Apple’s iPhone OS 4.0 Features & Reviews

How many of these rumored features will be released in iPhone's OS 4.0?

(click on image to expand)

Multitasking

Will multi-tasking finally come to the iPhone? Currently, only stock apps like iPod, Mail, Messages, Phone and Safari have supported the feature. Some believe the new OS will have an Exposé-like feature making it easier for users to switch between apps on the fly.

Global Inbox

From the beginning, the iPhone OS requires users to individually check each inbox. Will Apple add a global mailbox to let users email from all active accounts in one step?

Homescreen Contacts

Will Apple add "contacts" to the home screen, allowing users users to more quickly reach contacts by phone, text, email, IM and so on?

Reworked UI

Apple might improve on graphics based on iPad design elements.

Direct Printing

Will OS 4.0 support direct printing over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth? ...thanks to H1

iPad Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah02m_2xBCg&feature=related

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/04/07/iphone-os-4-0-rumor-roundup/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBoyGeniusReport+%28Boy+Genius+Report%29

The Apple iPad is an unprecedented device. It doesn't shoot rainbows or make puppies, but this roughly 8x10-inch tablet computer melds your laptop, smartphone, gaming console, and iPod into a single, affordable, unfortunately named thing.

Of course, we come to you with a standard list of complaints. The absence of an integrated video camera puts the kibosh on any hope of using the iPad for video chats, and without Flash video support, many Web pages look like Swiss cheese. But the biggest problem with the device is coming up with bullet-proof reasons to buy one.

Because the iPad is an entirely new class of device, you'll probably need to lie to yourself a little to justify the purchase. But at this point, any CNET readers worth their salt have mastered the art of making excuses to buy new gadgets.

For the uninitiated, Apple has posted a cheat sheet of demo videos that provide a smorgasbord of reasonable answers to the question: "Why do I need an iPad?" To hear Apple tell it, the iPad is a Web browser for your living room, an e-book reader for the den, a movie player for the kids, a photo album, a jukebox, a gamer's best friend, a word processor, an e-mail machine, and a YouTube junkie's dream come true. No excuse good enough for you? Wait a few minutes and a developer will inevitably make an app for it.

Whatever you need to tell yourself to buy an iPad, we can safely say the device is a worthwhile addition to any wired home. We don't give much weight to the pundits who say that the iPad is the future of the personal computer, but we think it's the most entertaining gadget we'll see all year.

What is it, exactly?

If you're coming to this review already versed on the nitty gritty of what the iPad is and its roots in the iPhone and iPod Touch, feel free to skip ahead. Otherwise, here's the scoop:

The iPad is a touch-screen tablet computer, roughly the size of a magazine, with three models that connect to the Internet strictly over Wi-Fi (16GB for $499, 32GB for $599, 64GB for $699) and three that use a combination of Wi-Fi and AT&T's 3G wireless (16GB for $629, 32GB for $729, and 64GB for $829--pay-as-you go for the data subscription).

The iPad runs the same software found on Apple's popular iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple calls this software the iPhone OS, and it's generally regarded as one of the most successful operating systems designed for use with touch-screen devices. Unlike conventional computer OS software, designed around the mouse and the keyboard, the iPhone OS responds only to touch input and is generally capable of running only one application at a time.

If you've ever used an iPhone or iPod Touch, the iPad will feel immediately familiar. Out of the box, you get many of the iPhone's capabilities, including Apple-designed applications (apps) for Web browsing, e-mail, maps, photos, music, video, YouTube, and more. More apps can be installed using the built-in App Store software or by connecting the iPad to iTunes via your computer using the included cable. If you already own apps purchased for an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can transfer these apps to the iPad, as well.

Design

Apple rarely skimps on design and the iPad is no exception. The screen is made of the same oleophobic-coated glass as the iPhone 3GS', making it relatively easy to wipe away the fingerprints and smudges it inevitably collects. Behind the glass is an LED-backlit, 9.7-inch capacitive touch screen that uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology for above-average viewing angles.

Below the screen sits a Home button that looks and behaves exactly like the one on the iPhone and iPod Touch, bouncing you out of any open app and placing you back in the main menu. Matte aluminum wraps around the backs and sides of the iPad, tapering a bit around the edges. If you've ever held one of Apple's unibody MacBooks, you know exactly the kind of feel and finish of the iPad's aluminum. Unlike the polished chrome of the iPod or glossy plastic of the iPhone, the back of the iPad seems less likely to show wear. Of course--as with any Apple product--there are already hundreds of cases for the iPad, should you feel the need to give it extra protection.

The iPad measures 7.47 inches wide by 9.56 inches tall by 0.5 inch thick, and weighs 1.5 pounds (or 1.6 pounds for the 3G model). Held in your hands, the dimensions and heft have a natural, magazine-like feel. Like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad sports a finger-friendly OS with an onscreen QWERTY keyboard, and an accelerometer that can detect whether the device is in portrait or landscape mode. The buttons, switches, and ports around the edges of the iPad also mimic those of the iPhone. A 30-pin dock connector sits on the bottom, along with a small integrated speaker. On the right edge you have a volume rocker and a switch that works to disable the iPad's automatic screen rotation in case you need to look at something sideways without the iPad assuming you want it rotated.

The iPad's refined feel and high-quality materials won't surprise Apple devotees, but in the larger landscape of tablets, Netbook computers, and e-readers, the design feels distinctly upscale--especially given its price. Next to the Asus Eee PC, Amazon Kindle, or Fusion Garage JooJoo, the iPad looks like it was made on a different planet (where plastic doesn't exist). We don't make the point to be snobby, but looks matter considering that all these devices are marketed as living-room accessories.

Size also matters. As one of the first tablet computers to go mainstream, you'll need to assess the iPad's size on a case-by-case basis. For the advertised purposes of Web browsing, reading books, and checking your e-mail, we found the magazine-size screen perfectly adequate. After years of watching videos on devices like the iPod Touch, or even dedicated video players like the Archos 5, video playback on the iPad's 9.7-inch screen feels downright luxurious.

For all its charms, however, the iPad is not as portable as we'd like. Part of the problem is psychological. Logically, you know the iPad's dimensions are no less portable than a book. But when a book costs between $500 and $800 and is made of glass, you treat it differently. Without being tucked away in a messenger bag or protective case, walking outside with an iPad in your hand feels like slapping the laws of gravity in the face.

We'd also be lying if we didn't say we wish the iPad could be a little thinner and lighter. At 1.5 pounds and half an inch thick, it makes most Netbooks look bloated, but he iPad is slightly heavier and thicker than most dedicated e-book readers, including the relatively large Kindle DX. If your dream is to relax in a hammock with an e-book in one hand and a tropical drink in the other, plan to avoid the iPad's glass screen hurtling toward your face when you doze off.

iPhone OS

Unlike many of the tablet-style devices we've encountered, the iPad doesn't run a conventional OS (operating system) such as Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X. Instead, Apple decided to use the mobile version of OS X from what is arguably its most successful and fastest-growing product: the iPhone .

In our view, Apple's use of the iPhone OS distinguishes the iPad from the competition. As dozens of iPad alternatives come out of the woodwork, touting all sorts of advantages and added features, the iPad will remain the only tablet computer on the market with access to Apple's App Store.

For the most part, the iPhone OS feels like a natural fit for a device like this. You don't need to worry about traditional computer headaches, such as scattered files on your desktop, installing drivers for third-party hardware, or trying to figure out where you put a downloaded image. Instead, all your apps are clearly laid out, organized in a grid of nickel-size icons that respond to a single touch. If you download an image from a Web page or e-mail, it appears in your photo library, without fail. If you need to search for anything--a song, an e-mail, a photo, or a Web page--double-clicking the Home button brings up a Spotlight search feature that covers just about everything on the device. On the iPad, the organizational metaphor of the folder does not exist, and the effect feels liberating.

We think that most users will appreciate this simplicity and reliability compared with a traditional, budget-priced personal computer. Some of you, however, will probably feel suffocated by Apple's totalitarian control over the iPad's OS. If you get a kick out of running your computer using command lines and viewing device contents as a hierarchical file tree, the iPad will probably give you an aneurysm.

Purchasing software and media on the device makes Apple's "walled-garden" approach to the iPhone OS frustrating to a wider audience. The only way for users to purchase and download movies and music on the iPad is to use Apple's integrated iTunes store. If you want to buy new software for the device, you'll need to go through Apple's integrated App Store, which displays only applications deemed acceptable by Apple. Compared with the more laissez-faire approach of a Windows Netbook, for example, the iPad user is giving away freedom of choice in exchange for convenience. (One upside: In theory, Apple's top-down control over the iPhone OS and the commerce within it also serves to minimize the iPad's vulnerability to computer viruses.)

Everything old is new again

You can't place calls with the iPad (at least, not without a VoIP app) or easily text message your friends, but the other built-in capabilities are essentially the same as those on the iPhone 3GS.

That said, the iPad can be pushed much further than any non-laptop mobile device we've tested, including the iPhone. Because of the iPad's extra screen size, default apps such as the Safari Web browser, e-mail, iPod, video, maps, photos, and YouTube all look and behave much more like full-blown applications. The iPad's e-mail app, for example, is a doppelganger for the Mail application in Apple OS X, offering an overview of your in-box alongside the text of any currently selected message. The photos app could easily be mistaken for Apple's iPhoto, with its opening view of photos arranged in event-specific stacks. The iPod app looks and behaves like an abbreviated version of iTunes, for better or worse. And the YouTube app plays out like a prettier version of the actual Web site. Paradoxically, the two apps that have changed the least, Maps and the Safari browser, give the most radically different experience thanks to the iPad's big screen.

Size is meaningless without grace. Luckily, the iPad has both qualities in equal measure, helped by a new 1GHz Apple A4 processor, capacitive multitouch display technology, and an integrated Wi-Fi antenna compatible with the latest 802.1n wireless spec. Apps launch within seconds; waking from sleep mode is nearly instantaneous; and even a cold boot-up takes just 18 seconds. Even if your local Wi-Fi network isn't up to 802.11n speeds, the Web-browsing experience often feels faster than on an iPhone or iPod Touch on the same network, simply because you're doing a lot less scrolling and zooming to get to the information you need.

Other hardware features include Bluetooth 2.1, a stereo audio output (headphone jack), a built-in speaker, an integrated lithium ion rechargeable battery, NAND flash memory, an integrated accelerometer (tilt sensor), and an ambient light sensor. Apple's third-generation iPod Touch can claim many of the same features, but lacks the iPad's integrated digital compass, built-in microphone, and mute switch. It's also worth noting that the iPad's speaker is noticeably louder than the speaker included on the iPhone and iPod Touch, with a slightly beefier sound (though still ugly to listen to). Apple doesn't include earbuds with the iPad, so do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a nice pair.

A 3G wireless-compatible version of the iPad is also available, which includes a SIM card tray, as well as assisted GPS capabilities.

Bluetooth

Just like the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch, the iPad includes wireless Bluetooth audio capabilities. We tested the iPad with an Altec Lansing BackBeat stereo Bluetooth headset, and the audio quality was on par with results from the third-generation iPod Touch. The pairing process was easy and incident-free. In the music player, a small Bluetooth icon appears next to the player controls and toggles audio back and forth between the speaker and the headset. The iPad's Bluetooth capabilities also allow peer-to-peer networking for gaming and wireless keyboard support for compatible writing applications.

iTunes Store and App Store

In the same way the iPad's apps all look and behave much more like Apple's full-blown OS X applications, the iPad's integrated iTunes Store could easily be mistaken for the desktop iTunes Store. Size aside, all the same capabilities are here, including movie rentals and purchases, TV show downloads, audiobooks, and access to iTunes U. You can pay for purchases by setting up an iTunes account with a credit card, or by redeeming iTunes gift cards.

The same can be said for the iPad version of the App Store; it looks and acts more like the store experience within Apple's iTunes software. Because the App Store is running on the iPad, however, the default display will bring up apps that are optimized specifically for the iPad.

Apple is encouraging developers to create new apps specifically for the iPad, which are not necessarily backward-compatible with the iPhone or iPod Touch. Because this is potentially an expensive proposition for users, we would like it to be easier to distinguish between an app designed for the iPhone and the same app designed for the iPad. There are dual-compatibility apps on offer that include both iPad versions and iPhone versions embedded within the same file, which Apple specially designates with a "+" symbol within the iPad App Store. We wish more apps were bundled this way to ensure broad compatibility, but we understand there's more money to be made in selling apps separately.

Fortunately, in the world of apps, the iPad is at the top of the food chain. Most apps designed for the iPhone or Touch can run on the iPad, either scaled-up to fit the screen, or presented at their original resolution framed at the center of the screen in black. This capability is good news for anyone bringing their existing apps over from an iPhone or iPod Touch, although users will likely want to purchase separate iPad-optimized versions of the apps they use regularly, which could get pricey.

Accessories

Beyond the deluge of third-party accessories already hitting store shelves, Apple is offering a handful of its own accessories for the iPad, including a physical keyboard with an integrated dock ($69), a charging dock without the keyboard ($29) that engages the iPad's photo frame mode, a camera connection kit ($30) that includes both a USB and an SD card adapter for importing images from a digital camera, and a wrap-around leather case ($40) that doubles as a kickstand.

If you're interested in using the iPad for presentations, Apple offers a $30 VGA adapter that can connect to a projector or computer monitor. Video output is only compatible with specific apps, such as Apple's Keynote. The maximum output resolution is only 1,024x768 pixels, so keep your HD expectations in check.

We'll be working on writing up individual reviews for several of these accessories, which we will link to as they become available. Off hand, though, we believe a protective case of some kind is a good investment. Also, given the alternative of charging the iPad using a basic wall adapter, $29 seems a fair price for a charging dock that transforms an otherwise techy device into an attractive digital photo frame.

Requirements

Though the iPad can be used without a computer most of the time, you will need to connect to a computer running Apple's iTunes 9.1 or later to set up the device and sync any existing media, contacts, e-mail, photos, or browser bookmarks. Computer specification requirements for iTunes 9.1 can be found on Apple's Web site.

If you plan to use the iPad at home for surfing the Web and you don't have a 3G-capable model, you will need to make sure your home is set up for wireless Internet.

http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/apple-ipad-16gb/4505-3126_7-33958447.html?tag=nl.e428

$499 iPad Costs Apple About $229 In Direct Manufacturing Costs

In materials and manufacturing charges, the $499 iPad costs Apple about $229.35 to make, according to ISuppli, a market-research firm.

A look inside Apple Inc.'s new iPad points points to some familiar component suppliers. say they also found some new clues about the performance and durability of the long-awaited tablet-style computer.

iFixit Inc. and UBM TechInsights - firms that specialize in disassembling and analyzing electronic hardware - began taking iPads apart shortly after the product went on sale Saturday morning. Their research was aided by the unexpected disclosure on Friday of photographs of the iPad and its components from the Web site of the Federal Communications Commission, which reviews high-tech devices for potential electromagnetic interference with other products.

Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., built on technologies it used in the popular iPhone and iPod Touch in designing the iPad. One of the most prominent is Samsung Electronics Co., a major maker of semiconductors as well as consumer-electronics products. Apple has used the Korean company and Toshiba Corp. of Japan as its main suppliers of flash memory, chips frequently used to store data in portable devices. IFixit and UBM TechInsights said Samsung supplied the flash chips found in the iPad, one of the most costly parts of the system. Apple had used Samsung microprocessors—based on a design popularized by ARM Holdings PLC—to provide the primary calculating engines in the iPhone and iPod Touch.

For the iPad, Apple for the first time designed its own ARM-based chip, dubbed the A4. The A4 chip comes stacked with another variety of memory chips from Samsung—known as DRAM, for dynamic random-access memory—according to iFixit, which said it used X-ray photography of the chips' plastic packaging. The proximity of the chips suggests that Samsung also manufactured the A4 for Apple.

The DRAMs used in the iPad read and write data in 64-bit chunks, one potential reason why reviewers have called the iPad surprisingly fast. That helps it move a lot of data a lot faster. You are getting two to three times as many bits vs. other products.

Like Apple's MacBook Pro, much of the iPad is machined from a solid block of aluminum, which increases weight slightly but makes the device more rigid than many laptops Apple also used more epoxy to glue chips to circuit boards than in most other devices, adding to the iPad's durability. The iPad's battery is another reason for its 1.5- pound weight, which is less than conventional laptops but more than some e-readers like Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle.

Some reviewers have praised the iPad battery for lasting longer on a charge than the 10 hours Apple claims. The device actually uses two batteries wired in parallel, giving the device 5.5 times the capacity of the battery in the iPhone. The battery supplier is Amperex Technology Ltd., a Hong Kong-based company that is a unit of Japan's TDK Corp.

In addition, Broadcom Corp. supplies chips that help manage the machine's touch screen as well as allowing it to communicate using Wi-Fi and BlueTooth technology. Texas Instruments Inc. supplies another chip associated with the touch screen. Cirrus Logic Inc. supplies a chip for managing audio in the device.

wsj, 4/5/10

Prostate Cancer Gene Found

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men in the UK, but the disease has baffled scientists, who know less about it than any of the other major cancers. Now, Liverpool University scientists working in partnership with the Institute of Cancer Research have made a vital discovery. This will enable doctors to predict how aggressive the cancer is likely to be – and tailor treatments accordingly.

By the age of 65 many men will have some cancer cells in the prostate, but most will live out their natural span without the disease having any ill effects. Nonetheless, the disease kills 10,000 men a year in the UK. Prostate cancer can be treated – but the treatments carry a real risk of serious and permanent side effects, including incontinence and impotence. Since there has been no marker to distinguish harmless from aggressive cancer cells, many men prefer to cross their fingers and hope for the best; conversely, many thousands suffer invasive treatments which they may not require.

“A test to distinguish between aggressive tumours, the tigers, and those that are pussycats, has been the holy grail of prostate cancer research”, says Professor Colin Cooper of the Institute of Cancer Research, whose research team has been collaborating with a Liverpool team led by Professor Chris Foster. Together, they discovered that the E2F3 gene is a marker of how aggressive the prostate tumour will be.

“This should enable the development of a test to distinguish between aggressive and non-aggressive prostate cancer cells”, says Colin Cooper, “and we hope to achieve this within the next five years.

Professor Peter Rigby, Chief Executive at The Institute of Cancer Research, comments: “We now find ourselves in the unique and exciting position of being able to test new early markers of prostate cancer progression, which previously had not been possible. A rapid and immediate expansion of our research in this area is required so that our scientific advances can be translated into patient benefit without delay.” The new discovery may also provide scientists with an exciting new drug target.

This research is an excellent example of the main cancer research funders working together to tackle a major disease. It was co-funded by the Department of Health, Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council as part of a NCRI Prostate Cancer Collaborative.

FURTHER INFO: Contact Chris Foster at Christopher.Foster@liverpool.ac.uk.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins - What Cancer Cells Feed On

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors..

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs...

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications..

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day.. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc..) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the bo dy into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave..

Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.

We should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat.

He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.

Instead, use glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin.

Items such as frozen pizza, TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper.

It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc.

Fast food restaurants have moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Another Problem Caused by Deforestation

Please click on the picture to enlarge!

...with thanks to Rabea for this funny.

Apple Sells 300,000 iPads in First Day

Apple CEO Steve Jobs added: “It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world—it’s going to be a game changer.”

By comparison, Apple sold 270,000 original iPhones in the first 30 hours or so of its availability. That’s right, the iPad outsold the iPhone on day one—and that’s for a “third” device in an unproven category. You could argue that the ability to pre-order increased the window for people to buy, but I think that washes out with the fact that almost everybody who pre-ordered had never so much as touched the device.

Comparisons to later iPhone models aren’t too shabby either. Apple sold one million of both the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS in each of their first weekends—that’s an average of about 333,333 per day. It took the original iPhone 74 days to reach its millionth sale, so all eyes will be on Apple to see when the iPad hits that milestone.

And make no mistake: both apps and e-books are going to be a big part of the iPad’s success. In addition to the iPad sales number, Apple said that iPad users downloaded more than a million apps from the App Store and more than 250,000 e-books from the iBookstore in the first day alone. Said Jobs: “iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad.”

Meet the iPad

First, the screen: It’s big and bright, with vibrant colors that can really take your breath away. When we launched the third-party Epicurious app, the bright red splash screen was shocking; the colors on the in-beta Marvel Comics app were similarly impressive. The iPad’s screen doesn’t feel like a laptop screen ripped away from its keyboard; it definitely feels more like a big iPhone screen. In a good way.

People who say the iPad is dumb because it’s just a big iPhone are missing the point—that expanded real estate changes everything. Instead of having to go the iPhone route and cram everything into a series of back-and-forth, drill-down-then-pull-back-up screen stacks, iPad apps have room to breathe. Many of them display a split-view in landscape mode, with content on the right and an index of items in a column on the left. The new “popover” interface convention and added items on toolbars increase functionality in a way that wouldn’t have made sense—and wouldn’t have fit—on an iPhone or iPod touch.

The device itself feels really fast. There are no delays when panning and zooming, even though you’re moving around lots more pixels than on the iPhone or iPod touch. Running Safari is a real joy, because you can pan and zoom with ease.

Getting the iPad in the right position for watching a movie or typing is key, and it might mean that having a case for your iPad will be far more critical than having an iPhone case. For example, a case can give your iPad a slight incline in your lap so that it’s a bit easier for you to see and to type on. On a table, too, a little bit of an incline—or a dock!—helps a lot.

Attaching the iPad to Apple’s Keyboard Dock proved that you can type at full speed and the Notes app won’t bat an eye. The Keyboard Dock is surprisingly heavy—presumably because it needs to counterbalance the iPad so it doesn’t fall over!

Apple’s Keyboard Dock is heavier than it looks. But you can use it to type at full speed on the tablet.

Pairing the iPad to a Bluetooth keyboard was also easy. We tried the Apple Wireless Keyboard. as well as a MacAlly Bluetooth keyboard; both paired immediately and were just as responsive as the Keyboard Dock (although they’re missing the iPad-specific special-function keys of the Keyboard Dock; we’ll get into that more in an upcoming article on iPad accessories). Once again, though, you need to make sure your iPad’s on an incline somewhere or you won’t be able to see what you’re typing. iPad cases, mounts, and the like are going to be a

We did notice some strangeness when we tried to plug the iPad into existing iPod or iPhone accessories. Some dock-based external speaker systems didn’t work. Some Macs and AC adapters we tried were able to charge the iPad; others caused the iPad to declare it was “Not Charging” despite it being connected and syncable. It turns out that the iPad has some very specific charging requirements. With the included 10-watt USB power adapter, it charges awake or asleep. On high-powered USB ports such as most recent Macs and the iPhone power adapter, it charges as well, though more slowly, according to Apple. On Macs and PCs without high-powered USB ports, the iPad will charge when it's sleeping, but when it's awake it will display that "Not Charging" message in the status bar at the top of the screen.

Bluetooth headphones played just fine, though on-headphone controls didn’t control the iPad (as is the case with the iPhone). The controls on wired headphones, however, did work as expected. Although there’s no Voice Memos app on the iPad, the iPad can record, using compatible third-party apps, through both the internal microphone (found next to the Headphone jack at the top of the iPad) as well as the microphone on iPhone headsets.

http://www.macworld.com/article/150417/2010/04/ipad_sales.html

http://www.macworld.com/article/150267/2010/04/ipad_dayone.html

iPad Ready - News and Magazine Sites

A partial list of iPad ready newspaper, magazine, and online sites is below:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/ready-for-ipad/

Is iPad The Tablet That Finally Succeeds As A Laptop Killer?

From Walt Mossberg of WSJ: For the past week or so, I have been testing a sleek, light, silver-and-black tablet computer called an iPad. After spending hours and hours with it, I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop. It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades.

Here's Walt's video:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304252704575155982711410678.html?mod=djemWMP_h#articleTabs%3Dvideo

Here's a product slideshow:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304252704575155982711410678.html#articleTabs%3Dslideshow

Here are reader comments about iPad product and operating system vs. competitive offerings:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304252704575155982711410678.html#articleTabs%3Dcomments


But first, it will have to prove that it really can replace the laptop or netbook for enough common tasks, enough of the time, to make it a viable alternative. And that may not be easy, because previous tablet computers have failed to catch on in the mass market, and the iPad lacks some of the features—such as a physical keyboard, a Webcam, USB ports and multitasking—that most laptop or netbook users have come to expect. WSJ's Personal Technology columnist Walt Mossberg reviews Apple's iPad. More than an e-reader and an oversized iPod Touch, he says the tablet computer is a "robust, general-purpose devise" with the potential to change portable computing as we know it. If people see the iPad mainly as an extra device to carry around, it will likely have limited appeal. If, however, they see it as a way to replace heavier, bulkier computers much of the time—for Web surfing, email, social-networking, video- and photo-viewing, gaming, music and even some light content creation—it could be a game changer the way Apple's iPhone has been.

The iPad is much more than an e-book or digital periodical reader, though it does those tasks brilliantly, better in my view than the Amazon Kindle. And it's far more than just a big iPhone, even though it uses the same easy-to-master interface, and Apple says it runs nearly all of the 150,000 apps that work on the iPhone. It's qualitatively different, a whole new type of computer that, through a simple interface, can run more-sophisticated, PC-like software than a phone does, and whose large screen allows much more functionality when compared with a phone's. But, because the iPad is a new type of computer, you have to feel it, to use it, to fully understand it and decide if it is for you, or whether, say, a netbook might do better. So I've been using my test iPad heavily day and night, instead of my trusty laptops most of the time.

As I got deeper into it, I found the iPad a pleasure to use, and had less and less interest in cracking open my heavier ThinkPad or MacBook. I probably used the laptops about 20% as often as normal, reserving them mainly for writing or editing longer documents, or viewing Web videos in Adobe's Flash technology, which the iPad doesn't support, despite its wide popularity online. My verdict is that, while it has compromises and drawbacks, the iPad can indeed replace a laptop for most data communication, content consumption and even limited content creation, a lot of the time. But it all depends on how you use your computer. iPad Apps If you're mainly a Web surfer, note-taker, social-networker and emailer, and a consumer of photos, videos, books, periodicals and music—this could be for you. If you need to create or edit giant spreadsheets or long documents, or you have elaborate systems for organizing email, or need to perform video chats, the iPad isn't going to cut it as your go-to device. The iPad is thinner and lighter than any netbook or laptop I've seen. It weighs just 1.5 pounds, and its aluminum and glass body is a mere half-inch thick. It boasts a big, bright color 9.7-inch screen that occupies most of the front.

As on all Apple portable devices, the battery is sealed in and nonreplaceable. It has a decent speaker, and even a tiny microphone. Memory, also sealed in and nonexpandable, ranges from 16 gigabytes to 64 gigabytes. And you can order one with just a Wi-Fi wireless connection to the Internet, or Wi-Fi plus an AT&T 3G cellular connection. The Wi-Fi models will be available Saturday and the 3G models, which I didn't test, about a month later. Prices start at $499 and go to $829, with the costlier models having more memory and/or 3G. The cellular models don't require a contract or termination fee. You can pay AT&T either $15 a month for 250 megabytes of data use, or $30 a month for unlimited data—a significant reduction from typical prices for laptop cellular connectivity. I was impressed with the iPad's battery life, which I found to be even longer than Apple's ten-hour claim, and far longer than on my laptops or smart phones.

For my battery test, I played movies, TV shows and other videos back-to-back until the iPad died. This stressed the device's most power-hogging feature, its screen. The iPad lasted 11 hours and 28 minutes, about 15% more than Apple claimed. I was able to watch four feature-length movies, four TV episodes and a video of a 90-minute corporate presentation, before the battery died midway through an episode of "The Closer." Walt's mountain-view wallpaper with app icons arranged during his tests. Oh, and all the while during this battery marathon, I kept the Wi-Fi network running and the email downloading constantly in the background.

Your mileage may vary, but with Wi-Fi off and the screen turned down from the fairly bright level I used, you might even do better. Music plays far longer with the screen off. On the other hand, playing games constantly might yield worse battery life. Apple says video playback, Web use and book reading all take about the same amount of juice. When I was doing the latter two tasks for an hour or two at a time, the battery ran down so slowly for me that I stopped thinking about it. I also was impressed with the overall speed of the iPad. Apple's custom processor makes it wicked fast. Screens appear almost instantly, and the Wi-Fi in my home tested as fast as it does on a laptop. I found email easy and productive to use, and had no trouble typing accurately and quickly on the iPad's wide on-screen keyboard. In fact, I found the iPad virtual keyboard more comfortable and accurate to use than the cramped keyboards and touchpads on many netbooks, though some fast touch typists might disagree. Apple's $39 iPad case, which bends to set up a nice angle for typing, helps.

The Web browser also works beautifully, and takes advantage of the big screen to show full pages and cut down on scrolling. It even now has a bookmarks bar at the top. As noted, however, it doesn't support Adobe's Flash technology. I also was able to easily sync the iPad's calendar and contacts apps with Google and Apple's MobileMe. Apple created a touch version of its Pages word processor for the iPad. Watching videos, viewing photos, listening to music, reading books and playing games was satisfying and fun. I used the device heavily for Twitter and Facebook. And I even got some light work done in the optional iPad word processor, called Pages, which is part of a $30 suite that also includes a spreadsheet and presentation program. This is a serious content creation app that should help the iPad compete with laptops and can import Microsoft Office files. However, only the word processor exports to Microsoft's formats, and not always accurately. In one case, the exported Word file had misaligned text. When I then tried exporting the document as a PDF file, it was unreadable.

The iPad can run two types of third-party apps, both available from Apple's app store. It can use nearly all existing iPhone apps. These can either run in a small, iPhone-size window in the middle of the screen, which makes them look tiny, or blown up to double size. The larger size makes them fill the screen, but can make type inside them look blocky. Still, the dozens I tested all worked properly. And it can run a new class of specially designed iPad apps, of which Apple hopes to have 1,000 at launch. I successfully tested the revamped App Store, which features the iPad apps most prominently when you're on an iPad. Based on my very small sample, some app developers may be testing higher prices for iPad apps than the 99 cents or $1.99 typical for paid iPhone apps. The paid iPad apps I saw ranged from $3.99 to $49.99. Others were free.

Apple has rebuilt its own core iPhone apps for the iPad to add sophisticated features that make the programs look and work more like PC or Mac software. For instance, there are "popover" menus that make it easier to make choices without leaving the screen you're on. And, when the iPad is held horizontally, in landscape mode, as I often preferred to use it, many programs now have two panels, making them faster and more useful. For example, in email, a left-hand panel shows your message list, while a larger right-hand panel shows the message itself. The photo app is striking, and much more like the one on the Mac than the one on the iPhone. The device can even be used as a digital picture frame. The iPod app is beautiful, too, as are the calendar and contacts app. Unfortunately, Apple excluded some of the more familiar apps from the iPhone, including Weather, Clock and Stocks.

I tested a small selection of the new third-party iPad apps Apple hopes to have available at launch, and most were also rich and feature-filled, beyond what iPhone apps offer. These included games such as Scrabble and "Touch Hockey," a database app, news services and more. I was able to try a pre-release version of The Wall Street Journal's new iPad app (which I had nothing to do with designing), and found it gorgeous and highly functional—by far the best implementation of the newspaper I have ever seen on a screen.

Unlike the Journal's Web site, or its smart-phone apps, the iPad version blends much more of the look and feel of the print paper into the electronic environment. Other newspapers and magazines have announced plans for their own, dramatically more realistic iPad apps. I also found iBooks, Apple's book reader and store, easy to use, and read a couple of books on it. I consider the larger color screen superior to the Kindle's, and encountered no eye strain.

But the iPad is much heavier than the Kindle and most people will need two hands to use it. The iBooks app also lacks any way to enter notes, and Apple's catalog at launch will only be about 60,000 books versus more than 400,000 for Kindle. I did run into some other annoying limitations. For instance, the email program lacks the ability to create local folders or rules for auto-sorting messages, and it doesn't allow group addressing. The browser lacks tabs. And the Wi-Fi-only version lacks GPS. Also, videophiles may dislike the fact that the iPad's screen lacks wide-screen dimensions, so you either get black bars above or below wide-screen videos, or, if you choose an option to fill the screen, some of the picture may get cut off.

All in all, however, the iPad is an advance in making more-sophisticated computing possible via a simple touch interface on a slender, light device. Only time will tell if it's a real challenger to the laptop and netbook.

—Find Walt Mossberg's columns and videos, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com

Who Put The Funk In MJ's Thriller?

MJ's Thriller was way ahead of it's time, both artistically and technically.

If you listen critically to the title song "Thriller", you'll hear a tightly arranged mix of rhythms and beats.

The driving beats and poly rhythms are result of synth mastery contributed by these artists:

Anthony Marinelli: Synthesizer Programming, Programming
David Paich: Piano, Synthesizer, Rhythm Arrangements, Arranger, Synthesizer Arrangements, Keyboards
Greg Phillinganes: Synthesizer, Programming, Fender Rhodes, Handclapping, Keyboards
Steve Porcaro: Synthesizer Programming, Arranger, Programming, Synthesizer
Greg Smith: Synthesizer, Keyboards
Bruce Swedien: Effects, Sound Effects, Engineer, Mixing
Rod Temperton: Arranger, Synthesizer Arrangements, Vocal Arrangement, Synthesizer, Rhythm.

Many people think that Michael Jackson wrote Thriller, but it was another musical genius who penned the epic song that became the title track of the best selling album of all time, Rod Temperton.

RT was an original member of the Funk / Disco band Heatwave who had hits with: Always And Forever, Boogie Nights, Groove Line and Too Hot To Handle. Born in England in 1947, Rod Temperton worked in a frozen fish factory after leaving school, but had big musical ambitions. He moved to Germany in 1972 and formed a soul covers band called Sundown Carousel. It was here that Temperton met Quincy Jones and began working with him.

In the early 80's Temperton left Germany and moved to California. In 1979, Quincy Jones enlisted the songwriting of Rod Temperton for Michael Jackson's Off The Wall album. He wrote Rock With You, Burn this Disco and the title track, Off The Wall.

In 1982 Temperton wrote the title track of "Thriller" - what would go on to be the best selling album of all time.

How did the team create such haunting rhythms and driving backbeat?

Here's a list of synths used on Michael Jackson "Thriller".

Remember this was the '80's, so his mastery of synth music was indeed extraodinary. The medium was just beginning to evolve musically and technically.

Yamaha CS-80
Roland Jupiter 8 (x3)
NED Synclavier II
DK Synergy
Roland Jupiter 4
Roland MC-4 microcomposer/sequencer
Yamaha GS-1 FM synth
Oberheim Four-Voice
SCI Prophet 5 (x2)
Yamaha CE20 FM preset synth
Yamaha portasound keyboard
Roland VP-330 vocoder/strings
Bode Vocoder
E-mu Emulator I
plus a couple of Minimoogs

http://www.musicnotes.net/teaching_beat_divisions.html

http://pixelives.blogspot.com/2009/06/list-of-synths-used-on-michael-jackson.html

http://hubpages.com/hub/Michael-Jacksons-Thriller---The-Truth-About-The-Music-Genius-Behind-The-Title-Track-Of-The-Best-Selling-Album

http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,107885,00.html

Making CD Mixes That Rock

Here's a list of tips on how to make CD mixes that rock !

01. Open iTunes and create a new playlist.

02. Pick a theme - First of all is the playlist for you or someone else? Are you making a CD of your favorite songs by one band or of your favorite love songs? Or are you simply trying to make a playlist with your current favorite songs? Come up with an imaginative name for your CD that expresses its theme and you'll have an easier time determining if the music selections fit under this "thematic umbrella".

03. Limit the length - A good rule of thumb is to burn a CD that lasts 79 minutes, 30 seconds including all silence between tracks. If you are making a simple CD for someone else, don't go over one disc.

04. Pick your main songs - your "tentpole" songs - that are central to the CD's theme. Add these to the playlist first.

05. Add the other songs by finding songs that fit the theme. Use iTunes' search feature to help you find songs you might have overlooked. Usually a CD can hold about 20 songs.

06. Narrow down your final playlist - Trim your playlist down to whichever length you decided on. Revisit and listen to songs to determine which you want to use.

07. Try to use only use one song per artist or at most twice. Avoid overplaying artists, especially having the same artist back to back. Vary it up and use different artists.

08. Pick your opening and closing songs carefully. These are your anchors. For the opening sequence, select several songs that quickly brings the listener into your theme, the more upbeat the better, to establish pacing and convey energy.

09. A CD's pacing can be thought of as like an arc, a wave, or a story with a definite intro, middle, and finish. Your job is to arrange the songs for greatest dramatic effect, so they build to a peak and then recede. Close with a song that feels like it wraps things up in a way that brings the CD to resolution. For example, if your CD's theme involves hope, spirituality and optimism, an excellent choice for the end song is "From A Distance" by Bette Midler. Try not to open with the "big impact" song, as it can make the remainder of the CD feel like a letdown, like your are going downhill.

10. Flow is important - Don't have a fast heavy song stop abruptly and go into a beautiful acoustic song. Think in terms of "sequences", that is, sets of 4 songs, that have a consistent beat, rhythm, flow or message. Don't have too many similar songs next to each other. If your CD is primarily upbeat songs, having 3 slow songs in a row will create boredom.

11. Listen to transitions - Skip to the end of songs and see how it sounds going into the next song. You can edit the song by right-clicking the song and selecting get info. To improve pacing and flow, use a simple music editing program (Roxio, Nero, Audacity, etc) to view the track's waveform and and delete excess silence after the song ends.

12. Volume normalization allows you to set the volume of all songs to be within the same range, so you don't have to keep adjusting the volume for every song. A free program called MP3Gain analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume at http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net. CD burning programs like Roxio and Nero have similar optional tools.

13. Burn your CD and for god housekeeping save the song files or playlist in a new folder so you can return to it to make additional changes or burn fresh copies in the future.

14. In a relaxed setting, audition your first CD copy. Listen critically for any errors, such as noise, spaces, uneven volume, and poor pacing. Often you'll hear how rearranging the tracks can improve the overall flow.

15. Make sure your CD doesn't "cut off" the last track, which happens when you exceed the 80 minute limit, by playing the final track entirely.

16. Do you like the way your CD captures your theme? Does the music build and unfold in a dramatic way? Does it convey energy? Do tracks fit together in a harmonic pattern, without any disjointed show stoppers?

Once you're happy with your master CD, go ahead a make copies for your friends!

from http://www.ehow.com/how_4772039_great-mix-cdplaylist.html

Arlington Cemetary - Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?

21 steps: It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?

21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet?

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time

and, if not, why not?

He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed?

Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10' and 6' 2' tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30. They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives.. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform or the tomb in any way.

After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform.. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone nor watch TV All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery . A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe Lewis, the boxer, Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC , our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment.

They respectfully declined the offer, 'No way, Sir!'

Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson.

The tomb has been patrolled continuously,24/7, since 1930.

God Bless and keep them in His care

And where did they decide on the number 21? It is the total of the digits in 1776, the year of our freedom from tyrannical rule.

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

thanks for this BB.

So You Want An iPad?

Over the weekend, The Associated Press reported that customers who buy an iPad at Apple's online store will have to wait until April 12 for shipping. Customers who ordered online before Sunday, though, are expected to get their iPads on Saturday.

Just days before the debut of the iPad, Apple stock hit a new all-time high of $233.87 today before closing at $232.39, up $1.49, or 0.6 percent.

If you want an iPad, and if you want it Saturday, you'll have to try your luck by heading to one of Apple's 221 retail stores — or, in a new development announced today, most Best Buy stores will be selling the new tablet computer. (We won't promise you, though, that there will be enough iPads for everyone who wants one.)

Apple, the Cupertino maker of "I'm A Mac" computers and "i" devices (iPod, iPhone, iPad), today released new details about the iPad launch. The "iPad connects users with their apps and content in a far more intimate and fun way than ever before," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "We can't wait for users to get their hands and fingers on it this weekend."

Apple's stores will open at 9 a.m.; iPad buyers will be offered free personal setup for their devices. Apple also will host free workshops for customers who want to learn about the iPad.

Models with Wi-Fi only will be available Saturday, starting at $499 for an iPad with 16 gigabytes of memory. Models with both Wi-Fi and 3G wireless connections, starting at $629, will be available in late April, Apple says.

According to AllThingsD, Silicon Alley Insider and many other sites, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty expects Apple to sell 6 million iPads in 2010. Other analysts have forecast a more conservative range of 3 million to 4 million iPads this year.

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14779701

How Many iPads Have Been Ordered?

Two attempts that received widespread attention in the tech blogosphere attempted to decode Apple order numbers. Working off the assumption that these numbers were assigned consecutively to orders from the company’s online store, bloggers used a series of orders to attempt to construct a sales rate.

Andrew Erlichson, chief executive of the photo-sharing site Phanfare, based his estimate on just two sales. Erlichson said his own company assigns order numbers consecutively, which has the advantage of simplicity but may reduce the security of the system.

Another effort came from a group with considerably more experience decoding Apple sales. Members of a private message board about the company, led by Apple investors and watchers Daniel Tello and Victor Castroll, have gathered 500 order numbers and used them to estimate sales, in the iPad’s first week, of 190,000. These are based on several assumptions and exclude in-person orders and corporate sales, so may be too low.

However, Tello does have a strong track record, beating several analysts in estimates of Apple earnings and contributing to a successful effort to count iPhone sales in 2008. Having access to a group of Apple investors and customers “is the most valuable tool in my toolbox,” said Tello, a former bank data analyst who now manages his investments full-time. He added, “In a way I think analyzing a company like Apple shouldn’t be too hard. The most important part, in my opinion, is to be able to create your own assessment of the direction things are going, and somehow avoid all the punditry and biased opinions found all over the tech media coverage of this company.”

Castroll primarily follows Apple as an investor because clues are available to create such an assessment. “If you want to know Apple sales, you can look at order numbers or you can see people walking into a store,” he said. Other companies, by contrast, are “a black box.”

Other industry watchers use different techniques to measure sales. Flurry, which helps makers of mobile applications track users, can use its tools to recognize which phones people are using, through unique signatures for each device. Flurry’s technique led it to produce numbers that were disappointingly low for a new Google phone, the Nexus One. “We’re pleased with our sales volumes and with how well the Nexus One has been received by our customers,” a Google spokeswoman said, while declining to comment on specific Nexus One estimates. “The Nexus One is one of a fast-growing number of Android handsets. … Our partners are shipping more than 60,000 Android handsets each day compared with 30,000 just three months ago.”

Peter Farago, vice president of marketing for Flurry, said that users of applications which incorporate his company’s software probably cover 80% of advanced devices. He called it “a number we’re willing to live with.” He said he isn’t sure whether Flurry will estimate iPad sales, once the device starts being used by the market, because Google, Apple and other rivals in the mobile device industry are partners. “I know it would be a pretty strong scoop,” Farago said. “But when we release news, we don’t want to injure ourselves.”

Yet early sales numbers are far from definitive. Studio executives can tell their technology counterparts all about the dangers of paying such figures too much heed. A year ago, “Watchmen” debuted to an impressive opening-weekend box-office take of $55.2 million, according to Hollywood.com. It didn’t make that much in the rest of its domestic run, finishing with a gross of $107.5 million. Eight months later, its studio, Warner Bros., released “The Blind Side” and raked in a more modest opening-weekend total of $34.1 million. That film’s box-office total is $252.7 million and counting — more than twice the total for “Watchmen.”

Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, recalled taking phone calls from investors who considered the iPhone “dead on arrival” soon after its launch when early numbers from AT&T Wireless missed early sales forecasts. Munster pointed out that word of mouth and strong sustained sales rates rewrote that first impression.

Munster’s own forecast was among those that overstated early iPhone sales, predicting 355,000 purchases in the first two days of availability, compared to an announced total of 270,000 from Apple a month after the iPhone launch. “We did our work and our work was wrong,” Munster said. Learning from that experience, he attempted to predict early sales for the iPhone 3G S when it was released last year — and undershot, predicting a half million sales in the first weekend. It took three days for the handset to sell one million units.

Tanker Truck Pushes Car Along Motorway at 60 MPH

This is an amazing video of the car that was pushed sideways at 60 MPH with truck driver not realizing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr6ugVkUam8&annotation_id=annotation_388219&feature=iv

One moment, Rona Williams was driving along the motorway thinking about her forthcoming day at work.

The next, she was being shunted sideways at 60mph, trapped beneath the front bumper of a tanker whose driver did not even notice she was there.

Her terrifying ordeal was captured on film by a passenger in another car on the A1 near Leeds and has been viewed millions of times since it was posted on YouTube last week.

Mrs Williams had just joined the motorway ten minutes away from her surgery in Garforth when her car was apparently clipped by the lorry and ended up under its bumper. 'I just felt a knock and then I was travelling sideways – twisted 90 degrees clockwise,' she said.

Rona Williams: 'I just felt a knock and then I was travelling sideways'

She yanked on her handbrake, sounded her horn and flashed her hazard lights, but to no avail.

'I kept thinking, "Nobody knows I'm here. Nobody has seen me",' she said. 'I tried everything.

I was watching other cars, thinking, "Help me, just help me" – but they didn't seem to be doing very much.'

Terrified the lorry was going to ram her into the crash barrier, Mrs Williams grabbed her mobile phone from her handbag.

'I wasn't on hands-free, but I figured I wasn't really driving the car,' she said. 'I just screamed at the operator, "I'm going to die, I'm going to die! Can you do something?"

'She tried to calm me down but there wasn't really anything she could do at the end of the phone.'

Mercifully, almost a minute after her ordeal had begun, the lorry driver apparently spotted her.

'Suddenly he was all over the road,' she said. 'Finally he managed to maneuver us safely on to the hard shoulder.'

After she came to a stop she immediately phoned her husband Rob, 32 to tell him: 'You're not going to believe what's just happened.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1259610/My-nightmare-oblivious-60mph-tanker-driver-shunted-sideways-A1-minute.html#ixzz0jCGNIDKD

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1259610/My-nightmare-oblivious-60mph-tanker-driver-shunted-sideways-A1-minute.html#ixzz0jCFxQHjH