Apple iPad 2 Debuts in Australia Today

Following a raving success in the US, Apple has now launched iPad 2 in Australia today. Apple is currently the dominant force in the tablet PC market with its original iPad being sold around 15 million units last year.

Apple launched its second generation tablet PC, iPad 2, on 11 March in the American market and has reportedly sold more than 500,000 units of iPad 2 already.

Naturally, Apple is expecting similar success in the Australian market too. In fact, the company currently holds around 90% share of tablet PC market in Australia.

Compared to original iPad launched last year, the iPad 2 has much more attractive features including a smart cover which allows the users to turn on the device instantly. Both hardware and software wise, iPad 2 is superior to most of the tablet PCs available in the market.

Though it has some hiccups like not supporting Flash and having no memory card slot, still there are a number of reasons users are expected to queuing up in front of the stores for the iPad 2 tablets once the device gets to the shelves of the stores.

Apple iPad 2 starts at Australian dollar 579 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only version. The device is also available with 32GB and 64GB versions. In addition, users can also choose the 3G version of the device by shelling out some extra bucks.

Amazon Android app store is launching on March 22

Amazon is going to launch its Android app store on March 22, 2011. The app store will have some new Angry Bird games and other apps at deep discounts.

Wired.com had been tipped off by a source about the unveiling of the app store. News of Amazon Android app store first came up in September 2010. It was said that the store’s structure will be similar to that of the Apple iTunes app store. Developers would have to pay $99 to sign up and the revenue sharing will be 70:30.

Last week, image of the app store webpage leaked on Internet showing horizontal menu containing 48 apps and their prices. What apps get into the store will be decided by Amazon and it will covered up in its DRM. Developers can not sell their applications at a lower price in other stores.

Related articles:

Wired.com

Business Insider

Google TV Remote app for iOS devices is available now

On March 18, 2011, Google launched its new Gooogle TV Remote Apple iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. With the app users can search channels by their voice from anywhere in the house. However, the iOS version does not support webpage sharing from mobile to the screen.

One of the major problems of the Google TV Remote app is that it is quite complex. For a regular user, it would be quite difficult to use. The app interface contains 33 buttons. So many buttons so many functions, it would take users a long time to find out the right button.

The Android version of the Google TV remote app was launched in December 2010.

Google TV was rolled out in October 2010 on Logitech's Revue companion boxes and Sony Internet TVs and Blu-ray players. It is an Android based software that connects TV with the Internet and allows users to access Internet based services such as Netflix, and Amazon VoD. The service was not well received by the critics. They considered it expensive and incomplete with lots of bugs.

Related article:

eWeek

Internet Explorer 9 is good but perhaps too Late

I have used Internet Explorer 9 and I liked it despite the fact that I am fond of any other browser except IE. Page loading is really fast but still, I do not feel comfortable with it. Perhaps the main reason is that I am habituated to other browsers and I do not have any good memory of using IE in the 5-6 years.

There are many people like me who perhaps have the same feeling right now about IE. So, it may become difficult for Microsoft to convince users like us to leave Chrome or Firefox and make IE as the main browser in our day to day life. 

Firefox 4 vs. IE9 vs. Google Chrome 10: Good, Better, Best

In March 2011, we are seeing three major browser releases. Internet Explorer 9 has been released on March 14, 2011. Last week, Google released Chrome 10 and on March 22 Mozilla Firefox 4 will be released.

Michael Muchmore of PC Mag.com conducted a wide range of benchmark test on these three browsers and Chrome 10 comes out as the winner. He focused on Interface, Speed, Security and Privacy, Standards Support, and Extra features.

In terms of Interface – All three browsers followed Chrome’s footsteps and took over simplistic UI. All of them have tabbed browsing features and each has its own special features. For example, Chrome’s web store that lets you install websites, Firefox’s “Panorama Tab Manager,” and IE9’s website pin feature.

Three JS engines- SunSpider, Mozilla Kraken and Google V8 (V.6) has been used to test the speed.

In terms of HTML5, IE9 wins hands down. Both Chrome 10 and IE9 offers better security features. However one major weakness of IE9 is that it would only run on Windows 7 and further but Google Chrome 10 runs on all types of OS. To see details of the test visit:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382108,00.asp

The obsession of getting larger number of Apps

Just the other day, Microsoft announced that its Windows Phone 7 platform has got now more than 10,000 apps. Apple has already more than 400,000 apps while Android had over 200,000. Still, Google and Apple are not that much satisfied and they are trying to attract more app developers. Microsoft has to do it too.

I feel that it is really has become an obsession for Apple, Google and Microsoft to just boast the number of apps from time to time. If you are in iPhone user then how many of the 400,000 apps available to you would be ever used by you! The same can be said for Android users as a good deal of apps in Android market is free.

The obsession towards apps is hardly doing the consumers any good. Most of them do not bother which company has which number of apps. Instead, they want their smartphone or tablet experience becomes comfortable. Apple has received a lot of criticism for trying to get more money from the publishers as well as trying to slow down some apps.

Internet Explorer 9 : You should check it out

Internet Explorer 9 is out and available for download. The new browser from Microsoft received positive reviews from everywhere. Before writing this post, I downloaded it and ran on my laptop and I have to admit that Microsoft has come up with something great this time. Just go and download the browser and start using it.

It is fastest browser ever released by Microsoft. If you have used earlier versions, you will easily feel the difference. The browser load pages very fast. Internet Explorer 9 uses a new Java Script Engine called Chakra.

The UI is very simple and clean and if you use Google Chrome you will obviously find some similarities with the interface.

I like the “Pin to taskbar” option of Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 9 brings this feature for websites. Now, you can pin your favorite website to taskbar and open it within seconds.

Internet Explorer 9 provides better security features against a wide range of attacks. The smart screen application makes sure that you do not download files containing malwares.

The IE9 can be a great addition for enterprise. It has “Group Policy support” which allows a company’s IT staffs to control different aspects of the browser.

Last but not least, the browser provides anti-tracking features.

From what I have seen, it can be said that IE9 will help Microsoft gain browser market share it lost to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

Related articles:

eWeek