You, in the back, pipe down. Alright. Got some product announcements to go over with you. I’ll do ‘em in alpha order.

Apple

They had a good 4th quarter: 3 million Macs (up 17% over last year), 7.4M iPhones (+7%), and 10.2M iPods (-8%). Almost $10 billion in revenue, with $1.67 billion in profit. These numbers beat Q3. So, to celebrate, Apple’s just announced enhancements to the MacBook (polycarbonate unibody shell), iMac (new LED display), and Mac mini (more memory and faster processor), as well as a new mouse, called the Magic Mouse, that sports a multi-touch surface. BusinessWeek has a good summary of the details.

Barnes & Noble

The WSJ is reporting (sub required) that Barnes & Noble will release an eBook reader called the Nook. They got their scoop by reviewing an ad scheduled to run in the New York Times Book Review on October 25:

“A new electronic book reader is expected Tuesday from bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. that will challenge devices from Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Corp. with a color touch screen and $259 price, according to a planned ad for the device. The price for the reader, called the Nook, matches that of Amazon’s Kindle … Details of the reader appear in a full-page advertisement viewed by The Wall Street Journal in the New York Times Book Review section dated Sunday, Oct. 25. The advertisement says the Nook will enable its owners to ‘lend eBooks to friends.’”

Books and tools, electronic or otherwise — I never lend ‘em, ’cause I never get ‘em back.

UPDATE: On a related note, yesterday Plastic Logic introduced its new eReader. B&N will power the bookstore for the device.

Google

Free wifi on every Virgin America flight between November 10, 2009 and January 15, 2010.

Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
on October 20, 2009 - 1:07 pm

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