboard the slate train?78% of non-tablet owners who are planning on buying their first device said they’ll spring for the newest offering from Apple. And, of the people who aren’t buying the new iPad (the remaining 22%), almost half will buy a previous generation — specifically, 60% plan on buying the iPad 2 within the next six months. Why? Because the iPad 2 is now cheaper.
Certainly an unscientific, self-selecting survey but it is most likely indicative of desire and demand among potential first time tablet buyers.
Former Britannica editor on the print edition’s demise
Former Britannica.com editor Charlie Madigan:
This was inevitable. As a senior editor at Britannica.com, where I went to work after decades as a newspaper editor, I had high hopes for the idea of giving away knowledge.Talking about the public’s right, and need, to know with some of those folks was like talking to frogs about poetry.
Does this signal the beginning of the end of these kinds of books?
iPhone become top seller in Japan for 1st time
Mainichi Daily News:
The iPhone captured the largest share of mobile phones shipments in Japan for the first time in the October-December quarter, accounting for 26.6 percent, due to the popularity of the iPhone 4S smartphone model, research firm IDC Japan said Thursday.
Thanks to Daring Fireball.
After 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica stops the presses
New York Times:
After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered sets of reference books that were once sold door to door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, the company is expected to announce on Wednesday.In a nod to the realities of the digital age — and, in particular, the competition from the hugely popular Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools, company executives said.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica was probably the first “adult” books I ever read as a kid. They opened the world up to a fat little kid in Nova Scotia.
Watch a live feed of the Northern Lights
Wired Science:
Are you too far south or in too bright of a city to catch the spectacular auroras that have been streaking across the sky lately?Not to worry. The Canadian Space Agency’s AuroraMAX Camera — located in the City of Yellowknife, near the Arctic Circle — can fulfill all your Northern-Light-viewing needs every night from now until late May.The AuroraMAX camera, run in collaboration with the University of Calgary and Astronomy North, will turn on automatically when darkness falls (around 7:30 MDT tonight) and provides spectacular, full-sky views of the Northern Lights. Peak aurora activity is expected in the hours just before and after midnight (Mountain Time).
Canadians are such nice people.
World’s coolest staircases
Yahoo! Travel:
While staircases are fundamentally a means to get from one point to another, they become cool—and worth seeking out—when the form is made at least as important as the function. Whether in shops, museums, or the great outdoors, the staircases we’ve found are inspiring works of public art and provide interesting perspective on a destination.
Even us lazy guys would enjoy taking some of these stairs.
Canadian hotel offers amnesty to thieves
Gadling:
In honor of its upcoming 100-year anniversary, the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa is offering an amnesty for anyone who has pilfered something from the hotel over the last century. The historic, castle-like hotel in the Canadian capital has already received more than 60 items from people all over North America.“The amnesty part means there are no questions asked,” said Deneen Perrin, the hotel’s director of public relations. “It doesn’t matter whether your grandmother took a silver spoon and put it in her purse or if someone’s parents maybe worked in the hotel and took something, we’ll take it back.”
Shows how nice Canadians are.