APPLE SHOWS ITS GUNS TO THE FINANCIAL WORLD DURING THIS RECESSION!!

Apple has proven again to skeptics that the brand is RECESSION FREE!

While Apple's biggest competitor, Microsoft is hurting during this economic recession, as well as many other giants in the tech, business, financial and retails sectors, the Mac craze is here to stay as its demand is as popular as ever!

Apple and Steve jobs certainly know what people like and are always in the cutting edge of technology and style, just look at their products: Iphone--the biggest cellphone market share--Ipod--the biggest MP3 player in market share as well--Itunes--the #1 destination for downloading and buying music--IMac computers, Ipod Shuffle and Nano; they all have something in common: fresh, sleek and progressive!

  It seems like Steve Jobs and his marketing team's efforts have payed off, just look at their 2009 Q1 earnings, a whopping $7.5 billion in revenue!!!

Please continue reading about this amazing feat by Apple, as it has surpassed its earnings compared to this same time last year.  Read this great full report by Tom Krazit from Cnet News:

APPLE SOARS DURING ECONOMIC GLOOM

Apple blew away expectations for its second fiscal quarter, reporting revenue and net income far beyond what the Wall Street community was expecting amid a poor economy.

For the period ended March 28, Apple recorded $8.16 billion in revenue, up from $7.5 billion in revenue during the same period last year. Net profit was $1.21 billion, or earnings per share of $1.33. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $7.96 billion and earnings per share of $1.09.

Apple sold 2.22 million Macs, 11 million iPods, and 3.79 million iPhones during the quarter, meeting or exceeding expectations from financial analysts. CFO Peter Oppenheimer called it "the best nonholiday quarter revenue and earnings in our history," in a statement announcing the results.

As usual, Oppenheimer provided third-quarter guidance below what analysts were seeking. The consensus Wall Street estimate for Apple's June quarter was $8.28 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $1.12, while Oppenheimer said Apple expects to record between $7.7 billion and $7.9 billion in revenue and earnings per share between 95 cents and a dollar during the current quarter.

During Apple's earnings conference call, Oppenheimer attributed that lower guidance to, among other things, the fact that Apple has stopped recognizing revenue from iPhone sales after the March 17th iPhone OS 3.0 event, and does not plan to recognize iPhone revenue again until the company ships that software sometime this summer. Apple accounts for iPhone sales on a subscription basis, meaning the company defers the initial revenue from the sale of an iPhone over a 24-month period in order to satisfy an obscure accounting rule.

Mac shipments fell 3 percent compared to last year. It's the first time Mac shipments have fallen year over year, but some had expected worse. Desktop shipments fell 4 percent, and portable shipments fell 2 percent, but revenue was way off: 22 percent in desktops, and 12 percent in portables. Still, as with last quarter, international Mac sales were stronger than U.S. Mac sales.

Apple COO Tim Cook said during the company's conference call that shipments to educational customers are weak right now, given the budget crunch that many U.S. states are facing. He also said that shipments of Apple's most expensive Macs--the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro--were off during the quarter, but that the less-expensive consumer-oriented Macs held up reasonably well.

The iPod lineup appeared to get a clear boost from the launch of the new iPod Shuffle, with Apple selling about 1 million more iPods than analysts had expected. iPod shipments were up 3 percent compared to last year, as revenue fell 16 percent, suggesting that sales of the $79 iPod Shuffle made up a greater amount of Apple's iPod mix than usual.

iPod Touch sales doubled compared to last year, Cook said, and Apple has now sold 37 million iPhones and iPod Touches combined. In March, Apple said it had sold 30 million of those two devices since their introduction.

And as had been foreshadowed earlier on Tuesday, Apple sold 3.79 million iPhones, which Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster predicted based on AT&T's activation numbers for the quarter. iPhone shipments were up sharply compared to last year, but they fell coming off the holiday quarter.

When asked to comment on whether there was any update concerning CEO Steve Jobs' return to the company, Oppenheimer reiterated the company's usual statement: "We look forward to Steve returning to Apple at the end of June."

Source: Cnet.com

THE FUTURE IS NOW...SEGWAY + GM = P.U.M.A.

What does General Motors and Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility--P.U.M.A.--have in common?
In a time when GM is hurting so much economically, a buzzing partnership involvement like this could perhaps be worth something to a brand once at the peak of its game.
The new Segway Project called: P.U.M.A. could perhaps change the city streets landscape in a not too far future!

Sit-down Segway, safe for street, is set...

Before you ride a Segway, you probably just dismiss the thing as an impractical toy for rich kids. Which, in all fairness, it is.

But once you actually ride a Segway, you immediately want one, if for no other reason than so you can tool around your driveway on it -- like a skateboard for grown-ups.

Now Segway is taking a turn for the practical, teaming with General Motors on something called Project PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility), which finally turns the Segway's self-balancing technology into something that might conceivably become useful outside the gates of your manor and the polo grounds. The project was formally announced this week at the New York Auto Show and it looks awfully cool so far.

The PUMA features the familiar two wheels, side by side, just like the Segway has, but the similarities start to diverge from there. First, you ride the PUMA not standing but sitting down -- as does your navigator. That's right, there's room for two people in the PUMA (and possibly more down the line), which means you'll be able to chitchat with someone about the people pointing at you from the sidewalk while you drive around town.

Then there's the speed and range. At a maximum speed of 35 miles and hour and 35 miles on a charge (all tentative -- this is prototype stuff), you'll be able to get around on city streets without being flattened into the pavement. (The original Segway tops out at 12 1/2 miles an hour, far slower than a typical bicycle, and has a max range of 24 miles.)

There's no telling what PUMA will cost, but the company mentions it will be a third the price of a car (don't know which car) at most. $8,000, perhaps? Seems like a reasonable place to start -- the electric Smart Fortwo two-seater (which is a fixture at San Francisco tourist destinations being driven by mouth-agape renters) runs about $12,000 to start.

There's also no word on a release date, but here's hoping at least for a chance at a test drive in the near future. Stay tuned!

Source: Yahoo! Tech

Segway's Official Website

REMEMBER TO TURN YOUR LIGHTS SWITCH OFF TOMORROW!

SHOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE FOR MOTHER EARTH!

Do you want to show how much you care about energy conservation and our planet?

Simply turn your lights switch off tomorrow night, March 28 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., local time.

Tomorrow is the third annual worldwide EARTH HOUR event. Earth Hour is both a symbolic act and the start of a practical habit. Started in Australia in 2007 and sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, EARTH HOUR this year will be observed all around the world! The last count, 2,400 cities across 82 countries have officially signed up for it and 195 of these cities are in the United States, so get involved and turn your lights switch OFF!

Some famous buildings will be going dark on Saturday including: The Empire State Building in New York City, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, the Sydney Opera House, the Sears Tower in Chicago, Seattle's Space Needle, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Broadway theater marquees in New York City. Even the flashy Las Vegas strip will turn dark for an hour!

Care for our Earth and make sure to take part on this important and symbolic event!

For more information visit: http://www.earthhour.org/home/

FINALLY MMS AND COPY & PASTE FOR THE IPHONE...ABOUT TIME!!!

iPhone OS 3.0: What you need to know

by Josh Lowensohn

(Credit: CNet News & Apple)

Apple on Tuesday unveiled the next version of the operating system that powers the iPhone, dubbed version 3.0, at an invite-only event at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. It will be available for developers beginning today, and to everyone else "this summer." It's a free upgrade for iPhone users; those who own the iPod Touch will again have to pay for the upgrade (Apple is charging $9.95). Here's a quick recap of what was announced:

NEW FEATURES

Systemwide search
Apple has integrated its Spotlight search technology across the entire device. This will let users search for specific e-mail messages, applications, contacts, and any other data from within those applications in one place. Users get to it from a new menu that's to the left of their first home screen. Swiping to the left brings up an open search box that brings in results as you type, similar to Spotlight search on Mac OS X.

Copy and paste for text, photos, and SMS
One of the most-wanted features, the ability to copy and paste text will be making its way to OS 3.0. Users will be able to select sections of text and take them to other applications. This is one of the new APIs that Apple is releasing to developers.

Users will now be able to copy and paste text from one app to another.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

To copy text, simply double-tap the screen, and it pulls up an option to cut, copy, and paste. Then simply drag a start point, and an end point, over the text you want, and then double-tap again. The phone will save the text in a clipboard, from which it can be taken elsewhere. You can also grab entire sections of text using a large rectangle that can be moved around to include paragraphs at a time.

Additionally, copy and paste will work with photos and SMS messages. For instance, if you feel like selecting multiple photos to send in an e-mail you can now select the ones you want, then send them together in one message. Previously you had to select them one at a time--through the Photos application, over to mail. The same goes for SMS messages too, so if you feel like relaying a text message to another contact you can simply forward it.

MMS
You can now send and receive multimedia messages (MMS). This means text messages can be sent with photos and voice recordings, all without using the built-in mail application to do it. Missing, however, is any kind of video support, which is an MMS feature found on many other phones with built-in cameras.

Push notifications
The feature that was supposed to appear in September of last year will finally be making its way to phones in version 3.0. Scott Forstall, the head of iPhone software development, noted that Apple had been late on this, and blamed the delay on scaling, saying that the original system was too taxing on both the handset's battery and its processing power.

The new system works just like old one, but has been optimized for over-the-air data transfer. It still relies on Apple's servers as a go-between to send audio alerts, text messages, and badge notifications. Users still have to fire up the application to get at the data though.

In-app micropayments
Apple has built in a new system for developers to charge users after they've purchased an application. Previously there was no way to do this, forcing developers to hike up the initial price, or use external payment systems, similar to what Amazon did with its Kindle application.

Apps will now be able to charge you for additional levels or in-game items like this screen from the upcoming Sims game from EA.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Apple's new system, dubbed "In-App Purchase" lets developers create an application where extra content can be purchased from within it to expand what it can do. All the billing is handled by Apple, and goes through the user's iTunes store account.

This same system has been used in console games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero with extra music track purchases. On the iPhone this was demoed on the upcoming EA title The Sims 3, which will let users buy items for their virtual character using an in-game store interface.

This payment system is only for paid apps, meaning free applications cannot be upgraded to a paid premium version. Apple is also using the same revenue model for per-app purchases, meaning developers can charge whatever they want, and keep 70 percent.

Better GPS baked into apps
Apple announced that Core Location would now be available for developers to build into their applications, meaning they'll be able to include turn-by-turn directions into their apps. However, they won't be able to build it off the iPhone's Google Maps application. Apple says this is due to licensing issues. However, map providers may step up and start selling mapping data to iPhone developers.

P2P networking and hardware communication
No longer will handsets exist as single entities. A new system, built off Apple's Bonjour technology, will let devices talk to each other. This would let people play multiplayer games with one another, and potentially exchange data files--all without the need to be connected to a third-party server or a central Wi-Fi hub. To do this Apple is using the iPhone's built-in Bluetooth antenna.

Apple is also opening up how much control accessory makers can have over external hardware. Forstall showed how the iPhone would be able to hunt for FM radio signals using an attached dongle, and even read a patient's blood pressure--putting the controls on the iPhone instead of the attached device. This is very similar to the partnership that Apple has with Nike and its Nike+ running attachment, which could be controlled using an iPod. This new system works both from the dock connector and over Bluetooth.

To demo this new level of communication, Johnson and Johnson company LifeScan went onstage to show off a new blood sugar application that uses the phone to process what user's blood glucose level and keep track of it both on the device, and by sending the data to LifeScan's servers.

Other tidbits

• Original iPhone users will not be getting all the new features. Apple has already said that MMS and stereo Bluetooth music playback will not be available.
• Apple has sold 13.7 million iPhones through 2008, and 17 million iPhones total. This figure includes first generation hardware.
• There have been 800,000 downloads of the iPhone SDK.
• 62 percent of developers never done an Apple application before.
• Landscape (sideways) mode across all Apple native applications.
• Notes made in the Notes.app can now be synced to your computer.
• Shake to shuffle is coming to the iPhone.
• Safari browser is getting antiphishing and auto-fill.
• Parental controls will work on the App Store. This could mean a new explicit-content rating for applications, similar to what's been done for music and films.
• No Adobe Flash for the iPhone, although the device will play HTML 5 video, and developers now have API access for streaming audio and video in their apps.
• Ngmoco, the maker of iPhone/iPod hit game Rolando, showed off two new games, Touch Pets and LiveFire. The first is a virtual pet simulator that lets you play with others using the new communication interface. LifeFire is a first-person shooter that lets you play death match-style over Wi-Fi.
• Smule, the maker of the the popular Orcarina application, announced a new app called Leaf Trombone. It emulates the controls of a trombone, letting users slide their finger across the screen to adjust the pitch while blowing into the microphone.

___

Source: CNet News

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10198292-37.html?tag=mncol;txt

TURN YOUR LIGHTS OFF ON MARCH 28th!

MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

VOTE & TAKE PART ON THIS IMPORTANT EVENT BY TURNING YOUR LIGHTS OFF FOR AN HOUR ON MARCH 28th!!!

THIS IS THE WORLD’S FIRST GLOBAL ELECTION, BETWEEN EARTH AND GLOBAL WARMING

On March 28 you can VOTE EARTH by switching off your lights for one hour.
Or you can vote global warming by leaving your lights on.

The results of the election are being presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. We want one billion votes for Earth, to tell world leaders that we have to take action against global warming.

Afternoons are Much BETTER with Music from "AFTERNOONS"!

HERE IS SOME GREAT LOCAL LA TALENT!
Check it out and enjoy...

Afternoons is an Indie rock band based out of Los Angeles, CA. Started by Irving band members Steven Scott and Brian Canning as an afternoon recording project, Afternoons was informally created in 2006. Grammy Award winner Tom Biller^[1][2] joined as both recording engineer and record producer, also performing live with the group playing guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. Classically trained opera singer Claire McKeown from the band Dirt Bird sung on the recordings and along with Biller, Scott, Canning and former Irving drummer Brent Turner, has performed live with the band since their first show. As the band developed and the focus of Irving members shifted to Afternoons, keyboardist Aaron Burrows of both Irving and Sea Wolf joined along with muliti-instrumentalist Sam Johnson. Johnson had joined Irving on their European tour in 2007 after the departure of Sea Wolf founder Alex Church.

Afternoons gained social relevance when in Spring of 2008 contemporary artist, graphic designer and illustrator Shepard Fairey took interest in the band, creating a poster campaign featuring the title of the bands first single "Say Yes."^[3][4][5] The posters appeared around Los Angeles shortly after Fairey's "Obama Progress" Campaign.^[6] Fairey also gave an early copy of the band's unofficial demo to radio DJ Steve Jones of Los Angeles based radio station Indie 103.1. Jones, the founding guitar player of the Sex Pistols started playing Say Yes on his afternoon radio program Jonesy's Jukebox.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afternoons

Afternoons - Saturday Morning (after the funeral)