Mon, 5 November 2007
In
this podcast we discuss new Apple, Microsoft and Google products and
services including Leopard, Vista, the iPhone and Google IMAP support.
Gordon: Mike, this past week Apple announced it had sold 2 million copies in the first weekend (last weekend). You've got Leopard and have it installed - what are your impressions? Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X and is packed with more than 300 new features. "Early indications are that Leopard will be a huge hit with customers," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Leopard's innovative features are getting great reviews and making more people than ever think about switching to the Mac." Leopard has many key innovations including the Time Machine, "an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs*; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; and major enhancements to Mail and iChat(R)." Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) fourth-quarter net income improved to $904 million, or $1.01 a share, from a year-earlier profit of $542 million, or 62 cents a share. Gordon: So - the company is doing pretty good? Among the quarter's highlights were sales of 2.16 million Macintosh PCs and 1.11 million iPhones. Apple had the most amazing launch of the all new iPhone, and this holiday season could be a blockbuster for the iPhone and Apple revenues. The latest iPod Touch could also rake in huge sales. Gordon: How's Microsoft doing? On October 25, 2007, Microsoft reported 27% revenue growth (over last year) on sales of $13.76 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, and the "fastest first quarter since 1999". "This fiscal year is off to an outstanding start with the fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999," said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft in the press release. "Operating income growth of over 30% also reflects our ability to translate revenue into profits while making strategic investments for the future." Microsoft's businesses of Client, Microsoft Business Division, and Server and Tools grew combined revenue in excess of 20%, and experienced robust demand for Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Windows Server, and SQL Server. "Customer demand for Windows Vista this quarter continued to build with double-digit growth in multi-year agreements by businesses and with the vast majority of consumers purchasing premium editions," said Kevin Johnson, president of the Platform and Services Division at Microsoft. During the quarter, Microsoft's two consumer focused divisions passed milestones with the successful close of the company's largest ever acquisition, aQuantive, and Halo 3 achieving the biggest entertainment launch day in history. (Halo 3 launch eclipsed all previous video games and movie launches) Mike: Gordon, you just bought an iPhone - how about your impressions? Gordon's impressions. 1. Easy setup 2. iTunes - easy 3. IMAP Google email - very nice 4. Google calendar - very nice 5. Address book/SIM card conversion very simple. Gordon: Any recommendations on anything I should look at/setup today? Mike's comments. |