5 Features an Apple Tablet needs to succeed

The Apple Tablet rumor refuses to diminish. In fact, every major newspaper (For example: The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post) are fueling the rumor. Now, when it seems ‘sure’ that Apple will release something this January. Another rumor about Apple ordering 10-inch displays fuel the likelihood of releasing it soon. If the Tablet is to be released, it would need something special to succeed in the market flooded with smartphones like Droid, iPhone, and Palm Pre. iPod Touch, Kindle, and Amazon Nook might be a distant competitor but they can’t be ignored either. The desktop computer, laptop and netbook are also plying in the same market. With this crowed market a tablet, if any, would need certain features to succeed. 1. Easy to carry and easy to use: We have had enough of bulky, heavy portable electronics. People need thin, light device that can be carried around easily. May be a large iPod Touch, or better than that. 2. Connectivity and portability You would need to share stuffs with your existing devices like phones, laptops, desktops. Bluetooth might be considered granted as it is available in iPod Touch and iPhone. A couple of USB ports, DVI output can be the basic necessity. Memory card slots should also be available by default. 3. Multitasking When Palm or Anaroid entered the iPhone’s market the soft spot they kicked was the lack of multitasking ability in iPhone. The tablet can’t live with single task ability. 4. Speed, aesthetics, battery life Speed and aesthetics need to go together to succeed in the  tablet arena. Aesthetics forces skeptics to try on the new device and when it doesn’t come with speed the sustainability will be hampered. One can take for aesthetics for granted based on the superior design record of Apple. A powerful processer however can be battery hog. Proper choice of processer, the brain, of the tablet to bring the right balance of speed and battery life would be critical in success of a tablet. A 12 hours of battery life can be considered a bare minimum. 5. Keyboard, responsive display It is sure that the tablet won’t come with a keyboard. There however should be an option of Bluetooth keyboard or stylus for note taking. Responsiveness of the display on a touch screen is critical too. With the experience with iPhone, we can count on Apple on bringing out a truly responsive display to start with. It doesn’t matter weather the Apple Tablet is called iSlate, or iGuide or something else. A cool Apple Logo on the outside would certainly boost the sales in the initial days of the release – sustainability of which would depend on the five requirement I mentioned above.

Fastest train in the world

The fastest commercial train in the world is now operational in China running at a maximum speed of 394 kilometers per hour (km/hr) in a trail run. The train link connects two cities, Guangzhou in South to Wuhan in central China, and will travel at an average speed of 350km/hr (217mph). The 1,068 km distance between the two cities can now be covered by the high-speed train in two hours and forty five minutes ? that is, a saving of about six hours of travel time. The high-speed train line uses technology developed in co-operation with firms such as Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom. The Guangzhou - Wuhan train line is a part of the government plan to build 42 high-speed train lines by 2012. In the biggest rail development program in the world, China government plans to build 34,000 km of new train tracks in addition to its existing 86,000 km railway lines. According to China's railways ministry, the average speed of the high-speed railways in other countries in the world is less than 300 km/hr; way less than the Guangzhou - Wuhan train line (in Japan it is 243 km/hr, in Germany 232 km/hr, and 277 km/hr in France). First high-speed railway network in China was unveiled at the time of Beijing Olympics in 2008 to connect the capital city Beijing with the port city of Tianjin. The train could travel at a speed of 250 km/hr.

Water on the Moon

It is confirmed. The Moon has water and plenty of it. The NASA LCROSS mission has successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus crater near the moon?s south pole. Here is the CBS video:

CEO of the decade: Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs did a great job in the past decade to be ranked Fortune Magazine?s CEO of the decade. It is not the first time that Fortune recognized Jobs as a business genius. On November 27, 2007 Fortune Magazine named Jobs the most powerful person in business (CNN). I like the way Jobs is portrayed in the article titled The decade of Steve. Youthful founder gets booted from his company in the 1980s, returns in the 1990s, and in the following decade survives two brushes with death, one securities-law scandal, an also-ran product lineup, and his own often unpleasant demeanor to become the dominant personality in four distinct industries, a billionaire many times over, and CEO of the most valuable company in Silicon Valley. Some of the notable contributions that Jobs was instrumental in are: One of the first commercially successful personal computers (Apple II in 1977). First mouse driven graphical interface (Macintosh computer in 1984). ?Desktop publishing? Laser printer Personal computer network Successful computer animated feature films (Pixar) Highly successful digital music player (iPod in 2001) Online music store (iTunes in 2003) Highly successful smart-phone (iPhone in 2007) Congratulation to the magician of the digital world, Steve Jobs!

Will Google Maps Navigation replace standalone GPS?

Newly announced Google Maps Navigation caused shares of satellite navigation device companies to fall substantially amidst fears of the death of standalone GPS. Is it really the death or the rumors of the death have been greatly exaggerated? In the Navigation Application, Google uses search engine to find addresses, Google Street View for photos of locations, and live traffic data in its turn-by-turn GPS software. The application is available in the new Droid phone. Let?s see some advantages and disadvantage of Google GPS attached to mobile phone. Advantages of Google Maps Nav.: It is a free service Comes with phone and doesn?t need an extra gadget, easy to carry and you are less likely to forget it at home. Real-time updating Linked to the HUGE Google search database Disadvantages: It is device specific ? only phone it supports now is Motorola Droid. More may be (are) coming but it will take time.  Multi-tasking ? using GPS and calling somebody would be difficult. It would certainly add concern to the traffic safety. Dedicated data connection is required ? there are many places where Google service might not be available. Mobile phones usually have smaller screen as compared to dedicated GPS. More the screen are better the details on the map. Mobile phones' smaller form factors usually don?t allow for extra battery (like iPhone). Constant use for long period of time might not be practical in some situations. Google will certainly add advertisement in future. Would like smaller screen and ads in it? GPS manufacturers knew it was coming. Sometime back, TomTom started offering its own mobile GPS application for iPhone for $100. But free application is lot more cheaper! It is to be seen if Apple will beg Google to make one for iPhone. Official video on Google Maps Navigation: Professionals would certainly go for standalone GPS but causal users like myself would certainly be happy with the new device and new application. Death is a harsh word; but it is sure that they wouldn?t sell like hot cakes anymore. GPS manufacturers need to step forward in innovating their products, cutting the prices, and offer better value to the customers. It sure is not a dead end!

Google wave to wash email ?

Google, aiming to revolutionize the way people communicate online, has recently introduced an online application named Google Wave. The online tool will store a thread of data, document the history of a conversation and keep it on a server that runs on a Wave Protocol. The wave protocol is related to cloud computing in which the users save, retrieve and work on data and applications on remote computers rather than the local hard drives. It is widely believed that future is for cloud computing in which users don't need to download anything and everything can be done online. The operating system Google is planning to release, Chrome OS, is also based on the similar conceptual framework. The widely used and most popular online communication tool 'email' was first introduced more than 40 years ago and it has little changed in the four decades. Emails are stored in server and are transferred to the users' computer on request. However, Google Wave allows users to collaborate in real time. Users can see how and when things change and respond as required. Email didn't replace snail-mail but it sure did reduce the mail-box load. Now, it might be Email's turn to shed some weight in the inbox. Google Australia first proposed Google Wave in 2007. It is told that 100,000 beta users are testing the service currently. The service currently is invitation only. If you want to test it, you can also request an invite by visiting wave.google.com.

Go Norway, UN index rates best life in the western Scandinavia

When it comes to the quality of life, Norway enjoys the world's highest ranking country according to a United Nations agency. The annual Human Development Index prepared by the UN Development Program found that the country with the worst quality of life is Niger with life expectancy of just over 50 years. The Index was prepared by taking life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and per capita gross domestic product in 182 countries. The second best in the list was Australia followed by Iceland. Canada ranked fourth (not bad!) and the United States was in 13th place. Trends in the index since 1980 showed an average improvement of 15 per cent in countries' scores. The greatest long-term improvements have been shown by China, Iran and Nepal, but progress has been concentrated in education and health rather than income, said the UN agency. (source)