Apple has applied for a network access license in China, which means the company could begin offering the iPhone within six months, according to a report from research firm Wedge Partners.

The research firm said the application usually takes four to six months to be approved, which puts the launch date at the end of the year. One of the major sticking points in negotiations has been China’s insistence that the device be sold without Wi-Fi. Apple wanted to keep this in to maintain a certain type of user experience, but it has apparently relented.

Apple did not comment on the Wedge Partners report, but during the company’s last earnings call COO Tim Cook said Apple “would like to be in China within the next year and we’re clearly working on that.” While the iPhone has continued to sell well, Apple still trails competitors like Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Samsung, and Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) in overall market share. Getting into a new and large market like China could be a big boost for Apple’s bottom line.

The overall mobile market is expected to decline by as much 10% this year due to the global economic recession, but the Chinese market is still seen as having a lot of potential due to the size of its population. The country’s biggest carrier, China Mobile, has well over 500 million subscribers, and there’s room for growth.

The vast majority of Chinese subscribers use entry-level handsets that are capable of making calls and receiving texts, but users are quickly upgrading to sophisticated handsets that can be used as media devices and to surf the mobile Web. An In-Stat estimate said there are already approximately 400,000 unlocked iPhones in the country, as well as multiple iPhone clones.

Marin Perez

Google becomes more like Microsoft every day. It used to be that only Microsoft could pre-announce a product to mass hysteria (and mass exodus of start-ups dabbling in the area), then proceed to under-deliver for the first few iterations of the product and still make billions in the process. With Google Chrome OS, Google has signaled that it, too, can over-commit and under-deliver and still mint billions.

Perhaps equally dismaying, as Anil Dash suggests, is that Google may be having “its Microsoft moment” and starting to develop software to work nicely with its other software…rather than actually building software that its customers want.But let’s step back and strip away the frenzied media response to Google Chrome OS to determine what, exactly, Google announced: Google announced that it was shipping Ubuntu.

No, Google isn’t calling it Ubuntu, but Chrome OS is nothing more than the promise of an Ubuntu fork. Given that we have Ubuntu and plenty of other Ubuntu forks today, what’s the big deal?

Heck, for that matter, we also have Jolicloud, another Linux fork that promises to be an “Internet operating system” for Netbooks, just like Chrome OS. (Ubuntu makes largely the same claim.)

The difference, of course, is that you can actually use Jolicloud today (alpha version), unlike Chrome OS, and I’m actually typing this on an Ubuntu-based Netbook. (Incidentally, you’ve got to think that Jolicloud’s investors were kicking themselves last week when Google announced Chrome OS a day after they announced Jolicloud’s funding.)

So, Google will ship an Ubuntu fork, but one that presumably will come with its own secret sauce. Why? Well, as CNET’s Rafe Needleman generously suggests, because “The stakes are big enough that it’s worth the shot for Google.”

Maybe. Maybe not.

Let’s assume “Maybe.” This still leaves Google with the stated intent to tackle a Lilliputian market that only the Linux crowd seems to get excited about, which is why Barron’s slaps the idea around:

I think Google misunderstands the nature of netbooks, which simply are small, cheap, lightweight PCs. Early versions ran Linux, and didn’t sell. Once the netbook companies loaded them with Windows, sales picked up. On its last earnings call, Microsoft noted that the attach rate for Windows on netbooks had reached 90%. The people have spoken. Netbooks are a misnomer; while people do use them to connect with the Web, they use them for a lot of other things. Customers want netbooks to run standard software, including Office. And I doubt there will ever be a version of Office for Chrome OS.

Of course they won’t support Microsoft Office. They’re going to support Google Docs! (See “Microsoft moment” above.) Much as I like Google Docs, and much as I like OpenOffice and a range of alternatives to Microsoft Office, the reality is that if you don’t support Microsoft Office, you automatically limit the market appeal of your operating system, a lesson Apple learned. Apple’s support for Office was the beginning of its rise within enterprise computing.

It’s just incredibly hard to overcome the inertia of an incumbent in an established market. Google looks smart when it is changing the rules for computing (giving search away and charging for ads, moving e-mail to the cloud, etc.), but when it competes with Microsoft on its terms…it’s likely going to lose. Mozilla’s Asa Dotzler gives a hint as to why. (Spoiler: It’s the installed base, stupid):

New markets on the Web can emerge and grow really quickly. There’s lots of opportunity for something like Facebook to take over in just a few years. But that’s not really the case for PCs and desktop software. The installed base is just really, really large, and the growth and upgrade cycle are much much slower than with Web services.

Firefox has been the most successful piece of desktop software to ever challenge Microsoft’s offering. We started the effort 10 years ago and finally arrived at a successful product 5 years ago and in the 5 years since we shipped that product, we’ve managed to gain about 300 million users and a quarter of Web browsing usage.

Apple has been the most successful operating system to challenge Microsoft ever and they’ve managed in the 8+ years of OS X availability to grab only about 5% of the global OS installed base.

It’s just not fast or easy to move a market that’s more than a billion large. Anyone that thinks that major change can happen in months, or even a couple of years, doesn’t understand this space very well.

Google came out with a new browser (Chrome) some time ago, and still barely scrapes 2 percent market share. (Fake Steve Jobs says this is because “Chrome is [crap],” but I think it has more to do with the difficulty of changing consumer behavior.) Firefox has done better, but even Firefox is an example of just how hard it is to fight an incumbent on its terms, particularly when the incumbent is perceived to be “good enough,” as CIO.co.uk editor Martin Veitch notes.

It won’t help that Google doesn’t look or behave in the way enterprises demand, as ZDNet’s Larry Dignan writes.

In sum, Google has a lot to prove, and doesn’t have a track record of churning out hits. It has one significant moneymaker, whereas Microsoft has two, one of which Google is now targeting with Chrome OS. It’s going to get ugly, but I suspect Google may be the company that ends up with the black eye. As an open-source advocate, I’d like it to be otherwise, but I just can’t see enough differentiation in Google’s approach to suggest it will be more successful than others before it.
Follow me on Twitter @mjasay.

Matt Asay
]]> http://bethuy.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/chrome-os-proves-google-can-hype-but-can-it-win/feed/ 0 bethuy http://bethuy.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/microsoft-denies-windows-7-has-gone-gold/ http://bethuy.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/microsoft-denies-windows-7-has-gone-gold/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:56:57 +0000 bethuy http://bethuy.wordpress.com/?p=18 ]]> A Microsoft spokesman denied widespread reports on the Internet that Microsoft has produced an RTM version of its Windows 7 operating system and would announce it a partners event on Monday.”Contrary to the wide reports that we have an RTM build and plan to announce it today, we will do neither,” said a Microsoft representative who asked not to be named. “I’m not sure where the report of the 13th originated, but it’s nothing we’ve confirmed and it’s simply false. We will RTM before the end of the month as previously announced.”

Reports have said previously that the RTM version would be announced at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, coming against a backdrop of two surveys that reported that most businesses would hold off purchasing Windows 7, at least initially. Microsoft also announced Office 2010, and provided PCMag.com with a copy of the code for a hands-on evaluation.

PCMag.com’s reviews team, which regularly receives information about Microsoft products ahead of time, said that it had not received confirmation from Microsoft that the RTM had been already completed or that July 13th would be the date of its release. Microsoft often maintains internal builds with higher numbers that still have a way to go before release. Microsoft has said, however, the build will appear “before the end of the month.”

Despite Microsoft’s claims, versions claiming to be final RTM have appeared on BitTorrent bearing the build number 7600, despite the fact that version 7300 has been believed to be the final build number. Many tech enthusiast blogs have reported that the milestone has been reached, including respected blogger Long Zheng, who has created a Web site called HasWindows7RTMed.com, which already displays an all-capped “YES” and a build number of 7600 below that, based on the underground file-sharing version that materialized over the weekend.

Windows 7′s official build number has not yet been established, the Microsoft spokesman stated. “The way it works is that a build is produced and then run through a series of checks before declared the official build number for a milestone,” he said in an email. “For RTM, those checks are much more significant (since RTM is an industry milestone as opposed to a MSFT internal milestone). There’s no way to predict the build number until the build is through all the checks and declared RTM.”

by Michael Muchmore

As expected, Microsoft on Monday revealed a test version of the next round of its Office suite of products, which will be available in the first half of 2010.

At its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, Microsoft released a preview of Office 2010 and Visio 2010 to all attendees as part of a Technical Preview program. Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Project 2010 are also in technical preview, but to a more limited number of participants, the company said. Another Office 2010 product, Exchange Server, has been in beta since April.

Office remains the de facto standard for office productivity among both businesses and consumers. However, companies like Google and others are trying to challenge Microsoft with free Web-based versions of applications similar to Word, PowerPoint and Excel, which make up the core of Office.

What Microsoft didn’t release at the show, and what many expected, was a test preview of Microsoft’s answer to these challenges — Office Web apps, a free, Web-based version of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote.

However, Microsoft did demonstrate the online suite at the conference during a keynote by Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop, who said a technical preview would be available in August, followed sometime after by a public beta.

Microsoft first unveiled Office Web apps at its Professional Developers Conference late last year. Many had expected Microsoft to reveal its plan for the Web-based apps sooner. However, next to its Windows OS, Office remains a primary driver of Microsoft’s revenue, so the company has a vested interest in keeping Office on the desktop to cater to its install base and keep its dominant position in the market.

Customers will be able to get Office Web apps in a number of ways. It will be free for anyone who wants to use the basic version, and business customers can get a paid version that they can either run on-premise on their own SharePoint Server back-end or as a hosted service from Microsoft.

Microsoft is making the apps available in a variety of ways so hundreds of millions of users will have access to them immediately upon release, Elop said.

Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
]]> http://bethuy.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/microsoft-reveals-office-2010-timing-technical-preview/feed/ 0 bethuy http://bethuy.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/customize-your-windows-desktop/ http://bethuy.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/customize-your-windows-desktop/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:48:31 +0000 bethuy http://bethuy.wordpress.com/?p=12 ]]> Learn how to reposition the taskbar, resize your icons, and save your desktop layout.

Widescreen monitors are great for watching movies and organizing windows side-by-side, but a lot of time the space goes to waste. This week I’ve got a great tip that’s particularly applicable to laptop and netbook users: Move the Windows taskbar to the side of the screen. Also, do you spend time and effort getting your Windows desktop to look just the way you want it, only to have some annoying program rearrange your icons? Read on for a cool little program that gets your desktop back to the way you want it–plus a quick way to resize your icons.

Move the Taskbar to the Side of the Screen

If you’ve been a Windows user as long as I have, I promise you’ll hate this–at first. But think about it: Web pages, Word documents, and the like run top-to-bottom, so the more vertical space you can give them, the better.

By relocating the taskbar to the left side of the screen (or the right, if you prefer), you’re freeing up vertical space for stuff you use every day while making smarter use of wasted horizontal space.

Ready to give it a try? The steps are the same in both Windows Vista and Windows 7:

1. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar and clear the check mark next to Lock the taskbar.
2. Left-click and hold an empty area of the taskbar, then drag it to the left side of the screen. Once you get close, you’ll see it lock in, at which point you can release the mouse button.

That’s all there is to it! Vista users may want to extend the width of the taskbar to better see the labels for programs that are running. But Windows 7 can keep the taskbar its naturally narrow self, as that OS doesn’t have running-program labels anyway. Indeed, I think the “side taskbar” works better in Windows 7 than in any previous version of the OS. But regardless, if you have a system with a widescreen monitor, give this a try for a couple days and see if you don’t really like the change. (If you don’t, you can always drag the taskbar back to the bottom.)

Change the Size of Vista’s Desktop Icons

Ever wish you could change the size of Vista’s desktop icons? For example, recent migrants from Windows XP may prefer its smaller icons to Vista’s larger ones. On the flipside, if you’re running Vista on a TV or ultra-high-resolution monitor, you may want to make the icons larger still.

The option to change icon size is hiding in plain sight. Before I tell you where to find it, a note of caution: If you have your icons organized a particular way, resizing them will probably mess up that order. Obviously you can re-organize them when you’re done; I just wanted to spare you the shock and sadness of seeing your icons suddenly messy.

Here’s how to resize them:

1. Right-click in any open area of the desktop (meaning not on a program icon).
2. In the pop-up menu that appears, mouse over View to see your three icon-size choices. Vista’s default is Medium. If you want XP-style icons, choose Classic Icons. For super-big icons, choose Large Icons.

Save Your Desktop Icon Layout

You know the routine: Some game or application changes your screen resolution, and when it changes back again, your carefully crafted icon layout is totally messed up. Not cool, Windows. Not cool.

Fortunately, I’ve discovered a little gem of a utility: DesktopOK. This nifty bit of freeware lets you save and restore icon layouts. Set your icons the way you like them, save the layout, then just restore it later when the need arises.

And you’re not limited to one layout: You can save as many as you want, which is great if you want different layouts for use with, say, your laptop with and without an external monitor.

DesktopOK works with Windows XP and Vista, but I haven’t tested it with Windows 7 yet.

Rick Broida, PC World

Every monitor has its own brightness, contrast, and color levels, and that means a digital photo will look different on every computer you show it on. Imagine working to remove a green cast from your photos only to discover that the green was being generated by your display–after editing, they’ll look terrible on any other computer. I talked a little about this phenomenon in “Calibrate Your Monitor.” This week, let’s take another look at improving your monitor’s output.

No-Cost Calibration

Adjusting the colors and brightness of your computer display is, in principle, similar to fine-tuning a television. Think about it: When you bring home a new TV, most of the family probably thinks it looks fine, and for the most part, it is. The colors are all about right, and the picture is perfectly watchable. But someone in the house probably isn’t happy with the picture. The colors are “too blue,” or the skin tones all look “too red.” Maybe the display is too bright, or somewhat oversaturated. You can fiddle with the controls by eye, or get a calibration DVD for more scientific results.

Adjusting your PC monitor is much the same. There are many Web sites offering calibration aids and sample photos that can be useful if you want to tweak your display by hand. You’ll find an easy-to-use calibration tool at Photofriday.com, for example. A more detailed, step-by-step monitor calibration procedure is available in the form of a Corel Paint Shop Pro help article. And Norman Koren has written an in-depth article that includes links to colorful test images. If you want to improve your display on the cheap, these are great places to start.

Calibration Gadgets

Manual calibration is better than nothing, but you’ll get better results if you use a colorimeter–a device that automatically calibrates the brightness and color of your display to a reference standard. Any monitor so calibrated should represent a digital image in the same way, giving you confidence that the edits you’re making to your photos are accurate. These gadgets all work more or less the same way: You affix it to the monitor and then run a program that adjusts your display. The process takes just a few minutes, and for best results, you should repeat the process every few weeks (since your monitor’s settings will tend to drift).

There are all sorts of colorimeter products available. Among the most popular is the family of Spyders from Datacolor. Though they range in price up to $250, you can get superb results with even the $96 Spyder2express.

I’ve been using the Pantone Huey (about $70) for a few months, and it, too is an inexpensive but effective calibration gadget. The Huey is different than most since you leave it on your desk when it’s not I use, where it constantly optimizes your monitor’s settings based on the ambient light level in the room. Read “Monitor Calibration for the Masses” for a review.

Hot Pic of the Week

Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality, and technique.

Here’s how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don’t forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.

This week’s Hot Pic: “Canoe,” by Jean Ehler, Saint Matthew, South Carolina

Jean took this photo of a canoe at Old Santee Canal State Park in Monks Corner, South Carolina, using a Canon PowerShot A630.

This Week’s Runner-Up: “Leaf in Pond” by Paul Bild, Vancouver, BC.

Paul says that he shot this photo with a Canon G6. “The leaf was floating on a pond and I noticed that it had lost all its chlorophyll. The only editing I did was to remove some noise with the median filter in IrfanView.”

See all the Hot Pic of the Week photos online.

//

Dave Johnson, PC World

Want a hot tip that might just save you boxing up a display and tripping it back to the store? This morning the LCD I’d ordered to complement my new game PC arrived, at which point I initiated the ritual of assembly, tearing off clingy plastic pieces and covers of crinkly styrofoam wrap. A few minutes later, stand assembled and cables properly seated, I toggled the power switch and watched my new homebrew rig crunch through its gray-black syntactic startup routines.

And then I spotted it, slightly north of center and off to the right: a stuck pixel.

One tiny little blip of light, a stubborn wink of red in a sea of black, and for me, a total deal-breaker. When you realize you’ve got one, it’s like a kick to the gut, accompanied by a twinge of shame at caring so much about something so physically inconsequential.

Except it’s not, or at least not if you’re as visually obsessive as me. I can’t see past stuck pixels. They’re like gouges in a Monet, but worse. Paintings (generally speaking) don’t move. Images on LCDs do, and that motion draws even more attention to those tiny mocking points of unwavering brightness. Try playing games like Doom 3 with one, the levels where you’re hunkered down in the dark behind plasteel and piping somewhere. You’ll notice it then, and once noticed, it’s like a scab that your eyes (like your fingers) can’t leave alone.

In the past, I’d just box up the LCD (or laptop — it’s happened to me on at least two MacBooks) and prep it for return. This time, I was slightly more adventurous — I hit the web and ended up perusing wikiHow’s “How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor.” I’d heard about “massaging” a stuck pixel to get it to work, but it sounded like voodoo sorcery to me.

Until now. After 10 minutes running a java applet called JScreenFix and another couple of seconds performing an on-off screen massage (the “pressure method”) my screen is astonishingly (I’m easily impressed) stuck-pixel-free.

I’m pretty sure JScreenFix was a bust, but I mention it for posterity just in case. All I know is, I put my finger behind a soft cloth and pressed down moderately on the afflicted area while powering the screen off and on, and presto-zappo, goodbye little red dot of death.

So there you have it. Not voodoo-sorcery after all. Just some patience, a little hands-on fiddling, and the screen’s good as new.

Matt Peckham
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