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The Fourth Quarter was Apple's most profitable quarter ever. Yesterday's earnings call was about two things. One, the iPhone Platform continues to deliver the goods. Two, the continued impressive growth of the Mac, especially MacBooks. As such, it was about the power of the platform as much as it was about the device itself.

Yesterday, Apple announced that they are now allowing In-App Purchasing within free apps. I think that this is a big deal, an entree into what I refer to as 'land and expand,' and yet another reason that Apple remains the gold standard of mobile computing.

We've wrapped up work on Head First iPhone Development (it's shipping now) and that gave me a chance to sit down and think about Head First in general. Going through the process with both an academic book (Head First Algebra)...

Apple's iPhone Platform is a runaway success relative to just about any metric that you can throw at it, save for one. Where are the breakout successful developers for whom the platform is a 'True Wealth' inducing moment? On the one hand, it is humorous to listen to the woes of 'aspiring' millionaires quibble. On the other, there is a valid argument that Apple's push to drive volume and ubiquity via "cheap" comes at the potential cost of cultivating breakout, transformational apps that cost more, require a longer sales cycle, and thus, more evangelizing to find their beachhead.

I've had a few questions about the software I used in my previous screencasts. I created the app using Xcode for the Mac. Xcode is a developer tool, and if you want to develop iPhone apps, you'll need to download both Xcode and the iPhone SDK.

Project Bar-B-Q is a great place to discover tomorrow's audio technology, so I was intrigued when someone on the mailing list mentioned the new Kerchoonz K-box portable speaker. Could "gel audio technology" really deliver unprecedented bass from a tiny box? The short answer is yes.

Lightroom has its first iPhone application! LRKeys from Baum Computer and Graphics helps you learn the many keyboard shortcuts Lightroom provides in order to make your workflow more efficient.

The iPhone is the first truly 'personal' computer; more personal to its owners than the PC ever was. Talk to iPhone owners (not to mention, the 20M iPod Touch owners), and this truth bubbles to the top again and again.

Apple's "It's Only Rock and Roll" iPod event yesterday had the feel of a paint-by-the numbers session. All tactics and little magic. Here's why...

With the release of the 3.1 iPhone OS, application developers will finally be able to develop augmented reality (AR) apps. In other words, Terminator Vision is right around the corner. I recently talked to Chetan Damani, one of the founders of Acrossair, about their new AR applications, Nearest Tube, and what's involved in developing AR applications for the iPhone.

The new iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3.0 software have arrived, and New York Times tech columnist David Pogue is on top of it with a thoroughly updated edition of iPhone: The Missing Manual. The latest edition covers all models with 3.0 Software--including the iPhone 3GS. Here are David's top 10 tips.

It seems that Apple is poised to launch its Tablet Computing entry later this year for a (rumored) price ranging between $500-800; wedging it from a pricing relativity perspective at about a grand less than a MacBook Air with solid state memory. But, perhaps the real story with respect to the forthcoming Apple Tablet Device is that Apple has already released a tablet computing device. It's called the iPod touch, and because it's often overshadowed by its noisier sibling, the iPhone, we sometimes forget that it has already sold 15M+ units.

I got some great feedback on my first screencast - thank you! A few of you asked: how can you show a different view for each of the rows in the table view, instead of just showing the same view for each row? I can think of a couple of ways to do this. Here's a new screencast that expands on the previous O'Reilly Books example, with code samples.

Guest blogger Josh Clark, the author of Best iPhone Apps: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders, offers his tips for managing a mountain of iPhone apps. "A healthy collection of iPhone apps calls for an equally healthy hygiene regimen for your iPhone," says Josh. "Here are a few pointers for keeping your apps tidy and your data safe."

If you're considering purchasing an iPhone, planning on developing applications for one, or if you prefer troubleshooting and maintaining your iPhone (rather than taking it to the Apple Store for a tuneup), you'll want to check out the new book excerpts we posted at oreilly.com/iphone.

One of the most common questions from the iPhone workshops we held recently is: "What is key value coding and why the heck am I getting this error?"

Josh Clark, author of O'Reilly's Best iPhone Apps: The Essential Guide for Discriminating Downloaders says he waited three decades until the iPhone finally arrived in 2007. "Apple's fabulous device is the only thing that's ever resembled my childhood notions of the 21st century, the first time the future got here," writes Clark. "A computer. In your pocket." And for his new book, Clark scoured the App Store to find the best apps that will make your iPhone shine and you more productive, more creative, more happy. The PDF of Clark's Best iPhone Apps is available now. Check these excerpts to find some of the cool apps Clark recommends.

The TableView is a common way to display data on an iPhone. Combining a tab bar with a table view and navigation bar isn't very difficult, but it took me forever to figure out how to do it properly. In my screencast, learn how to avoid common beginner errors and enjoy a practical follow-along exercise to build an app with a tab bar, navigation bar and table view controllers.

I just started learning how to develop for the iPhone. After helping to put together an iPhone workshop with my friend Joe Heck, I got really excited about this new platform. I've dabbled in Cocoa and Objective C before, many years ago, and figured it was time to relearn Mac development so I could write my own apps for the iPhone.