Apple’s performance in the Asia-Pacific region is, as they say, en fuego; Sprint says that the iPhone and unlimited data make beautiful (streaming?) music together; and the latest on two of Steve Jobs’s secret obsessions. The remainders for Thursday, October 27, 2011 will tell all!
Apple’s 10-K Shows Asian Stake Sizzling (All Things D)
According to Apple’s recently-filed 10-K financial document, the company is doing a booming business in the Asia-Pacific region—the area was responsible for 21 percent of Apple’s net sales in 2011. Strangely enough, 90 percent of those sales came from the Federated States of Micronesia.
Sprint CEO: iPhone Will Help Us Keep Unlimited Data Plans (Forbes)
Despite searching for more money to support its iPhone-buying habit, Sprint says that Apple’s handset will in fact help the carrier keep its unlimited data plans. Say what with the who now? According to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, that’s because the iPhone is good at finding Wi-Fi networks and because Apple keeps strict control of third-party apps. Somewhere Ralph de la Vega and Lowell McAdam are clutching their heads and muttering “Shut up, Dan!”
The truth about Steve Jobs’ number plate (iTWire)
Because we know you’re just desperate to find out how Steve Jobs avoided having a license plate on his car: Turns out he took advantage of a loophole wherein a California car doesn’t need a plate within six months of purchase—so Steve just had his leased Mercedes swapped out for an identical model every six months. Exactly the kind of obvious, clever thinking we’d have expected from the man.
What’s Really Next for Apple in Television (New York Times)
Like the iPhone and the iPad before it, it seems that the “Apple TV” (not to be confused with the, uh, Apple TV—though we can see why you might) is destined to captivate rumormongers for months upon months. The Times suggests that the key to Jobs’s purported television solution is none other than Siri, the virtual assistant that’s now trapped in the iPhone 4S. Of course, the real question is, what happens when you have four Siri-enabled devices in your house? Do they get jealous of each other?
Product News:
KeyCue 6 – Ergonis Software has updated its keyboard shortcut cheat sheet app to version 6, adding user-definable keyboard shortcut descriptions, import and export of those custom descriptions, and the ability to download custom shortcut info for apps like Adobe Photoshop and InDesign (with more apps to come in the future). €20 for new single license; free upgrade for customers who bought the previous version after June 1, 2011, or €10 for those who bought before June 1.
OWC MacBook Air SSD enclosures – Other World Computing has announced two enclosures for the 2010 and 2011 MacBook Air’s solid-state drives. The Mercury On-The-Go is a fanless, portable enclosure that supports USB 2.0 or 3.0 and can be run bus-powered or via an AC adapter. ($35 when purchased with an OWC SSD; $70 without.) The Mercury Elite Pro mini features FireWire 800/400, USB 2.0, and eSATA interfaces, and is also fanless and bus-powered. ($70 when purchased with an OWC SSD; $110 without.)
iPhoto 9.2.1 – A minor update to Appe’s consumer-level photo software fixes a bug which could cause the app to quit unexpectedly for users who had the 3ivx video plug-in installed. Free.
Boxee 1.2 – The latest version of the media app for iPad adds support for iOS 5, stream quality selection, a mini remote control for Play on Boxee content, and support for AirPlay in the background. In addition, Spotify Premium subscribers can now listen to music no matter where they are in the world (previously it was limited to countries where Spotify was available). Free.
SoundCloud 2.0 – Version 2.0 of the social sound platform app adds a native iPad interface, a new waveform design, and the ability to record and send private audio messages to other users. It’s also now easier to post and view comments, and to find and follow people. Push notifications and larger profile images round out the update. Free.