Apple MAC Laptops

For many years Apple MAC laptops as well as MAC desktop computers were generally considered short on applications and long on price.  There was also a well established rumor that Apple MAC laptops could not perform like a Windows PC.  Apple MAC laptops were also said to be over priced and slow. 
There is little truth to both assessments.  Especially now that apple MAC laptops and desktop computers that are being sold by the thousands come with the latest Intel Core Duo processor technology.  The newest iMacs and MacBooks come with enough Intel cpu power to rival any Windows laptop computer. 
Cool Tip :
When considering purchasing a laptop computer and trying to decide between a MAC and a Windows PC, it all boils down to preference.  And price too. :)

Apple MAC laptops had long been known for being the computer of choice for designers and publishers who had required outstanding detail graphics.  Today, both the MAC and Windows PC will give you great outstanding graphics.  MAC laptops will run any application and provide super performance.  The OS operation system is user friendly and many have claimed it to be far easier to learn than Windows XP or Vista OS.  

Apple’s latest newest top of the line laptop, the MacBook, is a excellent laptop for anyone to use.  However, it does come with a high price tag.  If you are not put off by the price, this computer is versatile, innovative, sleek and solid.  MAC's are a complete computer that you can start using right out of the box.  Everything is included to allow you to surf the Internet, email your friends, listen to your favorite music and type up your latest document or spread sheet with very little learn time.
Where as a Windows laptop PC does not normally include everything, which means you will have to buy the extra programs after your purchase.  However, bare in mind that the upfront cost of a MAC is more than a Windows laptop PC.   But the long term cost is about the same.
A nice feature that is now included with every Apple MAC laptop computer and is one of Apples biggest selling points, is dual OS operating systems.  This means that you can now choose which operating system you would like to run on boot up.  MAC OS or Windows PC.  Yes, that is right!  You can not run Windows PC OS on a Mac laptop computer.   By the way, take a look at the picture on this page.  See the little black circle on top of the MAC laptop lid.  That happens to be a built in Web Cam.  So if you buy a Apple MAC laptop computer you will not have to give up your favorite Windows PC game or your favorite Windows PC application.

Cheap Apple MAC laptops are hard to find if you are looking for a new one.  Apple just does not make a cheap Apple MAC yet!  However, you can pick up a few really nice reliable refurbished Apple MAC Laptops for under a $1000.00.   They will not have the latest IMac or MacBook technology like Intel Core Duo processor, but they will be well built and will last you for a few years of problem free performance.

Laptop Computer, Man's Best Friend

Laptops: We all know what they are and have seen them around in offices, home communities and in our travels.   Most people have own one as their personal computer for many years.  But how much do we really know about them?  Are they kind to us?   Can they keep us from feeling lonely?  Are they there when we need them?  Can they cuddle up in our laps and keep us warm, on cold winter nights?   A lot of people would say yes, as they pondered upon these questions.
Laptops remain among the most popular personal computers in the world. Laptops provide us with a powerful mobile tool for business and pleasure.  They also provide us with an unnatural yet strange and loveable personal companionship. Some people would speculate that the laptop computer has practically replaced our pet dogs as 'man's best friend' .


Pick The Right Breed Of Laptop For You
Among the many breeds of laptops, finding the particular type that suits an individuals need is an arduous task.  One must consider all the different laptop breeds that have been bred for the sole purpose of providing warmth and loveable companionship.  I wouldn't want a laptop computer that does not respond to my gentle fingers on its soft, warm keyboard tummy.  Nor would I want one that doesn't obey my commands after teaching it to sit on my lap for hours while I play games with it.

Always know your habits and correlate these with the laptop breed you are interested in as your new companion.  If you are someone who is interested in hours and hours of playful enjoyment; then pick a laptop breed that loves to play, not one that just goes for a walk to the park or goes to work with you.  Pick a smart breed that will not tire out (fast CPU, maximum memory, fast video and large hard drive) and will provide a lot of gaming playfulness.  If you just want some basic companionship, you might consider a less active breed (a basic CPU, minimum memory, basic video and basic hard drive).  Whatever breed you decide on, remember that you will be together for many years, so be sure you have love for it from the start and choose well.

Take a week to review your potential companionship commitment.  Be sure you are able to feed (recharge the battery) and shelter (laptop bag) your new best friend with love.  Make sure that you want and can care properly for a laptop, and, if after a week you feel you can, then start your new companionship by purchasing your laptop!


Remember, a laptop computer is only as smart as you are.  So teach it to sit, run, lie on your lap, and above all, to work and play with you.  Be sure to take your new companion for long walks and car rides, on the way to and from work.  This way you will have many joyful hours of loveable companionship with your newfound friend! A laptop computer just might be the worlds newest 'man's best friend'!

Samsung Series 9 Notebook Now Official

Samsung's Series 9 ultraportable notebooks are now official. Starting at $1,200, the S series measures just 0.65" thin and weighs 2.31 lbs.

The 9 series has the following specifications:

• 11.6-inch LED-backlit display 
• Intel Core i3-380UM dual-core processor
• 2GB RAM (2GB max.)
• 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD)
• 802.11n wireless LAN, Bluetooth
• 6-cell li-ion battery
• Backlit keyboard
• Dimensions: 11.7 x 7.8 x 0.62~0.65 in.
• Weight: 2.31 lbs. w/ standard battery
• 3-year limited warranty

The Samsung Series 9 is available now for $1,199.99

Introducing the NAV 7 – As the Tablet Parade Continues

Netbook Navigator has finally announced that their NAV7 Slate PC Tablet Running Windows 7 is currently Available for Pre-Order. This great little mobile device features the first compact 7-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel multitouch display as well as a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, runs Windows 7 and is loaded with some innovative best-in-class features, including 2 USB ports, a front-side webcam, WIFI, Bluetooth and optional embedded 3G broadband. The NAV7 is essentially a full computer that can be carried with you practically anywhere.

The base model runs about $649 dollars and comes with 1GB of RAM, a 16GB solid state disk, WiFi, Bluetooth, the 2 USB ports, and an Ethernet jack, but absolutely no operating system. Windows 7 Home Premium will jack up the price to around $749. You can also configure the Nav7 with 32GB of 64GB of storage, 2Gb of RAM, and an optional 3G model. If you want to go all out, the top of the line model still runs less than $1250.

The Nav 7 weighs 1.25 lbs and is equipped with  1.8″ Solid State hard drive with up to 64GB of storage, as well as a unique combination of features not seen before on a 7-inch tablet, including a back-side touchpad with mouse buttons, a swappable battery good for at least 4 hours per charge, and an integrated accelerometer.

The NAV7 is now available for pre-order in limited quantities on first come, first serve basis with over 30 different configuration options starting from $649. Orders placed in March are expected to ship on or about May 2011.

Aircell smartphone announced

Making calls while you’re in the air is something that most of us try to avoid – after all, we’re told to turn off our electronic devices especially cell phones since they are said to interrupt with the aircraft’s communication systems, so the other alternative if you have a really desperate call to make would be to swipe your credit card and make taht really, really expensive phone call.

The next time you want to do so, why not do it in style with the Aircell? This is the first inflight smartphone of its kind in the world, where the next-generation cabin handset was specially designed for business aircraft. Hmmm, sounds as though normal economy class folk won’t be seeing it in action anytime soon. Anyways, enough ranting, let us take a closer look at what the Aircell offers in the extended post.

First of all, the Aircell smartphone will boast intuitive, menu-driven features, letting passengers place and receive voice calls aboard business aircraft in a way that is as easy and convenient as one would do whenever they have their feet firmly planted on the ground while holding a smartphone in their hand. It will run on the popular Android OS platform that will certainly mean you might even get Angry Birds installed on it to keep you occupied apart from the usual movies that they show in the small screen in front of you.

Other groundbreaking capabilities of the new Aircell smartphone includes the best voice quality in aviation, a bright, color touchscreen display that is touted to be the largest in the aviation industry where a telephony device is concerned, Bluetooth connectivity for a hands-free operation, an ingenious design for interchangeable wireless or wired operation, and integrated audio jack for wired headsets & earbuds among others. Expect the new Aircell smartphone to ship from late 2011 onwards, so your company’s business jet probably won’t see this upgrade just yet.

Resources : http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20110326/aircell-smartphone-announced/#more-55039

Apple iPad update: 1,000,000 sold, international pre-orders just beginning

Apple's iPad certainly made a splash when it was announced in January, but critics wondered if the masses would truly find a use for this new form factor device. But less than a month after sales opened in the US 1,000,000 iPads were sold, and international pre-orders have only just begun. Does Apple still have to defend its product, or do the numbers speak for themselves?

The iPad was revealed to the world in late January with all the typical sort of Steve Jobs mumbo jumbo (words like automagically come to mind) and more hype than anybody knew what to do with. Remarkable the tablet surely was, but a surefire hit? When it had no camera, no Flash capabilities, no multitouch, no USB port... didn't people need these things? A million sales later, perhaps that question is answered.

According to an Apple press release from May 3rd, it took 28 days for the millionth sale to be completed, notably less than the 74 it took to reach similar numbers for the popular iPhone. Of course, Apple and the iPad have ridden the popularity of the iPhone to this success, much as the iPhone rode the success of the iPod to its own fame (a quick eyeball of this chart suggests that selling the first million iPods was more a matter of months or years than days or weeks). But that's not a huge knock against Apple - they have earned their reputation, and it's just good PR.

Sales begin internationally on May 28th, and pre-orders have already begun pouring in as of yesterday. We may yet see another million sales or more by month's end.

While I'd love to play around with one, I still don't know what people are using these iPads for beyond eReading (which several people I know have purchased one for). While it's certainly handier than a laptop for reading or browsing documents, it needs to do more than that for me before I can justify its cost. I seem to remember Steve Jobs saying something about how it does things we don't even know we want to do, but I have enough trouble budgeting for the things I already know I want to do - in terms of both time and money. If you're using an iPad out there, I'd love to hear your story of how you're liking it. One way or another though, it's clear the iPad has been a great success for Cupertino so far.

MacBook Air lock is now available

How many of you spend plenty of time at cafes and public places, sippin’ on a latte while surfing the Internet for the latest news thanks to a Wi-Fi hotspot? Of course, if you’re out with a group of friends, it is easy to just head off to the loo without worrying that someone will nick away your laptop – but if you happen to fly solo, the possibility is very real, especially when you’re a tourist in an unfamiliar area.

There is a very good reason for the existence of laptop locks, and for the world’s thinnest laptop, the MacBook Air from Apple, at long last someone has decided to do something about it by rolling out a lock for that particular make. We shall take a look at how it works in closer detail in the extended post.

Apple’s MacBook Air lacks a security slot in case you didn’t notice, so you might think that there is virtually no way to prevent theft from happening. Good thing the people over at MacLocks are ingenious enough to come up with what they dub the MacBook Air Lock, making it the one and only MacBook Air Lock and Security Bundle in the market. Trust them, they know what they’re doing – after all, didn’t they churn out the best selling iPad Lock?

If you had to get just one MacBook Air accessory, better make sure this is at the top of your list instead of some fancy Hello Kitty cover. After all, would you rather settle for a lost MacBook Air, or one that has a little scratch on the side that nobody notices? As for the $74095 MacBook Air Lock, it is also one of the best security solution around for retailers, since it does not leave any residue like stickers, making sure it remains fixed to the table all the time.

It works by incorporating a neat cover that also protects your MacBook Air courtesy of an integrated built-in security slot which is able to accommodate any of the standard cable locks that are currently sold on the market. Pretty ingenious, don’t you think so?

Resources : http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20110323/macbook-air-lock/#more-54890

Genius MousePen M508W unveiled

Genius has released their Mouse Pen M508W for those living in North America – yes, that means the US as well as Canada. This is a 5″ x 8″ wireless graphic-design tablet which will connect to a notebook or desktop through a USB receiver, working over the 2.4GHz wireless technology spectrum. Of course, with that connection, you are able to move around without any interference, and Genius intends to target the M508W at art teachers, students and graphic-design professionals, offering them wireless freedom to paint, draw, write, and edit.

Sporting a high-performance stylus that is tilt sensitive ±60 degrees and comes with 1024 pressure levels (the latter is normal), it is a snap to make the right brush strokes, whether they are meant to be thicker or thinner, as it all depends on how hard the stylus is pressed. Graphic-design professionals will also find that the MousePen M508W will offer one a similar experience as that of using paint and canvas.

Twitter, Facebook become lifelines after Japan quake!

Once again, social networking sites Twitter and Facebook are proving to be lifelines in times of crisis.

A devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and then a tsunami rocked Japan friday early morning . The double disaster is reported to have killed hundreds across Japan, and hundreds more are said to be missing.

And the quake and tsunami caused massive damage to buildings and roads, as well as electrical blackouts and intermittent cell phonce service.

With so many people unable to physically get to family and friends or to even reach them on the phone, countless people in Japan and around the world took to Twitter and Facebook to reach out to loved ones today.

"Social communications, like Twitter, and social networking sites, like Facebook, are at their best when big news is breaking," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research.

"They are the means available to almost everybody to broadcast information, to communicate one-to-many," he said. "And, in some cases, they help get around bottlenecks in one-to-one communication."

An hour after the quake hit Japan this morning, Online Social Media, which tracks social media services, reported that Twitter was experiencing 1,200 tweets being posted every minute. And at most times today, eight or nine of Twitter's top 10 Trending Tropics -- such as #prayforjapan, #tsunami and #japan -- were directly related to the earthquake and tsunami.

Organizations and relief efforts also are taking to twitter , posting information about everything from emergency phone lines for non-Japanese speakers to tsunami alerts, altered train schedules and lists of shelters for those left homeless.

On Facebook, people not only posted thoughts and prayers for the people of Japan, but used their updates to tell friends and family where they are and how they are doing. Facebook Pages like Japan earthquake also popped up, grabbing nearly 3,000 followers in about 12 hours.

Brad Shimmin, an analyst with Current Analysis, said today really does show social networks at their very best. "The No. 1 trending topic on Twitter right now concerns the 90999 text message number for Red Cross relief," said Shimmin, who calling sites like Twitter "lifelines."

"From what I've seen today, social networks have brought out the best in people, encouraging them not only to take action but also supporting them in those efforts to bring relief to the victims of this catastrophe," he said.

"While there are so many technologies at this time that isolate us from our fellow beings, social networking tools have shown their ability once again to unify us as human beings, and to bring out what is most altruistic and empathetic in our natures," Shimmin added.

This isn't the first time that people have turned to Twitter and Facebook during trying times. The social networking sites became lifelines for people during the massive earthquakes in Chilli and Haiti last year.

They also were key communication tools during the 2009 government crackdown in Iran, as well as when a U.S. Airways plane made an emergency landing in New York's Hudson River.

Helping Microsoft's next marketing boss

At Microsoft, the problem isn't marketing. Just last week, BrandFinance ranked Microsoft as the second most valuable brand in the world. But it continues to lose ground in consumer markets to hipper brands with cooler products.

That's really the challenge that faces the next leader of Microsoft marketing operations. Late Tuesday, the current boss, Senior Vice President Mich Mathews, told Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner that she was planning to leave this summer, in news broken by AdAge. Microsoft remains one of the best known global brands. Its Windows is the most widely used computer operating system on the planet. It remains hugely profitable.

But in much of the consumer world, Microsoft remains an afterthought to rivals such as Google and Apple. Many of Microsoft's marquee consumer products--Windows Phone, Zune, Bing--have failed to make a dent in the competition. The fact is that it's hard to sell a product when rivals have something more innovative and more compelling already for sale.

Microsoft's Mich Mathews

(Credit: Microsoft)

Without question, Microsoft has offered up some dubious consumer marketing efforts over the years. The company famously hired edgy ad firm Crispin Porter and Bogusky, known in marketing circles for resurrecting the old Burger King character, to create ads to sell the much-maligned Windows Vista. The most notorious of the resulting ads was a series that featured Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates palling around with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, which left many consumers scratching their heads. A few years earlier, Microsoft rolled out ads with dinosaurs dressed as office workers, encouraging users to upgrade to Office 2003. More recently, Microsoft unveiled ads for Windows Phone 7 that seemed to mock users for being too connected to their phones, suggesting that Microsoft's technology lets users do what they need to quickly and get on with their lives.

But if Microsoft has a marketing problem, it's not really because of a handful of curious ads. The real challenge to the company is its products themselves. Apple has pulled away from Microsoft in consumer perception because, as most reviewers and consumers will tell you, the iPhone is a better device than any mobile phone that runs Microsoft software. The iPad created a new product category that Microsoft could have seized years earlier with its Tablet PC software, had it not botched the execution. Apple's ads are clever. But the company's products give its marketers plenty to work with.

Microsoft's next marketing chief will have some consumer-pleasing products to work with, and the Xbox 360 and its innovative Kinect motion-sensing game controller are at the top of the list. Earlier this month, Microsoft Disclosed that it's sold 10 million units of the Kinect.

So who will replace Mathews and control the marketing group's $1 billion budget? AllThingsD's Kara Swisher Speculates that Yusuf Medhi, senior vice president of Microsoft's online audience business, and Chris Capossela, who until recently was a senior vice president of Microsoft's business division, are likely candidates. Whoever gets the job will have some work to do.

Resources: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20048972-75.html#ixzz1I8Ydw8Mg

Untethered jailbreak for iPhone, iPad running iOS 4.3 in beta

If you are a jailbreak fan, there's finally some good news coming from the untethered jailbreak camp, led by the hackers at the Dev Team--an untethered jailbreak is running iOS 4.3 in beta.

According to iPhone Download blog, hacker Stefan Esser (@iOn1c) has come up with a solution, posting a tweet saying: "The iphone-dev-team is already beta-testing the untether. So it is up to them to give you your tool of choice."

Certainly if the Dev Team is running an untethered jailbreak solution for iOS 4.3, we can expect something soon. In the three weeks since the iOS 4.3 (and iPad 2) release, there hasn't been much exciting news coming from the jailbreak community. Until now, that is.

To back it up, renowned hacker MuscleNerd tweeted: "well @iOn1c's untether is solid! Just working out overall 4.3.x JB issues and Cydia :)"

There's still no official word on when the untethered jailbreak might be available, but signs are pointing to soon.

Resources: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31747_7-20048833-243.html#ixzz1I8XtAv6b

Fake Android app steals date, takes shot at pirates

A malicious Android app that masquerades as a free version of a legitimate app steals data and sends spam text messages and a warning that chastise the user for trying to get around paying for the actual app, Symantec said today.
The app, available on several file-sharing sites in North America and Asia that are known as clearinghouses for pirated software, is called Walk and Text. That's also the name of a legitimate app--available on the Android Market for $1.53--that uses a device's camera to let people see what's in front of them as they text while walking. However, the bogus app is labeled as version 1.3.7, which doesn't exist yet, according to a Symantec blog post.
Once the fake software--which Symantec has dubbed "Android.Walkinwat"--is downloaded and running, it displays a dialog box that indicates that the app is in the process of being compromised or cracked, ostensibly to scare the person who thinks they're getting the legitimate app for free. Behind the scenes, the software is gathering sensitive data--including username, phone number, and unique device identifier--and trying to send it to an external server, Symantec says.
The app also sends out a text message (rife with misspellings and errors) to all the numbers listed in the user's contact list: "Hey, just downloaded a pirated App off the Internet, Walk and Text for Android. Im stupid and cheap, it costed only 1 buck.Don't steal like I did!"
The app also displays a message that says "Application Not Licensed" and warns: "We really hope you learned something from this. Check your phone bill;) Oh and don't forget to buy the App from the Market." It includes buttons for buying the app or exiting.


Resources: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20049004-245.html#ixzz1I8XR4TmN

Skype in the Classroom graduates from beta

Skype in the Classroom, a video networking service for educators worldwide, is officially out of beta, the company said today.

The service, which has been in beta since December, allows educators to collaborate with others around the world over video. The VoIP provider said it developed the service "in response to, and in consultation with, the growing number of teachers using Skype to help their students learn."

Skype's service can help educators find one another by location, among other criteria.

(Credit: Screenshot by CNET)

To set Skype In the Classroom apart from the company's basic service, teachers can use the tool to find fellow educators who may be teaching on the same topic. It can also be used to expose kids to guest speakers or collaborate on projects with other classes. Teachers can search through the service using age groups, location, and subjects of interest, Skype said.

In some ways, Skype is trying to be the next generation's "pen pal" service. For decades now, students have had pen pals around the world with whom they would communicate during a school year. It was effective at helping them learn more about the world, but it was rather impersonal. Skype, it seems, wants to change that.

The company cited one project under way between two classrooms--one in France and the other in Canada--that used Skype to enhance the pen pal relationship students previously had.

"Before arranging the first video call, our students exchanged letters and e-mails but we decided to bring the two classes together face-to-face over Skype video to enrich their relationship," Christophe Fetat, one of the teachers involved in the project, said in a statement. "The result was amazing. Students were really engaged to discuss different topics."

That project is one of more than 40 started via the service. More than 4,700 teachers are already checking it out. The figures were growing by the minute today.

Skype isn't alone in trying help teachers enrich their classrooms through technology. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for example, launched a social network for educators last year. The program, called EDge, helps teachers collaborate on best practices, create lesson plans, and upload multimedia content for others to use in their classrooms. It's free to join.

Resources: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20048751-17.html#ixzz1I8Wm55T9

Facebook takes down Palestinian intifada page

A Facebook page called the Third Palestinian Intifada has been removed from the site following a request from the Israeli government.

Yuli Edelstein, Israel's minister of public diplomacy and diaspora affairs, sent a letter directly to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on March 23. In the letter, which has been posted on the Web site The Jerusalem Gift Shop, Edelstein asked the company to take down the page calling for a third intifada, translated by some as violent uprising, to begin against Israel on May 15.

Pointing to remarks and movie clips on the page calling for the killing of Israelis and Jews and the liberation of Palestine through violence, Edelstein expressed concern over the "wild incitement" that could be caused by the page, which had collected more than 230,000 friends at the time he wrote the letter.

On Friday, the Anti-Defamation League also asked Facebook to remove the page, labeling it "an appalling abuse of technology to promote terrorist violence" with "inflammatory anti-Israel language calling for supporters to build on the previous two intifadas."

From its initial response, Facebook appeared reluctant to take action.

"We strongly believe that Facebook users have the ability to express their opinions, and we don't typically take down content, groups, or Pages that speak out against countries, religions, political entities, or ideas," Facebook spokeswoman Debbie Frost said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg.

But as of today Facebook had removed the Third Palestinian Intifada page. Explaining its decision, a Facebook spokesman e-mailed CNET the following statement:

The Page, The Third Palestinian Intifada, began as a call for peaceful protest, even though it used a term that has been associated with violence in the past. In addition, the administrators initially removed comments that promoted violence. However, after the publicity of the Page, more comments deteriorated to direct calls for violence. Eventually, the administrators also participated in these calls. After administrators of the page received repeated warnings about posts that violated our policies, we removed the Page.

Facebook added that it continues to "believe that people on Facebook should be able to express their opinions, and we don't typically take down content that speaks out against countries, religions, political entities, or ideas. However, we monitor Pages that are reported to us and when they degrade to direct calls for violence or expressions of hate--as occurred in this case--we have and will continue to take them down."

Saying that it welcomed the decision to take down the page, the Anti-Defamation League asked Facebook to "vigilantly monitor their pages for other groups that call for violence or terrorism against Jews and Israel."

Since the removal of the page, new ones have been created to replace it. Though the number of friends is small so far compared with the original, the new pages appear to mimic the first one with further calls in both English and Arabic for a new intifada.

Literally translated as "shaking off," the word intifada is more commonly translated as "revolution" or "uprising." Palestinians have staged two intifadas, according to CNN, one that began in 1987 and another that started in 2000. During the second intifada, thousands of Israelis and Palestinians died, CNN said.

Resources: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20048363-93.html#ixzz1I8W9RP58

Another Google service facing uncertainty in China

Google is facing potential trouble with the Chinese government over yet another one of its services.

The future of Google Maps, the company's online mapping service, may be in jeopardy as the company reportedly has yet to file the required application with the Chinese government to keep the service running, and the deadline is tomorrow.

China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping confirmed that it has not received an application from Google for a license for Google Maps, according to Bloomberg and other sources. If tomorrow's deadline passes, and a license application still has not been received, the bureau said that the service would face "administrative actions" by July 1.

Google has not responded to a request for comment. Bloomberg, however, had the following statement from the company: "We are examining the regulations to understand their impact on our maps products in China."

China's potential actions against Google Maps are part of the country's overall effort to crack down on "illegal" online mapping services in light of their ability to reveal "sensitive and confidential" information, according to China's state-run news agency Xinhua. Such a crackdown would extend to unapproved online mapping sites, potentially leading to their shutdown.

China announced last spring that it would start requiring license for online mapping services, already putting the future of Google Maps in question. As of the middle of February, China has given licenses to 105 Web sites that provide online mapping in the country, including Baidu, Sina, Nokia, and China Mobile, Xinhua said.

Always tenuous, Google's relationship with China took another bad turn last week when the search giant accused Beijing of interfering with the operations of Gmail. The company also just suffered a blow to its overall market in China as Sina, the country's biggest Internet portal, said yesterday that it has replaced Google's search engine on its various Web sites with its own, according to AFP.

Resources: 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20048759-38.html#ixzz1I8UXVDGC

iPad 2 cost only a few dollars more to build than original iPad

An analysis of iPad 2 finds that Apple's total cost to produce the tablet is almost identical to that of the original iPad introduced a year ago.

Apple was able to keep costs down despite the fact that a number of iPad 2 components, including the display subsystem and battery, are considerably more expensive than those of the original tablet.

The analysis breaks down the components of the iPad 2, assigns a price tag for each, and estimates the actual manufacturing costs to come up with a total. There's only a $3 difference between the GSM- and CDMA-equipped 32GB iPad 2 models: $336.60 for the former, $333.25, according to IHS iSuppli.

TEARDOWNS: iFixit looks inside the iPad 2 and its Smart Cover

Most of that total is a tally of the bill of materials (BOM) -- all the chips, memory, the display components, and so on -- totaling $326.60 for the GSM model, and $323.25 for the CDMA model. iSuppli estimates the cost to manufacture each tablet is $10.

The most expensive components: display, at $127; memory (for the 32GB model) at $65.70; mechanical/electrical (enclosure, connectors, etc.), at $35; and the battery, at $25.

The total BOM for the iPad 2 is only just a few dollars more than the total for the original iPad, which iSuppli put at $320 when it the tablet was released in April 2010.

Among other things, Apple may have been able to leverage its supply chain relationships in light of the much higher anticipated unit sales of iPad 2. The original iPad sold about 15 million units in the nine months it was available in 2010. Estimates of iPad 2 sales typically start at about twice that and go up.

iSuppli's analysis shows that the components and vendors for iPad 2 are little changed from the original tablet. "The iPad 1 and iPad 2 use the same components and suppliers for the NAND flash, the multi-touch controllers and touch screen drivers, as well as the same core chip in the wireless section as was found in the iPhone 4," says Andrew Rassweiler, senior director and principal analyst and teardown services manager for IHS, in a statement. "Many of the other components -- including the apps processor and the Bluetooth/frequency/global positioning system/wireless local-area network chips -- have the same suppliers and are essentially new revisions of the chips found in the previous iPad and other iPhones."

Holding the iPad 2 cost flat is all the more remarkable considering that the new tablet's screen is quite a bit more expensive than the original's, by about one-third, according to iSuppli. The firm estimates the iPad 2 display/touch screen subsystem carries a price tag of $127, compared to the its estimate of $95 for the first iPad.

There are a number of reasons for the jump in costs, most traceable to the manufacturing challenges faced by suppliers. iSuppli: "Production yields, though they have been improving, have been very low throughout 2010, and drove prices to be much higher than initially expected. Furthermore, refinements in the touch screen specifications have driven the price point even higher for the iPad 2. Contributing factors to that cost increases include more expensive glue to improve the efficiency/performance in the bonding, thinner Gorilla cover glass and a more detailed inspection process requiring additional equipment for optical and panel examination."

The new tablet's battery is more expensive, at $25 versus $21 in iPad 1. For the new tablet, the battery is much thinner and uses three cells instead of two. The associated power management circuitry for these batteries is a key reason why Apple can maximize battery life while holding down battery size and weight, according to iSuppli.

The other notably more expensive component is the A5 processor, the first dual-core version of Apple's custom-designed, and Samsung-built, CPU. According to iSuppli, the A5's estimated price of $14 is 75% higher than that of the A4 used in the original iPad. The firm notes that this cost will drop over time as chip production volume increases.

Those components alone add $39.50 to the cost of the original iPad. Yet, somehow, Apple was able to hold down the total cost of the iPad 2 components list plus manufacturing, perhaps by squeezing out other costs from its supply chain. This may explain why one analyst's predicted price cut for the iPad 2 didn't materialize: (See "Will the hottest thing about iPad 2 be the price?")

Former equities analyst Anton Wahlman noted that with iPad 2, Apple "is probably looking to sell 60 million units worldwide starting this March" compared to about 15 million for iPad 1. The much higher volume gives Apple supply chain leverage. Wahlman wrote: "When you go from planning under 10 million units to 60 million, you can negotiate much better manufacturing prices. Components can also be optimized for cost, to a different degree. Apple is pre-paying for critical parts, such as memory and displays, taking risk out of the contract manufacturers, which pressures the price down."

Squeezing out those extra costs let Apple absorb the higher-priced iPad 2 components, keep the total iPad cost almost level, and keep the consumer price tag unchanged, giving it a price advantage compared to rival Android-based tablets, perhaps for many months.

Resources : itnews.com

Twitter clamps down on client applications!

Twitter is discouraging development of new client applications and warning existing ones will be held to stringent standards
by Juan Carlos Perez

Developers working on client applications that replicate Twitter.com's basic user functionality should turn their efforts elsewhere, because the company doesn't want any more such apps on the market.

Moreover, developers of existing client applications should brace for stricter enforcement of terms and conditions, as Twitter strives to make the overall user experience more uniform and of higher quality.

That was the message Ryan Sarver, from Twitter's application development team, relayed over the weekend on an official Twitter discussion forum for developers.

"Developers have told us that they'd like more guidance from us about the best opportunities to build on Twitter. More specifically, developers ask us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. The answer is no," Sarver wrote in a post titled "Consistency and ecosystem opportunities."

"If you are an existing developer of client apps, you can continue to serve your user base, but we will be holding you to high standards to ensure you do not violate users' privacy, that you provide consistency in the user experience, and that you rigorously adhere to all areas of our Terms of Service," he added.

Twitter has also modified its developer terms accordingly and provided more details about this topic in that document.

Responses to Sarver's post have so far been mostly negative.

"All third party Twitter developers, no matter what they make, are now walking on eggshells, constantly at risk of

offending Twitter's ideas of how users should interact with Twitter," wrote one developer, echoing similar sentiments from others commenting on the discussion thread.

Tensions between Twitter and its community of third-party developers have been worsening over the past 12 to 15 months, when Twitter started taking a more active role in building out its previously sparse menu of native features.

For the first four years or so of its existence, Twitter relied heavily on -- and encouraged -- external developers to provide extra functionality around its bare-bones microblogging service.

During that time, Twitter, founded in 2006, had its hands full keeping up with the basics of running the company, such as maintaining the site up and available, a notorious struggle for years.

Thus, developers have created hundreds of thousands of applications for Twitter, including desktop clients, mobile interfaces, search engines, photo sharing tools, monitoring and analytics software and profile customization tools.

Many of these developers, which range from individual freelancers to large outfits, have built businesses of various sizes around their Twitter applications.

But starting in late 2009 and very clearly ahead of its Chirp developer conference a year ago, Twitter, having grown its staff and business significantly, has made it clear that it intends to provide by itself or in exclusive partnerships whatever functionality it considers of core importance to the Twitter user experience.

That now includes official Twitter applications for the iPhone, BlackBerry, iPad, Windows Phone and Android devices, for example. "As a result, the top five ways that people access Twitter are official Twitter apps. Still, our user research shows that consumers continue to be confused by the different ways that a fractured landscape of third-party Twitter clients display tweets and let users interact with core Twitter functions," Sarver wrote in his post.

So over the past year, Twitter has become a competitor for some of its external developers.

Now, Twitter is setting its sights on client applications, citing user confusion and security concerns. "If there are too many ways to use Twitter that are inconsistent with one another, we risk diffusing the user experience. In addition, a number of client applications have repeatedly violated Twitter's Terms of Service, including our user privacy policy. This demonstrates the risks associated with outsourcing the Twitter user experience to third parties," Sarver wrote.

As examples of developers who are taking advantage of existing opportunities, Sarver cited SocialFlow's publisher tools, Klout's application which crunches Twitter data to generate individual reputation scores and HootSuite and Seesmic, which let businesses monitor their brand mentions on Twitter and act accordingly.

Recources: itnews.com