Business

It looks as if the download service for Google's new Android smartphone operating system has had a successful launch. While figures are too hazy to make a firm comparison, first-day figures appear to have beaten the launch day of the Apple iPhone ... Apps store. While the Android system launched with around 10% the number of applications available as the iPhone, a media research firm says nine applications had between 10,000 and 50,000 downloads in the first day. That's compared with just two applications doing in the same range on the iPhone Apps launch. Before you conclude that this marks a ... (view more)

Google has come up with yet another new feature for its Gmail system. This one allows users to store a range of 'standard' responses and even have them sent automatically to emails based on their content. The 'Canned Responses' feature lets you set ... up a range of replies for particular situations that you experience commonly. It's the same kind of idea as an 'out of office' message but lets you tailor the response to different types of correspondence. For example, as a tech writer, I receive emails from computer-related organisations with story ideas. When I'm pressed for time, I'll usually ... (view more)

Despite Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's recent assertions that Windows Vista "is Microsoft's best-selling product ever," there are many indications to the contrary, that reveal just how irrelevant Windows Vista has become and how it has proven to be a ... major flop. (Source: microsoft.com and microsoft-watch.com ) Ballmer boasts that over 180 million copies of Windows Vista were sold in the first 18 months of its release. As infopackets has noted in the past, it's virtually impossible to get an accurate count on the number of Windows Vista units sold since many have been "downgraded" to ... (view more)

Microsoft testers will get their hands on the second major update to Vista next week. It's expected to get a public release in the first half of 2009, with the firm apparently anxious to have it out before Windows 7 hits stores. The update will be ... in the form of Vista Service Pack 2. A service pack is a collection of updates issued at one time to make the updating process simpler. It's not connected with the Windows Update system which concentrates purely on security issues. Microsoft had previously been keeping quiet about Service Pack 2's release schedule, but a posting on its blog for ... (view more)

As we reported a couple weeks ago, Apple has released a new line of Macs with significant upgrades over the previous model. However, not all of the additions (or omissions) are popular with users. Cnet recently published a number of user gripes, and ... they collectively reveal a lot about Apple's direction in the notebook market. Given the fact that computers have taken on a "fanboy" quality in recent years (people tend to love everything by Microsoft and despise Apple, or vice versa), the expectation was that most user complaints -- and compliments -- would be fairly one-dimensional. Therefore ... (view more)

The crowd of about one hundred reporters didn't know what to expect as they clamored inside of the small auditorium for a Tuesday afternoon Apple unveiling. Many were excited to finally make sense of the recent terms such as "solid" and "brick" that ... the company was throwing around prior to the scheduled demonstration. While almost everyone in attendance anticipated a new line of computers to be rolled out with one of these likenesses, they soon discovered that the terms referred not to the interior of the "new" computers, but rather, the exterior. Apple CEO Steve Jobs not only announced that ... (view more)

Just a day after we reported the expectation that Apple was about to reveal a new line of cheaper but still very sleek laptops, the Cupertino-based company has disappointed many with little more than updates to its already semi-popular line of Mac ... notebook computers. In recent days, excitement has ramped up over what was expected to be a cheaper but still very unique brand of Apple laptop computers. Even the competition got caught up in the fervor; Microsoft exec Brad Cook went on the record to announce that even if Apple sliced prices (which even he expected Apple to do), the cost of adding ... (view more)

YouTube is about to legally broadcast full-length television shows complete with a commercial break. However, for now the programs being featured will be reruns. The video site has previously experimented with commercials before clips, but the ... strategy has not been effective. That's mainly because the commercials seemed too obtrusive in a short clip that may only be a minute or so long. The hope is that online viewers will tolerate commercial breaks in full TV episodes in the same way as watching on a TV set. There is a major drawback, however: TV rights restrictions mean the content is only ... (view more)

Ever heard of the Apple Tax? Neither have we, though one Microsoft executive is adamant that to buy an Apple Macintosh computer is to sacrifice hard-earned dollars when customizing your shiny new machine. In a recent interview, vice president of ... Windows Consumer Product Marketing Brad Brooks discussed the additional costs Apple buyers face when trying to pencil in Windows Vista or XP compatibility. Brooks argues that those costs associated with customizing the operating system, applications, and even laptop or desktop colors can make Mac machines much higher than their anticipated cost. "It's ... (view more)

Google is to introduce one-click links to buy products associated with video clips on its YouTube site. The move will be the first step towards recouping the $1.65 billion it spent acquiring the company two years ago. The new links allow viewers to ... automatically buy songs through iTunes or the Amazon digital download service. The links will appear next to videos of the relevant songs. There will also be appropriate links to buy the popular video game "Spore." At the moment the music links are restricted to songs produced by EMI or Universal, two of the four major record labels. However, given ... (view more)