1.) Salesforce CEO Benioff Invites Laid Off Yammer Employees to Work for Him

2.) Microsoft Could Make Billions From Office for iPad

3.) Apple Working on Fix for iOS 6.1 Passcode Hack

4.) American Express Cardholders Can Now Tweet to Buy

5.) HBO to Finally Let Subscribers Stream HBO Go to TV Over AirPlay

6.) A Big Year for Apple’s iPhone in India

7.) Bill Gates on Philanthropy, Steve Jobs and the Microsoft Product That Never Was

8.) Yes, Intel Is Building a Web TV Service (A Box, Too)

9.) The Cloud’s Dirty Little Secret

10.) Apple MacBook Pros With Retina Display Get Faster, Cheaper

For more of the week in review, you should follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

After a meteoric rise, Apple’s stock is falling back to earth.

At market close Friday, Apple’s share price had slipped to a little over $527. This after tumbling to $505.75 Thursday — some 28 percent off its September high of $705. That decline has shaved about $170 billion off the company’s market capitalization, which was headed toward $660 billion just two months ago.

A nasty plunge, and an oddly timed reversal of fortune for high-flying Apple, which is headed into the holiday season with one of its strongest product lineups ever: A new iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, new iPods, and refreshed Mac desktops and portables.

So, what’s behind the slump?

It could be the overall markets, which have taken a vicious beating recently. It could be persistent supply chain issues that have to some extent hamstrung Apple from meeting robust demand for some of its devices — the iPhone 5 is still showing shipping times of two to three weeks on the Apple Store nearly two months after first going on sale; the new iPad mini is also backordered. The iOS Maps debacle and a high-profile management overhaul may have also shaken investor faith in the company.

It could be that concerns over the “fiscal cliff” are weighing heavy on Apple as well. A number of hedge funds that count the company among their top holdings have been unloading some of their Apple shares. As David Greenberg of Greenberg Capital told CNBC, “Someone yelled ‘fire’ in the theater where the hedge funds were safely booking their year-end profits — and as traders do, they will trample you trying to be first to get to the exit.”

Meanwhile, individual investors are too timid at this point to rush in and buy up the stock the funds are selling off.

Another possible factor: Apple is losing its appeal as a growth story as it morphs into a classic blue chip value story, as Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi recently theorized. “We believe that Apple is transitioning from a hyper-growth story to a more traditional, high quality branded company story,” he recently told clients. That’s certainly possible — Apple did pay a quarterly dividend last week.

And then there’s that litany of other concerns — the iPhone market is nearing saturation; innovation at Apple is dying; gross margins are declining; “Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs”; and so on. All can weigh on Apple’s share price.

In truth, it’s probably a combination of all these things — that clichéd “perfect storm” situation that’s so often blamed for volatility like this. With one other important bit factored in.

This pre-holiday decline is a historical pattern. It’s been happening for years. Apple shares slip late in the year amid profit-taking and some irrationality or other. And then the company reports monster first-quarter earnings in January and they spike. It happened this year. And last year. And the year before that. And the year before that as well.

Look at the chart below, which tracks closing prices from the first and last day of December and January. Over the past decade, Apple shares fell an average of more than 1 percent in December back to 2002, and rose an average of more than three percent in January (Note: That average excludes two outliers — an unusual rise in December 2007 and an unusually lousy January from 2008).

See the pattern there? What are the chances the same thing will happen come January?

We’ll just have to wait and see.

Previously: Apple Investors Are Wusses

Arik Hesseldahl contributed to this report.

Big management shifts at Apple are now taking place.

Scott Forstall, the man in charge of its iOS mobile software efforts and a major and longtime executive at the tech giant, is leaving next year and will remain an adviser to CEO Tim Cook until then.

In addition, new retail head John Browett is headed out the door.

As part of the move, Apple noted that four key execs — Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi — would “add responsibilities to their roles.”

Ive gets “Human Interface”; Cue will take over Maps and Siri voice recognition responsibilities; Mansfield will run a new unit called Technologies, “which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization”; and Federighi gets the big job of iOS and OS X.

More to come on what happened, but Forstall’s departure is very big news and a drastic move for such an important player in the tech space.

He had big fans and also many detractors for his sharp-edged personality, as well as what some described as exhibiting “growing open challenges” to Cook himself. Forstall had previously been called “CEO-in-waiting” in one media account in Fortune.

In addition, numerous sources noted persistent tension between Forstall and several other key execs, especially the powerful design chief Ive.

Veiled internal politics at Apple aside, Forstall has been a key part of Apple’s success over the last decade, especially in the development iPad and the iPhone.

Recently, there has been some level of ire at Apple over the troubled rollout of its own mapping software and the replacement of Google’s popular service, which was Forstall’s responsibility. (No, this move does not mean everyone gets Google mapping back, as one person asked me.)

Browett’s leaving is a little less of a surprise. Since he got the job, he has alienated many within the highly successful retail organization at Apple, many sources said.

His departure comes less than one year after the former Dixons CEO was hired by Apple to succeed Ron Johnson, who left for J.C. Penney in November 2011. Recently he’s been criticized by some Apple Store employees for unfriendly policy changes aimed at increasing Apple’s retail profit margins.

More to come, obvi, but here is the official press release from Apple, which it put out with the most understated title of all time:

Apple Announces Changes to Increase Collaboration Across Hardware, Software & Services

Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi Add Responsibilities to Their Roles

CUPERTINO, California — October 29, 2012 — Apple® today announced executive management changes that will encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams. As part of these changes, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will add more responsibilities to their roles. Apple also announced that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim.

“We are in one of the most prolific periods of innovation and new products in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The amazing products that we’ve introduced in September and October, iPhone 5, iOS 6, iPad mini, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, iPod nano and many of our applications, could only have been created at Apple and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services.”

Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design. His incredible design aesthetic has been the driving force behind the look and feel of Apple’s products for more than a decade.

Eddy Cue will take on the additional responsibility of Siri® and Maps, placing all of our online services in one group. This organization has overseen major successes such as the iTunes Store®, the App Store℠, the iBookstore℠ and iCloud®. This group has an excellent track record of building and strengthening Apple’s online services to meet and exceed the high expectations of our customers.

Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X®. Apple has the most advanced mobile and desktop operating systems, and this move brings together the OS teams to make it even easier to deliver the best technology and user experience innovations to both platforms.

Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization, fostering innovation in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include the semiconductor teams, who have ambitious plans for the future.

Additionally, John Browett is leaving Apple. A search for a new head of Retail is underway and in the interim, the Retail team will report directly to Tim Cook. Apple’s Retail organization has an incredibly strong network of leaders at the store and regional level who will continue the excellent work that has been done over the past decade to revolutionize retailing with unique, innovative services for customers.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

The earnings were lower than the $8.75 consensus though sales beat the $35.8 billion in sales that analysts had expected. Both numbers were as usual, substantially higher than Apple’s guidance of $7.65 per share and sales of $34 billion.

Apple’s third fiscal quarter is often a quieter one, bolstered a bit by the back-to-school season where it has traditionally promoted sales of notebooks. Consumers also have lately been holding back on purchases of new iPhones iPads and Macs anticipating correctly that new products were on the way to ensure strong holiday-season sales.

Apple shares, after closing the regular session down by more than 1 percent to at $609.5 rose by $3.51 in after hours trading or less than 1 percent to $613.28 before its shares were halted.

Here’s some data points:

iPad sales were sequentially down by 17 percent to 14 million units in the quarter, clearly a sign that consumers were waiting for the announcement that Apple made last week of a new iPad and the iPad mini.

Sales of iPhones on a unit basis were about even sequentially. Apple sold 26.9 million of those in the quarter versus 26 million in the third quarter.

Mac sales were solid. Apple sold nearly 5 million in the quarter, of which nearly 4 million were notebooks. Mac sales in the Asia-Pacific region, including China amounted to $7.5 billion which is interesting for the fact that that region drew nearly even with Europe, which reported $8 billion worth of Mac sales.

Here’s another: Apple’s pile of cash continued to grow: Its combined hoard of cash, short, and long-term investments reached $121.25 billion. It paid a dividend of $2.65 a share.

Update: Trading has just resumed and Apple shares are falling. As I type they’re trading at about $598, down about $11 or more than 1 percent.

Here’s Apple’s announcement.

Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results
26.9 Million iPhones Sold; Record Fourth Quarter Revenue and Profit
Board Declares Quarterly Dividend of $2.65 per Common Share

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $28.3 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.0 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The Company sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 14.0 million iPads during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.9 million Macs during the quarter, a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 5.3 million iPods, a 19 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.
Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on November 15, 2012, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 12, 2012.
“We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re entering this holiday season with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod products ever, and we remain very confident in our new product pipeline.”
“We’re pleased to have generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, we expect revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75.”

Certainly that’s what Apple suggested back in July, when it said it expected fourth-quarter earnings of $7.65 a share on revenue of about $34 billion. That was a conservative take, even for a company that is notorious for giving conservative guidance, and it fell well short of the consensus forecast at the time.

So, what can we expect when Apple reports after market close today?

Well … Wall Street is looking for earnings of $8.91 per share on sales of $36.27 billion, which is far in excess of Apple’s lowball guidance. The independent analysts tracked by Fortune are expecting earnings of $10.14 on sales of $38.8 billion, which is even further beyond Cupertino’s numbers. And it’s impossible to say who is likely to come out closest to the mark.

A few things worth noting ahead of Apple’s report:

• Apple shares are up more than 50 percent so far this year. But they’re also down 10 percent from the record closing high of $702.10 they hit last month.
• Analysts tempered their iPad sales forecast Tuesday after Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company had sold 100 million iPads to date. Many extrapolated from that number and concluded that fourth-quarter shipments might fall slightly below their expectations of about 17.5 million.
• Apple refreshed its MacBook Air and Pro lines in June, and that almost certainly drove Mac sales a bit.
• The iPhone will be the major catalyst in the quarter, just as it always is. That said, the iPhone 5 shipped on Sept. 21, and was on sale for just nine full days before the fiscal quarter closed, and while demand for the device was, and continues to be, insatiable, supplies have been constrained. Remember, Apple sold five million iPhone 5s over the handset’s launch weekend, and that was viewed by Wall Street as a disappointment. Analysts figure Apple sold 25 million to 26 million iPhones in the fourth quarter.
• Apple’s next quarter is really the one to watch. The company is heading into the holidays with a new iPhone, a new iPad, a new smaller iPad, new iPods, a new iMac and Mac Mini, and the eagerly anticipated 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. With that in mind, some analysts feel Apple’s fourth quarter is something of a … throwaway.

  “Our view is that September quarter numbers do not matter,” J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz said in a Wednesday research note to clients. “Apple can miss or beat. It does not matter. … In our view, the two important iPhone and iPad launches set the stage for big numbers to be reported in late January 2013 as relates to December quarter results.”

Apple will release its numbers sometime after 1 pm PT today, with an earnings call to follow at 2 pm. Join us back here for coverage.

Thankfully, I was flying Virgin America, which has Wi-Fi on every flight. So, like many people, I was tuned into various liveblogs (including, of course, our own).

Being up here gives a little distance and perspective. So, pardon the pun, here’s my 30,000-foot take on what Apple announced, and how it fits in with some other things going on in the industry.

The iPad mini was the expected star of the show, and it arrived as the final product, though with few surprises. Apple kept the same aspect ratio and pixel count as the iPad 2, so the mini is all set to run any iPad-optimized apps.

Apple isn’t competing aggressively on price — selling the Wi-Fi-only model for $329, well above tablets such as the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 (not to mention a host of other small Android slates). Still, Apple did lower the bar slightly, with the mini selling for $70 less than the cheapest full-size iPad 2.

Apple also introduced an updated fourth-generation iPad that should upset some who thought “the new iPad” wouldn’t become “the old iPad” quite so fast. For all other buyers, they are just getting more bang for the buck — along with the new Lightning connector. That’s a good thing for the future, probably, but, as with the iPhone, it’s a pain if you have lots of existing iPeripherals.

On the desktop Mac side of things, Apple revamped its two main models — the iMac and Mac mini. However, Apple plays in only in a couple segments of the desktop market. For those looking for an all-in-one, the iMac got thinner and more powerful, employing a hybrid drive that combines flash and hard-drive storage.

Here, the iMac will find itself up against a host of touchscreen Windows 8 all-in-ones. Apple continues to make the case that touch is best served on tablets, and that when it comes to the desktop, a nice trackpad will do the trick. Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and everyone else will be making a different case, as they add touch to lots of their models — particularly tablets, all-in-ones and convertibles.

As for laptops, Apple added one new model to its lineup, introducing a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, offering those who want the high-end screen in a more compact and slightly less pricey machine. As with the 15-incher, choosing the Retina display gets you a thinner, lighter laptop, but at the expense of an optical drive and a bigger hit to the wallet.

Apple didn’t break a ton of new ground on Tuesday, but what it did was expand its reach, covering a larger part of the markets in which it already competes. Plus, Apple ensured that it will have some brand-new products in stores just as Microsoft and PC makers begin their massive Windows 8 push. Google is also expected to update its Nexus lineup, having scheduled an event for Oct. 29 in New York. (Android chief Andy Rubin will be at D: Dive Into Mobile later that day.)

Well, it’s about time to fasten seat belts and turn off electronic devices. That gives me just enough time to ponder which devices might be finding their way onto this year’s holiday shopping list.

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If you’re looking for a surprise here, you won’t find it. As predicted, Apple delivered a smaller version of the tablet it first brought out in April 2010.

And, earlier this morning, Tim Cook announced that Apple had sold 100 million of the full-sized ones since then.

So why buy the new one? Apple’s messaging today comes down to two basic ideas:

• The iPad mini is just as good as the regular iPads.
• The iPad mini is much better than the smaller tablets you’ve seen from Amazon and Google.

Is that enough? Earlier in his presentation, Cook argued convincingly that consumers didn’t have much interest in rival tablets, boasting that 91 percent of all Web traffic on tablets comes from iPads. But, as we now know, Apple’s own executives think there’s value in a smaller tablet, even if Steve Jobs publicly disagreed.

Time to see what consumers think.

——————

We know that Apple is showing off a new iPad today. And we know it will be smaller and cheaper than its other models.

But while we obsess over the details that Tim Cook and company unveil at the California Theatre in San Jose this morning, it’s worth keeping the big picture in mind: How will Apple convince consumers to buy a smaller version of the thing they have already bought 84 million times?

There seems to be a pretty good business case for Apple here: Google and Amazon are making increasingly attractive mini tablets. And even if those gadgets don’t appear to be making much of a dent in iPad sales so far, there’s no reason to let them have the minipad market to themselves.

Plus, there’s the fact that Apple executives who aren’t Steve Jobs seem to think a small tablet is a good thing.

But that’s all behind-the-scenes stuff. For the past two years, Apple has been telling consumers that the tablet it makes is perfect for use at home, at work and on the road. So, what does a smaller version of the same thing have to offer?

We’ll get to hear Apple make its case very soon. Tune in below for live coverage. You can also watch the event stream in real time, as long as you have an Apple computer, Apple TV or iOS device.

Greetings! Typing at you live from San Jose. In theory, Apple event should kick off in 10 minutes.

9:53 am: Time to play “name that song.” Currently in rotation: Something that sounds like El DeBarge. Though pretty sure it isn’t.

9:54 am: Also have time to introduce my fellow ATD writers, who are also on hand to contribute live reports. Say hello to John “The Brow” Paczkowski, Bonnie “Boom Boom” Cha, and Adam Tow, who is so cool he doesn’t need a nickname.

(FYI, Adam is the guy who takes all the great photos you’re seeing. He’s also the guy who keeps the site running. Good guy to suck up to.)

9:56 am: Interesting. SoundHound works even with the din in here. So I can tell you we’re now listening to something called “It’s Time” by something called Imagine Dragons. (Sounds like Simple Minds, for you oldsters.)

10:00 am: And we’re on. Here’s Tim Cook. Loud applause.

10:01 am: Cook intro-ing. “Really exciting things to show you.”

Update time, beginning with iPhone.

Superlatives for iPhone 5 opening-weekend sales, which we’ve heard about.

Now a video of people buying phones at Apple stores.

Buying an iPhone 5 was very, very exciting. Even more so if you had a thumping, soaring soundtrack behind you as you made your purchase.

No ugly people bought iPhone 5s opening weekend.

10:04 am: Cook is back onstage.

Now recapping intro of iPod touch, nano. Shoutout to The Verge, which is apparently off the Apple shitlist.

Sold three million new iPod touches, nanos.

iOS 6 now on 200 million devices.

“Phenomenal!”

“Fastest upgrade rate” of any device “we’re aware of.”

More feature recaps.

125 million documents “in the Cloud.” Wonder if that includes music files.

300 billion iMessages in last year. [Applause] 28,000 per second.

160 million Game Center accounts. (I have one. Have never used it.)

70 million photos shared.

App store: Last month, 700,000 iOS apps. Now 275,000 iPad apps. Both numbers “growing,” Cook says.

New milestone: 35 billion apps downloaded.

“This is jaw-dropping.”

$6.5 billion paid out to developers. Someone back that math out, and you can figure out total app sales.

iBooks: 1.5 million titles available.

Cook is uptempo, selling hard this morning. Bezos-like.

New version of iBooks out today. “Really cool new reading option”: Continuous scrolling. A few “ahs” from the crowd.

New sharing feature with Facebook, Twitter.

Now supports Japanese, Chinese text.

“You’re going to love it.”

On to the Mac. Apple outgrew the PC market, 15 percent to 2 percent, in the last year. Been doing that for six years.

Because everyone everywhere says Mac is the best.

10:14 am: Going to continue innovating with Mac. So here’s Phil Schiller to talk about it. [Loud applause]

MacBook: 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display was perhaps the best we’ve made. Engadget, The Verge, Wired all praised us.

But No. 1-selling notebook, and Mac, is 13-inch MacBook Pro. “Just perfect for so many uses.”

So we’re going to “introduce something so much better.”

Here’s the 13-inch MacBook Pro. [Loud applause]

.75-inch thin. Look, it’s 20 percent thinner than the last model. At 3.5 pounds, it’s “almost a pound lighter” than the last one.

“Look how thin it is.”

Bye-bye, optical drive.

Retina display, like all of you said it would have.

2,560 by 1,660 pixels.

“Second-highest-resolution notebook display.” 15-inch Macbook is highest.

Schiller is trying to tell us that you’ll get a better image on your notebook than on your HDTV.

“Surfing the Web could be like a fine print magazine.”

Great for photographers. Lots of Retina-optimized apps.

“But there’s a lot more”: Better speakers, HD camera, etc.

On to the innards: “Everything about the new MacBook Pro has been reengineered from scratch.”

Chips: Intel Ivy Bridge, Intel HD Graphics.

“It is a fantastic computer.”

10:22 am: Meanwhile! Eagle-eyed John Paczkowski points out that on the right side of the stage, there appears to be something draped in black cloth on a black stand. If you squint and hope, you could imagine something like a big monitor under there …

10:23 am: Now an ad.

Starting pricing: MacBook Air, $999; MacBook Pro, $1,199; MacBook Pro w/Retina, $1,699.

“It is the best lineup of portables we have ever offered.”

10:25 am: New: Mac mini. “You knew there’d be something called ‘mini’ in this presentation.” [Applause]

Haven’t heard anyone talk about Mac mini in a very long time. New innards. Better chips, more storage, RAM. Entry-level is $599.

10:27 am: iMac. It’s “the best all-in-one computer in the industry.”

Remember the original iMac from 1998?

Schiller shows off something that looks like those “evolution of man” posters, showing iMacs over the years.

Ooohs and ahs for new super-thin iMac. Followed by loudest applause of morning.

Sustained applause.

Still clapping.

Schiller: “Stunning from every side.”

10:29 am: So there’s that mystery solved. It was a monitor under wraps over there. It just happens to have a computer built into it.

5mm-thin edge. Extends down to “the chin” of the device.

They used something called “friction stir welding” to put the device together.

It brings back the image of the old iMac, which now looks like a sad fatty hanging out with Louis C.K. at the Cinnabon.

10:32 am: Many more specs, explanations of how they made it so thin. For instance: “Plasma deposition process.”

Eight pounds lighter than old tubby iMac.

“There is a serious computer inside this thin design.”

New iMac cannot fly, nor can it turn water into wine.

New “Apple Fusion Drive” is available for both mini and iMac. 128GB flash. 1 terabyte or 3TB HDD. “Fused into a single volume.”

Basic idea: Fusion Drive figures out, on the fly, what stuff should go over to flash drive, which should be relegated to HDD. “You just use it, it works.”

Fusion Drive gets round of applause.

Entry level for new iMac: $1,299. More applause.

Shipping next month.

Next level up: $1,799. Those won’t ship till December.

Uses 50 percent less energy. “Perhaps the boldest new iMac designs we’ve ever created.”

10:38 am: Schiller off, Cook back.

“These products are really cool.”

Next up: iPad.

New stat: Two weeks ago, sold our 100-millionth iPad. Applause.

That’s in 2.5 years, remember. “Unprecedented for a new product in a new category.”

“This has attracted a fair amount of attention.” But no one is using rival tablets, Cook says: iPads account for 91 percent of tablet Web traffic.

Why are iPads killing it? “Turns out there is a simple reason for it. People love their iPads.”

Cook sings praises of existing iPad line.

So …

Wait for it …

Not there yet: Some education talk.

Students, teachers love the iPad. Here’s a testimonial from a school superintendent in Texas.

Refers to iBooks Author, introduced earlier this year. (Haven’t heard much about this since.)

New iPad textbooks so great they make you want to be a kid again. Now in 2,500 classrooms in the U.S.

Not just Big Three publishers, but little ones, too.

New version of iBooks Author. (Note that yesterday McGraw-Hill was offering executive for interview, post-event.)

Easier to update books, etc. Available today.

10:45 am: Time to talk up iPad in the office.

94 percent of Fortune 500 “testing or deploying iPad.”

“Just getting started …”

Still winding up: Newest iPad is awesome. “But we’re not taking our foot off the gas.”

10:47 am: Cook off, Schiller back.

Schiller: Fourth-generation iPad. “Amazing … it is a powerhouse.”

New A6X chip.

2x faster than last chip for CPU, for graphics. New “image signal processor,” etc.

Ten-hour battery life. Upgraded camera. LTE with “greatly expanded coverage.” Working with many new carriers, including Sprint.

New cables, connectors.

Retina display, of course. Comes in “both black and white.”

Starts at $499 for 16GB. $629 with cellular.

“So, what else can we do to help customers find even more uses for iPad …”

10:50 am: And here we go: iPad mini (or whatever they’re calling it). Loudest applause yet.

Yup, “iPad mini.”

“What can you do with iPad mini that you can’t do” with regular iPad? “This” — you can hold it in one hand.

Again, crucial here for Schiller, et al, to explain why you want one of these, not just to talk specs.

Then again, crowd already pumped.

Thin as a pencil, light as a pad of paper.

Screen size: It had to be smaller, but not too small, etc. iPad 2: 9.7-inch diagnoal, iPad mini, 7.9-inch. Both have same pixel count. So all software created for iPad already works on mini.

“Great for reading your email, responding to your email, surfing the Web.”

Great for magazines, books, HD phone calls. Great for all of your iWork apps. “It is so much fun” to play GarageBand on this.

Facebook shout-out.

Games: Real Racing 2.

No one else can say their apps work great on shrunken tablets.

Compares iPad mini side by side with Google’s Nexus 7, without calling it out by name.

Apple’s display is bigger — 7.9-inch to 7-inch. That’s 29.6 square inches, compared to 21.9. 35 percent larger. “That’s a huge difference.”

Shows off Web page for Guggenheim site, argues that, in practicality, it’s 49 percent bigger, once you strip out the Android “noise” around it. Flip it over, and it’s 67 percent.

Two messages so far: iPad mini is like iPad, but smaller. iPad mini is like Google’s Nexus, but better.

Shout-out to TripAdvisor. Did I also hear him name-check Pandora?

iPad mini’s innards better than iPad 2’s.

Better chip, 5MP iSight camera, LTE wireless, faster Wi-Fi.

Ten-hour battery life.

“Every inch an iPad.”

11:00 am: Here’s a video.

Jony Ive, of course.

This sounds like The Jam in the background. Wonder if that’s right.

This isn’t just a shrunken iPad, says Jony Ive. If we just shrunk it, you’d notice “loss.” This is not just a “reduction of the original.”

More spec talk.

(Apple isn’t arguing that there’s anything you can do with this — short of holding it one-handed — that you can’t already do with the devices it is already selling. And that alone may be enough for some people. But I assume that the price will be the real kicker here.)

11:05 am: Schiller back.

Comes with its own line of covers (optional).

Starts at 16GB. $329 for Wi-Fi only.

Still selling iPad 2 at $399.

Preorder starts Friday. W-Fi ships next week. Two weeks later, shipping Wi-Fi + cellular.

And here comes a TV ad.

Not a word. Very smart.

11:09 am: Schiller off, Cook on.

2012 wrap-up. “We told you earlier this year you would see some incredible innovation this year … we think we kept our promise.”

Sparing you recap of things we’re already heard about today. My hunch: No one more thing today. Hope I’m wrong!

“Yes, it has been an incredible year.”

“A truly prolific year of innovation for Apple.”

Shout-outs to Apple employees. “They dedicate a huge part of their lives to making the best products on Earth.”

Applause. Cook beams.

“These are the most talented and innovative people I know, and it is a privilege to work with them”

11:12 am: And that’s a wrap.
Closing music from Jack Black, via his new “Blunderbuss” album, which is excellent. [Correction: That's Jack White, of course. Thanks to reader RichardL for noting.]

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Sources familiar with Apple’s plans tell AllThingsD that the company plans to unveil a smaller version of its MacBook Pro with Retina Display, as well. News of Apple’s plans to show off the device next week was first reported by 9to5Mac.

The machine, a 13-inch version of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display that debuted in June, will feature the same thin chassis, all-Flash storage and a 2,560 by 1,600 pixel density display comparable to the 2880 by 1800 display of its predecessor, sources say. No word yet on price, though it will obviously be a bit less than the $2,199 baseline price of the 15-incher.

Update: Looks like Apple may also have a new Mac Mini in the pipeline as well.

• There are currently 380 Apple Stores.
• Today, they are in 12 countries. When a new Apple Store opens in Sweden on Friday, they will be in 13.
• Apple’s retail stores collectively had some 83 million visitors last quarter.
• That’s nearly 1 million people per day.
• 7 million Mac users have upgraded to Mountain Lion so far, making it the fasting selling Mac OS of all time.
• The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro together have become the No. 1 notebook in the U.S. in the last three months, with 27 percent market share.
• The Mac has experienced 15 percent year-over-year growth.
• That growth has outpaced that of the PC for six consecutive years.
• Apple sold 17 million iPads between April and June. That’s more iPads than any PC manufacturer sold of their entire PC line.
• And it sold 84 million iPads through June.
• The iPad had a 62 percent share of the tablet market a year ago.
• Today it has a 68 percent share.
• The iPad is responsible for 91 percent of the Web traffic from tablets.
• 94 percent of the Fortune 500 are testing or deploying the iPad.
• There are 700,000 apps in the iTunes App Store.
• 250,000 of them are iPad-specific.
• 90 percent of the apps in the App Store are downloaded every month.
• The average customer has about 100 of them.
• By the end of June 2012, Apple had sold 400 million iOS devices.
• There are 200 million customers using iTunes in the cloud.
• There are 435 million iTunes accounts (with associated credit card numbers).
• There are iTunes Stores available in 63 countries.
• Together they have served up 15 billion media downloads.
• Apple has sold 350 million iPods to date.
• And it has sold 600 million of pairs of the earbuds which it replaced today with its new EarPod headphones.

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I’ve just downloaded the Parallels 8 software (trying to migrate some Windows software from our family PC to my MacBook Pro). Because I am now running PC applications via Parallels 8, will I need to install and maintain antivirus software as if my MacBook Pro was a PC?

A:

Yes, definitely, and it’s included in Parallels. Since Parallels creates a virtual Windows PC on your Mac, it can run Windows software and that includes malicious software, which is almost always written to run in Windows. So, as with any Windows PC, I strongly recommend you run security software inside the faux PC created by Parallels. This software only operates when Parallels and Windows are running.

Q:

I have a desktop and laptop, both running Windows XP and Excel 2003. I use a USB stick to move spreadsheets between the PCs so I can work on them at either computer. But now I want to purchase a new laptop running Windows 7 and Excel 2010. Will I still be able to go back and forth between my new laptop and old desktop, updating an Excel spreadsheet?

A:

Yes. Excel 2010 can handle files created in the 2003 version. But, for the older version to handle files created in the newer one, you’ll have to install a free “compatibility pack” on your desktop. It’s available at: http://bit.ly/P8iiHG. Also, there are some steps that may be needed in Excel 2010 to properly handle files created in the 2003 version. These are outlined by Microsoft here: http://bit.ly/QxeyTr.

Q:

In your review of Parallels 8, you said it ran Windows 8 very well on your MacBook Air. What are the basic specs on that computer?

A:

It’s the latest and greatest edition of the 13″ Air that Apple offers, but doesn’t pack the power of some other Macs, like most of the MacBook Pros. It uses the midrange Intel i5 processor, not the more potent i7. It lacks a dedicated graphics card. Though my machine has 8 gigabytes of memory, the default is 4 GB, which is what Parallels recommends, though the minimum required is 2 GB.

I have a MacBook Pro and an old Dell that is dying. I’m very much into genealogy and I’ve used Family Tree Maker for 15 years and love the 2005 version. If I were to install Boot Camp on my Mac would I be able to run the 2005 version?

A:

If a program will run on a Windows PC, it almost certainly will run on a Mac running Boot Camp with Windows installed. Boot Camp essentially turns the Mac into a Windows PC, with no Mac operating system running. Windows takes over the hardware.

The only problem might be if the version of Family Tree Maker you want to use won’t run on Windows 7, because Boot Camp requires a fresh, boxed copy of Windows and it may be difficult for you to find and buy an older version than Windows 7.

Q:

I have several two- to three-year-old laptops that I would like to donate. Is there a quick and easy way to wipe the hard drives clean without having to painstakingly delete/uninstall info/programs?

A:

Yes. It’s generally called a “file wiper” program and it deletes all or some of the files on a PC in a way that makes it impossible for even a typical skilled technician to recover your files. I haven’t reviewed any for years, so I can’t recommend one. But you can find one by searching for “file wipers.”

Q:

In your review last week of the Zoom video conferencing service, you only briefly mentioned Google+ Hangouts, which I find works well. Doesn’t Hangout have some features Zoom lacks and why didn’t you do a detailed comparison?

A:

The column wasn’t meant to be a comparison of multiple video conferencing services. It was a review focused on a new one I found to have excellent quality and to allow more simultaneous participants — 15 — than any other free service I’ve seen, including Hangout, which allows for 10 participants.

I also found it attractive that it is a stand-alone service, not part of a social network or email service, as Hangout is, because there are many people who prefer not to join yet another network.

But I did note that Hangout “works well” and, as you note, Google’s service does have some features Zoom lacks, like access to Google Docs and the ability to broadcast your video chat to nonparticipants.

Write to Walt at walt.mossberg@wsj.com.

According to the latest data from NPD, U.S. Mac sales grew 1 percent year over year for the last month of the June quarter, after falling 13 percent in April and 23 percent in May.

Now, for the full quarter, Mac sales are still down 10 percent from the same period a year ago — according to NPD. But the fact that they’ve recovered from that 23 percent decline in May is a positive sign as we head into fall and the uptick in consumer spending that it heralds.

“We believe the momentum from the June Mac refresh will carry into the September quarter,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who published NPD’s sales data in a research note. “While the up 1 percent is not tremendous growth, we believe that the refreshed Macs will enable Apple to sustain a better growth profile in the U.S. through the back-to-school season.”

Munster, who expects Mac growth of 5 percent for the June quarter, is calling for Apple to ship 4.1 million Macs — in line with Street consensus. He sees iPhone shipments of 28 million to 29 million units last quarter, ahead of the 25- to 27-million-unit consensus, and iPad shipments of 16 million units, which is in line with the Street’s expectations.

Apple reports earnings on Tuesday, July 24.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

But one start-up, Taykey, was busy keeping score. It uses “patented technology” to analyze trends and conversations across social sources to help its advertising customers improve their campaigns, but in this case, it was just as useful as a judge in the Apple/Microsoft race. Not being privy to the company’s trade secrets, I can’t comment on the accuracy of the following infographic, but it’s definitely interesting. Pretty, too:

I have a son starting college in August and want to buy him a laptop. Your latest buyer’s guide has me wondering if I should wait to purchase. I spoke with the tech salesman at his college, mentioning your column, and he told me not to worry. He said Windows 8 is really just an upgrade for touch-screen usage, and Dell laptops are not using that touch-screen technology.

A:

That college salesman is wrong on all counts. Windows 8 isn’t just about touch screens—it has many more new features—and I do expect that Dell will be offering touch screens and other new hardware designs.

The problem is that all of the newest designs meant for Windows 8 may not be out by August. You’ll likely be able to upgrade to Windows 8 on a new machine you buy then, and the new software will work without a touch screen. But you may not have the full choice of new models.

Q:

I have a desktop Mac bought in November. Currently I am considering buying a laptop, such as the new MacBook Pro. Since I have an iPhone that I like and it is very portable, would you suggest that I buy the MacBook Pro instead of the new iPad? What I’m looking for is something portable but has computer qualities.

A:

While an iPad does have “computer qualities,” and in fact has replaced laptop use for many people in scenarios like email, video, music and Web browsing, most people find it cannot fully replace their traditional computers. So, if you want your next portable machine to be a sort of mobile version of your iMac, get the MacBook. If not, you’ll find the iPad is much better at many computer-like tasks than the iPhone, because of its larger screen and keyboard.

Q:

I’m thinking about buying a Chromebook for school and thinking I can use Google Docs to substitute for Microsoft Office. How long should I wait for Google to integrate Google Drive offline?

A:

The company didn’t give me a precise date, but said it should be within the next six weeks or so.

Email Walt at mossberg@wsj.com

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