June 9th, 2009

HP has introduced stylish and affordable notebook PCs and printers to help students and parents get ready for the next school year, which come in ultra-light, backpack-ready HP Pavilion dv2z, powerful HP Pavilion dv6t notebook PCs and the wireless-ready HP Photosmart Plus All-in-One printer.

The company said students will enjoy the performance and design of HP notebook PCs and printers. At the same time, parents will have the peace of mind that they have invested in the right technology for their high schoolers and college-bound teenagers without sacrificing capability or value.

This year, HP has launched offering the latest in wireless technology along with simplified setup and use through touch-enabled printing technology and built-in photo features for picture-perfect prints. HP notebook PCs and printers come in stylish designs that fit with any home or dorm room. They also are designed to work seamlessly together, ensuring maximum productivity for busy college students.

Besides,  the HP Academy program - at www.hpdirect.com/academy - offers students great deals on the latest HP notebook PCs, printers and all the accessories and software that students will want to customize their technology experience to the needs of both their college major and their personality. Even with HP’s industry-leading service and support, students and families will have support every step of the way.

Apple has launched a new version of the iPhone for the company’s devoted customers, named the iPhone 3GS, which have better and faster features on its smartphones and computers, but with lower prices.

According to the company, the third model of its hit phone looks physically identical to the last version but includes internal hardware and software improvements, will go on sale on June 19. Among the changes, the iPhone 3GS will have a three-megapixel camera that also records video, an internal digital compass and voice-control features that let owners use spoken commands to make calls and play music.

The company said the “S” of iPhone 3G S means speed and upgraded internal components that enable the device to run more than twice as fast as the previous model.

The iPhone 3GS, which will be sold in both black and white, is priced at US$199 for the 16-gigabyte version and $299 for the 32-gigabyte version. A spokesman for AT&T, Apple’s exclusive iPhone partner in the United States, said that for the time being, it would not change the monthly prices on its iPhone voice and data plans.

Apple also announced it would sell the previous eight-gigabyte iPhone 3G for a price of US$99, reduced from US$199, on top of data and voice plans. That could make the iPhone accessible to cost-conscious consumers and undercut competitors like Palm.

Palm’s new smartphone, the Pre, which went on sale Saturday, costs US$199 after a mail-in rebate. Sprint, which is selling the Pre exclusively, offers a two-year service contract that is cheaper than the one AT&T offers for the iPhone.

Pre smartphone consumers said they want new product from the company though number of consumers of Palm Pre is much smaller than those that crowded around Apple stores for its first hugely popular iPhone two years ago.

Research in Motion said the Pre smartphone is Palm’s best chance to scrape back market share from the Apple iPhone and the BlackBerry. It has been greeted by rave reviews, and analysts are closely watching how the phone helps both Palm and Sprint Nextel.

Sprint, the number three mobile carrier, relies on Pre to help stem defections and win back subscribers from rivals, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Pre is hitting the shelves just before Apple is widely expected to announce a new iPhone on June 8.

The Pre costs US$199.99, after a UD$100 rebate, for customers who sign a two-year service contract. It is priced in line with the US$199 smaller-capacity iPhone. Pre’s monthly service fees start at US$69.99, including unlimited text-messaging, lower than the cost of iPhone service plans with similar features.

Palm investors have been waiting for the new mobile platform since June 2007, when Elevation Partners took a $325 million, 25 percent stake in Palm.

Sprint hopes to attract corporate clients, but the Pre could have a difficult time making inroads with often conservative corporate technology departments.

Now, can we tell whether the Pre is more, less, or similarly defective as any other blockbuster product in recent memory? As you might expect, there are plenty of issues being sporadically reported in the first weekend of availability and it will be interesting to see how Palm spins and handles them. Here Engadget noticed some of them:

• A good number of early adopters are reporting “splotchy,” distorted, or discolored displays (we’ve seen reports of dead pixels, too, though we’d actually be more weirded out if there weren’t). See examples here and here.
• We’ve also heard reports of unexpected system shutdowns (like those reported in the LAPTOP piece above) that require a battery pull to resolve. We’re hearing that you can also patch this up by holding down the power button and toggling the ringer switch three times, but your mileage may vary. If we had to guess, this’ll be fixed up with a firmware update at some point, which really drives home the value of OTA capability.
• Text fields in the web browser don’t seem to support symbols that aren’t on the keyboard (that is, symbols you need to hold down “Sym” to access). We’ve independently verified this one, and it’s nasty — it’ll be particularly bad once the phone launches internationally, so we’d also expect this to be patched sooner rather than later.

For you all gadget lovers, Palm and Sprint are both motivated to make this launch a smooth one, and something tells us their ears are firmly planted to the ground right now, but you can judge it to determine your choice.

IAC/InterActiveCorp have bought app developers while smaller companies have begun to assemble properties along with the increasing number of companies that see the mobile industry as a source of continued revenue.

Mobile industry is seen as a source of continued revenue since number of downloads through Apple’s App Store has reached one billion and more than 40 million iPhones and iPod Touches have been sold since 2007.

It is true because developers of programs for the iPhone have suceeded in selling hundreds of thousands of copies of games from their living rooms or garages, and today there is a new way to make profit from writing software for the iPhone is emerging, that is selling the apps and then selling your company.

Now the market for apps has been expanding quickly since Apple showed that new apps sell phones. Today Palm, Research in Motion, Nokia and Microsoft are all building app stores to work with phones running their operating systems. Even noe Apps can also be built for phones running Google’s Android software.

Developers will introduce new products running on Apple’s latest software that enables users to buy subscriptions to applications and easily buy add-ons like access to higher game levels or additional city guides. The potential for added revenue should increase interest from buyers looking for acquisitions.

The increased interest in app developers is being driven by companies seeking to build cellphone apps for their products or services. They see it as a way to reach beyond the Web for consumers. Though many apps are free, the willingness of people to pay 99 cents or more for one gives companies hope that apps may be a more reliable source of revenue than Web sites.

With an instantaneous and established presence on the iPhone platform, , a company could tap into a stable, loyal fan base. For a big company that is trying to go mobile quickly, those few million users are almost more valuable than the property itself.

That was the approach taken by IAC, which has more than 35 Internet-based companies, including Ask.com, CollegeHumor and Evite. Last month, the company bought UrbanSpoon, a start-up based in Seattle that recommends nearby restaurants, for an undisclosed sum. It is one of the App Store’s most popular products, having been downloaded close to five million times.

CitySearch, another of IAC’s properties, first worked with UrbanSpoon to syndicate advertisements and reviews through the start-up’s Web site. When the iPhone application made its debut last July, it was the icing on the cake.

For the three creators of UrbanSpoon, it was partly opportunistic to be bought by a larger company, because the security of a larger company has taken some of the financial stress out of the situation.

Amazon, with its Kindle digital book reader, looked at phone apps as a way to expand the market for the e-books it sells. In late April, Amazon bought Stanza, a software service that allows users to browse and buy from a library of 100,000 books through a phone.

Besides, Tapulous, a start-up in Palo Alto, California,, bought a game called Tap Tap Revenge from its developer, Nate True, in July. The game, patterned after video games like Guitar Hero that challenge players to keep rhythm with popular songs, has been downloaded by one out of every three digital shoppers in the iTunes App Store, according to market research firm comScore.

Other companies are making a business out of acquiring raw programs to redesign, polish and release into the App Store. For example, Ngmoco, a video game start-up based in San Francisco devoted solely to publishing games for the iPhone and iPod Touch, recently bought the quirky, colorful puzzle game Rolando designed by a British developer, Simon Oliver.

Thus far, their approach appears to be working: many of their games rank highly in the App Store’s most-popular lists. The company has four more games to be released in the next two months and 15 new games under development, including several sequels to Rolando.