Hard to believe it's July already, but the calendar doesn't lie. In just two short weeks, most of us will officially be halfway through our summer fun, and what do we have to show for it so far? For Mac users, July will bring OS X Mountain Lion and you can expect a steady flow of app updates in the weeks ahead as developers shore up support for the latest operating system as well. But let's get straight to the news at hand for this Monday, July 2, 2012, shall we…?
Are you ready for Apple to announce another boffo quarter? The company's Investor News web page was updated today to announce a date and time for Apple's third-quarter 2012 earnings which as usual will be broadcast live via QuickTime streaming from the website. "Apple plans to conduct a conference call to discuss financial results of its third fiscal quarter on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. PT," the brief message posted Monday afternoon reads. So, if you've got money in Apple, you better cancel any plans you have made for that day...
Avid today announced "a series of strategic actions" to rid itself of the consumer end of its business, instead focusing on the pro market which includes Pro Tools on the audio side. "The company’s consumer audio products are being sold to inMusic, the parent company of Akai Professional, Alesis and Numark, among others," Avid noted in a press release. "The products involved in this transaction include M-Audio brand keyboards, controllers, interfaces, speakers and digital DJ equipment and other product lines." The company is also ditching its consumer video editing line, which is going to Canadian software publisher Corel Corporation; that deal includes Avid Studio, Pinnacle Studio and the Avid Studio app for iPad, as well as other unnamed legacy video capture products. The pair of deals puts approximately $17 million back into Avid's coffers, but sadly the company is also paring 20 percent of its workforce in the process.
MacRumors is reporting that MobileMe isn't the only Apple service being put out to pasture this summer: The company's iWork.com website is also meeting its maker as of July 31, 2012 as previously announced, and Apple is sending emails to users of the beta service this week as a heads up. "We recommend that you sign in to iWork.com before July 31, 2012, and download all your documents to your computer," the email reads. "Moving forward, you can use iCloud to store your documents and make them available across your computer and your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch." Given that iWork.com has never left beta since launching in January, 2009, we figure no one's going to miss it anyway...
What would you expect to pay for the forthcoming Windows 8 Pro upgrade? If you said $100 or more, you can start doing a happy dance right now. That's because Microsoft officially announced upgrade pricing on their Blogging Windows blog today, and Redmond is apparently taking a cue out of Apple's playbook by offering inexpensive upgrades for the first time in company history. "We set out to make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8," the blog notes. "Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets. And if you want, you can add Windows Media Center for free through the 'add features' option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade." A Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant will apparently make the whole process go smoothly, but the price is only valid for those who download the operating system -- if you want a packaged DVD at retail, prepare to pay $69.99. Both of those prices are part of an upgrade promotion that runs through January 31, 2013, so be sure to grab yours early on if you want to save a few bucks.
Reuters is reporting that Apple Inc. has been threatened with "temporary closure" of its Italian operations as well as additional fines to the tune of 300,000 Euros ($377,500) if the company doesn't start making good on a free two-year warranty which is now a law in Italy. Cupertino has already paid out 900,000 Euros in fines already over the company's reluctance to notify consumers about a free second year of warranty coverage. That may be chicken scratch for the company, but there seems to be no way around the issue after Apple lost an Italian antitrust appeal earlier this year.
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(Image courtesy of ifoAppleStore.com)
