Apple MacBook air

Apple’s latest item on the block is the apple MacBook air. This creation has been called as the world’s “ultra-thin” notebook. It’s incredibly thin and yet so strong. The windows vista also works in this device without any hiccups.

The design of the MacBook air is nothing but jaw dropping. Formed from a block of aluminum with the internal cavity CNC machined, it is super Comparing it to a known item like a ThinkPad, it would beat it hands down, with no plastic creaking to boot! You would need to move into the realm of Panasonic Toughbook’s to find something that would be an equal competitor.

The screen on the MacBook is brilliant, with vibrant colors and intense backlight. Black levels are rich and even with very little backlight bleed showing through even on very dark scenes in movies or games.

The MacBook Air keyboard is the slim key design that is also found across the board on other Apple products. Spacing is slightly off compared to a more normal keyboard, and it took a while to get used to the layout. Once you get past the transition, you notice the keyboard is very well built and pretty comfortable to type on.

The touchpad has a few unique qualities that are either not seen in most notebooks, or were a first for notebooks. Windows users will notice right away that the touchpad is roughly a billion times larger than anything they have seen before, while Mac users will feel right at home. Measuring in at 4.12″ by 2.48″ it was larger than anything I have ever used in the past. The new feature new to this touchpad on the MacBook air is its multi-touch capabilities, which give the user the chance to play around with objects like they would on an iPod Touch or iPhone. This means pinching or spreading apart your fingers to zoom in and out, circling your fingers around to rotate objects, and other advanced motions.

The new 13″ MacBook Pro offers two USB ports, one mini-Display Port, LAN, and the return of FireWire 800. While eSATA is generally the best when it comes to fast external storage, more Mac-targeted storage devices offer FireWire from the long-standing Apple support of the standard. The MacBook Pro also offers a headphone jack and a new SD-card slot, bringing it to the same level that most PC’s have been at for a number of years.The most notable feature on the MacBook Pro is a handy battery gauge mounted on the side of the notebook. Pressing the button lights up a number of eight LED’s showing the current charge level of the battery.

MacBook Airoffers a super thin, lightweight design, but on the other they take away ports and give you a permanent battery. Overall it’s a promising notebook that should force some other manufacturers to wake up and design some lighter and slimmer full-size notebooks.

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Apple-World’s Most Admired Company

According to Fortune Magazine and Hay Group, Apple has been announced World’s Most Admired Company (WMAC) of the year 2012. This study has been taking place every year for 15 years now and Apple is the top favorite in the 15^th annual World’s Most Admired Companies study.

The list takes apple on top and it follows with following companies;

• Google
• Amazon
• Coca-Cola
• IBM
• FedEx
• Berkshire Hathaway
• Starbucks
• Procter & Gamble
• Southwest Airlines

The 2012 WMAC’s report has uncovered four important qualities that have lead to the success of the companies in the list. “Over the past 15 years, we have seen the composition of the world’s most admired companies list change, but the attributes that enable those companies to excel have remained the same” Said Anand Shankaran, the Hay Group head of consulting.

The companies on top of the list are also the most successful as they devoted time to create their company’s objectives, long term goals and they had taken a strategic plan into practice. These companies are known for building a strong structure and process in order to have a long term performance.

WMAC’s control their global reach and remain successful while they give their local business units enough flexibility to create products and services according to the local market needs. WMACs follow things such as reward programs, promotion and they create opportunities, which is why they are admired and they are most successful.

Here are the world’s most successful companies as well as most admired: -

1. Apple
2. Google
3. Amazon.com
4. Coca-Cola
5. IBM
6. FedEx
7. Berkshire Hathaway
8. Starbucks
9. Procter & Gamble
10. Southwest Airlines
11. McDonald’s
12. Johnson & Johnson
13. Walt Disney
14. BMW
15. General Electric
16. American Express
17. Microsoft
18. 3M
19. Caterpillar
20. Costco Wholesale

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Steve Jobs Biography

Most innovative and ground-breaking inventions like Macintosh, Mac Book, i pad, i phone and i pod brought about a revolution in the world of technology and the only ‘i con’ who deserves all the credit is ‘Steve Jobs’ –who is considered as the father of modern technology by people today.

Steven Paul Jobs the CEO, co-founder and chairman of Apple Inc., was born on 24 February, 1955 in San Francisco, California. Paul and Clara Jobs adopted him from an unwed college graduate couple.

He spent his early years in the hub of computer technology i.e. Silicon Valley. At the age of 14, he came across Stephen Wozniak- a computer boffin. Jobs studied one semester in Reed College in Oregon and then dropped out. When he returned back to Valley he started taking interest in his friend, Woz’s effort on computer board. He attended the Homebrew Computer Club with Woz. He quickly realized its commercial demand andstarted assembling boards in his garage and sold them to computer stores. Thus Apple Computer was born!

While Jobs was selling, Woz came up with Apple II which wobbled the market with its superfluous advance technology. Looking at the growing market demand and popularity, Mike Markkula confided to invest $250, 000 in Job’s business to help him expand his business. Soon, Apple II flooded the markets. Steve Job’s fortune crossed $200 million when he was only 25.

In 1981 IBM, was preparing to venture into the market of PCs and Apple III was already blown-up in the market. So to retain in the market, they put all their vigour on Job’s new project- ‘Lisa’ whichwas equipped for the first time with GUI. But due Job’s erratic behaviour he was kicked out of Lisa Project.

Enraged, he decided to launch a new project called Macintosh, in an attempt to make it the cheapest and most user-friendly GUI computer ever. It was a big danger to Apple’s future as Lisa proved to be a disappointment in the market. So, in 1983 Jobs lend a helped John Sculley, the CEO of Apple and together they launched Macintosh with a huge success. But due to his haughtiness, he was refrained from having any managerial duties. This annoyed him all the more and so in 1986 he co-founded Pixar with George Lucas, thus making a profit of $10 million for the company.

Then depression period followed in Job’s life. He founded a new company called NeXt, which turned out to be a fiasco. Luckily, Pixar’s 1st feature film Toy Story proved to be 3rd highest domestic earning animated film, which added a worth of $1.5 million to Job’s bank account.

Meanwhile Apple Inc. had lost its track and writhed with a loss of $700 million. They called Jobs back to the company and hired his NeXt Step technology to replace the old one for $400 million. Soon in July 1997 he became the CEO of Apple.

With his arrival in the company, they were now climbing the steps of success with the launching of popular devices like Power Mac G3, PowerBook, iMacs, iBook, consumer Notebook, Mac OS X, and iApps. Then a turning point came in his life with the invention of iPod and iTunes which hit the markets with a big bang.

Steve Jobs still shared 50% of Pixar’s stocks. In 2005, he and the new CEO of Disney, Bob Iger started working together and thus Pixar and Disney merged together.

By now Apple Inc. had established its Brand name among the most trusted brands. Second big revolution occurred with the introduction of iPhone. Finally the third major event which marked its success in the history of Apple was the announcement ofiPad, Apple’s iOS-based tablet on January 27, 2010 thus putting an end to the era of PCs.

After the launch of incredibly marvellous iPhone 4S, on 5 October, 2011 not only Macworld, but the whole world mourned at the loss of iCon – Steve Jobs. He was truly a man with extraordinary endowments. He gave a completely new direction to the modern world of technology with Apple Products and compelled the world to ‘Think Different’. Hats off!to this great man.

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5 Tips to Save Time using your iPad

Do you want to get more organized? Wondering how will that be possible using an iPad? There are many apps on the iPad which help us get organized and let us maintain that charm of being an organized personality. We are already living in the age of computers, phones and tablets now! It is now time to dumb that huge diary and your daily emotion of writing ‘what to do’. There are applications on the iPad which would surely make us name the Organized Guru, of all times! Tablets today know how to deal with the psychology of people and they nail the idea of ‘being organized’ through apps they optimize.
Here are few ways/apps that would help you stay organized even without that diary of yours…

1. Using reminders
Reminder is a new integrated default app that is built into Apple’s new operating system iOS 5. Off lately it is effective on the iPad 2 with already being installed in the iPhone 4S with the new and better operating system, iOS 5.

2. Evernote app
Evernote is a very useful app. Especially, if you make a maximum use of it. Wonder many people find that app as an exclusive iPad application which it is not! You will definitely find saving time, when you start using Evernote.

3. Use a ‘Time Clock’
If you need a record time of and for clients or tasks, there are there are very few apps that have been developed till date. But there is one great online solution we have. That is this online time clock. It can be used on all online devices. This is one of the essential apps or online services one can use to better his time management using iPad.

4. Sync over Wifi, regularly
You must sync your iPad every night or every evening if you’re using iPad along with a Mac. No external cords are required when you have wifi. It syncs all your reminders and calendar inputs. It does not take long to set up the whole connection.

5. Angry Birds? Don’t!
Please don’t get addicted to angry birds. iPad 2 is one of an excellent platforms for playing games and entertainment. But very unfortunately, this game can be really hazardous to your time and management of tasks. Not only Angry Birds, but there are many other games available on the AppStore, but mind your game downloading limits. If not, there is a lot of time you’ll be consuming on just playing games over the iPad and in brief, losing your credibility of being organized.

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Most Popular Apps for iPhone and iPod touch

There numerous application available for iPhone and other apple products and there are various types of them some of which are very popular amongst iPhone and iPod touch owners. Here are the top apps for iPhone.

Color Mail –
This web application allows the user to create a color styled email template. You can use this template in your iOS mail app to send colorful emails. You can create a colorful email from various templates by just tapping on it to choose a theme from the given ones. By using this app you can create colorful emails by just a few taps. This app can also be used on iPad.

4G Speed –
4G Speed is an Internet Speed Test and it was designed to measure Wi-Fi, 4G, 3G, GPRS and EDGE. The average speed of your internet will be revealed after testing it.

Funny Pictures –
This app has numerous funny pictures for the iPhone and iPod touch categorized in over 15 different types. These categories include illusions, cool stuff, cartoons, Animals, Military, People, Signs, Sport, Vehicles and Weird. This

iTrailers –
This app is all about movie trailers and reviews. You can see the movie trailers and reviews at anytime of the day. The listing keeps getting updated so you can see the latest trailers.

Carbon Footprint Calculator –
Carbon footprint calculator is a simple application which gives you an estimate of how many trees are required to offset your carbon footprint. This is calculated on the miles you drive, your airline travel, your electricity usage, train travel, your natural gas usage, oil heating etc.

Gold Nuggets –
Gold Nugget is a game app which involves collecting gold nuggets of different sizes and values. There are also ore chunks mixed with the gold and you are not supposed to pick those. This is an interesting game once you play it.

Micro Bleach –
Micro bleach has over 400+ chapters. If you have Wi-Fi or 3G connection, you can enjoy this wherever you are. This app also has individual panel zooming, portrait and landscape mode.

Memory Vitamins Game –
This is a game app and one of the latest. This game has 3 levels of difficulty with great graphics. This game can be played by all ages and it is quite interesting.

Puck Billiards –
This is a simple billiards game with great graphics. You can flick a puck and score. Very simple game suitable for all ages

Hangman Haunting –
Hangman Haunting is a game application. In this game you can increase your creepy vocabulary.

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Credit Card Apps for iPhone

You can make secure online transactions from your favorite bank by using credit card apps for your iPhone. Here are some the best credit card apps for your iPhone.

1. Swipe It – Credit Card Terminal with Secure Reader
This app supports drag and drop on iOS4 and it is the first terminal credit card for the iPhone and iPod Touch that works with a magnetic field-Swiper.

2. Square –
You can accept credit cards and cash on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch through this app. There are no contracts in this and you can include monthly fees or merchant accounts in it. Fund will be deposited in you back account on the following day of the transaction. You can easily accept payment from anywhere in the world by using Square.

3. Phone Swipe –
You can process your credit card in safe and secure manner by using Phone Swipe.

4. Pay Anywhere –
You can accept payments through your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch by using Pay Anywhere app. This credit card app is a free application for apple products. Through this app you can accept credit cards at anytime, anywhere by anyone. This app is best suited for artists, tutors, for garage sales or even for fundraising. There are also no hidden fees included in this app. Pay Anywhere app is a leading credit card processing app for over 110,000 businesses.

5. Card Log –
You can keep a record of all your expenses and spending through credit cards, checks issued, cash or any other mode of payment by using Card Log. You can have the images of the documents, date, name of related parties and addresses with GPS. Basically you can save all the information you will and might require related to your expenses and incomes.

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Top 10 podcasts on ITunes

Born along with the invention of the i-pod , Podcasts are episodical audio or audiovideo files that can be downloaded.Revolutionising broadcasting , here are the top 10 broadcasts from the U.S and the U.K

1. This American life
This podcast has 700,000 people downloading it’s episodes on a regular basis. Every episode has a theme and covers a variety of stories under the particular theme.They mostly consis of first person and fiction stories that are ribtickling and surprising. Before becoming podcasts , this radio show was established in 1995 and has been entertaining us ever since

2. The infinite monkey cage
This show hosted by Brian Cox and Robin Ince is all about looking at the world through different eyes. Brian Cox is a scientist and phycist whereas Robin Ince is a comedian. Attempting to create a concoction of science and comedy , this podcast tops the list in the most downloaded in the UK.

3. NPR: Wait wait don’t tell me
This show is basically a quiz show to test your general awareness.Hosted by Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell , this show is a laugh as you try to figure out whats actual news and what has been made up .

4. BBC Radio4 Friday Night Comedy
Hosted by some of the best comedians U.K has to offer , this show is a satire on the weekly news and happenings.The “Now show” part is hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis whereas “ The News Quiz” is hosted by Sandi Toksvig. this half an hour podcast ensures you bursting into peals of laughter

5. 99% invisible
This is a unique and unconventional show that revolves around architecture and design.It started as a project initiated by the KALW,American institute of Architects and Centre for Architecture and design. Hosted and produced by Roman Mars, this show unravels designs around the world and presents it in a very fashionable and creative manner

6. Best of Chris Moyles Show enhanced
This podcast takes the best bits from the show throughout the week.This show was on the top of the charts for the #1 breakfast show in the U.K.It starts off with a Broadway musical number followed by a general chat and a talk with celebrities.

7. Freakenomics
Started by Steven D levitt and Stephen J Dubner , this podcast is all about “
cheating teachers, bizarre baby names, self-dealing Realtors, and crack-selling mama’s boys.”
Basically it covers the most randomest of the topics entertaining every cell of your body.

8. Comedy of the week
This podcasts tickles your funny bone with a variety of comedians such as Lenny Henry , Mark Thomas and Tom Wrigglesworth

9. Desert Island discs with Kirtsy Young
A show with an innovative idea, The likeable Kirsty Young asks her guest to choose 8 tracks, a luxury and a book . if they were marooned on an island.

10.Stuff you missed in history class
This interesting and mind absorbing podcast hosted by Deblina and Sarah digs deep into your textbook history to reveal hidden facts and mysterious discoveries.

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Pros and Cons of the iPad

The apple family caused a stir when it put forwards its new invention – the iPad. To everyone who got a first glance of it, the idea of a laptop with the size of a book left everyone awestruck. However its complete success was being questioned a few weeks after it entered the market. Here are some of the pros and cons of the iPad

• Pros

1. Battery life
With an incredible battery life of 10 hours the iPad also promises to stay on standby the entire day. Considering the low power retention in complex laptops or tablets , this can be considered a big plus point.

2. Size, design and mobility
Weighing only 1.6 lbs and having the thickness of half an inch ,  the iPad is sleek and stylish. Extremely compact and designed for travelling ,this tablet scores very well on this front.

3. Applications from the Apple store
With over 1,40,000 applications available in the apple store or “App store” for purchase that are exclusive only to the ipad and its family members , everything seems more personalized . These apps range from categories like entertainment , music , games and lifestyle to sports ,news and travel.They are also comparatively cheaper than applications available from elsewhere.

4. User-friendly
With an iPad, it is very convenient to browse on websites or read an online book , because of its large screen size and ability to scroll up or down easily.

• Disadvantages

1. No External device connectivity
One of the biggest drawback of the ipad is the absence of an usb port. This makes it difficult to connect a  usb , hard drive or even an SD card.

2. Inability to multitask on the iPad
One of the biggest cons of the iPad is multitasking. Because of its interface it is not possible to run more than one complex application at a time.

3. High Cost
Costing about 600 $ for a tablet with 64 GB  space may comparatively not be a better option when there are laptops available in the market with a higher memory and features that an ipad does not seem to offer.

4. No CD Rom drive
Although the generation of CD’s are dying out, the absence of a CD – ROM drive can discourage many from buying the iPad.

5. No built in Camera
With the increasing popularity of video conferencing and applications like skype , the fact that the ipad does not have a built in camera is a huge drawback.

In short , appearance wise , the ipad easily beats any other tablet or laptop available in the market. It is also an almost all – in – one kind of device that encompasses many electronic gadgets into one. However some traditional softwares and hardwares are incompatible and this might be the only reason pulling down its popularity.

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