Believe it or not but this is happening.
Apple has surpassed Nokia as the # 1 smartphone maker in the world. That is correct and the news came out yesterday. It seems even Samsung beat Nokia and emerged as # 2 on this list. Strategy Analytics have made this announcement public and you can visit this link to read more about it. This had to happen sooner or later and we all know about this. The only worry for Apple is the Android OS for mobile devices as Android is gaining amazing momentum and is currently way ahead of the iOS. Hopefully with the launch of iOS 5 and the new iPhone Apple will try to reduce the lead, but as of now, Android is unstoppable.
Another interesting thing which I would like to mention is the Apple cash which is creating history as we speak. I read this amazing analysis where it seems Apple has surpassed the US Treasury as far as cash is concerned. We all know that the US has been going through one of the worst debt crisis and god only know what will happen post Aug 2nd if the debt ceiling has not been raised. And here are the figures that will make you go berserk. Apple has the total cash balance of $76.156 billion and on the other hand we have US treasury which has the balance of $73.768 billion. Now that is just amazing and totally unbelievable.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
OS X Lion will be available tomorrow
The Lion will roar tomorrow. During Apple’s quarterly earnings conference call it was announced by Peter Oppenheimer (CFO Apple) that OS X Lion will be available tomorrow on the MAC APP store. As we all know that this release of OS X will only be available on MAC APP store and there won’t be any DVD’s so please don’t look out for any. If you are running Core2 duo or later and has OS X 10.6.6 or later then you will be able to download the complete OS via APP store. For someone like me, who is still running Leopard this would be a 2 step process. First I need to upgrade my Macbook to Snow Leopard and from there I need to upgrade it to Lion. I would be happy to know if someone knows the procedure of upgrading to Lion straight from Leopard.
There is this very interesting information from the site of Macworld explaining the upgrade procedure. Please check that out here.
Lion is the biggest wild cats out there so I assume that this would bring an end to the family of OS X. Apple only knows what they will introduce as a successor to the OS X. I guess there is still time to think about all that, for now let’s download Lion and see whether Apple succeeded in their effort of merging the iOS with the OS X.
There is this very interesting information from the site of Macworld explaining the upgrade procedure. Please check that out here.
Lion is the biggest wild cats out there so I assume that this would bring an end to the family of OS X. Apple only knows what they will introduce as a successor to the OS X. I guess there is still time to think about all that, for now let’s download Lion and see whether Apple succeeded in their effort of merging the iOS with the OS X.
Apple's fantabulous Q3 earnings report
Today Apple released its earnings for the third quarter and as expected the result is just fabulous. Apple has proved time and again that they are the best. Even without releasing the new iPhone, Apple easily surpassed the expectations of the Wall Street.
This is what Steve Jobs said during the earnings press release: "We're thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent. Right now, we're very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall."
Revenue increased by 82% to $28.57 billion. EPS (earning per share) for this quarter is $7.79 and the expected EPS was $5.85. The guidance set by Apple for the current quarter is $25 billion with an EPS of $5.5. I am pretty sanguine that Apple will beat this guidance. The after hours shares of Apple (AAPL) rose by 5% and still moving upwards.
Apple still has lots of things to release this fall. The OS X Lion will be coming out tomorrow (atleast that is what people expect) and soon that will be followed by iCloud, iOS 5 and the new iPhone and the iPad. No stopping for Apple in the near future. Techs (Apple, Google, IBM) are leading this season of the quarterly earnings and driving the markets north. Still there are lot to come as far as earnings report is concerned, but with this blowout result from Apple, Wall Street is all geared up for a big rally tomorrow and hopefully this trend will continue.
This is what Steve Jobs said during the earnings press release: "We're thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent. Right now, we're very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall."
Revenue increased by 82% to $28.57 billion. EPS (earning per share) for this quarter is $7.79 and the expected EPS was $5.85. The guidance set by Apple for the current quarter is $25 billion with an EPS of $5.5. I am pretty sanguine that Apple will beat this guidance. The after hours shares of Apple (AAPL) rose by 5% and still moving upwards.
Apple still has lots of things to release this fall. The OS X Lion will be coming out tomorrow (atleast that is what people expect) and soon that will be followed by iCloud, iOS 5 and the new iPhone and the iPad. No stopping for Apple in the near future. Techs (Apple, Google, IBM) are leading this season of the quarterly earnings and driving the markets north. Still there are lot to come as far as earnings report is concerned, but with this blowout result from Apple, Wall Street is all geared up for a big rally tomorrow and hopefully this trend will continue.
Monday, July 18, 2011
The Dark Knight Rises - Trailer
The Dark Knight Rises - Chris Nolan's final effort in the batman trilogy. The trailer is out there and it is a must watch. Somehow youtube is not allowing to embed the video. Never mind you can watch it here.
Enjoy. Can't wait to watch this one. I am sure this will be a perfect ending to one of the best super hero series we have ever seen.
Enjoy. Can't wait to watch this one. I am sure this will be a perfect ending to one of the best super hero series we have ever seen.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Finally....Spotify is here in the US
I knew this would happen sooner or later, but the good news is it did happen. Spotify is here in the US…finally. As I wrote in my blog earlier, Spotify was trying very hard to launch their services here in the US and to the joy of many they did succeed in making that a reality.
The European online music service is now available in the US and I am sure this will generate a huge buzz and we all will see some pretty decent competition between Spotify and the American players (iTunes, Amazon and Google’s music service). Spotify is free by invitation (you need to wait till Spotify sends you the invite). If you are willing to beat the queue, then you need to spend $5 per month and you can enjoy unlimited streaming of Spotify on your computer/laptop and by spending $10 per month (premium) you can enjoy Spotify on your smart phone as well.
With 15 million songs, offline mode and social networking embedded, it seems Spotify is not to be missed.
Time to Spotify.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Stuxnet: The BIG daddy of malwares
I just completed reading this amazing and extremely interesting article on Stuxnet and I must say that this is one of the best cyber warfare articles I have ever read to date. Period.
Those of you who are unware about Stuxnet can the read the wiki page, for others Stuxnet is one of the most sophisticated piece of malware or computer virus ever written in the history of cyber warfares. Sometime in the year 2009 first traces of Stuxnet started to appear around the globe and the full throttle destruction of the virus started last year, 2010. The primary purpose of this virus is not to steal credit card information or achieve other financial gains but the sole purpose of Stuxnet is to roam from computer to computer around the world till it finds and hits an specific job that it is looking for.
The code of Stuxnet was written to alter the functioning of PLCs or programmable logic controllers and Stuxnet was looking for the specific Siemens based Step 7 software and its purpose was to reprogram the hard ware devices running these softwares. Read the article for more details and you will be amazed. Most of the researchers (primarily from Symantec) who deciphered the code of Stuxnet, admit that they have never seen something like this before and the sophistication level of Stuxnet made it one of the elite threats ever encountered by the cyber security professionals.
Stuxnet caused major trouble in Iran by defusing many nuclear centrifudges and achieved its purpose of delaying the nuclear weapon program of Iran. Till date no one is sure who produced or wrote the code of Stuxnet but all fingers and pointing towards a joint collaboration between US and Israel in launching this virus against Iran.
Important thing is now people know what these malwares are capable of and this is something very disturbing. If you haven’t watched Die Hard 4 I recommend watching it, not for its kick ass action sequences but to see what computer worms, viruses and malwares are capable of. I’ll not be shockhed if tomorrow I read another article that says Stuxnet was the idea borrowed straight from Die Hard 4, as gone are the days when someone will write the code to steal your credit card number. Who would care for your credit card number if they can bring down your country and the whole world to its knees by writng 500 kilobytes of code (size of the Stuxnet malware).
This article is something totally worth reading and frightening at the sametime. What happened in the nuclear facilty of Iran can happen anywhere in the world. Stuxnet is out there and who knows like most of the common computer softwares a better and more productive version is on its way.
May God bless and save all mankind from mankind.
Those of you who are unware about Stuxnet can the read the wiki page, for others Stuxnet is one of the most sophisticated piece of malware or computer virus ever written in the history of cyber warfares. Sometime in the year 2009 first traces of Stuxnet started to appear around the globe and the full throttle destruction of the virus started last year, 2010. The primary purpose of this virus is not to steal credit card information or achieve other financial gains but the sole purpose of Stuxnet is to roam from computer to computer around the world till it finds and hits an specific job that it is looking for.
The code of Stuxnet was written to alter the functioning of PLCs or programmable logic controllers and Stuxnet was looking for the specific Siemens based Step 7 software and its purpose was to reprogram the hard ware devices running these softwares. Read the article for more details and you will be amazed. Most of the researchers (primarily from Symantec) who deciphered the code of Stuxnet, admit that they have never seen something like this before and the sophistication level of Stuxnet made it one of the elite threats ever encountered by the cyber security professionals.
Stuxnet caused major trouble in Iran by defusing many nuclear centrifudges and achieved its purpose of delaying the nuclear weapon program of Iran. Till date no one is sure who produced or wrote the code of Stuxnet but all fingers and pointing towards a joint collaboration between US and Israel in launching this virus against Iran.
Important thing is now people know what these malwares are capable of and this is something very disturbing. If you haven’t watched Die Hard 4 I recommend watching it, not for its kick ass action sequences but to see what computer worms, viruses and malwares are capable of. I’ll not be shockhed if tomorrow I read another article that says Stuxnet was the idea borrowed straight from Die Hard 4, as gone are the days when someone will write the code to steal your credit card number. Who would care for your credit card number if they can bring down your country and the whole world to its knees by writng 500 kilobytes of code (size of the Stuxnet malware).
This article is something totally worth reading and frightening at the sametime. What happened in the nuclear facilty of Iran can happen anywhere in the world. Stuxnet is out there and who knows like most of the common computer softwares a better and more productive version is on its way.
May God bless and save all mankind from mankind.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Review: Transformers 3
Last Friday I watched Transformers 3 in 3D and I must say that this was one of the best summer action blockbusters I have ever seen. Transformers 3 is surely much better that Transformers 2 and to some extent I will put this one above the first Transformers movie.
Don’t go to watch Shia LaBeouf, don’t go to watch Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, don’t go to watch if you are someone who will judge the movie by its logical depth, but go and see this movie to witness the superb CGI which will blow your mind and go and see this movie to check the excellent direction of Michael Bay (who I believe is very talented and among the very few who can direct a movie of such magnitude.) The only and only purpose of Transformers 3 is to entertain you and trust me you won’t be disappointed. If possible watch the movie in 3D and I am sure you will be amazed by how fast you’ve spend 2hr 24 mins watching this movie.
For me Transformers 3 brings in all the fun and excitement I was looking for in a summer blockbuster and I am sure you will experience the same.
Don’t go to watch Shia LaBeouf, don’t go to watch Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, don’t go to watch if you are someone who will judge the movie by its logical depth, but go and see this movie to witness the superb CGI which will blow your mind and go and see this movie to check the excellent direction of Michael Bay (who I believe is very talented and among the very few who can direct a movie of such magnitude.) The only and only purpose of Transformers 3 is to entertain you and trust me you won’t be disappointed. If possible watch the movie in 3D and I am sure you will be amazed by how fast you’ve spend 2hr 24 mins watching this movie.
For me Transformers 3 brings in all the fun and excitement I was looking for in a summer blockbuster and I am sure you will experience the same.
Friday, July 1, 2011
What's keeping me busy...this summer?
Finally summer is here. I am pretty sure individuals living in the mid-west or other parts of the US and the world and have faced severe winter can surely understand the importance of summer and all the fun this season brings along with it.
Here goes the list of things that will keep me busy during this summer. We all will be too busy this summer, as there are various projects that need to be completed before the weather changes its mood. Hopefully that won't be happening till late October but you never know, people living in this part of the world knows how unpredictable weather can play with us and with our plans. Anyways here goes the list.
• Backyard Fencing: I am helping my friend in putting up his backyard fence and I admit that this is the most challenging DIY projects I have ever decided to be the part of. It is both fun and tiring at the same time. I am learning tons of news things which I have never done before – digging 3.5 feet holes (using earth auger), fixing the poles (using concrete mix and water), fixing horizontal and vertical wooden bars and putting together the pickets. This project is taking most of my weekends and it is now around 70% complete. I guess I am getting all the satisfaction of building something new from scratch and this feeling is just fantastic. In today’s virtual world feeding your crops in Farmville (popular online Facebook game) can excite you and make you the virtual master of your farm but to me this fencing project brings in much more excitement as I can physically see the structure taking shape and I don't need the help of anybody in feeding my pigs or whatever happens in the world of Farmville. It is just me, my hands and my drill along with lots of commitment to take control of what I am building.
• Kids Swimming: This is a twice a week activity and both the kids seems to enjoy water. My elder son (5) is now becoming more and more water friendly and gaining confidence under water. The younger one (1.5) goes with me in the pool and for him it is just splashing and some kicking in the water. So far these sessions are more fun as compared to the ones we attended last year.
• GMAT: My GMAT preparation is taking the major hit due to the weather and apart from many things I like about summer this is the one thing which I don’t like. According to me and I might be wrong summer is not the season to study. No matter how hard you try, you just cannot keep yourself indoors and study. This weather is so tempting that you had to come out of your dwellings to enjoy the sun and the surroundings. So my advice to you, if you are someone who is planning your MBA journey and if you are an someone who like to enjoy the summer then plan to prepare for your GMAT in the months of Oct-Mar. There are minimal outdoor activities in these months and the weather will force you to be indoors and will not distract you from studying. As for me I am facing a real tough time preparing for the GMAT in summer, but it is something which I had to finish so that I can start applying for the classes starting next year.
• Running: Last yeat in the summer, I got infected with the running virus and since then it is spreading at an alarming rate and had grown much stronger than before. My running distance and my speed are increasing slowly and gradually and so far I am satisfied with my performance. Still I need to polish lots of things to increase my endurance level and achieve my desired goals and for that I need to practise, practise, and practise. I would admit that I like running not because I need to beat stress or I need to reduce my weight (these are just the by products of running). I like running as I enjoy being on the road or the treadmill and I like pushing my body and see how far I can drag it.
• Reading: Not much has changed on the reading front. I still like reading about anything and everything that excites me. I just ordered the copy of “The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google” from Amazon and I guess it is on the way as I write this blog. Well if you are curious to learn about this Cloud Computing madness that has gripped the world then you should read this book by Nicholas Carr. I might write my reviews on this blog once I’ll finish reading this book. Another reason to read this book is Nic Carr himself as I really enjoyed his essay “Is Google Making us stupid?” which got published in the Atlantic. It is very intresting to know the views and the perception of Nic Carr and to some extent he is right in what he explains in this essay. I recommend reading the essay.
• Summer Blockbusters: I haven’t seen any movie this summer (not yet). I don’t know how that happened but it seems this blog is self explanatory in giving you the picture of many things that are keeping me busy. If things go well and on schedule then I might go and watch Transformers 3 tonight with my friends and that might kick off the summer movie season for me. I really wanted to watch Super 8 but somehow I missed it. Cars 2 is not having good reviews so I will skip it. My elder one had watched Kung Fu Panda with his mom and he liked it.
I know there are many more things this summer that I have not mentioned in this blog and that are keeping my plate full. I need to deal with them one by one. Fingers crossed.
You all have a safe summer and enjoy each and every day of it, as for me I will go back to the things that I am working on and will try to finish all of them before winter. Good luck to all and may all your summer projects gets completed on time.
Enjoy !!!
Here goes the list of things that will keep me busy during this summer. We all will be too busy this summer, as there are various projects that need to be completed before the weather changes its mood. Hopefully that won't be happening till late October but you never know, people living in this part of the world knows how unpredictable weather can play with us and with our plans. Anyways here goes the list.
• Backyard Fencing: I am helping my friend in putting up his backyard fence and I admit that this is the most challenging DIY projects I have ever decided to be the part of. It is both fun and tiring at the same time. I am learning tons of news things which I have never done before – digging 3.5 feet holes (using earth auger), fixing the poles (using concrete mix and water), fixing horizontal and vertical wooden bars and putting together the pickets. This project is taking most of my weekends and it is now around 70% complete. I guess I am getting all the satisfaction of building something new from scratch and this feeling is just fantastic. In today’s virtual world feeding your crops in Farmville (popular online Facebook game) can excite you and make you the virtual master of your farm but to me this fencing project brings in much more excitement as I can physically see the structure taking shape and I don't need the help of anybody in feeding my pigs or whatever happens in the world of Farmville. It is just me, my hands and my drill along with lots of commitment to take control of what I am building.
• Kids Swimming: This is a twice a week activity and both the kids seems to enjoy water. My elder son (5) is now becoming more and more water friendly and gaining confidence under water. The younger one (1.5) goes with me in the pool and for him it is just splashing and some kicking in the water. So far these sessions are more fun as compared to the ones we attended last year.
• GMAT: My GMAT preparation is taking the major hit due to the weather and apart from many things I like about summer this is the one thing which I don’t like. According to me and I might be wrong summer is not the season to study. No matter how hard you try, you just cannot keep yourself indoors and study. This weather is so tempting that you had to come out of your dwellings to enjoy the sun and the surroundings. So my advice to you, if you are someone who is planning your MBA journey and if you are an someone who like to enjoy the summer then plan to prepare for your GMAT in the months of Oct-Mar. There are minimal outdoor activities in these months and the weather will force you to be indoors and will not distract you from studying. As for me I am facing a real tough time preparing for the GMAT in summer, but it is something which I had to finish so that I can start applying for the classes starting next year.
• Running: Last yeat in the summer, I got infected with the running virus and since then it is spreading at an alarming rate and had grown much stronger than before. My running distance and my speed are increasing slowly and gradually and so far I am satisfied with my performance. Still I need to polish lots of things to increase my endurance level and achieve my desired goals and for that I need to practise, practise, and practise. I would admit that I like running not because I need to beat stress or I need to reduce my weight (these are just the by products of running). I like running as I enjoy being on the road or the treadmill and I like pushing my body and see how far I can drag it.
• Reading: Not much has changed on the reading front. I still like reading about anything and everything that excites me. I just ordered the copy of “The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google” from Amazon and I guess it is on the way as I write this blog. Well if you are curious to learn about this Cloud Computing madness that has gripped the world then you should read this book by Nicholas Carr. I might write my reviews on this blog once I’ll finish reading this book. Another reason to read this book is Nic Carr himself as I really enjoyed his essay “Is Google Making us stupid?” which got published in the Atlantic. It is very intresting to know the views and the perception of Nic Carr and to some extent he is right in what he explains in this essay. I recommend reading the essay.
• Summer Blockbusters: I haven’t seen any movie this summer (not yet). I don’t know how that happened but it seems this blog is self explanatory in giving you the picture of many things that are keeping me busy. If things go well and on schedule then I might go and watch Transformers 3 tonight with my friends and that might kick off the summer movie season for me. I really wanted to watch Super 8 but somehow I missed it. Cars 2 is not having good reviews so I will skip it. My elder one had watched Kung Fu Panda with his mom and he liked it.
I know there are many more things this summer that I have not mentioned in this blog and that are keeping my plate full. I need to deal with them one by one. Fingers crossed.
You all have a safe summer and enjoy each and every day of it, as for me I will go back to the things that I am working on and will try to finish all of them before winter. Good luck to all and may all your summer projects gets completed on time.
Enjoy !!!
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