Apple continues to break records for revenue and profit thanks to a surge in sales of Macs and the illustrious iPod. Apple announced first quarter earnings for fiscal year 2007, ending December 30, 2006. They managed to push through over 21 million iPods during the quarter (that works out to about 162 iPods per minute!) and 1.6 million Macs. These numbers represent a 50% and a 28% increase respectively for those products versus Q1 2006. I personally helped to contribute to that number by buying 2 iPods (one video, one shuffle) as gifts for the holidays. All those Macs and iPods add up to a 78% revenue increase versus Q1 2006.

The bottom line is that Apple, the company that was pretty much written off the map 10 years ago, posted a profit (yeah, that’s actual money in the bank) of $1 billion. To me, that’s simply amazing. I know that other companies post bigger profits than that, but think about the size of the market that Apple caters to. As far as computers are concerned, Macs are barely on the map at like less than 5% of the total market. And I know the iPod has a huge market share in the mp3 market, but it’s still amazing what this company has been able to pull off in a fairly short time span.

And let me insert my disclaimer here, I am a Mac user. Yes, I am probably the biggest Apple fanboy out there (I ordered my Apple TV as soon as it was available online at the Apple Store) but you have to respect a company that has made all the right moves to become a dominant force in the computer/technology industry. And now that the company has dropped the “computer” from it’s name, I can only think they will be venturing forth into other areas.

But will Apple be able to maintain the dominance as a consumer electronics company? Could they be the new Sony? Time will only tell, but we could get a hint of that dominance in June with the (proposed) release of the iPhone (or whatever they may have to call it). I’m looking forward to seeing what Apple will do. However, my credit card is not so hopeful…

Read [Apple] via [DailyTech]

Microsoft has announced that they are going to make their new Vista OS available for download at the end of this month. They announced 3 new options available to customers - Windows Anytime Upgrade, Family Discounts and Online Marketplace claiming to give customers more flexibility when using the new operating system.

The Windows Anytime Upgrade will allow online operating system upgrades directly through Microsoft and authorized partners. Upgrades will start from $79.

Available initially in the US, Europe, Japan and Canada only, customers can order upgrades from http://www.windowsanytimeupgrade.com when the OS is released.

For those who are not familiar with the Microsoft Vista operating system and its offerings, it will be sold in 4 flavors as shown below:

Vista Edition Comparison [Microsoft]
Site [Microsoft Vista]

PC maker OQO has refined and improved on their ultra-portable computer Model 01 with the new OQO Model 02.

Dubbed the “World Smallest Windows Vista capable PC” and packed with the same power as a normal PC, it measures 5.6 x 3.3x 1 inches (about a quarter sized A4 paper) and less than 1 lb. Encased in a magnesium alloy chassis, the model 02 is a standalone, handheld computer with shock mounted hard drive and drop detect technology.

Check out what else you’ll get in that tiny box:

- 1.5 Ghz VIA C7M processor
- VIA vX600 graphics chipset
- 1GB DDR2 533 mhz SDRAM memory
- 60 GB hard drive
- 58 key backlit thumb keyboard, track stick, and capacitive TouchScrollers™
- USB 2.0 port
Intergrated 802.11 a/b/g Wireless Lan
- Integrated Bluetooth 2.0
- VGA/ Ethernet capable
- removable lithium-ion polymer battery (estimate life 3-6 hours)
- embedded AES security encryption
- Windows XP (Vista Capable)

This certainly reconfirms the “small but mighty” notion. Bill Gates choose to showcase the OQO Model 02 in his keynote speech at the recent CES 2007 and it was also awarded 2007 Best of CES Award. Well deserved indeed!

Although it may be a little small for me, I am in awe at this product and am still wondering how they packed all that technology in something that small. Prices start at $1499 and is on sale now.

Product [OQO]

Thanks to CNet for this How-to. I posted this up here, as I believe it may prove useful to many of you out there experiencing the dreaded “I installed IE7 but now my computer doesn’t work properly” syndrome.

Question:

I downloaded Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, but would like to revert back to Internet Explorer 6. If I remove it, how can I get IE6 back? Or is there other ways to go about it? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Answer:

Before you do anything you should backup any valuable data, particularly the important data since the installation. Make sure you have obtained or download a copy of Internet Explorer 6 backed up as well.

It may be a good idea to create a before a major install/uninstall ‘Restore Point’ too.

- Go to Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore
- Make sure that ‘Create a restore point’ is selected, then press Next
- Type in a name, for instance “Before IE7 Removal.” Then click Create
- Click Close to complete

This is useful to restore if anything goes wrong with the system (unless you format the whole partition of course).

To uninstall Internet Explorer 7 to return to Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP

1. Click “Start,” and then click “Control Panel.”
2. Click “Add or Remove Programs.”
3. Check “Show Updates” at the top of the dialog box.
4. Scroll down the list and highlight the version of Internet Explorer 7 that you are running, and then click “Change/Remove.” (If you are running Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview - March 20 or later - it is not necessary to check “Show Updates.”)

And that should be about it. If “Remove” appeared instead of “Change/Remove” or Internet Explorer 6 did not appear, then reinstall Internet Explorer 6. Restart and test IE6. Restore any necessary files from the backup.

Source [Cnet]

2007 International Consumer Electronics Show
Bill Gates Keynote Speech
Las Vegas, Nevada
January 7, 2007

BILL GATES: Well, good evening. I’ve always loved coming back from Christmas vacation, you’re nice and relaxed, and you come right into the most managed environment ever, seeing all these thousands of companies delivering on the promise of the Digital Decade. It’s always been fun to come here. I love giving the keynote. In fact, people ask me, are you going to keep doing it, what’s the plan there? And the answer is, yes, next year I’ll give the be involved in the keynote like I always have been. After that, I’m not sure they’ll want to invite me, because I might talk a lot more about infectious diseases than great software. So if they want me, fine, but they’ve been warned what they would hear about.

It’s amazing to see the progress over the course of the year, and truly the Digital Decade is happening. We see it everywhere we look. We see it in photography over 2 billion digital photos were taken this last year; 65 percent of homes are using digital cameras. We see it in the Internet adoption, higher and higher penetration on a worldwide basis, and more and more activity there, whether it’s buying and selling, or whether it’s planning, or being creative, the Internet connected up to the Windows PC and other devices is taking over things that would have been done without it before. Over 40 percent of U.S. homes now have multiple personal computers. And if you look at young people, the new generation, they actually spend more time on their Windows PC than they spend watching TV. Now that’s a pretty dramatic change.

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