News for Wednesday, 12 October 2005

US customers will have the possibility to buy music video from the iTMS. 2000 of such videos are already available and priced 1.99$ each. In addition short movies from Pixar are also in the catalog. Each video weights around 20MB and will be protected by FairPlay DRM.
It is also possible to buy TV shows from the iTMS such as "Lost" or "Deseperate Housewives" for the same price. Five TV shows will be originally available, as well as Disney shows. Videos will be available from the iTMS 24 hours after their appearance on TV, and will be in a 320x240 pixels format.
In addition, customers can now rate songs from the iTMS.

iTunes 6 is available from the usual webpage : http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/. This update is required to play video bought from the iTMS.

It seems that the eMac has been removed from the AppleStore. Good bye, eMac.
Which model will replace it for the education market : a simple and cheap computer?

Apple has updated iPod models, adding video capabilities.
The new iPod features a 2.5" display with 16:9 format with a 320 x 240 pixels resolution. It can play MPEG4 and H.264 encoded video. The display can manage 260 00 color levels and be plugged to a TV. The new iPod is available with 30 or 60GB storage capacities respectively priced 349 € and 469 €. They are available in black or white color, they are thinner and come with a new case.

Quicktime is now available in version 7.0.3 :
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
This update is required to play video from the apple Store.

Apple has updated the iMac G5 models.
- entry version featuring a 1.9 GHz G5 cost 1379 € TTC with a 17" display 17". It integrates a SATA HD 160GB, 512MB of RAM, and an ATI Radeon X600 Pro graphic cards with 128MB DDR VRAM.

- high-end version sporteed with a 2.1GHz G5 cost 1799 € TTC with the famous 20" display. The SATA HD has 250GB storage capacity. This model is shipped with 512MB of RAM and an ATI Radeon X60 XT 128MB DDR VRAM.
Both models are shipped with the Apple Remote control as well as the integrated iSight.
Shortest way to the AppleStore :

We have been facing problems with our servers, being overloaded by requests;
in summary Steve Jobs has announced (thanks www.macnews.de) :
- new iMacG5 featuring an integrated iSight : 1299 $ for 17" 1.5GHz, 1799 $ for 20" models with 2.1GHz G5.
- new applications : Photobooth & FrontRow
- new iPod featuring video functions (TV-out function) : 2.5" display with 16:9 format, compatible with MPEG4 and H.264. New price 30 GB will cost 299$ while 60 GB model sill be available for 399$ (available next week).
- iTunes 6 : to integrate with video functions of the new iPod. One can buy music video from iTMS costing 1.99$ per video. 2000 music video are available. Apple to collaborate with ABC and Disney to increase iTMS video catalog (Five TV shows already available, including : Desperate Housewives).
That's it. A lot of new products, but no new PMG5 or PB

This time, Think Secret seems to have problems to get details related to today's announcement. The website had denied the possibility of a video iPod before changing its mind yesterday. For sure Apple will release today a device dedicated to video, it was even suggested yesterday during the financial conference Call.
Even more interesting, MacUser BBC 6 Music, an online radio owned by the BBC, has announced the iPod video yesterday in on of its shows. It is of course not the only website or radio to have announced such iPod video, but one should consider that the Conference Relay for Europe will take place in London, and more precisely at the BBC studios...
We of course would rather prefer to hear the announcement of new hardware models, from dual core-based PMG5 to 7448-equipped PowerBooks. Even if he iPod is a key product for Apple and has allowed the company to rebound, and also to initiate the migration to Intel processor, we are first addicted to Apple's hardware and its OS.

Thanks to David for sending us those photos:
A cigarette manufacturer/distributor has sent this present to some VIPs in Spain:


We are not sure that Apple will like to see the iPod associated with the name of a cigarette manufacturer after having been accused with its iPod to increase deafness.

Last week, we were reporting that the stocks of Apple's European distributors were really low. Some analysts had considered that it could match the end of the current quarter, but we had already explained that it had never been the case in past history, and that we were rather expecting the introduction of many new models in October, and especially on October 12th.
The status of European Distributors stocks did not improve at all, it even went worst : there is not a single PowerMac G5 neither iMacG5 remaining.
Some Mac mini as well as high-end PowerBook models are still available in small numbers.
Stocks for iPod, including all models is : null!! If it is understandable for the successful nano, for all the other models it is rather surprising.
There is definitely a big announcement planned for today.

Apple has published its Q4 2005 Financial Results during a Conference call.
In summary, the Intel-migration announcement last June during the WWDC 2005 did not seem to have any impact on Mac and iPod sales.
This quarter is simply ending the best year in Apple's history, with 68 percent year-over-year revenue growth and 384 percent net profit growth

Apple posted revenue of $3.68 billion and a net quarterly profit of $430 million, or $.50 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $2.35 billion and a net profit of $106 million, or $.13 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 28.1 percent, up from 27.0 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Those amazing financial results are supported by a strong sales : 1,236,000 Macintosh units and 6,451,000 iPods were shipped during the quarter, representing 48 percent growth in Macs and 220 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter