Upper West Side, Apple Store | Image courtesy of Apple

For the third consecutive year Apple has come on top of Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” and this year has increased the margin of its win to the largest in the 10-year history of the survey.

The ranking is based on a survey of 4,200 executives, directors and industry analysts.

Apple is followed by Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Johnson and Johnson and Amazon.

What makes Apple so admired? Product, product, product. This is the company that changed the way we do everything from buy music to design products to engage with the world around us. Its track record for innovation and fierce consumer loyalty translates into tremendous respect across business’ highest ranks.

As BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer puts it, “The whole world held its breath before the iPad was announced. That’s brand management at its very best.”

Apple iPad

During the official launch of the iPad in January, Apple said that the iPad would go on sale worldwide at the end of March.

Mac Rumors is now reporting that it has heard that the official on sale date is Friday, March 26th at 6PM.

The report corroborates with a blog post from the Examiner which claims that the iPad will go on sale on March 26th and Apple store employees will begin training on March 10th. The post also reveals that advertising for the iPad will begin March 15th and early adopters will receive a “special gift”.

As more and more of my friends and colleagues move from their PCs to the world of Macs; I am often asked what programs they should install on their new machines. Apple usually includes the latest version of iLife with most computer purchases, so I feel comfortable telling these people, you should have all you need on your shiny new Mac right out of the box.

The folks at Cupertino provide plenty of options with just the base OS. Apple Mail gives access to your email, iCal helps manage one’s calendar, iPhoto organizes your cherished memories, there’s even iMovie – for those Cameron wanna bes and much more. There is plenty of good stuff to keep the neophyte Mac user busy.

One program not included that some people may require is an office suite. That can be easily addressed by downloading and installing the always free OpenOffice.org package. This suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program and also features a database management program, vector graphic editor and a math equation editor. It is compatible with Microsoft Office files except for the newest proprietary save format used by Microsoft Office 2007 for PC and 2008 for Mac.

With all this being said, most people don’t just run OS X by itself, they want to do other things. Today we will discuss some applications that will make life even easier and possibly more productive for the Mac user. The following are the five OS X applications that I tell people they shouldn’t live without.

The first program I like to recommend is Dropbox which is actually a service that is a cross-platform cloud-based storage system. With it you are able to store and sync locally housed files online between computers.

Basically Dropbox creates a designated folder, which syncs with the Dropbox servers and any other Dropbox clients registered to that account. Save a file on your MacBook Pro and it will show up in your iMac’s Dropbox hard drive within seconds as long as you have Internet access.

Dropbox

Files in a Dropbox folder can also be shared with other Dropbox users through invitations making it a great collaborative tool. If this sounds similar to Apple MobileMe’s iDisk then you understand the concept. From my experience Dropbox works must faster than the buggy iDisk.

It is a free service for up to 2 GB of storage and if you refer enough people you can get an additional 1 GB. Each referral get both the referrer and referee an additional 250 MB. Here is my referral link if anyone is interested. If you wish to have a larger storage capacity of up to 50 or 100GB then Dropbox becomes a pay service with a monthly fee.

Dropbox offers numerous “hacks” for syncing program data across all your machines such as the ones described here or listed here. For instance, if you wish to sync your Firefox bookmarks using Dropbox that can be easily done. Programs such as one password, things, iCal, address book can all share one database file across multiple Macs using Dropbox. The beauty of this is changes made on one machine are reflected along other almost instantly.

What makes Dropbox especially handy is its ability to sync a program’s database file so that it can be used across multiple machines. This allows the settings and any changes made on one machine to be reflected on all others. In fact there are numerous Dropbox “hacks”

More details about Dropbox can be found in this review.

My next recommended program works particularly well when used in conjunction with Dropbox. For those of us who have trouble-maintaining track of all their logins and passwords, then a program created by Agile Web Solutions called 1Password3 is what you need to get.

1Password3 by Agile Web Solutions

1Password3 is a password manager that lets the user control their Logins, Identities, Secure Notes, generate passwords, manage software licenses and use a virtual wallet. Agile Web Solutions recently updated 1Password3 to version 3 and add some exciting new features such as 1Password Anywhere which allows the user to access all this information within any web browser, even on a Windows PC, cough, cough. In addition they added tags, a new Vault type dubbed Accounts for AirPort routers, Mail and Entourage accounts, FTP apps, Instant Messaging, and the iTunes Store.

By storing your 1Password keychain in your Dropbox folder and directing your 1Password preferences on all your machines to that folder location you will have all 1Password data synced across all your Macs. I wrote more about this terrific program in my review.

For those who have trouble keeping track of tasks, to dos and various lists then this next program is exactly what you need. Things is a program from the folks at Cultured Code and is a task management software solution.

Most task management solutions are arduous to use, the beauty of Things is that it feels like you are using any other Apple program. It is laid out like iTunes or Apple Mail and is easy to navigate and work in. A review of Things written by myself can be viewed here.

What adds to the power of Things is that it works in conjunction with its own iPhone app. If you need to add an entry to your Things categories or check off a completed task while out and about this can be done on your iPhone. Once you get home, you can wirelessly sync these entries between your Mac and iPhone. Naturally, Things can also be synced across Macs using what else; Dropbox of course.

Next on my must install queue is a program called Quicksilver, which is a freeware launcher for OS X. This simple looking program is immensely powerful as it allows the performance of such tasks such as starting applications searching for files, opening websites and running scripts. It uses keyboard combinations, mouse gestures or menu selections to perform actions on your Mac.

Quicksilver is a very powerful program and is dependent on the user to unleash its maximum potential by learning all its nuances. I primarily use Quicksilver for launching applications instead of scrolling down lists to find the desired program. A wonderful detailed write up of Quicksilver can be seen here.

The latest program to join my must install cadre is Evernote. This is another online service, which allows users to collect notes, thoughts and ideas and then sort and tag them.

Evernote

This information can then be organized with tags and placed into virtual notebooks for easy indexing and searches. Evernote uploads this information on to their server and then shares it with whatever device is running an Evernote application such as a Mac, PC, Windows Mobile smart phone, Blackberry or iPhone.

Notes can be edited on your Mac and then viewed on any of the devices I just listed. When used with an iPhone Evernote supports image captured from the built-in camera and the recording of voice notes.

Evernote comes as a free service with basic options such as 40 MB monthly upload allowance. The Premium account costs five dollars per month or $45 for the year and allows 500 MB to be uploaded monthly as well as searches within PDFs, offline notebooks and lack of advertisements.

For more info on Evernote and an in depth review check out this write up.

There are numerous great Mac programs on the market and these five are just a few of the great ones. They are the five OS X applications that I can’t live without and recommend to all my friends and colleagues.

What are your favorite Mac applications that you would immediately install on your brand new Apple machine? Please feel free to leave your comments below. If we get enough input we will do a readers Mac OS X applications must install article.

This is a guest post from Tomas Ratas over at TestFreaks.

As more and more of my friends and colleagues move from their PCs to the world of Macs; I am often asked what programs they should install on their new machines. Apple usually includes the latest version of iLife with most computer purchases, so I feel comfortable telling these people, you should have all you need on your shiny new Mac right out of the box.

The folks at Cupertino provide plenty of options with just the base OS. Apple Mail gives access to your email, iCal helps manage one’s calendar, iPhoto organizes your cherished memories, there’s even iMovie – for those Cameron wanna bes and much more. There is plenty of good stuff to keep the neophyte Mac user busy.

One program not included that some people may require is an office suite. That can be easily addressed by downloading and installing the always free OpenOffice.org package. This suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program and also features a database management program, vector graphic editor and a math equation editor. It is compatible with Microsoft Office files except for the newest proprietary save format used by Microsoft Office 2007 for PC and 2008 for Mac.

With all this being said, most people don’t just run OS X by itself, they want to do other things. Today we will discuss some applications that will make life even easier and possibly more productive for the Mac user. The following are the five OS X applications that I tell people they shouldn’t live without.

Dropbox

The first program I like to recommend is Dropbox which is actually a service that is a cross-platform cloud-based storage system. With it you are able to store and sync locally housed files online between computers.

Basically Dropbox creates a designated folder, which syncs with the Dropbox servers and any other Dropbox clients registered to that account. Save a file on your MacBook Pro and it will show up in your iMac’s Dropbox hard drive within seconds as long as you have Internet access.

Dropbox

Files in a Dropbox folder can also be shared with other Dropbox users through invitations making it a great collaborative tool. If this sounds similar to Apple MobileMe’s iDisk then you understand the concept. From my experience Dropbox works must faster than the buggy iDisk.

It is a free service for up to 2 GB of storage and if you refer enough people you can get an additional 1 GB. Each referral get both the referrer and referee an additional 250 MB. Here is my referral link if anyone is interested. If you wish to have a larger storage capacity of up to 50 or 100GB then Dropbox becomes a pay service with a monthly fee.

Dropbox offers numerous “hacks” for syncing program data across all your machines such as the ones described here or listed here. For instance, if you wish to sync your Firefox bookmarks using Dropbox that can be easily done. Programs such as one password, things, iCal, address book can all share one database file across multiple Macs using Dropbox. The beauty of this is changes made on one machine are reflected along other almost instantly.

What makes Dropbox especially handy is its ability to sync a program’s database file so that it can be used across multiple machines. This allows the settings and any changes made on one machine to be reflected on all others. In fact there are numerous Dropbox “hacks”

More details about Dropbox can be found in this review.

1Password3

My next recommended program works particularly well when used in conjunction with Dropbox. For those of us who have trouble-maintaining track of all their logins and passwords, then a program created by Agile Web Solutions called 1Password3 is what you need to get.

1Password3 by Agile Web Solutions

1Password3 is a password manager that lets the user control their Logins, Identities, Secure Notes, generate passwords, manage software licenses and use a virtual wallet. Agile Web Solutions recently updated 1Password3 to version 3 and add some exciting new features such as 1Password Anywhere which allows the user to access all this information within any web browser, even on a Windows PC, cough, cough. In addition they added tags, a new Vault type dubbed Accounts for AirPort routers, Mail and Entourage accounts, FTP apps, Instant Messaging, and the iTunes Store.

By storing your 1Password keychain in your Dropbox folder and directing your 1Password preferences on all your machines to that folder location you will have all 1Password data synced across all your Macs. I wrote more about this terrific program in my review.

Things

For those who have trouble keeping track of tasks, to dos and various lists then this next program is exactly what you need. Things is a program from the folks at Cultured Code and is a task management software solution.

Most task management solutions are arduous to use, the beauty of Things is that it feels like you are using any other Apple program. It is laid out like iTunes or Apple Mail and is easy to navigate and work in. A review of Things written by myself can be viewed here.

What adds to the power of Things is that it works in conjunction with its own iPhone app. If you need to add an entry to your Things categories or check off a completed task while out and about this can be done on your iPhone. Once you get home, you can wirelessly sync these entries between your Mac and iPhone. Naturally, Things can also be synced across Macs using what else; Dropbox of course.

Quicksilver

Next on my must install queue is a program called Quicksilver, which is a freeware launcher for OS X. This simple looking program is immensely powerful as it allows the performance of such tasks such as starting applications searching for files, opening websites and running scripts. It uses keyboard combinations, mouse gestures or menu selections to perform actions on your Mac.

Quicksilver is a very powerful program and is dependent on the user to unleash its maximum potential by learning all its nuances. I primarily use Quicksilver for launching applications instead of scrolling down lists to find the desired program. A wonderful detailed write up of Quicksilver can be seen here.

Evernote

The latest program to join my must install cadre is Evernote. This is another online service, which allows users to collect notes, thoughts and ideas and then sort and tag them.

Evernote

This information can then be organized with tags and placed into virtual notebooks for easy indexing and searches. Evernote uploads this information on to their server and then shares it with whatever device is running an Evernote application such as a Mac, PC, Windows Mobile smart phone, Blackberry or iPhone.

Notes can be edited on your Mac and then viewed on any of the devices I just listed. When used with an iPhone Evernote supports image captured from the built-in camera and the recording of voice notes.

Evernote comes as a free service with basic options such as 40 MB monthly upload allowance. The Premium account costs five dollars per month or $45 for the year and allows 500 MB to be uploaded monthly as well as searches within PDFs, offline notebooks and lack of advertisements.

For more info on Evernote and an in depth review check out this write up.

There are numerous great Mac programs on the market and these five are just a few of the great ones. They are the five OS X applications that I can’t live without and recommend to all my friends and colleagues.

What are your favorite Mac applications that you would immediately install on your brand new Apple machine? Please feel free to leave your comments below. If we get enough input we will do a readers Mac OS X applications must install article.

This is a guest post from Tomas Ratas over at TestFreaks.

Apple has hired a former Microsoft security chief who served a lead on Windows XP Service Pack 2, at Apple the security expert will serve as senior security product manager.

According to PC World Window Synder began work at Apple this week, Synder has in the past also worked at Mozilla and was said to be credited with “professionalizing the Firefox security response team, at a time when the open-source browser was increasingly coming under attack from hackers.”

It is unknown what products Snyder will be working on but Apple is the third browser-maker to hirer her in the last five years.

Apple today revealed that it has filed a lawsuit against HTC for infringing 20 of Apple’s iPhone patents relating to “user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.” The lawsuit was filed with both the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Engadget offers a brief breakdown of the patents Apple claims HTC has infringed.

• The ‘331 Patent, entitled “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States,” was duly and legally issued on April 22, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• The ‘949 Patent, entitled “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics,” was duly and legally issued on January 20, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘949 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
• The ‘849 Patent, entitled “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image,” was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
• The ‘381 Patent, entitled “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display,” was duly and legally issued on December 23, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘381 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit D.
• The ‘726 Patent, entitled “System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device,” was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E.
• The ‘076 Patent, entitled “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices,” was duly and legally issued on December 15, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘076 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit F.
• The ‘105 Patent, entitled “GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality,” was duly and legally issued on December 8, 1998 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘105 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit G.
• The ‘453 Patent, entitled “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor,” was duly and legally issued on June 3, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘453 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit H.
• The ‘599 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Graphic System,” was duly and legally issued on October 3, 1995 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘599 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit I.
• The ‘354 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods,” was duly and legally issued on July 23, 2002 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘354 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit J.

Complete USITC and Deleware Court filings below.

Delaware Filing

USITC Filing

Apple Aperture 3

Apple has issued a minor update to tackle stability issues in Aperture 3 which was released earlier this month.

Aperture 3.0.1 – 29.41MB

This update improves overall stability and addresses a number of issues in Aperture 3, including:

• Upgrading libraries from earlier versions of Aperture
• Importing libraries from iPhoto
• Importing photos directly from a camera
• Memory usage when processing heavily-retouched photos
• Face recognition processing
• Adding undetected faces using the Add Missing Face button
• Printing pages containing multiple images
• Printing photos and contact sheets with borders and metadata
• Editing photos using an external editor
• Display of images with Definition and Straighten adjustments applied
• Zooming photos in the Viewer and in the Loupe using keyboard shortcuts
• Accessing Aperture libraries on a network volume Selecting and moving pins on the Places map
• Adding and editing custom locations using the Manage My Places window
• Switching between masters when working with RAW+JPEG pairs.

This update is recommended for all users of Aperture 3.

Apple also updated Camera RAW for better compatibility.

Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.1 – 6.77MB

This update extends RAW image compatibility for Aperture 3 and iPhoto 09 for the following cameras:

• Hasselblad H3DII-50
• Leica M9
• Leica X1
• Olympus E-P1
• Olympus E-P2
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
• Pentax K-7
• Pentax K-x
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A500
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A550
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A850

Apple Aperture 3

Apple has issued a minor update to tackle stability issues in Aperture 3 which was released earlier this month.

Aperture 3.0.1 – 29.41MB

This update improves overall stability and addresses a number of issues in Aperture 3, including:

• Upgrading libraries from earlier versions of Aperture
• Importing libraries from iPhoto
• Importing photos directly from a camera
• Memory usage when processing heavily-retouched photos
• Face recognition processing
• Adding undetected faces using the Add Missing Face button
• Printing pages containing multiple images
• Printing photos and contact sheets with borders and metadata
• Editing photos using an external editor
• Display of images with Definition and Straighten adjustments applied
• Zooming photos in the Viewer and in the Loupe using keyboard shortcuts
• Accessing Aperture libraries on a network volume Selecting and moving pins on the Places map
• Adding and editing custom locations using the Manage My Places window
• Switching between masters when working with RAW+JPEG pairs.

This update is recommended for all users of Aperture 3.

Apple also updated Camera RAW for better compatibility.

Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.1 – 6.77MB

This update extends RAW image compatibility for Aperture 3 and iPhoto 09 for the following cameras:

• Hasselblad H3DII-50
• Leica M9
• Leica X1
• Olympus E-P1
• Olympus E-P2
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
• Pentax K-7
• Pentax K-x
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A500
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A550
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A850

Apple HQ, 1 Infinite Loop | Photo by Wysz - Flickr

Yesterday afternoon Apple held its annual shareholder meeting at its Cupertino headquarters. This year discussions focused primarily on the company’s financial situation and environmental issues.

At the meeting the shareholders re-elected Jobs and the Apple board of directors. The topic of previous board member Eric Schimdt came up when one shareholder asked if the Google CEO had conducted properly while serving on Apple’s board. Jobs said that “Eric Schmidt conducted himself appropriately and recused himself on matters that might involve conflict”.

Also approved was Ernst and Young as Apple’s public accounting firm for the year 2010.

During the meeting two shareholder proposals were voted down, in-line with board recommendations. The first proposal read as follows, “Shareholders request that the Board of Directors prepare a sustainability report describing corporate strategies regarding climate change, specifically to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address other environmental and social impacts such as toxics, recycling and employee and product safety.”

The board rebutted with, Apple “is already substantially fulfilling—and in many respects exceeding—the request for information in Proposal No. 6″.

On the second opposed and denied proposal was for Apple to amend the bylaws to establish a sustainability committee “to ensure our corporation’s sustained viability”…”responding to changing conditions and knowledge of the natural environment, including but not limited to, natural resource limitations, energy use, waste disposal, and climate change.”

The board opposed the proposal with the following, “[Apple] takes environmental sustainability very seriously, and the Company has made significant progress in reducing the environmental impact of the Company’s operations and products, as described in the Company’s statement in opposition to Proposal No. 6, above. However, the Board does not believe a Board committee dedicated to this issue is necessary”.

After all the proposals were out of the way Steve Jobs, Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer fielded some questions.

One shareholder asked if Jobs has returned to Apple in a limited capacity, the CEO simply replied with “No” adding that while he was out, “Tim took the helm and Apple didn’t miss a beat.”

Other areas of interest mention include Jobs’ view on Apple’s financial situation. A present shareholder asked if Apple would use it’s current $40 billion cash and short-term investments to pay dividends, Jobs refuted saying that Apple is holding cash to take “big, bold” risks.

Jobs said that China is a market with lots of promise and said that Apple would open 25 retail stores in the near future.

Related: Apple’s 2010 Proxy statement.

Apple HQ, 1 Infinite Loop | Photo by Wysz - Flickr

Yesterday afternoon Apple held its annual shareholder meeting at its Cupertino headquarters. This year discussions focused primarily on the company’s financial situation and environmental issues.

At the meeting the shareholders re-elected Jobs and the Apple board of directors. The topic of previous board member Eric Schimdt came up when one shareholder asked if the Google CEO had conducted properly while serving on Apple’s board. Jobs said that “Eric Schmidt conducted himself appropriately and recused himself on matters that might involve conflict”.

Also approved was Ernst and Young as Apple’s public accounting firm for the year 2010.

During the meeting two shareholder proposals were voted down, in-line with board recommendations. The first proposal read as follows, “Shareholders request that the Board of Directors prepare a sustainability report describing corporate strategies regarding climate change, specifically to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address other environmental and social impacts such as toxics, recycling and employee and product safety.”

The board rebutted with, Apple “is already substantially fulfilling—and in many respects exceeding—the request for information in Proposal No. 6″.

On the second opposed and denied proposal was for Apple to amend the bylaws to establish a sustainability committee “to ensure our corporation’s sustained viability”…”responding to changing conditions and knowledge of the natural environment, including but not limited to, natural resource limitations, energy use, waste disposal, and climate change.”

The board opposed the proposal with the following, “[Apple] takes environmental sustainability very seriously, and the Company has made significant progress in reducing the environmental impact of the Company’s operations and products, as described in the Company’s statement in opposition to Proposal No. 6, above. However, the Board does not believe a Board committee dedicated to this issue is necessary”.

After all the proposals were out of the way Steve Jobs, Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer fielded some questions.

One shareholder asked if Jobs has returned to Apple in a limited capacity, the CEO simply replied with “No” adding that while he was out, “Tim took the helm and Apple didn’t miss a beat.”

Other areas of interest mention include Jobs’ view on Apple’s financial situation. A present shareholder asked if Apple would use it’s current $40 billion cash and short-term investments to pay dividends, Jobs refuted saying that Apple is holding cash to take “big, bold” risks.

Jobs said that China is a market with lots of promise and said that Apple would open 25 retail stores in the near future.

Related: Apple’s 2010 Proxy statement.

Apple iPad

Apple has yet to reveal UK iPad pricing stating that it will do so nearer the time of release. Today Geeky Gadgets has published a tip claiming that iPad pricing will begin at £389.

In addition to pricing the site states that despite Apple expecting a March release for the iPad in the UK it will more likely be April.

• iPad 16GB WiFi – £389
• iPad 32GB WiFi – £439
• iPad 64GB WiFi – £489

Geeky Gadgets provided no pricing for 3G+WiFi iPad models.

Apple iPad

Apple has yet to reveal UK iPad pricing stating that it will do so nearer the time of release. Today Geeky Gadgets has published a tip claiming that iPad pricing will begin at £389.

In addition to pricing the site states that despite Apple expecting a March release for the iPad in the UK it will more likely be April.

• iPad 16GB WiFi – £389
• iPad 32GB WiFi – £439
• iPad 64GB WiFi – £489

Geeky Gadgets provided no pricing for 3G+WiFi iPad models.

Yesterday Apple’s iTunes Store reached the 10 billionth song download milestone, today the company has announced the competition winner and the 10 billionth song.

In a press release Apple stated that the 10 billionth song, “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash, was purchased by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia. Sulcer will win a $10,000 iTunes store gift card.

“We’re grateful to all of our customers for helping us reach this amazing milestone,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “We’re proud that iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs is truly staggering.”

Yesterday Apple’s iTunes Store reached the 10 billionth song download milestone, today the company has announced the competition winner and the 10 billionth song.

In a press release Apple stated that the 10 billionth song, “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash, was purchased by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia. Sulcer will win a $10,000 iTunes store gift card.

“We’re grateful to all of our customers for helping us reach this amazing milestone,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “We’re proud that iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs is truly staggering.”

Earlier this week Apple COO Tim Cook who led the company during Steve Jobs’ time off in early 2009 spoke candidly about Apple. During the Goldman Sachs Technology & Internet Conference Cook gave a talk about Apple including some interesting details about the company’s products.

During the 40 minute talk—which can be listened to on Apple’s website and read in full below—Cook discussed how Apple TV remains a hobby to Apple and the company will use custom silicone in future products.

Cook also discussed Apple retail stores saying that new stores opening this year in London and Shanghai will “make your jaw drop.”

Paraphrased transcript courtesy of Silicon Alley Insider

4:08 Clapton’s “Change the World” is playing leading up the presentation. Now “Sunny Came Home.”

4:09 Getting underway. Tim Cook reads disclosure.

4:10 Q&A begins. Steve Jobs was very clear about leadership in mobile devices. Is that how we should think about Apple at this point? Tim Cook: Yes. Let me elaborate. If you look at Dec. quarter results, which included revenues of almost $15.7 billion, as we compared ourselves to every other company in the world, including Sony and Nokia and Samsung, which now have huge mobile device businesses, we found out we were the largest in the world, measured by revenues.

4:11 How are you channeling resources differently? Transition to mobile devices began in 1991 with first introduction of portable product for Apple with introduction of the TFT screen. During that time, the Mac business has become a predominantly mobile device business. Huge difference between us and the balance of the industry in portable share.

4:12 Ah, a history lesson. Going through all the mobile devices Apple has ever launched. Vast majority of Apple’s revenue now comes from mobile devices and content purchased for those devices. Believe we’re well positioned to do extremely well because we can seamlessly offer software and hardware.

4:13 Who are biggest competitors and who are biggest partners? Tim Cook: I wish the world were that simple. Many people you can’t cleanly put in one or another. Take Microsoft. In Microsoft, we love the Mac Office division. They do a great product and we partner with them and work with them very tightly. Most of the balance of Microsoft we compete vigorously against, in OS, in mobile OS, etc. If you look at Google, I would say Google is similar in that respect. We partner with them in maps, in search for most of our products, but we also compete with them in the mobile OS space and now in the hardware phone space. So, it’s difficult to put people in one camp or the other always. There are some companies like the media companies where we partnered with so well that Apple is now selling billions of dollars of digital content.

4:15 Also companies like carriers where we partnered with to bring iPhone to in 86 countries. Ones that draw the most attention are the ones that are more complex, where we’re both competitors and partners.

4:16 Apple TV is still a hobby. We’ve been very clear about that. The reason that we call it a hobby… if you look at the other businesses we’re in, these businesses are all in huge markets. The unit volumes in these things is huge. Apple TV is in a market that’s very small. Today. Apple TV did grow in the quarter we just finished by 35% in a unit basis year-over-year.

4:17 No interest in going into the TV market. But still think there’s something there. So we continue to invest in this as a hobby.

4:18 iMac is very key, will continue to be very key. I think people will continue to want a very gorgeous large screen, all-in-one, simple to use, very elegant machine, we’re going to continue to deliver it.

4:19 Where growth coming from going forward? Here’s the exciting thing. If you take a look at the Mac, the Mac has outgrown the market 20 of the last 21 quarters. 5 years in a row. Has outgrown the market. And in many of those quarters, outgrew it by multiple. The PC industry is over 300 million units per year. Last fiscal year, Mac did over 10 million units. Ceiling is far above. Continue to invest in enormous amount of energy and talent in the Mac. Doesn’t take Market growth. 50% of customers in Apple store are from Windows.

4:20 iPod touch has been a runaway hit, and it helps the platform that you’re talking about. If you look at the iPod touch, it grew 100% last fiscal year. 55% y/y last quarter. Each fuels more app sales, more developers. iPad? Haven’t sold one yet. A lot of interest in it. I’ve been using one for 6 months or so, I’ll tell you the experience is just absolutely incredible. Can’t wait to start shipping it.

4:21 iPhone, I feel we’ve just gotten started.

4:22 Over 3 billion downloads on app store, over 140,000 apps for sale, these are incredible numbers. Who would have dreamed of these? I see opportunity all over the place.

4:23 The word “complete” is not in our dictionary. We’re all about innovation. Many times that means we’re all about obsoleting ourselves. Going to continue to make things better and going to continue to innovate. I’d say the ecosystem is really good, the platform is really good. Certainly all the foundation is in place. Will it get better? Clearly yes. But great now.

4:24 iPad new use case or replacement for netbooks? We haven’t sold one. I’m a paranoid guy by nature, but I’m not losing any sleep over cannibalization, to be honest with you. Who would buy it? I’ve been very clear about my view of netbooks. I think they are an experience that most people will not want to continue to have. People were interested in the price and they got it home and used it and went ‘Why did I buy this?’ so I think when somebody looks at iPad and compares it to a netbook, I find it hard to believe that people are going to buy netbooks. Not everyone will make the comparison so I’m not suggesting that. But I think what I’d rather do with this question is report back to you.

4:26 iPad will launch in direct channel first, and indirect channels where we have assisted sales, such as store-in-store at Best Buy, and Internationally, Apple Premium Resellers. Initially, it will be around places with really great assisted sales. Over time, it will expand. Where it goes and how fast it goes, we’ll see.

4:27 Why so cheap? We didn’t want to leave pricing umbrella for competition. For those who haven’t focused on this, it has best browsing experience you could ever imagine. Very anxious to start getting it out.

4:28 Extended key partnership with AT&T. Can you talk about advantages and disadvantages of having exclusive agreement? The primary advantages on a single carrier model, and I’ll talk about the iPhone, is simplicity and in some cases, we’re able to innovate along with the carrier and provide a feature it would be difficult to work with multiple carriers and provide. We brought visual voicemail to market, which took innovation from Apple and carrier partner. On a multi-carrier model, the question is, can you sell more units? And so what that gets at is, in some countries, carriers have very sticky relationships with their countries, so having more carriers and more distribution allows you to sell more units. If you look where are from the end of our Q1 in December, if you looked at top 10 iPhone countries, 5 were single carrier countries. 3 of those we had a contractual exclusivity, 2 we can add carriers when we desire. Across 2009, we added carriers in France, UK, Singapore, several Scandinavian countries. A great deal of our work on distribution side was expanding carriers in existing countries. Pleasantly surprised that in every single country, our units increased significantly, and our share with it. Feel like we made really good decisions. Not saying we would do it in every country. But that was our experience with the ones we did it in 2009. We do it on country by country basis.

4:32 Would another carrier need to match pricing on iPad to become carrier for it? I think AT&T’s pricing is revolutionary. (Unlimited data for $30/month, 250 MB for $15/month.)

4:33 Talked a little before about virtuous cycle we have with devs. How do you protect user experience as developers go out and develop products? This is the privilege and curse of technology. Same as you’d see in PC world; at some point, if you include every hardware you’ve ever shipped, you stifle innovation. Because we’ve done this for so long, I feel like we’ve come to a really intelligent conclusion on these each time. I think that’s part of our knowledge and heritage as a platform provider.

4:35 Which way is OS market moving? I don’t see it as this or that — iPhone vs. Mac — or this over that. I think there is a place for both. What you’re seeing for Apple is that the Mac OS is very scalable. Huge competitive advantage for Apple. Use the Mac OS in a lot of products. Don’t think there’s another company that can use the foundation of their OS that way. Move at a fast speed with many fewer people than it would take if we were geographically north. (Slap at Microsoft.)

4:36 Our surveys indicate Mac and iPhone are attracting significant interest in enterprise. What are you doing?

4:36 For the iPhone, 70% of Fortune 100 companies in US are either deploying iPhone or currently testing for deployment. 50% of the FT 100 are doing the same thing. Huge uplift in interest as we went to iPhone 2.0 software and then 3.0 because we put a number of enterprise features in the software. We clearly see this continuing. On Mac side, amazing how many CIOs are now visiting Apple and are interested in the Mac. We haven’t put on a huge channel, and don’t have a huge sales force, but many CIOs that once thought standardization was the most important thing in life, they now look at salaries of people and the importance of having peoples’ creativity at peak, and are increasingly allowing employees to decide. This helps Apple immensely.

4:39 I think people in general and they think enterprise is bigger than consumer. But it’s not. In PCs, it’s 10%, which is sizable, but consumers are over 50%. Our heart and soul and DNA is in consumer. It just so happens there are consumers working in enterprises who want to use these products.

4:41 People are looking at this differently. At least the people with a lot of vision are.

4:41 Just short of 300 stores. Ron Johnson has built a retail team Bar None. We went into retail not as a test, not as pilot, but to sell to consumers, because many wanted it. We knew we’d never have enough stores to cover the world. So after we got going, we set a range of 25-50, reasonable range we could execute really well. Made a strategic call in 2008, we thought we’d see many more opportunities — some top properties would come on the market with better economics. And guess what? Now, there’s a lot of great properties on the market. So we’re going to do about 50 this year. We’ve always had the team to do 50. It’s not easy to do, it’s very hard to do. But we’re going to do it. We didn’t lower the bar at all. These stores are among the best we’ve ever done. If you haven’t been to NYC Upper West Side store, it will make your jaw drop. Next time you’re in Paris, go to the Louvre; it’s just amazing. Another store in China in Shanghai in the summer that is mind blowing. Another one in London that will also drop your jaw.

4:45 New chip. Apple has been in silicon design business for years. Not new to us to be in silicon design business. As we looked at some of the products that we are doing like the iPad, and some we will do in the future, we felt that we had the best knowledge of what we wanted the silicon to do. And were in the best ability to deliver that ourselves versus going out to somebody else and buying something that wasn’t exactly what they wanted.

4:47 Acquisition strategy: Historically, we have acquired companies for technology and talent. And they have been on the small size. We’ve looked at large companies, but we have not had a large company pass a strategic and a financial test. We don’t let our money burn a hole in our pocket. Unless we find something that really makes sense for Apple shareholders, we’re not going to do it. The small ones have been incredibly valuable for us, mainly from the talent POV, but also from technology. If we find a large one, we won’t be shy about it. But we won’t do it to do it. We have never been about being the biggest, we’ve always been about making the best products. Not having highest market share or most revenue. Acquiring something that makes our revenue go higher wouldn’t be a reason why we’d buy a company.

4:49 How do you stop hubris from creeping in? Executive team in the company spends a lot of time thinking and discussing how to retain and recruit the best talent in the world. At the end of the day, I know it’s a cliche, but people are our most important asset in the world by far. It’s people who deliver innovation. We are the most focused company that I know of or have read of or have any knowledge of. We say no to good ideas every day. We say no to great ideas in order to keep the amount of things we focus on very small in number so that we can put enormous energy behind the ones we do choose. The table each of you are sitting at today, you could probably put every product on it that Apple makes, yet Apple’s revenue last year was $40 billion. I think any other company that could say that is an oil company. That’s not just saying yes to the right products, it’s saying no to many products that are good ideas, but just not nearly as good as the other ones. I think this is so ingrained in our company that this hubris you talk about that happens to companies that are successful and sole role in life is to get bigger, I can tell you the management team at Apple would never let that happen. That’s not what we’re about. Small list of things to focus on.

Apple has once again released a build of Mac OS X 10.6.3 to developers for testing prior to a public release. The build labelled 10D561 is largely similar to previous releases and continues to contain no known issues.

Of note Mac OS X 10.6.3 10D561 is different to previous builds and indicative of a nearing release as the download is now available to developers in both delta and combo formats, which is the method of delivery to the public upon release. The delta download size is reported to be 787MB.

Seed notes below.

Included in this update

• Performance improvements for 64-bit Logic
• Addresses compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications
• Includes changes to QuickTime X that increase reliability, improve compatibility and address security
• Improves printing reliability and compatibility with 3rd party printers
• Addresses an issue that causes background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail when scrolling
• Resolves an issue that prevented files with the # or & in their names from opening in Rosetta
• Resolves an issue that prevented files from copying to Windows shares
• Resolves an issue that caused machines using BTMM and the Bonjour Sleep Proxy to wake unexpectedly
• Resolves an issue with recurring events in iCal when connected to an Exchange server

Known Issues

• none

Focus Areas

• Bluetooth
• GraphicsDrivers
• iChat
• QuickTime
• USB

Apple has once again released a build of Mac OS X 10.6.3 to developers for testing prior to a public release. The build labelled 10D561 is largely similar to previous releases and continues to contain no known issues.

Of note Mac OS X 10.6.3 10D561 is different to previous builds and indicative of a nearing release as the download is now available to developers in both delta and combo formats, which is the method of delivery to the public upon release. The delta download size is reported to be 787MB.

Seed notes below.

Included in this update

• Performance improvements for 64-bit Logic
• Addresses compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications
• Includes changes to QuickTime X that increase reliability, improve compatibility and address security
• Improves printing reliability and compatibility with 3rd party printers
• Addresses an issue that causes background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail when scrolling
• Resolves an issue that prevented files with the # or & in their names from opening in Rosetta
• Resolves an issue that prevented files from copying to Windows shares
• Resolves an issue that caused machines using BTMM and the Bonjour Sleep Proxy to wake unexpectedly
• Resolves an issue with recurring events in iCal when connected to an Exchange server

Known Issues

• none

Focus Areas

• Bluetooth
• GraphicsDrivers
• iChat
• QuickTime
• USB

Following severe criticism and a furore following Apple pulling over 5000 “overtly sexual” apps from the iPhone and iPod touch App Store it seems that Apple is attempting to right a wrong.

It has been revealed that a new category is available for Apps but not yet visible to the public. The category available to developers submitting Apps is labelled “Explicit” which has since been removed.

The addition suggests that Apple could wish to add Apps to the store which are beyond a 17+ rating.

Since the iTunes Store opened in April 2003 Apple has led a major change to the music industry and today celebrated the sale of the 10 billionth song from the online store.

Apple celebrated the sale of 1 billion songs in February 2006 and 3 billion in July of 2007.

The person who downloaded the 10 billionth song will win a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

The 10 billionth song download coincides with Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ 55th birthday.

Since the iTunes Store opened in April 2003 Apple has led a major change to the music industry and today celebrated the sale of the 10 billionth song from the online store.

Apple celebrated the sale of 1 billion songs in February 2006 and 3 billion in July of 2007.

The person who downloaded the 10 billionth song will win a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

The 10 billionth song download coincides with Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ 55th birthday.