Apple reported its most successful quarter this week, exceeding estimates in just about every facet of its business. For the company's fourth fiscal quarter, the company reported revenue of $6.22 billion and profit of $904 million; analysts had expected Apple to report revenue of $6.1 billion.

Apple has sold 1.39 million iPhones, and 1.1 million during the quarter, the company reported. Mac shipments were up 34 percent, compared to last year, and iPod shipments were up 17 percent.

Apple has sold 1.39 million iPhones, and 1.1 million during the quarter, the company reported. Mac shipments were up 34 percent, compared to last year, and iPod shipments were up 17 percent.

Apple is gaining share on the rest of the PC industry. Last week, IDC and Gartner had the worldwide PC market growing at about 15 percent, while Mac shipments are growing more than twice as fast.

The announcement lit up CNET News.com's message boards, with many readers debating the value of the Apple's market share versus other companies. But more than one reader expects the holiday shopping season to bring good tidings to Apple.

"With the reduced price, sexiness and shear functionality (not even including the coming 3rd party apps!) of the iPhone and the new iPods, Apple should have a blowout holiday season," wrote one reader to News.com's TalkBack forum.

Meanwhile, the hunt for the Google phone is a lot like hunting for Bigfoot. Rumors of a Google phone, or "Gphone," have circulated since late 2004 and hit a fever pitch over the last few months.

There was speculation that Google might drop some hints at its analyst day this week, but until now, Google executives and representatives have refused to comment, or even confirm, if Gphone is the name of a product many believe the search giant to be working on.

Often, where there's smoke, there's fire. And what do the smoke signals--and Google patents--say? Unlike Apple's iPhone, the Gphone probably won't be an actual hardware device. Instead, it's more likely to be a bundle of software and supporting infrastructure that allows a phone manufactured by someone else to access Google services, experts say.

But Google executives weren't budging on the Gphone topic.

"I'm on the board of Apple. I'm using the iPhone," said CEO Eric Schmidt, holding up his phone to show reporters. "We have a policy of not talking about future products."

And it doesn't appear that Microsoft will be taking direct aim at the iPhone anytime soon. Rather, the software maker is playing to its strengths, announcing a new piece of server software to help businesses manage a company's worth of smartphones.

Right now, Microsoft is focusing on its enterprise strengths. The company is announcing a new product, known as System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, and noting that it is providing start-up funds for Enterprise Mobile, a new Boston-based service provider that will help companies manage the process of doling out smartphones to large workforces.

The new software allows businesses to push out software updates to phones over the air and also provides a VPN system for Windows Mobile devices to get secure access to corporate data, something that in the past has typically required third-party software. But even that product is some months away.

Copyright: news.com



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