Morning Report: Best Buy Tablet Sales Crash, Apple Support Goofs, Roxio Toast 12

If you happen to follow one or more iOS app developers on Twitter, you've probably noticed an uptick in posts about the challenges they face in surviving as independents. One of the most detailed comes from developer Jared Sinclair, who outlined the first year's worth of sales activity for his RSS app Unread, and it's a bit of a sobering view on how even quality titles can fail to produce sustainable income. Apparently the same might be said about tablets, judging from today's Morning Report...

Best Buy CEO Sounds Alarm Over "Crashing" Tablet Sales

Here's a bit of news that probably won't sit well with executives at Apple and other tablet makers. Re/code published an interview with Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly today discussing how the retailer has managed to survive with more than 1,000 stores where all other competitors have failed, and why PC sales may actually be on the upswing in the wake of the tablet boom.

"The tablets boomed and now are crashing," Joly explained. "The volume has really gone down in the last several months. But I think the laptop has something of a revival because it’s becoming more versatile. So, with the two-in-ones, you have the opportunity to have both a tablet and laptop, and that’s appealing to students in particular. So you have an evolution. The boundaries are not as well defined as they used to be."

Joly specifically cited Microsoft's Surface as leading the charge for hybrid tablet/laptop devices, while noting consumers apparently think once they've purchased a tablet, there's little need to upgrade to the next generation model — which will certainly come as sour news to the manufacturers of such devices.

Apple Support Pages Out Unannounced Mid-2014 iMac, Mac mini

The gang in Cupertino doesn't often make typographical errors on their website, but yesterday, the eagle-eyed folks at 9to5Mac spotted what could potentially be one or two of them. A support page outlining which versions of Windows work with Boot Camp on various Mac models briefly referenced "Mac mini (Mid 2014)," a product refresh that has yet to be announced, let alone actually released to the public.

While that appears to be a mistake now that the listing has been corrected, a second potential gaffe has turned up on the exact same page for an "iMac (27-inch, Mid 2014)" — presumably a larger version of the 21.5-inch iMac refresh last month. This listing is still live at this writing, so it remains to be seen if it's just another mistake or an actual spec bump that could go live soon.

Roxio Debuts Toast 12 for Mac with Live Screen Capture

Roxio announced Tuesday the release of Toast 12 Titanium and Toast 12 Pro, new versions of the company's venerable software for burning optical discs on the Mac. With nearly every Mac model now shipping without a SuperDrive, Roxio has diversified a bit, now offering live screen capture and enhanced support for sharing content to iPhone, iPad, and other mobile devices, while adding the ability to burn HD-quality AVCHD video onto standard DVDs capable of playing back on Blu-ray players.

Speaking of Blu-ray, Toast 12 Pro also adds built-in support for burning HD movies to that format, along with a "digital media toolkit" of additional third-party applications, including HDR Express 2 for enhancing photos, FotoMagico 3 RE for animating images, isotope Music & Speech Cleaner, SmartSound Sonicfire Pro 5.8 for creating custom soundtracks, and Reallusion FaceFilter 3 for photo retouching.

Roxio Toast 12 Titanium and Toast 12 Pro are now available as electronic downloads for $99.99 and $149.99 respectively, and will be available from "selected retail partners" in September.

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