FUNKY GREEN: 07/23/14

Wednesday, 23 July 2014

Samsung invests in Android-based microgaming console GamePop

Samsung continues to float an interest in the largely-uncharted waters of Android games as it invests $13 million in BlueStacks' GamePop.

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Microsoft's 'one Windows' -- what it really means

Is Microsoft building a single version of Windows that will run on phones, tablets, PCs, and gaming consoles? Nope. Here's a refresher on what's really happening.

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Where to buy used textbooks

Back to school seasons means expensive books are on the horizon. But you don't have to break the bank just because a professor picks the most expensive book available. Shop around.

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Stratasys 3D prints giant creature, invades Comic-Con

It's named Bodock, and 3D printing powerhouse Stratasys will march the giant, 14-foot, 2,000-pound creature into the event Thursday.

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Foursquare shows off its new look for local searches

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How to delete and re-install games on your Xbox One hard drive

Removing and re-installing games on the Xbox One's hard drive isn't difficult, but it's a process that not everyone's familiar with. Here's a brief how-to that runs through every step.

The post How to delete and re-install games on your Xbox One hard drive appeared first on Digital Trends.

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GamePop's 'Android Gaming for the TV' Gets Major Cash Push From Samsung

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There Will Be One Windows for All Your Devices. Soon.

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Amazon expands Prime Music library with loads of new tracks

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Marvel celebrates Comic-Con with 99-cent access to 13,000 comics

Marvel Comics has announced that it is letting people access the over 13,000 digital comic book issues in its Marvel Unlimited online service for Android for just $0.99 in a special promotion deal.

For those of you who might be unfamiliar with Marvel Unlimited, it's basically offers a way to read lots of comics like Spider-Man, X-Men and Avengers for one monthly fee, with new issues added every week to its library of titles. Normally, the cost of the service is $9.99 a month but for this week only you can sign up for the service and have the first month cost just $0.99. There's also an option to pay $69 for an annual subscription.

There are a couple of catches with Marvel Unlimited. One is that you can only download and read up to 12 comic book issues at a time on your device. The other catch is that the most recent issues of the company's comics are not available on the service. Marvel Unlimited typically waits six months or more to offer its latest issues on the service. Marvel Unlimited is just available for US residents.

What Marvel Comics do you plan to read if you sign up for this $0.99 cent promotion offer.

Source: Marvel Unlimited via Wired

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Apple is close to an all-time high and I'm not selling a single share

Last night Apple published its financial results for Q3 fiscal 2014. iMore has already posted a very detailed set of notes from the quarterly conference call, so I'll just recap a few key numbers and then dive into what I think the quarter means to Apple longer term. As per usual, keep in mind I do own shares in the company and I have no plans to sell them anytime soon. My comments represent my thinking and you should not interpret any of this as investing advice.

Overall the quarter was very healthy. Apple generates the majority of its revenue from the iPhone, so the Mac line and even the iPad line are less meaningful right now. Apple's financial performance lives and breathes based on iPhone sales.

Revenue was $37.4 billion in Q3, with 52% of this coming from the iPhone, 16% from iPad and 15% from Mac. Another 12% of revenue came from iTunes, software and services. Interestingly, that iTunes category posted the fastest growth of all categories at 12% annual growth. When you consider that iTunes revenue mostly comes from iPhone users, it makes the case even more obvious as to how important the iPhone is to Apple right now.

Gross margin came in quite strong at 39.4%, beating guidance and analyst estimates. Apple talked about getting better cost reduction than anticipated, but I also think we have to consider that iPad sales were weaker than expected. iPads generate less profit margin than iPhones, so a mix shift towards iPhones will help margins.

Earnings per share was $1.28, slightly better than analyst expectations. But perhaps more important was the year over year earnings per share growth of almost 20%. For a company as big as Apple to post 20% earnings growth is darn impressive.

The gross margin strength and iPhone sales figures (35.2 million units) were the positive highlights of the quarter. iPad sales were the weak point, as Apple sold only 13.2 million tablets for the quarter. To put this in perspective, iPad sales haven't been that low for over two years. Specifically, in Q2 F2012 iPad sales were 11.8 million units, and never dipped below this quarter's result.

I'd like to see iPad sales get stronger, and I believe the IBM partnership should be a major opportunity to make that happen. On the call Tim Cook discussed the potential to push iOS and Mac device penetration deeper in enterprise channels. He mentioned that while Apple mobile devices reach the vast majority of the large global companies, the level of penetration is still quite low at about 20%. Think about how pervasive Wintel PCs are within the corporate world. If mobile computing is truly as important as many pundits think it is (and I'm one of them) then we have an opportunity to see Apple climb from 20% to something much higher. This will result in growth across the entire product line.

This, to me, is the biggest reason to keep holding onto Apple shares over the next few years. But in the short term I'm more interested in the coming iPhone 6 product refresh. It's incredible that Apple's iPhone sales are still so strong despite the form factor being too small for so many people these days. We're now accustomed to phones the size of a Samsung Galaxy 5 and it's all but a given that Apple will move to larger phones this year. That, along with whatever other surprises they have in store for us, should create some excitement heading into the fall.

But while it's fun to talk about near term excitement, I find that my investing profits come from making good long term choices. Apple's long term opportunity now centers around getting much deeper enterprise penetration as well as emerging market penetration. Then I think Apple will capitalize on the emerging "Internet of Things" by being one of only two major mobile operating systems that third party developers automatically have to work with if they are releasing mobile-compatible smart devices.

Apple's stock has recovered a lot in the last year. It may be on the verge of hitting a new all time high considering it's up almost 3% this morning (as I write this) and a new high happens the moment we get another similar rise in the stock. People often get scared off by stocks that are hitting new highs. But what other way can you possibly invest in huge winners? Stocks can't go up unless they hit new highs. It's about as obvious as saying you can't go swimming unless you get in the water.

Is Apple stock expensive today? Analysts expect the company to earn about $7 per share next year. That puts the price to earnings ratio (P/E) at 14. Consider that Apple also has about $133 billion in net cash (I'm subtracting debt from the reported cash position). That cash, while it would have to be repatriated and taxed if they wanted to distribute it to shareholders, works out to almost $22 per share.

The major risk in holding onto Apple seems to be the perpetual threat of commoditization of hardware. I acknowledge this is a risk. But I think Apple's track record for dealing with the threat is nearly perfect. They consistently add more features to their products at a faster pace than competitors while making reasonable price cuts over time.

Apple's financial performance continues to be very strong. If you believe in the incredible magnitude of change coming from the mobile computing generation then I think owning Apple is a no-brainer. And there's nothing wrong with owning the other clear leader, Google, too. I hold shares in both companies because I prefer the diversification in my portfolio.

How about you?

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It DOES exist! 5,000-HP, 348-mph Devel Sixteen spotted on the move

With a claimed 5,000 horsepower and 348 mph top speed, the Devel Sixteen is as improbable as Bigfoot. Now, there's evidence that it can at least move under its own power. Can it do anything else?

The post It DOES exist! 5,000-HP, 348-mph Devel Sixteen spotted on the move appeared first on Digital Trends.

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Newly acquired Apple patent shows how 3D photography could work in iPhone

Apple has recently acquired a patent for a 3D photography technology that could easily be implemented as an iPhone app. The technology requires the use of just a single lens, and no glasses are needed to view a 3D image.

The post Newly acquired Apple patent shows how 3D photography could work in iPhone appeared first on Digital Trends.

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Luigi is ice cold in this Japanese commercial for Mario Kart 8

Someone in Nintendo's marketing department has been on the internet sometime in the last month, as Luigi's 'Death Stare' makes an appearance over in Japan. The inescapable meme still has some life left in it.

The post Luigi is ice cold in this Japanese commercial for Mario Kart 8 appeared first on Digital Trends.

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