All posts by Scott Meisner

Apple: What recession?

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Today Apple held their fiscal 2009 thrid quarter conference call with investers and analysts.  Apparently Apple had the “best non-holiday quarter [in terms of] revenue and earnings.”  From their official press release:

The Company posted revenue of $8.34 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.23 billion, or $1.35 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.3 percent, up from 34.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 44 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple admitted that “we expect traditional MP3 players (read: iPod classic, nano, and shuffle) to decline over time as we cannibalize ourselves.”  Basically, Apple points out here that all iPod models (except for the touch) are “walking dinosaurs.”  Apple sees the iPod touch and iPhone continuing to dominate the market well into next year, while the traditional iPods will continue to decline in sales.  More from the offiicial press release:

The Company sold 10.2 million iPods during the quarter, representing a seven percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhones sold were 5.2 million, representing 626 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

If you’re wondering about Mac sales: Apple sold 2.6 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing a four percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

Other notable mentions include…Apple on its relationship with AT&T: “I think it’s an excellent relationship and we’re very happy with it.” …Apple on the netbook rumors: “At this point we don’t see a way to build a great product for this $399, $499…for this kind of pricepoint unit. Some customers, maybe many customers buying these become disappointed and disenchanted buying these.”  …Apple on the recent tablet rumors: “…without discounting anything for the future, I think most customers buying a portable want a full-featured notebook.”  And “many people won’t be happy” with the crappy experience of a netbook, so Apple is “only going to play in something that’s very innovative that we’re very proud of.”

The title of the official press release summarizes it best: Apple Reports Third Quarter Results – Best Non-Holiday Quarter Revenue and Earnings in Apple History.  Way to go, Apple!

[Via Apple; Engadget; quotes from Gizmodo]

Happy 40th Anniversary of Moon Landing

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On June 20th, 1969, forty years ago today, the Apollo 11 mision resulted in the first successful manned mission to land on the moon.  Mission commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. comprised the spacecraft that landed on the moon.  Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon (Collins orbited above).  Check out the all-new Google Moon site to see “a mosaic of landing site images and a tour of the Apollo landings.”  Check out AOL’s We Choose the Moon interactive deployment of Apollo 11 from Earth to the moon (make sure you have Flash enabled, and give it a minute to load).  Also, take a look at this YouTube video, “First Moon Landing 1969.”  Celebrate by watching these videos, viewing the images, and remembering the famous sentence spoken by Neil Armstrong when he stepped off the spacecraft: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

[Via Wiki]

Music Video: “Make Her Say” – Kid Cudi (Feat. Kanye West & Common)

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“Make Her Say” is Kid Cudi’s second single (following “Day n Nite”) off his freshman album Man on the Moon: End of Day which releases on September 15.  The music video is directed by Nez Khammal.  Cudi and Common’s scenes were shot in NYC while Kanye’s scene was shot in LA.  And yes, the repitious beat in the background is a sliced and diced version of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face track (now turned into “I Poke Her Face”).

[Via DatNewCudi]

“The PEN Story” in stop motion

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“The PEN Story” was created by the professional photographers at Olympus.  Although the video is somewhat of an advertisement for the new (and very classy looking) Olympus EP-1 camera, it is still nonetheless a beautiful work of art.  The photographers used a process called stop motion which is “an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own.  The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence.”  I happen to be a big fan of stop motion photography; look out for future posts with more creative and inspiring visuals utilizing the stop motion technique.  The song used in this video is called “Down Below” by Johannes Stankowski.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Olympus EP-1 camera, check out the product page.  Some features include: 12 megapixels, 3-inch LCD screen, multiple exposure, image stabilization, shoots pictures and video, and full manual control.  It is a digital SLR in the size of a point-and-shoot camera.  It is also the second micro four thirds camera, meaning it is designed to be compatable with a variey of interchangable lenses from different manufacterers.  Check out some press shots of the EP-1 below.

 [Via KanyeBlog; Wiki]

Louis Vuitton x Kanye West

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Kanye West recently teamed up with Louis Vuitton to create a modern, stylish collection of sneakers for thr rich and famous.  Each sneaker is named after an influencial player in Kanye’s life.  For example, the shoe pictured above is called the “Don,” after Kanye’s manager.  Others include “Mr Hudson’s” and “Jaspers.”  Prices range from $840 to $1140.  This collaboration with LV happens to be Kanye’s second creative venture with a major shoe company.  He previously worked with Nike to create the “Air Yeezy,” which sold for $220 and quickly sold out of Nike stores around the nation.  The LV shoes are also flying off the shelves.  I recently ventured into a Louis Vuitton store and tried on the Dons in grey and saw the Dons in red and white and the Jaspers in black.  Most common shoe sizes were sold out.  The Mr Hudson’s have yet to ship.  See below for three picture galleries; one contains official press shots of all the colorways, the second is personal spy shots of the Dons and Jaspers, and the third includes German photographer Daniela Muller-Brunke’s mesh of the press shots and a custom LV background.  After the break, check out a slideshow video of the sneakers played over “Say You Will.”

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[Via SneakerNews; HighSnobiety]

Continue reading Louis Vuitton x Kanye West →

SpongeBob SquarePants turns 10

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Happy 10th Anniversary, SpongeBob!  Celebrate 10 years of the sponge who lives in a pinapple under the sea by watching the 50 hour Spongebob Spongebash Marathon on Nickelodeon right now!  The crazy-long marathon runs from Friday at 7PM to Sunday at 6PM.  The marathon includes the classics and 11 brand new episodes.  I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready…

[Via DallasNews]

Xbox 360 updates coming soon [Updated]

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Microsoft has announced a slew of exciting updates coming to the Xbox 360 (granted you are connected to Xbox Live). Some of the new features include: Netflix updates, including movie parties (a Netflix Gold member can invite up to seven friends (represented by their avatars) to watch a movie in a virtual theatre); managing your queue (Netflix members can now browse the entire Netflix Instant Stream queue from their console, no PC required); avatar marketplace (there will be a store where clothes and props can be purchased for your personal and customizable avatar); games on demand (full Xbox 360 games can now be purchased right on the console, along with their game manuals (no need to purchase a physical game in a store), and it’s yours to keep (the games are attached to your Xbox Live account, so you can move games from different consoles or delete them if you so choose); and more! Check after the break to see the entire breakdown of updates, and see below for screenshots of the new menus. These updates will only be available as a preview release at first. All updates should be released later in the summer (think late August). Also, keep in mind that these updates DO NOT include the recently announced Facebook and Twitter integration, Zune video store, 1080p Instant On, and Last.fm updates; these will be released at a later date (probably Fall 2009).

Update: The Xbox Live Dashboard update will be available to download on August 11th.

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[Via Engadget]

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Kid Cudi freshman album delayed

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Damn.  Kid Cudi’s highly anticipated album Man on the Moon: End of Day has been delayed from an August release to September 15.  The reason?  Cudder says the album and illustration artwork are not even close to being done yet.  Although this is disappointing news, look at the bright side: Kid Cudi will now have more time to make the album the best it can be.

[Via DatNewCudi]

Dolphin..or submarine?

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That would be a dolphin-inspired submarine created by Innespace.  Apparently the “Seabreacher” can “jump, roll, and dive” just as a real dolphin would.  Looks like fun–fun that comes at a steep price; the subs start at $48,000 and vary in price depending on the model.  Look after the break for a super cool video of the Seabreacher in action.

[Via KanyeBlog]

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The Hybrid2 bike concept

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chiyu chen, bike, biking, kinetic energy, transportation, green design, sustainable design, hybrid2 system

The technology behind this bike goes way beyond the meaning of “hybrid.”  Here is how it works:  You rent one of these bikes from a city kiosk and use it to transport yourself around.  When you use your strength to pedal and move forward, you are charging the bike up with kinetic energy.  When you are done using the bike, you return it to the city kiosk.  Once returned, the stored kinetic energy in the bike is contained in the kiosk where it combines with the kinetic energy from the other parked bikes.  The combined kinetic energy then feeds energy to the city’s “smart grid” where it helps recharge and power the city’s fleet of hybrid electric buses.  The more energy you contribute to the smart grid, the more credit you receive towards your next bus pass.  How cool?  The magic behind this concept, created by Chiyu Chen, is the regenerative braking system he calls “”hybrake,”  which allows riders to generate and store energy from braking and normal biking in an ultracapacitor.”  Chen has imagined that “the more energy a bicyclist generates, the more monetary credit they are given to use on public transportation.”  In addition, Chen has proposed an idea for personal ID cards that will store the credit gained from generating the energy for the bus system and a solar-powered bike stand with RFID unlock-lock capabilities.  Here’s to a future of people creating kinetic energy with their bikes to generate power for a city filled with electric buses leaving us with less conjested, traffic-free cities around the nation!  Look after the break for a video of Chen explaining how it all works in his own words.

[Via Inhabitat; Engadget]

Continue reading The Hybrid2 bike concept →