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Apple's spring lacks pizzazz but should be solid

Maybe Apple really is recession-proof.

When Shaw Wu of American Technology Research made that claim earlier in the year, I concurred with my colleague Charlie Cooper, who wondered what expensive strain of finely cultivated California parsley was in Mr. Wu's pipe when he wrote that report.

Even Wu recanted just before Apple's earnings report Wednesday, cutting his expectations for the company amid concerns about the economy and the fact that Apple isn't expected to release any significantly new products until the 3G iPhone.

It seems, however, that people like Apple's current products just fine. Apple's … Read more

Live blog of Apple's second-quarter earnings conference call

At about 2 p.m. Pacific Time, Apple executives began to recap the company's second quarter. This is a record of the call with updates as they came. You can also check out the numbers here. The Mac had a stellar quarter, and the iPhone and iPod divisions made solid contributions.

2:01 p.m. PDT: We're waiting for Apple executives to come online to discuss their second-quarter earnings, which they'll probably enjoy. If you haven't seen the numbers yet, Apple's revenue increased by 43 percent compared to last year, while profits were up 36 … Read more

Apple earnings jump on Mac sales

Apple erased any assumptions on Wednesday that a slowdown in U.S. consumer spending is negatively affecting its bottom line.

The company reported revenue of $7.5 billion and net income of $1.1 billion for its second fiscal quarter (PDF), which ended March 29. The net income translates to earnings per share of $1.16, and both the revenue and earnings per share blew away Wall Street expectations of $6.9 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $1.07.

As has been the case the last several quarters, the Mac led the charge for Apple. Mac shipments … Read more

Apple's latest chip gamble

Is Apple really that much of a chip hopper?

If Apple follows through and uses a chip designed by its latest acquisition, PA Semi, in a future product, the company will have made major bets on Power, x86, ARM, and Power again in just this decade. What, no love for SPARC or MIPS?

A PA Semi representative on Wednesday confirmed last night's news that Apple has paid $278 million for the low-power chip designer. Led by prominent chip designer Don Dobberpuhl, the two-and-a-half-year-old company makes chips for embedded devices based on IBM's Power instruction set.

So what might … Read more

Stay tuned for live blog of Apple's earnings call

Come back to CNET News.com at 2 p.m. PDT (although we sincerely hope you never leave) for a live blog of Apple's second-quarter earnings conference call.

The key things to look out for are Mac shipments, iPhone momentum, and Apple's forecast for the next quarter, which tends to dictate how the investment community responds to the earnings reports. Reporters are not allowed to ask questions during the calls, only the financial analysts are granted that privilege, which usually means you have to sit through a couple of minutes of "great quarter, guys."

The numbers … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 709: We're gonna need a bigger cloud

We explain Live Mesh, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tries to explain why customs can search your laptop without any reason at all, and eBay (yawn) sues Craigslist over some (yawn) stock stuff. Also, Apple buys a chipmaker and that story leads to wild speculation about chips and such. No, really. It's a tech show. Haven't you heard this show before? Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 709

Live Mesh: The version you can understand http://mashable.com/2008/04/23/live-mesh-simplified/ http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9925747-2.html http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9926229-56.html… Read more

Apple Safari vulnerable to multiple attacks

Safari users may be subject to crashes or interactions with an attacker's malicious site, according to a warning posted on Tuesday on BugTraq .

Researcher Juan Pablo Lopez Yacubian is credited with finding multiple vulnerabilities in Apple Safari 3.1.1 for Windows. Other versions of Safari may also be affected.

Among the vulnerabilities cited are a denial-of-service (crash) vulnerability caused by a write-access violation, a denial-of-service (crash) vulnerability caused by a read-access violation, and a third vulnerability that allows attackers to spoof the content contained in the address bar. A full write up can be found here .

In a … Read more

Apple is doing everything right with the iPhone

Although some have been critical of Apple over the past year about its decision to block third-parties from creating applications for the iPhone and its reluctance to bring much-desired functionality to the device, the company has turned the tide and is doing everything right.

Over the past year, Apple has learned quickly that the cell phone business is extremely difficult to be successful in and realized that its tried and true tactic of keeping its device closed off to outside companies is not the best way to do business.

If nothing else, Apple has gone through the growing pains of selling a cell phone to the world and has the scars to prove it. But in recent weeks, the company has turned the tide. Instead of floundering like many other companies in its position, Apple adapted and has single-handedly built the framework it needs to become the dominant player in the cell phone industry.… Read more

Apple's Mac strength could keep tech industry on a roll

Recession fears, rampant iPhone unlocking, and a pessimistic outlook dinged Apple at the beginning of this year, but surging Mac shipments appeared to have the company in good shape as it closed out the quarter.

Apple is set to announce its financial results for its second fiscal quarter on Wednesday after the close of the stock market. The company has not appeared overly bullish on this particular quarter, issuing guidance well below its usual conservative outlook in January and admitting at its shareholder meeting in March that the industry is going through "concerning times" right now amid a … Read more

Apple acquires low-power chip designer PA Semi

Apple has reportedly made a rare acquisition, snapping up low-power chip company PA Semi one day before reporting its quarterly earnings.

Forbes reported late Tuesday that Apple has agreed to purchase the company for a middling $278 million, quoting Apple spokesman Steve Dowling as confirming the deal. PA Semi made its debut a few years back designing low-power chips based on Apple's old friend, the Power architecture.

It's not clear what Apple might have in mind for PA Semi. I'd doubt Apple plans to get into the chip design game anytime soon, although having low-power chip experts … Read more