10 Best Global Companies to Work For

 

What makes for a great workplace? Quality of life, access to senior managers, and clear career paths were among the attributes cited by workers in a “World’s Best Multinational Workplaces” survey from consultancy Great Place to Work. To be considered, companies must employ at least 5,000 people worldwide, with no less than 40% of them working outside of the home country. These are organizations that demonstrate a focus on improving the work and life experiences for the rank-and-file, and finding innovative ways to make good things happen. "This list recognizes global companies that have demonstrated a truly serious commitment to creating workplaces that foster trust, pride and camaraderie amongst their employees," said Jose Tolovi Jr., global CEO of Great Place to Work. The research is based on surveys in which more than 2.5 million workers took part. The top 25 can be found here; this slideshow includes the top ten companies, along with some perks from their global locations.

1. Family Affair

Microsoft
Microsoft invites its Norwegian employees on maternity and paternity leave—and their kids—to a quarterly “Junior Lunch.”

2. Business Education

SAS
SAS community-based education programs are used by more than 50,000 U.S. teachers at no cost.

3. Gracious Gesture

NetApp
Vice Chairman Tom Mendoza averages 30 “thank you” calls to employees a week.

4. Time to Innovate

Google
Engineers spend one-fifth of their time on projects of their own choosing, leading to innovations like Gmail, Google News and AdSense.

5. Career Opportunities

FedEx Express
European employees use the company’s Career Hub to manage careers and find new opportunities from within.

6. Front and Center

Cisco
CEO John Chambers invites workers for informal, candid group Q&A sessions that are held closely to their birthdays.

7. Accommodating Arrangement

Marriott
New hires in Mexico get to stay at a location for a night to experience its customer service first-hand.

8. Reaching Out

McDonald’s
McDonald’s UK works closely with the government and partners to provide jobs for the long-time unemployed, disabled, disadvantaged and military veterans.

9. Maternal Instinct

Kimberly-Clark
The company celebrates Mother’s Day with a catered breakfast or lunch for all moms in the company.

10. No Meeting Time Zone

SC Johnson
In Italy, directors/managers cannot call meetings before 9:30 a.m.

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Twitter, a five-year-old changing the world

 

At five years old, Twitter is just starting to change the world.
Co-founder Jack Dorsey fired off the first tweet on March 21, 2006. It read "just setting up my twttr." It was Dorsey who proposed the idea for Twitter while working with Biz Stone and Evan Williams at podcasting company Odeo.
Since then, Twitter has been embraced as a forum for sharing anything from a favorite lunch spot to violations of civil rights and calls for revolution.
"As much fun as we were having, there was always, I think, in the back of our heads the idea of the potential of something important coming from it," Stone said of the startup's formative days.
"Even if we didn't say it out loud and talk about it," the co-founder said in an interview. "Because we were just getting started and we really had no place saying anything like that."
Williams, Dorsey, and Stone thought it would be fun to build a service that lets people use text messaging to share thoughts, insights and news with the masses.
San Francisco-based Twitter won the hearts of trendsetters after officially coming out at the South By South West technology festival in Texas in 2007.
"South By South West was the real eye-opener to the fact that we had, quite possibly, created a new way for people to communicate that was real time, sort of agnostic with regard to device and potentially transformative in the way people self-organize," Stone said.
"And everything that happened around the world that Twitter found its way into was really just yet another eye-opening display of the potential."
Initially scoffed at by some as a platform for telling the world what one had for breakfast, Twitter has become respected as a lifeline during disasters such as the earthquake in Japan and an organizing tool for champions of democracy.
Stone believed it vital for Twitter to remain a politically neutral technology platform focused on fostering open communication.
He saw the use of Twitter by those out to overthrow oppressive regimes in the Middle East as proof that given the right tools, people will stand for good.
"One of the things I told our team early on was that if Twitter is to be a triumph, it is not necessarily to be a triumph of technology but a triumph of humanity," Stone said.
"If we are successful it is not going to be because of our algorithms and our machines, it is going to be what people end up doing with this tool that defines us and makes us a success or not."
More than 200 million people use Twitter, firing off more than 140 million text messages of 140 characters or less daily. The length limit was set to fit the maximum allowed in text messages sent using mobile phones.

Here are some facts about the San Francisco-based startup:

• Dorsey's first tweet, sent on March 21, 2006, read: "just setting up my twttr"
• Twitter has more than 200 million registered users sending more than 140 million tweets a day
• Last year, Twitter users sent 25 billion tweets and the company added more than 100 million new registered accounts
• Pop star Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) has the most Twitter followers with 8.78 million followed by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) with 8.13 million, Britney Spears (@britneyspears) with 7.12 million, Barack Obama (@barackobama) with 6.97 million and Kim Kardashian (@kimkardashian) with 6.73 million
• Actor Charlie Sheen (@charliesheen) was the fastest to one million followers, picking them up in just 24 hours
• The hashtag (#) feature on Twitter which groups tweets by subject debuted in August 2007, proposed by a user
• In October 2009, Google and Microsoft began integrating tweets into their search products
• Twitter has "370-plus" employees and is adding workers almost weekly
• Twitter is based in San Francisco, with additional employees in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington
• Twitter was incorporated in April 2007; it was co-founded by Biz Stone, Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey -- @biz, @ev and @jack
• The initial Twitter logo was created by Stone, a former graphic designer
• Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo is a former improvisational comedian

The Empty Soap Box : Interesting to Read (May be even apply)

 

One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the  case
of the  empty  soap  box,  which  happened  in  one  of  Japan's  biggest
cosmetics companies.  The  company  received  a complaint that a consumer
had bought a soap box that was empty.
Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line,
which  transported all  the  packaged  boxes  of  soap  to  the  delivery
department.  For  some  reason,  one soap  box  went  through  the assembly
line empty.
Management  asked  its  engineers  to  solve  the  problem.  Post-haste,
the  engineers worked  hard  to  devise  an  X-ray  machine  with  high-
resolution  monitors  manned  by two  people  to  watch  all  the  soap
boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty.
No  doubt,  they  worked  hard  and  they  worked  fast  but  they  spent
whoopee amount to do so. But when a workman was posed with the same
problem, did not get into complications  of  X-rays,  etc  but  instead
came  out  with  another solution.
He  bought  a  strong  industrial  electric  fan  and  pointed  it  at  the
assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan,
it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.
Moral of the story: Always look for simple solutions. Devise the simplest
possible solution that solves the problem. So, learn to focus on solutions
not on problems. "If you look at what you do not have in life, you don't
have anything; if you look at what you have in life, you have everything.

IBM`s Watson: 16 Things You May Not Know About Its Hardware Muscle

 

Watson—IBM’s Jeopardy-winning computer—showcased the refined capabilities of the computer giant’s technologically advanced, workload-optimized systems. During its three-night stretch on the TV game show, Watson ran on the latest IBM Power7technology, which can manage the most demanding applications, such as real-time analytics. While Watson’s QA (question-answering) technology was an IBM research breakthrough and will emerge into the market over time, Watson’s other IBM systems are commercially available and in use in companies worldwide today. For instance, the IBM Smart Analytics System contains components that are alive in Watson. The Smart Analytics System represents a high-performance, easy-to-maintain, component-based infrastructure that leverages pre-tuned and pre-integrated IBM hardware, software and storage capabilities to create business-changing insights. The IBM analytics “appliance” is but one of a wide variety of systems technologies that relate to Watson. This eWEEK slideshow takes a look at 16 things you may not know about the muscle behind Watson.

Power 750

Watson is powered by 10 racks of IBM Power 750 servers, all running the Linux operating system. The Power 750 is commercially available and is being used by customers around the world today.

Performance

Watson contains 15 terabytes of RAM and 2,870 processor cores. It can operate at 80 teraflops (80 trillion operations) per second.

Real Time

POWER7 has the computing power to process an enormous number of concurrent transactions and data while allowing for real-time analysis. This enables the massively parallel analytical capabilities Watson needs to match the speed at which Jeopardy contestants must decipher clues and provide accurate responses through analyzing subtle meaning, irony, riddles, and other complexities of natural language.

Data Store

The entire Watson data store resides in memory in order to achieve the sub-3-second response time needed for Jeopardy. The large memory support of Power systems enables the development of high-performance, workload-optimized applications. Watson was not connected to the Internet during Jeopardy—all the data was inside Watson, in memory.

Bandwidth

IBM's Power 750 servers have twice the amount of bandwidth than other commercially available systems, and include intelligent energy features that make Watson one of the most highly energy-efficient systems in its class.

Green Computing

To save energy, IBM's Power7 systems allow customers to power on and off various parts of the system or to dynamically increase or decrease processor clock speeds based on thermal conditions and system use. All that can be done on a single server or across a pool of multiple servers.

Energy Star

IBM’s Power7 systems are the first four-processor servers in the industry to qualify for the EPA’s Energy Star status. Energy Star is a U.S. government program that rates the energy efficiency of many products, including computers and other electronics.

Storage

Watson also includes IBM’s SONAS (Scale-out Network Attached Storage), a file system invented by IBM Research that in Watson includes a total of 21.6 terabytes of raw capacity. The actual size of the data Watson uses to generate answers is less than 1 TB.

Investment in Power

Over the past four years, IBM has invested $3.2 billion in Power systems, leading to a year-long rollout in 2010 of workload-optimized systems for the demands of emerging business models such as smart electrical grids, real-time analytics in financial markets and health care, mobile telecommunications and smarter traffic systems.

Tupperware

Retailer Tupperware Australia relies on Power7 for a Web-ordering system used by its 6,000-person sales force and 32 Australian and New Zealand distributors.

Other Power7 Customers

Financial customer GHY International, which offers customs brokerage services in the United States and Canada, and Russian pharmaceutical distributor Pro-Tek are both running on Power7 systems.

Education and Research

Rice University in Houston is using Power7 for a major cancer research project involving researchers working in locations around Texas. The system allows for multiple streams of information to be processed in real time so that teams of researchers in disparate locations are working off the latest information.

Data Explosion

IBM designed Power7 to meet the global data explosion. The amount of digital information that is being generated, stored, processed and analyzed each year is increasing at an exponential rate. IDC predicts that the total data volume will reach 35,000 exabytes in 2020, compared with 1,200 exabytes in 2010, representing a 29-fold increase in the next 10 years.

Many Cores

Power7 systems use more cores, or CPUs, and add more threads—or virtual cores, which are resources that manage computational tasks—per chip. Each new Power7 processor can now run 32 simultaneous tasks—with eight cores and four threads per core—quadruple the maximum number of cores of Power6 systems and eight times the number of threads per chip as Power6.

TurboCore

TurboCore mode, which is highly optimized for databases or other transaction-oriented workloads, provides more cache memory and memory bandwidth, and allows the clock speed of the chip to be increased. TurboCore mode can give financial benefit to customers, maximizing the return on investment from software by potentially cutting software costs in half for applications that are licensed per core, while increasing per-core performance of that software.

Intelligent Threads

Power7 technology features "Intelligent Threads" that can dynamically vary based on workload demand. With more threads, Power7 can deliver more total capacity as more tasks are accomplished in parallel, such as monitoring millions of individuals' household energy use by the minute in a smart grid.

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Flip Floppers: When Tech Execs Contradict Themselves

 

Doing an about-face on key issues: It's not just for politicians anymore. Tech honchos like Ellison, Schmidt and Ballmer do it from time to time -- even the mighty Steve Jobs is guilty.

Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt on privacy

"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. But if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines, including Google, do retain this information for some time. And we're all subject, in the U.S., to the Patriot Act, and it is possible that that information could be made available to the authorities."
-Dec. 2009

"The reason that you should trust us is that if we were to violate that trust people would move immediately to someone else. We're very non- sticky so we have a very high interest in maintaining the trust of those users."
-July 2010

Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz on Search

"Search will continue to be an integral part of the Yahoo user experience, and we will continue to integrate search throughout all our properties, and invest in making our user experience even better based on search functionality."
-July 2009, at the announcement of Yahoo's search partnership with Microsoft (MSFT)

"Search isn't what we're after ... I don't wake up in the morning and say 'Gosh, what am I going to search?' That's not what I do. I wake up and say, 'What's happening?' And that's really what Yahoo is."
-Sept. 2009

Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs on admitting mistakes

"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."

"This is life in the smartphone world. Phones aren't perfect. It's a challenge for the whole industry, and we're doing the best we can, but every phone has weak spots."
-July 2010, after waiting 22 days to admit (sort of) that Apple made mistakes in designing antennas for the iPhone 4.

Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison on cloud computing

"What the hell is cloud computing? I guess we'll make some 'cloud computing' announcements...I'm not going to fight this thing. I don't know what we'd do differently in the light of 'cloud computing' other than change the wording on some of our ads."
-Sept. 2008

"We believe the cloud is a platform where you run a wide variety of software ... it's a comprehensive development and execution environment that can run virtually ALL your applications."
-Sept. 2010, during Oracle OpenWorld keynote

Salesforce.com (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff on Oracle and Larry Ellison

"Where the world is going and where Larry [Ellison] is going are in conflict."
-Sept. 2009

"Larry is my mentor. They are a vendor to us. We have a great relationship with them."
-Dec. 2010

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on privacy

"We need to give people complete control over their information, which will actually enable more sharing ... Giving the control is what allows that sharing to take place."
-March 2008

"People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time ... and we decided that these would be the social norms now and we just went for it."
-January 2010, on Facebook's decision to make user information public by default.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on the iPhone and Windows Phone 7

"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 70 percent of them, than I would to have 2 or 3 percent, which is what Apple might get."
-April, 2007

"We were ahead of this game and now we find ourselves number five in the market ... We missed a whole cycle."
-June 2010, discussing Windows Mobile

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Eight Strange Tales of Business Travel

 

Business travel generates more than its share of war stories and funny tales. A certain spirit of abandonment – not to mention an abundance of certain spirits – often leads to oddball behavior. Careerbuilder surveyed workers to uncover some of their best weird travel tales. The report arrives as business travel seems to be making a comeback; after 37% of companies reported that travel cutbacks hurt business last year, 88% say they either will maintain or increase the current level of trips this year. That said, one-third of these organizations still say they're restricting associated expenses, such as entertainment budgets. "Business travel lets companies stay connected with clients and employees across the globe," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. "Some companies are revisiting their policies, though, to ensure they're maximizing the effectiveness of their business travel initiatives." Nearly 2,500 U.S. employers and more than 3,900 workers took part in the survey.

Too Much Local Color
“Our plane was stormed by the Columbian military, thinking there was a drug lord on board.”

Sights Best Unseen
“A naked guy tried getting in my cab in Indonesia.”

False Alarm
“A drunken passenger next to me insisted my headphones were a bomb.”

Tough Way to Earn Miles
“A woman gave birth on the flight.”

A Compliment in Some Cultures
“A client mooned the plane.”

Could Have Happened in the Office
“A manager punched a co-worker on the plane.”

Jet Lagged
“I fell asleep in the airplane restroom.”

Happens All the Time
“After waking up in a hotel, I walked into the hallway instead of the restroom in my underwear. Got locked out.”

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25 Fast Facts About Twitter in the Workplace

 

Twitter devotees are taking over the workplace, 140 characters at a time. The wildly popular microblogging site with the funny name and the celebrity cred has gone from curiosity to the mainstream in just a couple of years, and these days it's about much more than keeping up with the latest from Ashton and Kanye. Tweeting has made it easy for workers to update colleagues, partners, and customers about the latest marketing campaigns, hiring happenings and other important company messages. Twitter also provides companies with an invaluable tool for listening to customers as they talk back and talk amongst themselves. And, of course, just as many workers use the company phone to organize their personal lives while in the office, people go beyond updating business communications to share social-life trivia with friends and family. How companies respond to that split reality is an emerging science, but there is no doubt that bite-sized messaging has a business impact that can not be ignored.

1. Dell reported that Twitter promotions helped it sell $6.5 million in gear last year.

2. New Orleans-based pizza chain Naked Pizza brought in 15% of its business from an exclusive-to-Twitter promotion in April.

3. 51% of active Twitter users follow companies, brands or products on social networks.

4. 8% of tweets involve advertising, product recommendations or complaints.

5. 69% of respondents to a McKinsey survey say their companies have gained measurable business benefits from social technologies.

6. 81% of marketers using social media said it generates more exposure for their business

7. An MIT survey found that employees with the most extensive personal networks are 7% more productive than their counterparts.

8. 54% of companies block employee access to Twitter.

9. 57% of workers who use Twitter spend at least 40 minutes per week on the site.

10. 65% of the Fortune 100 use Twitter to communicate with customers and stakeholders.

11. 82% of companies with a Twitter account tweet company news in an average week, with an average of 27 tweets per week.

12. 38% of companies with Twitter accounts respond to others' tweets in a given week; 32% retweet during an average week.

13. Fortune 100 companies have an average of 1,489 followers on their Twitter accounts, and typically follow an average of 731 accounts.

14. Twitter users tweet about 42% of the Fortune 100 companies with Twitter accounts.

15. 180 million unique visitors come to the Twitter site every month; 300,000 new users sign up for Twitter each day.

16. 5% of Americans were aware of Twitter in 2008, compared to 87% in 2010.

17. More than half of Twitter users are under the age of 45.

18. 46% of financial advisors want to harness Twitter for client acquisition.

19. 50% of marketers use social media of some kind.

20. Twitter's search engine processes about 600 million queries a day.

21. 75% of Twitter traffic comes in through third-party applications.

22. 37% of Twitter's active users tweet from their phones.

23. 60% of all tweets come from third-party applications, of which there are some 70,000.

24. Tuesday and Wednesday are the busiest days of the week for announcements via Twitter.

25. English is used by 61% of Twitter users, making it the most common language on the service; Portuguese is second, at 11%.

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Five Things Your Dog Can Teach You About Business

 

One of the few things you can count on in business is change. Another thing you can count on is experts who tell you how to deal with change. Penelope Wong and Suzanne Peck, authors of Ruff: A Lost Dog Tale, think they’ve found a best-of-breed approach to dealing with it. (Yes, that was a dog-related pun. There will be more. Sorry.) Wong and Peck believe that we can look to our canine cohorts to learn how to cope with the chaos we encounter in our work and personal lives. Now, there are many things about my dog I would love to emulate, sleeping all day anywhere she wants being prime among them. Loyalty and the ability to keep a secret also number among her virtues. I have not, however, noticed that she deals all that well with change. Move her bed or lose her chew toy and she is not a happy puppy, so I’m not sure how she’d respond to the stresses of a corporate environment. Wong and Peck have more well-adjusted animals, I guess. Check out their “Five Great Strategies for Dealing With Change.”

1. Sniff Out the Situation
Gnaw on the complexities of the change at hand and consider different strategies before jumping to a solution.

2. Perk Up Your Ears
Listen to people with different backgrounds (and maybe at higher frequencies) to get unstuck in your thinking.

3. Take a Bite
Experience the new -- even one little chew can open up a whole new world of possibilities.

4. Speak!
Look at the changing situation through others’ eyes and frame your response to support their priorities.

5. Aim For Best in Show
Focus on a positive outcome and use others’ unique strengths to make the change a winning experience for all.

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10 Trends That Will Change Your Workplace

 

What changes are coming to your workplace? More accountability for major goals. Greater productivity demands. And better pay increases and job opportunities. That’s the forecast derived from a new survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), which examines key demographic and workplace shifts expected for the upcoming year, as well as responses by organizations with respect to work demands, benefits and overall policies. Two major developments are expected to have a huge impact: the exodus of Baby Boomers from organizations, and the rising cost of health-care coverage. These issues, along with the continued comeback from the Great Recession, “appear likely to have an important impact on the workplace and HR profession in the years ahead,” according to the report. With Boomers departing, the Millennial generation grows in importance, requiring companies to focus on training managers to resolve differences related to generational divides. More than 1,240 HR professionals took part in the survey, which can be found here.

 

1. Top Demographic Trends
   — Boomers leaving workplace (major impact cited by 64% surveyed)
   — Global shortage of skilled workers (57%)
   — Increases in chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, etc. (50%)
2. 85% of HR pros say their organizations will increase expectations of workers' productivity in 2011.
3. 67% of HR execs say they will increase use of non-cash rewards such as flex time and learning opportunities in 2011.
4. 63% of these organizations will increase the size of the overall workforce in 2011.
5. 63% of HR pros say their organizations will increase wages in 2011.
6. 60% of these companies will increase employee health co-pays in 2011.
7. 80% of HR professionals say they will implement wellness programs for employees in 2011.
8. 78% of HR execs say they will move to protect employees and customer data from ID theft in 2011.
9. 75% of HR pros say they will invest more in employee training/development in 2011; 59% will train line managers to respond to generational differences.
10. 72% of HR execs say they will increase their role in promoting corporate ethics in 2011.

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Apple iPad 2 review

The best tablet on the planet just got better

12 months ago, the Apple iPad swaggered onto the stage creating a totally new gadget category, that changed the way we thought about tablets forever. In the year that followed it became Gadget of the Year at the T3 Awards 2010 and probably the most iconic gadget on the planet.

This “post PC” device single-handedly re-shaped our expectations expect on how we wish to receive content, has potentially rejuvenated the entire publishing industry.

Now, as competitors from the Android, RIM and WebOS, tug on its cape, eager to fly alongside the iPad, Apple is back with an improved device offering a streamlined design and more power. All for the same pretty reasonable price.

Can the iPad 2 pull further away from the chasing pack, and does it do enough to tempt first-gen owners into an upgrade? T3 tested the 32GB WiFi version to find out.

Apple iPad 2 Design and build

Lifting the iPad 2 out of the box, you almost feel like you’re handling Grandma’s best china, such is the skinniness of the 8.8mm frame. Remarkably though, the tablet retains a very sturdy feel. It’s not the least bit fragile and there’s zero flexibility. It’s a piece of engineering that defies physics.

The weight has also dropped. At 601g (for the WiFi version) the tablet has shed 15 per cent of its body mass. Big deal, you say, but you will notice the difference. It’s still not Kindle-light though, and we still found the one-handed grip uncomfortable.
The design itself has evolved with the edges now rounded like an iPod Touch. While it looks better and is less bulky, the thinner edges actually make it more difficult to keep a steady hand. You also have to adopt an awkward reach-around approach to access the volume and screen switches.

Apple iPad 2 Screen

While we were blown away by the original iPad’s 9.7-inch 1024x768 LED-backlit display, we were hoping this would bring a version of its iPhone 4 Retina Screen. Now it hasn’t, we’re a little disappointed.

While indoor performance is still great and colours are truly vivid for gaming, photos and videos, in the post-Retina Screen world, text still isn’t quite as crisp as we’d like and it’s still pretty useless in sunlight. It also attracts a lot of finger marks. Lets hope an improved screen comes on any iPad 3 next year.

Apple iPad 2 iOS 4.3

Beyond the design refresh, the iPad 2 comes packing the new iOS 4.3 operating system. You get the usual folders, multitasking, Airplay and customisable screens, but those rocking 3G can now make their tablet a Wi-Fi hotspot for four other mobile devices. iTunes Home Sharing, another addition, offers a seamless liberation of your entire music library over Wi-Fi, with one-touch.

The new OS also allows you to customise the side switch to either mute the device or lock the screen. It’s a handy bonus, but by no means earth shattering.

Apple iPad 2 Processor and graphics

A quantifiable improvement comes with the new dual core 1GHz Apple A5 processor, replacing the A4 by offering twice the power. If you thought this thing was nifty before, then wait until you get a hold of the iPad 2.

Such is the speed of response when you touch the screen that you’ll think ‘did I even touch that yet?’ It almost pre-empts your commands. The T3 iPad Edition opens instantly, while images render much faster than before. The heftier apps, like the new GarageBand (an essential download, the highlight of which is the different response from piano keys depending on the sensitivity of your touch - enabled by the accelerometer and a huge leap forward) still take a short while to open, but not noticeably so.

T3.com loads and renders quickly over Wi-Fi, while pinch-to-zoom re-formatting is definitely quicker. YouTube performance is great, while downloading music, movies and podcasts is rapid.

Apple also promised a nine-fold improvement in the graphics department. We tested this claim with EA’s Dead Space, which specifically advertised an iPad 2 upgrade. It looks phenomenal, almost PS3 and Xbox 360-esque, while the fast-paced monster-slaying action was slick and judder-free. You feel we’ve only just scratched the surface here.

Apple iPad 2 Cameras

Of course the other change comes with the addition of cameras. FaceTime video calling is now available for iPad and while the quality won’t blow you away it does the job. The rear-facing camera is passable, offering decent snaps in good conditions, but drab colours and limited detail the rest of the time. It’s nowhere near as good as the iPhone 4’s excellent 5-megapixel offering.

There’s 720p video recording on board, which comes in really handy for the brilliant iMovie app, but the iPad 2 has to be the most ridiculously shaped video camera of all time. Are you really going to use it in public?

Apple iPad 2 Smart Covers

When we first saw the Smart Covers opinion on the T3 team was split as to the usefulness. A lot was made about these new flimsy, bendy covers and they do work pretty well, folding like origami to offer appropriate stances for watching video and typing, while the magnet clings stubbornly to the chassis. It will help your battery by putting the device to sleep whenever closed, but they’re expensive (from$39) and offer no protection for the back of your iPad. If you drop it, Smart Cover won’t save it. We’d take a look at what other manufacturers - like Griffin - come up with before buying.

Apple iPad 2 Battery

In terms of battery life, we got around 6 hours of near-solid Wi-Fi surfing, downloading apps and playing games, which is very respectable. The extra processing power doesn’t seem to be provide any supplemental drain on the battery.

Apple iPad 2 Verdict

Admittedly, the iPad 2 is more of an evolutionary step for Apple, akin to the jump from iPhone 3 to 3GS. If you already own an iPad then you’re not missing out too much by waiting for the next iteration before you upgrade. If you held off from buying over the last 12 months, then the iPad 2 is a brilliant reward for your patience. Get out and buy it.

It's taken nearly a year since the launch of the first iPad for any manufacturers to come close to creating a tablet that can rival it. Even then, those that look promising like the Motorola Xoom run such an early OS (in Android 3.0) it will be a while before they can rival the iPad in terms of apps.  With the Blackberry Playbook, HTC Flyer, LG Optimus Pad and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 all to come, the tablet market looks really exciting over the next few months. And with its mind-blowing new build, new cameras and improvements in the engine room, coupled with the unmatched App Store/iTunes/iOS ecosystem the next-gen iPad is clearly the tablet to beat.

Apple iPad 2 launch date: UK March 25th, link Apple

Apple iPad 2 price: UK TBC, but in the US it is the same as its predecessor, so expect to pay £429 for 16GB, £499 for 32Gb and £599 for 64GB for the WiFi-only version.

Apple iPad 2 Specifications:

• OS: Apple iOS 4.3
• Screen: 9.7-inch, 1024x768 multi-touch
• Processor: 1Ghz dual-core Apple A5
• Storage: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB
• Camera: Front and rear megapixel not quoted
• Video: 720p front, VGA rear
• Battery: 10 hours web use
• Connections: Bluetooth 2.1, N WiFi, Apple jack, 3.5mm jack, A-GPS
• Dimensions/Weight: 241x186x88mm/601g

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Software Updates

Digsby Beta (build 88)

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 10:35 PM PST

Digsby provides you with IM, email and Social networks in one easy to use application.

Windows 7 Codecs 2.7.7

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 09:46 PM PST

All the codecs you need for Windows 7 to play AVIs, DVDs and more!

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Why Microsoft Should Fear Google Chrome OS: 10 Reasons

Recently, Microsoft released Windows 7 Service Pack 1, an update that delivers some better stability and important fixes to the latest in the long line of operating systems from the software giant. The update will likely be one of many service packs that will be made available to Windows 7. The launch of the service pack, however, causes some to think about Microsoft’s strategy in the operating-system space. The company is still heavily invested in desktop, offline software. And by the looks of things, especially with all the talk surrounding Windows 8, that won’t change anytime soon. Meanwhile, Google is preparing for the launch of Chrome OS, its cloud-based operating system that it believes, can deliver a new (and viable) experience for consumers who are looking for a little something different than Windows. It’s easy to see Google’s point. Chrome OS looks to be a promising addition to the operating-system market. And it could very well take a bite out of Windows market share eventually. Here's why Microsoft should fear Chrome OS.

1. It’s A Good Idea
   If nothing else, Google’s Chrome OS platform is a good idea. As more and more consumers start accessing the Web for their many needs, it only makes sense than operating system would bridge the gap between their offline efforts and their Web practices. Chrome OS might not be ground-breaking, but it’s undoubtedly an evolutionary upgrade that makes quite a bit of sense over desktop alternatives.
2. Google Has Done Well Elsewhere
   Microsoft might feel that its positioning in the enterprise and consumer markets is intact and it has nothing to fear. But it doesn’t have far to look to see that Google is quite capable of taking Microsoft down. The search giant did so online and it practically dismantled Microsoft’s operation in the mobile market. What’s to stop Google from doing the same in the OS space where it has a unique product to compete with Windows?
3. Windows Isn’t Everyone’s Favorite
   Not long ago, many believed that few things—if anything—could stop the Windows juggernaut. The operating system was simply too popular in the enterprise and consumer spaces for it not to dominate. But then Windows Vista came along. And when that happened, consumers, enterprise customers, and even vendors turned their backs on Microsoft. Windows 7 has helped revive Microsoft’s business. But the memory of Vista is still fresh.
4. It’s Probably the Future
   It’s hard to say what the next 10 to 15 years in the operating-system market will look like. But it’s quite possible that the space will be dominated by cloud-based platforms. As mentioned, the Web is integral to the experience of computing today. Realizing that, it would only make sense for Web-based operating systems to gain popularity over time. And the longer it takes Microsoft to realize what Google already has, the worse it will be for the software giant.
5. It Doesn’t Have A Real Response
   Microsoft has Azure, which could be central to its future plans in the cloud, but it’s hard to point to a single solution that can compete on the same exact level as Google Chrome OS. Microsoft is still focused on the desktop market. And it doesn’t look like that will change at any point in the near future. The longer Microsoft remains obstinate in the face of Chrome OS, the worse it will be over the long haul.
6. It Doesn’t Have A Dominant Cash Lead
   Whenever Microsoft has faced serious competitors in the past, the company has used its financial muscle to beat them. But it can’t do that this time with Google. Like Microsoft, Google is sitting on a cash cow. And it has the money it needs to invest in technologies that will help Chrome OS fight it out with Windows. That’s a problem for Microsoft. And it should scare the software company.
7. Consumers Choose Google
   Microsoft isn’t the most well-liked company in the consumer space. It’s still viewed by some as a firm that caters more to enterprise customers and fails to see the changing times the way companies like Apple or Google do. Whether or not that’s the case is up for debate. But until Microsoft can prove that it can think about consumers and deliver a Web-based operating system, the harder it will be for the company to take on Google and Chrome OS.
8. The Waiting Game
   One of the biggest mistakes Microsoft has made in response to Chrome OS is to basically ignore it. The company hasn’t come out with something that it can point to and say that the specific product will take Google on. Instead, it has largely ignored the cloud-OS space. But the longer it waits to respond, the worse it will be for Microsoft. Although Chrome OS hasn’t been sold to a single customer, time is of the essence. And Microsoft can’t forget that.
9. It’s Not Mac OS X
   There’s a general feeling in Redmond, it seems, that Chrome OS will turn out like Mac OS X—a fine operating system that few people actually use. But perhaps that’s a bit short-sighted. For one, Google has the ability to target more of the mainstream than Apple. And unlike Apple, Google is obsessed with taking Microsoft down. Admittedly, it would take a long time for Google to supplant Microsoft as the leader in the OS market. But tossing Chrome OS aside as a wannabe is a big mistake on Microsoft’s part.
10. It Isn’t Linux Either
    Microsoft would do well to not believe that Chrome OS is just another Linux, as well. Unlike Linux, Chrome OS looks to have the full support of many vendors that have traditionally only worked with Microsoft and Windows. That alone makes it a threat to Microsoft. And that alone should give Microsoft enough concern to think twice about ignoring the impact Chrome OS might have on its operation.

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10 Promising Non-Apple iPad Tablets to Hit Store Shelves In 2011

 

In 2010, the tablet space was dominated by a single company: Apple. The firm’s iPad was the most recognizable and worthwhile tablet in the space. The vast majority of consumers realized that it was better than any other device on the market. Admittedly, it wasn’t a difficult decision. The Dell Streak featured a 5-inch display and an out-dated version of Android. The JooJoo tablet came from an unknown company with a short past. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, while arguably the best iPad alternative, was running Android 2.2, which Google itself said wasn’t ready for tablets. But 2011 will be a different story altogether. The iPad will continue to be the tablet to beat this year, but several companies, including LG, Acer and Motorola, among others, will be entering the space this year. Any one of them could very well deliver an experience that customers had been hoping for last year. Those who are interested in learning a bit more about those tablets should click through the following slides. The upcoming tablets won’t carry the Apple logo, but they could be the best alternatives to the iPad for any customer.

Motorola Xoom

The Motorola Xoom is arguably one of the most anticipated tablets to be released this year. The tablet comes with a 10.1-inch display, supports video conferencing, thanks to a front-facing camera, and has a dual-core processor. The device is running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the best tablet-ready operating system Google has ever released. Excitement is running rampant on this one. And at $799 for a 3G version that’s upgradable to 4G, it’s understandable.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

The Samsung Galaxy Tab has been the most popular Android tablet yet. But now it’s being updated with a 10.1-inch display, a 1GHz dual-core processor, and support for HSPA+. Perhaps most importantly, it’ll be running Android 3.0 Honeycomb when it launches later this year. The tablet is shaping up to be the device that the Samsung Galaxy Tab should have been.

LG Optimus Pad

The LG Optimus Pad is one of the more exciting tablet announcements this year. The device features an 8.9-inch display, and like many of the others in the market, will ship with Android 3.0 Honeycomb. But its key feature is 3D support. Users will be able to view 3D content on the device and 3D video can be shared with 3DTVs. The device is expected to retail for about $800 when it ships later this year.

HTC Flyer

The HTC Flyer could find itself lost among the many larger tablets that will be made available this year. The device will come with a 7-inch display and feature a 1.5GHz processor. In addition, it offers a 3D home screen. HTC is trying to position the Flyer as a top investment for enterprise customers that want to be more mobile. But by the looks of things, it might be best-suited for consumers looking for a slimmer option than some of the bulkier tablets on the market. Expect the Flyer to hit store shelves in the second quarter.

Acer Iconia Tab A500

The Acer Iconia Tab A500’s name is a bit of a mouthful, but the device promises to pack quite a punch. It will feature a 10.1-inch display when it launches and offer the ability for users to play video games in HD as well as 3D titles from the Web. It comes with the dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra processor and will support access to Verizon’s 4G network. The tablet should be running Android 3.0 Honeycomb when it launches in April for an undisclosed price.

RIM BlackBerry PlayBook

The RIM BlackBerry PlayBook is designed with enterprise customers in mind. The device runs RIM’s new BlackBerry Tablet OS made by QNX Software, the company it acquired last year. The device comes with a 7-inch display and will be able to connect to 4G networks. It will support video conferencing and BlackBerry Enterprise Server to help the device appeal more to corporate customers. It’s expected to launch in March or April.

Cisco Cius

The upcoming Cisco Cius, which is scheduled to be made available later this year, is another tablet designed with enterprise customers in mind. It will run Android 2.2 and feature a 7-inch display. Cisco said that its tablet will ship with 3G connectivity, but 4G connectivity is “planned.” In addition, the device is designed to be integrated into existing Cisco products in the enterprise. By the looks of things, the Cius could very well be the device IT decision-makers could be looking for.

Dell Streak 10

Dell has been relatively tight-lipped about the Streak 10, but the company has revealed that the device will be running Android 3.0 Honeycomb and come with a 10.1-inch display. The company says it will be made available sometime this year, but it hasn’t revealed any pricing. Whether the Streak 10 will be able to perform better than last year’s Streak 5 or this year’s Streak 7 remains to be seen.

HP TouchPad

The HP TouchPad is one of the most anticipated tablets expected to hit store shelves this year. The tablet runs webOS and comes with a 9.7-inch display, like the iPad. The device will ship with WiFi connectivity and offer either 16GB or 32GB worth of storage, depending on the model customers choose. The tablet also will integrate well with the company’s upcoming Pre 3 smartphone, allowing customers to answer calls and receive text messages by simply connecting the two devices. The tablet will ship this summer.

Unnamed Toshiba Tablet

Toshiba has been quite tight-lipped about its upcoming tablet. The company hasn’t even revealed the name for it yet. But what it did show off has been quite impressive. The device will come with Android 3.0 Honeycomb and feature a 16:10 720p HD 10.1-inch display. The device also runs Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor and comes with both a front- and rear-facing camera. Perhaps most importantly, for enterprise customers especially, it comes with a replaceable battery.

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Apple iPhone 5 Design: 10 Hot Features We Expect to See

Apple and Verizon Wireless offered another sweet piece of the Apple mobile pie when they announced the iPhone 4 would be coming to the Verizon network Feb. 10. But iPhone fans are already counting down the days to the usual June unveiling of the next-generation iPhone. No official details are available yet, though media reports are beginning to zero in on some of the features the new device and platform are expected to have. One item we believe you can count on as sure as the night is dark is that the next iPhone will include Near-Field Communication capabilities. NFC is the short-range wireless communications technology that enables wireless phones to communicate with sensors in posters, signs and even point-of-sale contact terminals. In other words, such technology will make the iPhone an electronic wallet. Expect the iPhone 5 to include a chip and for iOS5 to include an NFC controller software stack homegrown and patented by Apple. But there will be more, lots more. In this slide show, eWEEK speculates on a bunch of other new features for the iPhone 5 this summer.

Near-Field Communication

Apple hired Near-Field Communication expert Benjamin Vigier and filed several NFC patents. One of those is for mobile payments, which is one of the core functions Google CEO Eric Schmidt touted for the NFC-enabled Android 2.3 build on the Samsung Nexus Slast month. The combination of the iPhone with mobile payments is an Apple-lover's dream. That dream should come true in June. There are more details on iPhone NFC onBloomberg News.

CDMA/GSM Chip

Some Apple watchers believe Kinsus Interconnect Technology will provide silicon for the iPhone 5's new Qualcomm baseband chip, a CDMA/GSM chip geared to for European countries where Code Division Multiple Access is not supported.

A5 Processor

This is a new generation of phone we're talking about, so we also expect the iPhone 5 will be powered by Apple's new A5 processor, built on ARM's Cortex A9 architecture.

FaceTime 3G

Rumors also indicate that a 3G-enabled FaceTime will come with iPhone 5, ensuring smoother video transmission for the video-chat application.

Media Stream

The iPhone 5 may support Media Stream, a photo-gallery feature that's appeared in code for the iOS 4.3 beta 2. The perk appears to let users invite other users to view pictures as they are taken and uploaded to a service. The 9-to-5 Mac Apple intelligence site offersthis proof.

Redesigned Hardware?

Engadget believes the iPhone 5 will be completely overhauled from a hardware standpoint, which is impressive considering the high bar Apple CEO Steve Jobs and his team have set with the iPhone 4 and previous versions.

Redesigned Antenna

Late in 2010, eWEEK's Nicholas Kolakowski nailed this one as a potential improvement. After the hilarious Antenna Gate fiasco saw the iPhone 4 drop calls everywhere, he believes Apple's iPhone 5 should offer a working antenna. Then Antenna Guy dissects theiPhone's antenna location.

Serious Intelligence

One thing Google has been doing of late is boosting the intelligence of its voice commands. Last year Apple added voice actions to let users call up a business listing from their Android handset by speaking into the phone. Apple bought Siri last April. Siri’s AI capabilities never made it into the iPhone 4, so we expect Apple will add the capability in the iPhone 5 this summer.

A Rival to Google Goggles

Apple in September picked up Polar Rose, which makes facial-recognition software that Apple could leverage in its new iPhone. This application would go where Google's Goggles application, which searches 2-D images only for now, currently doesn't.

LaLa

We want to see the cloud-based iTunes service! Apple bought Web-based music service LaLa in December 2009. But we still haven't seen the fruits of that deal. ReadWriteWebexpects to see a streaming service leveraging LaLa technology for the iPhone 5. We agree.

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Adobe Labs: The 10 Hottest Projects in the Works

Adobe Labs is the home for experimental and early-stage projects where developers and designers can experience and evaluate new and emerging innovations, technologies and products from Adobe engineers. Adobe Labs fosters a collaborative software development process, allowing users to become productive with new products and technologies faster and allowing the Adobe development teams to respond and react to early feedback to shape the software to meet the needs and expectations of the community. At Adobe Labs, visitors get access to resources such as pre release software and technologies; code samples and best practices to accelerate the users' learning curve; early versions of product and technical documentation; and forums, wiki-based content and other collaborative resources to help them interact with other developers and Adobe. Recently Adobe came up with a new Flash-to-HTML5 tool, known as "Wallaby," that enables Flash developers to build apps with greater reach. Adobe introduced Wallaby in a demo at the Adobe MAX 2010 conference in October and released it on the Adobe Labs site March 8 as an experimental technology for developers to try out. Adobe customers called for a closer look at the technology following that MAX demo. Wallaby is an Adobe AIR application that allows designers and developers to convert Adobe Flash Professional files into HTML5 with a simple drag and drop of the mouse, quickly expanding the distribution of creative content across platforms.

Adobe AIR Launchpad

Adobe AIR Launchpad beta is a new desktop tool that helps Adobe Flex developers get started building desktop and mobile applications deployed on Adobe AIR.

Packager for iPhone

The Packager for iPhone, a feature of Adobe Flash Professional CS5 software and the Adobe AIR SDK 2.0.1, offers Flash developers a fast and efficient method to reuse existing code from ActionScript 3 projects to deliver iOS applications for devices, including the iPhone.

ColdFusion Builder 2

ColdFusion Builder 2 is the second generation of the Eclipse-based IDE for ColdFusion application development. This public beta release provides developers with the opportunity to test-drive new code editing and customization features, try out or create community extensions, or support existing applications.

Flash Builder 'Burrito'

The Adobe Flash Builder preview release is code-named "Burrito." The preview release introduces new cross-platform development features and enhancements to Flash Builder and provides support for the preview release of the Adobe Flex SDK, code-named "Hero."

Flash Catalyst 'Panini'

The next version of Adobe Flash Catalyst is code-named "Panini." With Panini, software designers can leverage their skills with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Fireworks to rapidly prototype user interfaces for Flex-based Websites and applications, and collaborate intelligently with developers who use Adobe Flash Builder software. In addition, static artwork can be transformed into interactive projects for the Web or for Websites and applications, all without writing code.

Flex SDK 'Hero'

The Adobe Flex SDK preview release is code-named "Hero." The preview release introduces new support for mobile Flex application development, expands and refines Spark components, and includes some great improvements for large Web application development. The easiest way to explore the new features included in Hero is to use the Adobe Flash Builder "Burrito" preview release.

Flash Player 10.3

Flash Player 10.3 for Windows, Mac and Linux introduces new developer features and enhanced user privacy protection, such as media measurement, acoustic echo cancellation, integration with browser privacy control for local storage, native control panel and auto-update notification for Mac OS.

Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash Player Incubator

The Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash Player Incubator is a technology preview program for more adventurous developers who are willing to experiment with Flash Platform run-time features that are in early development stages.

'Wallaby'

"Wallaby" is the code name for an experimental technology that converts the artwork and animation contained in Adobe Flash Professional files into HTML. This allows developers to reuse and extend the reach of their content to devices that do not support the Flash run-times.

LiveCycle Mosaic ES2 Plug-in for Flash Builder 4

The pre release of the Adobe LiveCycle Mosaic ES2 plug-in for Adobe Flash Builder 4 enables developers to quickly and easily build and debug Mosaic tiles. The plug-in provides tooling support that extends the Flash Builder 4 development environment to support creation and debugging of Mosaic Tiles. The plug-in is part of an overall RIA tooling vision, to enable engineers to rapidly design and develop solutions/applications for their enterprise.

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Discovery Landing Ends Storied Chapter in NASA History

NASA moved one step closer to the end of an illustrious era of spaceflight when space shuttle Discovery touched down for the last time at Kennedy Space Center on March 9. Discovery and its six-member crew delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station. STS-133 was Discovery’s 39th and final mission. This was the 133rd space shuttle program mission and the 35th shuttle voyage to the ISS. Discovery has flown more missions than any other shuttle—more than any other spacecraft, in fact. After 38 missions to date, and more than 5,600 trips around the Earth, Discovery has carried satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit and sent the Ulysses robotic probe on its way to the sun. It was the first shuttle to rendezvous with the Russian Mir Space Station, and it delivered the Japanese Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. "The shuttle has provided an amazing capacity for this country to gather data," said Bryan Lunney, lead space shuttle flight director for the mission. "This chapter in our space history known as the space shuttle has been incredible."

Discovery Touchdown

With its drag chute unfurled, space shuttle Discovery rolls down Runway 15 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Entering Orbiter Processing

Discovery enters Orbiter Processing Facility-2 during a move called "towback." The shuttle landed safely on March 9 just before noon.

Pulling to a Stop

The shuttle’s towback vehicle slowly pulls the spacecraft into Orbiter Processing Facility-2.

Flanked by Followers

A purge unit that pumps conditioned air into a shuttle after landing is connected to Discovery’s aft end and additional landing convoy vehicles follow closely behind.

Waiting to Exhale

Inside Discovery, the STS-133 crewmembers prepare to exit the spacecraft after landing safely on the shuttle’s last mission.

Ready to Exit

The crew transport vehicle pulls up to Discovery on the Shuttle Landing Facility’s Runway 15.

Shimmering Shuttle

Discovery appears to be a mirage as it coasts down the runway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after landing just before noon.

Inspecting the Underside

Bob Cabana, director of the Kennedy Space Center, checks out the underside of Discovery following its final return from space.

Homecoming Photo

The STS-133 crew poses for a photo in front of the space shuttle after landing.

Leading Them On

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden escorts the STS-133 crew to media representatives waiting on the Shuttle Landing Facility.

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