Following Verizon and AT&T, Sprint today became the last of the three major U.S. iPhone carriers to report results for the second quarter of 2012, revealing that it sold 1.5 million iPhones during the period. That matches the previous quarter's performance even as Verizon and AT&T experienced declines of roughly 15% quarter-over-quarter.
In addition to its steady second quarter iPhone performance, Sprint can also look forward to momentum from iPhone sales through its prepaid Virgin Mobile USA brand, which launched the iPhone with just two days left in Sprint's fiscal quarter.
One of the new features found in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion is PowerNap. PowerNap was introduced at WWDC 2012 and allows your Mac to continue to perform tasks such as receiving email and updating software even when it's sleeping.
Apple lists the full capabilities in this Knowledge Base document. Capabilities include getting new Mail, syncing Calendar, Contact and Reminder changes, and more. When plugged into power, your Mac can download software updates and make backups with Time Capsule.
Apple only supports PowerNap on 2011 MacBook Airs and beyond as well as the 2012 Retina MacBook Pro. The capability should move over to more of Apple's laptops as Apple makes a full transition to SSD. Built-in flash storage is listed as one of the requirements of the technology. Apple just released a firmware update that enables this functionality in the 2011 MacBook Airs, while support for the Retina MacBook Pro is said to be "coming soon".
Macworldpoints out that with the launch of OS X Mountain Lion today, Apple has seemingly removed OS X Lion from the Mac App Store. However, users can re-download it -- and then create a Recovery USB Key -- if they have already purchased it.
Folks who already bought Lion can in fact re-download it, if they hold down Option when clicking on the Purchased tab. That secret shortcut makes Lion reappear in the list.
With the Option key trick, customers who own Lion and, for whatever reason, want to install it fresh on a compatible Mac, can do so.
Customers who never purchased Lion are out of luck as far as the App Store goes, though the OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive is still available via the Apple Online Store for $69.
Today, Apple launched OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion for $19.99 on the Mac App Store. The latest version OS X provides a number of new features borrowed from iOS as well as some Mac specific ones. This overview video from Apple provides a quick look at the biggest new features.
Other sites have put together more detailed videos showing smaller changes and a more detailed look at AirPlay mirroring.
In general, the reception has been positive amongst reviewers, especially given the $19.99 price tag. The launch, however, has resulted in the removal of OS X Lion from the Mac App Store. While this isn't too big a surprise, it could leave some owners of older Macs stuck if their Mac isn't supported by OS X Mountain Lion but were supported by OS X Lion.
The other major hiccup in today's launch was the distribution of codes for Apple's Up To Date program. The Up To Date program offers Mountain Lion OS X to customers free of charge if they have bought a new Mac since June 11th. Apple seems to be aware of the issue and is working on reissuing faulty codes.
There have been a number of OS X Mountain Lion related software updates and news items today. If you aren't following our full RSS feed, you may have missed the many updates on our Mac Blog today:
Avid is in the process of preparing code-signed versions of our applications and plug-ins that are compatible with Mountain Lion. We realize that users will temporarily wish to work with versions that are not yet signed. Unsigned software can trigger warning messages from Gatekeeper which Avid users can easily bypass, then proceed to install and run their software.
Adobe says that there are no known issues with Adobe CS apps and Mountain Lion.
Adobe and Apple have worked closely together to test Adobe® Creative Suite® 5, 5.5 and CS6 editions and individual products for reliability, performance and user experience when installed on Intel® based systems running Mac OS X Mountain Lion (v10.8). Earlier versions of Adobe Photoshop® (CS3 and CS4) software were also tested with Mountain Lion and there are currently no known issues.
Adobe requests that users discovering problems report them to Adobe.
On the heels of Apple's earnings release yesterday in which the company announced a record 17 million iPads sold during the second calendar quarter of 2012, research firm Strategy Analytics has published its estimates of the total global tablet market for the quarter. According to the report, Apple captured 68.3% of the market, up from 62% in the year-ago quarter and the company's highest share in nearly two years.
Apple shipped a robust 17.0 million iPads worldwide and maintained its strong market leadership with 68 percent share during the second quarter of 2012. Apple continued to shrug off the much-hyped threat from Android and the iPad’s global tablet share is at its highest level since Q3 2010. [...]
Despite high expectations for companies like Amazon, Samsung, Acer and Asus, the Android community has yet to make a serious dent in Apple’s dominance of the tablet market. Unspectacular hardware designs, limited uptake of cellular models and a modest number of tablet-optimized services have been among some of the main reasons for Android’s mixed performance so far.
Google's Android platform actually kept pace with the overall market's 66.8% growth, enabling it to hold steady with 29.3% of the market. Apple's 83% growth instead came at the expense of smaller players such as Microsoft, which saw its share of the market fall from 4% to 1.2% as the company has yet to roll it out its major tablet effort with Windows 8.
Apple's continued strength in the tablet market comes even though a number of observers have predicted an erosion of its dominant position amid increasing numbers of low-cost Android tablets. But with Apple riding high on the launch of the new third-generation iPad just prior to the start of the second quarter, Apple is improving its position in the market. With rumors of an "iPad mini" coming later this year, Apple could further solidify its leadership position by competing more closely on price with some of the recent high-profile Android entrants such as Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's just-introduced Nexus 7.
Microsoft today confirmed that the two most recent versions of its flagship Office productivity suite for Mac are fully compatible with OS X Mountain Lion. Office users are advised to ensure that Microsoft AutoUpdate is enabled so that their installations can be updated as needed to take full advantage of the new operating system.
- Make sure you have Office for Mac’s AutoUpdate enabled – some updates will be needed to make the most of the upgrade to Mountain Lion. Initiate AutoUpdate in any Office for Mac application by going to your toolbar, then selecting “Help” and then “Check for Updates.”
- Mountain Lion ships with a new feature called Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper helps protect users by allowing you to choose to only download and install software from known developers, like Microsoft. Please note that due to the Gatekeeper architecture, updates will not run when you download and initiate them on your desktop; instead please use Microsoft AutoUpdate to keep your copies of Office for Mac current.
After Apple's Podcasts app was released last month, many users had complaints about bugs, crashes and other issues. All Things D says that an update should debut later today that will fix the problems and "vastly improve it":
Podcasts users take note: Apple has been hard at work tweaking the app to fix the problems that currently plague it and sources say the company expects to post an update to it this afternoon that should vastly improve it.
Nearly two-thirds of reviews for the Podcasts app on the App Store gave it a one - or two-star review, with the app having a two-and-a-half-star review overall -- one of the lowest of all Apple's apps.
Podcasts had traditionally been housed in the iTunes app on iOS devices, but Apple has been working to streamline the user experience by breaking out some categories into their own apps, including Podcasts and iTunes U.
Update: As noted by Jim Dalrymple, Apple has released an update to the Podcasts app with these changes:
Podcasts 1.0.1 provides a number of improvements, including:
• Significant improvements to performance and stability • Podcasts in your library now show the number of unplayed episodes • Top Stations now show the podcast title if artwork is missing • Playback speed is now remembered when playing the next episode • Fix for a problem where the Subscribe button is inactive • Resolution of an issue where Top Stations artwork may not appear
Podcasts is a free download for the iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]
With today's launch of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple's Up-to-Date program has officially gone live. The program allows any user who purchased a Mac on or after June 11 to receive a free upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion if their system came with OS X Lion preinstalled. Customers who purchased server models such as the Mac mini server and Mac Pro server configurations can also receive free upgrades to Apple's latest server tools released alongside Mountain Lion.
Apple is apparently experiencing some early difficulties with the program, however, with some users reporting that their Mac App Store redemption codes for OS X Mountain Lion are not working and others still waiting to receive their codes. Some users were able to obtain codes earlier this week when the program briefly went live prematurely, but the redemption difficulties appear to be affecting both early recipients and new applicants.
Apple support staff have acknowledged the difficulties and are advising customers that they may need to wait up to three days to receive replacement codes, although some replacement codes are reportedly already coming through without any action required by the users. Submitting the up-to-date program application a second time fails to generate new codes, as Apple's systems recognize that the machine serial numbers have already been used and thus refuse to complete the repeat applications.
Customers who purchased new Macs between June 11 and today have until August 24 to claim their redemption codes for OS X Mountain Lion, but many are undoubtedly anxious to install the new operating system as soon as possible. Users who purchase new Lion-equipped Macs starting tomorrow will have 30 days from the date of purchase in which to claim their free upgrades to Mountain Lion.
Blizzard has announced that the fourth expansion for World of Warcraft, Mists of Pandaria, will be released for Mac and PC on September 25.
Unlock The Mysteries of Pandaria
You've ended Deathwing's destructive rampage and saved the dragonflights from extinction.
Now you must unlock the mysteries of the lost continent and discover the dark secrets of Pandaria's past. Explore ancient kingdoms hidden since before the Sundering, plunder vast treasures from the depths of the forgotten vaults, and rise to defend Pandaria from the shadow of a long buried evil - before it's too late.
As is typical for Blizzard, it will be offering two versions of Mists of Pandaria: a standard edition for $39.99 and a deluxe edition for $59.99 that includes a unique in-game mount, pet, and banner.
Users can pre-purchase Mists of Pandaria via Blizzard's Battle.net service and begin playing at midnight on release day.
Apple has released updated versions of the Keynote, Pages and Numbers iOS apps, adding support for iCloud's Documents in the Cloud feature. iCloud now backs up documents automatically and syncs versions between the iWork apps on iOS and the Mac.
OS X Mountain Lion is required to sync documents between the Mac and iOS versions of Keynote, Numbers and Pages.
What's new
Keynote/Numbers/Pages 1.6.1 works with iCloud to make presentations automatically available between your iOS device and Keynote on your Mac*. Changes made to a presentation on one device are instantly available on the other.
*Requires Keynote 5.2 or later installed on OS X Mountain Lion
Apple has been working on removing the hierarchical file system for several years, something that should make finding files easier for computer novices. Apple's marketing specifically highlights this as a feature: "You don’t have to manage your documents in a complicated file system or remember to save them to a special folder."
Keynote, Pages and Numbers are universal apps, available for $9.99 each on the App Store.
Along with the release of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple today also released an updated version of its iTunes U learning app for iPhone and iPad. iTunes U was originally released this past January as part of an increased education push for the company.
The new iTunes U adds a note-taking component and a much improved search function, as well as a mechanism for sharing courses via Twitter, Mail or Messages.
iTunes U 1.2 now makes it easy to take notes while watching or listening to a lecture. This update also adds the ability to search within posts, assignments, notes, and materials — from any of your subscribed courses — using the improved Search feature in iTunes U. It is also now simple to share your favorite courses with friends using Twitter, Mail, and Messages.
During the earnings call with analysts yesterday, Apple revealed that 14 million users have downloaded iTunes U with 700 new K-12 schools and 125 colleges and universities enrolling in the program. 750 new courses have been added recently as well.
With today's release of Safari 6, there has been some confusion over the fate of Safari for Windows. Apple's Safari download page that previously allowed users to download versions for Mac or Windows now redirects to the main Safari page highlighting Safari 6 for Mac, with no mention of Safari for Windows anywhere in Apple's revamped Safari feature pages.
But while Safari for Windows has not been upgraded to version 6 and thus has not received the many new features included for Mac in that release, Apple does appear to be planning to continue quietly offering Safari for Windows. Listings for Safari updates in Apple's support download pages had previously summarized all available Mac and Windows version and provided a link to the general download page, but Apple has now placed Safari for Windows on a dedicated page linking directly to the download.
Safari for Windows remains at version 5.1.7 initially released alongside OS X 10.7.4 in early May. The software is clearly not a high priority for Apple, as evidenced by the removal of all mentions of the Windows option from the main Safari product pages, but the company is keeping the most recent version available for download. It is unclear, however, whether Apple has plans to bring additional feature updates to the browser.
Update: Apple has pulled the standalone Safari 5.1.7 for Windows download page, redirecting visitors to the previous version that links to the now-discontinued general Safari download page. As a result, it appears that Safari for Windows is now not directly linked anywhere in Apple's official download pages.
Mountain Lion is the second release of OS X to be delivered via the Mac App Store. Like with Lion, users can create their own bootable USB key installer to use as a recovery disk or to install Mountain Lion on multiple Macs without needing to download the 4GB installer multiple times.
Ars Technica has an excellent walk-through using either the Disk Utility application that is included on every Mac, or the newly updated Lion Diskmaker app that automates the process of creating a bootable install key.
The biggest catch to the whole process is to make a copy of the Mountain Lion installer before actually installing Mountain Lion, otherwise the installer will need to be redownloaded from the Mac App Store.
- Fixes an issue related to third-party QuickTime components that could cause iMovie to quit unexpectedly - Resolves stability issues when previewing MPEG-2 video clips in the Camera Import window - Fixes an issue where audio was not included when importing MPEG-2 video clips from a camera
For those users who received a redemption code for OS X Mountain Lion while the Up to Date program was temporarily live, it appears that many of the original codes are invalid.
Users are reporting receiving errors while trying to redeem codes. Errors include "The code you entered is not recognized as valid code" and errors that the code has already been used.
Several users are tracking the issue in our forums and have been told by AppleCare representatives that new codes will be issued shortly:
I got my code 2 days ago and mine is invalid also. I just called up applecare about 30 minutes ago and told the guy my situation and he had me try to redeem it again but it said it had already been redeemed. He then said that his system had a note in it saying that anyone who redeemed their serial number and got one of the invalid codes should recieve another email within one business day after mountain lion was released (already happened so the time is ticking now).
Alongside today's launch of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple has updated a number of its Mac applications to take advantage of new features and ensure compatibility with the new operating system. One of the key updates is to Apple's iWork suite, which has seen the addition of support for iCloud and Dictation.
For those who installed iWork from a disc, Apple is offering iWork 9.2 Update via Software Update.
Keynote 5.2, Pages 4.2, and Numbers 2.2 are updated to take advantage of the following features available on OS X Mountain Lion:
- iCloud: Store documents in iCloud, and keep them automatically up-to-date across your Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and the web. Changes made to a document on one device, automatically appear on all your other devices. This requires iWork for iOS 1.6.1 or later to be installed on your iOS device. - Dictation: Speak words, numbers, or sentences, and watch them appear in your presentation, document, or spreadsheet.
The iWork apps are also enhanced to take advantage of the Retina display on new Mac hardware, so presentations, documents, and spreadsheets appear sharper and more vibrant.
With Apple having launched OS X Mountain Lion to the public today, reviews of the company's latest Mac operating system have begun pouring in. Many of the reviews are quite extensive, but we've selected a few choice excerpts to highlight general reaction to the release.
The Mac is a platform in transition. In Lion, OS X began shedding the well-worn trappings of traditional desktop computing at an accelerated rate. This trend continues in Mountain Lion. Where Lion stumbled, Mountain Lion regroups and tries again—while still forging bravely ahead in other areas.
As the second major refinement-focused release, it's easy to view OS X 10.8 as "what 10.7 should have been." The flip side of this argument is that the real-world mileage we’ve all put on Lion has helped Apple make the right kinds of adjustments in Mountain Lion. If we'd had to wait for two years after 10.6 for the next major release of OS X, chances are good that the worst of the missteps in Lion would just be landing on our doorsteps today. I'll take 10.8, thanks.
All told, I found Mountain Lion to be a stable, solid release. Even prerelease builds were far more stable than I’ve come to expect from OS X betas, leading me to wonder if Apple’s new annual schedule is leading to more careful incremental updates (with fewer bugs) rather than great leaps (with more, nastier bugs).
Ultimately, this is pretty easy: you should spend the $20 and upgrade to Mountain Lion, especially if you have a newer Mac. You’ll gain a handful of must-have features, and everything will get faster and smoother. I haven’t really missed Snow Leopard at all since upgrading, which is remarkable considering how much I disliked Lion.
Taken as a whole, the features mark a fairly aggressive bid to fold the best of OS X and iOS into one product -- a strategy we first saw with the introduction of the Mac App Store on Snow Leopard, and with the arrival of Launchpad last year in Lion. [...]
That said, it seems time for Apple to make a bold new pronouncement on the desktop front. The company appears to have most of its resources invested in the mobile side -- and there's no question as to why: the iPhone and iPad have reinvigorated the company, making it a computing player on a scale that no one (save, perhaps, for Jobs himself) could have predicted a decade ago. Still, it might be hard for OS X users not to feel neglected -- many of the latest new features feel a bit like iOS hand-me-downs. When and if Apple rolls out a new operating system this time next year, hopefully we'll be seeing a very different side of Mac OS.
There will be tens of thousands of words published on Wednesday when Mountain Lion hits the Mac App Store, but let’s face it, what you really want to know is whether Mountain Lion is worth the upgrade. Let’s get that out of the way now — yes, it is definitely worth it.
Mountain Lion costs $19.99 and comes with more than 200 new features — that’s a bargain at twice the price.
If Apple doesn't want Microsoft to steal their innovation crown with Windows 8 Metro, they urgently need a new vision that breaks with this unholy mix of obsolete 1980s user interface heritage and iOS full screen skeumorphism.
It feels like Apple has run out of ideas. Or worse, that Apple is too afraid to implement new concepts, fearing it will kill the company's golden goose. Too afraid to change the world once again, as Steve Jobs used to say, one desktop at a time.
It must be said that Mountain Lion isn’t really all that different from Lion — hence, the variation of the name (even though mountain lions are technically cougars — insert joke here). But unlike the jump from Leopard to Snow Leopard, which focused on performance and tightening code rather than features, the jump from Lion to Mountain Lion does pack some new goodies. [..]
In a time when Microsoft is just about to upend their entire OS with their biggest change (and bet) yet in Windows 8, Apple has taken a much more refined approach. Perhaps they take some criticism for this, or perhaps they’re just being savvy. OS X remains a great OS, and sprinkled with some of the best elements of iOS, it still feels pretty fresh. Not bad for an eleven year old big cat.
Adobe and Avid have reported only minor issues with their applications on Mountain Lion, in a pair of posts on their respective websites.
After Apple's Podcasts app was 
For those users who received a redemption code for OS X Mountain Lion while the 
Alongside today's launch of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple has updated a number of its Mac applications to take advantage of new features and ensure compatibility with the new operating system. One of the key updates is to Apple's iWork suite, which has seen the addition of support for iCloud and Dictation.
