Adil Syed

Tech insiders have been speculating about the termination of Apple's Mac 'mini' product line for several months. However, the most recent round of speculation indicates Apple's desire to introduce a new set of comprehensive hardware updates, which ... will allow the product to have technical specifications comparable to other computers in its price range. (Source: appleinsider.com ) Mac minis are Apple's smallest line of desktop computers. They do not include a mouse, keyboard or a monitor. Erroneous speculation of the Mac mini's demise originated from the absence of a significant reengineering ... (view more)

Social networking sites that connect millions of users are increasingly the target of creative marketing strategies concocted by independent businesses. Facebook, with its 67million users is amongst the largest potential market available to these ... schemes. Until now, most marketing strategies entailed advertising on social networking sites, either directly or through proxy users. However, Denver-based bSocial Networks has introduced a new marketing strategy that attempts to use Facebook applications to generate sales. The company claims that this is "the first consumer-to-consumer (C2C) ... (view more)

Two tech giants have traded lawsuits, the result of which could have serious repercussions in an increasingly competitive multi-billion dollar industry. Research in Motion (RIM) filed its lawsuit on Feb. 16, stating that rival Motorola was violating ... nine patents held by the company. Additionally, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company alleges that Motorola is breaching a 2003 agreement between the two companies by refusing to renegotiate on an extension, which expired in January 2008. The company alleges that its rival is engaging in anti-competitive conduct by attempting to charge "exorbitant ... (view more)

Do you podcast? Podcasting is "is a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers." (Source wikipedia.org ) Last week, Apple ... officially filed for a patent on a new variant of podcasting medium. The company's proposal for a patent on the 'podmap' concept was filed in January 2007 but had remained undisclosed until just recently. (Source: appleinsider.com ) According to the patent filing, the concept involves four central components, which will become the crux of this audio- ... (view more)

Google Inc. has sent out email notifications on January 24, informing its business partners of a change in the way the company deals with advertising-generated revenues. The new policy is aimed at tackling the prevalent practice of 'domain tasting', ... which critics believe hurts legitimate domain ownership. The practice of domain tasting takes advantage of the Add Grace Period (AGP), which is the allocation of a 5 day grace period during which time registrants can cancel their request for a domain at no cost. Several online businesses have been set up to take advantage of this loop hole, which ... (view more)

Sales of Apple's iPhone remain strong as illustrated by the release of figures for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 (last 92 days of 2007). The company reported that it sold 2,315,000 iPhones during this period, which also encompasses the ... holiday season. The latest figures provided by CEO Steve Jobs during his Macworld 2008 keynote presentation on January 15, stated that Apple has passed the 4 million unit threshold. (Source: arstechnica.com ) The impressive total amounts to an average of 20,000 units sold per day, giving the iPhone a 20 percent market share of international smart phone ... (view more)

Amazon.com's French subsidiary has recently lost a court case concerning its practice of providing free shipping on book deliveries inside France on orders worth more than 20 euros. A lower court has ruled that the company is in violation of French ... law and has ordered Amazon.fr to cease this practice . The lawsuit brought on by the French Booksellers' Union last December requires the company to pay damages amounting to 100,000 euros as well as imposing a fine of 1,000 euros per day until it has fixed its illegal practice of providing free shipping to its customers. (Source: dailytech.com ) ... (view more)

The shortage of Microsoft's new 80GB Zune player this holiday season is not the result of overwhelming demand for the product. A report recently published by the market intelligence firm iSuppli indicates that popular retailers such as Amazon.com ... are either in short supply of the product or backordered. However, iSuppli is quick to dispel speculation that this shortage is a result of overwhelming demand for the Zune, which has been falsely accredited with outselling the various Apple iPod variants. (Source: isuppli.com ) Microsoft's MP3 player has been positively reviewed by a number of ... (view more)

File-sharing networks have found an unlikely ally in the form of rapper 50 Cent, who disclosed in a recent interview that it is up to the music industry to learn to adapt to the changing nature of music marketing. (Source: dslreports.com ) Cent's ... position is in stark contrast with that of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which has intensified its prosecution of individuals it claims to be illegally sharing songs. The interview conducted by journalist Pål Nordseth (translated by TorrentFreak.com) reveals the lack of consensus amongst mainstream musicians as to the degree ...<a href="/news/2954/cost-file-sharing-50-cent" class="more-link">view more

Google is introducing an innovative service to customers, this time targeting web mobile users. The 'My Location' feature in Google Maps Mobile 2.0 is currently undergoing beta testing and will attempt to provide mapping services via user cell ... phones. The concept of mapping technology in mobile devices is not particularly ground-breaking, as several smart-phones currently on the market have Global Positioning System (GPS) technology embedded into them. However, the advantage of this new service will be to provide access to mapping services to web mobile users whose devices do not have ... (view more)