Apple
Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple
Although many pundits and bloggers expected this new to come [some day], most were shocked by this sudden announcement. The resignation letter was published on businesswire: I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
Could Apple make a bid for HULU?
Bloomberg reported [on Thursday] that Apple is considering a bid for video streaming site extraordinaire – HULU. HULU announced that they have retained the services or Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim partners to assist with the potential sale of the company. About 2 years ago, the interwebs were buzzing about Apple starting a new streaming Television service. Obviously that never got off the ground. Could this be the missing piece to the puzzle? This new rumor is in addition to the others we have already read about other potential suitors, mainly Yahoo,Google and Microsoft.
Review of the free scan to cloud software - ScanDrop
I am a big fan of Evernote and use it to store all of my reference material (as explained in the GTD methodology). One of the key requirements to my online storage strategy is converting paper into PDF and getting it into Evernote as simply and quickly as possible. A while back I found a free software called ScanDrop which did exactly that. I use it to scan paper directly from my Brother multifunction device and then upload it straight into my Evernote [For Google Docs users, it supports that service too] inbox ready for processing.
1 Million downloads of Mac OS Lion on its first day
We all expected LION to do well at $29.99 but few people could have foreseen the incredible volume of downloads in the first 24 hours. Apple claimed this was the "best OS we've ever made" and the numbers seem to back their claim. As you may be aware, LION is a download only product from Apple's Mac AppStore. For those that have slow or capped internet service, you can download it at any Apple store by simply bringing your device in using their free WIFI.
GHSA determines road risk of using a mobile phone while driving
An American association called the Governor’s Highway Safety Association recently released a report that use of a mobile phone correlates with increased risk of accidents in the United States of America (USA). To arrive at their conclusion, the association reviewed 350 scientific papers, published between 2000 and 2010, related to highway safety. Their review clearly showed that distracted driving accounts for 15-25% of all crashes (ranging from small fender benders to accidents with fatalities). Nothing here should be surprising as it based on common sense.
Facebook has identity and your attention
Facebook has become the premium identity management company on the web with 500 million+ users. Just think of how many apps allow you to log-in using your facebook ID (aka Facebook Connect). In late 2010, Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO) stated that 10,000 websites integrate with Facebook everyday (that is over 3.6 million new sites every year). Facebook knows who you are, what you like, who your friends are, where you have been (Places) and what you are thinking about (status updates).
IDC predicts users will download 183 billion apps by 2015
June 28 2011, IDC released an interesting report entitled “Worldwide and U.S. Mobile Applications, Storefronts, Developer, and In-App Advertising 2011–2015 Forecast: Emergence of Postdownload Business Models”. They make a bold prediction that users will download 183 billion apps by 2015 (compared to 10.7 billion in 2010). They further predict that the revenue model is changing from the traditional model (fee charged during initial purchase) to a freemium model (where the app is free but users may purchase additional functions though in-app purchases and advertising).
Is Apple's IOS or Google's Android more secure?
Which is better: Android or IOS? Asking “which mobile operating system is the best” is a great way to start a mini war between friends or coworkers. It seems everyone has taken a side and is willing to go down in a blaze of glory defending their position. The fine folks over at Symantec wanted to determine which mobile operating system was more secure (IOS or Android). They then took the analysis a step further by comparing the security postures of these mobile OS’ to their most popular desktop counterparts.
The PC is dead. Long live the iPad.
Top tech analyst firms, Gartner and IDC, are both reporting that the sale of personal computers dropped for the first 3 months of 2011. It seems this is another trend was able to break. It was able to grow its sales and market share (compared to a year ago). Although the increase is different depending on the firm you choose, it is somewhere between 8.5-9.5% (compared to 7% last year). Could this be the slow and painful death of the traditional PC lead by the tablets?