¶ iPad Neue

The New iPad. Plain and simple. To the point. This is not a name that is inappropriate, as iPad HD would have implied — HD doesn’t do the chief quality of the new device justice. This is also not a name implying succession, as iPad 3 would have.

No, this name has a distinct purpose. Not to merely be the next in an already established lineage, but to set a new standard for the forthcoming lineage. The New iPad.

There is — usually — a lot of thought that goes into a name. My wife and I, when she was pregnant with our son, chose a name with purpose. We wanted him to know that great care and meticulous detail was put into his name. I hope the meaning of his name serves as a guide for him throughout his life.

Many people have been complaining about the name Apple chose for the latest iPad yesterday — that it is simply “iPad” or, if you will, “the new iPad”. Well, much like my wife and I thought long and hard about the character and message we wanted our son’s name to impress upon him as he ages, I have to believe the people at Apple took the same care with naming something so dear to their hearts. Why do I think this? It’s what Tim Cook said in his closing at yesterday’s event (strong emphasis is mine):

“Only Apple could deliver this kind of innovation, in such a beautiful, integrated, and easy-to-use way. It’s what we love to do. It’s what we stand for. And across the year, you’re going to see a lot more of this kind of innovation. We are just getting started.”

These people are not just software and hardware engineers. No, they are artists, and aluminum, silicon, glass, bits, and pixels are the vehicle through which they express their craft.

The new iPad improves upon the past in the field of vision, and it does this primarily in two ways. The improved optics of the camera, putting on par with the iPhone, and the Retina display. It can capture what you see, and show it to you in a way that will move you to wonderment.

Everything else the new iPad brings — super-fast mobile data, faster graphics, more efficient Bluetooth, — that’s all on the inside. It’s impressive to some, but many will not think of these things.

What we see is what we will remember. This is the new foundation Apple will build upon.

iPad Event Set for March 7

Looks like we’ll be seeing a new iPad next week. An event has been scheduled for March 7 at 10:00 am Pacific in San Francisco.

I’d be shocked if the new iPad didn’t have a retina display.

Update on 2012-02-28 18:10 by Chris De Jabet

Fun tidbit from Stephen Hackett:

Apple announced right in the middle of the Google keynote at Mobile World Congress. Classic.

Automatic. Everywhere. iCloud.

Apple posted a new TV ad for iCloud yesterday. It doesn’t have a single spoken word in it, and pretty much does the best job I’ve seen of summing up the great stuff iCloud offers. All in less than 30 seconds. Also, catchy tune.

Apple to Require User Permission for Contact Data

No doubt in response to last week’s controversy about Path uploading user’s entire address book, Apple has issued the following statement to AllThingsD:

“Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told AllThingsD. “We’re working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.”

So, now we wait to see if it comes with iOS 5.1 in a month or so, or if Apple rolls out iOS 5.0.2 to patch this up a little faster. It’s a good response from Apple, since Path isn’t the only app out there that had been doing this.

¶ A Fistful of Dollars

Apple PR:

Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 first quarter which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and record quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $26.74 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 44.7 percent compared to 38.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

The Company sold 37.04 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 128 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, a 111 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 5.2 million Macs during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.4 million iPods, a 21 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

That’s insane.

This breaks previous company records for all of the following:

• Revenue
• Profit
• iPhones sold
• iPads sold
• Macs sold

To say it was a great Christmas in Cupertino would be a gross understatement.

Here are some other tidbits to chew on from various sources.

From MacRumors:

• Set new records for desktops and portables, up 26% year-over-year versus 0% growth for entire PC industry.
• iPhone represented 124% year-over-year growth vs 40% growth for industry according to IDC.
• iPad revenue up 99% year-over-year.
• 1.5 million iPads are in use across educational institutions.
• 315 million cumulative iOS device sales. 62 million in December quarter.
• 85 million iCloud customers signed up.
• $4 billion to developers cumulatively, $700 million in december quarter.
• 1.1 million Macs sold vs 851,000 year-over-year.
• 22,000 visitors per store per week.
• $97.6 billion in cash and marketable securities.

I picked what I found especially interesting. Their list is much longer (and their graphs paint quite the picture). One more thing from MacRumors’ coverage that I want to point out is this bit from the Q&A:

Q: 4G and larger screens are growing in the market. Has popularity of larger screens on Android phones changed or impacted your view? And 4G, obviously some phones have battery life issues, but what do you think?

A: We just sold 37 million iPhones and could have sold more with the supply. There are a lot of people out there who like what we’re doing.

I still don’t think the rumored 4-inch screen, 4G-enabled iPhone is happening any time soon. First, the 3.5-inch is feels great in your hand, and fits well in most pockets (and certainly better than a larger phone). Second, Apple really cares about battery life, and 4G doesn’t seem up to par yet.

From Farhad Manjoo, via Daring Fireball:

Apple’s profits ($13 billion) exceeded Google’s entire revenue ($10.6 billion).

Surely Google is winning.

And, in related news, Tom Krazit, for PaidContent, via, again, Daring Fireball:

In the first quarter that Verizon Wireless was on board with Apple for an iPhone launch event, the company sold 4.2 million iPhones, accounting for more than half of the 7.7 million smartphones that its customers purchased in the fourth quarter.

That calculates out to 55%. 55% of all the smartphones Verizon sold last quarter were made by Apple. I still get the feeling that Verizon is a little resentful that they needed to carry the iPhone, and I bet that is a burr in their saddle. That number gives Apple a pretty big chip to throw down if they need to.

Also, clearly Google is winning.

MG Siegler:

Every single Android phone that Verizon sells — dozens of models — combined could not outsell the iPhone last quarter. When you consider that Verizon sells plenty of BlackBerrys (and a few Windows Phones here and there) as well, this is even more incredible.

[…]

The only thing not looking good about this post from June of last year is the incorrect assumption that it would take the iPhone 5 to reverse the Android surge. It “only” took the iPhone 4S.

“Only”.

Apple's Education Event

The other day Apple sent out invites for an event late next week. Apple says the event will be focused on education, and take place in the Big Apple.

I think it’s a safe bet we’ll see an update to iBooks bringing digital textbooks to iOS. It’d be pretty awesome if you could rent books a semester at a time for a low price. I would have loved that when I was in college.

I have a couple other suspicions, but I don’t have a great deal of faith in seeing them come to fruition.

First, I wonder if we’ll see iBooks for Mac. I’ve personally never cared for reading a novel on my MacBook, but a textbook would be a different story. If you’re using your Mac to write a term paper, it would be handy to quickly reference your textbook via Command-Tab.

Second, this seems to be a good venue to introduce a revamped iWork for Mac. The current version is getting a little long in the tooth. I’d like to see the iWork suite take some design cues from the iOS apps for full-screen mode on Lion. Also, iCloud integration is sorely needed. I’m sure we’d all like to see how Apple will handle the UI for iCloud on the Mac. It’d also be nice to see more robust digital publishing tools integrated into Pages, making it easier for authors to create stuff for the iBookstore.

In the end, I think the main focus will be on textbooks. That said, I do have a feeling in my gut that says this event will have a much larger impact on the future than any of us are thinking.

Explore Apple's Grand Central Retail Store

Apple's page for its brand new store in Grand Central Station has a neat trick for owners of the iPhone 4/4S, 4th Generation iPod touch, and iPad 2. Tap View More Photos then tap the one labeled 360. You can then move your device around in front of you and look around the store. I found it works best on the iPad 2.

The Mac Experience

Ben Brooks contrasted the “Mac Experience” to the ‘Mac Pro Experience”:

Here’s how I see the current Mac experience from the non-software half:

• As few wires as possible.
• Sits on your desk, because it is gorgeous looking.
• Quiet.
• Truly designed to not be touched by the user. (Caveats have been made for RAM access and the like, but for the most part these are “sealed” systems.)
• As small as possible.

[…]

If you go through the above list of attributes you will notice that by and in large the Mac Pro goes against most of them.

• It begs for more wires to make use of the vast amount of ports.
• While gorgeously designed, no one in their right mind is putting it on top of their desk — it’s huge.
• Depending on what you are doing it can sound like a sedate ceiling fan or a 747 taking off.
• The entire side panel is easily — easily — removed allowing the user access to most all inner components of the machine. It was designed to be expanded upon from the hard drives and RAM to the PCI slots.
• It may well be as small as it can be, but it still ain’t small.

Ben brings this up because of the recent talk of the Mac Pro’s murky future. But he makes other good points such as:

I can’t help but think that the Mac Pro offers a decidedly un-Mac-like experience for users.

And:

As I think about everything that Apple stands for with its design and goals, I can’t help but suspect that the MacBook Air is the epitome of the Mac experience as Apple sees it. Small, quick, sleek, low-price, sealed.

There’s been a stigma for a long time that Macs are only good for graphic designers and photo/video professionals. The Mac Pro is the decedent of a time when that stigma was reality. The Mac had a niche market in Apple’s dark days.

But the times have changed. The Mac is no longer a niche market for a few professionals. It has been refocused to the original Macintosh’s vision of being a computer for the rest of us.

To put this into grand perspective, the MacBook Air is very similar to the original Macintosh in that it is a sealed computer that is designed to “just work”.

Below, I have included a picture that Apple circulated a while back comparing the iMac and a Windows PC.

Which one does the Mac Pro reminded you of? Exactly.

Apple Store App Update Brings In-Store Pickup & Self-Checkout

Apple updated their Apple Store app to version 2.0 today. Primarily, the Apple Store app acts as a refined interface for purchasing items from Apple’s online store. It also has a nice tie-in with Apple’s retail stores, allowing you to set up Genius Bar appointments or One-to-One training.

Today’s update further strengthens that tie-in to the retail stores.

First, when you are using the app to shop for an item, you have the option to have it shipped to you (the usual method), or you can now see if the item is available for pickup at your local Apple Store. If it is, you can checkout via the app, and your purchases will be set aside and ready to pick up in about an hour.

Second, some items at Apple retail stores are now labeled for what Apple calls EasyPay — basically, self check-out. So far this is limited to accessories. Let’s say you want a Smart Cover for your iPad. You can now pick it up, launch the Apple Store app, then use your iPhone’s camera to scan the barcode. This will bring up more information about the item, and the ability to purchase it. To purchase, you simply sign in to your Apple ID, and the linked credit or debit card is charged. Finally, you can just leave the store.

This move shows Apple is placing a fair amount of trust in its customers. Certainly, theft could very well become an issue, but I am sure Apple has put some sort of process in place to minimize that.

Overall, EasyPay looks to be a way for a tech-savvy, informed customer to walk in, grab the accessory they need, pay for it, and be on their way without having to interact with staff.

I, for one, am quite excited about that.

AirPorts, Friends, & Movies

In addition to iOS 5, iCloud, OS X Lion, iWork, and iPhoto updates today, Apple has also released (at least) three other new apps in the App Store.

• AirPort Utility: This is a welcome app for me. You can completely set up and manage a wireless network consisting of Time Capsules, AirPort Extremes, or AirPort Expresses. I’ve been working with my church to build out a building-wide wireless network, and being able to use my iPhone or iPad to manage things around the building will be far easier than walking around with my MacBook Pro.

  This also further opens the door for someone to use just an iPad as their main computer, something I know a few friends are planning to do for their parents.

• Find My Friends: This lets you easily find friends and family who have shared their location with you, either permanently or temporarily. This could be great for impromptu meet ups, but it will be really nice for my wife & I. Let’s say I’m at a meeting, and my wife needs me to stop at the store. Sometimes, I get that text from her right as I’m pulling in the driveway. Now, she could check first to see whether I’m close to home or not.

• iTunes Movie Trailers: Not only does this provide a nice way for you to watch movie trailers, but you can pop them up on an Apple TV with AirPlay, and you can check show times at local theaters, and share those with friends via email or twitter. I’m a movie nut, so having a highly polished app for showtimes and trailers is very welcome.