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The Upcoming Facebook and Zynga IPOs – Should You Get Involved or Stay Out?

by on January 31, 2012

IPOs (initial public offering) appear to have lost a small amount of their luster within the last decade or so, but the truth is everyone still turns their heads whenever a big name walks by and announces an IPO. Earlier this year it was the Groupon IPO, this past year it was the new General Motors.

Whenever a company announces their IPO, lots of people want in – it’s obvious why: who among us hasn’t asked (at least to themselves, if not aloud) I wonder what would’ve happened if.

• I would’ve bought Microsoft in the 1980s;
• I would’ve bought Apple when Steve Jobs came back on board;
• I would’ve bought Google at $85/share.

Being a financial advisor, my goal is to ensure my clients don’t should all over themselves.

(OK sidebar: In the event you didn’t laugh during that last sentence, you need to read it aloud. Go ahead.get it? Should on one’s self? I can’t believe my comedy career never took off.okay..returning to our regularly scheduled programming)

It tempts you since it seems like fast money. Who doesn’t want to live in fantasy land for a couple of minutes each day? My fantasy investment purchase? Greek debt insurance 2 years ago. That’s some serious jenga. However I digress.

So, here’s the deal with IPOs and why they’re not the most suitable choice:

1. If you don’t have an in (think: your brother works for Facebook) you’re not gonna get any IPO shares

This means that if you try to purchase into the Facebook IPO the morning it opens, you won’t receive the IPO price (which is what everyone will talk about on CNBC). You’ll purchase your shares at a different-and often much higher-cost.

2. They don’t usually generate profits – at least not immediately:

Like visions of gold, we conveniently remember IPO winners like Google or Amazon. We block out the long, tired stack of losers. Remember Pets.com? What about Vonage.they aren’t dead, but that IPO was a mess. eToys? Amazon.com, a mammoth stock by today’s standards, IPO’d in mid-1997.and didn’t make any percentage gains for several months. Google’s IPO occurred in 2004. The stock experienced a big spike, and then lay flat for 6 months. Often, IPOs don’t pay back for a long time, even if they’re winners like Google or Amazon.

3. Those who make the real cash? The CEO, executive team and investment bankers. this can be a big cha ching event for them.

The Blackstone Group, a private equity and asset management firm, announced in 2007 announced they were going public. The issue drew a huge amount of attention that no one really paid any attention to the prospectus.

Why does it matter?

Well, it turns out that The Blackstone Group IPO launch only included part of the business (not that part that made money, mind you). After all the shares were gobbled up and the CEO and investment bankers off-loaded their shares (the CEO made $2.6 Billion-lovin’ the capital B), any gullible shareholders were saddled with a 42% loss in the very first 12 months.

Here’s our thoughts:

If you wish to own a cool new shiny Zynga IPO, but don’t want to do the homework associated with reading the prospectus or making friends with an employee to get the insider price, buy a mutual fund in that same space. If it’s as awesome as you think, the fund manager will buy some (probably at the actual Zynga IPO price) and you’ll own some by proxy. If it’s a sham, the fund manager, who may have a thousand times more resources than you, will likely pass – allowing you the easy way to determine whether to pass as well.

Plus, really, you think it’s smart to put every dollar you own in Zynga shares-even if you could? What’s the best that could happen? your money could double? Triple?

Sure. but what’s the danger?

The Upcoming Facebook and Zynga IPOs – Should You Get Involved or Stay Out?

State of the state: Markell’s remarks on education

by on January 20, 2012

Here’s the portion of Gov. Jack Markell’s State of the State that addressed education.

The biggest driver for a business when deciding where to locate and expand is the quality of the workforce.  That talent will determine whether the business becomes an innovation leader or gets left behind in the creative dust of its competitors.  the late Steve Jobs put it bluntly: “Apple employs seven hundred thousand factory workers in China because it can’t find the thirty thousand engineers in the U.S. that it needs on site at its plants.”  We need to do something about that.  This is why, when the history of our time here is written, the determined push we are making to raise student achievement will prove to be the biggest game-changer of all.

[Click the jump for more.]

Because we have come together – parents, teachers, administrators, private employers, foundations and public officials — to develop and implement a carefully crafted plan that aims high and puts children first, we have been recognized as a national leader in education, winning the nationwide Race to the top competition.  Together, we are making great strides.  We have established high standards to ensure that we are being honest with our children about what they need to learn to succeed in the global economy.  We have put in place an improved assessment system so parents and teachers can track student progress and identify quickly when students risk falling behind.  We are supporting our teachers with resources that help them raise student achievement, and we are moving forward to evaluate our teachers in part on the basis of the progress their students make.

In today’s global knowledge economy, those who are not pushing forward are falling behind.  For Delaware to maintain its position of leadership, it is absolutely vital that we keep pressing ahead and I thank Senator Sokola and Representative Schooley for their leadership in this area.  I realize there are those who are uncomfortable with the changes that are being made and that not all of these changes will work exactly as intended on day one.  We will learn from our mistakes and continue to maintain an open dialogue to improve.  But even if you believe what we did in the past was sufficient for those times, it will not be sufficient going forward.  around the world, young people are working hard in schools that are dramatically improving and if we stop our own efforts now, it will be to the detriment of our kids and their future.

So pressing ahead means implementing without additional delay our Performance Appraisal System, with its focus on student progress. These implementation plans have benefited considerably from the advice of hundreds of Delaware teachers and we are grateful to them for their help.  This is a challenging process and it is one that must succeed.

As a parent and as someone who has visited dozens of our State’s schools, I want to ensure our changes help our children not only to score well on tests but also to develop a love for learning that will inspire their imaginations and creativity.  This is a difficult balance, but one that is already being achieved in many classrooms throughout the State and one we should work together to expand.  because I have visited all of those schools and talked with principals, teachers, and other school staff, I know firsthand that there are truly great things going on in Delaware’s classrooms.  But we need to do a better job of getting the word out.  Howard Weinberg of the Delaware State Education Association asked me to join with him and his association and the business community to let the people of our State know how many great things are going on in Delaware schools.  It’s an invitation I’m excited to accept.

Pressing ahead also means moving forward with our World Language Expansion Initiative.  our students need to master world languages to work with — and compete effectively against — workers around the world.  We’ve already made completion of a world language a graduation requirement.  over the next five years, we’re going to create partial immersion programs in twenty schools, where students will spend half the school day learning in another language.

Finally, pressing ahead means acknowledging what research has clearly established — raising student achievement begins before children enter kindergarten.  I’ve heard this message from hundreds of teachers — children receiving quality early care and education are more likely to be successful in school and in life.  Investments that promise high yields get my attention and, in the realm of public policy, there is no higher-yield investment than this one.  last spring, we joined together to make some of the most significant investments in early childhood education in our State’s history.

As it turns out, those investments are paying dividends sooner than we expected.    the judges of the national Race to the top Early Learning Challenge noted our commitment and rewarded us with significant additional federal funds.  here is our plan: (1) the professionals who care for our children will have the proper training; (2) the early childcare facilities where our children spend their days will have the best teaching and learning tools; and (3) the successes and challenges of centers will be closely monitored to ensure continual improvement.  That is our formula for success and we expect to raise the percentage of high-need children in quality-rated programs from 20 percent to nearly 80 percent over the next four years.  To let us know where our kids stand when they start school, we will introduce a new kindergarten assessment.  I thank DSEA and our kindergarten teachers for their work with us on this initiative.

Holiday Gift Guide: Choosing an iPad stand

by on December 26, 2011

My friend Maya wrote to ask: “Which iPad stand should I buy? I can’t seem to find any really positive reviews. I want it mostly for cooking, but it would also be nice to have something to stick my iPad on while it’s charging so it’s not just laying there for the cat to knock it off the counter.”

as we approach the gift-giving season, iPad accessories are probably on many people’s wish list, so how do you know what’s good and what’s bad? as Maya mentioned, it can be difficult to tell from reviews, especially random reviews left on websites.

although Maya specifically asked about stands I will also mention cases because many of them also serve as stands too.

Options

Let’s look at your general options. (Note: prices listed are all in US dollars, and have been rounded off to the nearest dollar because we all know that $X.99 is a marketing trick, right?)

1) Apple’s iPad Dock [$30] is a weighed base with a dock connector on the back so you can easily charge your iPad, and then pick it up. I bought one of these for my iPad 1 and almost never used it. The dock is a great idea for iPhones and iPods, but the iPad is just too big for it. If you tap on the screen, it is very easy to feel like you’re going to knock it over. plus (and this will be a recurring theme as we look at iPad stands/cases), the iPad dock only holds the iPad in one orientation. Not to mention that it seems drastically overpriced to me. TJ’s Recommendation: Strong Avoid.

2) Apple’s iPad case [$40] is only compatible with the original iPad. That’s not a bad thing, because Apple’s iPad case was pretty much a complete dud. despite being innovative for the ability to set the iPad up so that you could easily watch video on it or type at a slight incline (two designs that countless other cases would copy), it was expensive, not particularly well made, and extremely prone to collecting dust and other miscellaneous crud. TJ’s Recommendation: Strong Avoid.

3) Apple’s iPad 2 Smart Cover are likewise ridiculously overpriced at $70 for the “leather” versions and $40 for the “Polyurethane” (read: plastic) versions. And yes, I bought one. If you decide that you want one of these, at least check Amazon for less-awful prices. The Smart Cover is an extremely clever bit of engineering, and I’m always impressed by it, as long as I don’t have to think about the cost. It will work as a stand (“landscape” mode only), and quite well, but I simply can’t recommend it due to the price. TJ’s Recommendation: Avoid, unless someone else is paying.

4) I reviewed the Griffin Loop last year and talked about how much I liked it. It’s a (relatively) heavy, weighted base with a notch to hold the iPad in either portrait or landscape mode, and even had room for it to be plugged in if it was in portrait mode. The notch was big enough so that it would even work with some iPad cases without having to be removed.

Its main drawback was that it was bulky and not really designed for travel, but if you just wanted to leave it somewhere like on a desk, it was great. Unfortunately, it was designed for the iPad 1, and when the iPad 2 came out with its thinner, more curved body, the “notch” designed for the more “square” edges of the iPad 1 now feels a little too big for the iPad 2. It just doesn’t hold the iPad 2 as securely as I’d like. I still use it, but I’m a little more worried about it getting bumped. TJ’s Recommendation: Avoid for iPad 2

Aside: Griffin does not appear to have updated the loop for the iPad, but they now make something called the Griffin A-Frame. I have not used one so I might be wrong, but it certainly doesn’t look great. The iPad appears to rest on top of it, which looks precarious. That said, it has excellent reviews on Amazon.com where you can also find it for about $30 instead of the $50 list price. I can’t make a specific recommendation for or against it, but it’s another option.

5) I finally found a stand that I liked in the elago P2 Stand for iPad (pictured above). It is a piece of metal cut specifically to hold the iPad. It has a small “footprint” so it doesn’t take up a lot of space when not in use. It seems stable without being too heavy (although with a cat around, you’d always have to be careful!).

The metal color is almost exactly the same as what Apple uses for its computers (if such a thing matters to you, I only noticed it after I bought it). The other nice thing about this stand is that it can hold the iPad in either portrait or landscape. There is a hole in the back of the stand for a charging cable to fit through. It is solid enough that I can tap on the iPad screen without feeling like it is going to tip over. It holds the iPad at a good angle for reading or watching a video/movie.

The only drawback is the price ($30 at Amazon) which is definitely enough to elicit a “But it’s just a piece of cut metal!” response from Normal People such as your humble writer’s wife. still, this receives the only TJ’s Recommendation: Strong Buy on the list.

Here’s another thought…

all of the cases/stands I mentioned above are $30-$70, which is a bit absurd.

But there’s another option too, one that I “discovered” by accident one day in my office, which has several distinct benefits:

  • It is compatible with the iPad 1 or 2 (and almost certainly with the iPad 3, whenever that comes out)
  • it will hold the iPad in either portrait or landscape
  • it will allow for a dock connector to be attached in either orientation.
  • perhaps best of all, when not in use, it can fold flat for storage or put it in your laptop bag to bring with you.

oh, and did I mention that it costs around $5?

What is this magical device? It’s not an iPad holder at all, it’s a wire-frame book holder.

You can find one on Amazon.com for $5.12. Or you might find one in the supply closet at work that no one has used in ages. When folded, it’s smaller than the iPad, so you can probably slip it into your bag next to the iPad (obviously you’ll want to make sure that the metal doesn’t scratch up the iPad glass). There isn’t much weight to it, so you probably won’t even notice it. And if you do find yourself with a recipe that’s in a dead-tree cookbook instead of your iPad, you even use it to hold that cookbook open for you.

did you say “cooking”?

whichever stand you decide to use when using your iPad while cooking, remember that your iPad will fit inside a gallon-size Ziplock bag (or similar) which will not prevent you from using the touchscreen, but will protect it from spills, etc.

What to look for, and what to look out for

Now you have several options for stands/cases, as well as some things to think about when evaluating them: Can it hold the iPad in either orientation? Can you plug it in while in the stand/case? Can you tap on the iPad without feeling like it is going to fall over?

be careful about when looking for iPad stands/cases as there are some which will only fit the iPad 1, and not all sellers are very forthcoming about that detail. take a close look at the pictures they show (if any) and if you aren’t sure that it works with the iPad 2, be sure to ask before you buy, especially if the price seems really low. they might just be trying to clear out old stock by calling it an “iPad Case” instead of an “iPad 1 case”!

oh, and always shop around for prices. The best price is almost never to be found on the official website. Amazon and Monoprice are your friend.

want more ?

TUAW has reviewed a lot of iPad stands and iPad cases, so if you want a second opinion or more options than I covered here, feel free to take a look at those. also check out our Holiday Gift Guide page for more seasonal suggestions.

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Holiday Gift Guide: Choosing an iPad stand

The New York City Marathon: By the numbers

by on November 6, 2011

By the numbers posted on November 4, 2011, at 3:26 PM

This Sunday, some 47,000 runners will cross the starting line in Staten Island for the New York City Marathon. over several hours, they’ll run 26.2 miles through the city’s five boroughs before (hopefully) sweeping across the finish line in Central Park. the Big Apple’s is the largest marathon in the world. Here, a brief guide by the numbers:

More than 130 Number of bands that will entertain runners and fans along the course42 Number of years the New York City Marathon has been run55Number of runners that crossed the finish line the first year of the marathon, in 1970. That’s out of the 127 runners who crossed the start line.About 140,000 Number of applicants for this year’s marathon

60,000Number of applicants who were accepted this year, under the assumption that at least 10,000 would not follow through. Some runners enter via a lottery. Others get in through extremely fast times in other races. you can also score entry if you lose the lottery three years in a row, if you’ve run the race for 15 consecutive years, or if you’ve worked as a volunteer in a number of shorter local races.Nearly 100,000Number of runners who could run the race if it were spread over two days, with a full marathon taking place each day. That’s something the New York Road Runners, the organization behind the big race, is considering.$1Entry fee for the race in 1970$196Entry fee for this year. New York Road Runners members pay just $156. 2:07:43Course record for the New York City Marathon. it was set by Tesfaye Jifar, an Ethiopian man, in 2001. the Berlin, Boston, London, and Chicago marathons this year have all had winning times well below 2:06:00. “Given the trend…  and since the weather forecast for Sunday is calling for ‘nearly ideal race weather’ with a starting temp of 43 degrees and a finish temp in the low 50s with full sun and only a light breeze… Expect the ING New York City course record of 2:07:43 to go down,” says LetsRun.com.

4:52Average pace, per mile, for a 2:07:43 race5Number of men competing in this year’s marathon who have ran marathons under 2:06:00. they are Gebre Gebremariam, Kenya, 27; Geoffrey Mutai, Kenya, 30; Tsegaye Kebede, Ethiopia, 24, Emmanuel Mutai, Kenya, 27; and Lilesa Feyisa, Ethiopia, 21. Kenyan Mathew Kisorio has never run a full marathon, but he completed the Philadelphia half marathon in just 58:46, so it’s assumed he belongs in this group.

2:03:38World record for a marathon on an official course. it was set in September by Patrick Makau of Kenya at the Berlin Marathon. the previous record was held by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia who ran 2:03:39 on the same course in 2008.2:19:19Personal best for Mary Keitany, the fastest woman in this year’s field. the 29-year-old Kenyan is the world record holder in the half marathon. Last year, she finished third in New York. it was her first full marathon.9Number of times the late, great Norwegian Grete Waitz won the New York City Marathon, the most times for any runner, male or female. Waitz passed away at the age of 57 earlier this year after a long battle with cancer.98:48:17Amount of time it took Bob Wieland, a Vietnam vet who’d lost both of his legs in an explosion in 1969, to complete the marathon in 1986. “His time would have been quicker if [the race director] had not asked him to pull off the course and sleep overnight in a hotel with about two miles to go so he could finish in the late morning in front of a few hundred people to better promote his achievement,” says Dave Ungrady in the New York Times. the next year, Wieland finished in just over 81 hours, “probably a world record for improvement.” Wieland didn’t use a wheelchair but rather propelled himself forward by swinging his body between his arms. he wore leather chaps over his lower torso to act as a pivot. 8:30:00Official time limit for the race

Sources: Associated Press (2), BBC News, Examiner, Guardian, Ingnycmarathon.org, International Association of Athletics Federation, Jezebel, LetsRun.com, Nycmarathon.org, New York Daily News, New York Times (2)

Custom 3D – A Brief History of Pixar

by on October 6, 2011

Custom 3D and the Pixar Animation Studio go together. In fact Custom 3D has changed the way that films are made and how they are watched. Custom 3D takes a two-dimensional image and allows it to look three-dimensional. Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation production company that makes its headquarters in Emeryville, California.

Before 1995 the company was practically unheard of. its CGI short films were only known to those in the film business. the big break for Pixar Studio came in the year 1995 when the company released a movie that helped to restore the fledgling animation industry. That movie was the delightfully enjoyable flick Toy story.

When the company first began it was owned by Lucasfilm. it was established to create advanced animation technology to be used in movies featuring live action. the company underwent a change in ownership in 1986 when it was purchased by a man named Steve Jobs who was the head of the company Apple, inc.

This was the start of the Pixar that we know today. the Pixar Imaging Computer was developed. it reached a very limited market but it did get the attention of Walt Disney Studios. In particular what caught the eye of the executives at Walt Disney were the short film demonstrations that were crafted by an employee at Pixar named John Lasseter.

A break came in 1991 for Pixar when the Walt Disney Studio made a deal with the animation studio for a three-picture production. the first of these pictures was Toy story.

John Lasseter, who was a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts co-wrote and co-directed the film. he later became the Executive Vice-President of Pixar. the story focused on a cowboy doll with traditional ways and a spaceman from a more modern time who became rivals vying for the attention and affection of their owner. the running theme throughout the story is that of self-improvement. Plenty of other toys such as Mr. Potato Head and Barbie helped to round out the cast of dolls.

Toy story was unlike anything that had ever been made before in the film industry. There was a tremendous amount of technological innovation in the movie. it was very clever and creative. the film which boasted movie goers of all ages won plenty of accolades. it won awards for animation, music composition, writing, producing, directing and technical achievement. it also won an Academy Award for special achievement which was an achievement in and of itself. the movie was a tremendous hit at the box-office. it grossed over $354 million American dollars across the globe.

The Custom 3D used by Pixar Studios is cutting edge technology. As opposed to the traditional films that are made by the Walt Disney Studio, Pixar does not base its films on fairy tales or legends. all of its ideas are original creations.

Besides Toy story the studio has also brought film enthusiasts Finding Nemo an underwater story of a clown fish father and son, as well as the films Cars in 2006 and Ratatouille in 2007. In 2006 the Pixar Studio was purchased by the Walt Disney Company for $7.4 billion U.S. dollars. Steve Jobs is now on the Disney board of directors while John Lasseter is the Chief Creative Officer and Principal Creative Advisor.

Custom 3D – a Brief History of Pixar

Custom 3D – A Brief History of Pixar

Burlington High adding iPads, trimming textbooks

by on September 8, 2011

Staff and wire report

BURLINGTON — For Burlington High School students beginning classes tomorrow, hefting a backpack weighed down with textbooks is about to give way to tapping out notes and flipping electronic pages on a glossy iPad tablet computer.

Every student at Burlington High will begin school with new school-issued iPads, each loaded with electronic textbooks and other online resources in place of traditional bulky texts.

Burlington High, Principal Patrick Larkin calls the $500 iPads a better long-term investment than textbooks, though he said the school will still use traditional texts in some courses if suitable electronic programs aren’t yet available.

“I don’t want to generalize because I don’t want to insult people who are working hard to make those resources,” Larkin said of textbooks, “but they’re pretty much outdated the minute they’re printed and certainly by the time they’re delivered. the bottom line is that the iPads will give our kids a chance to use much more relevant materials.”

Burlington School Committee Chairman Stephen Nelson said the district signed a $600,00, three-year lease agreement with Apple to acquire 1,000 iPads — one for each student enrolled in the high school — divided as three annual payments of $200,000 each.

The $200,000 appropriation for 2011-2012 came out of the district’s regular annual budget, and did not require raising taxes, nor the passage of a special warrant article, Nelson said.

“What we’ve tried to do is make technology part of our operating budget, treating it like any other utility, such as electric or gas, rather than as a ‘luxury’ item,” Nelson said.

By using iPads, the district is saving a considerable amount on textbooks and other learning tools, Nelson said. “For example, instead of buying a graphing calculator that retails for $120, our students can now download an iPad application for five bucks,” he said.

Nelson credited Larkin and School Superintendent Eric Conti for making Burlington the first school district in the state to launch an iPad curriculum.

“It’s really an exciting advancement in how we can deliver instruction in the classroom,” Nelson said.

The iPads generally cost districts between $500 and $600, depending on what accessories and service plans are purchased.

One iPad devotee is 15-year-old Christian Woods, who starts his sophomore year at Burlington High on a special student support team to help about 1,000 other teens adjust to their new tablets.

“I think people will like it. I really don’t know anybody in high school that wouldn’t want to get an iPad,” he said. “We’re always using technology at home, then when you’re at school it’s textbooks, so it’s a good way to put all of that together.”

Educators say the sleek, flat tablet computers offer a variety of benefits. They include interactive programs to demonstrate problem-solving in math, scratchpad features for note-taking and bookmarking, the ability to immediately send quizzes and homework to teachers, and the chance to view videos or tutorials on everything from important historical events to learning foreign languages.

They’re especially popular in special education services, for children with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities, and for those who learn best when something is explained with visual images, not just through talking.

Some advocates also say the interactive nature of learning on an iPad comes naturally to many of today’s students, who’ve grown up with electronic devices as part of their everyday world.

But for all of the excitement surrounding the growth of iPads in public secondary schools, some experts watching the trend warn that the districts need to ensure they can support the wireless infrastructure, repairs and other costs that accompany a switch to such a tech-heavy approach.

And even with the most modern device in hand, students still need the basics of a solid curriculum and skilled teachers.

Districts are varied in their policies on how they police students’ use. many have filtering programs to keep students off websites that have not been pre-approved, and some require the students to turn in the iPads during vacation breaks and at the end of the school year. others hold the reins a little more loosely.

“If we truly consider this a learning device, we don’t want to take it away and say, ‘Leaning stops in the summertime.’ ” said Larkin, the Burlington principal.

And the nation’s domestic textbook-publishing industry, accounting for $5.5 billion in yearly sales to secondary schools, is taking notice of the trend with its own shift in a competitive race toward developing curriculum specifically for iPads.

At Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for instance, programmers scrambled to create an iPad-specific secondary-school program starting almost as soon as Apple unveiled the tablet in spring 2010.

Sun staff reporter John Collins contributed to this report.

Restrict iCloud devices?

by on August 2, 2011

I'm exited about Apple's new iCloud, however, I don't want ALL of our devices having the same information. For instance, if I take a picture on my iPhone, I don't want it sent to my Mother Father and Sisters iPhones! How will this work? can I choose which devices will use iCloud? thanks in advance!

Simply turn it off but they won't be able to use it which defeats the purpose. if you go into settings you can switch it off. it turns on by default but I see what your saying.

Restrict iCloud devices?

Apple’s Videogame Future

by on June 18, 2011

With mobile success already under its belt, we consider Apple’s next move and why it could change the way you play at home forever.

  • by Damien McFerran
  • June 17, 2011 08:00 AM PT

Even the most blinkered of Apple skeptics will admit that the rise of the iPhone — and its close siblings, the iPod Touch and iPad — has been nothing short of meteoric. since the inception of the original 2G iPhone back in 2007, Apple has shifted an incredible 190 million units of its combined iOS range, making it one of the most successful platforms of the modern era, and the company recently overtook Google to become the most valuable brand in the world.

One area where Apple has enjoyed particular (and some would argue unexpected) success is in the distribution of games. the iPhone App Store now boasts over 350,000 items available to download, a large percentage of which are focused solely on finger-friendly entertainment. Titles such as Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, and Flight Control have sold in the millions, making gamers out of people who ordinarily wouldn’t even dream of picking up a traditional controller, let alone purchase a portable console.

Apple’s conquest of the interactive entertainment arena shows no sign of relenting, either. Recently, the company acquired the services of former Nintendo UK Head of Communications Rob Saunders and Activision’s Nick Grange. while neither individual is involved explicitly with games development — their expertise lies in the field of public relations — such bold moves are nonetheless a clear indication that Apple is keen to take control of its own destiny when it comes to gaming, and could hint at a wider attack which will leave stalwarts such as Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft reeling.

While it’s tempting to assume that Apple’s fresh gaming-focused strategy is merely to buttress its existing portable iOS business, we believe the Cupertino-based company has something a little more dramatic planned. Apple is a company that is constantly looking to expand into new and fertile territory, and there’s another equally profitable arena that is just waiting to be dominated: your living room.

Apple is a company that is constantly looking to expand into new and fertile territory, and there’s another equally profitable arena that is just waiting to be dominated: your living room.

Apple has made no attempt to conceal its desire to take control of our televisions; Apple TV – a set-top box which grants access to movies, TV shows and music – may have experienced some teething problems, but it continues to be an ongoing venture for the firm. what better way of solidifying its future than by adding the ability to play games into that package? or perhaps Apple is cooking up something even more drastic, such as a fully-fledged gaming system?

With the recently-launched iPad 2, Apple certainly has the hardware to make such a daring move. the iPad 2′s technological prowess is nothing short of incredible when you consider its svelte frame; already impressive iOS titles like Infinity Blade are given an additional layer of detail that approaches the sort of lavish imagery we’re accustomed to seeing on our Xbox 360s and PS3. With the current generation of iOS gaming arguably giving the Nintendo Wii a run for its money in graphical terms, an all-new Apple “console” based on the Apple A5 ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore CPU — which powers the iPad 2 and is expected to make its way into the next iPhone model — could easily be up to PS3/360 standard…or possibly even beyond.

<a href="http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/220492/apples-videogame-future/tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/220492/apples-videogame-future/Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:08:01 GMT 00:00″>Apple’s Videogame Future

When is the newest iPhone iOS 4.2.5 or 4.3 coming out?

by on June 6, 2011

I'm still waiting for the unlock to use on my iPhone 4. I have version 4.2.1 and apparently they decided to skip that version to unlock (my luck). I also have baseband 3.10.01. Thanks alot!!

it will come out soon the next month.

I unlocked my I-Phone 4 Remotely from Brazil Vivo Network at here
http://www.onlinegsmunlock.com/apple-iph… try Remote Unlock for your Network Lock in the List.

Possibly, the 28th.

iOS 4.0 Jailbreak for iPod Touch 2G(NON-MC) & iPhone 3G – Canada's …

by on April 17, 2011

A jailbreak tutorial to Apple’s latest released firmware, 4.0. Note: Only works for iPod Touches 2G (non-MC) & iPhone 3Gs. Jailbreak for 3GS and iPod Touch 2G (MC) & iPod Touch 3G not released yet. Download Links: redsn0w 0.9.5b5-5 for iPhone/iPod Touch on Windows: depositfiles.com iPod Touch 2G(NON-MC) iOS 4.0 Firmware: depositfiles.com iPhone 3G(NON 3GS) iOS 4.0 firmware: depositfiles.com MAC: (Use corresponding firmware files above) Redsn0w 0.9.5 for Mac: depositfiles.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

There are s many causes for people to jailbreak their iPhones. The two main reasons why people jailbreak their iPhones is for applications, music, or video downloads. did you know that there are actually websites that are available on the web that allow you to be able to jailbreak you’re your iPhone?. They do! these websites even provide the software with all the guidelines needed to obtain the download which others don’t have. In the normal course most of these websites have placed a one time fee that is very low priced for availing all their services for downloads to the iPhone.

There are so many things that one get as download for their iPhone from these websites like music movies and even TV downloads for entertainment. Instead of having to pay every time you download something like you would with the iTunes website, you can choose to download from any other website for your iPhone which would save you a lot more money if you did so. There is no need for one to pay for each and every download they make instead there is a very reasonable charge for the membership alone that makes one to save a lot of money.

Anyone making use of these can get admission to a whole lot of music, movies and TV shows. as soon as people get to know that they need not have to pay for every download like in iTunes then they will certainly be more than happy to get all that they had wanted from a different iPhone website. Everyone wants to get as much as possible for the least price. Inorder to get all the things possible for your phone try to look for iPhone websites that provide just this as you will benefit the most.

In order to protect your phone from any of the viruses that may be present in the downloads try to be sure of where you are getting them from as it may harm your phone. one has to be very careful especially with the files that have torrent or even the ones that have been shared by multiple people. these cause a lot of damage to both ones iPhone and the computer also.

It will be worth paying the charges to the good and trustworthy websites that provide safer downloads on-line the ones that always have a danger of exposure to ones iPhone and system to all kinds of viruses. it is well worth it though to pay for something that would be a lot safer for your computer and phone. it is mandatory to have an anti-spyware on ones system so that it can detect the virus that may attack ones system while download takes pace.

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