The "net income increases" time

It is quite surprising, and a bit "happy," to learn that so many IT vendors are having network income increase in the past Q1 of 2010. All the signals show that we are a bit over in the lowest level of economy growth. Sybase, Microsoft, Western Digital, etc., and many other well-known IT software and service vendors are having a good time now. Hopefully, the investors are optimistic about the market as well. ;)

Is iPad so useful?

I've always been asking myself this question since I first heard about iPad. Well, if one just wants to be "cool" or "show-off," this can be a reason to buy this interesting gadget. But otherwise, what is the purpose of having it?

I think the key question is, what is the "killing point" of iPad? The "touch-screen?" or the Apple type of "usability?" I have to admit that iPad and iPhone are very well at the usability. And the design is so cool. When stripping off this part, what else does Apple have as a competitive advantage?

I am glad that there are still companies like Apple to keep the trends in the IT industry and there are still lots of fans that keep the eyeballs around the IT industry. Good luck iPad, really.

Nokia enhance its involvement in LBS

Apparently Nokia, the giant mobile phone vendor, is not afraid of the challenges from Google and Apple. At a recent acquisition, Nokia got MetaCarta, a provider of geographic intelligence solutions based in Massachusetts. In the area of location based services (LBSs), Nokia is launching more capabilities with MetaCarta's technology on local search in location and other services. In an early acquisition, Nokia got Novarra, an internet mobility company, whose mobile browser and services platform are going to be used for improving the Nokia Series 40 mobile phones.

Who could be buying Palm?

Giving the hot competitions from Apple iPhone and Google phones, it is not unusual that the well-known smart phone maker is seeking a way-out. Perhaps HTC can be a good choice. Well, I would think of a software vendor, such as Google or Microsoft, to jump in over here.

Again, this is just a consolidation activity in the mobile phone market. Hopefully the users of Palm can live with the changes.

LBS features in new iPhone OS

Apparently Apple is giving a lot of new life to the new version of iPhone OS. If we just take the Location-Based Services. In the new OS, location services can be configured to use cell towers, rather than the power-hogging GPS chip. iPhone OS 4 will notify users when an app is trying to discover their location, log that data, and allow users granular, app-by-app control of how that location data is used.

This is a really decent support for those who has been working in the LBS world. The "towers-based" tracking can be a huge promotion to many LBS applications. And the ability of letting users controlling the privacy and usage of their location is showing Apple's clear understanding of users' privacy and security.

About decent laptops

Some friends ask me to tip about laptops that seem decent. Well, there are pretty a lot on the market. My first point is to forget about NetBooks. I believe netbooks will die out soon or just be merged with typical laptops (just think about why iPhone has new OS to support multi-tasking)....I would look at the CPU and RAM first, and then size, weight. The brand is very important as well. Sony and ASUS seem to produce something really good (both in prise and quality). And do not forget Lenovo and HP. Well, there is also something called DELL.

Hope this is a long enough suggestion....