Since Steve Job’s animated presentation on the iPad there has been a lot of speculation in the media and elsewhere about Apple’s latest product iPad. Sure the iPad will put to shame most tablet devices and book readers present in the  market today including the Kindle. A friend recently visited me from California and told me he couldn’t buy the iPad since it wasn’t available for sale. He was all praise for it, before I told him about the device and some of its shortcomings. Read on to enlighten yourself on what the iPad isn’t or can’t do.

• No Flash.  Millions of websites today use Flash but Steve Jobs somehow missed this point! Ok so users might see those Lego blocks on their screens prompting them to add a plug-in which Alas won’t be there unless someone does something about it.
• No Multitasking? So you won’t be able to listen to your favorite music while surfing the Web? Who cares, and why did you ever buy that Music enabled Smartphone, iPhone, iPod or whatever? Just wear the headphones and surf the Web on your iPad.
• No Camera. Since there is no camera there’s little room for a video conference. I believe this is a marketing strategy, give the people a camera –less iPad, make a newer more expensive iPad, attach a camera and un-apologetically launch it with a bigger price tag. That’s it. How else can one miss out this important feature?

PocketGear has acquired Handango, the announcement was made just a few days back. This might come as a surprise but the benefits are truly amazing, at least for PocketGear, quite simply because this lone move now gives it access to some 140,000 apps of various categories. This includes paid as well as free titles. This might as well be termed as  the creation of so far the largest cross platform, open app store on planet Earth.

The two stores are known to have generated over $ 400 million in revenue resulting from sale of mobile apps. This they say is spread across 175 countries, and the variety of mobile devices supported is well over 2000 in number.

PocketGear’s developer base alone has expanded to some 32,000 strong giving it more variety and reach. This will help improve its stats further as the company has already worked in conjunction with Samsung, Microsoft, LG, Sony Ericsson, RIM, Verizon and AT&T. Simply put more developers and more companies mean more variety and hence more revenue. And remember this is for a variety of devices unlike Apple.

PocketGear supports supposedly all brands less the “i” category Some of the brands under its belt are Java, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Android, Palm, Blackberry and the ever present Symbian.    

PockerGear’s strength comes form its business model which supports developers more than other competitors. PocketGear’s developers get to keep up to 90% of the share as against 70% in case of other models. Besides this the company CEO Jud Bowman says it has perfected its systems in a big way and Handset manufacturers or carriers can now launch their own customized stores in weeks.

Not a day passes by when I am not amazed and dazed at how technology is evolving and innovation is shaping things. I blogged about the Airnergy Wi-Fi signals harvesting device a couple of days back, and just now happened to chance upon some very impressive gadgets that are totally out of this world, they really are impressive. I won’t bore you with more adjectives just read on…

SLIMDATA is a USB 2.0 storage device that is easy to carry around. It is not fat and ugly, in fact it is the size of a Credit card and can therefore sit in one’s wallet. To use it simply fold one side to reveal the USB port and insert in your laptop/PC. Currently it is available in 4 GB capacity and comes in five colors. Works with Windows, Linux and Mac. If you place a big order the company will print a customized message or logo. Check out the website for more info.

Washable Mice, Keyboards and TV Remotes. Now eat this, keyboards, mice and remotes that are washable! But why, I mean why not just use a vacuum cleaner instead or may be use a lint free cloth with some liquid? Well the developers of these smart products say that it is good for the health since the product they are made of repels bacteria. Moreover, since these things can be washed just like clothes in a dishwasher, kitchen sink or whatever so there are lesser chances of people infecting each other. This brings us to another problem, when can we see a keyboard, mouse or TV remote washing machine? Just kidding, check out the company’s website.

Mobile TV. This is a portable device that lets users view TV via a Notebook, Netbook and  smart-phone. It can be charged from Mini USB port, has WLAN and weighs just 71 grams. It will work with Symbian, Android and Windows Mobile based devices. Check out the website for more in depth information.

CES 2010 in Las Vegas is the event not to be missed by technology enthusiasts and consumers alike. The events has everything for anyone and everyone, ranging from the latest cell phones, home theatre systems, laptops, processors and what not. The event is still very much in progress till January 10th 2010. One hot attraction is the Quadricopter that was unveiled at this show. It is a small toy craft which has four propellers, it can be flown anywhere (indoors as well as outdoors), has dual camera system, flies at 18 Kmph, weighs around 400 grams, connects via WiFi and best of all it can be remotely controlled by an iPhone or iPod Touch. That just about sums it up.

It is a work of art and only a genius could have imagined such a device. Also called as the AR Drone, it is made of Carbon Fiber and high resistance plastics. This means one doesn’t have to worry about the minor bumps, bruises and falls that might come. The device will stream live video to users iPhone/iPod Touch on a WiFi link.Besides all this it has necessary Image processing software for added reality, and better piloting of the craft.

In my previous post on the Nexus One I wrote that that the Nexus will take sometime in beating the ever present iPhone, I still maintain this. But let me for a change say this that the way things are going (in the Google world) competitors need to feel threatened. What made me think so? well to begin with was the Google’s new approach to buying a Mobile Phone which gives one the ability to explore a mobile phone in ways that were previously unimagined. Impressive is the word that comes to one’s mind followed by “Ingenious”. Imagine holding your hand next to the screen in order to compare it with an editable image and then see how the Nexus One would look in your hand.

The Android today is running on at least 20 devices, in 19 languages, in 48 countries supported by 59 mobile companies. All this happened just a year back! That’s good going so far. Google now is selling the Nexus One on a Google hosted web store and the first device to be sold will be the Nexus One off course. This is quite different form the previous practice and welcome indeed. According to Google they want to “make the overall user experience simple: a simple purchasing process, simple service plans from operators, simple and worry-free delivery and start-up.”

It takes someone like Steve Jobs to make an iPhone, the very device that has literally taken the world by storm. As of today some 21 million devices of various models starting from the iPhone to the iPhone 3G and the 3GS have been sold. Downloads at the Apple Store have crossed the 3 billion mark in just 18 months. Even if these figures are exaggerated by 10% we can safely say that iPhone has sold like no other mobile phone has. Like it or not this makes it the most popular device on the planet. Try as the may Nokia (with Maemo), HTC (with Android) and Samsung (with Bada or TouchWiz UI) are no match for the iPhone.

But now it seems Google with HTC has got the iPhone in the crosshairs with the much touted and hyped about device called as the Nexus One. It is said that the looks alone are enough to make one drool. Both companies have worked hard in an effort to beat the mobile phone the world loves so much. The device is going to have a Snapdragon CPU clocking at a cool 1 GHz, it will boast of Android 2.1 besides having a 5 MP camera. The important specs are:

• 3.7″ capacitive Touch screen with 480 x 800 display.
• 512 MB of ROM and RAM
• 4 GB microSD card (included) and expandable microSD up to 32GB

I think it will be a long time before Nexus will be able to make a serious dent in iPhone’s popularity. Yes, iPhone’s market share will go down but it will take a sometime, ingenuity and good luck for Nexus One or any other mobile phone to beat the iPhone. Simply because people the world will not stop using their devices and Apple will not stop making/selling new models. In my opinion the coming months will see intense competition which is good for the buyers. The unlocked device it is said will cost around $530, whereas a two year contract with T-Mobile will cost something like $200.

Listening to, reading and finding translation of the Quran is a daily ritual for most Muslims. This can be done using the paper version of the Quran or using specialized software like Quran Reciter etc. Now several websites offer this facility online for free. Tanzil.info is one such website which lets users read and listen the Holy Quran. It also allows users to read translation of the Holy Book in multiple languages.

The interface is attractive and user friendly to use. First time visitors will not find themselves lost in the maze. One can browse through the entire Quran via Suran, Ayah, Juz or even page. Next comes the recitation which can be listened online as well as offline using a separate application. There are 19 Qaris to choose from and the biggest names like Al-Sudais, Abdul Basit and Al-Ghamdi etc are included in the list. A simple mouse-over provides translation in the selected language. A total of 69 types of translation options exist. For example in the English language one can read translation by about 12 people like Marmaduke Pickthall and Mahammad Asad etc.

Motorola Droid, the phone which is a direct iPhone competitor, and is grabbing lot of attention in US market due to Google open source android SmartPhone OS and the application ecosystem surrounding it. The phone so far has been available in US only by verizon for $199 and rest of the world is still waiting for it.

Well, the good news is that in couple of months, Motorola is going to release unlocked version of Droid throughout the world. Motorola is expected to launch the Motorola Droid (unlocked) in February and as well as announce the release of Droid 2 aka Sholes or Shules or Sholes Tablet.

Nowadays if you are not tweeting then you’re not in the circle. Most of us tweet or retweet using a PC, however, there are other options available as well. One can make use of his/her mobile phone, PDA or smart device. The Zune HD that was hit the markets sometime back created quite a stir. Then came news of the Bing app for iPhone and now there is a Twitter app for the Zune HD.

Frankly, the kind of service Twitter offers suits mobile devices. I mean most of us tweet several times a day as random thoughts hit our minds. The convenience for tweeting offered by a mobile device is much more as compared to a PC/Laptop.

The application is free! It allows users to read updates as well as update their posts from the Twitter account. The Zune HD requires a WiFi connection so connectivity can be limited depending on where one is located.

Previously users had to use the Browser, now the app will make it easier to cache pages and view their tweets offline. I guess not we are waiting for a Facebook application. More info the app is available here.

Samsung unveiled a new Smartphone OS for Samsung mobile phones called as Bada. Whatever that means is of no importance, the fact is that now the competition is steeper than ever since iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian now have a competitor which has a growing market share.

The OS is an extension of the Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. The OS is meant for touch screen phones only and Samsung hopes to increase the market share by some 50%. Developers have been encouraged to develop applications on for Bada. Since it is meant for smart devices therefore the apps are themselves going to be advanced in any and every form. Features will include motion sensing, face detection, web control, weather updating and sensing various activities etc.

Some of the service features of the Bada OS include device synchronization, e-commerce services, location based services, content management and social networking that is location based. The SDK is available for download at a dedicated website.

Linked closely to this whole story is the Bada challenge award for developers to share an amount of $ 2,700,000 by simply submitting apps for the OS. Users will be able to buy apps form the Bada store and make payments via their mobile phone bills. Upon launch the app store will be available to some 50 countries and by the second half of 2010 it will be global.

Handsets are expected to be released in first half of 2010. More info at the Bada website.