German Computer Pioneer: Herr Konrad Zuse

When it comes to computing pioneers, one first tends to think of the Englishman Charles Babbage, the brilliant mathematician who originated the concept for the programable computer, or to Americans such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, etc.. One also tends to think of Silicon Valley and companies like IBM, HP, Microsoft, Apple or even Atari, as well as others.

However, one of the first, and, one of the greatest of all computer pioneers happened to be Germany's Konrad Zuse. Herr Zuse may not exactly be a household name, but this Berlin born genius went on to create the very first binary computer, and this all the way back in 1936, as you can see in the photo above, (click to enlarge) Young Germany.com.

The power of Herr Zuse's first computer was really more akin to that of a simple, and one no where near as being as powerful as what you can pick up now-a-days at your local Wal-Mart for a few measly dollars. Later, in 1939, Konrad Zuse went on to complete the Z2 data computer, the world's very first fully functional electro-mechanical computer, and then, on May 12, 1941, he finally completed the Z3, and then eventually the Z4. The Z3 broke new ground when it became the very first truly functional, Turing-complete computer.

The Deutsches Technikmuseum, in Berlin, has a great reproduction of Herr Zuse's amazing Z1 on display, (seen below via Wikipedia), so, if you ever happen to be in this great German city, be sure to check it out. Unfortunately, the original was destroyed during World War II, which is a real pity, since I would have dearly loved to have seen it.

Even though Herr Zuse was an extremely humble man, and especially when it came to his "Z" series of computers, it was he and his incredible machines that helped to pave the way for all of the modern computing marvels that we see in use and take for granted today. Clearly, without his pioneering work we probably wouldn't be enjoying any of the various and numerous Windows PC's out there, or even the sleek, elegant and sexy Macintosh itself.

When you look at Konrad Zuse's Z1, and consider its incredible size and complexity, it's rather amazing to think that this amazing man and his amazing machine would eventually help lead the way to all of the many amazingly slim, powerful and sexy machines that we see today, and machines, such as the MacBook Air, that I only wish Mr. Zuse could have lived to see. He died in 1995, so he got to see at least some of them.

So, in conclusion, I just want to take time out to thank Herr Zuse, the German computer genius, and all the other pioneers, for all his and their tireless dedication and hard work that helped to make computing what it is today, an everyday and indispensable part of our lives. Also, dankt Herrn Zuse; Dank fur alles (So, Mr. Zuse, thanks for everything)!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, November 01, 2010

Microsoft Beats The Street: Is It Back?

Yesterday, the mighty behemoth from Redmond, Microsoft, beat the street's consensus. It reported a staggering $16.2B in its 1st quarterly revenue, which was up by a very respectable 25%.

As impressive as the giant's last quarter was, however, as Joe Wilcox reported, it might have beat ".... the consensus but not Apple," which also just recently reported over $20B in revenue.

Of course, Windows 7 helped to play a large part in Microsoft's great quarter, but, surprisingly, even though Windows has traditionally been considered to be Microsoft's cash cow, Joe actually reported that Windows revenues, of some $4.76B, was actually eclipsed by its business unit which reported revenues of some $5.126B!

Even though Microsoft revenues were some $4B less than Apple, it still nonetheless made over $1B more in profits than the latter. Traditionally, software has always had a much higher margin of profit than hardware, so no surprises there.

Microsoft's great quarter should help to dampen a lot of recent negative articles about the company. Articles such as CNNMoney's recent: "Microsoft is a dying consumer brand" , which stated:

" Consumers have turned their backs on Microsoft. A company that once symbolized the future is now living in the past."

So, is Microsoft really a relic of the past, or is it back?

Clearly, they're not were they used to be, but, on the other hand, I wouldn't exactly call them out of the game just yet either. With newer products such as Windows 7 and Windows 7 Mobile, plus its XBox Kinetic, Microsoft has a lot to look forward to, but whether they are really back for good is still up in the air. That's because with the realization that their main cash cow of producing traditional desktop PC operating systems is no longer as important or as relevant as it used to be, Microsoft will be forced to look past the PC before it's claim to be really back, but if anyone can pull it off it's Microsoft.

In conclusion, Microsoft may have been down, but its recent 1st quarterly results also proves that it's clearly a force to be reckoned with. Time will tell, as it usually does, however, whether its really back, and back to stay.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, October 29, 2010

The $100 iPad Wannabe: The Maylong M-150

The smart-phone market exploded after the iPhone came out and spawned a virtual flood of copy cats, some good, some not so good.

Likewise, after the iPad, now comes another virtual flood of copy cat tablets. However, so far, none of the ones that I have seen have really been that great. This goes especially for Android based tablets, which Google actuallys says isn't even ready for the tablet form factor, at least not quite yet anyway.

However, some of the cheaper knock-offs, as seen in the $100 Maylong M-150 above, are down right horrible. As you can see in the opening photo, via Engadget, this 7 inch tablet borrows heavily from the iPad's basic design and interface, and even includes an OS X like dock! However, this particular tablet seems, based on its icon, to be running Internet Explorer. The Maylong M 150 includes a pokey 400MHz VIA VM8505+ processor, built-in WiFi, an undetermined amount of built-in memory, and for expansion a microSD card, and the whole shebang sells for a paltry $100 at your local Walgreen's!

Mind you, what the Maylong M-150 doesn't seem to have, however, is any sense of quality, durability or speed. As you can see from the video featured on Engadget, and as well here, this thing seems to take forever to start up! Compare that to the iPad's 'instant on' feature and it becomes quite clear that you really do get what you pay for!

So, in conclusion, even though we are now beginning to see high quality tablets such as HP's new Slate 500, they either run on Windows 7 or Android. Microsoft's latest OS makes for a great desktop and laptop OS, and Android a great phone OS, but, however, at the moment, neither are exactly what you would call ideal for use in tablets either. Eventually, Windows and Android tablets may give the iPad a serious run for its money, but, in the meantime, tablets such as the Maylong M-150 not only serves to make the iPad look all the better, but, at the same time, makes other tablets, especially Android based ones look all the worse.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, October 28, 2010

OS X Lion: To Include A Tab Finder?

As you can see from the above 'Sneak Peak' of Apple's upcoming OS X 'Lion', there are some pretty cool new features coming, such as Mission Control, Full-Apps and Launch Pad. Apple, of course, only showed off a few features of what it claims will be many. What other new features are coming?

Well, one feature that I am hoping to finally see is a tabbed finder, one that gives OS X windows the same type of tabs that you see in today's browsers, and especially like those found in Google's Chrome.

In the meantime, however, whether OS X Lion does or doesn't include this feature or not, you can still have it now thanks to a finder plug in called Total Finder by BinaryAge. You can see Total Finder in action below (German audio) and you have to admit that Total Finder is 'totally cool'!

In conclusion, as cool as having 'tabs' in the finder would be, we don't really know if it will be included in Lion's final release or not, but we can always hope. If not, Total Finder should continue to do the trick. What other features might be also included in Lion's final release, well, I guess, that's something we'll just have to wait and find out, but, boy-oh-boy, I'm really, really hoping that tabs will be among them.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Will Ubuntu Ever Become Mainstream?

Ubuntu is the most popular of all Linux distros and for good reason. For one, its probably the closest thing to being as good as that of either Windows or OS X, and as you can see from the above video the Unity Interface, as found in the latest Maverick Meerkat release, looks pretty damn sweet indeed.

If you look closely, both above and below, however, you can see where a lot of Ubuntu's desktop inspiration comes from...... OS X! Yes, Ubuntu can include, if you like, a lot of OS X like features, including an OS X dock, window-zooming, Cover-Flow, Expose and even the very design of its windows and scroll bars, etc.

Ubuntu's Unity Interface has a very Next Step look to it, which, of course, was bought by Apple and is the very building block on which OS X is founded. I'm not too sure what Apple thinks of the open source community using its patented technologies, but unless or until it proves to be distrubtive to OS X sales itself, I'm presuming Apple really doesn't care that much at all.

So, will Ubuntu, or any other Linux distro for that matter, ever become main stream?

Probably not, at least not without some kind of miracle.... a big one. The biggest problem preventing Linux from becoming mainstream isn't so much Linux itself, but rather the lack of interest from commercial software developers to embrace it.

Despite having a lot of freeware available, some of it being as good as any commercial alternative, without a lot of commercial software being available, Linux may be doomed to remain stuck at having less than one percent of the desktop market and that's a shame.

All-in-all, and, in conclusion, and despite the fact that I've always liked Ubuntu and have more-or-less considered it to be 'my Linux' of choice, I can't see it becoming mainstream anytime soon, let alone replacing OS X or Windows without lots of commercial software support. However, Ubuntu is one OS that is certainly becoming more and more polished and enjoyable to use with each and every release, and some people, like PC Mag's Matthew Murray, even believe that it could possibly become a major player, at least in the world of mobile devices, along side that of iOS and Android, but time will tell on that one.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, October 26, 2010

One of the Biggest TV and Movie Stars of All Times: APPLE!

One of the biggest stars in television these days is neither male nor female or, for that matter, even human! Yes, it's none other than Apple, or should I say more precisely some of its many drool worthy products, be it the Mac, iPod, iPhone and now, more than ever, the real star being none other than the iPad!

According to the Nielsen Company Apple products have popped up over 2,400 times on television programs through September of this year alone, including CNBC's "Fast Money" talk show and Glenn Beck who sometimes brings his own to Fox's morning show "Fox & Friends."

The iPad isn't just making its appearance in front of the screen either, but, as well, behind the screen where it is fast becoming an important tool of production, and one that drastically reduces the amount of paper and time wasted on script rewrites according to this article in the New York Times.

In fact, according to this prestigious paper, "The iPad is the must-carry accessory on sound stages this season, visible behind the scenes of television and film shoots and in business meetings. When Paula Abdul, the former “American Idol” judge, wants to preview her new dance show for prospective sponsors, she turns on her iPad and pulls up a YouTube video. When Julie Benz, a star of “No Ordinary Family” on ABC, has downtime between shoots, she plays Angry Birds, the popular physics-based puzzle game."

Apple products have been popular in the past not only on the small screen but on the large screen as well, and one of the interesting things to note is that Apple claims that it pays no one for the privilege of placing any of their products on either TV or in the movies. Such product placements have got to be one of the most effective uses of advertising known to man and it must, at the same time, make Apple's all of competitors a wee bit jealous. I know if I were an Apple competitor I would be extremely jealous to see it getting top billing in shows such as "Modern Family" which recently feature an episode where a dad's son uses some questionable tactics to get him an iPad for his birthday.

In conclusion, you could say that Apple is now one of the biggest and brightest of all of the TV and movie stars out there, and a star that gets more work then most actors could ever hope to in their life times.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, October 25, 2010

HP's $800 Business Slate 500 Tablet: Can It, Or Anyone Beat Apple And Take On The iPad?

HP has officially set the price for its upcoming business tablet, the Slate 500, and it's a lot more than what a lot of people were hoping it would be, namely a whopping $799!

At $800, as compared to the iPad, the HP Slate 500 might seem a tad bit high, but that kind of bread also buys a tablet with some pretty impressive specs and features, such as:

- 8.9 inch 1024 x 600-resolution capacitive screen

- headphone jack

- one USB port

- 1.5-pound weight

- Wacom active digitizer and stylus

- 2GB RAM

- 1.86Ghz Atom Z540 CPU

- 64GB SSD

- Broadcom's Crystal HD accelerator for 1080p video

- an included dock, complete with HDMI-output for connecting to the big screen, plus included carrying case

- front and back video cameras

The rubberized back gives the HP Slate 500 a fairly durable feel, according to Engadget. All-in-all, $800 is a lot of money, but I have to admit that the specs are pretty impressive, except for the CPU. Unfortunately, there is also one feature that I really, really don't like, and namely that it runs on a full-blown desktop OS, Windows 7 Professional.

The included Windows 7 OS might be fine-and-dandy on a desktop or a laptop, but on tablets full-blown OS's are really not that great. If anything, it's the iPad's iOS, more than anything else that has enabled the iPad to become runaway success that it has. The OS is optimized for portable computing, Windows 7 and other desktop OS's simply are not.

So, can the HP Slate 500, with its superior specs, really take on the iPad? Well, first of all I doubt it, and so does HP. No doubt too that's precisely why its being marketed as a business tablet rather than a consumer one. That, of course, doesn't preclude consumers from buying one for consumer purposes, but HP will soon be addressing consumer tablets with WebOS based ones in the future.

It is still up for debate, however, whether any WebOS based tablet, or ones based on Windows 7, or Google's upcoming Android GingerBread OS, for that matter, will ever be now able to catch up and successfully take on the now mighty iPad. Many have their doubts, such as Don Reisinger who lists 10 reasons why Android tablets won't be a match for the iPad anytime soon.

With Apple now being the largest tech company in the world, some firmly believe that it's now too late for Google, RIM and others to successfully take on Apple. Included among these are The Economic Times which stated:

"As Jobs, CEO of the world's largest technology company, unveiled Apple's new Mac OS X Lion operating system as well as two new versions ultralight MacBook Air laptops in Cupertino Wednesday, analysts said Apple is simply unbeatable now."

So, in conclusion, can the HP Slate 500, Google, RIM or anyone else, for that matter, really hope to successfully take on the iPad and win? Maybe, maybe not? I'm really not sure if Apple and the iPad are unbeatable, but I do know that who ever does it, they'll probably won't be doing it anytime soon or doing it very easily, but you never really know, you know, so I guess we'll just have to wait it out and see on this one.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, October 22, 2010

HP Slate 500 photo via: Engadget

Back To The Mac Event: Highlights

Yesterday, Steve Jobs and his colleagues finally held their "Back To The Mac" presentation, which you can view on video here.

Now that the dust has settled, just what impact might yesterday's event have not only on the future of Apple and its users, but on the whole world of technology itself?

I suppose, only God could possibly know the answer to that one, but one thing I'm pretty dang-tooting sure of, it's going to have some impact, and most likely a rather big one at that.

First of all, as Charlie Sorrel, of Wired's Gadet Lab, pointed out, the best news, as far as he was concerned, was that of the MacBook Air's Software Reinstall Drive, which he says finally spells the end of the now familiar, ubiquitous, but otherwise slow and clunky optical drive!

Is Charlie right?

Well, as far as I'm concerned, he most likely is. After all, not only was Apple first to bring CD, DVD and 3.5 inch floppy drives to the market in the first place, but where also the very first ones to dump the floppy years before the rest of the PC market ever followed suit.

After seeing video of the event, I'm now pumped about the future of the Mac and computing in general. Of course, when you got Apple involved, as usual, people are going to bitterly complain and bitch that it is once again going backwards and is now well on the road to oblivion, so expect to see Apple going out of business soon because of it!

Charlie may be one of the first to note the significance of Apple replacing the CD drive with that of a flash stick, but most people, at this point, I believe are much more interested in the other announcements, such as the new MBA's themselves, iLife and, naturally, the next generation of OS X to be called Lion, which should be in our hands come next summer.

As for the new MacBook Air's, well I think their swell, and the best yet. I love the fact, that like the CD drive, Apple has also dumped its old physical hard-drive for the newer flash variety as well. However, I won't say that much more, because, first of all, I believe it is Lion that should be getting the lion share of the attention.

I won't go into all the details, since you can get them via the video link above, or from other sites such as Gizmodo which has a nice breakdown of all of Apple's latest and cool stuff here.

However, in conclusion, when it comes to OS X Lion, I will simply end with the beginning from Gizmodo's recent post on Lion, which states:

"Mac OS X Lion is another step in the road to a new—or better said, renewed—computer interface paradigm: Modal computing. And along the way, Apple is taking some of the most successful parts of iOS, like the App Store—with automatic installation of applications—and the springboard (rechristened Launchpad in Lion). They are also introducing new user interface elements, like Mission Control, to help solve the problems that modal interfaces may bring."

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, October 21, 2010

Back To The Mac Event: What I Want To See

In mere hours from now, Steve Jobs will take the stage yet again for another one of his now legendary introductory presentations. This time it's for Apple's recently announced "Back to the Mac" event.

People have been speculating that he will be announcing "Lion" the next major OS X installment and other new software, particularly an upgraded iLife suite and at long last a major upgrade for a rumored newer and much smaller MacBook Air.

Well, according to a post on Engadget today, Apple may have already accidentally leaked that iLife and the MacBook Air will indeed be coming as rumored, with an older Engadget post even revealing that its features will include:

• Smaller 11.6-inch display.
• 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (with a 2.33GHz option possible).
• 2GB of memory in the base configuration.
• No optical drive, naturally.
• Mini DisplayPort, USB, and SD card reader along the left-hand side and USB and power on the right (that's 2x USB).
• The trackpad has been updated to match that of the new MacBook Pros.
• Although smaller due to the 11.6-inch display, it's still about the same thickness as the current MacBook Air.
• A black power key now sits immediately to the right of a smaller eject key on the MBA's keyboard -- the round aluminum power button is gone. A design decision that might support the MBA's rumored instant-on capabilities though our source didn't see this functionality exhibited (possibly because it was running OS X 10.6.4)

We'll just have to wait, of course, to really know for sure, but I do know for sure what I would like to see. First off, in regards to "Lion" or what ever they choose to call the next upgrade, I would like to see a lot more than just the stability, security and speed upgrades that we got with Snow Leopard! Yes, these are all good and dandy, but I want to see a virtual boat-load of new and fancy features that virtually dazzles ones eyes and ones other senses, as well as having real and practical uses that should make working and playing on a Mac even easier, more productive and more enjoyable than ever.

Maybe I'm just a big kid at heart, but I actually like eye candy now-and-then, and, yes, eye candy as dazzling as some of the stuff that you'll see on Linux's OS X's inspired Compiz, but, only a lot more functional as well. Compiz has a lot of whiz-bang animated special effects that will make you go "oooh and ah", but most of them have no real or practical use other than just dazzling you with all their prettiness. What I don't want, is GPU and CPU sucking performance just for the sake of a few pretty effects. They must not be overly done as many are in Compiz, and they should serve a useful purpose without being too distractive.

"Lion", which will probably be the main purpose of the whole event, hopefully, will boast features that will not only wow and dazzle us, but will leave all other OS's choking on OS X's dust, and that hopefully will prove to be just as revolutionary as OS X was when it was first introduced to the world well over a decade now.

I'm really not that much interested in the MBA so much, but I am hoping that some of the rumors about its new type of Flash memory will prove to be another ground-breaking design that will revolutionize and take portable computing to the next level, and, hopefully, a much higher level. This rumored feature will be particularly interesting to watch.

In conclusion, in addition to hoping that Steve will surprise us all with some totally out-of-left-field mystery and major new product, I hope that Apple's "Back to the Mac" event will prove to be a major affair, and that based on overzealous expectation's, not a major disappointment. Of course, whether it will, or will not, at least we don't have to wait much longer to find out.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, October 20, 2010

11.6-inch MacBook Air photo via: Engadget

Apple's Recent Quarterly Results In One Word: Strange!

It happened once again, yesterday Apple posted record profits, and its best quarter ever, yet Apple's stock was still down by a whopping $20 per share!

This is indeed rather puzzling and especially after Google's stock was up by some 11%, or $60, after reporting much less impressive numbers. So, just what is one to make of all of this? What one word could be used to describe this strange reaction and Apple's sudden stock drop?

Well, some speculate that the drop was due to supply problems that resulted in the iPad selling somewhat less than what analysts had originally predicted, and as well due to some investors attempting to lock in their profits, and to Apple's posting slightly lower profit margins.

With earnings up around 70%, and with some 91% more iPhone 4's being sold (a whopping 14.1 million), and almost some 4 million Macs (the most ever), and with over 4 million plus iPads sold you would have thought that the market would be jumping up and down for joy.

After all, Apple's profits, for crying out pizza, just happened to muscle past mighty IBM's and as far as mighty Google is concerned, well ZDNet reported that Apple's (first $20 billion quarter) was so great it is more than Google will do for the entire year! And yet, despite all of this Apple's stock was still down by some 7%, while Google's, on the other hand, was up by some 11%!

Go figure! Is this a crazy world or what?

Of course, Apple's stock may be down now, but as Phillip Elmer-DeWitt noted, you don't really need to cry for Apple's share price because it's probably not going to stay down for very long. He noted that many analysts feel the same, such as Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster who he quotes as saying:

"While shares of Apple may pull back today (10/19), we would be buyers based on our belief that investors will gain optimism over the next three months that the growth story will continue. We are raising our FY11 revenue growth rate from 24% to 32% and our price target goes from $390 to $429."

I tend to agree with Mr. Munster, and if there is any one word that can be used to describe the market's over reaction to Apple's recently quarterly results it is this:

Insane!

Apple's stock may have been down yesterday, but as Steve Jobs pointed out, after taking time out to take shots at some of his competitors, he also promised that Apple had several more surprises still left for the year, some of which should be reveal this coming Wednesday at Apples "Back to The Mac Event", and this should once again ignite Apple's stock to ever higher and new records.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Photo via: CNN Tech

Could Today's Apple's Financial Results Push Its Market Cap Past $300 Billion?

Later today, the second most valuable company in the world, Apple, will be announcing its latest quarterly financial results and they are expected to be another blow-out that could easily propel its stock higher and its market cap far higher still.

Friday, for example, Apple's high-flying stock hit another all-time record, closing at the end of the day at $314.43, or up some$12.43 per share. After hour trading added another $1.66 to Apple's shares making them worth some $316.00 and giving it a market cap of over $287 Billion!

Friday, as well, Google's stock was up by a whopping 10 or 11 percent after it posted record earnings, so, if Apple follows suit and once again blows past Wall Street's estimates as it has done time and time again in the past, then it too could do the same, and this could conceivably push its market cap well over the $300 billion mark, and potentially pass Exxon, currently the world's most valuable company.

With booming sales of its iPhone, iPad, and extremely strong sales of its iPods and Macs, and the fact that Apple appears ripe for finally cracking the corporate world, who knows just how high Apple's stock could go? I've seen or read somewhere, possibly from Bloomberg, a report that mentioned that if you had bought a measely $300 or so of Apple stock just before Jobs returned, it would now be worth approximately around $12,000 or so!

Nonetheless, according to many experts Apple's stock, as high as it presently is, is still consider to be relatively cheap, and despite the fact that it is now one of the big boys, apparently, Apple is one of the only giants that still behaves and has the potential of a much smaller hot start-up!

So, could Apple's latest financial results actually result in it becoming only the second company in the world to hit the $300 billion plus market cap plateau?

In conclusion, I believe it could do just that, and therefor I'm especially eager to see just what happens after Apple reports its latest results and on seeing just how high its stock goes and if it breaks the $300 billion market cap plateau. This goes especially in light of the fact that many analysts are now upping their estimates for Apple. These include some, like RBC's Mike Abramsky, believes that Apple may have sold as many as 13 million plus units in the past quarter, so this evenings earnings call should be particularly interesting and exciting to watch.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, October 18, 2010

Cool Technology: The Lexmark Genesis All-In-One Printer

The above YouTube video just happens to show off, what I think anyway, is one of the coolest and sexiest all-in-one printers ever, the spanking new Lexmark Genesis, a very lovely looking device indeed.

What's so freaking awesome about the Genesis is that, unlike other scanners which use flatbed scanners, the scanner portion in this beauty uses a 10 megapixel camera instead, for near instantaneous results!

Hubba, hubba...... me likes, and me likes it a lot!

Yes sir, if there is anything that I hate it is waiting around all day for a stupid document to scan and calibrate, so this black-beauty may just be the ticket for a lot of people like myself. I've been hankering to replace my now more than five year old HP printer/scanner, even though it actually works as good as the day I bought the thing. I was planning on replacing it with another HP, the 8500 Office Jet Pro, but now I'm not so sure.

Below, if your so inclined, is the Lexmark's official press release, issued just today and listing its various features and impressive specs:

"Lexmark Genesis: the industry's first AIO to deliver speed, style and SmartSolutions

Flash Scan technology, sleek vertical design and the new Twitter and Facebook SmartSolutions headline the printer category's latest, most innovative product

LEXINGTON, Ky. and LAS VEGAS, Oct. 15, 2010 – Today from BlogWorld, Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) launched the latest addition to its award-winning lineup of Web-connected, all-in-one (AIO) inkjet printers – Lexmark Genesis.

Last year, Lexmark introduced a line of inkjet AIOs that delivered powerful and robust printing technology designed for today's wireless, Web-connected workplace. The Lexmark Genesis, built on the same inkjet platform, extends the line and targets savvy professionals and small business and home office customers who are looking for a device that has innovative technology, is highly productive and is also bold and stylish.

"From its unique, sleek upright design to the broad range of SmartSolutions, the Lexmark Genesis is truly an innovative, one-of-a-kind product in today's AIO market," said Paul Rooke, Lexmark executive vice president and president of its Imaging Solutions Division. "Most importantly, after a quick and easy setup, busy professionals will immediately experience its time-saving instant preview, quick copies and unmatched speed when scanning content to the cloud." Through its built-in innovative camera technology, Flash Scan, which boasts a 10-megapixel imaging sensor, the Lexmark Genesis delivers blazing scanning speeds that enable the AIO to transfer a page from "document to digital" in as few as three seconds.

In addition to its innovative Flash Scan technology, the Lexmark Genesis comes equipped with sophisticated features and functionality, including the 4.3-inch capacitive color touch screen that is also available on Lexmark's other award-winning AIOs, the Platinum, Pinnacle and Interact. This touch screen serves as the gateway to Web-connected technology allowing busy professionals to access Lexmark's SmartSolutions, including well-known, cloud-based applications such as Stamps.com, Evernote, Box.net and TripIt.

Just announced today along with Lexmark Genesis are the Twitter and Facebook SmartSolutions. These SmartSolutions will enable users to scroll through and search their Twitter feeds as well as view their Facebook walls and print photos right from the device. Twitter is currently available for download. Facebook will be available next month".

In addition to the video above, you can catch a cool hands on demonstration from the fine folks over at Engadget here, and showing this " I just got to get me one" device being used wirelessly on an iPad!

The biggest problem, at the moment, with this must-have printer/scanner is that we have to wait until next month before the bloody thing goes on sale. Not only that, I'm the kind of guy that likes to wait until I can read several hands on reviews of a product before I lay down my hard come by money, so that bums me out a wee bit, but other than that, ooh, la, la, I'm liking what I see, impatience aside.

In conclusion, the Lexmark Genesis has styling that is equal to that of any Apple device, making a it a perfect companion to any Apple setup, and definitely, if it functions as good as it looks, means that HP has just lost one more long-time customer, namely, little old me.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, October 15, 2010

Will Recent Colossal Multi-Touch Wins For Apple Mean Colossal Trouble For Everyone Else?

Android, Windows Mobile 7 and every other smart phone manufacturer, including those also planning on introducing competing iPad like devices, now have a new and potentially big problem on their hands: Apple just received major and colossal new multi-touch patents wins, including the most important one of them all.... pinch-to-zoom!

When it comes to this "now-ubiquitous gesture" of pinching-to-zoom Engadget notes:

"..... it's the first granted patent on the now-ubiquitous gesture we've seen, and based on its filing history it's essentially effective as of December 30, 2005 -- long before anything multitouch products with pinch to zoom had arrived on the market. That's no small weapon to bear -- we'll see what Apple does with it."

Yes, depending on what Apple does with this newly awarded patent bonanza, it could greatly not only effect the manufacturers of smart-phones, such as Android's Nexus-One, the Droid X, etc., but it could also greatly effect competing software titles such as Opera's new Mobile Browser which is headed to Android sometime later next month, complete with Apple's newly granted pinch-to-zoom gesture!

Palm was the first to taunt Apple by including pinch-to-zoom directly from the iPhone, as well as other features, in its widely praised WebOS. Now it seems that everyone, and I mean everyone, feels that it's perfectly within their rights to do the same. I wonder what Eric and his boys, as well as those good-old-boys in Redmond and elsewhere are thinking now?

No doubt, they are quickly gathering all of the biggest and brightest legal eagles that they can get their hands on, for the biggest patent battle of their lives. Quite frankly, without the legal right to include pinch-to-zoom gestures as well as other Apple patents and features in their related products, they could just easily end up seeing a lot of their present and future customers leave in droves to the only place where they'll be legally able to get them.... only on Apple's own devices!

Do you really think that Motorola's Droid X, for instance, is going to be able to keep selling as well as it is now without this "must have" gesture of pinch-to-zoom'? No way baby..... and I honestly doubt if Apple's competitors believe they can too, so this just might end up as the mother-of-all patent wars and will definitely be one of the most interesting battles to watch as it plays out over the next few months and years.

So, will Apple's recently awarded multi-touch patent win mean equally colossal trouble for everybody else?

The answer is that I really and honestly don't know, but it's sure beginning to look that way!

So, in conclusion, I'm not sure what the boys in Redmond or in the GooglePlex, or elsewhere, are planning to do about this one, but this colossal multi-touch win for Apple can't exactly be too peachy news, and that's for damn tooting sure, because as smart as they all might be, I'm not all that damn sure that their going to easily wiggle themselves out of this one, but I could always be wrong.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, October 14, 2010

Opening graphic via: Patently Apple

Coming Soon: Zune And Windows Mobile 7 Support For The Mac

Yesterday, a Microsoft executive in charge of Windows Phone marketing, Oded Ran, tweeted that he was "...glad to confirm that Mac users would be able to use Zune on their Macs to sync with #WP7. More details soon."

Well, that was yesterday. Today Engadget stated, " As for hell, there haven't been any reports of recent temperatures changes.....", but apparently, however, to some, hell must have indeed frozen over after hearing this following official Microsoft statement:

"Later in 2010 Microsoft will make a public beta available of a tool that will allow Windows phone 7 to sync select content with Mac computers."

That simple statement is interesting for several reasons. One is that many never would have "thunked" that it could or would ever actually make it; and secondly, because it officially acknowledges on Microsoft's part that the Mac is a indeed serious and viable platform, and one that is big enough that Microsoft can grow its Zune and Windows 7 Mobile business on. Mr. Ballmer has long down played any relevance of the Mac and Apple, and more-or-less simply referring to them as being "rounding zeros", and of no real consequence what-so-ever.

Of course, Microsoft has always regarded everything that Apple did in this way, anyway, so there is no reel news here. However, by officially announcing support for Windows 7 mobile, and its Zune Password, Microsoft is finally acknowledging that the Mac and Apple are both serious contenders and worthy of its attention.

Personally, and in conclusion, even though Windows Mobile 7 and the Zune are both good products, I still don't think that they will be good enough to entice me or many others to actually make the switch from either the iPod, iTunes or the iPhone. Nonetheless, on the other hand, simply having Microsoft's Zune and Windows Mobile 7 options and support are still a very good thing for we Apple users, as it gives us even more choices and options, and, as far as this bloody bloke is concerned, well..... having more choice and options is always a good thing. A good thing indeed.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Opening photo via: Engadget

Before There Was The iPhone, There Was This?

Before there was the iPhone, and yes, way before there was any of the ubiquitous cell phones that we see today, there was the 1964 portable 'car radio phone' seen above, via Gizmodo. The first car phones, however, go back even farther than that, like would you believe all the way back to 1946, and as you can also read about here.

These huge and ancient monstrosities worked by hijacking nearby radio waves, and ran directly off of your car's battery. When in use, these portable car phones sucked so much juice that they would appreciably dim the headlights, signaling to any of the reported other one million or so other cars equipped with these then marvels of technology that you were on the phone.

It's amazing to think that just the handset on one of these lil-buggers was many times the size or weight of the iPhone! Of course, it's probably safe to say that the people that actually used these ancient relics had absolutely no idea, clue, concept or inkling what-so-ever of what an app was, let alone what a social app was. Yet, today many iOS social games have now become more popular than even many of today's big-time television shows, including Sunday Night Football, NCIS Los Angeles, CBS Undercover Boss or The Mentalist as you can see in the chart below via TechChrunch and Flurry Analytics!

Well, what can I say, in conclusion, except that it's probably safe to say that what seemed so funny, odd, laughable and strange about these old 1964 portable radio phones will also be true and said about today's wonders of technology, including, naturally, the iPhone, Windows 7 Mobile phones or any of the numerous Android phones out there, you just wait and see.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sorry Android, RIM and Windows Mobile: iOS Dominates Survey Of New Business Activiations

Good Technology has reported that Android, even though it has collectively been growing over that of the iPhone, nonetheless fails to catch up with iOS devices when it comes to new business activations where iOS devices such as the iPhone 4G, 3G and the iPad puts all Android and Windows Mobile activation to shame, taking the lead with a commanding 56%.

The Motorola Droid X, by the way, is the singularly most popular of all Android devices, coming in at fourth place over all for the period covering from June to September 2010.

Collectively, however, Android beats the pants off of Windows Mobile with a share of some 26 to 15%. By far, the most activations among Good Technoology's customers where for the iPhone 4G, followed by the G3 model in second place. Unfortunately, this all comes as bad news for the king of all business phones, RIM's BlackBerry range of of popular devices.

However, it's important to note, and as reported by eWeek.com, the following:

"Some market context is key for this report. Good is counting only users of its own messaging management software. The company doesn't count new activations for rival RIM because RIM only enables BlackBerry Enterprise Server for corporate e-mail access.

RIM is still easily the U.S. smartphone market leader with some 37-40 percent of market share versus roughly 24 percent for iOS and 20 percent for Android, according to comScore.

However, RIM, whose BlackBerry devices have been corporate mobile mainstays for a decade, is losing share to iPhone and Android. "

In conclusion, business seems to have falling in love with the iPhone, but these results will, of course, be expected to change over time as newer devices such as Windows 7 Mobile, which officially debuts today, and other devices such as Samsung's Galaxy Tab come to market. These newer and competing devices could take the lead next time around, but, of course, it might also be added that Apple itself is expected to be bringing out newer models of all of its iOS devices and in much shorter times cycles than its well known 'once per year' cycle which could also help to keep iOS devices still in the lead, but only time will tell.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, the 11th. of October, 2010

Is Microsoft Running Scared, And If So, Of What And Of Whom?

Is the mighty software giant from Redmond running scared, and if so, scared of what and of whom?

Well, if current reports are true, then Microsoft is indeed running scared, and namely scared of its old nemesis Apple and so much so that it recently, according to the New York Times, held secretive tand clandestine talks in the Big Apple with Adobe to discuss none other than Apple, and specifically how they can partner to come up with a strategy to counter Apple's growing clout in the mobile world.

Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer and Adobe's CEO Shantanu Narayen clandestine meeting has greatly fueled rumors, and Adobe's stock value, that it, Adobe, is about to be acquired by the software giant, something that was previously considered once in the past, but stymied because of fears of governmental anti-trust concerns.

With Adobe being spurned big-time by Apple and with Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 Mobile, on October 11, a lot of people are nonetheless still left scratching their heads as to just how such a Microsoft and Adobe partnership could actually help either company take on Apple. After all, Apple seems to not only be doing well without Adobe, but down-right flourishing.

As a long time Apple observer, like many others, I used to consider Microsoft to be the bad guy when it came to Apple, but now, more-than-ever, it is being perceived that the really bad guy here is actually Google, and not only when it comes to Apple either, but to Microsoft and others as well.

In conclusion, with Google's growing Android platform, its Chrome browser and its Google apps, and what have you, then I think that Microsoft shouldn't really be so much talking with Adobe about a partnership to take on Apple, but rather Microsoft and Apple should be getting together to talk about partnering on how to take on Google before it mops the floor with both!



And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, October 08, 2010

Opening graphic via: The Window Club