12/15/11: Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime II is available.  The 10 in. tablet, starting at $499, sports an Android O/S (Honeycomb, upgradeable to Ice Cream next year) with the speedy Tegra 3 (quad core) processor developed jointly with Nvidia, and has new power management features that can be set to conserve battery time.  At the same price as the iPad, it has twice the memory (32GB), is a little lighter and thinner than the iPad but, of course, is less slick in the O/S appearance and app availability areas than Apple.  A distinguishing feature is the optional ($149) keyboard dock with additional ports and battery, which sports a full keyboard, effectively transforming the pad into an Android laptop.

11/1/11: If you’re buying a new computer this Christmas or upgrading your hard drive, you may be in for a surprise:  Hard drive prices, which had been dropping for years (e.g. from $50 per megabyte of storage in 1981 to one-tenth of a cent today) , are up by 30 to 40%.  Why?  The flooding this summer in northern Bangkok, Thailand where the hard drive factories are located have damaged an industrial area which produces about 40% of the world’s hard drives, including factories of Western Digital and Toshiba (Seagate was mostly spared).  It’ll take some time to recover, so expect prices to remain high for the better part of 2012.

11/1/11: Twitter  has revamped its website.  Sure, most of us use the apps on our smart phones, or TweetDeck or the like.  But the actual Twitter web site was somewhat confusing, and the Twitter prople have attempted to change this.  Not only is it easier on the eyes, but it has a Story feature that displays ten stories that might be of interest for you, and the Browse Categories is redesigned as well.  Also, users can follow an entire conversation by clicking on any Tweet.

11/7/11: Barnes & Noble launches the Nook Tablet on November 16 for $249.  At that time it will reduce the price of the Nook Color from $349 to $199 and the Nook Simple Touch from $139 to $99.  In direct competition with Amazon’s Kindle Fire, it will have a 7 in. IPS color touch screen with 1024 x 600 resolution, a 1.2 Ghz dual-core CPU, 1Gb of RAM 16 Gb of storage and a microSD expansion slot.

10/14/11: Apple unveils the iPhone 4S. It is much faster (due to the A5 processor), includes a virtual “personal assistant” called “Siri” which takes voice commands (“find me an Italian restaurant in Peoria, IL” but maybe not “find the Safeway on Market Street) but only works in the US, and translates speech into text (sometimes crazily, although using a Bluetooth 4.0 earbud/mike helps.  [Don’t worry, Android also has an app that will do this, too. And Windows has Ask Ziggy, a less powerful copycat.]  Moreover, it will be a “world phone” that will work outside of the US (except for Siri) and will be available from Sprint as well as AT&T and Verizon, costing between $200 and $400 with a 2 yr. contract.  But there’s a catch because, while the same device contains radios for both CDMA and GSM/UMTS, an unlocked iPhone won’t work with a CDMA carrier such as Sprint or Verizon, and a phone activated with a CDMA carrier comes with a micro-SIM card that allows use on an international GSM network, but apparently can’t be replaced with a less expensive local alternative, even with the optional SIM card extraction tool.  Apple also says that it has “fantastic” battery life (although early reviews don’t support this), and standby time has been reduced by 25%.  The antenna is problem-free now, but the phone looks exactly the same as the iPhone 3, so it won’t knowingly impress your friends. See REVIEW; also this REVIEW for some deficiencies.  And, if you don’t want your phone hacked through Siri even when it’s locked, don’t forget to change your security settings.  Also, to prevent battery drain, disable apps and services in the preferences page for Location Services.  Or you can wait a few months for the inevitable iPhone 5, which may look different. And Siri is only in beta - note that she’s already taken a day off from her duties (11/3/11 had some cloud server issues at Apple).

10/3/11: Adobe has announced a new suite of mobile applications for content creators which will allow users to perform graphical work on tablet devices, also to sync and share content between devices.  The Adobe Touch suite and Adobe Cloud app will be available in the next few months and will be reasonably priced.  11/8/11:  Oops! Adobe reversed themselves and stated that they wouldn’t be producing this package.

9/30/11: Feeling overwhelmed by discount coupons?  You’re not alone.  According to PriceGrabber, a deal aggregator, people who subscribe to daily deal sites like Groupon are getting frustrated and signing off.  Consequently, such providers as Yelp! and Facebook are cutting back or completely eliminating online discount coupons, retreating from the once-promising daily deal market.

9/29/11: Facebook has changed yet again.  The new version of Profiles, renamed Timeline, is introduced.  Basically, Timeline is a never-expiring feed of all of your activity in chronological order from your first day on earth (or at least on Facebook)  to the present.  Add to this a large cover photo, GPS map tracking of your activities (which can be disabled) and other features and there you have it.  For an excellent review of the new changes, check out the CNET video at this LINK.

9/28/11: Amazon introduced the Fire tablet computer today.  At $199, it’s $300 less than the lowest priced iPad 2 (.91lbs vs. 1.33lbs), and with a screen resolution of 169ppi vs. Apple’s 132ppi).  The screen is only 7”, less than the iPad’s 9.7 inches, but it’s therefore lighter than the iPad.  It doesn’t have a camera or a microphone, so video and Skype chat are out.  And it’s WiFi only (no 3G).  It promises 8 hrs of battery life vs. iPad’s promised 10 hrs.  And it only offers 8Gb of storage, compared with iPad’s minimum 16Gb, although the Fire offers free cloud storage from Amazon’s servers.  It runs on Android (250,000 apps) vs. Apple O/S (425,000 apps).  The Fire goes on sale on November 15.  But remember, you’re dealing with Amazon - It uses the Fire as a device to promote its other businesses such as books, movies, shopping, etc. In 2012 -  8.9 & 10.1 inch versions to come.

the PC display into a tablet display - no title bars or menus and “tiles”) and desktop (standard windows for PC use). It’s supposed to come with its own anti-virus software, I suppose a combination of Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials.  But there’s no familiar Start button, and no WinXP compatibility mode.  At least right now.  But we’re many versions away from even a RC, so keep tuned.  And IE 10.  Release is planned for sometime 2012. 

9/9/11: After almost of year of delays, Verizon announces the arrival of the Droid Bionic.  Manufactured by Motorola, it is the first dual core processor (@ 1Ghz) running on 4G networks.  It sports 1Gb RAM, 16Gb internal storage (can take up to 32Gb) and you can purchase three external peripherals, including a KVM and laptop.  Runs Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread).  But if you’re not judicious with the 4G LTE, it’ll suck your battery power before the end of the day. UPDATE:  On November 11, Motorola introduced the Razr.  It runs on Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread O/S with a 2.1 Ghz processor and 1Gb of DDR-2  RAM.  It’s even thinner than the Bionic at .28 in. and an ounce less at 4.5 ozs.  The screen is an AMOLED Advanced qHD 4.3 inch display with 960 x 540 resolution, made of Kevlar reinforced Corning Gorilla glass for indestructibility. The Razr Max has a larger battery and longer life, giving it more of a Bionic profile.  BUT NOTE:  The battery can’t be replaced by the user, so if you need multiple batteries, don’t get this phone!

8/24/11: Steve Jobs announces his retirement as CEO of Apple, the company he founded.  The iconic Jobs will be replaced by former COO Tim Cook (who is well qualified, but less charismatic). He will still stay on as Chairman of the company.  Speculation is that the 56 year old Jobs’ health prompted his action; stock tumbled about 5% on the announcement - it could’ve been much worse.   But Jobs has so ingrained the culture at Apple that there is little concern about the company’s future.  Sadly, on October 5, 2011 Steve Jobs died.

8/18/11: HP announced it will be getting out of the PC (also tablet & phone) business.  As world’s largest PC maker, bringing in almost $40 billion a year, this is a big deal.  But not unheard of:  Seven years ago, IBM did the same thing.  Causes? The increased popularity of pad computers; also the small margin for desktops, especially after Intel and Microsoft take their shares.  Will this trend continue?  Probably.  Look for Dell, Sony and Samsung to migrate from PCs to more lucrative software services.  Stock fell by 20% on this news, which was combined with the announcement that HP was purchasing Autonomy. UPDATE:  Seems like HP’s CEO Leo Apotheker spoke to soon.  It’s he that’s being discontinued.  Fired after scarcely 11 months on the job (with a $25 million golden parachute, of course), the HP Board replaced him with Meg Whitman of eBay fame, while backtracking on the whole getting out of the PC business thing.  Seriously, you’ve got to be making some coin on $40 billion a year!  But my comments above still are valid.

7/11: In it’s (third) effort to join the social networking game, Google introduced Google+, which is supposed to be more privacy conscious and easier to manage than Facebook.  Is there room for two major SN apps (Facebook effectively killed MySpace, remember?)  or will only one be filtered out over the next few years?  See, Google+, Facebook, and Social Networking in the glossary for more...

7/6/11: In an effort to stay ahead of the curve, Facebook announced that it will introduce video chatting through Skype.  The new feature will allow users to send instant messages and video chat with their Facebook friends by clicking a button on their Facebook chat list or on a friend’s profile page.  But it won’t allow group video chats or be available on mobile phones, as is the full Skype service.  It is free for the time being.  Similarly, while wireless companies have attempted to charge for text messaging as part of their data allotment, there are lots of new apps for smart phones which offer free text messaging services, such as GroupMe, Google Voice, Disco, Facebook, Beluga, Kik and WhatsApp.  Some apps are even hard wired into the phone itself, such as Blackberry Messenger and Apple’s iMessage soon to to come out.  This has become necessary as wireless carriers (Sprint being the last holdout) have done away with their unlimited data plans, forcing users to either pay per message or pay for unlimited texting service.

7/1/11: Samsung unveils the Galaxy Tab 10.1, an excellent Android (3.0) alternative to the iPad 2 in the $499 - $599 range.  Fast dual core processor, 1280 x 800 resolution, nice desktop, 10 hr. battery life, it’s a pretty good value.   On the same date HP introduced its TouchPad, which uses an O/S called webOS, which it acquired when it purchased Palm in 2010.  Because of this, it only has 300 apps (vs. 425,000 for the iPad), only comes in WiFi, can make Skype video calls but can’t take pictures, but does include a feature called Synergy, which lets you log onto multiple chat apps at the same time.  [Of course, now that HP is leaving the business, these pads are discontinued (see above).]  Recently, Toshiba entered the Tab market with the Thrive (Android 3.1), about $500, and Acer, with the Iconia, at about the same entry price.  Now, just about every manufacturer has a tablet, but Apple has the market on apps, claiming 450,000.

6/29/11: See below (@ 10/27/10): MySpace sold to Specific Media for a fraction of its original cost to News Corp.  Rumors are that entertainer Justin Timberlake will take up residence and attempt to resuscitate the s/n site.

6/15/11: Google introduces “Instant Pages” system, which is expected to instantly load many web search pages, as well as plans for voice activated and enhanced image searching.  By pre-loading pages it expects users to click on (based on their search terms) they will display near instantly when selected.

6/15/11: Samsung and Acer start shipping netbooks using the Chrome operating system, a/k/a “Chromebooks.”  They’re supposed to boot up fast and work from the cloud, storing and accessing data from anywhere.  But they won’t have hard drives (although you can store data on external USB drives).  Nice idea, but I bet they wished they’d done this last year as they had planned, as netbook sales have slowed, cannibalized by pads (See below, at 2/14/11).

6/6/11: In an effort to outdo Amazon’s Kindle, both B&N (“The All-New NOOK”) @ $140) and Kobo (@ $139) have introduced nearly identical e-book readers. New features include better e-ink screens, smaller footprint (no keypad), longer battery life, more control over features and some enhanced “social features.”  But remember, it’s not a pad (although you may be able to read your books on one or a Blackberry or Android phone or a Palm Pre or a Playbook) and, once you make your selection, you may be more or less locked into that company’s bookstore.  If you wanted an iPad, get one.

5/9/11: Microsoft purchases VoIP provider Skype, for a reported $8.5 billion.  The deal still has to be closed, but should be soon. We’ll see how this plays out.

4/15/11:  Wanna save even more money on a Kindle?  Welcome to the “AdverKindle” (my name, not theirs).  You can save $20 or so on the $139 Kindle if you’re willing to put up with a barrage of advertisements.  Not worth it, at about $114 or so, if you ask me.  It’d have to be about $75 at the highest.

3/14/11:  Microsoft launch date for Internet Explorer 9.  See my notes about its limitations, below.  While we’re on the subject, don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling about IE9’s “Do Not Track” feature just yet.  When you enable this feature in your browser (same for Firefox 4; not available in Chrome and Safari), as I’ve been told, it’s only a request, indicated by an electronic flag that is visible to web operators.  But they aren’t obligated by law or otherwise to honor such requests.  In fact, there may be as yet no technological way to comply.  So we’ve got yet another privacy feature with no teeth.  For now, just stick with deleting cookies and search histories or using anonymous browsers.

3/2/11:  Apple announced the iPad 2, one-third thinner, 15% lighter and twice as fast version of the original iPad that will, starting March 11, sell at the same prices as the original models.  It will have front and rear cameras for video conversations (sorry, no flash), a gyroscope for gaming, an HDMI port out to connect to a TV and will come in both black and white models.  The new magnetic “smart cover” automatically and quickly turns on the iPad and doubles as a stand for the unit.  But your iPad 1 attachments (stands, keyboards) may not work on the thinner model.   Did i mention that it’s twice as fast?

2/15/11: With unofficial release dates estimated between late 2011 to 2013, Windows 8 is definitely in the works.  Word is that this version of Windows will be specifically targeted to work with pad computers and smartphones, supporting SoC and ARM devices.  This means that Microsoft is recognizing the impact of such devices.

1/15/11:  Buried within the hype for all things iPad in this year’s consumer electronics show was a really great idea, one which I hope grows.  It is the Motorola Atrix.  Basically, it’s a very powerful dual core smart phone with 1Gb of RAM that comes with a pad into which you can dock the phone to make it like a laptop, with a screen display and keyboard.  It’s a computer in a phone with a pad display.  The computer slips into a port on the side of the pad and, voila, you have a full featured computer.  Click HERE for more information about the Atrix, which was available from AT&T in Q1. The Droid Bionic, released in 9/2011 also has a similar laptop adapter.

1/21/11:  Verizon announced on 1/10/11 that it will begin to sell Apple’s iPhone 4 on 2/10/11.  This is good news for all those people who didn’t purchase the iPhone because of AT&T’s spotty reputation for service.  There will be, however, some differences due to the type of network Verizon runs: For example, the feature allowing simultaneous phone transmission and web browsing won’t be available. Also, many of the shortcomings of the iPhone will remain (as will those users who will always support Apple just because they’re Apple).  For example, the dismally poor battery life (and the inability to easily replace or substitute a battery), dropping of calls (not always AT&T’s fault, despite the publicity), lack of a raised keyboard, well-publicized antenna problems, as well as bug problems with the iPhone’s main radio (known as baseband) which contributed to the dropped-calls problem.  We’ll also have to see how well the Verizon network can handle the extraordinary bandwidth requirements which caused some of the problems wich overwhelmed AT&T’s network.  Click HERE for a comparison of the features of the Apple vs Verizon iPhones.  [I, for one, am waiting for the Verizon Droid Bionic, a true 4G phone, to be released in 2Qtr 2011.]

12/21/10:  The FCC has finally introduced the long-awaited “net neutrality” regulations.  As expected, they bar cable companies from barring or slowing traffic from competing providers.  But they don’t cover wireless providers, and the cable companies can still charge premiums to high-download customers.  For more on this see the discussion in LAWS.

12/20/10: Samsung has introduced the latest Droid phone, the Nexus S (Google’s own second attempt at designing a cell phone), available through T-Mobile.  iPhones have lots of apps, less for the Droid phones, because each is a little bit different.  But standard on the Droid are turn-by-turn GPS directions and dictation.  The Nexus S screen claims to be curved to better fit your face (hard to tell), has the capability of reading NFC tags (even though we don’t have those type of RFIDs in the US yet), and it has the latest Android 2.3 software on it (new color scheme, central download location, redesigned copy-and-paste feature), plus you’ll always get the Droid updates right away from Google rather than waiting.  By the way, we’re waiting for Android 3.0 (code named Honeycomb) to be released soon.

10/27/10: Microsoft has announced that the last Extended Support Date for Windows XP will be August 4, 2014.

10/27/10: MySpace unveiled a “dramatic remake” of its social networking web presence, in an effort to lure back the lucrative under 35 demographic that has been overtaken by FaceBook. MySpace’s visitors have been down over 20% in the past two years.  It’s rumored that News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdock may sell the company if it can’t be turned around.  6/29/11: Guess the rumors were correct:  Today News Corp. sold MySpace to Specific Media, which specializes in digital ads.  The price was reported to be about $35 million, far less than the $580 million News Corp paid in 2005.

10/11/10: Windows Mobile operating system, to become available on 9 manufacturers’ cell phones (including LG, Samsung, HTC and Dell) starting November, 2010 over AT&T and later T-Mobile networks.  The O/S will feature lots of customer customization, U-Verse TV to stream TV to the phone, Office Hub offering free integration with Microsoft’s One Note collaboration software and linking to Xbox Live for gaming and PowerPoint software, among other features.  It has been generally well accepted, because of its simplicity: “Live Tiles” provides basic groups of information, rather than lots of tiny icons; the “Hubs” gather collections of programs, information & functions organized around a theme.  So why do I still like the Droid better?  Droid supports removable storage, multi-tasking, free turn-by-turn navigation, Flash, Wi-Fi tethering and, of course, better Google integration.  WinMo doesn’t.

10/4/11: Tablet computers aren’t just from Apple any more.  RIM (mfrs of Blackberry) introduced their own tablet, the Playbook, hoping to take advantage of their 50 million mostly business users.  On the good side, it’ll have two hi def cameras for videoconferencing, MicroHDMI and MicroUSB ports, a 1Ghz dual core processor, will be smaller and lighter (7 in) and have enterprise security; also Bridge,  feature to link Blackberry phones to the pad. And, it uses Flash.   On the con side, to some, it uses an unproven QNX O/S, has no GPS and only 32Gb of storage.  App support will, of course, be less than Apple, but will not be subject only to one manufacturer’s approval.  But hold on:  HP, Samsung (the Galaxy Tab, at a whopping $600), HTC and Motorola (the Xoom, at $800!) are all introducing similar devices. HP, for example, has released the PhotoSmart eStation, a Wi-Fi printer which comes packaged with a detachable 7 inch tablet (it’s a little heavy for me). Already Dell has introduced the Streak tablet based on Android, and Entourage has introduced a dual screen tablet/e-reader (see left) that opens like a book. But Micosoft scratched its dual-screen color tablet, the Courier, Google still hasn’t entered the market, and Hearst’s Skiff Reader similarly didn’t make an appearance.  [My theory is that the iPad was so good that the others didn’t feel competitive.]  Click HERE for a chart comparing many of the various tablets.  And in November 2010, Dell introduced the new Inspiron Duo, an interesting design which folds from a tablet (using touchable software called Duo Stage) into a laptop (see right), but it’s kinda heavy at almost 4 lbs, twice that of the iPad. 

10/1/10: Now that I’ve had an opportunity to test the iPhone 4 and the Samsung Droid/Fascinate smart phones, I’ve come to the conclusion that we are heading into a phase where these devices, which have more memory and speed, clearer and larger screens and more apps, will eventually take the place of many laptops, notebooks, readers and iPads.  These new phones can do almost anything that the small computers can do, now that the screens are larger and more readable and are much more user-friendly. Touch-screen technology with Swype has now developed to the point where it may well eclipse the standard mechanical keyboard.

3/1/11:  Now in RC status (just before final release), IE 9 has been tweaked to use less memory, has a blacklist feature, shows download progress, changes the way multiple tabs are displayed and has a shortcut (CTRL + SHIFT + L) which pastes a URL in the clipboard directly into the address bar.

9/20/10: Microsoft has released its “public beta” of Internet Explorer 9.  As usual, it’s playing leapfrog with Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox browsers.  Just remember, however, that YOU CAN’T INSTALL IT WITH WINDOWS XP.  [Same for Firefox 4 and, to some extent, Chrome’s latest browser.] Also, as usual, some people like it and others don’t.  Of those who don’t, the complaints are that it is dark, the tabs aren’t placed usefully and it’s constantly asking you if you want to use the add-ons and other security prompts.  Also, since it’s new, you probably won’t be able to load many of your add-ons, either, so you might want to hold off until it’s been around a little while.  Microsoft will officially launch IE9 on March 14, 2011.  It scored 95 out of 100 on the Acid 3 test.

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