In shades of "Home Alone" a burglar allegedly responsible for assorted break-ins was outsmarted last week by an 8-year-old boy named Landon Crabtree. Using an Apple tracking device application he'd downloaded; he began to trace his iPad and other possessions that were recently stolen from the Crabtree's family home in Manchester, Tenn.

Note to self: if an eight year old can locate stolen goods via a downloaded app, why can't the police do the same thing? Perhaps these men that fight crime should invite young Landon to do an in-service session for them and maybe the police should stop playing Angry Birds in their spare time.

Crabtree activated the app from a PC computer in his home and the cyber magic revealed that the stolen iPad was at a nearby motel, and the third grader reported it immediately to the police. Within the hour deputies called to say they'd arrested a suspect, according to theAssociated Press. If a child knew about this app how come the FBI didn't have a clue?

 
"You don't mess with our family," said Landon, who wants to be an FBI agent when he grows up, according to WTVF.

Police arrested the iPad thief John Docherty, who had used the Ambassador Inn Motel to stash stolen items from a string of recent burglaries. Honestly, I cannot wait until the other cons find out their new cellmate was taken down by a third grader, because that is definitely going to be hot conversation around the jail yard.
The charges against Docherty got even deeper when a detective in nearby Franklin County saw him on television and recognized him from a sketch of a wanted thief. Was he on America's Dumbest Criminals?

Actually the credit really goes to computer giant Apple, who practically shoves this app down your throat when you set up your product in the first place. Apple should gift him something for the PR and his creative imagination and I do not mean just a candy bar.

In 20 years Americans will all breathe more easily, knowing Special Agent Crabtree is on the job, and as far as I am concerned he has just earned a spot on the Scooby Doo detective squad!

On a last note though;  just wait until young Crabtree gets older and discovers porn.  From that instant on I bet there will no longer be any free space to download tracking apps on that sucker.

Linda Seccaspina 2012 for Zoomers Canada

Dedicated to my tech savvy friend Catherine Forsythe

Most Mac users are not well-versed in the trials of cyber security, with many having been lulled into a false sense of safety because the Mac platform’s smaller market-share makes it a less favorable target for hackers. But security company Dr. Web said this week that Mac users are becoming more frequent targets for identity theft and other cyber crime, and that one new piece of malware in particular is becoming a grave concern.

When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley’s top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president.

But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States?

What’s strange is Siri can help easily help you find a number of places where you can find escort services. It can even help you dispose of a dead body by finding the nearest “dumps, swamps, mines, reservoirs or metal foundries.” If you ask Siri where you can get Viagra, she’ll respond with a number of drug stores fairly close to you.

Siri, the intelligent software assistant on Apple’s iPhone 4S, lets you use your voice to, among other things, send messages, make calls, and find directions—except the kind that have anything to do with women’s health.

Text link to satirical video (NSFW language)

I’ve been a truly Android fan boy for 2 years and a Apple hater for 5 years, but this year I did the impossible: Bought an iPad, a Macbook Pro and an iPhone. This acquisitions really changed the way that I saw Android and all the other platforms that I loved. On this article I’ll be talking a bit about the most used argument by Android users to say that their platform is better: Choice. They say that you there are a variety of devices on the market that runs their OS so you can choose the one you like most, also that you can customize Android, flash new ROMs and tweak everything you want of it. While Apple… Yeah, you know how closed they are.

Apple is making its largest hardware acquisition ever: Israeli firm Anobit. Who are they and what would they do for Apple? I’ve spoken to Anobit’s CTO, Avraham Meir, and studied the technology. Here’s what they’re buying - and why.

 

Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs was nominated by "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams to be Time magazine's Person of the Year. If selected it would be the first time the distinction would be awarded to a person posthumously.

Before the Amazon Kindle the eBook world wasn’t very popular, just like the digital music before the iPod revolution. I’ve got my hands on a Kindle DX 2 years ago, I had to order my one from eBay since there wasn’t any international versions of the DX, neither I could buy one on Amazon from Brazil. Since then my whole reading habits changed.

“Oh, an iPod Touch! It’s awesome. Cowon… what? You’re kidding, just get the iPod, it’s awesome.”

That’s how people usually decide, but are branded products always the best? Are the products always good because they are made by a renowned company? Well, it’s not always the case, sometimes the software developed by other companies might be better. The branded products usually come with a sense of style, functionality and support, while other products have to battle on things it’s indeed made for.

Most of the memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies I've read have fallen into one of two categories. Either the text was something designed to lionize its subject and make him or her seem larger than life, or else the writer had taken pains to focus on only the parts of the subject's life that fit into a clean narrative arc while leaving everything else on the cutting room floor, an approach that leads to easy and almost cinematic storytelling but leaves out much of the facts.

Neither approach to biographical writing strikes me as particularly true; in fact, almost every biography I've read seems to contain about as much actual truth as an episode of Star Trek. The tendency to over-praise or over-dramatize is both pernicious and pervasive throughout the various forms of biographical texts.

Walter Isaacson's 656-page profile of Steve Jobs falls in neither category. It is quite possibly the truest biography I've ever read. In the process of telling the unvarnished truth about Steve Jobs, it dispels much of the myth and magic surrounding the man and his legacy. It does not depict Steve Jobs as the information age's equivalent of Moses descending from Mount Sinai with an iPad in each hand.

Steve Jobs had charisma. What does that mean?

I'm not a guy that is good with words, specially writing this kind of text in english... Anyway, as many people may already know, about 1 hour later we received the news that one of the greatest visionaries of all times died at 56. Some people are meant to live forever, but most of them die so young, this isn't fair...

"Death is very likely the single best invention of life."

Steve Jobs

I was reading more about the iPhone 4S(teve) when my Twitter for Mac feed updated and there it was... "Steve Jobs died", I couldn't believe on that until I realized that tweet was from Robert Scoble and it really happened. 

Today the world lost one of the greatest visionary, inventor, manager, ... of all times. It's difficult to talk about the most iconic person in my life after my parents.

Here is the ad that every single person on this world must watch at least one time in life:

I hope Steve Jobs is happy at the place he is, don't matter his religion, and that he will continue to inspire people around the world to change it for better, not for worst.

Some pictures that Robert Scoble took today:

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

I just wanted to create this little place on Newsvine to honor the memory of Steve Jobs, a man who re-created technology and redefined the world as we know it. He has impacted our daily lives in manners that we did not think possible when he first created Apple. Today, his memory lives on in every iPod, iPad, iPhone, and Mac computer that exists.

Step up and say something if you want. I don't usually do these kinds of things but for a man who changed this world in such a huge way, I think he deserves it. And not only that, he did it until the bitter end.

RIP Steve Jobs.

For sure Google is making a great future for mobile devices with Android and I think that the next version, Ice-cream Sandwich or 4.0, will be even better, killing the tablet/phone system and UI style fragmentation. But even if it gets released there will be a major problem that Google ain't corrected and I think it's a bit late, but not too late that it shouldn't get solved. That's the Android system updating.

Today the responsible for delivering the updates to the customers are the carriers, at least here in Brazil it's like this, but the biggest problem that I see is that carriers don't care about updating the OS for their customers, which is expanding the fragmentation even more.

Apple got this right, centering the updates in iTunes, where the user gets notified every time there is a new update, showing the benefits of updating the device and making the user get interest in updating the device. This helps the user, which get a better experience wi his device, and also helps the developer, which knows that the most of the devices that will be running his application will be at the latest version of the OS, reducing the fragmentation problems, which is a major flaw in Android.

As far as I can see in my Android Market Publishing Center the people that downloaded my app are usually running 2.2 and 1.6, just a very tiny part is running 2.3. This make clear how Google is failing to deliver the updates, but they are failing because of the carriers that don't give a @!$%# to their customers.

As a power user I never relied on my carrier to deliver the updates to me, I just browse XDA-Developers for a great custom ROM to flash. At the time my Motorola Milestone and my Galaxy Tab are running CyanogenMod 7 and my Galaxy S is rocking MIUI. At the Apple side, my iPad and my IPod Touch are using iOS 5 (latest developer beta). I develop for both platforms using Phonegap, and I can clearly tell that iOS is a lot better to develop for comparing to Android, which have a lot of incompatibilities and I've described in my previous article.Android don't have something like iTunes to alert the users when a new update is available, but I have a proposal for Google.

Solution:
Develop a system that can make OTA updates and alert the user every time he turns the phone on, something like "A new update for your system is available. Do you want to update now?", this for the next version of the OS, but for everyone that is running older versions should get warning about a new update in another way. The actual way to do OTA updates is too difficult for normal users to know that it exists, you need to check for a update manually using the option in the Preferences of your device.

If Android wants to be the next platform of the future, helping users and developers to have a great experience they need to implement this VERY FAST, each second without this on all the phones is slowing the progress of the OS, since there is no need of great improvements and great new stuff if the only users that will enjoy it are people that bought a new phone that already came with this new version of the OS and power users that have access to XDA-Developers.

Google, please do something about this fast.

Wrote this article using my iPad while traveling

In a peculiar move, accessory maker Case-Mate briefly posted renderings of a new line of cases for the Apple's next iPhone, which has not yet been announced by the company.

Included in the renderings were depictions of Apple's next device, which was shown as having a rounded aluminum backing, similar to the iPad 2's design.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20106825-248/case-mate-briefly-posts-iphone-5-case-gallery/#ixzz1Y4qTrjho

 

One example always cited of Steve Jobs’ genius at the helm of Apple is his decision to kill off the iPod Mini, a best selling product at the time, and introduce an entirely new product line in its place, the iPod Nano. It was a bold move, unexpected, and one competitors such as HP or Microsoft would never have contemplated doing. It worked too, as the iPad Nano became a best seller, ushered in an era of flash memory iPods, and is still part of the lineup today. Apple has always been about innovation, and Steve Jobs knew better than anyone else that if you stand on your laurels, your company will quickly fade into the background.

Realizing that is the Tao of Apple, I suggest they should make a bold move at the upcoming iPhone/iPod fall event… Apple should kill off the iPod Touch.

 

Tim Cook has already stepped up to reassure Apple employees that the company isn't going to change, according to an internal e-mail seen by Ars. Sent early Thursday to all employees in the company—the morning after Steve Jobs announced his resignation as CEO—Cook said working with Jobs and Apple has been "the privilege of a lifetime," and that he's looking forward to the years ahead.

In my opinion Apple won't be the same without Steve Jobs as CEO, things might change for sure with Tim Cook ahead of Apple. I hope that Tim Cook won't be more aggressive with Apple's patent war, since they need to stop and start to innovate without trying to remove their competition, a good example of how this competition got is this news that was online today: Netherlands judge rules that Samsung Galaxy S, S II violate Apple patents.

Steve Jobs letter:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

But what do you think that will happen after this breaking news?

Some interesting readings before commenting:

• Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO, replaced by Tim Cook; Jobs takes Chairman role
• Tim Cook, Apple’s new CEO
• Steve Jobs' Apple: a timeline
• APPL Stocks

To me, the headlining news of the day today was not the hurricane bearing down on my home, nor the cleanup of the devastation left by the earthquake yesterday (estimated to be in the $0.10 range), nor the reports on the highest-earning celebrity couples. It was the sudden resignation of Steve Jobs, co-founder and driving force behind Apple.

I own no Apple products, but I highly respect the man, and his departure makes me wonder about the future of such an innovative company. He brought us products that have changed the way the world runs, such as the iPod, the iPhone, and most recently, the iLadything. He was the company.

News of his departure sent the AAPL stock crashing, down 5% in after hours trading with more to come tomorrow, most likely. What worries me is that apparently his replacement is nothing like him. So, I ask you, Is APPLE screwed now that Steve Jobs is gone?

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

While it did, I had time to open an e-mail from the folks at Hunch, a Web site that tries to take decisions out of your hands (and your head).

The e-mail contained an interesting infographic that offered some of the most graphic (if not always the most informational) illustration of the difference between Android users and those who prefer iPhones.

Firstly, and perhaps most stunningly, Android users are 86 percent more likely than iPhone users to live in the countryside. What can this possibly mean? Possibly nothing, but wait. Those who prefer the little green robot are also 80 percent more likely to have only a high school diploma. They're also 71 percent more likely to say they follow rather than lead.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20092784-71/study-android-users-sad-hicks-iphone-users-rich-girls/#ixzz1VimmGWkW

 

The editor of Windows Magazine is now an Apple fanboy, this kind of news is very difficult to see around, but it's true.

What really made me start digging into this world of WebApps was that I wanted to start developing for iOS, so I bought a book about iOS development from Pragmatic Programmers called iPhone SDK Development. Which is a great book, but after some chapters I was getting nuts because of Objective-C, it's a very very very strange and antique language that has a lot of stuff that isn't so good for this modern days, but for historic reasons Apple use it as default language for everything.

After my first touch with Objective-C I've started to search for alternatives to Objective-C for iOS development, so I found that I could build WebApps for iOS, so I bought a book called Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from O'Reilly. A wonderful book, which made me see how powerful web languages could be, at the point that I could build a fully-featured application for every OS with the same code. So there was a chapter on the book talking about PhoneGap, then I really felt in love with this technology. And here I am talking to you guys about this great experience and getting off the topic for this entry... So let's begin talking more about what I should. lol

So as you can see this first Recommendation entry will be about what made me dive deep inside this and learn a lot. This screencast called HTML5 Mobile Web Development, from O'Reilly and CreativeLabs costs $139, but it's worth every cent if you really want to learn building very useful apps and with real-world examples. The classes are very good and you learn a lot.

On this course Jake Carter will teach you how to build a simple Twitter client with Home, Mentions, Search and geolocation, handle device rotation, local data storage(databases), build a Contacts app and a lot more. So you will learn by making real applications as you can see, which makes the course a lot more interesting, instead of just trowing information and hope you learn, he teaches by using real-world examples.

I know my iPad is a bit old and out-dated(it's the first generation), but iOS 5 on it has some problems, but the biggest one is a problem that I never seen on iOS before: Instability.

Even after updating to the beta 4 yesterday the OS is freezing and a lot of games are closing(looks like memory issues). Even applications like the Engadget iPad Application after selecting an article the application blanks and closes.

Two days ago I bought a Galaxy Tab and I'm enjoying the combination with the Galaxy S (2 months with it already). I've made this because I'm very disappointed with Apple. I thought they would bring more customization to their OS, but almost nothing was made. Also copying the Android notification style wasn't a good thing.

"It became clear that they were bidding with the distance between the earth and the sun. One was the sum of a famous mathematical constant, and then when it got to $3 billion, they bid pi," the source said, adding the bid was $3.14159 billion.

"Either they were supremely confident or they were bored."

It was not clear what strategy Google was employing, whether it wanted to confuse rival bidders, intimidate them, or simply express the irreverence that is part and parcel of its corporate persona. Whatever its reasons, Google's shenanigans did not work.

This is one of the best feature Apple could introduce in iOS 5, now you can sync your stuff and use your device at the same time, while you're doing this you can see this icon at the top bar:

PS: This article was written at June 10th, but I haven't published it

This week has been very busy for me and I couldn't put my hands on the awesome iOS 5, the email that Apple sent me was there... On my mailbox... Waiting to be clicked, so today I finally could download and install it.

The first thing that I needed to do was Restore my iPad to a clean iOS 4.3.3, then upgrade to 5, after this all my icons that I took days to organize were in a mess! So I've started organizing the icons on iTunes, since it's easier and a lot better when you need to move lots of applications at the same time...

After I've done some good organization at the first 2 pages I clicked in the Apply button to make the changes take effect, then after the process finished there was no changes on my iPad and on iTunes nothing changed too. So after some tries my musics started syncing and now the Springboard is as I wanted it to be.

I hope that Apple correct this bug as soon as possible, hopefully before the public release of the new major version of iOS...

PS: I wrote this article at June 10th and I haven't published

Today, ICANN has voted to unleash a new era in the internet. Say goodbye to ".com", ".info", and ".gov". Say hello to ".whatever".

This opens up the potential for companies to stick their company name in the url twice, such as my example in the headline "apple.apple" or "buyatoyota.toyota". I'm sure the spam sites are happy about this... "freesmileys.rainbow" (or whatever junk they can come up with) will be appearing next year. Right now, there are about 270 different possibilities. That number is expected to more than triple after January 12, the day applications can be submitted.

And the tripling is exactly what I don't look forward to.

Right now, if you're searching for a site on the internet, as long as you know the main part of the URL you're pretty much all set. You don't have to google it, just plug it in with a little ".com" at the end of it and if that doesn't work, you essentially have three more choices to try: .edu, .org, and .gov (and sometimes .info). 

With the new naming system, you're screwed. It could be anything. Heck, you could see crazy sites like http://www.hola.himynameisbob. There would be no guessing and no way of knowing what could pop up. We could have a hola.com, a hola.hola, a hola.hello, and an hola.hi all at the same time (unless there are rules against that possibility?). 

I say, stick to the old naming system. Apple does not need two fruits in a single URL, and typing in .com is MUCH easier than typing .apple (less letters!) or .toyota. This is a really unnecessary edit to the internet that I wish they would undo. 

I'm not looking forward to January 12. I'm gonna miss the ".com".

About a week ago I presented an article highlighting the Mac's introduction to the "real world" of computer viruses and hackers. I explained how I jumped with joy at each new virus my friends, not used to restrictions on their internet use, acquired, and how I mocked them the same way they mocked me for years for using a PC (said PC is faster than any of their computers at 4 years old, I think I should highlight that fact).

Well folks, it just got worse for Mac software and Apple.

CNET has run a report on the following information: the iOS 5 beta has been jailbroken by hackers in less than 24 hours.

I'm still jumping people.

As I said before: technology is now playing on an even field. Nothing is immune to hackers, whom in my opinion are some of the most brilliant people on earth. Would I become one? No. Do I feel sorry for Apple? Probably (not). Apple has lost that immunity that it once glorified. Welcome to the real world, Mr. Jobs.

For years now, I've been calling for Windows to switch things up a bit. In an article that can be traced back to 2010 (and which I unfortunately deleted a few months later) I called for Dell, HP, and Windows to reconfigure their software, go back to the basics and design something completely different to make the hacker's lives miserable and basically to rid the world of malicious software for a while until new ones could be developed. In that same article, I also called for Dell to stop building sh*tty computers.

I think Dell listened to me or someone else. But I'm changing that second message now to the side of the tech war that I am rooting for: Listen Dell, HP, windows, whoever may be in charge of whatever I'm referencing. THIS is the moment that you have been waiting for. Apple is being caught off guard and is experiencing that descent that you once experienced. They're going to be stuck, prey to the hackers in this world, who are stomping all over their software. It's getting worse for them day by day. This is the moment to go back to the basics and design the next huge piece of software that will change the world.

You know what I really want? A fold-able tablet.

You didn't pay your bill. We need our computer back. And here's a picture of you typing away on it, the computer rental company told a client as it tried to repossess the machine.

Those allegations appear in a federal lawsuit alleging that the firm, Atlanta-based Aaron's Inc., loaded computers with spyware to track renters' keystrokes, make screenshots and even take webcam images of them using the devices at home. The suit filed by a Wyoming couple Tuesday raises anew questions of how invasive custodians of technology should be in protecting their equipment.

Last September, you told analysts to “stay tuned” and “just wait” to see the new BlackBerry phones.  We waited and you shipped the Torch.  Last night, you said “wait until Monday” and “stay tuned” for your new phones.  Why should we believe this time will be any different?

The Android gains matter because technology platform markets tend to standardize around a single dominant platform (see Windows in PCs, Facebook in social, Google in search).

No they @!$%#ing don't. PC's were an anomaly. I don't see every TV being made by Sony, or every handheld console being made by Nintendo, or every TV games console being made by Microsoft.

There's also a big difference between standardisation and dominance. Facebook is certainly not the 'standard' of social networking—it's just the current one everyone's in love with. But we've been there before and web users are fickle. Maybe Facebook will be our overlords in a decade, but it's just as likely to be Friends Reunited 2 and we'll all be using WeldedToYourBrain.com, or something. Ditto search and Google.

A federal judge in Tyler, Texas, today said Apple didn't infringe a patent owned by Mirror Worlds LLC and closed the case in Apple's favor. The court also said the damage award was too high. The judge did uphold the validity of the three Mirror Worlds patents.

Yeah, that's correct. I've ordered my ticket for the WWDC 2011 of this year 1 hour after the email about it arrived at my inbox. Yesterday I got another email with the Activation Code, so I activated it and now I'm officially going to the WWDC 2011 that will happen in San Francisco, 6-10 June.

I will be blogging from there, so I can keep everyone informed with the best and fresh information from that great conference. See you guys at WWDC.

Many of the Doodle Jump players were asking for the multiplayer feature at the game, since the Game Center API is awesome, now you can play your favorite arcade game with others over the Game Center network.

Any of those out there holding off an iPad 2 until you see the GPU benchmarks, well here you are! AnAndTech has discovered the GPU in the iPad 2 to be the PowerVR SGX54MP2. Although that not might mean much to most people, so it’s pretty much just a more advanced and dual core version of the GPU found in the previous iPad and in the current iPhone 4. Now, to the benchmarks, as shown in the picture the iPad 2 is being compared to the GPU of One, the Motorola Xoom and its Tegra 2 chip, and two, the original iPad with its single core A4.

As you can see, there is a big difference, it’s shown that the iPad 2 runs at over 5.4x the frame rate of the original iPad and 3.7x of the Xoom. It should be interesting to see how the iPad handles other benchmarking utilities too. Also on the note of GPU, check out the screen shots of the iPad and iPad 2 playing Infinity Blade.

The first iPad 2 review is out. If you are planing to change your iPad or buy a new one for you you would like to have a look, if you don't want or have a Android tablet, have a look so you can compare with your one...

Finally Apple released the new version of their mobile operating system, which will include mobile hotspot for iPhones, newer and faster version of Mobile Safari(shown at the iPad 2 event), some AirPlay improvements, the option to change what the iPad switch will do(Lock orientation or Mute) and some other minor improvements.

The Android ecosystem has expanded exponentially in every conceivable direction, the Market has taken on tens of thousands of additional apps, and -- according to one research firm, anyway -- Android has now overtaken BlackBerry to become the most prolific smartphone platform in the US.

To that end, Spacetime Studios -- the company behind mobile MMORPG Pocket Legends, which brings in revenue through in-app purchases -- was shocked to discover that it's making some 30 to 50 percent more from its Android users than its iOS ones. Furthermore, they're spending more time playing and downloading the app with far greater frequency, which might be a testament to the fact that really great apps still stand out in the Market better than they do in the more mature (and more populated) App Store. The in-app purchase disparity is a little more difficult to explain, though -- especially since iOS has a slick, integrated purchase mechanism that Google won't be rolling out in Android for a little while yet. At any rate, the online mobile economy -- regardless of platform -- clearly still has some growing, maturing, and stabilizing to do.

Source: Computerworld

The campaign is still in its planning stages, but sources close to the effort say Oracle, Cisco, Apple, Duke Energy, and Pfizer are among the major players looking to bankroll a coordinated, sustained pitch to sell policymakers on the idea. Their aim is to win a one-year tax amnesty on their foreign earnings, allowing them to repatriate that money at a tax rate of about 5%, instead of the 35% they face now.

After a month of using Google's Chrome OS and CR48 notebook, I'm convinced Microsoft cannot ignore the threat of Google's Internet OS. So they should respond with 'Internet Explorer OS' to counter Google's move on their turf.

Chrome OS with the CR48 is what I consider a 'netbook experience'. I'm sure Redmond is busy building Internet Explorer OS. If not, they could have another 'iPad problem' on their hands. The 'browser-as-an-OS' strategy is a smart one and consumers will flock to it. Again, Microsoft can't ignore this. They could use their own browser-based OS to up sell consumers to a Windows 7 Upgrade & application bundle. It could work.

In closing, I love the Chrome OS experience. It's a joy to use each day, even with the occasional hiccups experienced using the development branch and prototype hardware (CR48). Everyday computing tasks are simple & to the point. Computers should be our friends -- not our enemies.

Google is making incredible progress on an incredible computing platform.