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TheAppleBlog
TheAppleBlog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
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Apple TV 3.0, iTunes 9.0.2 Released

Following a presumably unintentional disclosure in the terms of service for the iTunes Store, Apple has released Apple TV 3.0, as well as a corresponding update for iTunes.

As previously reported, Apple TV 3.0 supports iTunes LP and iTunes Extras, and does so with a new look. According to Eddy Cue, Apple VP of Internet Services, the new interface “gives you instant access to your favorite content.” The new interface continues an evolution away from Apple’s other media software, Front Row.

In addition to the “widescreen” interface, Apple TV 3.0 also includes Genius Mixes, Internet radio, and photo enhancements. For the latter, users can now flip through photos grouped by event, while face recognition software similar to iPhoto puts “snapshots” of each person named on a corkboard background. It’s sort of like wanted ads at the Post Office.

As for iTunes, besides supporting Apple TV 3.0, the 90 MB update adds “an option for a dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility.” What’s not mentioned in the support note is that iTunes has once again been fixed to keep Palm from leeching off Apple via the Pre syncing with iTunes. Get a life, Palm.

That would probably be good advice for the Apple TV, too. While additional features are always good, features people really want are even better. Is the Apple TV really going to be the last one in the living room to support Netflix without hacks like XBMC?

As Q4 begins, online video is now mainstream. Read the, "Connected Consumer Q3 Wrap-up."

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Apple Closing in on RIM in U.S. Market Share

A new survey by research firm ChangeWave has Apple’s iPhone on course to eventually best BlackBerry as the U.S. device of choice when it comes to smartphone options. It also reflects good news for the smartphone industry in general, since overall ownership of the data-hungry cellular devices is up to 39 percent of respondents, which represents a jump of more than 200 percent from the same time two years ago.

ChangeWave’s last survey took place in June of this year, and since then, Apple’s stock has jumped 5 percent. The last time there was a big jump in Apple sales, the iPhone 3G was introduced, and it lasted six months before the rise started to plateau, though it always showed positive growth. If that trend is any indication, the iPhone 3GS should continue to inflate sales until the new year at least, which could put Apple in a position to overtake RIM.

RIM fell one percentage point from the last survey period in June 2009, from 41 percent to 40 percent. The BlackBerry has been steadily falling since January of 2008. The smartphone maker does have the Storm 2’s release on the horizon, but competing against major, new devices like the Palm Pre and the 3GS will be tough.

Speaking of the Pre, Palm is also included in the survey, and remains behind in third place with only 7 percent market share. When ChangeWave started conducting its survey in June of 2006, Palm owned 36 percent of the market, topping RIM, its only close competitor, which had 30 percent. Worth noting is that this is the first survey in nearly two years where Palm didn’t lose some of its share.

Aside from being the only company to show positive growth between surveys, Apple is also the leader going forward in terms of planned purchases by respondents. Thirty-six percent of those surveyed who plan on making a smartphone purchase in the next three months are planning on choosing an iPhone. RIM follows with 27 percent choosing BlackBerry devices.

Apple also leads in another very important category: customer satisfaction. A whopping 74 percent of respondents say they are “Very Satisfied” with their iPhones, while only 43 percent of RIM customers say the same about their BlackBerry devices, the next closest cell phone on the survey. It’s a telling gap, and one which explains why Apple could overtake its perennial rival in the U.S. sometime in the next six months. A new product launch in June could seal the deal.

In Q3, NewNet focus turns to business models and search. Read the, "NewNet Q3 Wrap-up."

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Watch NBA Games Live On Your iPhone

Liz at NewTeeVee has the scoop and a preview of the future of live sports (or at least basketball) on your iPhone.

The NBA is launching a new iPhone app that will let you watch live NBA games wherever you are (class, work, bathroom…you get the idea). To access the 40+ live games that will be made available each week, you’ll need to shell out $39.99 for the season to get an NBA League Pass Mobile subscription.

The app has some snazzy features like DVR, on-demand access, and push alerts. To get the complete low-down, including a slew of screenshots, read the full post over at NewTeeVee.

In Q3, Uncle Sam was the green IT king maker. Read the, "Green IT Q3 Wrap-up."

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Apple 10-K: Rise of the iPhone
Apple has released its Form 10-K (PDF) for the fiscal year 2009, the annual report providing a summary of the company’s performance. A number of interesting details can be found within the long and tedious document, but the biggest news is the increasing importance of the iPhone to Apple’s bottom line.

Apple sold 20.7 million iPhones in the fiscal year, $6.75 billion in net sales, which includes accessories and carrier agreement revenue. Comparing that with just $123 million in 2007 shows just how important the iPhone is to Apple. The iPhone now accounts for about 18 percent of Apple’s sales revenue, but that’s using subscription accounting to spread the revenue over 24 months. Using non-GAAP numbers, the Mac and the iPhone now each account for about a third of Apple’s net sales.

As for the Mac, during the fiscal year Apple sold 10,396,000 computers, a new base-ten record, while the iPod continues to sell around 54 million units a year. However, unlike the iPhone, both the Mac and the iPod apparently have been affected by the recession. Of the other product categories, the iTunes Store, or “other music and product related services,” and software continue to show steady growth.

Browsing the rest of the Form 10-K, a few other points of interest for fiscal year 2009 include:
- Net sales were $36.5 billion for the fiscal year, $5.7 billion in net income, bringing Apple’s cash on hand to $34 billion.
- Apple has 34,300 full-time employees.
- R&D has grown from $782 million in 2007 to $1.3 billion in 2009.
- Apple spent half a billion dollars on ads, up slightly from the previous year.
- Regarding the patent lawsuit with Nokia, Apple “intends to defend the case vigorously.”
- An investment of $100 in AAPL in 2004 would be worth $957 today.
- The Americas account for 44 percent of net sales.
- Unit sales of Macs were up 40 percent in Europe.
- The total number of Apple Stores was 273, up from 247 and 197 for the previous two years.
2009 was an amazing year for Apple by pretty much any metric. However, the introduction of the iPhone in China and possible end of carrier exclusivity in the U.S., the addition of a tablet product, and continued growth in Mac sales all suggest 2010 will be even better.
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Apple TV 3.0 Will Support iTunes LP and Extras, Needs More Still

Apple recently introduced two new formats, iTunes LP and iTunes Extras, which deliver additional content to album and movie purchases, respectively. Apple also only just updated the iTunes Store Terms and Conditions agreement, and AppleInsider spotted some key changes in that document that point to an upcoming Apple TV update that will support the new formats.

It seems inevitable that the new bonus material featured in LP and Extra releases, which includes things like photos, videos, mini-documentaries and commentary, would become accessible on Apple’s home theater device, but this is the first official confirmation that it is in fact on the way. It would seem to suggest that we’ll see the update sooner rather than later, too.

Both iTunes LP and iTunes Extras are based on the TuneKit JavaScript format, which uses HTML, CSS and other open web standards. It’s designed for a 1280×720 pixel resolution, which fits perfectly with HD TV sets and the HD output resolution of the Apple TV.

While it may not come as a surprise, a new major update for the Apple TV firmware would be the first big one since the “Take Two” 2.0 update that came at Macworld Expo in January 2008. Other things expected to arrive with it include Quicktime X and the HTTP Live Streaming protocol, both of which were recently introduced as features of OS X Snow Leopard.

It sounds like it’s shaping up to be a decent little upgrade for Apple’s main foray into the living room, but it doesn’t really sound like anything that’s going to turn heads among people who are on the fence about buying the device. Apple has recently taken some steps to increase Apple TV sales, including getting rid of the 40 GB model altogether and dropping the price of the 160 GB version. Which is great, but there’s still a lot more Apple should be doing to make the device viable.

Like the Mac mini, the Apple TV seems to be lagging behind other Apple offerings in terms of the tech behind it and its software capabilities. Many new TVs coming to market now offer built-in functionality comparable to a lot of what Apple TV brings to the table, beyond access to the iTunes Store and all of its associated content. And HD-capable nettops from companies like Asus offer a fully functional home theater PC at a comparable price, with better storage options and more.

A software update is great, but Apple needs to do more than just what’s expected to breathe some life back into its least exciting device.

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