Brand: MacNews

Shares of Pixar, Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ “other” company, closed up more than five percent today after the company posted a profit of 17 cents per share yesterday, besting analysts’ estimates of 13 cents. Revenue came in at US$16.7 million for the quarter. Pixar is trading near its 52-week high, and has escaped the economic downturn relatively unscathed.

Our friends at the St. Paul Pioneer Press have provided us with a handful of photos of the Mall of America Apple store, which opens tomorrow morning. The photos showcase both the interior and exterior of the store.

VersionTracker notes that Adobe has posted Pencil Tool 1.5.2 and Layout Features 1.5.2 for InDesign, its desktop publishing software. The new pencil tool in InDesign behaves more like the pencil tool in Illustrator, while the Layout Features update modifies the grabber hand tool to use the same keyboard shortcut as in Illustrator, as well as a few other changes.

An LA Times article, noted by MacSurfer, takes a look at the history and critical role Apple has played during the PC revolution, particularly with the Mac.

Rhythms NetConnections, which earlier this month became the latest DSL provider to file for bankruptcy, today announced that it will be shutting down service in a month and will fire 700 employees, or 75 percent of its staff. The company will work with current customers to shift their DSL service to other providers. Earlier this week, Covad Communications, which provides the lines that DSL providers use to deliver service, filed for bankruptcy protection.