Apple’s iPad 2 is the ‘Holy Grail’ of computing
Eleven months ago, Apple released the first iPad, a touchscreen handheld computer that redefined tablets, disrupting the laptop/desktop market just as the iPod did to music players and the iPhone did to smartphones. On Friday, 15 million iPads later, Apple released its successor, the iPad 2. Many people -- myself included -- predicted long lines and sell-outs, just like last year. So did Apple deliver?
In a word, yes. Read more...
Japan’s Internet largely intact after earthquake, tsunami
Japan's Internet infrastructure has remained surprisingly unaffected by last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami, according to an analysis by Internet monitoring firm Renesys.
Most Web sites are operational and the Internet remains available to support critical communication functions, Renesys CTO James Cowie wrote in a blog over the weekend. Read more...
US video game sales up 3 percent in February
U.S. retail sales of video-game hardware, software and accessories edged up 3 percent in February compared with the same month last year, helped in part by strong sales of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 game system and Kinect motion-sensing controller.
Market researcher NPD Group said Thursday $1.36 billion was spent on video games, consoles, portable devices and accessories in February, compared with $1.33 billion in February 2010. Read more...
IBM Launches E-commerce Practice
Hoping to grab some of the US$70 billion yearly worldwide market of electronic commerce software and services, IBM has launched an e-commerce practice focused on retail operation integration and analytics.
"Through technology, consumers have gotten much more empowered than they have ever been before," for the retail industry, said Craig Hayman, the general manager of IBM Software Industry Solutions, who heads the new practice.
As a result, retail companies need more information about how well their products and services are faring in this fiercely competitive marketplace, he argued. Read more...
Google launches Person Finder for Japanese quake victims
Google was quick to launch a version of its People Finder service to help people find each other in the wake of the devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan Friday.
The service, set up to work in both English and Japanese, is designed to let people inquire about others, as well as post information -- where they are, their condition -- about themselves or someone else. Read more...
Flash Player 10.2 readied for Android tablets
Adobe's Flash Player 10.2 for Google Android devices will be available March 18, offering preliminary support for Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets, such as the Motorola Xoom, Adobe said on Friday.
Flash Player is Adobe's proprietary technology for playing rich media experiences within a browser. While Flash Player 10.2 will be a production release for the Android 2.2 and 2.3 releases, it will initially be a beta release for Android 3.0 tablets requiring the Android 3.0.1 point release.
"We have been working very closely with Google to ensure tight integration between Flash Player 10.2 and new OS and browser capabilities in Android 3.0," said Antonio Flores, product manager for the Flash Platform at Adobe, in a blog post. "The March 18 beta release of Flash Player 10.2 in conjunction with Google's first system update to Android 3.0 (version 3.0.1) currently underway for the Motorola Xoom will deliver the first phase of our work together. This will be followed by subsequent updates, which will complete the optimizations and result in a production GA (general availability) release of Flash Player 10.2 for Android 3.0." The date of general availability of Flash Player 10.2 for tablets is undetermined at this point. Read more...
Apple vs. Microsoft: A tale of two mobile updates
It's remarkable how much you can learn about a company from something as seemingly simple as a point update to its mobile platform. Two perfect examples: the latest updates to Apple iOS and Windows Phone 7.
On the one hand, you have Apple, which quietly rolled out iOS 4.3 with the precision of a Swiss watch. The update came a day earlier than expected, in fact. Clearly, Apple has its mobile act together. It has its partners in lockstep. And it has seemingly maintained its typical shroud of silence and censorship to perpetuate illusion of perfection. Read more...