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Microsoft earnings confirm that it decided not to ship a ‘new form factor’ Surface

Jul23
by on July 23, 2014 at 12:07 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, surface

Microsoft stated in its fiscal Q4 earnings report that it scrapped an additional Surface form factor. It might have been the oft-reported, but never actually released, Surface Mini. Of course, it could have been anything Surface related. In the report Microsoft states: Current year cost of revenue included Surface inventory adjustments resulting from our transition to newer generation devices and a decision to not ship a new form factor. Ahead of its May 2014 Surface event, rumors swirled that Microsoft was working on a 7-inch Surface tablet. When the company issued invitations to the event asking the press to “join us for a small gathering” it was expected that a…

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William Shatner reviews Facebook’s new Mentions celebrity app and finds it ‘ill-conceived’

Jul22
by on July 22, 2014 at 11:48 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

When you were a kid watching William Shatner/Captain Kirk charm his way through the galaxy, did you ever wonder what the future would look like? Well, that future is here, and it includes Shatner reviewing a Facebook app on his new Yahoo-owned Tumblr page. Normally, we’d be posting our own review, but Facebook’s new Mentions app is only for “actors, athletes, musicians” and other public figures. Thankfully, Shatner considers himself “in the best position to compare” Mentions to the existing Facebook and Facebook Pages apps. Of course, there’s always the possibility that Shatner’s social media manager ghost-wrote this, but the…

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Kinomatic for iPhone offers pro-level video features without the complexity

Jul22
by on July 22, 2014 at 10:17 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Product Launches

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Like many apps that at first appear to revisit the functionality of others in the same genre — which is especially true in the photo/video category — the new Kinomatic video app for iPhone was created to solve a problem that the developers encountered when trying to shoot their own stuff for friends and family. The resources they found — from the built-in iPhone camera to some of the App Store’s high-end video shooting and sharing apps — were either not enough or too much. It’s a common problem, which underscores that different situations demand different kinds of features, and most shooters need more…

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Apple has now paid $20 billion to App Store developers

Jul22
by on July 22, 2014 at 9:30 pm
Posted In: Around the Web

Apple revealed during its fiscal Q3 2014 earnings call that it has paid a total of $20 billion to App Store developers. That’s up from $10 billion in payouts as of June 2013, and $13 billion as of last October. During the first nine months of this fiscal year, Apple’s iTunes business has been its fastest growing segment, with the App Store playing a significant part in that growth. In the June quarter, iTunes brought in $4.5 billion in revenue, up 12 percent year over year. ➤ Apple Q3 2014 Conference Call Thumbnail credit: Apple

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Apple sold 35M iPhones in Q3 2014, but iPad sales fell 9% to 13M

Jul22
by on July 22, 2014 at 8:52 pm
Posted In: Around the Web

Apple Reports Quarterly Earnings
In its fiscal Q3 2014 earnings results today, Apple announced strong iPhone sales of 35.2 million units, but its iPad business dropped 9 percent year-over-year to just 13.3 million units. Apple’s Mac line performed well during the quarter. Sales were up 18 percent year-over-year to 4.4 million units. During the company’s quarterly conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said iPad sales met his own expectations, while admitting that they probably missed analysts’ estimates. “We’re very bullish about the future of the tablet market,” he said. Net profit for the quarter reached $7.7 billion off of $37.4 billion in revenue. The year-ago…

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