Latest News from Apple Life Magazine

Apple in Settlement Talks with Proview over iPad Mark

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:15:00 EDT

Apple has made an offer to resolve the imbroglio over the Chinese iPad trademark according to Roger Xie, a lawyer representing the Proview Technology (Shenzhen), the bankrupt company that claims the mark wasn’t included in the rights Apple acquired from a sister company in 2009. Whatever amount Apple’s offered it apparently isn’t enough to satisfy Proview, which owes $400 million to Chinese banks. Apple has been under pressure from a Chinese appeals court to settle but has been reluctant to sit down. It is believed the court could uphold a lower court’s decision that Proview owns the trademark.

Can You See Apple in a Tooth Fairy Tutu?

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EDT

The Guangdong High Court in southern China that heard Apple’s appeal of a lower court decision awarding ownership of the iPad trademark in China to Proview Technology (Shenzhen), the financially desperate Chinese display maker that ostensibly sold Apple the trademark, is now reportedly trying to mediate a settlement between the two. Despite claims to the contrary, it’s unclear whether Apple is actually considering settling knowing full well it’s expected to buy its way out of a predicament it believes it’s on the right side of for some sky-high sum. Apple won’t say anything about it while Proview booster Ma Dongxiao, its chatty public-facing lawyer, claimed last week that “I don’t know if Apple has changed its attitude, but I believe that the key point now is the price.” (Yes, well then Apple’s attitude would have to have changed now wouldn’t it.)

Apple Bubble Swells and Swells

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 05:00:00 EDT

Apple is having a heady time on Wall Street. Its stock pushed past $630 for a while Tuesday morning after its ax Gene Muster, the respected Piper Jaffray analyst recognized as having the most clout in the stock, pushed his 12-month price target from $718 to $910 a share. His call, which said Apple could go to a thousand bucks or better in 2014 and make Apple the first trillion dollar stock in history, came a day after Brian White, a “who’s he ?” analyst with Topeka Securities, thinking Apple TV and China, said Apple’s good for $1,001.

Cross-Platform Hybrid Mobile Application Development

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 05:00:00 EDT

Hybrid tools try to resolve the debate of … “Should you write a mobile web application which will render on multiple platforms without significant change but won’t be able to take advantage on native features?” Or “Should you create platform specific native application to fully utilize the power of the device but increase your effort?” The basic premise of hybrid approach is that you can have your cake and eat it to. In this approach you use the browser control and create a shell application which is then used to render HTML pages. Since most of the popular phone browsers are Webkit based (Microsoft is an exception), they are expected to have similar behavior making you task simpler. To access the native features of the handset, you need to create APIs in the shell application which can be invoked through JavaScript coding. The tools and frameworks are expected to provide the shell applications and the APIs for different platforms.

The Cloud 300

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:14:00 EDT

Okay, so it’s a few more than 300. What can I tell you? The segment is growing by leaps and bounds. The question remains, who is gaining mind share in the 1st quarter of 2012? So let's take a look at the Top Cloud Enablers Gaining Mind Share, and The Leaderboard (Cloud Innovators, Movers and Shakers). Large enterprise IT companies continue their rapid restructuring to an on-demand cloud compute model enhancing their portfolios with Cloud acquisitions. Here is a snapshot of 2012 acquisitions and the most recent changes to the rankings since 3Q2011 (followed by 2011 and 2010 acquisitions).

Windows 8 - Microsoft's Big Gamble

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:00:00 EST

You may be thinking how a failure can be a game changer. Yes, it is easy to understand that if Windows 8 succeeds then the tablet and smart phone computing would be changed forever, but how can it change the game by failing? Well – if Windows 8 fails then it would be an official endorsement of the end of an era – the era of the supremacy of the personal computer. Some of you would argue that the era has already ended and the failure of Windows 8 is already a foregone conclusion. But, you will probably be in the minority. Others may argue that every alternate version of Windows release has been a failure and even if Windows 8 fail (like Vista), we will still have Windows 9 which will be a success (like Windows 7). However, I think the situation is different now.

FLA Reports What It Saw in Apple Plants in China

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:00:00 EDT

The Fair Labor Association (FLA), which Apple hired to look into working conditions at Foxconn plants in China a few months ago, said late Thursday that it had interviewed 35,000 workers and found no instances of child labor or forced labor. What it did find was people working an unsafe 60 hours or more a week in violation of even China’s labor laws (49 hours) to make “quick money.” Foxconn has reportedly pledged to reduce overtime and hire and house tens of thousands more people by July of 2013, which the FLA called “an unprecedented commitment.” Workers weren’t always paid fairly for the overtime and 64% of the workers said the basic wage of a few hundred dollars a month was insufficient although more than the Chinese minimum wage.

Apple Reportedly Conciliatory (Don’t Bet on It)

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:30:00 EDT

Its lawyers having wracked up mixed results seeking injunctions, Apple is supposedly ready to go back on its late chief Steve Jobs’ blood oath to wage “thermonuclear war” on Android for copying Apple’s widgetry and settle some of the legion of infringement suits it has filed against Android pushers. Quoting “people familiar with the matter,” the Wall Street Journal says Apple has made overtures to Samsung and Motorola Mobility, offering to license at least some of the patents they need to compete for the price of a royalty. The paper suggests there are “other terms” without saying what they may be.

iPad 3, Google Play, Mobile Market Statistics and More

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:00:00 EDT

The Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to enterprise mobility that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

Beacon Podcast – Episode 019

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:51:24 EST

Hurricane Labs Beacon Podcast Episode Number: .019 – Birthday Edition Hosts: Bill Mathews (@billford), Patrick Sayler (@psayler), Josh Evans (@jsevans59)...
Read More

maaii Dials Up South By Southwest for US Launch

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:01:34 EST

Thoughts While Watching Apple’s New iPad Presentation

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:15:02 EST

I like Apple products. Our family of four owns nine of their devices. I’ll always respect Steve Jobs for being a visionary and improving our taste. And I’ve enjoyed his keynotes a lot. Yesterday, I was watching Tim Cook’s presentation of the new iPad. I saw a gray-haired fit man in black moving on stage [...]

Opinion: A Critique of the “New iPad”

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:00:00 EST

Let’s get started, I’m not in love w/ the new naming system for the iPad. “New” should never be in any products name, let alone a real piece of technology (will the next one be New New? or New and Improved iPad?). Ridiculous.

What Dr. Seuss can teach you about copywriting | SEO Copywriting

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:07:57 EST

Written by Heather Lloyd-Martin. Looking for some writing inspiration? Why not check out some Dr. Seuss books. Learn what Dr. Seuss can teach you about good copywriting. Confession time: I love Dr. Seuss. The words to One Fish, Two Fish are stuck in my brain. I have a Dr. Seuss watch. I have Dr. Seuss [...]

Apple-iPad 3 Launch: Raising the Bar for Mobile Industry

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:03:20 EST

Leonard GraceBROADBAND CONVERGENT - Industry News for Broadband-Mobile-Cable-Wireless-Telecom

Apple’s Newest iPad

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:04:04 EST

You can stop holding your breath—Apple announced the newest iPad. Among the updates to the tablet are a high-resolution retina display, 4G LTE connectivity and the ability to shoot HD video. The new iPad goes on sale March 16th with the cheapest model costing $499. Read more at Engadget.com

Shelly Palmer Radio Report – March 8, 2012

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:01:00 EST

Observations from Mobile World Congress 2012

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:44:00 EST

I attended the 2012 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The following are my personal observations and extrapolations from the show based on my conversations with operators, customer meetings, colleagues and walking the floor.

1. LTE- Where’s the Party? – Last year was the year of LTE. Vendors were flouting it and operators were demonstrating how it would change the world. Even Verizon Wireless (an operator which never shows up at these things) had a big display showcasing LTE. I think that this year the cold reality is kicking in – now that we have built it (or building it) will people actually use it? What is the killer app? Will all of that projected mobile video really go over LTE or will it be accessed from Wi-Fi powered tablets? And of course, the elephant in the room – what will Apple do? Will it bless the industry with its next iPads and iPhones running LTE? That one decision will probably shape the payback curve more than anything. The growing consensus may be that LTE makes sense but it is going to be a much slower burn than the vendors and technology prophets trumpeted.

2. Wi-Fi Comes In From the Cold – The new buzz was definitely Wi-Fi. A technology that might at best have been found lurking in the far corners of a remote hall at past MWCs is now being viewed as something that operators really need to understand and embrace. Of particular interest is how it can help mobile operators offload traffic from their congested networks. However, the discussion is rapidly evolving with many operators asking what are the business models for Wi-Fi. They are also beginning to explore how they not only integrate Wi-Fi into their network architectures but also into their overall business model and value proposition.

3. Mobile Payments… Again and Again – Once again, more promise and more solutions for providing mobile payments. While these solutions hold promise, many think that the future of mobile payments will now be very different than we know it. Look for the banks and the credit card companies to finally come out on top, doing what they do best. Using their tried and true systems and business ecosystems, to collect and transfer money.

4. Mobile Cloud – More than Just Words – Last year mobile cloud seemed to be mentioned just in passing – the concatenation of 2 hot tech words. This year there was definitely more meat on the bone. Key note presentations explained how it was the future, not just of mobility, but of everything. Vendors proudly displayed mobile cloud solutions and showed off how they were really much more than just apps. Judging by the packed room of people who came to attend the mobile cloud panel, in which I participated, mobile cloud has definitely come of age and people are looking for answers… and opportunities.

5. Dumb Pipe or Smart Pipe? .. that is the Question - Where the wireline industry grappled with this question at the turn of the century, this is now the issue of the decade for the mobile industry. Operators are increasingly fearing becoming the mobile equivalent of the dumb pipe. Many of the talks and discussions focused on explaining why mobile operators are critical to the mobile ecosystem and on how their networks are more than just conduits for Facebook and Youtube.

6. Not a Good Place for a Regulator – I wouldn’t want to wander around the convention floor with the word “regulator” emblazoned on my badge. They were numerous swipes and references from participants to the challenges that unsympathetic regulators presented on spectrum, pricing, caps and of course, net-neutrality.

7. Pricing and Policy to the Rescue – Cisco’s graph of exponential mobile data growth has become de rigueur in key note presentations. Often combined with a revenue line trending in the opposite direction to show that operators are struggling to justify further network investments. There was talk of the end of unlimited data plans and paying for what you use, like electricity (SPs as a utility?), capping heavy users and slowing down certain traffic and usage behaviors. AT&T made an interesting announcement around creating the “1-800” number for data, with the content provider paying for the access to be included with the application. Is that like buying a TV with the electricity included in the selling price? At the same time Vonage and other OTTs were launching services to make free calls and messaging over mobile networks.

8. M2M - The Rise of the Machines – As usual, operators and vendors were showcasing lots of M2M solutions and, of course, including the ever present mobile interaction with vending machines. But there seems to finally be enough of a critical mass growing to tip M2M into the mainstream. Mobile operators are starting to aggressively push this as a partial solution to the issues identified above – filling LTE networks and smarter pipes. And, machines are much more grateful than their human customers whose true loyalty increasingly lies with the OTT providers.

9. What’s The New Thing? – 3-D televisions and gaming devices have gone. The world of devices seems to have converged to iPhone and iPad clones. There was an interesting revival of the old Palm Pilot with Samsung’s Galaxy Note, that lets you write and draw with a stylus taking from a hiding place in the device (everything old is new again). Cool, but I am not sure if it will ever become mainstream? For a company given up as dead, Nokia had an exciting booth with lots of buzz. And it’s new Windows based device is nice and very different than the clones. But knocking Apple off its perch will be one monumental task?

10. Small Cells – Is Femto Bigger than Small? – Femto vendors last year seemed to be relegated to the dark corners of the floor and never spoken of. This year they have now been officially re-labeled “small cells.” But unlike the femto cells of old, small cells seem to be about data, less about voice, and providing access in public locations as a fill-in strategy for macro cell networks, rather than being located in the corner of someone’s basement. Also, unlike femto, mobile operators are very interested in small cells, realizing that they are reaching the limits on placement of macro cell towers and need small cells to increase coverage and capacity.

A year is an eternity in the mobile industry. Much has changed from last year and no doubt the industry will be transformed by the time we meet in next year in Barcelona. But, I think that Mobile World Congress this year gave us a good peek into how this future might evolve.

Apple Completes iLife for iOS With Introduction of iPhoto & Major Updates to iMovie & GarageBand

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:18:20 EST

Apple® today introduced iPhoto® for iPad® and iPhone® and major updates to iMovie® and GarageBand®, completing its suite of iLife® apps for iOS. iPhoto includes breakthrough Multi-Touch™ features so you can use simple gestures to sort through hundreds of photos and find your best shots, enhance and retouch your images using fingertip brushes and share stunning photo journals with iCloud®. iMovie now gives you the ability to create amazing Hollywood-style trailers as you record HD video on your iPad and iPhone. GarageBand introduces Jam Session, an innovative and fun feature that allows a group of friends to wirelessly connect their iOS devices to play instruments and record live music together. Each app takes full advantage of the stunning Retina™ display on the new iPad for incredibly sharp and realistic images and video. The new iPad also features a 5 megapixel iSight® camera so you can record, edit and watch 1080p HD video all on the device.

Shelly Palmer Chats About iPad 3 Rumors on Fox 5 News at 10

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:25:15 EST

Shelly Palmer chats about all of the rumors surrounding Apple’s newest iPad on Fox 5 News at 10.

Mobile Marketing News Weekly

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:20:00 EST

The Mobile Marketing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile marketing that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information. Key mobile marketing stats and trends are included in comScore's annual mobile report, "2012 Mobile Future in Focus. According to the report, 48.1 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers owned a smartphone as of December 2011, up 21.1 percentage points from 27.0 percent one year earlier.

SXPad, Psion EP10, Harris RF-3590 and More

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 05:30:00 EST

The Field Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to field mobility that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.
Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly

Geneq Inc. has released the SXPad, a full-featured, rugged handheld computer for GPS/GIS data collection that is built for mobile GIS users in applications ranging from Federal/State/Local government, water/electric/gas utilities, and transportation to mining, agriculture, and forestry. Read Original Content

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd., a global provider of mobile and cloud-enabled application and business integration platforms, announced its mobile offering has been successfully implemented by UK-based Cape to develop an integrated business solution that can run natively on any mobile device. Read Original Content

The BlackBerry PlayBook has joined Android and Apple tablets as mobile gateways to the enterprise thanks to the introduction of the PlayBook-compatible Webalo app. The Webalo app can run an unlimited number of secure, encrypted enterprise-to-mobile connections, allowing PlayBook users to access SAP, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, in-house, and other applications directly from their tablet. Read Original Content

Since 1995, Syclo has enabled hundreds of companies in 37 countries and industries supercharge their businesses with mobility. This newsletter is sponsored in part by Syclo. http://www.syclo.com/.

University of Georgia researchers have developed a new method for determining where emergency vehicle stations should be located. The results of their work could improve ambulance response time for the 200 million Americans who dial 911 each year, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Read Original Content

NXP Semiconductors, the co-inventor of NFC technology, has created a smart washing machine that's NFC and RFID-enabled. The device recognizes what fabrics you put in it and then chooses a washing program to suit. It can read RFID-tagged buttons on each item in the washing pile, which tell the machine the exact fabric properties. Read Original Content

Google will soon release a pair of glasses that will stream information to the wearer’s eyeballs in real time. The glasses will be Android-based, and will include a small screen that will sit a few inches from someone’s eye. They will also have a 3G or 4G data connection and a number of sensors including motion and GPS. Read Original Content

Nexia Home Intelligences lets you control your house locks, lights, and security cameras and monitor it all remotely from your iPhone. Read Original Content

Two of the world’s top technologies are consistently pairing up in what many believe is the evolution of information. Software companies are integrating GIS technology and social media to map people’s tweets and other social media platforms with geospatial data. Read Original Content

The Harris RF-3590 is a heavy-duty Android tablet packed with military features to use in combat zones. It’s equipped with a 1024 x 600 multi-touch display, a powerful dual-core 1.5GHz CPU and two 8-megapixel front and rear-facing cameras. Soldiers can give commands and navigate the interface with their voice by activating the voice control feature. Read Original Content

Psion EP10 Enterprise PDA

Geoforce Inc., a provider of GPS asset tracking solutions for the oil and gas industry, is offering free GPS trackers for oil and gas fleet managers wanting to increase mobile employee productivity, decrease fuel costs, manage event or time-based maintenance and increase safety and security. Read Original Content

The BIBA Institute, at the University of Bremen, working together with J.H. Tönnjes E.A.S.T. GmbH & Co. (a developer and manufacturer of license plates) and Kathrein Sachsen GmbH (an RFID reader and antenna supplier), has developed and tested new passive RFID license plates that outperform smart labels on windshields, as well as on-metal passive tags for vehicle identification. Read Original Content

The Dallas Zoo is using RFID technology to track the movement of elephants in its 11-acre "Giants of the Savanna" exhibit. Members of the small herd wear ankle bracelets outfitted with real-time locator system tags made by Convergence Systems Ltd. of Hong Kong. Read Original Content

Danish postal operator Post Danmarkis is employing an RFID system that tracks the movements of postal vehicles and the emptying of mailboxes throughout the entire country, via transponders that both transmit and receive data upon coming within read range of each other. Read Original Content

A recent survey by ALD Automotive has revealed that over one third (37%) of UK businesses with 500+ employees use telematics systems to track their fleet. Read Original Content

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Apple Announcing Newest iPad

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 03:04:13 EST

The newest iPad is on its way. Apple is announcing the newest model of its popular tablet and it’s expected to have some big improvements. Of all the rumors, the device will most likely have a high-definition display, 4G LTE connectivity and a faster processor. Read the full article at SlashGear.com

Shelly Palmer Radio Report – March 7, 2012

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 03:01:00 EST

Western Civilization: Decline or Fall?

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:25:00 EST

By Niall Ferguson

As a freshman historian at Oxford back in 1982, I was required to read Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ever since that first encounter with the greatest of all historians, I have pondered the question whether or not the modern West could succumb to degenerative tendencies similar to the ones described so vividly by Gibbon. My most recent book, Civilization: The West and the Rest attempts an answer to that question.

The good news is that I do not believe that Western civilization is in some kind of gradual, inexorable decline. In my view, civilizations do not rise, fall, and then gently decline, as inevitably and predictably as the four seasons or the seven ages of man. History is not one smooth, parabolic curve after another. The bad news is that its shape is more like an exponentially steepening slope that quite suddenly drops off like a cliff.

To see what I mean, pay a visit to Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. In 1530 the Incas were the masters of all they surveyed from the heights of the Peruvian Andes. Within less than a decade, foreign invaders with horses, gunpowder, and lethal diseases had smashed their empire to smithereens. Today tourists gawp at the ruins that remain.

The notion that civilizations do not decline but collapse inspired the anthropologist Jared Diamond's 2005 book, Collapse. But Diamond focused, fashionably, on man-made environmental disasters as the causes of collapse. As a historian, I take a broader view. My point is that when you look back on the history of past civilizations, a striking feature is the speed with which most of them collapsed, regardless of the cause.

The Roman Empire did not decline and fall over a millennium, as Gibbon's monumental work seemed to suggest. It collapsed within a few decades in the early fifth century, tipped over the edge of chaos by barbarian invaders and internal divisions. In the space of a generation, the vast imperial metropolis of Rome fell into disrepair, the aqueducts broken, the splendid marketplaces deserted. The Ming dynasty's rule in China also fell apart with extraordinary speed in the mid–17th century, succumbing to internal strife and external invasion. Again, the transition from equipoise to anarchy took little more than a decade.

A more recent and familiar example of precipitous decline is, of course, the collapse of the Soviet Union. And, if you still doubt that collapse comes suddenly, just think of how the postcolonial dictatorships of North Africa and the Middle East imploded this year. Twelve months ago, Messrs. Ben Ali, Mubarak, and Gaddafi seemed secure in their gaudy palaces. Here yesterday, gone today.

What all these collapsed powers have in common is that the complex social systems that underpinned them suddenly ceased to function. One minute rulers had legitimacy in the eyes of their people; the next they did not. This process is a familiar one to students of financial markets. Even as I write, it is far from clear that the European Monetary Union can be salvaged from the dramatic collapse of confidence in the fiscal policies of its peripheral member states. In the realm of power, as in the domain of the bond vigilantes, you are fine until you are not fine—and when you're not fine, you are suddenly in a terrifying death spiral.

The West first surged ahead of the Rest after about 1500 thanks to a series of institutional innovations that (to entice younger readers) I call the "killer applications":

1.Competition. Europe was politically fragmented into multiple monarchies and republics, which were in turn internally divided into competing corporate entities, among them the ancestors of modern business corporations.

2.The Scientific Revolution. All the major 17th-century breakthroughs in mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology happened in Western Europe.

3.The Rule of Law and Representative Government. An optimal system of social and political order emerged in the English-speaking world, based on private-property rights and the representation of property owners in elected legislatures.

4.Modern Medicine. Nearly all the major 19th- and 20th-century breakthroughs in health care were made by Western Europeans and North Americans.

5.The Consumer Society. The Industrial Revolution took place where there was both a supply of productivity-enhancing technologies and a demand for more, better, and cheaper goods, beginning with cotton garments.

6.The Work Ethic. Westerners were the first people in the world to combine more extensive and intensive labor with higher savings rates, permitting sustained capital accumulation.

For hundreds of years, these killer apps were essentially monopolized by Europeans and their cousins who settled in North America and Australasia. They are the best explanation for what economic historians call "the great divergence": the astonishing gap that arose between Western standards of living and those in the rest of the world. In 1500 the average Chinese was richer than the average North American. By the late 1970s the American was more than 20 times richer than the Chinese.

Westerners not only grew richer than "Resterners." They grew taller, healthier, and longer-lived. They also grew more powerful. By the early 20th century, just a dozen Western empires—including the United States—controlled 58 percent of the world's land surface and population, and a staggering 74 percent of the global economy.

Beginning with Japan, however, one non-Western society after another has worked out that these apps can be downloaded and installed in non-Western operating systems. That explains about half the catching up that we have witnessed in our lifetimes, especially since the onset of economic reforms in China in 1978.

I am not one of those people filled with angst at the thought of a world in which the average American is no longer vastly richer than the average Chinese. I welcome the escape of hundreds of millions of Asians from poverty, not to mention the improvements we are seeing in South America and parts of Africa. But there is a second, more insidious cause of the "great reconvergence," which I do deplore—and that is the tendency of Western societies to delete their own killer apps.

Who's got the work ethic now? The average South Korean works about 39 percent more hours per week than the average American. The school year in South Korea is 220 days long, compared with 180 days in the U.S. And you do not have to spend too long at any major U.S. university to know which students really drive themselves: the Asians and Asian-Americans. The consumer society? 26 of the 30 biggest shopping malls in the world are now in emerging markets, mostly in Asia. Modern medicine? As a share of gross domestic product, the United States spends twice what Japan spends on health care and more than three times what China spends. Yet life expectancy in the U.S. has risen from 70 to 78 in the past 50 years, compared with leaps from 68 to 83 in Japan and from 43 to 73 in China.

The rule of law? For a real eye-opener, take a look at the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) Executive Opinion Survey. On no fewer than 15 of 16 different issues relating to property rights and governance, the United States fares worse than Hong Kong. Indeed, the U.S. makes the global top 20 in only one area: investor protection. On every other count, its reputation is shockingly bad. The U.S. ranks 86th in the world for the costs imposed on business by organized crime, 50th for public trust in the ethics of politicians, 42nd for various forms of bribery, and 40th for standards of auditing and financial reporting.

What about science? U.S.-based scientists continue to walk off with plenty of Nobel Prizes each year. But Nobel winners are old men. The future belongs not to them but to today's teenagers. Here is another striking statistic. Every three years the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's Program for International Student Assessment tests the educational attainment of 15-year-olds around the world. The latest data on "mathematical literacy" reveal that the gap between the world leaders—the students of Shanghai and Singapore—and their American counterparts is now as big as the gap between U.S. kids and teenagers in Albania and Tunisia.

The late, lamented Steve Jobs convinced Americans that the future would be "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China." Yet statistics from the World Intellectual Property Organization show that already more patents originate in Japan than in the U.S., that South Korea overtook Germany to take third place in 2005, and that China has just overtaken Germany too.

Finally, there's competition, the original killer app that sent the fragmented West down a completely different path from monolithic imperial China. The WEF has conducted a comprehensive Global Competitiveness survey every year since 1979. Since the current methodology was adopted in 2004, the United States' average competitiveness score has fallen from 5.82 to 5.43, one of the steepest declines among developed economies. China's score, meanwhile, has leapt up from 4.29 to 4.90.

Not only is the U.S. less competitive abroad. Perhaps more disturbing is the decline of meaningful competition at home, as the social mobility of the postwar era has given way to an extraordinary social polarization. You do not have to be an Occupy Wall Street activist to believe that the American super-rich elite—the 1 percent that collects 20 percent of the income—has become dangerously divorced from the rest of society, especially from the underclass at the bottom of the income distribution.

But if we are headed toward collapse, what will it look like? An upsurge in civil unrest and crime, as happened in the 1970s? A loss of faith on the part of investors and a sudden Greek-style leap in government borrowing costs? How about a spike of violence in the Middle East, from Iraq to Afghanistan, as insurgents capitalize on our troop withdrawals? Or a paralyzing cyberattack from the rising Asian superpower we complacently underrate?

Is there anything we can do to prevent such disasters? Social scientist Charles Murray calls for a "civic great awakening"—a return to the original values of the American republic. He has a point. Far more than in Europe, most Americans remain instinctively loyal to the killer applications of Western ascendancy, from competition all the way through to the work ethic. They know the country has the right software. They just cannot understand why it is running so damn slowly.

What we need to do is to delete the viruses that have crept into our system: the anticompetitive quasi monopolies that blight everything from banking to public education; the politically correct pseudosciences and soft subjects that deflect good students away from hard science; the lobbyists who subvert the rule of law for the sake of the special interests they represent—to say nothing of our crazily dysfunctional system of health care, our overleveraged personal finances, and our newfound unemployment ethic.

Then we need to download the updates that are running more successfully in other countries, from Finland to New Zealand, from Denmark to Hong Kong, from Singapore to Sweden. And finally we need to reboot our whole system.

Voters and politicians alike dare not postpone the big reboot. If what we are risking is not decline but downright collapse, then the time frame may even be tighter than one election cycle.

Niall Ferguson's newest book is entitled Civilization: The West and the Rest

New iPad, Different Name?

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 03:01:46 EST

If you can’t wait one whole day until Apple’s event announcing the newest iPad, here’s another rumor for you. According to “reliable sources” at CNET, Apple will the numbered moniker from the end of the iPad name. Instead Apple is expected to name the device the “iPad HD” to promote its high-definition screen. Read the full [...]

Stunning Features of iPad 3 Will Perpetuate Legendary Success of Apple

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:53:45 EST

We know that there will be definitely an iPad 3 launch event on March 7, 2012 and we’d probably get an iPad 3 in our hands a few days after. In consideration of iPad 2, which is officially announced on March 2, 2011 and get to store on March 11, we have reasons to expect [...]

Facebook's open source storage question: what if hardware were open?

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 07:49:29 EST

Facebook is reportedly now moving to build its own storage hardware to cope with this data mountain and is following an open source route as part of its work with the site's Open Compute Project. Adrian Bridgwater

Apple App Store Hits 25 Billion Downloads

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 03:01:02 EST

Every day it seems like Apple’s app store hits another milestone and this time, it’s 25 billion. Apple will award the lucky downloader of the 25 billionth app a $10,000 prize, with the caveat of spending it in the app store. The volume of download is no surprise as Apple managed to take the number [...]

Visual Thinking for Creative Marketing

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:51:28 EST

I had the pleasure to visit the Jim Henson Exhibit at the Museum of Moving Image in Queens, NY last weekend. What I thought was going to be a reminiscent trip of my youth turned into an extremely intellectual education in visual thinking. As I started walking through the exhibit with many other muppet enthusiasts as [...]

Sustained Disposable Income Growth Needed to Keep Economic Recovery on Track, Says S&P Capital IQ Lookout Report

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:56:00 EST

Maxthon unterstützt zukünftig 'Do Not Track' in allen neuen Produkteinführungen

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:20:00 EST

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Maxthon va dorénavant intégrer la fonction « Do Not Track » à l'ensemble de ses nouveaux produits

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:17:00 EST

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

New Firestone iPad App Offers Touch Technology

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:34:00 EST

Firestone Building Products Company, LLC (FSBP) announced the availability of the new Firestone BP iPad^®1 Application at the recent International Roofing Expo (IRE) in Orlando. The free and convenient app gives building owners, facility managers, contractors, architects and consultants the opportunity to explore the complete integration of people, products and systems that Firestone Building Products offers.

"Marvel's The Avengers" Trailer Sets New Record With Over 13.7 Million Views in First 24 Hours on iTunes

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:29:00 EST

BURBANK, Calif., March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Marvel Studios announced today that its new trailer for this summer's most highly anticipated movie, "Marvel's The Avengers," has been viewed over 13.7 million times in the first 24 hours of its debut, setting a new record for the most viewed trailer on iTunes (http://www.apple.com/trailers) and the iTunes Trailers app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Bloomberg BNA Tax Essentials eBook Version Now Available in Apple's iBookstore

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:42:00 EST

MakeMusic Announces Finale Notation Roadmap

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:04:00 EST

MakeMusic, Inc. (NASDAQ: MMUS), world leaders in music technology, today announced upcoming releases of its flagship solutions of Finale notation software.

Wip It Up: Speech Button- the New App for Non-Verbal and Special Needs

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EST

Wip It Up is proud to announce the launch of Speech Button a new Application (App) available in iTunes. Speech Button is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app for children and adults who are non-verbal or who have difficulty speaking. It was born out of a collaboration of ideas between two practicing therapists from Winnipeg, Canada. Carole Conyers - School Psychologist and Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and Nancy Clarke-Shipman - Speech-Language Pathologist.

Iddiction Launches App-o-Day, the Groupon for Apps

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:15:00 EST

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Iddiction, Inc. today debuts its app deals and discovery tool in the App Store. App-o-Day is founded by Andrej Nabergoj, the former CEO of Outfit7 – the company behind the Talking Friends series with over 300 million downloads. His newest venture will bring consumers the best app deals in the App Store, including selected paid apps that consumers can get for free for a limited-time, or free apps that provide a special in-app purchase offering.

Clubpennystocks Volume WatchList: CBIS (Cannabis Science), IMUC (Immunocellular Thera), KMIIV (Kinder Morgan), NSRS (North Springs Resources), LOGL (Legend Oil and Gas)

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:01:00 EST

http://www.clubpennystocks.com The US leader in micro cap alerts offers its high quality stocks alert newsletter to investors looking for the best picks around!

jcpenney Names Laurie Beja Miller Executive Vice President, The Square

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST

PLANO, Texas, March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- J. C. Penney Company, Inc. ("jcpenney") (NYSE: JCP) today announced that Laurie Beja Miller has been named executive vice president, The Square and will lead the Company's efforts to execute its new center core strategy that will serve as a gathering place with ongoing attractions and services. In taking this role, Ms. Miller brings more than two decades of experience at leading retailers and iconic brands, including Nike, Apple and Disney. Ms. Miller will join jcpenney on April 1, and report to Mr. Johnson.

"Stock Alerts" Kick Off 100% Profitable 2012 on Top of Stellar 2011

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:47:00 EST

Managing trades well is part of what separates winning and losing traders over the long term. The BullTrade.com "Stock Alert" service combines excellent stock picking (a proprietary system fine-tuned over 14 years) with excellent position management. The results have been fantastic. Since January 2003, over 96% of all closed-out trades have ended profitably. There have been several trading streaks of well over a year without a single losing trade. In 2011, a streak of 180 consecutive winning trades (28 straight months) finally ended with a loss during the summer volatility. 2012 has started with ten straight profitable trades, one of which eclipsed a 17% gain in a few days. While there are some monster winners, most gains, like Apple Computer and Green Mountain Coffee, have averaged 8-12%. These "Stock Alerts" are sent prior to the market open so any active trader can easily benefit. One subscriber commented, "I followed your buy recommendation on Cemex and took a 26% profit the following day. Your picks have been fantastic. I wish I found you guys earlier!"

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Gap, American Eagle Outfitters, Nokia, Canon and Apple

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:30:00 EST

Lotus F1 Team Joins iRise Executive Roundtable Series Program as Strategic Partner

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:28:00 EST

Ascend Acquisition Corp. Completes Merger with Mobile Gaming Company Andover Games

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:24:00 EST

Ascend Acquisition Corp. (OTC BB: ASCQ) (“Ascend Acquisition” or the “Company”) announced that it has completed its previously announced merger with San Francisco-based mobile gaming company, Andover Games, LLC (“Andover Games”). As a result of the transaction, Andover Games has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ascend Acquisition and will continue as its operating subsidiary.

DVD Ripper for Mac - The Most Amazing Converting Miracle

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:15:34 EST

BEIJING, March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Relying on a better design than PCs, the world's most advanced OS - Mac OS - is the new darling of consumers. More and more people prefer a Mac for office use or personal entertainment. At the same time, various multimedia accessories have come into being, like DVD Ripper for Mac, Video Converter for Mac, DVD to AVI Ripper for Mac and others. All of these are able to rip/convert your DVD movies to any mainstream video/audio format in original quality on your Mac.

Maxthon apoyará 'Do Not Track' en todos los lanzamientos de nuevos productos que se produzcan

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:15:33 EST

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Whirlpool Corporation Named One of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:13:33 EST

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) has been recognized as one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in the Home Equipment, Furnishings industry sector. The company finished first in this sector for the second year in a row.

Baker & Taylor to Offer Smashwords ebooks in Blio eReading Application and Axis360 Digital Media Library Platform

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:07:48 EST

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and LOS GATOS, Calif., March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Baker & Taylor, Inc., the world's largest distributor of digital and physical books, together with K-NFB Reading Technology, developer of the Blio eReading application, today announced a distribution agreement with Smashwords that will bring nearly 100,000 independently-published ebooks to the Blio store.

Denali Advanced Integration Named to CRN's 2012 List of Tech Elite 250

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:00:41 EST

REDMOND, Wash., March 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Denali Advanced Integration announced today it has been named to CRN's second annual list of the Tech Elite 250. Companies on the 2012 Tech Elite 250 list represent an elite group of IT Solution Providers that have invested in the training and education needed to earn the most technical certifications in the IT Channel.