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Apple has been busy these days and just released the third beta build of iOS 6 to developers. The update has popped up in the iOS Developer Center and brings some classical bug fixes plus other improvements and is aimed at iPhones, iPod touches and iPads. The third iOS 6 version is codenamed Build 10A5355d. The previous version was unleashed only three weeks before and was entitled 10A5338d.

Changes are being identified at the moment by users installing the upgrade. The first thing that draws attention is the new section in the Settings app, in Maps, to be precise. Now users can set their preferred level of volume for the navigation voice functionality.

They can also choose how distances are shown in the app ? either in miles or kilometers. Map labels can now be displayed in other languages as well, the default being English. Map sizes can be adjusted to either ?normal? view or ?large? view. Also, roadwork and traffic accidents will pop up in the Maps app as well, so you will know in advance which roads to avoid.

Other interesting changes we have been hearing about so far are the addition of a new Answer and Decline button in FaceTime. With the third beta build, the iMessages on the iPad are now enabling phone numbers to be added as valid contact info. A cool neat addition are the glyphs that act as bookmarks in your Reading Lists and in the bookmark section in Safari.

Source: 9to5Mac

AppleInsider reports today on the views of a Barclays analyst who says that the imminent arrival of Microsoft’s Windows 8 OS will not halt the decline in PC sales. In July, according to AppleInsider, Gartners said that there had been a 5.7% decline in PC sales in the US; IDC reported an even heavier decline than that of 10.6%. And, AppleInsider notes, it’s not hard to see the reason for the decline, with massive iPad sales since Apple launched its tablet just two years ago surely having a big impact on PC sales in the consumer, education and enterprise sectors. Both IDC and Gartners count netbooks in their PC figures, and AppleInsider writes that the iPad has virtually destroyed the fledgling netbook market. Elsewhere, Canalys incorporates iPad sales into its PC sales figures, which IDC and Gartners do not, with the result that Canalys finds that global PC sales have in fact grown by 11.7%, but with 19.4% of that belonging to Apple, and the majority of the sales going to the iPad. And AppleInsider notes that it doesn’t look as though the situation is going to get much better for PC makers, even when Windows 8 is released, as Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes says that despite some “short-term ‘excitement’” following on from the release of Windows 8 in September, the PC market will continue to decelerate, with “the rise of smartphones and the iPad…having an adverse impact on the PC market – in addition to macro [economic] factors.”

Source: iPad will keep eating away PC market, despite Windows 8 "excitement"

Apple yesterday announced its financial results for its fiscal 2012 third quarter ending June 30, 2012, posting quarterly revenue of $35.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share. This represents a drop from $28.6 billion and net profit of $7.3 billion, or $7.79 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter, with a gross margin of 42.8% compared to 41.7% in the year-ago quarter. Apple also said that international sales accounted for 62% of the revenue.

Breaking down these figures further, Apple said that it sold 26 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 28% unit growth over the year-ago quarter, and 17 million iPads, representing an 84% unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Four million Macs were sold during the quarter, representing a 2% increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 6.8 million iPods, which represented a 10% decline from the year-ago quarter.

Source: Apple