Microsoft-Apple redux: the empire strikes back

NEW YORK —

It used to be that Microsoft was the evil empire, and Apple the scrappy underdog. Now the roles are reversed, and Microsoft is challenging a dominant Apple, which has staked its claim as the leader of the sizzling mobile sector for tablets and smartphones, as well as the biggest seller of digital music.

Microsoft, still the biggest force in the PC market with its Windows operating system, is making a new, belated effort on Apple’s turf. The Redmond, Washington-based giant has launched its own branded Surface tablet with prices and specifications similar to those of the iPad, and a new Windows 8 operating system designed for tablets.

Microsoft also is making an aggressive push in mobile phones with its Windows Phone 8 platform being used by Nokia, Samsung, HTC and others. And it has created its own music service as an alternative to Apple’s iTunes, with 30 million songs and additional features offered by Internet radio operators.

Microsoft is the challenger now, and it is taking a lot of pages from Apple’s playbook, Microsoft is learning from Apple about the advantages of  having control of the integrated stack,  meaning software and hardware, along with other services to keep users within the company’s ecosystem.

Kash Rangan, analyst at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, said Microsoft appropriately priced the new tablet starting at $499, the same as the entry-level iPad. This will avoid cannibalization of products which impact the Windows franchise. And because Microsoft will include its Office software in the tablets, they appear less pricey to users relative to iPads.

In music, Microsoft is making a new offensive with its Xbox music service more than a year after it pulled the plug on its Zune digital media player, a would-be rival to Apple’s iPod. With the various initiatives, Microsoft is seeking to build an ecosystem like Apple, which can deliver the devices and services to remain connected to consumers.

By 2016, we believe that Microsoft will have about 27 percent of tablet unit sales, but only about 14 percent of smartphone sales and some of us are very skeptical they’ll even get to 14 percent.

Google unveils large tablet, revamped Nexus lineup

NEW YORK —

Google unveiled a large-format tablet computer to compete against the original iPad as part of a revamped line of its Nexus devices, and touted a new music service for Europe. Google said on its blog that its Nexus 10, a rival to the market-leading iPad, would be the highest resolution tablet on the planet and would offer settings for multiple user accounts.

The Nexus 10 appeared to be the firm’s entry into the 10-inch screen tablet market pioneered by Apple, which last week unveiled a smaller seven-inch iPad mini to be sold alongside its 10-inch original iPad. Google also said it would be selling its Nexus 7, which has a seven-inch screen, with mobile access for GSM networks worldwide. And Google unveiled its Nexus 4, a smartphone with a 4.7-inch screen manufactured with South Korea’s LG.

Google said the music offerings on Google Play, the firm’s online store, would be launched in Europe on Nov 13, with a new feature to allow music in a customer’s online collection to be automatically uploaded to the cloud. It will be offered in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Google also said, We’ll scan user music collection and any song we match against the Google Play catalog will be automatically added to user online library without needing to upload it, saving you time. This will be available in Europe at launch on Nov 13 and is coming to the US soon after. This will all be for free, free storage of user music, free matching, free syncing across user devices and free listening.

Google had scheduled a news conference in New York for the announcement but canceled the event due to Hurricane Sandy. The entry-level Nexus 10 will be sold at $399, or about $100 less than the least expensive iPad, starting Nov 13 in the U.S., Britain, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan.

Nexus 7, which was launched earlier this year, is available in the same countries, and the version with mobile data will go on sale Nov 13 in those countries except for Japan. Nexus 4 will be offered in the U.S. through T-Mobile and unlocked in Britain, Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada.

How to Monitor Your Teen’s Online and Texting Activity to Keep Them Safe

It's tricky being a parent these days, especially when technology is involved. On one hand, parents want to give  kids the independence to make decisions on their own, learn from those actions, and mature accordingly. On the other hand, they're still consider as a baby no matter what the age  and parents want to protect them as best parents can.

Today’s teens spend an average of 7.5 hours a day connected to some type of electronic device, and most know a lot more about the Internet and technology than their parents. From online solicitations, to sexting, to befriending some less-than-desirable characters, many parents have no idea what their children are doing on the phone, online, or in the real world. This can lead to mistakes caused by youthful inexperience, which can haunt a child and parent forever. 

While some adults believe that parental control settings on Internet browsers offer protection, the average desktop browser can’t filter everything, and these safeguards can be easily bypassed by a savvy computer user; and, if a young person is motivated enough, they can be very savvy. “Friending” your child on Facebook is also not a solution since most kids know how to configure their privacy settings to show parents only the things they want you to see. It's the same with cell phones, because there's really no way to track someone's texting and call activity. Or is there?

A new online service called TeenSafe is making it easy for parents to keep their children safer, while offering young people the freedom they need and want to grow independently.

Some of the things TeenSafe lets you view include:

• All of your child's mobile phone text messages  including deleted messages
• A real-time and historical map tagged with your child's phone location so you know where they're at
• Your child's Facebook activity, including feeds, photos, private messages, and friend interactions
• All of your child's phone contacts, call history, and much more

The program is available on all Android phones  is extremely simple to use, and comes with step-by-step instructions; user can even add multiple children at no additional cost. The reporting dashboard parents easily view all the info at a glance, and parents can do it without being a nag or disrupting your child's life. Just log in from any computer and you're good to go.

If you do discover problems and need information on how to best approach it, or if you want to speak with a professional for assistance, TeenSafe can facilitate that as well. The site offers parents the ability to chat in real time with licensed family counselors who can help.

So whether you're giving your child a cell phone for the first time and want to insure it's being used wisely, or have an older teen needing a parent's guidance TeenSafe is the smartest option for protecting your child anonymously and with confidence.

Best of all, TeenSafe is currently offering their service free for 7 days. Just sign up and see what a powerful tool it is before deciding if it's right for your family. If you end up liking TeenSafe, they'll simply charge your credit card the subscription rate of only $9.99 a month.

NASA's new spaceship comes together for 2014 test launch

The pieces are coming together for NASA's newest spaceship Orion, with its first unmanned launch test scheduled for September 2014. The Orion space capsule is designed to carry humans farther into the solar system than they've ever been by taking trips to the moon, asteroids and Mars.

It will be the first new spaceship built by NASA since the space shuttle was developed in the 1970s. The space agency is planning to outsource travel to low-Earth orbit, including the International Space Station, to the private space sector, allowing NASA itself to focus on traveling beyond.

Orion was originally conceived as a next-generation spacecraft, called the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, under NASA's now-defunct Constellation program. When that program was cancelled by the Obama administration, the Orion design was carried forward as the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The engineering team behind the capsule has weathered political ups and downs, but say they are glad to be approaching flight time for the craft.

Orion first test flight will be called the Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT 1), and will include a test of more than half the systems that will appear in the ultimate finished Orion. These include its heat shield, which is a totally novel design made of a special composite material and an ablative coating deigned to burn off as the capsule re-enters Earth's searing atmosphere for the trip home. EFT 1 will also test the capsule's primary structure design and put its avionics and computer systems through their paces.

On the surface, Orion looks like a modernized Apollo capsule. Both vehicles are cone-shaped and launch vertically atop heavy-lift rockets. However, the similarities are only skin deep.

Where Apollo could carry three astronauts to the moon, Orion is bigger and can take four. The 1960s-era Apollo capsule featured computer technology inferior to that of a smart phone, while Orion is controlled by state-of-the-art technology. Its heat shield is composed of entirely new materials, and many other features are wholly novel.

Between now and EFT 1, the NASA teams are working with the capsule's prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, to finish construction of Orion's systems and assemble them together. The primary body for that test vehicle is finished, while the heat shield still needs about six months more. Its avionics computers are undergoing testing now. Eventually, the whole vehicle will be put together in Florida at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

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''INTELLIGENCE IS NOT TO REASON BUT TO SEE!''

12. A study conducted at the University of Melbourne's Center for Eye Research concluded a relationship between intelligence and short-sightedness.

13. Breathe in. To appear more confident you should ''take a deep breathe to send more oxygen to the brain,'' suggests body language expert Peta Fletcher.

14. Be confident. ''People trust a confident person because they seem more assured,'' says behaviour analyst Leah Butler Smith.

15. Fix your posture. The majority of social communication is body language. ''If you have a tendency to slouch, people will think of you as lazy, shy or stupid,'' says life coach Rebekah Fensome.

16. Broaden your mind. ''Intelligence involves openness to a variety of views,'' says Dr Keith Frankish of the Open University. ''Do not just listen to people you agree with, read varied subject matter and select books you would not normally choose.''

17. Talk about yourself in the third person. ''People do not realise the power that comes with it.'' insists stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia. ''It turns whatever you say into fact.''

18. Confuse your audience with double negative.''Whether you are enlightening them or not, they will not dare question you and you would not sound intelligent in any situation,'' says comedy coach Steve North.

19. Say you are smart. ''If you tell people you are intelligent they will start to think of you that way. It's called the self-fulfilling prophecy,'' says psychologist Rose Aghdami.

20. Fade to grey. Everybody knows grey hair equates intelligence, so ditch the dye.

21. Stop swearing. ''People have a tendency to find conversation peppered with bad language less valuable,'' says psychologist Roberta Galluccio Richardson, which is obviously a Royal pain! Hahaha!

Many thanks to !WOW! and with special dedication to all Professors of the world!

Good Night & God Bless.