The numbers are in and they don’t look good. According to the company, they shipped 14.1 million BlackBerrys and 150,000 PlayBooks. Keep in mind, those are shipped numbers, not sold.
Net income for the quarter was $265 million, compared with net income of $911 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted net income for the third quarter was $667 million, according to RIM.
“Despite the challenges faced in the third quarter, the BlackBerry subscriber base grew to almost 75 million customers around the world. In addition, RIM launched a range of new BlackBerry 7 based smartphones globally and introduced holiday promotions that helped drive growth in the installed base of BlackBerry PlayBook users,” said Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEOs at Research In Motion. “RIM continues to have strong technology, unique service capabilities and a large installed base of customers, and we are more determined than ever to capitalize on our strengths to overcome the recent execution challenges surrounding product launches and the resulting financial performance.”
Twice at 526 114th St., and once at 556 114th St., the suspects demanded the victims hand over their iPhones, police said.The first victim complied, but the second only had a Droid, according to police. The thieves apparently didn’t want a Droid — so they took cash instead.
Another victim said she was insulted the robbers didn’t want her BlackBerry. Sad that the criminals have better taste than they do.
My name is Strunk And they call me White Here to teach you how to put the pen down right I see that your writing is a little bit wild These are the Elements of Style.Will Strunk in the house but don’t call me junior Grammatical genius. Number one word groomer. I teach English 8 at the school of Cornell Choose your words carefully or I’ll put you through hell.E.B. White on the mic, former student of Strunk A story that flows is all I need to get crunk Write for the New Yorker, papers marked up in scarlet I spin webs with words like my name was Charlotte.“In the last analysis” That’s a bankrupt expression It’s clear you’re not learning So listen to my lesson.Omit needless words. Good writing is concise When I was in your class, you repeated that thrice 9 times out of 10 ‘student body’ is wrong Say students instead. Move your story right along.My name is Strunk And they call me White Here to teach you how to put the pen down right I see that your writing is a little bit wild These are the Elements of Style.Split infinitive Never definitive Sounds unintelligent Dumb and inelegant. Just say it like you meant Always write with intent Each word precious Like Benjamin’s that you spent.Do not join independent clauses with a comma. But I love it, it’s cool. I don’t care if you wanna.Jails and schools should not be called facilities. I hate all these writers with second-rate abilities. Don’t use dialect ‘less your ear be good You cover East Harlem, but you ain’t from the hood.Be clear brief bold with each story told If it’s your goal to turn ink to gold.My name is Strunk And they call me White Now you know how to put the pen down right When I read your work, you know I’m gonna smile Those were the Elements of Style.
Joshua Topolsky talking about MG Siegler and John Gruber’s comments about the Galaxy Nexus:
This doesn’t get under my skin because I have some kind of allegiance to one brand or another. It doesn’t get under my skin because I fundamentally disagree that Android 4.0 lacks the polish of iOS.It gets under my skin because it is a pompous, privileged, insulting, and myopic viewpoint which reeks of class warfare — and it is indicative of a growing sentiment I see amongst people in the tech community.
Both companies have challenges ahead. Nokia is trying to regain relevance in the mobile market, hence the partnership with Microsoft. And T-Mobile USA has been positioning itself to be acquired by AT&T. The two men were asked how their companies were going to help each other during this transition period.
OHK Labs has announced the release of SportsPicker Mobile for iOS. The software is available for free download from the App Store.
SportsPicker takes a page from fantasy sports leagues and online sports betting systems, giving your interest in sports a social twist. Using SportsPicker, you identify the teams you expect to win (pro football, baseball, hockey, and soccer are supported, along with college football and basketball). You can then compare your results against your friends, for bragging rights. Data from vedonlyontiyhtiot.com suggests that social engagement in sports betting platforms enhances user satisfaction, and with SportsPicker, you gain points by picking winners. A weighted odds system rewards players who correctly back underdog teams, adding even more excitement to the experience.
SportsPicker not only tracks your scores against friends’ points via a leaderboard, but it also adds an exciting layer of competition by allowing you to create private groups, where you can challenge specific friends or coworkers. The app enhances the experience by pushing notifications to your phone, reminding you when games are about to start or when there’s an important update in the standings. With real-time stats and results, you’ll always be in the loop so you’ll have the best information for gambling, as you can do it easily if you visit this legit sports betting site online. Whether you’re a casual fan or a seasoned sports enthusiast, SportsPicker makes every game more engaging and competitive with friends.
Another great feature of SportsPicker is the ability to review detailed analytics about your picks. You can track your success rate over time, see which sports you perform best in, and even analyze patterns in your predictions. This insight not only helps you improve your future picks but also adds a layer of strategy similar to that found in fantasy leagues. For those who love the analytical side of sports, this feature offers a compelling reason to keep coming back.
Just when we thought Samsung was building momentum with the release of the Galaxy Nexus, @T_Bone sent word that the lineup at the new Potbelly’s Sandwich Shop in New York is longer than those waiting for the new phone.
A few concerns keep bobbing up now and then for Web developers, one of which relates to how to lay out a given design. Developers have made numerous attempts to do so with existing solutions. Several articles have been written on finding the holy grail of CSS layouts, but to date, not a single solution works without major caveats. At the W3Conf, I gave a talk on how the CSS Working Group is attempting to solve the concerns of Web developers with multiple proposals. There are six layout proposals that are relevant to us, all of which I described in the talk:
The turnout isn’t quite what Samsung’s stiffest competitor draws when it releases a new iPhone, but we rarely see lines form for smartphone launches so this could indicate healthy demand for the world’s first 4G LTE-enabled Ice Cream Sandwich phone.
Okay, lineup is a relative term. I’ve seen this many people queue for a coffee.
Hunter Walk has rounded up some comments from prominent technology journalists about what they think about the state of tech journalism today. Apple comes up a couple of times. for example: Jason Kincaid, TechCrunch:
“… if you compare the traffic numbers, it’s very rare for a new startup launch to come close to the popularity of, say, a random Apple rumor (which I think are the lowest form of tech reporting, btw).
GuitarToolkit 2.0 is a huge new release of one of the App Store’s top-rated apps for guitar players. GuitarToolkit 2.0 features an all-new iPad version that is free for existing customers, and GuitarToolkit+, an amazing new in-app purchase that adds interactive Chord Sheets, Custom Instruments, and Advanced Metronome with a powerful drum machine. Advanced Metronome is available now for iPad and coming soon to iPhone and iPod touch.GuitarToolkit is a collection of essential guitar tools, including an extremely accurate tuner, a precision metronome and a massive library of chords, scales and arpeggios – all on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.
This app is made by Agile Partners, the same people that make AmpKit+, TabToolkit and other music apps. When it comes to music apps for the iOS, I love what these guys do. I own every app they make.
While I, of course, agree that the protests this year were of enormous significance, I cannot help but feel that this award is somewhat contrived.The inclusion of the Occupy movements across the United States in the same article as the bloody overthrow of Gaddafi? Seems a bit much.
I’ve seen a number of comments similar to this today.
Want to shred like Megadeth? Never thought you could? Guess again. This is the app for that. The Dave Mustaine: Guitar Prodigy interactive App gets you — whether beginner or expert — playing the right notes at the right times within minutes — on your guitar.
Companies like HP are more excited about telling people who they are and what they do instead of showing it through their actions.I’m a big fan of branding as a process of defining who you are, but the failure of business today is that we’re breeding a generation of employees who are more excited about telling than showing.
One of the things that Apple does really well is delivering technology and products. It doesn’t make promises before a product is released, but rather it wows people when it goes to market.
Almost a quarter of the European Union’s 500 million people have never used the Internet and there is a widening division between the web-savvy north of Europe and the poorer south and east, figures released on Wednesday showed
The countries with the lowest number of overall Internet use also tended to have the worst-developed broadband infrastructure. Romania and Bulgaria fared particularly poorly, along with Greece, Cyprus and Portugal.
Spiderweb Software has announced the release of Avernum: Escape from the Pit, a new version of their classic turn-based fantasy role-playing game for the Mac. (Windows and iPad versions are coming in 2012). A free demo is available; it costs $20.
In Avernum, you’re banished to a subterranean kingdom after raising the ire of the emperor. You lead a struggle in this prison underworld to return to the surface. The game features hundreds of quests, hundreds of magic artifacts and a huge game world to explore. You can complete three game-winning quests as you master more than 50 spells and battle disciplines.
This isn’t Avernum’s first release; it’s the latest evolution of a game that’s been around for a number of years. Spiderweb Software says that the remastered Avernum: Escape from the Pit contains overhauls to the gameplay system, graphics, compatibility and interface. If you do own the original Avernum or Exile: Escape from the Pit, you can get a $10 discount on this version.
Moving Brands partnered with HP as their lead agency to set a creative vision for the HP brand. The vision was to transform the world’s biggest technology company into the world’s most powerful brand. HP would become the blueprint of a moving brand, built for a moving world.
In addition to an Xbox Live application and its Kinectimals game, Microsoft also recently began offering another software app for iOS – SkyDrive for iOS. The free app provides access to Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud-based storage system.
SkyDrive requires you to log in using an existing account on Windows Live, Xbox Live, Microsoft Messenger or Hotmail. The service provides you with 25 GB of free storage capacity you can use as you wish. The app provides you with the ability upload documents, access existing SkyDrive content including files shared with you by other SkyDrive users, upload videos and photos directly from your phone, share links to files with other users via e-mail, and create or delete folders on your SkyDrive account.
User reaction to SkyDrive for iOS on the App Store has been mostly positive, but there are some mixed comments – users claim Microsoft has hindered the app by limiting the types of files which can be previewed and limiting the app’s ability to upload only one file at a time.
Still, it’s a positive start for Microsoft, which has only very recently begun supporting the iOS platform with software.
Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen is planning to build a spaceship that could replace the Space Shuttle and put paying passengers into orbit this decade.
The Kobot is a new EV concept for navigating around cities and towns, developed by Kowa Tmsuk. There are three models in this prototype range, the single person vehicles ν (nyu) and β(beta), which with the push of a button from a smartphone can transform so that they can be parked securely in a compact space, and the π(pi) which can hold two people.
The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10th. 12 hours later, we had over 50,000 purchases and had earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and website. As of Today, we’ve sold over 110,000 copies for a total of over $500,000. Minus some money for PayPal charges etc, I have a profit around $200,000 (after taxes $75.58). This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video. They would have given you an encrypted and regionally restricted video of limited value, and they would have owned your private information for their own use. They would have withheld international availability indefinitely. This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it
Walking around the downtown (where I am staying), I have seen many more iPhones than Nokia phones. And most of the startup people I met have some variation of the iPhone. One of them who is still in college told me that Nokia gave him one of their new phones, and he decided to use it as a way to support his nation’s largest employer. A month later, he switched back to the iPhone. Ouch! When you can’t give away your phones to your own “youth,” it is time to stop hating on other platforms and look for ways to get people to use your product.
Looks like hard work and a creative talent pays off. Jan-Michael Cart, known worldwide for his iOS concept videos has announced he has achieved his goal of working for Apple as an intern, as posted on his updated blog.
The papers in question comprise the contract which formed Apple Computer Company on April 12, 1976, and are signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, the Pete Best of the computer revolution who got cold feet and bailed on the company before it got off the ground. And the timing could not be better: The recent passing of Jobs and the elevation of Apple to one of the most valuable companies in the world makes these particular documents quite something just now.
Pretty stunning, just for some papers of limited historical significance. I mean, I’m an Apple enthusiast, but this seems rather ridiculous. The papers sold for $1.35M – $1.6M after fees – to an unidentified telephone buyer.
Rich people and their money. I just don’t understand sometimes.
The Federal Communications Commission will pass regulations today to limit the volume levels of TV commercials and penalize broadcasters that bombard consumers with loud ads between televised shows and programs.
We live in a fairly small house with interior walls that have an unfortunate tendency to reflect noise, and quite often if we’re up late watching TV, the sound of the ads will wake one or more of our kids up. So I was delighted to learn about the CALM act and that it would soon be the law to quiet these ads down, because they’re obnoxious.
Matt Alexander is the owner and editor of ONE37.net, a writer, a technology enthusiast and a contributing writer for The Loop.
When Google released its iOS Gmail app, I argued that it was a woefully missed opportunity for the software giant. With Gmail for iOS, Google had a unique chance to impress iOS users with a well-designed app for a widely used service. Instead, as we all know, Google released a pathetic implementation reliant on UIWebView, and squandered a phenomenal Trojan Horse moment.
In stark contrast to Google’s well-publicized folly, Microsoft is doing everything it can to impress iOS users.
The unifying theme between all of these apps? Well, frankly, they’re all fairly well done.
Accordingly, the chatter amongst bloggers about Microsoft is growing. Posts about the impressive Nokia Lumia 800, the HTML5 demonstration of Windows Phone, and the growing number of well-executed iOS apps are not uncommon. When watching The Verge’s talk show, On The Verge, John Gruber even indicates that Windows 8’s Metro UI implementation looks interesting.
I have criticized Microsoft rather heavily in recent weeks (particularly following CNET’s coverage of the the Courier’s demise) but I cannot help but feel somewhat positive about the company’s prospects today. Renewing its focus on its existence as a platform company, Microsoft is embracing alternate platforms, allowing its unique Windows Phone 7 platform to blossom unhindered, and is somewhat ahead of the curve in terms of its media implementation with the Xbox 360.
Honestly, I’m cautiously impressed.
Rather than pushing poor products, Microsoft seems to be aware of its status as the underdog in the mobile operating system arena, and is acting accordingly. Scrappy attempts to chip away at competing platforms? Well, that just doesn’t seem representative of the modern Microsoft. That is the behavior of a humble, young, and reactionary company — the Microsoft of the early 90s.
Of course, Microsoft still has a propensity for utter foolishness, thus rendering this current streak of positivity as being somewhat tenuous. With Ballmer at the helm, even the most impressive idea out of Microsoft seems volatile and at risk of dramatic collapse. Even so, I find myself quietly rooting for Microsoft at the moment. Just as I romantically rooted for webOS, I want the well-designed underdog to gain traction and support.
The latest versions of Android strike me as uninspired and third party implementations are incessantly flawed. Even Google’s own products on competing platforms are half-baked and careless. But Microsoft’s efforts are different.
Rather than resting on its laurels, Microsoft appears to be taking an uncharacteristically humble path, and is doing what it can to redeem its image and to gain support. That is an admirable endeavor, particularly when you consider the company in question. I never thought I’d see the day, but in his interview with The Verge last week, Paul Thurrott had something remarkably apt to say about his beloved Microsoft:
At its heart, Microsoft is a platforms company, not an OS company. So even if Windows fell by the wayside–which I don’t see happening–the company still has some stunning platforms to push forward, including Office–which should be ported to the iPad, Android, and any other popular OS, the Xbox, and of course its various cloud initiatives. What Microsoft needs is to recapture the sense of constant fear that characterized its early days. It’s gotten too comfortable.
Any progress could easily collapse, but for now, I’m cautiously optimistic. Microsoft used to be a reactionary competitor, but has recently relied all too heavily on its enterprise dominance. Seeing the Redmond giant take a step back, swallow its pride, and produce some forward-thinking products? That’s certainly a good way to regain some support from even their most staunch opposition.
I’m certainly not going to up and leave OS X any time soon, but at least knowing creative competition for Apple exists gives me confidence that innovation can, and will, continue in the industry. Whether you agree or not, I’d argue that even Apple can use some competition.
So we contacted Apple and it has confirmed to us that the numbers released about the iOS App Store, currently at 18 billion downloads, with 1 billion downloads a month, are uniques.
Yesterday I contacted Apple and confirmed that the 100 million Mac App Store downloads were unique and did not include Lion, updates or downloads to other Macs. Panzarino took it a step further and confirmed the same for the iOS App Store.
Amuse, Inc. today is pleased to announce My Living Desktop 5.0.1 for Mac OS X, an upgrade to their critically acclaimed application that includes dozens of unique, high definition videos to create soothing visual and aural environments on the Macs desktop. In addition to videos of natural beauty shot from all over the globe, the application also allows the user to import their own home movies.
The holidays are approaching fast. It’s the time of the year where we take stock of the good (and bad) things that happened over the last 12 months, and figure out goals for the next year.
I would like to personally thank RIM’s co-CEOs for their complete and total incompetence in 2011. Without your lack of attention to the market and the details that would make a great product, my year wouldn’t have been so successful.
In February, when I first went against the mainstream media and called RIM out for its ridiculous PlayBook claims, I had no idea it would turn into an 11 month journey. Even I thought RIM would snap out of it sooner or later.
In fact, things got so bad for RIM that I stopped looking for things to post. The incompetence of the co-CEOs was so profound that they delivered all of the fodder that I could possibly hope for.
When the PlayBook finally was released it lacked basic features that almost every device in the world has — email and calendaring.
Responding to ridicule and complaints RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said that people were “overplaying one aspect that really isn’t a core element that we’ve seen from our enterprise customers or webmail people.”
