Although the iPad's 3G version is targeted for AT&T users only, Verizon is seeing a golden opportunity in the device's upcoming release. Sales documents leaked to Engadget show Verizon is prepping it's staff to encourage customers to buy the WiFi only version instead and then pick up a MiFi and data plan It's a savings of $130 for the customer and a sweet deal for Verizon. There's one hitch though-Verizon's data plan costs a hefty $60, $30 more than AT&T's unlimited iPad only plan.
Of course that $30 AT&T data plan may not do much good in areas such as New York and San Francisco where the company's data network is already overwhelmed by iPhone users. Adding equally data hungry iPads to the mix may end up being a recipe for disaster. If it were me, I'd go for the WiFi only version.
Google has been always the household name for anything internet-related. It became even better when it released its own email hosting service – Gmail.com, which proceeded to Gtalk – an online instant messenger. The next leap was the purchase of YouTube, the largest video sharing network. The world was in shock and awe.
We all thought that's the end of the road for the Internet Mogul. Then, Google Inc. starts Google Apps, a combination of Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites, which gained about more than 2 million businesses hooked to it in 3 years. With that huge desire for more, Google now introduces Google Apps Marketplace that sells integrated business software which is hosted as a service on the cloud.
Google Apps Marketplace is now the home for software from more than 50 companies. Among the software available are Intuit Online Payroll, Manymoon (a project management app), Professional Services Connect (selects relevant information on people, projects, customers and transactions from a user’s domain and surfaces it directly inside a Gmail message), and JIRA studio (a software development suite that integrates Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and other existing apps) . With cloud computing, it has swept away all the burdens of network planning, server and software setups, system maintenance etc. into the dumpster. That is one huge saving, and this creates more capital to be invested and bring businesses to greater heights.
Through time, there will be always a newer and better version. Current businesses would tend to procure newer computers and obtain new software licenses. Fortunately, with Cloud, businesses can now maintain their current computers and just continue subscribing to the services, as software providers will patch the given software accordingly. No more harassment from newer software versions or patches.
Besides the end users, software providers can achieve a much bigger and wider market than ever before thought possible. Huge savings on software manufacturing and distribution costs. This is really a win-win situation for all. Who says you got to spend a lot of money to make a lot of money?
Conventional software providers watch out! Be prepared to be up in the "Cloud" or be left behind.
FROM GAMERTELL - Polk Audio wants to help add even more realism to your grand at-home jam illusion with its HitMaster stage monitor. And if you try to smash it The Who style, it may win. Check out Gamertell’s review of the HitMaster… MORE »
Could it be the reason Android is doing so well is simply better marketing? Will Steve Jobs introduce a warm and fuzzy character that will become synonymous with the iPhone OS? One thing is certain: we can’t seem to get enough of the the little green droid.
Androidstickers.com is poised to cash in on the robot love. The site offers decals featuring the lovable mascot doing all kinds of things: posing with the family, strapping on the old jetpack, riding a motorcycle, doing skateboard tricks and more. Customers can pick different colors of the decals to personalize the robot just a little bit more, just like the OS.
There are decals for your Nexus One charger, laptops, car windows, anywhere you want to show your love of the mobile OS or just robots in general.
Prices are reasonable, ranging from $2.35 to $9.99. Shipping is currently free for a limited time. Who knows, maybe this uprising will inspire the iPhone/Hello Kitty marketing partnership we’ve been hearing about.
According to a tip, Facebook will unveil new location services in late April at f8, the companies developer conference. Based on other tips, there is expected to be two branches of location: one Facebook will use to allow users to share location with friends and the other branch would be an API for developers to add in farming games based on location. OK, I am kidding about the farming but it might actually be real. I expect games based on location plus the possible birth to a service similar to foursquare.
According to the company’s privacy policy, Facebook will be launching location in a manner that won’t cause the kind of uproar we see with most Facebook additions. The policy reads, "If we offer a service that supports this type of location sharing we will present you with an opt-in choice of whether you want to participate." Facebook goes on to state it will tread location like any other piece of content you share.
Location status would be fantastic for meeting up with friends, showing off your travels or tipping you off when your parents (who are on Facebook, right?) are in close proximity while your chillaxin’ at the mall. That’s what kids do these days.
As more and more of us carry devices capable of reporting location, services that share and utilize this data for good, not evil, will fuel new opportunities. Facebook looks ready to cash in on it with their strong user base and hungry developers chasing them.
Samsung has recently announced that the E6 ebook reader will become available with Barnes & Noble sometime “this spring.” And while that is still a pretty generic time for a launch, it does seem to be a step up from the “early 2010” timeframe that we heard during CES. As for pricing, the Samsung E6 is expected to come in at $299.
Feature wise the E6 will come sporting a 6-inch e-ink (600 x800 resolution) display, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, 2GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, built-in front speakers, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Additionally the E6 will have support for e-pub, PDF/a, TXT, BMP, JPG and MP3 file formats.
In what can only be seen as a good move for future game development on the webOS platform, Palm has recently released the public beta of the webOS PDK. The news was announced during the Game Developers Conference and promises to let “developers use C and C++ alongside the web technologies that power the SDK and mix them seamlessly within a single app.”
Palm Demonstrates New Games at Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference 2010 SAN FRANCISCO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Game Developers Conference (GDC) – Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today announced that a public beta version of the Palm® webOS™ Plug-in Development Kit (PDK) is now available at the Palm Developer Center (developer.palm.com). Palm is demonstrating new games from early PDK developers in its booth at GDC (No. 2016).
"It's quite difficult to make a great phone that's also an outstanding gaming platform; Palm has been successful delivering both." The PDK complements the Palm webOS Software Development Kit (SDK), letting developers use C and C++ alongside the web technologies that power the SDK and mix them seamlessly within a single app. The PDK enables new functionality, including immersive 3D graphics, and gives developers who have built games for other platforms an easy way to bring their titles to the webOS platform. Developers can download the beta PDK and start developing today, but distribution of games built with the beta PDK will require functionality provided in an upcoming Palm webOS update.
"Palm webOS is the go-to platform for great games on two of the three leading carrier networks," said Katie Mitic, senior vice president, Product Marketing, Palm, Inc. "We have both the developer tools and the hardware necessary for a world-class gaming experience, and an impressive portfolio of webOS game titles from top-notch developers to show for it."
At CES in January, Palm introduced 12 games built by four leading developers with early access to the PDK:
"The Palm webOS PDK is extremely powerful and far-reaching, as evidenced by the number of titles we've been able to bring to the webOS platform in a very short time," said Baudouin Corman, vice president of publishing, Americas, Gameloft. "It's quite difficult to make a great phone that's also an outstanding gaming platform; Palm has been successful delivering both."
More information about the beta PDK is available at the Palm Developer Center (developer.palm.com). More information about games for Palm webOS is available at www.palm.com/applications.
About Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc. creates intuitive and powerful mobile experiences that enable consumers and businesses to connect to their information in more useful and usable ways. The company's groundbreaking Palm® webOS™ platform, designed exclusively for mobile application, introduces true multitasking and Palm Synergy™, which brings your information from the many places it resides into a single, more comprehensive view of your life.
Palm products are sold through select Internet, retail, reseller and wireless operator channels, and at the Palm online store (www.palm.com/store).
More information about Palm, Inc. is available at www.palm.com.
Palm, Synergy, and webOS are trademarks of Palm, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
MSI has recently introduced yet another notebook/netbook, it is the Wind12 U230 and is powered by an AMD processor and available in two versions—the U230-033 and U230-040. To begin with, this gets that notebook/netbook description because it falls right in the middle with a 12.1-inch WXGA (1,366 x 768) display.
But whether or not this is technically a netbook is not the issue because the U230 seems to be a capable little device.
Feature wise you can expect 2GB of RAM, Wi-Fi 8022.11 b/g/n, a 6-cell battery, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, built-in card reader and an ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics card. Additionally, the U230 comes sporting Windows 7 Home Premium.
In terms of the different models, they U230-033US comes with an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor with a 250GB hard drive, and the U230-040US comes with an Athlon X2 L335 processor and a 320GB hard drive.
In terms of pricing, the U230-033US is up for $429.99 while the U230-040US is priced $50 higher at $479.99. Finally, both models of the MSI Wind12 U230 can be found with Newegg.
The annual South by Southwest Festival is kicking off this weekend, and Gowalla has taken that as an opportunity to debut its service on multiple smartphone operating systems. The location check-in service released an Android application last week and followed suit today with a new webOS app for Palm Pre and Pixi users.
Gowalla is a location-based social network/game. Members visit locations like parks, restaurants, and entertainment venues, then “check-in” to announce their location or activity. It's a way to share activities with friends and discover new locations to visit through the game. Gowalla members using a Palm Pre or Pixi were previously unable to use the Gowalla web app because webOS phones don’t support its location-awareness feature in the browser. The new app addresses that problem, allowing Gowalla members to finally check-in from their phone.
The design of the Gowalla app is beautiful, but will that be enough to attract users away from popular rival Foursquare? Only time will tell, but SXSW will be a good testing ground for this Check-in Competition.
Although the iPad's 3G version is targeted for AT&T users only, Verizon is seeing a golden opportunity in the device's upcoming release. Sales documents leaked to Engadget show Verizon is prepping it's staff to encourage customers to buy the WiFi only version instead and then pick up a MiFi and data plan It's a savings of $130 for the customer and a sweet deal for Verizon. There's one hitch though-Verizon's data plan costs a hefty $60, $30 more than AT&T's unlimited iPad only plan. 
According to a tip, Facebook will unveil new location services in late April at f8, the companies developer conference. Based on other tips, there is expected to be two branches of location: one Facebook will use to allow users to share location with friends and the other branch would be an API for developers to add in farming games based on location. OK, I am kidding about the farming but it might actually be real. I expect games based on location plus the possible birth to a service similar to foursquare.
In what can only be seen as a good move for future game development on the webOS platform, Palm has recently released the public beta of the webOS PDK. The news was announced during the Game Developers Conference and promises to let “developers use C and C++ alongside the web technologies that power the SDK and mix them seamlessly within a single app.” 
MSI has recently introduced yet another notebook/netbook, it is the Wind12 U230 and is powered by an AMD processor and available in two versions—the U230-033 and U230-040. To begin with, this gets that notebook/netbook description because it falls right in the middle with a 12.1-inch WXGA (1,366 x 768) display.
The annual South by Southwest Festival is kicking off this weekend, and Gowalla has taken that as an opportunity to debut its service on multiple smartphone operating systems. The location check-in service released an Android application last week and followed suit today with a new webOS app for Palm Pre and Pixi users. 
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