Apple shows off iPad-inspired Mac laptop

By Gabriel Madway

CUPERTINO, California (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the thinnest, lightest Mac laptop yet, fusing features from its popular iPhone and iPad with its traditional line of personal computers.

Apple, whose computers have taken market share from PCs based on Microsoft Corp's Windows, will bring a version of its mobile applications store to the Mac, aiming to replicate its success and spur development of new programs.

Loading up Macs with iPad features may help Apple stave off investors' fears that sales will begin bleeding over to the tablet, which has stirred up astonishing demand.

The new MacBook Air -- introduced on Wednesday with Jobs' signature "one last thing" set-up -- is designed to reproduce the versatility of popular devices such as the iPhone and iPad, and will incorporate FaceTime video chats, which Apple is bringing to all its Macs.

Utilizing flash storage like the iPad rather than hard drives like conventional computers, it can power up almost instantly from standby mode and store data twice as quickly as a standard hard drive. But it sacrifices processing power compared with Apple's other laptops.

"We asked ourselves what would happen if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up? Well, this is the result," Jobs said at a media event in Cupertino, California, calling the Air the "future of notebooks."

It starts at $999 for an 11.6-inch model, weighs as little as 2.3 pounds (1 kg), and measures 0.11 inches at its thinnest to 0.68 inches at the rear.

"They're basically merging the product lines; they're simplifying it," said Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu. "They're taking the strengths out of what they've learned on the iPhone and iPad and bringing that technology over to the Mac side. It makes a lot of sense."

LIONS AND CANNIBALS

While plenty of attention is lavished on the iPhone and iPad, the Mac has been critical to the company's success over past years. Apple sold $22 billion worth of Macs in fiscal 2010, comprising one-third of its revenue. Shipments rose more than 30 percent and far outpaced the overall market.

Investors have wondered whether the iPad, a 10-inch touchscreen tablet that began selling in April from $499, would cannibalize sales of the Mac -- as it has done for low-end, Windows-based laptops known as netbooks.

Gartner analyst Mike McGuire does not expect much cannibalization between iPad and Macs because of the gulf in price tags. He said the Air will try to bridge Apple's newer and older product lines.

"It's that missing link between the tablet future and the existing notebook," he said.

Jobs also showed off a new version of Mac operating software, which the company will release next summer. Nicknamed "Lion," it includes an improved "iLife" multimedia suite and incorporates FaceTime video chat, which the company recently launched on the iPhone.

FaceTime will allow for video calls between iPhones, iPod touches and Macs. Over 19 million Apple devices are already equipped with FaceTime, Jobs said. It released a test version of FaceTime for the Mac on Wednesday.

The App Store for the Mac will go live within 90 days, and developers will be able to start submitting apps next month. They will get 70 percent of the revenue from sales.

The original App Store debuted in 2008 and helped spur sales of the iPhone by providing a wealth of fun, useful or merely diverting programs for sale, at the touch of a button.

It houses more than 250,000 apps and has generated over 7 billion downloads. In addition, more than 30,000 apps have been specifically made for the iPad.

In the third calendar quarter, Apple became the No. 3 personal computer maker in the United States with a 10.6 percent market share, according to IDC. It holds roughly 20 percent of the U.S. consumer market.

But Apple's global market share is less than 5 percent, and the company is aiming to increase sales outside its U.S. stronghold. The Mac user base overall now stands at nearly 50 million.

Apple shares rose 0.3 percent to close at $310.53 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway and Edwin Chan; Editing by Robert MacMillan and Richard Chang)

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Apple-shows-off-iPadinspired-rb-1341439526.html?x=0

Head of IT

Yesterday, I went down to Changi Airport along with my IT group mates to meet up with the Head of IT from Tiger Airways


He was incredibly friendly and we did manage to receive alot of information from him about the future of IT and its new IT system. Definitely a great learning experience for me.


But the most important thing is that I learnt something after I left the restaurant. I was talking alongside him, asking him whether he has plans to head on to a more prestigious airline in the future.


He told me that most probably not for now because he enjoys the flexibility in a "start-up" company because its vibrant and there are lots of things happening. There are not much restrictions and basically you can be as innovative as you want to be, basically they encourage experimentation.


Conversely, for an established full-service airline, it is harder for that to happen because things tend to get a bit rigid as they stick to the old way of doing things. There are not much changes along the way and things start to slow down and get dull.


I have to agree with him. He offered me a new perspective on start-ups.


I'm always disappointed after entering into an established place because I had such high expectations of them as I look at them from the outside. But when I walk in, everything is so far from what I had expected. It is so rigid as mentioned by the Head of IT.


I have very high expectations of business people because I watched The Apprentice and he is definitely a worthy candidate when it comes to a great person. He has impressed me during the short interview with him and I did manage to pick up a lot of important skills from him.


What a pleasure to meet him. I guess I need to meet more capable people like him or my expectations will soon drop.

101016 WGM English Subs

Hi guys,

The YongSeo episodes are subbed already.

The same goes for khuntoria FC.

As for the Adam Couple, I'm still sourcing.

Sorry for the delay.

WGM Goguma Couple Ep.28 eng sub
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Credits -latz1323, -3ffectfx, -diadanooo1, -hanayahoney

Aaron, Aaron

Recently, my Accounting Professor, she like to call my name.


Actually this has been happening since Week 2's Tutorial.


Without fail she will always call my name, Aaron so what do you think?

Aaron yes ?

I was like I didn't even volunteer, I merely looked at her when she asked the questions.

But come to think of it, perhaps I was asking for it.

Maybe my look was coupled with a desperate intent to answer the questions because most of the time, my classmates will just sit there and keep quiet.

I don't see a point of keeping quiet when you know the answers, its best if you just give her the answers and get the class moving in a fast-paced manner.

On hindsight, I think she called me also because of the fact that she believes that I can give her the answers.

Not because she think that I'm too slack and never do my work, so she want to test if I have the answers.

Yeah, of course I'm taking this super-optimistic approach but that's just learning with passion I guess?

I rather think that the professor has faith in my abilities than to see it from the negative perspective.

Hwaiting !

Accounting Quiz Results

Today, was a special day.

Why? I got back my Accounting Quiz.

Its the first time I get back an official result since I started my University endeavour.

Notwithstanding that its only worth a mere 5%, I think I need to keep working hard for the future quizzes.

In case you are wondering, I got 17/20.

That comes up to around 4.25% I guess?

To be honest, I wouldn't say that I am extremely happy about it. In fact, I'm a little upset because I had expected 19/20.

Maybe my expectations are too high but oh well, at the end of the day, it just goes to show that I need to be clearer in my understanding of the future topics so that I will not falter in the future.

Hwaiting !

P.S. Tomorrow is a big day for me too. Its going to be the first presentation I will be doing since the start of my University life. Wish me luck!

Facebook new privacy settings

Check out some of Facebook's new settings to fit in with the needs of the users.


They seem to be doing a fine job as far as I'm concerned. We have to understand that privacy issues are never easy to solve in the first place.


Let's take a quick look at some of the changes that are relatively easy to access and use.

Prior to Facebook's most recent settings update, it was very difficult to see who can actually view various aspects of your profile and the items you've posted. (Some might argue that's still sort of the case.) Those options were buried, and you had to really dig to find that "View As" option.

Much in the same way Groups will allow you to create smaller social circles and select what they have access to, Cornett's "Who can see what?" tab, under a dedicated section for managing friends, would let users very quickly filter friend lists to figure out who can see what information and then potentially change the settings if they're not comfortable with them seeing certain things like say, political views, sexual leanings, interests and likes.

"Facebook lets you make friend lists, but they're static unless you manually update them," she told us back in May. In her proposal, she implemented another tab under the section for managing your friends called "Smart Lists" that would automatically create and automatically update based on people's profile information. So if coworkers have the company listed in their profile information, Facebook will be able to discern that they're your current coworkers, and it could keep this list updated so you don't have to actually manage this list on your own. In other words, you wouldn't have to remember to add a new coworker to a particular coworkers smart list -- Facebook would do that for you.

The main idea of the Privacy Toolbar was to give users easy access to their settings without being "in-your-face" about it. When users do something -- update their status, tag a photo -- this compact bar would become active and present a message as to how that action may potentially affect their privacy in some way. The gauge with the arrow on the left side of the toolbar provides a visual, quick look at where your privacy settings currently stand so you're able to see how secure you are and the kind of access your friends, as well as the public, have to your information. So if you're about to submit a status update about your job like say, "I had a horrible day at work today," the toolbar would warn you first to check the privacy settings related to that action before you actually submit the information and potentially do some irreparable damage.

24.78 carat Fancy Intense Pink Diamond

"During my 35-year career at Sothebys I have had the opportunity to examine many magnificent and rare gemstones and, put simply, this stone is one of the most desirable diamonds I have ever seen," said David Bennett, chairman for Europe and the Middle East at Sothebys international jewellery department.

"What makes it so immensely rare is the combination of its exceptional colour and purity with the classic emerald-cut -- a style of cutting normally associated with white diamonds," he added.

Sotheby's gave a pre-sale estimate of 27 to 38 million dollars for the fancy pink diamond, which will go under the hammer on November 16.

Credits -yahoo, -smh