iLounge

During Apple’s second-quarter 2012 financial results conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer made a number of comments related to Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod businesses.

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, opened the conference call by calling attention to the company’s record March quarter, which he said was fueled primarily by strong iPhone and iPad sales. He said that iPod sales, though down year-over-year, were ahead of internal projections, and as with the past few quarters, the iPod touch accounted for over half of iPod sales. Regarding the iTunes Store, Oppenheimer said that the catalog now includes over 28 million songs and 45,000 movies.

iPhone sales more than doubled in the Asia Pacific region, according to Oppenheimer, who added that the January launch of the iPhone 4S in China and the addition of China Telecom as a second carrier were responsible for a lot of growth. Cook later stated that the company saw 3X year-over-year revenue growth in China. Oppenheimer said that the manufacturing ramps for both the iPhone 4S and the third-generation iPad were extremely successful, which enabled the company to fulfill demand in the March quarter, compared to the June quarter last year. As a result, the company is expecting a sequential decline in iPhone sales.

The company was “very pleased” with iPad sales during the quarter—including sales of the third-generation model, which is now available in over 40 countries. iPad sales more than doubled in each segment, and as a result, the company is slightly supply-constrained. Oppenheimer said that the iPad is about to enter the K-12 institution buying season, which the company expects to boost sales, and later added that the company is selling third-generation iPad units as fast as it can make them.

When asked about what the company is learning about lower price points on the iPhone and iPad, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is thrilled with the results they’ve seen thus far, although obviously it’s only been a few weeks. He added that the lower price of the iPad 2 unlocked some education demand, probably more price-sensitive customers, and in some countries, there was a marked change in demand. The company is not sure yet what the mix of third-gen iPad to iPad 2 will be, but said that on absolute sales of the iPad 2, what the company is seeing is exciting. Cook went on to say that the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 contributed to the 35 million in iPhone sales—the company’s second biggest quarter in terms of iPhone sales.

Overall, more than 365 million iOS devices have been sold, and the App Store now offers over 600,000 apps, 200,000 of which are built specifically for the iPad. Oppenheimer added that iCloud now has over 125 million customers signed up.

Finally, when asked about the company’s ongoing legal disputes, Cook said that he has always hated litigation, and just wants companies to invent their own stuff. He added that if Apple could reach agreements where it would be guaranteed that companies would be using their own inventions, and that included a fair settlement on stuff that’s occurred, it would be happy to settle instead of battle. That said, he added that Apple can’t become the developer for the world—that the company needs people to invent their own stuff.

During the company’s Q2 2012 Financial Results Conference Call, Apple CEO Tim Cook made several very interesting comments regarding the merging of traditional PCs with tablets. Cook said that while any two types of products can be forced to converge, the resulting products involve tradeoffs, and eventually reach the point at which they no longer appear to anyone; combining products creates compromises that do not please either user. He used the MacBook Air as an example of continuing innovation in the Mac space, and said that it appeals to someone who has somewhat different requirements than an iPad user. Cook specifically said that Apple will not make the compromise of convergence, adding that while others might converge their lines—especially for defensive reasons, such as seeing their computer or tablet sales flagging—Apple will play in both markets simultaneously.

Reporting its second quarter 2012 financial results today, Apple said it sold 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter, an 88 percent increase year-over-year, but down slightly from 37.04 million units in the prior quarter. Apple sold 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, up 151 percent from the year-ago quarter and down from 15.43 million units in the first quarter of 2012. Finally, the company said it sold 7.7 million iPods during the quarter — a 15 percent decrease compared to the same quarter last year. Unit sales of iPhones, iPads, and iPods bring the cumulative totals for the three device categories to 218.1 million, 67.08 million, and 344.28 million, respectively.

Apple posted revenue of $39.19 billion and net quarterly profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share, compared with revenue of $24.67 billion and net quarterly profit of $5.99 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share in Q2 2011. Revenue from Other Music Related Products and Services, which includes revenue from the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore in addition to sales of iPod services and Apple-branded and third-party iPod accessories, was $2.027 billion for the quarter, up 32 percent year-over-year and down 6 percent over the prior quarter.

“We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”

“Our record March quarter results drove $14 billion in cash flow from operations,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter, we expect revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.”

Mobile gaming developer Order of Leisure has launched King’s Corners for the iPhone and iPod touch, a unique iOS adaptation on the classic solitaire game. King’s Corners challenges players to strategically play cards onto a 4x4 playing board, trying to position face cards at the corners and edges—Queens at the top and bottom, Jacks on the sides and Kings in each corner. A “card reserve” option also provides a new twist on the classic game, allowing players a reserve card slot to make the game easier at lower difficulty levels. The iOS version provides a step-by-step tutorial, detailed Retina Display graphics and multiple background options. An accomplishment and challenges system is also available with Game Center integration along with multiple difficulty levels and a point system. King’s Corners requires iOS 4.2 or later and is available from the App Store for $2.

3D Magic has released Realikety, a new augmented reality social networking app that lets users “Like” real world places and objects. Designed to take the concept of social networking beyond the online space of websites, photos and videos, Realikety allows users to capture and “Like” anything they can see with the iPhone camera. Likes are counted and displayed in real time and users can comment and share with other Realikety users and read what they have to say about the same things . The iPhone camera and GPS are used to identify objects and physical locations and integration with Facebook and Wikipedia provides the ability to share Likes with Facebook and lookup famous tourist attractions in realtime. Realikety requires iOS 4.3 or later and an iPhone or fourth-generation iPod touch and is available from the App Store as a free download.

iHome has announced that it is now shipping its iDM5 Executive Work Station. First unveiled at the 2012 CES, the iDM5 features a built-in, full-size QWERTY Bluetooth keyboard, built-in speakers, a microphone for speaker functionality, two USB ports for device charging, an auxiliary input, and an integrated keyboard cover that doubles as the back to a built-in stand. iHome’s iDM5 is available now and sells for $130; for more information, see our full review.

Apple infringed on a single Motorola Mobility patent in its production of the iPhone, iPad, and several other products, according to an International Trade Commission judge. Reuters reports that ITC Judge Thomas Pender handed down his preliminary ruling in the dispute today, stating that Apple had infringed one Motorola patent, but did not violate three other patents which Motorola accused it of infringing. Judge Pender’s ruling is not final, and will be reviewed by the full commission before a final ruling is issued in August.

Parrot has released a minor update to its FreeFlight app for the AR.Drone iOS-controlled Quadricopter adding support for video recording on the iPhone 3GS and third-generation iPod touch. This release follows a major update to FreeFlight earlier this month that added a redesigned user interface and high-definition video and photo support for newer iOS devices. Today’s update provides lower-resolution 360p video recording for iPhone 3GS and third-generation iPod touch users with the same ability to upload videos to YouTube from within the app. Users can also capture still photos from the AR.Drone cameras and share them via Picasa. FreeFlight now requires iOS 5.0 or later and an AR.Drone or AR.Drone 2.0 and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of China’s National Copyright Administration, has said that the government regards Proview as the rightful owner of the iPad trademark, according to an Associated Press report. “The dispute between Apple and Shenzhen Proview concerning the iPad trademark is going through the judicial process,” Yan said in a news conference, adding that “according to our government’s laws, Shenzhen Proview is still the lawful representative and user of the trademark.” A lawyer for Proview said last week that the two companies were in talks aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute; Xiaohong’s remarks will likely put added pressure on Apple to find a solution.

Reporting its first quarter fiscal results, AT&T today announced that it activated 4.3 million iPhones during the period. That number is substantially higher than the 3.6 million iPhones activated in the year-ago quarter, and accounted for 78 percent of overall smartphone sales. 21 percent of the iPhone customers were new to AT&T. The carrier also added 240,000 tablet customers during the period—roughly three-quarters of which were postpaid—but did not specify how many of those were iPad customers.

2K Games has brought its Sid Meier’s Pirates! for iPad (iLounge Rating: A-) over to the iPhone and iPod touch with a new version of the classic game for the smaller screen. Originally released last summer, Sid Meier’s Pirates was an iPad adaptation of the classic high-seas adventure game made famous on the console and PC gaming platforms in the late eighties and early nineties. The iPhone and iPod touch version appears to be a direct port of last year’s iPad version, putting the player at the helm of one of 27 fully customizable ships as they travel to various ports of call, build a crew and journey out on quests for treasure and adventure. Players engage in activities ranging from sea battles to sword fights with intuitive touch controls to parry, counter and duel as they challenge and pursue some of the most famous pirates from history. Sid Meier’s Pirates! for the iPhone and iPod touch requires iOS 4.2 or later and is available from the App Store for $3.

SpoonJuice has re-released Daily Deeds, its habit-tracking app for the iPhone and iPod touch, with an under-the-hood refresh and some very important bug fixes. Daily Deeds helps remind and motivate users to perform routine daily tasks by creating a list of actions that can be checked off each day as they’re completed and reviewed on a calendar view or in PDF summary reports. Re-released under a new App Store developer account, Daily Deeds 1.5 adds little in the way of new features, and appears to primarily a maintenance release. As it has been released as a new app anther than an update to the prior version, users will need to download it separately; the developer is providing it as a free download for the first week to allow existing users to obtain it at no cost and as a gift for new users. The prior version sold for $1 and is expected to disappear form the App Store in the coming weeks.

Waves Audio and Musicsoft Arts have teamed up to release Mashup, a new DJ mixing app designed to provide pro DJ’s with a sophisticated mobile DJ booth on their iPad. Replacing complex and expensive DJ gear, Mashup provides two rotating stereo decks and a mixer capable of playing all standard unprotected audio formats, an advanced scratch engine, resonant filters with a large touch-ribbon UI and hi-end equalizers with larger interface controls. Users can create unlimited playlists on the fly, setup auto-sync and beat matching between decks and record mixes in stereo for further editing, mixing and sharing in other apps. Tracks can be selected from the iOS music library or purchased from an in-app DJ Shop with a collection of tracks from top DJs such as Junior Sanchez and Kris Menace. Users can also pair Mashup running on an iPhone or iPod touch with the iPad version over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for DJing with headphones.

Mashup is designed to provide superior audio processing on the iPad with technology developed by Waves Audio, a leading developer of professional audio signal processing technologies and recipient of the 2011 Technical Grammy award. In addition to the standard audio engine with features such as resonant filters and noise-free scratching, users can also optionally upgrade to Waves’ unique MAXX sound enhancing engine which provides boosted base frequencies and improved volume designed for any listening environment from headphones to large cabinet speakers. Mashup is a universal app requiring an iPhone 4/4S, fourth-generation iPod touch, iPad 2 or third-generation iPad and iOS 4.3 or later and is available from the App Store for $40; the optional MAXX add-on is available via in-app purchase for an additional $5.

Realmac Software has released an update to Clear, its minimalist list making app for the iPhone and iPod touch. First released in February, Clear is designed to allow users to quickly and easily manage simple lists of tasks and other items with a unique, gesture-based user interface. Version 1.1 adds support for undoing actions by shaking the device and basically removes the character cap on items. The update also introduces new “Secret Themes” for users to discover; the original version offered a special Tweetbot bonus theme for users of that particular app, it’s unknown whether these new secret themes follow the same patter or are hidden in some other way. The update also adds a number of smaller tweaks and fixes, including an option to display the iOS status bar, improvements to item creation, new UI elements and improvements to readability in low-contrast themes. Clear requires iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $1.

Redpark is now shipping its GPS Cable for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. According to the company, the GPS Cable allows iOS devices to connect to external navigation devices that use the NMEA 0183 protocol by offering a 30-pin connector on one end and a DB-9 connector on the other. The company claims that the cable is compatible with location-aware iOS apps—including the built-in Maps and Compass apps—and supports devices running iOS 5.x or later, including the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, fourth-generation iPod touch, iPad 2, iPad, and, presumably, the third-generation iPad. Redpark’s GPS Cable for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is available now and sells for $59.

Two Chinese parts vendors are now offering “iPhone 5” Home button parts. As noted by Mac Rumors, the parts—which are available in both black and white from both vendors—are slightly different than the same part from the iPhone 4S, as they are rectangular in shape, with rounded corners and a round Home button sticking up in the center. Prior Home button parts featured a more closely tailored button surround with “wings” on either side. As with previous models, everything save for the round button itself will likely lie below the glass front surface of the device, and thus the changes will be invisible to the user. It appears at least somewhat likely that Apple has adopted the new design as a way to reduce reports of failing Home buttons, although it is possible that the new buttons also afford a small space savings from side-to-side.

Apple has launched new mini websites highlighting the use of the iPhone and iPad in business. Entitled “iPhone in Business” and “iPad in Business”, respectively, the sites include pages dedicated to apps that are useful for business, discussion of integration of the devices into existing company infrastructure, task-specific examples of how the devices can help with various tasks, and profiles of businesses that are using the iPhone and iPad to help boost their productivity. Apple regularly touts business adoption of both the iPhone and iPad, both of which have been adopted by a high percentage of Fortune 500 companies.

Apple has offered a settlement relating to the ongoing eBook pricing case in Europe. The Telegraph reports that according to European Union competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia, the body has received settlement offers from Apple as well as all the publishers, save for Penguin. “[The publishers] are making proposals to reach an early resolution of the case,” he said; terms of the proposals were not disclosed. Notably, Apple has not made an effort to settle a similar case in the US, possibly due to the differing conditions of the two markets at the time of the alleged collusion.

The latest edition of iLounge Weekly, our weekly newsletter covering all things iLounge, will be arriving in subscribers’ inboxes early next week. iLounge Weekly is a summary of the week’s best news, reviews, and feature articles we’ve published, and it also features giveaways and accessory discount offers from various companies. There’s still plenty of time to sign up and receive this week’s edition — just use the simple form below to submit your email address, if you haven’t done so already.

IMPORTANT: Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Earthlink and others, make sure we don’t end up in your spam box. Please accept emails from iLounge.com. Thank you.

Also, be sure to enter our Kensington Keyfolio Expert Giveaway. In our Giveaway of the Month for April, iLounge and Kensington are giving away 10 KeyFolio Expert Multi Angle Folio & Keyboards, paired with a Virtuoso Signature Stylus and Pen. To enter, simply fill out and submit the form on the giveaway page—the giveaway will end on April 30, 2012 at 11:59PM Pacific Time. Good luck!

Photogene for iPad has been updated with support for the third-generation iPad Retina Display, new editing tools and performance improvements users of second- and third-generation iPad models. In addition to Retina Display support, version 3.4 greatly improves resolution during editing of photos on the newer iPad models and also takes advantage of the dual-core chipset on these models to reduce save and export times.

Several new editing tools have also bee introduced in this latest update, including the use of colour adjustments and filters as gradient transitions, new annotation tools for adding arrows and markers, the ability to rotate text boxes and a new oil-painting filter. A new curves algorithm has been added to provide easier curve handling and users can now add or modify photo geo-tags while editing and add textual watermarking with the Go-Pro update. Several bugs have also been fixed regarding Dropbox and FTP uploading as well as general stability throughout the app. Photogene for iPad requires iOS 4.2 or later and is available from the App Store for $1.