Computer News Report

An online survey by a match making website shows that while comparing iOS, Android and BlackBerry phone users, Android mobile phone users were found to have a higher chance of sex on the first date.  An internet surveys on 1,068 Canadian singles conducted from October 13 to 15 of 2011 was analyzed to come to these conclusion.

The dating site Match.com found that 62 percent of Android using singles have had sex on the first date. The percentage of iPhone and BlackBerry users who had sex on the first date were 57 percent and 48 percent respectively. Summarizing the result:

Sex on first date:

• Android users – 62 %
• iOS users – 57%
• BlackBerry – 48 %

One night stands:

• Android users – 55 %
• iOS users – 50%
• BlackBerry – 47.6 %

Visiting dating websites:

• Android users – 72 %
• iOS users – 58%
• BlackBerry – 50 %

When the users were surveyed for office romance, it was found to be highest among iPhone users. Nearly 1/4th of the iPhone user respondents of the survey admitted of having a romance with a colleague in the last five years.

72 percent of Blackberry users admitted drinking alcohol on the first date.

Tags: Android, Blackberry, Dating website, iOS, match.com, one night stand, sex on first date

Apple has released a new developer platform enabling users to create multimedia eBooks for iPads. The application can also export the eBooks in PDF format, viewable in any devices.

With this release, Apple has suggested that physical textbook are of not ideal as a learning tool. Using a free app, iBook, user can use and purchase text books costing a maximum of $14.99, from iBookstore.

The app feature a number of multi-touch gestures to interact with the contents in a book. The books can also be enhanced with multimedia tools like audio, video and animations  The app simplifies note taking, highlighting, and dictionary.

It looks promising and exciting but, time will surely tell if Apple has reinvented the textbook or not. Currently offered electronic textbooks include "Biology" and "Environmental Science" from Pearson and "Algebra 1" and "Chemistry" from McGraw-Hill. These books have videos and other interactive elements attached in them to make the subject interesting and interactive.

Tags: ebooks, iBook, iBook Author, iBookstore, textbook

Dell has apparently pulled the plug of it’s Android push by removing Streak 7 from it’s online store. In it’s website, Dell says, "Streak 7 is no longer available online," indicating it’s availability in some stores. That means Dell’s Android venture is over and it has started focusing more on Windows Phone smartphone models and Windows based tablets. Currently the tablets run on Windows 7, not a tablet-optimized operating system.

With the availability of Microsoft’s Windows 8, optimized for ARM based processor, next year, tablet manufacturers are betting it to be a true iPad competitor.

In May 2010 Dell introduced Mini 5 (later called Streak 5) with a 5 inch display and 3G calling. The phone/mini-tablet however was later canceled in August.

With the failure of HP’s TouchPad running WebOS and RIM’s PlayBook running on it’s own QNX OS, and now Dell’s Streak, running on Android failed miserably to capture user’s attention.

Tags: Dell, Dell Streak

A very interesting analysis about how the popularity of Kindle Fire can hurt the Android vision of Google.

And the stronger the Kindle Fire is as a product, the more damage it will do to Google’s vision of Android. Google talks about openness and freedom but the real reason it began work on Android was to create a platform it could use to deliver its ads and services…

It seems, Apple’s notion that Kindle Fire’s popularity will ultimately help iOS – has some truth.

Kindle Fire runs a customized version of an old version of Android. Google had told that the version used in Kindle, Android 2.2 Froyo, was not ready for tablet in 2010 and warned hardware manufacturers not to use the software in tablet computers. After that Google has released two major versions of the operating system – Android 3.0 Honeycomb and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Will the popularity of Kindle Fire will undermine the relevancy of the new versions of the OS?

‘Fragmentation’, as Apple’s late co-founder termed the problem with Android OS seems like more real in current time although it’s market share is going up. iOS is there but Microsoft’s Windows 8 also seems like a real contender in the mobile market. I guess, the battle is going to be much heated in the coming year.

Tags: Android, iOS, kindle fire

Most of the tech writers and reviewers have noted that the extra $50 cost of B&N’s Nook Tablet is more than justified by it’s beefed-up hardware and better performance. But, it is more than once proved that the consumers are not tech geeks and they look far beyond the tech-specs when they open up their wallet.

Before I cummarize some of the reviews of Nook Tablet compared with Kindle Fire, let me list the difference/similarities in the base models of the two tablets.

• Price (base model) – Nook $249 and Fire $199
• Screen – both 7" color
• Processor – Both 1 GHz dual core processor
• RAM – Nook 1GB and Kindle Fire 512 MB
• Memory  – Nook 16GB and Fire 8GB
• microSD slot – only in Nook Tablet
• microphone – only in Nook Tablet
• weight – Nook 14.1 ounces

Enagdget (Brian Heater)

Both devices rock 1GHz dual-core processors, but the Nook has an edge here, with its 1GB of RAM to the Fire’s 512MB — and certainly the difference is noticeable, even when booting up something as simple as a game like Angry Birds. Things are even more pronounced during video playback….

Ultimately, this is a pretty tight race between the two devices. Spec-wise, the Nook Tablet has the Kindle Fire beat, but between Amazon’s pricing and suite of service, the Kindle comes out ahead on this one, if only just barely.

CNET review:

I compared Netflix streaming on the Nook Tablet with Netflix streaming on the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet clearly wins… There’s no camera, Bluetooth, or GPS, and likes but more storage–both onboard (16GB) and via microSD expansion–and the ability to read EPUB files could be big news for those who want flexibility. There’s plenty of expansion room, and you’ll have a hard time running out of space for your apps or your magazine downloads.

Bloomberg (Rich Jaroslovsky)

Barnes & Noble’s one-year head start in developing software really shows: scrolling is smoother, the screen reorients itself faster and the device just generally feels zippier… Ultimately, the choice between these two devices comes down to Amazon’s lower price and ecosystem versus Barnes & Noble’s polish and network of brick-and-mortar stores to provide in- person support. In either case, paying half what an iPad costs will require you to decide which half of the iPad experience you’re willing to do without.

Mashable (Lance Ulanoff)

I like the Nook Tablet a lot. Yes, it’s $50 more than the Kindle Fire. This is the price you pay for the extra memory, storage and microphone. It may also be so Barnes & Noble doesn’t lose money on every device. I’m disappointed that Barnes & Noble didn’t understand the magic price point of $199. But if you can look past that lost fifty bucks and do not care too much about first-run movies and your music, this is a very good tablet.

PC World

Though the Nook Tablet has slightly better specs than the Kindle Fire (including 1GB of memory versus 512MB), they didn’t deliver dramatically different performance, and both have their share of glitches.

PC World’s Test Results:

• Reading  (Winner: Nook Tablet)
• Physical Design (Winner: Nook Tablet)
• Navigation (Winner: Kindle Fire)
• Web Browser (Winner: Kindle Fire)
• Multitasking (Winner: Neither)
• Personalization (Winner: Nook Tablet)
• Buying or Renting Books, Music, and Video (Winner: Kindle Fire)
• Music Player (Winner: Kindle Fire)
• Speakers (Winner: Kindle Fire)
• Email (Winner: Nook Tablet)
• Pictures and Personal Video (Winner: Neither)
• Apps (Winner: Neither)

… In Nook Tablet "switching from app to app a breeze, with little lag or stuttering." The Nook Tablet’s display was dazzling overall. The screen’s glare was minimal, thanks to what Barnes & Noble calls its VividView display. The IPS display is laminated and bonded; so unlike on other tablets’s displays–including the Kindle Fire’s–there’s no annoying, visible air gap between the glass screen and the LCD beneath.

Although Blackberry Playbook is currently being sold in $199, the tablet is a different creature, originally sold for $500 and the $199 price point is temporary sale price.

Tags: Amazon, Amazon tablet, Barnes & Noble, kindle fire, Nook, Nook Tablet

The $500 Blackberry Playbook is selling for $199 in stores across Canada.

The 7" tablet from the maker of Blackberry phones hadn’t been able to gain the required traction in sales to make a difference.

After the unexpected sales HP’s Touchpad tablet in $99 a few months earlier, the current $199 price can also be considered an attractive price point for the product like Playbook. A dual core processor, 1 GB RAM, 3MP front and 5MP rear camera, GPS, Compass are all the advantages over the similarly priced recent release Kindle Fire and B&N Nook tablets. 

Tags: Blackberry, discount, playbook

Asus’ popular Eee Pad Transformer is going to release it’s latest version,  Eee Pad Transformer Prime, with Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3. The processor is told to be the first quad-core processor for mobile devices.

Transformer Prime tablet will feature an 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. The 10-inch, 1280 x 800 screen device has a battery life of 12 hours of HD video playback, without using the keyboard dock. Using the battery on the keyboard dock increases the battery life by another 8 hours.

To be available next month, 32GB and 64GB versions of the tablets are priced $499 and $599, respectively. At launch, it will feature Android Honeycomb 3.2 and will be updated later to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Apple is expected to release it’s own version of quad-core processor, A6 in early 2012. The current version A5 is a dual core processor.

Previous post on Transformer – ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime to feature Ice Cream Sandwich OS and quad-core processor

Tags: Asus, Asus tablet, Eee Pad, Nvidia, quad-core processor, Transformer Prime

Adobe has confirmed the death of Flash on mobile devices.

Seen as a win for Apple, it was the first to refuse to include Flash in it’s mobile device. Other mobile platforms like Android and Blackberry devices had struggled to include Flash in their mobile operating system. Known for being resource-intensive, it was not an easy task to port Flash in low-powered devices. A final blow came from Microsoft in September when it decided not to support Flash in its new OS Windows 8. Event the devices like Motorola Zoom which was told to be "fully Flash-enabled" tablet before release, wasn’t able to port the device with Flash.

In April last year, Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs explained why iPhone doesn’t support Flash. He rightly told that it drains battery and is not good for multi-touch.

Adobe, in it’s blog has announced Flash to Focus on PC Browsing and Mobile Apps; Adobe to More Aggressively Contribute to HTML5.

In the process of killing Flash for mobile device, Adobe will cut 750 full-time positions in North America and Europe. It will however have no effect on Flash for PC browsers. 

Tags: Adobe, Flash, HTML5

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, expected to be released in the first first half of Novemeber, 2011 (November 7 or November 9), will be the first tablet to be powered by a quad-core processor.

The second version of ASUS’s popular Transformer tablet will feature a Nvidia Tegra 3 ‘Kal-el’ quad-core processor and the latest version of Google’s Android operating system, named Ice Cream Sandwich. That will make Transformer the first tablet featuring Ice Cream Sandwich and quad-core processor.

The new tablet will be much thinner (8.3mm) and last longer – up to 16.5 hours’ battery life when connected to the keyboard. It might come with a more powerful rear facing camera with LED flash.

Tags: Asus, Eee Pad, Ice Cream Sandwich, quad-core processor, tablet, Transformer Prime

The much awaited official biography of Steve Jobs is being released on October 24, 2011.

The book published by Simon & Schuster, was originally called iSteve. Although it was originally scheduled to be released in March 2012 and later moved to November 2012 sudden death of Jobs forced the publisher to finish it off fast and release  it a year earlier. Before the official release, the book was provided to a number of journalist for reviews and initial reviews of a 600 page book show various interesting aspects of Jobs’ life. Here are the collection of a number of reviews from the early reviewers in major US news services including Associated Press, CBS News, The New York Times and The Huffington Post.

The New York Times writes – Jobs Tried Exotic Treatments to Combat Cancer that included "fruit juices, acupuncture, herbal remedies and other treatments." Jobs waited until July 2004 to perform the surgery although he was diagnosed with cancer in October 2003.

Another news service, The Huffington Post writes about Jobs telling President Obama, "You’re headed for a one-term presidency." In spite of being critical of Obama’s administrative policies he had also offered to design political ads for his 2012 presidential campaign.

The Associated Press revealed Jobs anger against Google’s Android Operating System. He strongly believed, Google had ripped it off from Apple. Jobs is quoted as saying "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

According to the Telegraph, in a late-night phone conversation Jobs had advised former US President Bill Clinton on how to handle the 1998 Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. Jobs had told, "I don’t know if you did it, but if so, you’ve got to tell the country."

Among other revelations in the books it will include some personal affairs and secrets like Jobs tried marijuana at 15 and was often bullied in school and he stopped going to church at the age of 13.

Tags: Biography, Steve Jobs