Business

Apple is no longer promising that new orders of its iPad will be shipped on the official launch date. It appears the first batch of 700,000 units has already sold out. The iPad is set to launch in stores by April 3rd, 2010, and until recently people ... placing pre-orders had been told their iPads would ship on the same day. However, Apple has now revised its website to say that pre-orders after Sunday won't ship until April 12th. (Source: 9to5mac.com ) Additionally, those users placing pre-orders from now on will not have the option of picking up the device in a store. Those who've already ... (view more)

While Windows 7 might be eating the competition for dinner, as of late Microsoft has not been so lucky in the smartphone market. In fact, the Redmond-based company's share of the pie has dipped considerably as rivals Google, Apple and Research in ... Motion (RIM) sap the popularity of Windows Mobile. According to a recent report from industry analysts ComScore, Windows Mobile's share of the American market dropped an astounding 4 points during the period October 2009 to January 2010. It's a huge dip, with Microsoft's mobile operating system plummeting from 19.7 per cent of the smartphone market ... (view more)

Microsoft appears to have accidentally confirmed that it will release a tablet computer called 'Courier'. The device would be marketed as a rival to Apple's upcoming iPad. Rumors of the Microsoft Courier device go back to last September, when leaked ... documents showed a design for a twin-screen device with no physical keyboard. The concept was of a multi-function design that could: Be held in portrait mode like a book with facing pages Landscape mode with the top screen display and bottom screen touch keyboard Or hinged back on itself and used as a tablet or "slate" PC. At the time, though, it ... (view more)

Opera has reported that downloads of its browser have doubled since the release of the " browser ballot ". In some countries, the numbers of downloads have risen four-fold. The ballot, which will eventually appear to all European Union citizens who ... have Internet Explorer set as their default browser, prompts the user to select from a list of 12 browsers. It came about as a settlement between Microsoft and the EU after investigations into whether the browser being bundled with Windows was anti-competitive. (Source: google.com) As noted earlier this month , Opera's downloads rocketed ... (view more)

A problematic update for the popular BitDefender antivirus software appears to be causing quite a bit of trouble for users running 64-bit versions of Windows. Rather than save users from infection, the update released this past weekend is actually ... labeling important Windows files as malware threats. "We understand your disappointment, we have solved the problem for many of our users already, and we are continuing to work relentlessly to rectify the problem for all users still affected," a BitDefender spokesperson announced Monday. (Source: techradar.com ) Antivirus Update Forces Users To ... (view more)

Google has upped the ante in its dispute against China by uncensoring its previously censored search results. Officially, Google has not breached Chinese rules which insist on search results being filtered to remove content officials class as ... objectionable; this includes political information and viewpoints the government wants to suppress. Instead, Google has set its Chinese home page (google.cn) to route directly to Google's search tool via the Hong Kong version of the site (google.com.hk). It looks inevitable that China will simply block access to that site altogether. The government has ... (view more)

Despite the rising popularity of smartphones, netbooks, and smaller notebooks, desktop PCs have made a notable resurgence in recent months. According to a recent report, sales of the units were up an impressive 30 per cent in February, with much of ... the credit touting Microsoft's new operating system (OS), Windows 7. Desktop sales for February 2010 climbed 30 per cent in units and 33 per cent in dollars over the same month last year, says a recent report from industry analysts NPD Group. It's the third time in the last four months that revenue for desktop computers was not only up, but ... (view more)

Microsoft has told developers more about its forthcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system. There'll be more tools for application creators to produce apps easily, while the firm has indicated it is aiming the system itself at the consumer rather ... than business market. The details came at MIX10, an annual Microsoft event for developers. While Mix covers all aspects of online technology, mobile systems are becoming a more important part of the event as that market grows. Copy And Paste Gets Cut One revelation that's attracting a lot of attention among developers is that the system itself won't ... (view more)

When Windows Vista failed in 2007, it was the average company's Information Technology department that killed it. Well, not entirely, but IT has in the past proven reticent to move beyond the well-established Windows XP. According to a recent ... report, however, that's finally starting to change. "Over the years, IT has had a real love affair with XP," notes analyst Diane Hagglund of Dimensional Research. She's the author of a recent survey that asked over 900 IT pros what they thought about using Windows XP in the post-Windows 7 era. Most IT Experts Still Wedded to Windows XP Hagglund's study ... (view more)

Google has been considering pulling out of China for a few months now, saying it is no longer prepared to meet official demands to filter results its in line with Chinese government rules. The dispute heated up around the time Google was the victim ... of a substantial hacking attack , and while no link to the Chinese government has been proven, it's believed in some circles that the attack was an attempt to access the Gmail accounts of political opponents of the ruling Communist party. Officials Forewarn of Google Closure Chinese officials are now said to have contacted several major websites ... (view more)