“This week,” reports Katerine Boehret (allthingsd.com), “I’ve been using an iPhone and iPod touch with” the recent Apple updates installed, “and I must say that both devices are much more useful and fun with these improvements.” In particular, Boehret likes Web clip because they “give these gadgets a new sense of instant gratification.” And the iPod touch “now has the same stellar Mail program that is found in the iPhone, a real plus.” The updates, she concludes, “are exciting, especially because they make home screens much more useful and individualistic. These tiny devices continue to become truly mobile computers.”

Announcing financial results for its fiscal 2008 first quarter, which ended December 29, 2007, Apple today posted revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.1 billion and net quarterly profit of $1 billion, or $1.14 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. In attaining its highest revenue and earnings in company history, Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macs, a 44% unit growth and 47% revenue growth over the year ago quarter; sold 22,121,000 iPods, representing five percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter; and sold 2,315,000 iPhones in the quarter.

AT T Introduces Business Plans for iPhone (news/iphone-hardware/at&t-introduces-business-plans-for-iphone-20080122432)
January 22, 2008
AT T Wireless has added new wireless rate plans for the iPhone aimed at business customers.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a gorgeous new pink iPod nano joins the lineup of the world’s most popular music player. The much-requested pink iPod nano features a stunning two-inch display for watching music videos, TV shows, or movies rented using the brand new iTunes Movie Rentals. Available immediately in an 8GB model for $199, the pink iPod nano can play up to 24 hours of audio or 5 hours of video on a single charge. In addition to pink, 8GB iPod nano models also come in silver, black, blue, green and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition.

DJ cum live music producer, Paul van Dyk weaves his own music on stage in real-time on a pair of 17-inch MacBook Pro computers running Logic Studio and Ableton Live. “Ever since I basically began making music, I’ve worked with Macs,” he says. “They’re in the studio as well as on the road. I’ve always had my Macs with me. They’re an essential part of my music.”

Apple today introduced the world’s thinnest notebook: MacBook Air. It measures an unprecedented 0.16 inches at its thinnest point while its maximum height of 0.76 inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. In addition to a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, MacBook Air offers a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support, letting users pinch, rotate and swipe. The new notebook is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and it includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1. Starting at just $1,799, MacBook Air begins shipping in two weeks.

A backup appliance that works seamlessly with Time Machine to automatically and wirelessly back up everything on one or more Macs running Mac OS X Leopard, Time Capsule combines an 802.11n base station with a server grade hard disk in one small package. “Bring Time Capsule home, plug it in, click a few buttons on your Macs and voilà—all the Macs in your house are being backed up automatically, every hour of every day,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. When it ships in February, Time Capsule will be available in models featuring 500GB and 1TB hard drives for $299 and $499, respectively.

iPhone Software Update 1.1.3, a free software update available today via iTunes 7.5 or later, brings significant new features to iPhone. After installing the update, iPhone customers will be able to automatically find their location using the redesigned Maps application; text message multiple people in one message; create Web Clips for their favorite websites; customize their home screen; and watch movies rented from the new iTunes Movie Rentals right on their iPhone.