Apple earnings call & Apple Watch release update

Tim Cook has had a busy day. But – a pretty good one by all accounts. He had to make the earnings call which covered the first fiscal quarter of 2015. In it, he told financial analysts and investors that not only did Apple sell about 9 million more iPhones than what was expected and forecast, but that they also had reported earnings of $3.06 per share on revenue of $74.6 billion which is way more than anyone was expecting.

According to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters, analysts had actually expected Apple to report earnings of about $2.60 a share on $67.69 billion in revenue.

Yeesh.

The iPad was the only soft note in the earnings call, with sales hitting a quieter 21.4 million units instead of the 22.2 million unit estimate. However, Apple’s cash rose to almost $178 billion, up 15 percent from the prior quarter.

Again – Yeesh.

So – to the best news! Straight from the Sauce, Mr Cook himself –

“Development for Apple Watch is right on schedule, and we expect to begin shipping in April… My expectations are very high on it. I’m using it every day and love it and can’t live without it.”

Bam. Bam. Bam. April. Early April, Apple Watch, tech we apparently can’t live without. Excellent! And with a battery that can be charged just by thinking good thoughts. Right Tim?

Check out the awesome tech that is Microsoft Hololens

Ok Guys, remember how we’re always saying how awesome tech is right now?

SO, YEAH, we’ve got another GEM of an SUPER DOOPER exciting future product to show you. Check this out and try not to smack that guy next to you in excitement.

Whaaaaaaaaaat.

Google Modular Phone

Google has been busy. Well, Google is always busy, but in this context, we’re talking about their vision of bringing a Google Modular smart phones into life.

Modular: involving a module as the basis of design or construction.

Umm… Module: each of a set of standardized parts or independent units that can be used to construct a more complex structure.

So. A phone made from a bunch of individual and independent parts. The idea is that you can buy each part separately, depending on what you want and require out of a smartphone instead of buying a whole phone with functionality you might not want or need.

This would also mean you could replace an individual part when it fails or when an update comes out without needing to replace the whole phone. Pros: cheaper and more customizable. You want two camera’s on your smart phone? Buy two camera modules. Use your phone a lot? buy multiple batteries, replace one and charge it while you’re using the other.

Google have just announced their plans to release a Market pilot version of their modular smart phone, called Project Ara in Puerto Rico later this year.

Exciting.

In true Google PR style, they’ll be using a bunch of food trucks running around Puerto Rico to demo the phones later this year. Because, obviously. 

After they’ve understood how customers are going to react to the amount of choice presented to them by a modular phone, and how successful it is, how they can make it more successful, etc, the idea is that the rest of the world will then be introduced to the Google Modular phone too.

See the video for the Google Project Ara modular smartphone here!

The new Steve Jobs Biopic has begun filming!

The new Steve Jobs film has been in the news of late with buckets of casting rumors and actors dropping out and studio’s dropping out and other studios picking it up and …etc etc.

But! On Friday afternoon the Danny Boyle directed biopic finally began filming!

Exciting!

Film crews set up outside Steve Jobs childhood home in Los Altos after the production crew had transformed the garage into what it would have looked like when Jobs and Steve Wozniak were there, working on the Apple 1 computer in 1976.

The movie is said to cover three important launches of Apple, and filming will occur later in San Jose and Berkeley. Star-spotters unite!

Casting has been confirmed as Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs, Seth Rogen as Steve Woniak, Kate Winslet as a lead female role and Jeff daniels as former Apple CEO John Sculley. Other cast members includeKatherine Waterston as JOb’s ex-girlfriend Chrisann Brennan and Michael Stuhlbarg as early Apple Employee Andy Hertzfield.

Check out some photos of the filming over at CNET.

Deals Of The Week Wednesday!

We got some Deals!

*Grab yourself a Nikon D7000 DSLR Camera with 18-140mm VR Lens for $630 PLUS Free Shipping From Best Buy. Regular Price: $1,399.99. Also get a free Shutterfly 8X8 Photo Book while supplies last. This is a really great deal, so get on it if you can! 

*Get Target Ticket Digital Movie Rentals for Free! Get a $5 credit by entering coupon XBOXRENTAL. Expires on 1/31/2015 and limited to 20,000 redemptions.

*Get the Acesori Four-Piece Smartphone Camera Kit with Three Lenses and Microfiber Cloth for $9.99 from Groupon. 

* Get a Chromecast FOR JUST $29.99 plus you get $20 Google Play Credit right now at Best Buy.

*Get a one-time $25 statement credit by using your enrolled AMEX Card to spend a total of $100 or more online at Staples.com by 2/7/2015!

*Head on over to CowBoom and get 20% off Electronics, gaming & more with Coupon code SAVEMOOLA.  Promo Code cannot be applied to Deal of the Day Item or Best Buy item. Sale ends 11:59 PM CT 01/14. 

*Wanna take awesome pro photos of your creepy dolls? Get an Electric Avenue Deluxe Table Top Photo Studio Bundle for $34.99 from Groupon. 

*Right now at Best Buy you can get a pretty good deal on MacBooks.  Get the MacBook Air 13.3 ” 128GB for $849.99 ($150 off). If you have a .edu email address you can get a further $50 off, and with the Movers Coupon (found in Post Offices), get an ever further 10% off. BLING BLAU!

* Finally, here’s a deal that might help you out of your Verizon contract, if that’s something you’re interested in doing. It might not work, but it would certainly be worth a try. So. Verizon is increasing their administrative fee for all voice lines from $0.88 to $0.95. This apparently constitutes as a material change, since this fee is part of Verizon surcharges (not taxes). This means that you should be able to call Verizon to get out of your contract, without paying the early termination fee.

This has worked for some, not for others, and still others have received some kind of refund for the inconvenience ( $10-40). Give it a go if you’re looking to get out of your contract!

Apple no longer offering iTunes Single of The Week

As of right now, it seems that you may no longer be able get a free ‘Single of the Week’ from iTunes.

Bowm Boooooowwwwwm.

Since 2004 Apple would pick a tune to promote by giving it out on iTunes for a week. Which was awesome, because most people like music, and most people like free things.

This comes after Apple also unexpectedly ended it’s annual 12 days Of Christmas iTunes promotion, where one App or item from iTunes would be given away each day for 12 days after Christmas.

As of yet, there has been no statement from Apple in regard to the disappearance of either.

C’mon Apple, if you give us free things, then we return to buy other things. D’uh.

Apple Watch release!

When the Apple Watch was announced back in September, all that was said about a release date was ‘early 2015’. Well, it’s early 2015, Apple. You know it, I know it, our company Guinea pig knows it…

But. When a company says a product will be released in ‘early 2015’, that really could mean anything. Even if it turns out to be mid 2015 (unlikely) Apple would be forgiven for their mis-speech, because the anticipation for said new product would be elevated to such a height that when people finally got their hands on it they would forget that they were supposed to be able to have their hands on it months ago.

We probably won’t have to wait that long, however. Here’s what we know about when the Apple Watch may be released.

It’s said that Apple have been trying to perfect a number of small features on the Apple Watch in preparation for release, most importantly the charging mechanism. They want the charge to last on these things, because people and critics are already amping up to call them out over it after the battery didn’t display such great stamina at the announcement.

Developers are already working on iOS  apps that will support Apple Watch and iPhone interaction.

Most rumors have pinpointed March for the release in the first wave of countries. Don’t worry, The U.S.A. is always in the first wave. Wouldn’t that be weird if it wasn’t? Weird and unhappy.

There have been almost-shaped-like concrete rumors that say that retail training for the Apple Watch will begin early February, which would support the March release date rumors. Apparently in the week of February 9th-16th, high level retail store representatives will be sent to main Apple offices (Cupertino for example) to be trained, and will then go back and share their training with their little Apple underlings. Aw. Makes them sound so cute.

So, what kind of holiday is there in March that we can celebrate by getting an Apple Watch as a present…? St Patricks Day? Does it come in Green? Google tells me that March 3rd is I Want To Make You Happy Day. Well, Apple, a nice green Apple Watch that we can wear fancy for St Patricks day,  that’s what’s gonna make us happy.

Thanks in Advance, iPhone Antidote.

How you listened to music in 2014

Apple intends on releasing it’s revamped Beats streaming product in 2015, and it looks like they got the timing pretttty perfect on that, as the guys over at Nielsen SoundScan have just revealed their year-end stats for the music industry, and streaming gets a big ‘ol thumbs up.

There was a 54% growth in on-demand streams of audio and video content and total streams were up to 164 billion from 106 billion in 2013.

Sad face for the regular old retro (can we say retro yet in regards to this?) album, as digital album sales fell 9%, and digital song sales fell 12%. Physical and digital album sales fell 11%.

Happy face for the actual retro music format here, though – vinyl album sales in 2014 grew 52%. Fifty-two percent!  In fact, although vinyl sales have been increasing every year, 2014 was the best year for vinyl since 1991, and possibly only because that’s when Nielson SoundScan started keeping track of music industry stats.

Apple’s other streaming product, iTunes radio, has had a smaller than expected impact in the streaming music market, and is currently only available here in the States and in Australia.

So. The old big thing is Vinyl, and the next big thing is streaming. Which Apple knew, and is set to take a bigger advantage of the latter by revamping Beats Music, probably as a native iOS app in the first quarter of this year. It will either be entwined with iTunes or they’ll be looking to take another segment of the market with iTunes.

Beats Music will, of course, have some competition, with very loyal subscribers to Pandora and Spotify as well as other players in the market.

Currently, you can subscribe to Beats Music for $9.99 per month, or $99.99 for 12 months.

Future Tech Of The Week

It’s the future! Kind of.. so let’s take a look at some future, in-the-works tech that we’re looking forward to!

So, there’s a company called Scanadu. Initially their products were part of an Indiegogo campaign, they’re rocking it with their proposed tech by building a bunch of products that are health oriented.

With these products, they’re looking to do what a lot of impressive and inspiring tech companies are trying to do – improve your life in a significant, impressive and historic way.

How?

By making collecting accessible data about your and your families health easy and intuitive. Take, for example, their product Scanadu Scanaflo which will test your urine and be able to tell you important details about it – i.e. Pregnant or Urinary tract infection. Always important to make a distinction between those two.

Or, take their product the Scanadu Scout which, once pressed to your forehead, will read health data such as your temp, blood pressure, blood oxygenation etc etc and send it to your phone.

Check out their blog here, to keep up with how their product developing is going and be excited about the future prospects of stuff!

Apps to help you keep your new year’s resolutions!

Welcome to 2015 guys!

How many of you guys have made or are making New Year’s Resolutions? Resolutions are pretty great things in our book, if only for the chance to evaluate and examine your life and understand how you might like to improve it, looking for ways to inspire you to become a better person. Even if that’s all you do, that’s success.

But if you want to really stick to your goals for 2015, here’s some apps to help you out. And remember – one slip up is not a breakage, it can be a way to strengthen the resolution!

Coach.me (previously known as Lift) is a motivational tool that uses in-app professional coaching (for an $14.99 in-app purchase), community support and providing you with data that makes it easy to track, analyze, and celebrate your progress. It also includes features goal inspired plans, challenges and guides to help you achieve anything you’re up for achieving.

Free from the App Store (with in-app purchases).

StickK is an app that’s all about goals and helping you reach them. So, perfect!

When you begin, you customize and sign a contract. The contract lists the things you will do in order to achieve your goals. As part of the contract you get a ‘Referee’ , someone to report to, to motivate you and someone  to hold you accountable. You also have the option to include cash incentives to your contract. With the cash, a good example is that if you commit to $10 a week that you’ll go to the gym every day, and you fail, then that $10 goes to a charity or person of your choice. If you succeed, you get the money back.

The app also provides social media networking and weekly reports. You can sign up for free and get the app here.

Kickit is an app to help you achieve a SUPER IMPORTANT goal for 2015. Yup, we’re talking about quitting smoking. No lectures here, just take a look at the app, and see how it can provide you with the data, incentives, social media interaction and support to help you quit and let you know just how much money you’re saving and exactly how you’re improving your health.  

Get it free from the App Store. 

Want to get more in touch with yourself and your understanding of the world in 2015? Take a look at Headspace. It’s a mediation app that has been praised all over and is used by over a million people. It provides you with mindfulness techniques that work towards the creator’s mission of creating a healthier, happier world, one mobile device at a time. Sounds awesome.

You can sign up for free for their Take10 program (10 x10 mediation sessions) and download the app for free, with in-app purchases if you wanted to continue to subscribe to the Headspace material.

If you would like to give back more in 2015, check out Charity Miles.  It’s a way of turning your time and energy into Charity and giving back. After you get the App, choose a charity and how you’ll be moving about – i.e. walking, biking or running. For every mile, corporate sponsers will give  10¢ per mile for bikers; and 25¢ per mile for walkers and runners to your chosen charity.

Free from the App Store. 

Another charitable App to check out is One Today. A Google initiative, it presents you with a new Charity every morning, with the option to donate $1. It will also explain how your donation will work towards the Goals of that particular Charity. It’s a way of letting you ‘Give a little, and change a lot’.

Free From the App Store. 

Some websites to help you achieve your goals and feel inspired in 2015 –

For weight loss goals, we would recommend LoseIt! or My Fitness Pal (also available as Apps).

For saving money check out Mint.com.

If you would like to travel more, check out www.theflightdeal.com and MileValue.

Spend some time on www.freerice.com. For every quiz answer you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice to World Food Programme to end world hunger.

If you would like to feel good about the state of the world (we always do) check out the AMAZING things people are doing in technology and science at www.futurism.co

Happy 2015! May you achieve all your goals and may all your wishes come true! And teleportation. We think we’d like teleportation to become a thing in 2015.