Apple, Microsoft and Google Updates [29:20]

In this podcast we discuss new Apple, Microsoft and Google products and services including Leopard, Vista, the iPhone and Google IMAP support. Gordon: Mike, this past week Apple announced it had sold 2 million copies in the first weekend (last weekend).You've got Leopard and have it installed - what are your impressions?Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X and is packed with morethan 300 new features."Early indications are that Leopard will be a huge hit withcustomers,"said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Leopard's innovative features aregetting great reviews and making more people than ever think aboutswitching to the Mac."Leopard has many key innovations including the Time Machine, "aneffortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; aredesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share filesbetween multiple Macs*; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see fileswithout opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature usedto create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; abrand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files fromthe Dock; and major enhancements to Mail and iChat(R)."Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) fourth-quarter net income improved to $904million,or $1.01 a share, from a year-earlier profit of $542 million, or 62cents a share. Gordon: So - the company is doing pretty good?Among the quarter's highlights were sales of 2.16 million Macintosh PCs and 1.11 millioniPhones. Apple had the most amazing launch of the all new iPhone, andthis holiday season could be a blockbuster for the iPhone and Applerevenues. The latest iPod Touch could also rake in huge sales.Gordon: How's Microsoft doing?On October 25, 2007, Microsoft reported 27% revenue growth (over lastyear) on sales of $13.76 billion for the quarter ended September 30,2007, and the "fastest first quarter since 1999". "This fiscal year is off to an outstanding start with the fastestrevenue growth of any first quarter since 1999," said Chris Liddell,chief financial officer at Microsoft in the press release. "Operatingincome growth of over 30% also reflects our ability to translaterevenue into profits while making strategic investments for thefuture."Microsoft's businesses of Client, Microsoft Business Division, andServer and Tools grew combined revenue in excess of 20%, andexperienced robust demand for Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Officesystem, Windows Server, and SQL Server."Customer demand for Windows Vista this quarter continued to buildwith double-digit growth in multi-year agreements by businesses and withthe vast majority of consumers purchasing premium editions," said KevinJohnson, president of the Platform and Services Division at Microsoft.During the quarter, Microsoft's two consumer focused divisions passedmilestones with the successful close of the company's largest everacquisition, aQuantive, and Halo 3 achieving the biggest entertainmentlaunch day in history. (Halo 3 launch eclipsed all previous videogames and movie launches)Mike: Gordon, you just bought an iPhone - how about your  impressions?Gordon's impressions.1. Easy setup2. iTunes - easy3. IMAP Google email - very nice4. Google calendar - very nice5. Address book/SIM card conversion very simple.Gordon: Any recommendations on anything I should look at/setup today?Mike's comments.