Apple News, Analysis and Podcasts

Should Microsoft Buy Facebook?

With the real market value (stock price) of Facebook continuing to decline from its IPO offering of $38 (as of this writing the price was below $26.50), rumors are starting to abound about Apple buying Facebook. But does that really make any sense? We've heard Tim Cook say Apple buys companies for two reasons: talent and/or technology. While Facebook has some of both the value of the company is in the data it has collected and its massive user base.

Thinking a little different, there is another player out there that might be more suited to gobble up Facebook and it isn't Google.

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Microsoft Office for the iPad

There were some rumors that Microsoft would be bringing the Office suite to the iPad. The rumor also stated that it would come around the time the 3rd generation iPad was announced. Now that the iPad has been out for a while, we know this part is not true. But that does not mean we won’t see Office on the iOS.

The App Store has many applications that can read Microsoft Office files, but they are not the same as the real thing. Most of them have issues when reading anything more than simple files. Microsoft also makes changes to the file format on almost every version. This makes it difficult for anyone else to keep up. For that reason, many are wanting to see Office come to the iPad. The question is will Microsoft bring Office to the iPad?

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A Second Look: Why Microsoft Bought Skype

First there was the Pony Express, then the telegraph and then the telephone. As time marches on man seems to find a better, cheaper and quicker way to communicate.

It is no different in the 21st Century. Today we have rss feeds, twitter, facebook, e-mail and the beloved "mobile phone" But wait, there's more. Mobile phones have now morphed into mini computers with Apple's iOS, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7 platforms. In this new war of the mobile device, it appears Microsoft is bringing up the rear with no real chance of catching Apple or Google. Microsoft has lot's of money to stay in the game, but if things stay the same, they are the odds on favorite to being the big looser. And that's exactly why Microsoft may have purchase Skype.

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Microsoft's Next Purchase: Dropbox

With Apple's announcement of OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud, Ballmer and the Redmond collective must be picking themselves off the floor trying to figure out what just happened.

Alas, not all is lost for Microsoft — if they follow my simple advise. Well, thinking about that again, the chance Microsoft might listen to reason instead of the Windows/Office juggernaut is slim to none —and slim left town!

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Review: Amazon Mac Download Store

Apple changed the way users purchased Mac applications when they created the Mac App Store at the beginning of the year. Even though it still does not have all the biggest software titles for the Mac, it still is the first place to look for new applications. Can anyone else compete with it?

Amazon is set to find out by creating their own app store for the Mac called Mac Software Downloads. Is there enough room for two stores and can they compete? Lets take a look at the Amazon store experience and see how it compares with the Mac App Store.

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PC Museum

Microsoft recently launched their latest PC Shopper commercial with Julie having a PC Store built in her home. Surprisingly “Hildegard” had something similar happen as well...

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The Summer of Microsoft

Microsoft's latest pursuit is yet another sign that Apple is tearing them up. The company from Redmond is rumored to be in pursuit of buying out (or heavily investing in) Skype. If you are a user of Skype you may have noticed their latest updates are pretty much deplorable with regard to user interface, and their video quality typically stinks when compared to Tango or Apple's Facetime.

Based on Microsoft's track record, I can only assume they will purchase Skype, repurpose it for "Windows Phone 7 Extreme Plus Home Edition" and market it as: Windows PeopleTime – The Windows you love, now with video chat... Please.

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I Feel Like Someone’s Watching Me

Recently a big stink over user privacy has reared its ugly head again, but this time about one of my favorite products and something I use daily, if not hourly — the iPhone. Security researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warde revealed last week that Apple was storing logs of users' geographic coordinates in a hidden file. The researchers didn't know why Apple was doing this or what it was using the data for, but they said Apple indeed is gathering this information about the whereabouts of its iPhone users.

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Microsoft Stores Will Fail

Last week there was a back and forth on whether Microsoft stores were a good idea or a poor one. As most know, last year Microsoft began opening retail stores in malls across America to counter Apple's success. One could almost predict this would happen because Microsoft has become so predictable.

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IDC Blows It. iOS Will Fail, While Windows Phone 7 Succeeds

IDC may have some impressive survey clout and reach, but when it comes to actually delivering decent reasoning behind their numbers, my sub-five-year-old daughter can draw better conclusions by consulting her Polly Pocket dolls.

IDC's latest report concludes that by 2015, the smartphone market share will look drastically different than today, with Apple falling well behind the pack. While I agree with IDC's assessment that the market will have shifted, their conclusions are way off.

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