Stefania Spagnuolo

After mastering MP3 players, it looks like PDAs may be up next for Apple. Sources at AppleInsider claim that for the past 18 months a group of Apple engineers have been hard at work on developing a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) model. The team is ... said to be looking at ways to integrate the company's unique touch-screen technology into the device. This is not Apple's first time developing a PDA; in the late 1990's, the company had developed the Apple Newton MessagePad. Unfortunately, the device never made it to production. (Source: laptoplogic.com ) In fact, the Newton was only spoken about ... (view more)

At a question-and-answer session in Florida last Saturday, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak criticized his former partner's decision to cut the price of the iPhone. Apple had dropped the price by $200 just two month's after the device's long-awaited ... arrival -- a bad decision, according to Wozniak. (Source: slashdot.org ) "Nobody expects a product to drop that much in price in such a short time," he said. While he admits that technology inevitably drops in price over time, he maintains that this price cut wasn't right. "The first adopters always pay a premium. I am one of them. I am used to that ... (view more)

Google is showing no signs of slowing down: the web giant has just released a new service called Shared Stuff, which lets users share information like images, videos and bookmarks with their friends. The Inquirer's Martin Veitch calls it "a cross ... between a personal web page, Delicious and Digg," which he says will be surprisingly appealing. (Source: theinquirer.net ) In typical Google fashion, Shared Stuff was created to be extremely user friendly. A simple click of a button will share any webpage that you have visited. You can also enter a description and tags for each shared web page. ... (view more)

Google has released the newest component of Google Docs: a presentation component that carries a typical simplistic moniker, Google "Presentations". Like Google Documents and Spreadsheets, users can email and upload documents to edit online. Unlike ... Documents, however, Presentations can only handle documents created in PowerPoint. Further, uploads must be smaller than 10MB. Google has certainly overtaken Microsoft on the aspect of search. Does Presentations have the potential to offer Google similar success? In a nutshell, no. Ars Technica's Eric Bangeman, a frequent PowerPoint user, tested ... (view more)

After being crowned the king of search, Google has set its sights a bit higher -- literally. In what it calls the 'global private race to the moon,' Google will be sponsoring the Google Lunar X PRIZE, an award given to a team who can land a craft on ... the moon. (Source: abc.net ) The X PRIZE Foundation's first project, the Ansari X PRIZE, had competitors racing to build a spacecraft able to reach low earth orbit. This time, participants will be reaching for the moon. Specifically, the winner must be the first to soft land a spacecraft on the moon which will roam for a minimum of 500 meters and ... (view more)

Many consider Apple to be a leading innovator, so finding out what's next on the company's plate can be quite salivating. Today, one user got a taste when an iTunes glitch revealed that renting movies may be next on the horizon. "I was trying to ... report a problem via iTunes, and this pop-up for selecting a reason contains some interesting/revealing strings," said David Watanabe, the user who discovered the glitch. "[It] looks like 'RentalMovies' will be coming to the iTunes store." When Watanabe was trying to notify the iTunes Store of his quandary, he was confronted with a menu of options on ... (view more)

Apple is reportedly considering cutting its prices for television episodes in half, from $1.99 to $0.99 -- the same price it currently charges for music singles. The price-slashing is part of Apple's plan to increase digital video sales. The company ... believes that the increase in volume will more than double, leaving profits positively affected even after the price cut. (Source: appleinsider.com ) But not everyone is seeing the price reduction with rose-colored glasses. Television studios worry that cutting the price of TV downloads will negatively impact DVD sales. Currently, a season of a ... (view more)

Apple and several major music labels will find themselves under the gun later this month as they take part in the European Commission (EC)'s antitrust hearings. The hearings, scheduled for September 19 and 20, will be a forum for the EC's concerns ... over unfair pricing and sales practices in the European iTunes Store. Representing the next step in the investigation, the EC has emphasized that the hearings will not lead directly to a judgment. The EC has not yet set a date for a final decision. (Source: arstechnica.com ) The EC accused music labels EMI, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG and Warner ... (view more)

When Apple's invitations for an upcoming special event were sent out last week, a buzz about the possible release of new iPods began almost immediately. Now that Apple's event has come and gone, it is safe to say that the company did not disappoint ... -- in fact, they left much to be excited about. At the media event on Wednesday, CEO Steve Jobs announced some minor changes to the iPod classic and the iPod shuffle, but the big news came from the iPod nano and the new iPod touch. The new nano has been dubbed the "fat" iPod nano. The modified device includes a 2 inch 320x240 LCD screen, with a ... (view more)

Ah, the cost of being second fiddle to Google. For the third time since December, Yahoo will be realigning its operations. This time, the restructuring comes from new Yahoo president Susan Decker via a memo issued to employees. In the memo, Decker ... outlined a shift in focus from ads to content. Specifically, she explained that the company's top sales executive will be leaving the organization and that a new global sales organization is being developed. "Building on the success that we have had in aligning our sales and distribution organizations around customers, rather than around advertising ... (view more)