Microsoft parks “I’m a PC” recording booth outside Apple Store

 

War!

The battle is heating up and you are going to have to pick a side. Smear campaigns have been initiated, no I am not talking about the Presidential election. We are talking PC vs Mac, and it looks like PC has taken it to a new level or new low.

 

After Apple started running its “I’m a PC, I’m a Mac” ads and its ads pointing out the infamous faults of Vista, Windows has responded with its own “smear” campaign. They have started their own “I’m a PC” ad (boring)

and now tries this. Putting a booth where people can record their own “I’m a PC” video, right in front of an Apple Store! The booth is staffed with three ‘Softies who’ll try to sell you on the latest in Windows tech while making nyah-nyah faces at Apple store patrons, and guests are invited to make a short video explaining why they, too, are PCs. It is part of a $300 million campaign to “clean up” Vista’s image. (wouldn’t it be cheaper to make better products to begin with?) This comes with the Bill Gates Jerry Seinfeld commercials, I love Seinfeld but come on!

So the lines have been drawn where do you stand?

Story via AppleInsider

Tesla Hits the Brakes

 

Beauty meet efficiency  

Economic are hitting the electric car market as well now. Citing “extraordinary times,” Tesla Motors, maker of the battery-powered, $109,000 Roadster, said Wednesday that difficult market conditions were forcing it to delay production of its next-generation vehicle, close two offices, lay off an unspecified number of employees and replace its chief executive.
Tesla has been held up as a leading light in the clean technology start-up world, with its product (the Roadster) appearing on dozens of magazine covers and its chairman, even appearing on “60 Minutes.”  As a start-up, however, Tesla is particularly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of increasingly tight credit markets.

 

The problem is not enough money. Banks really don’t have the money to lend. There is no money for buyouts. Even though Tesla raised $140 million from venture capital firms they are looking for an additional $100 million. Ouch.

Tesla is the largest and best-funded electric car start-up, but is not alone. There are more than a dozen other firms working on such vehicles. Just last month, Fisker Automotive, which is developing a plug-in hybrid sedan, successfully completed a $65-million round of funding. And in July, Carlsbad’s Aptera Motors, maker of a $30,000 three-wheel electric car, said it had raised $24 million from investors including Google Inc.

Tough times considering the beauty above cost $109,000!

Going Green, Bad for our Health?

Apparently being green isn’t always easy. According to a new Dutch study shows that both biofuels and carbon capture technologies could have and “unfavorable effect” on air quality.

It found “uncertainties” about the effect of using biofuels. It warned that blending biofuels in diesel or gasoline can create increased emissions of air pollutants and that using blends with high amounts of biofuels requires specially adapted vehicles, to avoid increased air pollution. The study also warned that large-scale capture and storage of carbon dioxide would decrease sulphur dioxide emissions but might lead to increased nitrogen oxide emissions.

These results are part of an ongoing research project that is to span two years. On the good side the study found that saving energy and increasing the use of wind energy can lead to a reduction in the emission of air polluting compounds as well as greenhouse gases.

All in favor of breaking wind.

GOOGLE adds SMS Chat

 

About time. I mean come on haven’t all the greatest minds stopped working on the cure for cancer and gotten a job at Google? What took so long.  

Thats right, users of Google’s Gmail service can now send text message chats to mobile phones when using the webapp’s built-in Chat feature.

Nice and simple. Just be sure to include in your contact info you friends phone number in your account’s contacts and you are in business.

When you SMS your friend a number in the 406 area code will appear on the chat recipients phone. Google has made several thousand of these numbers available for use with the new experimental service. Probably since that area code is for MT and there are plenty of numbers available there since no one actually lives there. (I would know I used to) This 406 number can then be saved by recipients as it is associated to an account after it is used for the first time. Nice thing about this 406 number is it works both ways so your friend can message you back. 

 

Go get you SMS on!

Google to sell books online

Around four years ago Google started scanning out of print books supposedly to add as searches. This resulted in publishers getting a little worried and filing a law-suit. As this happened Google began scanning in-print books and now have over 7 million books scanned. Now Google and the Authors Guild are coming to an agreement to the tune of $125 million. Both parties are excited. 

“Call me weird, but I think there are a lot of advantages to reading books online,” Google co-founder Sergey Brin said in an interview Tuesday. “You don’t have to look at it at a funny angle, and today’s monitors have better resolution than ever.”

The settlement awaits approval in court. In the meantime Google has set up an online registry for authors. So that they can set the price and receive around 50% of the price.

So you gonna read a book online? I mean you likes to read mindless drivel on their computer? Oh wait…

EA to slash workforce

 

Even EA, Electronic Arts, is being affected by the current financial climate. Cnet reports that EA will be slashing the workforce 6 percent, or 580 jobs. Not even the success of Rock Band will save those jobs. Apparently the Madden curse continues.

Verizon Meet Alltel

What will the new commercials be like? That really is my only question. Merger yada, yada, what are the ad campaigns going to be like, or will we have to wait for the superbowl? All of my ranting is due to the DOJ approving Verizon’s acquisition of Alltel. Which will make them the #1 wireless carry in the USA jumping ahead of AT&T. But it is going to require divestitures in 22 states. (Yes I linked it to a wiki cuz I had no idea what that word meant)

Since the DOJ has given them the green light, next in line is the Federal Communications Commission to vote on Nov. 4th.

Like I said though all I care about is the commercials!

iPhone for $99!

Hopefully you didn’t just wet yourself. As exciting as it sounds it has not happened… yet. According to market analyst Charlie Wolf of Needham Research it could happen and soon:

The financial expert estimates that the average, unsubsidized price of an iPhone 3G in the summer was $666 and so would give Apple a nearly 50 percent gross margin on each sale as well as a heavy subsidy from AT&T of $450. Both give Apple a large amount of space to adjust its price and could see the phone maker drop the price of an 8GB iPhone to $99 while still supplying a comfortable 42.3 percent margin…Any such price drops would be potentially devastating to competitors in the market, according to Wolf. The analyst believes that a $100 cut in the iPhone 3G’s advertised price could “double or triple” projected sales and quickly overtake most other smartphones on the market and leave only successful but “niche” smartphone manufacturers like Research in Motion, which produces the BlackBerry.

This all certainly makes a lot of sense, even to financially challenged me. This would help Apple move even more iPhones even though they are tied to AT&T.  The iPhone already commands 39 percent of the market it is in. This would leave the rest to be put to rest!

Then again would it really matter? I mean there places in the world where you can get the iPhone for free!  The real cost is in the plan. So does it really matter? Well… yeah to me anyways.

But when has Jobs ever made anything really cheap?

Be Glad You Have Allergies!?

What? Why? I have so long harassed my mother for giving me the wonderful genetics responsible for my allergies. Seeing how I have only found them to be a nuisance. It now seems I should be thanking her. Why? In recent news, Science News shows that having allergies may actually protect you from getting cancer!  So gesundheit and be glad to grab that tissue.

Sorry Mom