Apple sales soar on best ever product line

Apple announced 4th quarter results and shocked the analysts with a whopping $6.2 billion in sales up 29% over last year. Apple sold 10.2 million iPods, 1.12 million iPhones, and shipped a record 2.16 million Mac computers. In a statement on Monday, Steve Jobs says "We're looking forward to a strong December quarter as we enter the holiday season with Apple's best products ever,".

The Globe and Mail's report on business has more here.

I can't think of any other hot properties this Christmas, except maybe the Xbox 360, lead by demand for Halo 3 or the Nintendo Wii, if you can find one.

Staples to sell Dell products online and in store

Customers at 1400 Staples stores and at Staples.com will soon be able to purchase Dell laptops, desktops, printers and more as the two companies announced the establishment of a retail agreement in a press release today. The release states " 1721 and 1521 notebooks, The initial products offered at Staples will include InspironInspiron 530 desktops, Dell 948 and 926 all-in-one inkjet printers, Dell 1320c laser printer, Dell SE198WFP 19-inch widescreen flat panel LCD monitor, and the Dell E228WFP 22-inch widescreen flat panel LCD monitor. Additionally, Staples will offer ink and toner for most Dell printers." Indications are that Dell products will be in store for the holiday buying season.

Sounds like a win - win for both companies! No word about Staples selling Dell products in Canada.

China set to launch lunar probe this week

It seems like the space race is heating up in Asia. The Chang'e 1, named after a legendary Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, is scheduled to be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in southwestern China. The launch window is set between Wednesday through Friday. The move comes weeks after Japan launched it's own probe into high orbit above the moon and months before India launches a similar probe.

"The mission has a very strong scientific emphasis," Sun Kwok, a professor of physics and dean of science at the University of Hong Kong is quoted "It's not just about technology. It's more than just launching a satellite, it's more than putting the first satellite in orbit."

Perhaps they are just jockeying for Google bucks?

Wired has the story.

Robotic gun emplacement goes wild, kills 9 injures 14

Wired is reporting that a South African military exercise involving a robotic Oerlikon 35mm Twin Field Air Defence Gun - Type GDF-005, went horribly wrong earlier this month killing 9 soldiers and seriously injuring 14 more. The automated dual gun cannon is designed to use passive and active radar, as well as laser range finders, to lock on to high speed, low flying aircraft and cruise missiles. The South African National Defence Force is investigating the possibility that a software glitch may have caused the malfunction. The gun has the ability to reload itself and apparently only stopped firing when it had expended all of the available rounds. So much for the 3 laws!

Showing your geekiness on Halloween

Can't decide what to wear to that Halloween party? Check out c|net's news.com! They have all the geeky costume ideas for 2007... think software pirate, dancing Mark Cuban and partner, or Leave Britney alone guy/girl?

Robotic Self-healing Chair Video!

I'm not quite sure why this chair decides to explode into pieces, but I have to admit it's rather impressive how it's able to pull itself back together! It's obvious that the video is edited and I'd really like to know how long it took from start to finish. Well done though... seems like their may be some military robots that could benefit from such technology, I'm sure that's already on the radar.

Microsoft wants to read your mind

The New Scientist is reporting that a Microsoft patent application reveals the company's desires to read your mind to extract your thoughts while you are working at your PC. According to the article
"it is hard to properly evaluate the way people interact with computers since questioning them at the time is distracting and asking questions later may not produce reliable answers." Microsoft wants to employ electroencephalograms (EEGs) to read electrical signals within the brain and has devised a method "of filtering EEG data in such a way that it separates useful cognitive information from the not-so-useful non-cognitive stuff." Considering all of the potential things one could be doing with one's PC... they may not like what they see inside of every ones head!

New Zealand Brewery offers tempting reward for stolen laptop

The Croucher Brewing Company in the central North Island city of Rotorua, New Zealand had a laptop stolen earlier this week. The machine apparently had the only up to date copies of label designs, contact details and financial information and the company is desperate for it's return. According to the companies website "... instead of sitting on our hands hoping against hope that it would be found, we decided to offer a reward… if someone finds the laptop and returns it with all files and data in-tact and as it was, we will supply that person with one dozen Croucher Brewing boutique beer every month for the rest of their life! That is not a typo."

I like your thinking guys! And apparently so does the media "The amount of interest in our plea has been fantastic, and has allowed a devastating event to have a silver lining with the good wishes of people far and wide. Thank you."

New Flickr interface with Geotagging!

First Google Earth and now Flickr, seems like geotagging is the "in" thing in user interface on the web. Om Malik seems impressed by the Flickr move, which provides users with a map like view and pinpoints where photo's were snapped relative to the map. I agree it's a great tool for browsing, though I don't think it will ever replace searching. Again another new way to waste time on the Web.

As a side, I've been planning a family trip to Disney and have been contemplating the purchase of a new camera. The decision process has been complicated by the fact that I can't decide on still or video... I realize that most stills take video and vice versa. One of the video cameras that I've been eying is the Sanyo Xacti and now Om has made the choice even more complicated. The video displayed in his post was created with the Xacti and is a bit grainy, the light is obviously dim and that would help explain it but it's got me questioning the quality. Then again if it's good enough for Om Malik... Anyone have any experience with the Xacti? I'd love to get your comments!

China upset by award given to Dalai Lama, hijacks search engine traffic

The CBC has posted speculations that the Chinese government, upset by President Bush's awarding of the Dalai Lama with a Congressional Gold Medal, is hijacking traffic meant for Google and Yahoo and directing it to the Chinese-owned Baidu search engine. The Chinese government routinely censors internet content and blocks web pages but this move is seen as a retaliatory reaction to the US's support for a figure that the Chinese see as a threat. Can't we just all get along and play nice?

Update: InfoWorld is reporting a contrary story saying "Internet users in Beijing and Shanghai said attempts to access Google and other search engines were successful Friday, despite claims on a U.S. blog that traffic to these sites was redirected to Chinese search engine Baidu.com."

cat? mouse?