Apple Falls Short of Earnings Estimate for First Time in Seven Years

On Tuesday, Apple announced quarterly earnings for its 2011 fiscal fourth quarter, which ended September 25th. Incredibly, Apple fell short of analyst estimates. Analysts had predicted that Apple would report earnings of $7.39 per share on revenue on $29.69 billion. Instead, Apple earnings came in at $7.05 per diluted share on revenue of $28.3 billion.

                                

Today narked the first quarterly earnings report since Steve Jobs’ departure as CEO and eventual passing. It was also the first earnings miss for Apple since 2004. Consequently, in after-hours trading, shares of Apple (AAPL) plunged better than 7%.

Not withstanding the initial disappointment, Apple still saw its earnings grow dramatically over the same quarter last year. For the quarter, Apple sold 17.07 million iPhones, 11.2 million iPads, and 4.89 million Macs.

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Washington Hospital Using Mobile Apps in Care of Critical Patients

Mobile applications are playing an increasingly larger role in the way doctors and hospitals care for patients.

                                             

The hospital at the center of today’s mHealth buzz is Washington Hospital Center, the facility behind “CodeHeart,” the highly secure mobile application solution developed and customized in collaboration with AT&T that provides a real-time video and audio stream that can be used in critical care situations, such as ambulances in transit.

According to an example presented in a press release issued by the medical facility, the solution can be used by hospital cardiologists to view, in real-time, a patient’s condition while simultaneously speaking with the patient’s first responder or the attending Emergency Department (ED) physician. Importantly, the solution also provides physicians the ability to view vital signs and test results–like electrocardiograms (ECG)–captured through the real-time video feed.

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Square Rolls Out Sophisticated Mobile Payment Solution for iPhone

Square has unveiled a new app for iPhone users called Card Case. Acting like a digital wallet, the new app enables users to complete purchases at participating stores without even having to retrieve the device from their purse, pocket, or coat.

“This is truly the simplest way to pay,” said Megan Quinn, director of products for Square.

The app opens a tab with the merchant for payments to be made automatically when the user is in close proximity to a store that uses this particular service.

                                      

This is made possible by Apple’s new iOS 5, which delivers a state of the art location-based mobile technology.

When a user is ready to make a purchase, the customer simply states their name. The store employee at the point of sale or cash register can then verify the user’s face on their side of the app. Subsequently, the charges are issued and the money is automatically withdrawn from the debit card or credit card associated with that individual user’s app.

According to the folks at Square, the service is available at some 20,000 outlets nationwide that have already signed up to accept Card Case payments.

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Millennial Media Looks At Local Market Targeting in Q3 SMART Report

On Thursday, Millennial Media published its Q3 SMART report.

The latest in-depth report from the folks at Millennial Media highlights key areas of the mobile marketing realm that have made significant gains in recent months.

According to the findings presented in the report, local market targeting grew a staggering 50% quarter-over-quarter, and certain “post-click” options, like the ability to watch video, similarly grew 78% quarter-over-quarter.

Finance, however, was the top US ad vertical on Millennial Media’s network and has grown 356% year-over-year. Entertainment, on the other hand, was the top International ad vertical.

                                      

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Amazon Bringing Voice Recognition to Kindle Fire?

Six weeks ago, juggernaut online retailer Amazon introduced the world to the Kindle Fire, an Android-powered tablet that undercuts the majority of competing tablets with its introductory price of $199.

“We’re building premium products at non-premium prices,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said as the new Amazon tablet was introduced.

Upon first glance, no shortage of analysts saw the Kindle Fire as a quality tablet capable of eating into Apple’s dominant share of the tablet marketplace. Naturally, however, given that the tablet hasn’t yet reached consumers, it remains to be seen if buyers are equally as excited by the new Amazon tablet.

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Square Now Processing $11 Million in Mobile Payments Daily

Twitter co-founder and mobile payment platform pioneer Jack Dorsey announced over the weekend that Square is now processing close to a whopping $11 million a day in mobile payments. Not bad for a company that was only processing $4 million in mobile payments daily last July.


                                   










Dorsey made the announcement at the Techonomy conference in Tucson, Arizona.
Dorsey revealed at the conference his belief that Square’s success and rapid growth are rooted in the same fundamental factors that make Twitter work.

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