Apple’s recent purchase of Lala has many intriguing ramifications for Apple users.

Lala is a music site that lets users stream music.  Lala scans your hard drive to see which music you already own.  If songs match what is in their library, or you upload your tracks, you can listen to that music an unlimited amount through their web site.  If you don’t own the tracks, you can listen to them once.  After that you can buy a web version that can be streamed forever or “upgraded” to a downloadable version.  The streaming component flies in the face of Apple’s “download-and-own-forever” model.  Apple sees that music consumption may evolve and they are preparing for this change.  It is unknown whether Apple will keep Lala’s current model or alter it to a “all-you-can-eat” subscription.

There is no way the Lala iPhone app sees the light of day, presuming that Lala isn’t kept as a separate service that is away from Apple’s ecosystem.  Streaming content could be provided through the music app on the iPhone/iPod touch (and hopefully Apple’s potential tablet) with optional caching for offline playback.  It would be nice to have downloadable music for iPods lacking WI-FI, with music files that time-expire.  Syncing through iTunes could then verify service membership (i.e. once a month).

There have been endless debates on the value proposition of MobileMe, especially in light of alternative free services that can be combined to be similar to what MobileMe offers.  Adding a streaming music service to MobileMe would increase its value significantly.  I would assume that being a subscriber to Apple’s music service would not require being a MobileMe member.

It would be great to have my music stored in the cloud from anywhere with a Internet connection.  Any Lala web site functionality will probably be rebranded as a Apple product and thus become iTunes in a browser.

Apple TV has not sold well.  Coupling this music service with the proposed video subscription deal that could be occurring soon and I would be far more interested in getting an Apple TV.  Content is king, and the variety and amount of music and video available will be key to increasing Apple TV’s popularity.

Many music services I have tried have left me wanting more.  Hopefully Apple’s will have enough content to please me.

Finally we see the return of Steve Jobs, who was greeted to a standing ovation.  It is great to see him back.  No offense to Phil Schiller, but an Apple event isn’t complete without an appearance from Jobs.

iTunes 9 receives quite a few changes.  The application overall has a cleaner and more modern appearance.  The iTunes Store’s new look was designed to make content navigation easier.  There is too much content on each screen though and it is hard to explore. iTunes 9 also brings app management for iPhone and iPod touch.  Perhaps most importantly for families with multiple copies of iTunes, Apple has finally made it easier to share and sync your songs with something called “Home Sharing”.

One major complaint of buying music online is that it is missing things that CDs have, such as artwork and liner notes.  iTunes LP changes that.  LPs will have artwork, liner notes, videos, photos, and more.  There is a meager selection of LPs currently, but hopefully they will gain traction.

iPhone OS 3.1 is out now and boast a few interesting features.  Genius recommendations suggest apps that you may enjoy.  This is a blessing since it is a chore to navigate all of the apps in the App Store.  MobileMe users now can remotely lock their iPhones.

The iPod nano received the most additions of the entire iPod lineup.  The nano has its own video camera in a bid to compete with Flip camcorders.  The screen is bumped up to 2.2 inches.  The nano’s also have a new polished anodized aluminum finish. Surprisingly, Apple has finally added a built-in FM tuner which can also pause live radio.  There is also a pedometer.  The price remains the same for the 8 GB model ($149), but is reduced for the 16 GB version ($179).

The other iPod models had very few changes.  The classic is 160 GB (so long 120 GB) and is $249.  The iPod touch drops the 16 GB but adds 64 GB ($399).  8 ($199) and 32 GB ($299) models are still available.  The iPod shuffle now has a 2 GB version for $59, 4 GB for $79, and limited edition stainless 4 GB model for $99.  All iPods are shipping from Apple’s online store and will be available in retail soon.

Many rumored announcements did not come to fruition, including an all-you-can-eat subscription plan, DVD ripping, Blu-ray support, the mythical iTablet, and The Beatles finally coming to iTunes (which seems like it will never happen).

We will have more in-depth coverage of these announcements in future articles, so stay tuned.

Of all the Apple products I own, perhaps my favorite is the Apple TV. The Apple TV along with iTunes, VisualHub, and Handbrake make for a fantastic media experience. Despite nearly every Apple TV owner absolutely loving their device, the product remains a “hobby” to Apple. Though I don’t believe sales figures for the Apple TV are publicly available, a “hobby” isn’t exactly a glowing indicator of sales.

I purchased my Apple TV after the Macworld 2008 price drop and news about the 2.0 software. Originally the unit was too expensive and lacked features. The $229 price (40GB version) was much more attractive as was the 2.0 software which brought movie rentals and the ability to act as a stand alone device (no PC or Mac required). I dropped my $199 bucks down on a refurbished Apple TV and have used it nearly every day since. I really enjoy watching TV shows, video podcasts, movies, and pictures on my Apple TV. My wife absolutely loves it too!

While I gush about how much I like the Apple TV, I seem to be in the minority of Apple fans, as many do not own one. You rarely see ads for the device anywhere and I think a lot of people aren’t really sure what the Apple TV actually does. And really, how much can a “hobby” add to Apple’s already large chest of cash?

I have a solution to raise the demand for Apple TV. In fact, Apple has already implemented this solution with two of the other main product lines, the iPod and iPhone. Apple needs a Made For Apple TV program and a SDK and App Store for the Apple TV.

SDK: Imagine if NBC released a Hulu application for Apple TV. What about Google Earth for Apple TV? NetNewsWire, NYTimes, WeatherBug, Wikipanion, and Last.fm for Apple TV? The ability to set Apple TV to play music/video while you are on vacation would be a nice security feature. The list could go on for possible applications for Apple TV.

Made For Apple TV Program: Imagine the Apple TV as the central nervous system for a wireless home music/video automation system. The ability to interface with the unit via third party controls, wall units, wireless keyboards, etc.

Not only would Apple move more Apple TV units, they would also receive additional revenue with App Store sales and third party accessories (like they do with many iPod accessories). These moves would open up the device to third party developers and create an iPod like ecosystem. This would be a win-win for Apple and their partners/software developers.

Do you own a Apple TV and love it? If not, would you want one if third party accessories and software were available for it? Sound off below with your comments about my idea or your thoughts on the Apple TV.

Did you ever think that charging your iPhone or iPod could be fun? If it’s up to Peter Thuvander, charging those devices might soon indeed become fun. Peter has posted some pictures and conceptual diagrams of the iYo on his website. The iYo is an induction powered yo-yo that stores the energy created by yo-yoing. The energy is stored on a Lithium Ion cell. Once you have enough energy stored, you plug your iPhone or iPod connector into the device and it charges it.

Though the device doesn’t seem to be in production, the concept itself is pretty amazing. Head on over to Peter’s website and watch a short video and read a little more about the device. In places where electricity is scarce, this could be a lifesaver for those who just can’t put down their iPhone.

[Via TreeHugger]

Some people belittled the first iPhone because it didn’t have a 3G chipset. Now that the iPhone is shipping with 3G, people are complaining about the poor battery life. Battery life was one of the reasons Steve Jobs cited why the first iPhone wasn’t 3G capable.

Your at the office waiting for a call from your hot date and you notice your iPhone is low on power. As it happens, you also left your USB cable at home. What are you going to do?

The Richard Solo Battery Backup to the rescue. Simply attach the device to your iPhone or iPod and it will charge your battery. TUAW has a great review of the product. I’ve seen the ad for the Richard Solo in a few Macworld issues and have thought about buying one. The TUAW review is very favorable and certainly has driven me closer to purchasing one. If you’re thinking about getting a battery backup for your iPhone or iPod, you should consider the Richard Solo Battery Backup.

B = Billion
M = Million
YAQ = Year ago quarter
FY = Fiscal Year

Revenue/Financials
-Best June quarter for revenue and earnings in Apple history
-Revenue of 7.46B; 38% increase over YAQ
-Net Income 1.07B; 31% increase over YAQ
-EPS of $1.19
-Gross margin was 34.8%; down from 36.9% in YAQ
-International sales accounted for 42% of revenue
-Europe revenue growth was 43% over YAQ
-Operating Expenses were 1.21B
-Capital expenditures were 304M in quarter
-1.33B in cash generated in quarter
-5.4B in cash generated in first 3 quarters of fiscal 2008
-20.8B in cash on hand
-Q4 estimates of 7.8B in revenue

Mac
-Shipped 2.5M Macs; a new quarterly record
-Mac unit sales up 41% over YAQ
-49% increase in Mac desktop sales over YAQ
-37% increase in Mac portable sales over YAQ
-25% growth in Mac US education sales over YAQ
-Mac channel inventory is currently below average, currently at 3-4 weeks
-Mac products and services accounted for 61% of total quarterly revenue

iPhone
-Sold 717,000 iPhones (iPhone 3G was not released in this quarter)
-Sold 1M iPhone 3Gs in 3 days (sales not recognized in this quarter)
-Over 25M iPhone apps downloaded to date (sales not recognized in this quarter)
-Q4 iPhone sales are expected to be the highest for any quarter yet (well duh; a distribution in over 20 countries will do that)
-”About” 20 additional countries will have an August 22nd iPhone 3G launch; bringing the total to over 40
-iPhone will be in 70 countries by the end of the year
-Apple still expects to sell 10M iPhones in calendar year 2008
-Revenue of 419M was recognized from iPhone sales, iPhone accessories, and payments from phone carriers. This does not include iPhone sales between March 6th and July 10th (due to accounting methods in relation to the announcement and release of iPhone 2.0 software).

iPod/iTunes
-Sold 11M iPods; 12% increase over YAQ
-7% iPod revenue growth over YAQ
-Over 70% market share in MP3 players in the US; based on latest public data
-Over 5B songs sold since iTunes released

Apple Stores
-58% growth in Apple Store retail sales over YAQ
-About 32M visitors to Apple Stores; up 10M over YAQ
-Apple Stores reported 1.44B in revenue
-Average revenue per store was 6.8M; up 33% over YAQ
-Over 50% of in store Mac sales were to new Mac customers
-8 new Apple Stores opened in quarter; including first in Australia
-Q3 ended with 216 Apple Stores
-Apple Stores coming to Switzerland and Germany in 2008
-Expect to close FY 2008 with 242 Apple Stores

Other
-Gross margin will decline for Q4 in part from a “future product transition” (ideas anyone?)
-Added 170 Best Buy mini stores; bringing the total to 570
-Added over 1600 storefronts to Mac distribution in the last year
-In a question about the health of Steve Job’s: “Steve loves Apple, he serves as the CEO at the pleasure of Apple’s board and has no plans to leave Apple. Steve’s health is a private matter.”
-Apple continues to invest in the Apple TV; yet it remains a “hobby”
-Analysts seemed overly concerned about the 30% gross margin Apple predicted for FY 2009

As of this post, the stock is down more than $16 in after hours trading. Record sales, incredible growth, stock tumbles. I guess you can’t always please The Street!

iSquint is a simple tool for converting videos to an iPod compatible format. As the screenshot below shows, it’s very easy to start converting video. Just drag a file into the application window, choose your optimization format and quality, and click start. If you selected the “Add to iTunes” checkbox, your video will be added to iTunes when it’s done converting. Sync your iPod and it will be transferred to it. It really is that simple. If you’re looking to put video on your iPod, iSquint is a great tool.

iSquint is available free of charge from Techspansion. iSquint is the little brother of VisualHub, the fantastic video conversion tool that I frequently use to add content to my Apple TV.

One of the funny yet annoying ads during the Super Bowl was the Tide “Talking Stain” ad. The gist of the ad was that a guy on an interview had a stain on his shirt and the interviewer couldn’t concentrate on what the interviewee was saying because the stain was “talking” to him. The commercial was fairly original, but the stain had this annoyingly high voice while it spouted gibberish.

Tide has announced a contest where you film a spoof of this ad and you are entered to win some prizes. Among the prizes are a specially designed custom iPod. The contest is open to US residents only and ends on March 9th, 2088. For official rules, visit the contest website. In addition to getting all the rules and such, you can also see the ad that aired during the Super Bowl.

The website also allows you to download the stain voice as a ringtone, a stain desktop wallpaper, a stain buddy icon, and the stain mp3. I’m completely baffled why anyone would want to download these however.

[Via TUAW]

Six years ago today, Apple released a device that changed the way we consume music. Initially only available on the Mac, the iPod really took off after the second generation iPod was released. With that release, the iPod could be used with both OS X and Windows. The iPod is one of the most iconic pieces of technology of the last half century. You can’t walk down a public street for more than five minutes and not pass someone with an iPod. Apple has sold over 120 million iPods in the six years since it was launched.

Embedded below is a great video from the Discovery Channel on Apple, the return of Steve Jobs, and the iPod. I highly suggest watching the video if you are interested in the corporate history of Apple and the iPod. Wikipedia also has some good information on the iPod here. So happy birthday to the iPod! Judging by the market share of the iPod, you’ll definitely have plenty more birthdays to celebrate.