Moribund Palm, which seemed on its way to being a Windows Mobile running dog with lackluster handhelds, seems to have scored with its introduction of the Palm Pre 3G smartphone, powered by a new operating system, dubbed webOS.
The device and software were unveiled this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas. (Check out our CES blog.)
Palm's new Pre, a 3G touchscreen smartphone Read more
A new cloud service links your Apple iPhone with files and documents residing on desktop Macs and Windows PCs. The idea behind the service, from startup Soonr, is that your desktop becomes a kind of online cloud computing service accessed from your mobile device.
You need software for your iPhone, from the App Store, and software for the computers you'll be accessing. Read more
It wasn't the stuff of high drama, and it wasn't Steve Jobs on stage. But if you want to check out the last Apple keynote speech at Macworld Expo, you can find the video online, and a podcast at iTunes. Read more
Macworld's Rob Griffiths has a story on seeing not one but two feature-length documentaries about the history of the Mac (and in part of Apple), drawing on the memories and experiences of a wide-range of little-known participants.
The two films are "Welcome to Macintosh," which screened Monday night, and "MacHEADS the Movie,"which screens Wednesday night. Read more
Macs and iPhones are gaining enterprise fans, according to this week's story by NW reporter Jon Brodkin.
Though only 1 in 20 corporate desktops sport a Mac, the number is growing. According one analyst cited, it's due to Apple's relentless focus on the "user experience." Read more
Blogger Robert McLaws, of Windowsnow.com, is mad has heck and isn't going to take it anymore.
On his blog this week, McLaws declared he's boycotting Microsoft's IE Mobile Web browser, banishing it from his Windows Mobile smartphone and using Opera Mobile instead. (You can find another take, and additional context, on McLaws' boycott call on our Microsoft Subnet. Read more
Wall Street had its own reaction to Apple's Last Macworld Keynote: boring.
Reuters reports that Apple's stock price slid 0.7% from the start to the end of the day, even as the NASDAQ overall gained 1.7%. The stock price had been climbing, from $85.62 to $96.38 over the past week, apparently in anticipation of the company's traditional Macworld Expo opening keynote speech. Read more
Twitter-on-the-go addicts can use Tweetie, an Apple iPhone (and iPod Touch) application that lets you manage multiple Twitter accounts.
At Oreilly's Inside iPhone blog, Dave Aiello likes Tweetie so much, he wonders why the company hasn't ported it to desktop and notebook Macs.
You can find full details on the Tweetie Website. Capabilities include:
- Handle multiple twitter accounts. Read more
Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn't, but Apple's other Steve, Steve Wozniak, showed up today at Macworld Expo 2009 doing what he loves to do: enthuse over cool stuff.
Former PC World editor Harry McCracken, and now Technlogizer.com founder, was there himself for Wozniak's presentation at the Axiotron booth. Wozniak recently joined the board of Axiotron, which makes the touchscreen Modbook Mac tablet. Read more
Apple today showed what you can do with battery technology on a notebook computer.
This is the part I find fascinating about Apple: yes, the graphics are hot, the MacBook itself is cool, Mac OS X isn't Windows and so on. But the idea that you can work unplugged for 8 hours continuously actually makes mobile computing...mobile. Read more
Engadet picked up a new patent filing by Apple (hat tip to Jason Grigsby): for gloves with an inner layer of material that will work with the iPhone touchscreen. The idea apparently is being able to use the iPhone's multitouch screen in cold weather without having to use bare fingers. As I recall, capacitive screens need the skin surface to generate the necessary electrical signals to which they respond.
Macworld Expo 2009 kicks off this week, the last of these shows for Apple itself, and the first in a decade without the opening Tuesday keynote by Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
But Jobs has stolen the spotlight today: with an open letter to the "Apple community" about his health, a subject of intense speculation for the past year. Read more
We have a story online on Internet Explorer Mobile 6, due out in 2009: it's Microsoft's first full Web browser for Windows Mobile devices. Shown: MSN's Live Search home page displayed on IE Mobile 6. Follow the pages to get a peek at what Redmond is promising. Read more
Our Alpha Doggs blog has a post about a new invention, by University of Utah researchers, that uses RFID or Bluetooth signals to automatically prevent a driver from calling or texting while driving. It's not actually jamming: the idea seems to be activating the signal when the key is in the ignition, sending an alert to the cell phone, then cooperating with it to disallow transmissions or divert incoming calls to voicemail. The idea: it would be impossible for teens to be distracted by talking or texting while behind the wheel. Read more
How the mobile Web can help you survive a terrorist attack
I found an ad for a Windows Mobile application, the Terrorism Survival Bundle, that addresses the tough problem of surviving a terrorist attack. Most of us, unless we’re Delta Force veterans, have no clue about what to do even though helpful agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and all kinds of non-profit groups have put together lots and lots of information about this. Read more
The Web's social-network applications will be the key to governing for president-elect Barack Obama. At least that's the contention of Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology and chair of the Ph. D. program in Communications at Columbia University, and way back, a president of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Read more
It's possible that in the future your voice conversations on your cell phone could generate enough electrical power to run the phone, without batteries.
And not just phones. The technology, which converts mechanical stress like vibrations into electrical energy, could power a whole range of low-power mobile devices and sensors. Read more
This month, outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin will try to galvanize FCC members to act on a free mobile Internet service that is also pornography free, a proposal that has languished for most of the year.
That's according to a brief report in the Wall Street Journal, by Journalista Amy Schatz. Read more
T-Mobile has a hit in its new Android-based G1 smartphone, says our Gearhead blogger, Mark Gibbs. In fact, the G1 has proven so strong, he's decided to stick with T-Mobile and surrender his former iPhone yearning.
Gibbs has an assessment of the G1 today on his blog. The G1 is the first commercial implementation of the Linux-based Android mobile phone operating system, from the Open Handset Alliance. Read more
President-elect Barack Obama wants to keep his BlackBerry even after taking office.
He made that clear in a video clip this morning on ABC's Good Morning America, from an upcoming interview with Barbara Walters (It's online, with Walters' question at 4:35). Read more
Cox is a senior editor at Network World.
The opinions expressed in this Weblog are those of the writer and may not represent the opinions of Network World.
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