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>> What's up? I'm Brian Tong and welcome to the Apple Byte. We're giving you all the good and the bad inside the world of Apple, so let's get to the stories. Now, for all you number crunchers, we'll start off with Apple's quarterly earnings report. Some of you might be thinking whoopee, but there are some nuggets to pull from this. Apple posted its best non-holiday quarter ever in Q3 of 2009, with 8.34 billion dollars in revenue, and a net quarterly profit of 1.23 billion dollars. The rock stars? Well, Apple shipped 2.6 million Macs, which was a four percent increase year over year. And that iPhone, 5.2 million units were sold, up just about a modest 626 percent from last year. Now, the big A sold 10.2 million iPods, but that was a seven percent year over year. Analysts just won't let go about the idea of Apple releasing a low cost PC, and here's what Tim Cook had to say about that.
>> Our goal is not to build the most computers. It's to build the best. And we will -- whatever price point that we can build the best, we will play there. At this point, we don't see a way to build a great product for this $399.00, $499.00, this kind of price point unit. The Mac has outgrown the market a staggering 18 of the last 19 quarters. And I think that really says that we do have the right approach.
>> Just look at this way. Apple sold 2.6 million Macs during one of the worst recessions ever, and that was just shy of the record 2.611 million they sold in the fall of 2008, before the economy crashed and without a $400.00 netbook product. Now, Apple won't ever play there, and they don't need to, and even if some of these analysts seem to want it more than the big A does. Now, Apple's retail stores have been a big part of their success, so guess what company is throwing their hat into the retail ring? Our friends at ZDNet are reporting that Microsoft COO, Kevin Turner, announced their plans to open retail stores close to existing Apple stores this fall. Say what? Now, they've even hired a former Apple retail exec who was in charge of finding prime store locations. And Turner said it'll be more about building the brand and showcasing Microsoft instead of serving as retail outlet. So do they want to make any money? But I'm thinking about this. How will this really work? It would be like a Sony-style store with half the amount of eye candy and within spitting distance of an Apple store? Have you seen how crowded Sony stores are that aren't even next to the mosh pit that's an Apple store? Microsoft, you may have the cash. You have the Windows with the touchscreens, and the Zune HD, so I'll give it to you for taking Apple head-on in the retail world, and just wish you luck.
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Now, I can't assume all you Apple Byters have an iPhone or and iPod, but what it you want to sync a non-iPod device to your iTunes collection? Someone here has the answer for you.
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>> Palm Pre owners had the luxury of synching their phones to their iTunes collection until Apple recently released an update to block them from doing that. I'm Brian Tong with CNET.com, and I'll show you how to sync your Pre and other devices to gain access to your iTunes content. So first up, let's check out an application called "Double Twist." It's free, and it works with both PC and Mac. You want to go their website at doubletwist.com to download the software. Create an account with them. It's really simple, but once you've done that, you'll have the ability to connect a variety of devices like the Palm Pre, other popular cell phones, MP3 players, and even the Sony PSP, and then move your media onto them. So what we'll do is let's launch the app, and you'll see it shows off your music, movies and photo collection stored in iTunes and also on your computer. Then we'll connect our Pre, it will show up in the device column, and from there, all you have to do is just drag and drop the content you want from your computer onto the Pre. It also supports video and podcast files, and does all the file format conversion for you when you drag it over. So once you're done, eject your device, and now you'll have access to the songs and media from your iTunes collection. I'm Brian Tong from CNET.com, and that's how you sync third-party devices to your iTunes collections for free. Use it wisely.
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Nice haircut because it was about time. And yes, guys, Double Twist is that good. All right. Are there any "Fast and Furious" fans out there? Anybody? Ariel?
>> Don't look at me.
>> All right, guys. Whatever. I don't care. All right, I'm not afraid to say that I'm one, so what does this have to do with anything? Well, Universal has announced it will be releasing apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch to go along with Blu-ray disc releases starting with "Fast and Furious" next week. Now, you'll be able to pull up specs on cars and control a 360-degree view, but they plan on doing more in the future, such as allowing you to use the iPhone or iPod touch as a virtual remote control and download additional content while the movie is playing. This sounds like a really cool idea, and we'll get a hands-on test as soon as we can. I just wish they did something for Tokyo Drifter.
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>> Ready. Set.
>> Go.
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>> Shut up.
>> All right. I'll do the show. All right, let's check out the quick bytes this week. Navigon's Mobile Navigator for North America has been released for the app store. It's a turn-by-turn GPS application. It looks great, and the best thing of all; it's $69.99 until August 15th, and $99.99 after that. But there's no monthly cost. Now, BlackBerry lovers, we showed you how to get iTunes content on your device, but RIM announced that BlackBerry for Mac will be available in September and will give you a first party solution to manage your contacts, calendars, and even your BlackBerry apps. And I know people have been waiting for this for years. All right, guys, this is gonna do it for this week's show. Send me your emails to the applebyte@cnet.com, and I'll get to as many as I can. I'm Brian Tong. Thanks for watching and come back next time for another byte of the Apple.
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