Apple: 300 million iPhone apps downloaded

Apple on Friday said 300 million iPhone apps have been downloaded from its App Store since it opened in July.

The news comes in the form of two ads placed in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The ads highlight some of the applications available for the iPhone, but the print on the bottom of the ads reveal some new, previously unreleased, information.

In addition to the 300 million apps download, Apple also confirms that the App Store also passed the 10,000 app mark in the store.

The App Store opened almost five months ago on July 11, 2008 with 500 apps available for download. As of the last earnings announcement, Apple reported 200 million downloads of its then 5,500 apps.

Building The Next Generation Of Text Messaging

Text messaging has exploded in popularity in the last few years, and it has become a large revenue generator for wireless carriers.

But the industry isn't resting on its laurels, and the wireless association CTIA has laid the groundwork for the next generation of SMS messaging. The group Monday released documents that are aimed at helping mobile operators create interoperable "Enhanced Messaging" services.

Enhanced Messaging would be similar to SMS, but users could integrate sound clips, animation, texts, and locations with messages. It would differ from multimedia messaging because of presence integration, which could potentially let users alert others to where they are, as well as when they are available.

All the major U.S. carriers have agreed to the "Use Cases and Calls Flows" that the CTIA released Monday, and the industry group said Enhanced Messaging services could be available in the third quarter of 2009.

"Enhanced Messaging communications has the potential to revolutionize mobile data communications," said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA, in a statement. "Text messaging has long been a huge growth opportunity in mobile data communication, and we fully expect Enhanced Messaging to take it to the next level."

The move shows the growing importance of messaging for mobile operators, and ABI Research said the market for mobile messaging will rise from $151 billion in 2008 to greater than $212 billion by 2013. Even with Enhanced Messaging, SMS is still expected to be the biggest earner, accounting for nearly 83% of all messaging revenue by 2013.

Mobile marketers may be drawn to Enhanced Messaging because of the integration of presence. This messaging could potentially make it easier for advertisers to tailor cross-carrier campaigns to a specific locations or regions.

Intel Ships 160 GB Solid State Drives For PCs

Intel on Monday started shipping a 160-GB, 2.5-inch solid-state drive for laptops and desktops.

In addition to the new X25-M, the chipmaker said it would ship next month a 160-GB, 1.8-inch SSD called the X18-M. Intel shipped 80-GB versions of the same two drives in September.

Computer manufacturers are offering SSDs in ultralight laptops and mini-notebooks, which are used primarily for e-mail and Web browsing. SSDs are particularly useful in these machines because the drives are lighter and use less power than hard disk drives. Major computer makers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo offer SSDs in notebooks.

The X18-M and X25-M are based on Intel's multilevel cell memory. The technology that differentiates the SSDs from competitors, according to Intel, includes highly parallel 10x NAND flash channels and "native command queuing" that enable up to 32 concurrent operations for faster performance.

The drives have read speeds up to 250 MBps and write speeds up to 70 MBps. Both are available with SATA interfaces of 1.5 Gbps and 3.0 Gbps.

The life expectancy is 1.2 million hours of mean time before failure, and power consumption is 150 milliwatts during a typical PC workload and 0.06 of a watt at idle. Pricing was not released.

Along with the two mainstream SSDs, Intel also makes the X25-E Extreme SSD for servers, storage, and high-end workstations. The SATA drive is availability in capacities of 32 GB and 64 GB, and has a life expectancy of 2 million hours of MTBF.

Intel's mainstream drives are far from the largest in the industry. Toshiba last week introduced a 512-GB, 2.5-inch SSD for notebooks. Toshiba also makes 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch SSDs in 64-GB, 128-GB, and 256-GB capacities

Microsoft Extends Windows XP Cutoff Date

Microsoft is extending the deadline for making its supposedly retired Windows XP operating system available to custom PC builders.

Under the plan, system builders will be allowed to take delivery of XP licenses and media through May 30. Previously, Microsoft had announced a Jan. 31 XP cutoff date for system builders, which are typically smaller, build-to-order vendors. The news was first reported Friday by InformationWeek.com sister site ChannelWeb.

It's just the latest in a string of reprieves for XP, which Microsoft may be reluctant to pull from the market given the poor reception that its successor, Windows Vista, has received from business customers. Many are unhappy with Vista's system requirements and lack of compatibility with older software. As a result, few large enterprises have upgraded their computers from XP to Vista.

Microsoft also originally planned to stop distributing Windows XP media to large OEMs, like Dell and Hewlett-Packard, on Jan. 31. But the company announced in October that it would move that deadline to July 31.

If Microsoft is on schedule with Windows 7, that would leave a gap of about just six months between the end of the XP program in most markets and Windows 7's general availability in early 2010. It's a sign that Microsoft has conceded that Vista is a flop in the key corporate marketplace.

Few large companies are eyeing Vista. A recent survey by the United Kingdom's Corporate IT Forum showed that only 4% of businesses in that country are using Windows Vista on workplace systems, while 35% said they were "not yet interested" in Vista. Fifty-eight percent said they were still using Windows XP, which is now 7 years old

Not all touchscreen phones are created equal

Touchscreen phones are among the hottest phones out now, with the iPhone 3G, the Google Android G1, HTC’s Touch Diamond and the BlackBerry Storm leading the pack.

But after some comparison shopping it becomes clear that not all touchscreens are created equal. Some won’t work if you have gloves on and some are slow to respond.

Other models have a nearly perfect interface between your finger and the phone; menus flow smoothly with a flick and gestures zoom and pan complex Web pages. That’s why it’s definitely wise to try before you buy if you’re considering a touchscreen phone.

Hello

Hi Everyone,

Please post any posts related to Technology


Thanks