Facebook Inc. priced its shares in its initial public stock offering at $38 late Thursday, setting the stage for its historic market debut Friday. The IPO values Facebook at $104 billion, the largest-ever for a newly public company. The $18.4 billion that Facebook is expected to raise in the IPO itself would be the second-largest […]
SAP’s Afaria mobile device management tool is now available on Amazon Web Services’ cloud, offered as a way to make it easier to start using the platform, SAP said at the Sapphire conference on Monday. The availability of Afaria 7.0 server on AWS gives enterprises a fast and simple way to buy and implement an […]
The Texas Bankers Association’s 128th Annual Convention & Exposition will be held May 9-11, 2012, at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel and Fort Worth Convention Center. Attendees; we are located at Booth 323. Come by and enter for a chance to win a Scotty Cameron Putter. IT Support Services […]
In the last couple of years Barnes & Noble has made some big inroads into the e-book market, cutting into Amazon’s huge lead. As it stands, Amazon still has about 60 percent of the e-book pie, Barnes & Noble has around 25 percent, and Apple sits at around 15 percent, with smaller players like Sony […]
Microsoft plans to release a nearly final version of Windows 8 this summer that will give consumers and businesses their final chance to kick the tires on the redesigned operating system before it’s released for sale, most likely later this year. Windows group president Steven Sinofsky announced the Windows 8 Release Preview at a technology […]
April 19th and 20th | Galveston Island Convention Center at the San Luis Resort, Galveston, Texas. Percento Technologies is sponsoring and will have a booth at the 2012 Texas Credit Union League Annual Meeting and Expo. The event will offer the latest review of best practices, state-of-the-art technology solutions and a look into the future. […]
We hope you’re sitting down, because you’ll need to be to in order to hold the Excite 13 in your hands. Starting at a steep $649 and available June 10th, this is the largest Android tablet yet, featuring a billboard-like 13-inch screen. What’s the point of being 3 inches bigger than the iPad? Toshiba says […]
Apple Inc.’s new iPad was named the best tablet computer in a ranking by Consumer Reports, two weeks after the magazine said the device runs “significantly hotter” than previous models. The new iPad’s high-resolution screen provides the best detail and color accuracy of all tablets Consumer Reports has seen, the publication said today on its […]
Google reportedly plans on launching an online store to sell co-branded tablets running its Android operating system. According to the Wall Street Journal, the tablets will be manufactured by partners such as Samsung and Asus and bear the Google logo. The report cites “people familiar with the matter.” Neither Google nor Asus, one of the […]
Apple Inc’s new iPhone will have a sharper and bigger 4.6-inch “retina” display and is set to be launched around the second quarter, a South Korean media reported on Thursday. Sales of the iPhone, first introduced in 2007 with the touch screen template now adopted by its rivals, account for around half Apple’s total sales. […]
Hewlett-Packard has won a contract from NASA worth up to $2.5 billion.
The contract was awarded Monday and calls for Hewlett-Packard to provide and manage up to $2.5 billion worth of PCs, software, peripherals, and associated end-user and IT services for the space agency over 10 years, according to a NASA press release. Specifically, HP will offer services to support NASA personnel in business, science, research, and computation.
HP beat out longtime NASA contractor Lockheed Martin to pick up the lucrative project.
“Our team is disappointed that NASA selected another solution,” Sheila Collins, a spokeswoman for Lockheed, said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg. “We submitted a ‘best-value’ solution based on our knowledge of the program and our understanding of NASA’s mission. We continue to serve NASA on other contracts.”
This isn’t HP’s first contract with the space agency. In 2007, the company took home a seven-year contract worth up to $5.6 billion to provide PCs, printers, and other hardware to any federal agency through NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement program.
For as long as I can remember, whenever I’ve needed to reboot my computer, I’ve always shut it down, counted off 15 seconds, and then started it back up.Why? Because at some point in the distant past, someone somewhere told me that to avoid damaging them, computers need a minimum of 15 seconds of downtime whenever they’re rebooted.
Whether or not that was true, I’ve followed the advice ever since, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve powered down, counted off “one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand…” for 15 seconds and then powered back up.
Not long ago, I started thinking about that habit. Why did I do that? Even if it had once been a necessity, was it still? Or was that 15-second “rule” nothing more than a myth. And that, in turn, got me thinking about what other great myths about technology are floating around our geared-up world?
So, in no particular order, what follows is an anthology of sorts of some of the best myths about tech that my friends, my Twitter followers, my co-workers, and I could come up with.
You must wait 15 seconds before rebooting your computer
Since this is the myth that got me started on this, it’s the first one I’ll address.
I decided that since this was a hardware question, the best place to turn was to the Geek Squad, those hearty IT folks in the black and white VW Beetles. Last week, I spoke with Ismael Matos, a Geek Squad deputy field marshal, and asked him about the 15 seconds myth, as well as several others having to do with hardware.
Matos said that the question of how long to wait before rebooting a computer has to do with the health of the plates of the hard drive. Since the plates are spinning at speeds of up to 10,000 rpm, and need to come to a stop before rebooting, “it’s definitely good that you wait just a little while” before restarting the machine.
But 15 seconds? That might be overkill, Matos suggested, though it certainly couldn’t hurt.
“I’d say 5 seconds is [OK],” Matos said, “but 15 seconds to be on the safe side. If you want peace of mind, then 15 seconds is OK, but it’s not a rule that’s set in stone.”
Size matters (in megapixels)
If you’ve listened to any camera marketing, you’ve probably had it pounded into your head that with megapixels, more is better. And of course, the more megapixels you want, the more you have to spend. What a coincidence.
But the reality may not back the camera companies’ marketing.
As photographer and self-described photography expert Ken Rockwell puts it, “sharpness depends more on your photographic skill than the number of megapixels, because most people’s sloppy technique or subject motion blurs the image more than the width of a microscopic pixel.
“Even when megapixels mattered, there was little visible difference between cameras with seemingly different ratings. For instance, a 3-megapixel [photo] pretty much looks the same as a 6-megapixel [photo], even when blown up to” 12 inches by 18 inches.
The Geek Squad’s Matos would seem to agree. While he says that megapixels might matter if you’re trying to put together a mural–or its cousin, a billboard–the average camera user would almost never see the difference between photos taken with most lower-megapixel and higher-megapixel cameras.
“You really start noticing the differences when you blow the picture up,” Matos said. But “it really depends on the size of the image, and how much you plan on blowing it up…If you blow it up to 16 by 20 [inches], you’ll still maintain the quality, and you won’t notice any difference in quality” with fewer megapixels.
You have to run your nickel-cadmium battery all the way down before you charge it
This is one I’ve heard for a long time, especially when you’re talking about what to do when you first get a new battery-operated gadget.
And while it’s not that hard to imagine running the juice on a new device all the way down before charging it the very first time, that’s not at all an easy thing to do on an ongoing basis given that we often find ourselves fearing being away from a power source and, therefore, charging up as a precautionary measure.
But Matos said that the best possible thing you can do for your device’s battery is, in fact, to run it down to zero before re-charging, each and every time.
“If you start plugging an AC adapter in while it’s half-charged,” Matos said, “components in the battery start to settle, and so it doesn’t maintain its ability to re-charge, and so you end up weakening the battery a lot quicker.”
Matos said that, ideally, we’d all run our batteries down all the way every time, but he acknowledged that’s not realistic for most people. So he nods to reality: “It’s recommended, so whenever possible…just let the battery drain completely before you charge it up.”
You can put a keyboard you’ve spilled coffee on in the dishwasher
Though this might be a myth that would get you to shake your head in pity at anyone who believes it–let alone practices it–Matos said that, in fact, it’s true.
It only applies to wired keyboards, though; Nothing with a battery, or wireless components in it will keep operating after being run through your dishwasher.
But Matos said that as long as you don’t use soap or warm or hot water, a cycle through the Kenmore will wash away the coffee and get you pounding away at the QWERTY before you know it.
Anything stored digitally will last longer than that on analog media
It’s a lovely idea that once you’ve put something on your hard drive, or some other form of digital backup, you can depend on it being there in perpetuity. It certainly seems like it should be true. After all, digital seems impervious to the passage of time, right?
But counting on ever-lasting storage of your crucial 1s and 0s may well be a fool’s game. According to the Associated Press, many important digital recordings are “at risk of being lost much faster than older ones on tape, and many are already gone.”
The problem, the study cited by the AP reported, is that digital files run the risk of being corrupted, and some physical forms of digital media, such as CD-R discs, can begin breaking down in as little as three years.
And the same seems to be true of online recordings. “I think we’re assuming that if it’s on the Web, it’s going to be there forever,” Sam Brylawski, the co-author of a Library of Congress study on sound, told the AP. “That’s one of the biggest challenges.
One part of the dilemma surrounding digital storage of audio and other important records, is that we’ve become trained to use such media given its ubiquity and its ease of use. “But the problem,” Brylawski told the AP, “is they must be constantly maintained and backed up by audio experts as technology changes. That requires active preservation, rather than simply placing files on a shelf.”
Turning a computer on and off regularly is bad for it
Another myth I heard when I canvassed my social networks was that a computer can be damaged over time by being regularly turned on and off.
In fact, said the Geek Squad’s Matos, it’s specifically recommended that you do power your machine off on a daily basis, for example at the end of each work day.
According to Matos, “Every computer needs its rest time,” in part to be sure that if you’re away from it and there are power fluctuations or surges, it isn’t damaged by them.
As well, he said, it’s recommended that if you’re going to be away from your computer for small periods of time, you let it go to sleep while you’re gone. But in any case, he said, a regular on/off pattern is definitely good for the computer, not bad.
Macs are immune to viruses
This myth is one that is pushed relentlessly, both overtly and subtly, by Mac fans, and, of course, by Apple. Everyone knows that Windows machines are constantly being bombarded by malware and that keeping them secure is a never-ending task.
But you rarely hear about such things from Mac users, and the common theory is that it’s because Apple’s computers are simply safe from being attacked.
Not so fast. It does seem, as has been well-reported, that that are far fewer exploits hitting Macs than their Windows-based cousins. But it’s hardly because Macs are immune from attack. Indeed, according to security researcher Nitesh Dhanjani, it has much more to do with market share–there simply aren’t anywhere near as many Macs out there as there are Windows machines.
“If we were to flip the market share, we would see a lot more exploitation in the wild,” Dhanjani told my CNET colleague Elinor Mills earlier this year. “More specifically, browser security is one of the more important items to consider today from a risk perspective. I know Internet Explorer has had a considerable share of vulnerabilities, but the Safari Web browser also has a lousy reputation in the security community–it almost seems a child’s play to locate an exploitable condition in Safari. Apple really needs to get its act together with Safari since OS X is enjoying a healthy market share climb at the moment.”
Other security experts seem to agree that Macs’ relative lack of virus problems has much more to do with the computer’s market share than any kind of actual fortitude against attack. As Halvar Flake, head of research and CEO of Zynamics, told Mills, “Vista/Win7 has more extensive countermeasures against attacks and a codebase with presumably fewer security issues. But it’s the operating system of the majority of users, hence making it profitable to attack. Attackers will therefore spend lots of time bypassing the countermeasures. Mac OS has fewer countermeasures and lots of easily exploitable bugs, but the market share is low, making it a less likely target.”
Then again, the market share dynamic does, in fact, mean that Macs are less likely to get hit, so in that sense, they are safer. “For an everyday consumer that just wants to use a computer and not worry about getting owned with every click of the mouse, I’d go for a Mac,” Joe Grand, president of Grand Idea Studio, told Mills.
Your ISP is tracking everything you do
This may not be something most people are thinking about, but for those constantly worried about digital privacy, it is a signature concern, since, if true, everyone would be subject to tracking because we almost all have to get online through an Internet service provider.
Your ISP “is your local link to the worldwide computer network known as the Internet,” Dave Roos wrote on Get Stuff. Every page request you make and every e-mail you send must travel through your ISP’s routers first. It would seem, therefore, that your ISP has the power to scan and save every piece of data that flows through its system.”
But before you get alarmed, Roos also wrote: “The truth is that it does have the power. Fortunately for us, it doesn’t have the money or the desire to archive every bit of information that comes its way. ISPs in the United States don’t routinely save the Web surfing histories and e-mail conversations of their users. It would simply be too expensive to save all of that data and the public outcry from privacy rights and civil liberties organizations would be deafening.”
Girls don’t play video games
The stereotype of gamers is clearly a teenage boy sitting in front of his Xbox, pounding away at one Halo or Call of Duty game or another for hours and hours on end. And while the industry certainly brings in many, many, many millions of dollars because of that pimply-faced teen, he’s by no means the only face of the gaming community.
Indeed, women and girls make up a very large bloc of gamers–they just are a little more quiet about it.
“Girls and young women are a ‘pot of gold’ for the [video game] industry,” George VanHorn, a senior analyst at market research firm IBISWorld, told Reuters. “The gaming industry has market characteristics that many would die for.”
Reuters reported that in an IBISWorld study, “38 percent of U.S. gamers are female, up from 33 percent in just five years. From January through August of 2008, females ages 18 to 45 made up 28 percent of the total industry revenue, ranking second to males ages 18 to 45, who made up 37 percent.”
So while they may not be the largest group of gamers, it’s clear that women and girls are spending their fair share of time playing.
Anything you delete from your hard drive is gone forever
Given that we lay our lives bare on our computers–what with doing personal banking, storing family photos, researching our medical conditions, and so forth–it would be comforting to be able to believe that if we erase something on our computers, we don’t have to worry about that data being available to anyone who might want to access it later.
Sadly, that would be a naive assumption. The truth is, it’s very difficult to permanently get rid of your data. And if you want to do so, you probably need to go get a drill.
That’s the advice of the Geek Squad’s Matos, who said that, “When you delete [data], yes, [its] icon may be gone, but that information is still intact on the hard drive. The only thing the computer does is [mark] that section to be overwritten. It just gives the operating system the OK to write over that area.”
So if the operating system isn’t actually removing the data from your hard drive, how can you get rid of it?
Matos said it’s not so easy, and you may not ever want to just hand an old computer off to someone else if you’re worried about them accessing your private data.
The only way to ensure that no one can ever access it is to bring tools to bear. “Let’s say you’re getting rid of an old computer,” Matos said. “You’re going to want to take the old hard drive, take a drill, and drill 10 to 12 holes through the drive–and not in a straight line. Scatter the holes and make sure they go straight through.”
DUBAI, UAE — Senior business and technology leaders will convene at InterContinental Dubai Festival City from 21-22 February 2011 for CACS in Dubai, an internationally respected event that features governance, security, assurance and risk management experts from around the world.
Hosted by ISACA, a global information technology (IT) association of 95,000 IT professionals, CACS (Computer Audit, Control and Security) will include a keynote presentation by Neeraj Kumar, Senior Vice President of Internal Audit and Chief Audit Executive of Emirates Group. Neeraj Kumar will explain how to use technology to improve proactive risk-focused auditing and continuous monitoring.
CACS in Dubai will also offer educational sessions on key IT security and governance issues facing enterprises today, including:
Implementing COBIT: A Public-sector Case Study, presented by Naveed Ahmed, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, Dubai Customs, UAE
Designing Next Generation Security and Audit for Cloud Computing Environments, presented by Eddie Schwartz, CISA, CISM, NetWitness Corp., USA
The Future of Information: Real Challenges and Opportunities, presented by Norman Marks, SAP, USA
Automating IT Risk and Compliance to Reduce Costs: A Series of Case Studies, presented by Anil Jogani, CISA, CGEIT, Milan Solutions Limited, UK
ISACA chose Dubai as the location for the conference because it is an important city in the global economy as well as the region’s crossroads, serving as a center of business and technology. ISACA’s United Arab Emirates Chapter was established in 1997 to bring together business and information technology leaders in the region. The ISACA UAE Chapter is a strong network of professionals from all the emirates of the UAE: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.
“CACS in Dubai will help attendees add value to their enterprise by providing them with practical guidance on critical IT-related issues facing organizations worldwide,” said Vatsaraman Venkatakrishnan, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, Vice President of IS audit at Emirates Airlines and Chair of ISACA’s Conference Development Task Force.
With 95,000 constituents in 160 countries, ISACA® is a leading global provider of knowledge, certifications, community, advocacy and education on information systems assurance and security, enterprise governance and management of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance. Founded in 1969, the nonprofit ISACA develops international IS auditing and control standards, which help its constituents ensure trust in, and value from, information systems. It also advances and attests IT skills and knowledge through the Certified Information Systems Auditor® (CISA®), Certified Information Security Manager® (CISM®), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT® (CGEIT®) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control™ (CRISC™) designations.
ISACA continually updates COBIT®, which helps IT professionals and enterprise leaders fulfill their IT governance responsibilities and deliver value to the business.
Venture capitalists are bullish about the information technology sector in the new year, with investments expected to be on the rise.
But technologies focused on energy efficiency and medical devices — two areas that have gotten a lot of buzz in recent years because of Washington’s policy focus — are not the subject of as much optimism as in previous years, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Venture Capital Association and Dow Jones VentureSource.
Despite a lot of interest from lawmakers, the clean tech industry has suffered from a lack of action by Congress. Venture capitalists are also concerned about uncertainty surrounding the health care reform law and cumbersome agency approval processes. As a result, investment forecasts for the clean tech, medical device and pharmaceutical drug sectors are lower than the predictions for other markets, such as consumer Internet technologies.
“The link between government and the success of venture capitalists’ portfolio companies is becoming more and more acute every year,” NVCA President Mark Heesen told POLITICO. “The reality is that the government’s role is increasing.”
According to the report, 82 percent of venture capitalists expect increased investment in the consumer Internet space, including software and websites, in 2011.
By contrast, only 38 percent of venture capitalists expect increased investment in the energy sector. In the medical devices sector, only 35 percent expect investments to rise, and only 33 percent are optimistic about the biopharmaceuticals sector in the coming year.
The lack of concrete legislative and regulatory action, as well as uncertainty about what the incoming Congress will do, have in part contributed to the weaker forecasts, several Silicon Valley-based venture capitalists told POLITICO.
While administration officials have lauded the value of clean tech innovation, for example, no major energy legislation has passed. Though the cap and trade bill passed the House in 2009, it faltered in the Senate earlier this year. With Republicans assuming control of the House in January, it’s unlikely that energy legislation will be considered again in the near future.
While investors credit the Department of Energy for introducing programs that support the clean tech sector, such as the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program, they say venture-backed clean tech companies are setting their sights on opportunities abroad as U.S. energy policy still hangs in the balance.
“Now is actually a renaissance time in the clean tech sector, but the opportunity is a more global opportunity and what remains in question is the degree to which the U.S. will capitalize on this opportunity,” said Ira Ehrenpreis, general partner at Palo Alto-based Technology Partners venture capital firm. ‘‘If the U.S. government doesn’t continue to support the clean tech sector, then the great innovation coming out of the venture-backed clean tech opportunity will ultimately be deployed around the globe.”
Venture capital investors in the medical industry blame their less-than-stellar 2011 predictions on a combination of how long it takes the Food and Drug Administration to approve a pharmaceutical drug or medical device and the large amount of money venture-backed companies in the sector require.
“It really is getting to the point where decision making at FDA is really becoming a major obstacle to VCs committing more money to the life sciences sector,” said Jack Lasersohn, general partner at The Vertical Group.
Lasersohn said the FDA focuses too much on the risk rather than the benefit of a drug or device, “and as a result, it’s taken much longer to get things approved by the FDA. And in some cases, you can’t get things approved by the FDA.”
NVCA has been pushing for FDA reform to simplify the process by which the agency approves new technologies and drugs. The organization argues that innovators can more easily get their new devices and therapies approved by foreign governments, giving companies incentives to do business overseas rather in the United States.
To a lesser degree, the health care reform bill also has played a role in the sluggish investment expectations, Lasersohn said. Republicans’ threat of trying to repeal the new law left some investors and companies in limbo.
“That health care reform has certainly created uncertainty, and uncertainty is generally something that VCs don’t like.”
The year 2010 has been one of slow recovery and rebuilding following the economic meltdown, a year in which investment into infrastructure and upgrades was slow and many companies focused on weathering the storm and tightening budgets to reduce excess spending.
However, the year has ended on a positive note as companies have reached the bottom of the curve and are beginning to take a definite upturn in terms of both business and infrastructure spend.
During the downturn, outsourcing became a particularly attractive option for many businesses as it enabled access to specialised skills and expertise at a fraction of the cost of keeping these resources in-house. As we move into a more stable economy, this trend will not change, however, as organisations are still wary of hiring internal resources, due to ongoing financial constraints.
The ongoing skills shortage in many specialised IT areas also affects this, as finding and hiring some of the scarce resources needed can be a costly process, not to mention the difficulty in removing these resources should they not fit company culture or should they become unaffordable. As a result, even though the economy is recovering, outsourcing will remain a growing field in 2011 and organisations will continue to outsource certain functions and skills.
However, the outsource market will not remain static by any means, as the growing popularity of cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) can be expected to influence this market as well. For the outsource provider, as a result of cloud computing, the client base will no longer be a bank of individual clients but rather a service provider who then has all of the clients on board.
Cloud computing ultimately will enable offices to become virtual, as service providers will host applications and services for the clients. While this vision is still some years or even a decade or more off, the first steps towards a truly virtual office will be taken in the next year or two. A word of caution, however: precedent has shown that with any new technology that enters the market there will be a flood of new service providers, who inevitably fall away or are acquired by others, leaving the market with only a few players and the potential for this market to become a monopoly if one player emerges as the strongest.
Driven by the increase in cloud-based technology comes a need to be more proactive when it comes to monitoring. A proactive monitoring solution in the cloud can help service providers to fix issues before they become problems, before the client even finds out there was anything wrong. This is particularly valuable in high availability environments, as high levels of uptime can be assured by identifying and fixing problems before they do damage or cause downtime.
One of the other trends that will see an increasing interest in the next year or so is that of open source software. Driven by the persistent need to maintain tight IT budgets while at the same time increasing levels of flexibility, scalability and customisability – there is an increase in the number of businesses looking at migrating to open source solutions, a trend which will continue and grow in 2011 and beyond.
From an outsourcing perspective, outsource providers will begin offering a greater selection of open source solutions that work with proprietary licensed products to offer customers a far greater range of options than ever before. The perception that open source is inferior to licensed products has begun to break down and hopefully this will continue in the future.
As stated previously, outsourcing is a developing model and use of this type of service has started to grow in various industries across South Africa, something which we can expect to continue in the next few years. The telecoms industry is one which will see growth in the outsource area as the need to provide more and more services and applications through cellphones will necessitate greater databases and storage capability, which will in turn spur growth for outsourced providers of these.
Mining too will see an increase in the use of outsourced IT as there is a major drive within this industry to standardise on platforms to enable faster decision-making from a centralised data repository. This is one scenario where the cloud model will fit perfectly, as all data can be stored centrally in a virtual or cloud database for access by disparate and geographically distributed mines. The investment in technology in this industry is being driven very strongly by the need for cost savings as well as intelligence from data to make smarter decisions.
The last few years have been characterised by a lack of growth and investment into IT infrastructure, and while 2010 was the beginning of the end of the recession, spending remained slow. The global economic climate has, however, begun to recover, albeit slowly, and 2011 will see the beginning of the upswing once more, with new technologies coming to the fore.
The lessons of the downturn will not be forgotten and budgets will remain tight, as IT managers look to invest in smarter technology and tools that use open source software to reduce costs and improve service and support.
For iPad owners envious of the iPhone’s multitasking abilities, you won’t have to covet any longer.
iOS 4.2–software that will update, improve, and repair a variety of features and bugs for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad–could be available by Friday. Steve Jobs said last month that it would arrive sometime in November, and this week the rumormongers are pointing to the end of the week for the day it will drop. The near final version of the software was released to developers last week, and Apple has already started accepting iOS 4.2-compatible apps.
Now, this isn’t just another incremental update. iOS 4.2 is, at least from a development standpoint, an evolutionary step for the iOS platform, as it finally brings the iPhone and iPad in step with one another. Previously their OS releases were slightly out of sync, due to the iPhone software and hardware upgrades coming in summer and the iPad hardware and software getting introduced in April this year. With this upgrade the two will share the same software.
There are some significant updates iPad and iPhone users are each waiting for in this release, along with the expected minor improvements.
Here’s a handy summary of what’s expected in iOS 4.2:
AirPlay
This is a more polished version of AirTunes. With AirPlay, as Jobs described at a September press conference, you can stream audio, video, and photos over Wi-Fi to other devices on your network. That includes your iPhone, iPod, and iPad, but also Apple TV. The way Jobs described it, you could be watching a movie on your iPad, hit pause, turn on AirPlay, and pick up the movie right where it left off on your Apple TV.
Netflix, which makes iPhone and iPad apps, and is available on Apple TV, already does this even without AirPlay. But will AirPlay functionality work with other non-iTunes content? Either with music-streaming services like Pandora or Hulu Plus? We don’t know if app makers will need to individually support AirPlay in their apps, or if it’s included by default.
And where do apps fits in? Apple TV does not have App Store access–yet anyway–so being able to play games or open apps on a large screen TV via AirPlay would certainly increase the appeal of Apple TV in its current incarnation.
AirPrint
iOS 4.2 also brings the ability to print to any networked printer from an iOS device. AirPrint works over Wi-Fi, will automatically sniff out a printer on your network, and doesn’t require any added drivers.
We do know that Apple has struck an agreement with Hewlett-Packard, which will enable all its newest printers to work with AirPrint.
This is a pretty big deal for iPad users. Apple has sold it as a productivity device, and pushed productivity apps, but provided no easy way to print directly from it. Of course the advent of AirPlay simultaneously cuts out several app developers who created apps to enable printing from the iPad.
Multitasking and more for iPad
iOS 4.2 brings the stuff that came to the iPhone in iOS 4 to the iPad. Yes, that means multitasking (the ability to run multiple apps simultaneously), folders for organizing apps, and Game Center access.
Apple has also added a way to adjust the brightness from within an app as part of the multitasking bar. Previously users would have had to leave whatever app they had open and dig through the device’s settings menu.
There’s also an update for 3G iPads: with 4.2 they will have the same higher signal bars at the lower end of the wireless spectrum released following Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna press event.
The Great iPad Lock Switch Controversy
It sounds innocent enough, that iOS 4.2 will turn the slider on the top right corner of the iPad from a screen orientation lock to a mute button. But it’s riled up some hardcore iPad users. They’re not happy that what was once a simple flick of a button to keep the screen locked in landscape or portrait mode now requires pulling up the new multitasking bar, swiping to the left, and selecting the screen orientation lock.
The change adds more steps, but what it really does is make life easier for Apple since the switch’s function will be consistent across the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch models now.
Speed boost for iPhone 3G
Scores of iPhone 3G owners were none too pleased with the iOS 4 update on their older model phones. Complaints poured in that their phones were freezing up when typing or scrolling, and the battery life plummeted. One iPhone owner has even sued Apple over the update’s effect on her phone. But developers who’ve had access to the beta version of 4.2 say that it will return those affected 3G models to the speed they used to operate at before the 4.0 update.
Minor housekeeping for iPhone 4
As with any update, there are a bunch of small improvements planned, including options for new text alert sounds, new wallpaper for iPhone 4s, and added settings for Game Center.
The Houston Building Owners and Management Association came together this week for the BOMA Golf Classic. Percento Technologies was a proud sponsor of this event, offering sun screen, tee bags, and Romea and Julieta Cigars (along with complimentary Percento branded cigar cutter and lighter).
The weather was perfect and the day was successful for great golf and strengthening buisness relationships and forming new business relationships.
Apple’s iPad will be available in more than 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores starting October 28, the companies announced today.
Verizon will offer three bundles with an iPad Wi-Fi model, along with the company’s MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, a small device that provides access to Verizon’s 3G network. When away from Wi-Fi, iPad owners will need to connect to the MiFi 2200 from the iPad. Verizon said the MiFi’s “cloud” allows it to provide Web access through the company’s 3G network to up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices at the same time.
The first bundle will include the 16GB iPad Wi-Fi and the mobile hot spot for $630. The 32GB Wi-Fi model and hot spot will retail for $730. Finally, Verizon will be selling the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad with the hot spot for $830. The company will also offer all three iPad Wi-Fi models without the hot spot. Verizon didn’t specify prices, but Apple sells those models for $499, $599, and $699, respectively.
Verizon’s decision to not sell Apple’s 3G models isn’t a surprise. The iPad with Wi-Fi and 3G connects to AT&T’s network, making it a nonstarter for Verizon.
Those who plan to buy the iPad bundle featuring Verizon’s MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot will need to pay a monthly fee for access. Verizon said it will charge $20 per month for 1GB of data, with no contract required.
AT&T isn’t allowing only Verizon to get in on all the fun. AT&T also announced today that it will start selling the three versions of Apple’s iPad with Wi-Fi and 3G starting on October 28. It will charge $629, $729, and $829 for the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, respectively.
AT&T offers two data plans: $15 per month for 250MB of data or $25 per month for 2GB of data.
According to Apple, Verizon customers will be able to use the iPad just as they do now, including access to the 280,000 applications in Apple’s App Store.
Apple and Verizon’s partnership could be sign of more to come from the companies. Speculation has long run rampant over when, not if, Verizon will get the iPhone. This new partnership will undoubtedly lend even more credence to rumors that Apple will bring its iPhone to Verizon stores in the relatively near future.
The businesses of West Houston came together this week for the Houston West Chamber of Commerce Golf Classic. Percento Technologies was a proud sponsor of this event, offering sun screen, tee bags, and Romea and Julieta Cigars (along with complimentary Percento branded cigar cutter and lighter). The weather was perfect and the day was successful for great golf and strengthening buisness relationships and forming new business relationships.
This is Percento’s 7th year to sponsor this event. We love the Houston West Chamber of Commerce.
Percento is a Managed IT Support Services company. For more, click here.
For as long as I can remember, whenever I’ve needed to reboot my 
For iPad owners envious of the iPhone’s multitasking abilities, you won’t have to covet any longer.
Apple’s iPad will be available in more than 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores starting October 28, the companies announced today.
