Google, my friends, is watching. If you want to know more about a certain field of work, you shouldn't simply look for it. Before anything else, its popularity is the one that matters, and if I tell you that searches of the word "crisis" quadrupled in only a few days, in mid-2008, you get the idea. Now, there are less searches of the word, but most people already live with this crisis. Fortunately for Apple, they still seem to be untouchable, at least when it comes to the iPhone and iPod Touch part...

According to a fresh report coming from Admob, "Worldwide requests from Apple devices grew 28% month over month to 1.2 billion in January. Building on its strong December, iPod Touch growth outpaced iPhone growth in top markets. The iPod Touch now represents 40% of Apple requests, up from 20% in September."
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This becomes even more interesting if we look at the fact that the iPhone, with 17 percent market share, and the iPod touch, with 12 percent, come together as the number one device for mobile Internet useage, with no less than 51 percent of all ad requests. I know, some may say the other smartphones have better ad blockers, but the numbers still stand strong.

These being said, I only ask myself when and if it is possible for Apple to come up with an iPhone able to connect to a large screen and a keyboard/mouse. I know, that could cannibalize its own notebooks, but it would really be an interesting (and probably, bulky) choice! ;)

To me, the Microsoft vs Apple battle is as good as over. At least when it comes to operating systems and music players, Microsoft got severely owned by Apple, and nobody can deny that. If any fanboys are reading this - please don't kill me yet - I am not claiming that Apple is God, and Microsoft is Satan. Each company has its own strengths and weaknesses, and now Microsoft is trying to catch up with Apple in the retail segment.

According to a Reuters report, "Microsoft Corp announced plans Thursday to open its own chain of branded stores as it looks to catch up with rival Apple Inc's successful move into retailing," and they hired a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc manager to help them with that.

OK, I may not have any economics degree, but aren't we in a crisis? Isn't Microsoft supposed to focus on doing what they do properly, instead of spreading thin its forces? I know we're not talking about a small company here, but I am sure this is not the right time to open new retail stores, as entire chains are going down here and there.
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Even the report I mentioned above says Gateway's similar attempt wasn't successful, so why would Microsoft succeed, especially considering that it's tougher to attract clients now than a few years ago?

Product, that's what we need, products! I am sure Microsoft would be fine with a rock solid OS and a worthy competitor to Apple's iPods, instead of some retail stores that are doomed as I see the problem.

These being said, what do you think? Is Microsoft going to fail, or they won't manage to succeed? ;)

You know what's better than a good meal? I know some of you may say "two good meals," but that's not what I have in mind. In fact, it's even better, because free meals are always awesome(at least I had the bad luck of paying a few times for bad food, and having awesome meals for free, or taking advantage of serious discounts). Unfortunately, I have no idea about anything else but free meals for kids today, but that shouldn't be that bad, after all, don't you agree?

Created by Nathan Voxland, "Where Do Kids Eat Free Today?" is an iPhone app "Designed to be the fastest and easiest way to look up the days restaurants near you have cheap or free kids’ meals."

Using it is just as easy as 1-2-3, and the best part is that you can easily use the website the same as you're using the iPhone app - just enter your ZIP code, and you'll get info about free meals for kids around, as long as that data has been put into the database already.
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Being still in an early stage, this program needs a lot of user feedback to become accurate enough, and so leaves room for errors, or intentional errors. For example, let's say I own a restaurant, and I enter info into the program, claiming I offer free meals for kids below 10. When a guy comes to me with his 5 kids aged 2 to 9, I say "damn, they didn't display it one the website, but we only offer free meals for 2 kids, you'll have to pay for the other 3!" and pretend I have no idea who entered that info...

Anyway, it's a crisis, so "Where Do Kids Eat Free Today?" could be a great iPhone software or - if you don't have the smartphone from Apple - a great online resource. It only remains to be seen if your area is crawling with locations offering such a treat for your kids... or not.

As you probably know already, I would do anything but use iTunes. I simply hate it, and I am not just talking so I won't be silent, because I used it for a while, and I was very patient. I gave it a chance. Then another one. No, no chance for iTunes to seduce me, at least not yet. Now, Apple is throwing in a new streaming feature...

...and the very short version of the story goes like this: iTunes 8 will allow you to easily stream your iTunes video purchases straight from Apple's servers, so you'll be able to play them anywhere and anytime, without using your precious hard drive space. This would have been great a few years ago, but back then, high-speed Internet wasn't as popular as today. On the other hand, today local storage is extremely cheap, so why bother streaming media?
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Known as iTunes Replay, the upcoming service from Apple could be free... or not, because this is a side of the story yet covered in darkness. I don't know why would one complain about having to store iTunes purchases on a hard drive or DVDs, because that's the idea, as far as I know - you buy something, you keep it, you rent it, you return it. Well, that's just me, after all.

According to Frost & Sullivan analyst Dan Rayburn, "We already know that no CDN [content delivery network] has unlimited capacity and can only handle so much traffic at any given time. If you are Apple, using more than one CDN is just smart business." Now, it remains to be seen what's the price of the whole deal for the end user. After all, even when you don't pay for something at first glance...there's still a day for payment, in the future, waiting... :|

I hate cables. I also hate connectors. Any kind of cable, and any connector you can think of. Why? If you ever managed to break something because of them, you got your answer. Even more, just think about proprietary connectors/cables - you get your MP3 player, use it for a while, and the data cable suddenly dies on you. To get a new one, you should pay at least 20 bucks, and you can also add a long wait to that price, because the damn cable can't be found anywhere around, so you have to place some order with the manufacturer of your device!

When it comes to Apple, I am not crazy about their connectivity features, either. For example, look at the MiniDisplayPort of its notebooks. Do they offer any Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter? Do they offer at least some DVI or VGA adapters? Heck, NO!

According to AppleInsider, there are some Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapters headed this way, as well as adapters for those using DVI and VGA displays, so somebody finally decided to make things right. Too bad it wasn't Apple, because we're talking about Monoprice.com, a discount cable outlet.
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The price of the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter is expected to be $14.25, and the Mini DisplayPort to DVI/VGA adapters will be priced at $15.20/$18.85 for a single one. Quantity discounts are available, but I guess you won't buy for the entire neighborhood. On the other hand, why wouldn't you buy for the entire neighborhood? Save on adapters(you save anyway, if you get the DVI/VGA ones, since Apple is selling them for $29 each...), spend on beer, that's the way to go! ;)