TechRepublic: Cracking open the Dell Adamo

Dell hopes to take a little air out of Apple’s sails with the Adamo. This upscale laptop packs a lot of tech into a stylish, ultrathin package. But, it’s going to cost you. Our $1,999 model includes a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2GB 800MHz DDR3 dual-channel memory, 128GB solid state drive, and 13.4-inch 16:9 WLED display.
In partnership with iFixit, TechRepublic brings you a full photo gallery of the Adamo cracking open, with 78 images of the entire process. iFixit is a one-stop-shop for the parts, tools, and step-by-step guides needed to repair iPods, iPhones, Macs, and almost any Apple product. Follow along as iFixit engineers disassemble the Dell Adamo and expose the tech inside.

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MacProVideo offers video training app for iPhone

MacProVideo, a company that is dedicated to producing and distributing training videos for Mac, is to release an application via the iPhone App Store. The application will allow users to watch MacProVideo's Mac video tutorials on an iPhone or an iPod Touch.It also uploaded it's N.E.D. application for Mac OS X, adding a new "Devices" area to sync videos to your iPhone. The application will also remember your library state and playback position, searching has been tuned up a bit and there is the ability to ratings and notes to content.N.E.D. 3.1 can be download free from MacProVideo's website. The application for iPhone is not available just yet, as it is waiting for approval from the App Store.

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Microsoft Windows 7: Upgrade or just buy a pizza?

BusinessWeek is running a piece on Microsoft's latest attempts to fight back against Apple and Linux and its secret strategy to force unwitting Windows users to upgrade to various flavors of Windows 7. Because of the smaller size of Windows 7, three versions of the program will come loaded even on lower-end machines. If a consumer on a cheaper PC running the "Standard" version tries to use a high-definition monitor or run more than three software programs at once, he'll discover that neither is possible. Then he'll be prompted to upgrade to the pricier "Home Premium" or "Ultimate" version. Microsoft says the process will be simple. Customers enter their credit-card information, then a 25-character code, make a few keystrokes, then reboot. (Microsoft Corporate Vice President for Consumer-Product Marketing Brad Brooks) says pricing hasn't been determined, but upgrading "will cost less than a night out for four at a pizza restaurant."I can't decide if this strategy is profoundly stupid or just utterly moronic.Besides the fact that when you buy an Apple computer you aren't hoodwinked into upgrading the operating system, just think of all the simple things that can go wrong: * Consumer confusion (and subsequent anger) about what they are paying for in the first place
* The upgrade not working or corrupting an existing installation
* Online credit card processing through an operating system known for being exploited by a vast range of criminals * An assumption that the hardware will be capable of running the new operating systemAs Microsoft continues to tout the Apple Tax, perhaps it should look inward a bit and realize that people are willing to pay for Apple products for the high-quality user experience, and not settle for a subpar experience on a product they use every day.The vast majority of Windows users will end up frustrated and annoyed if this ridiculous upgrade plan idea comes to fruition. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Apple users will continue to save their pizza money and opt for a better computing experience.

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Yahoo and Microsoft back in talks over ad deal

Microsoft, who ended its hostile bid for Yahoo almost one year ago, has started up discussions again with the company, this time over a possible advertising pact.Yahoo's new CEO Carol Bartz has met with Microsoft CEO Stee Ballmer this week, says sources, with both sides still hesitant to set any agreement in stone. One possible deal would have Microsoft selling search ads for Yahoo while Yahoo sells display ads on all Microsoft properties in exchange.Microsoft has been very aggressive in expanding their search engine (Live.com) and is expected to introduce another major overhaul this summer.A large scale partnership would go a long way towards creating a strong competitor to Google in search, which currently has 81.39% market share, according to Net Applications.

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Hotmail users suffer through outage

It's not easy running an online e-mail service with hundreds of millions of users.Later on the same day that Yahoo Mail wasn't available to a small fraction of its users, Hotmail had troubles with disappearing in-boxes. Here's the company statement:"On Thursday evening, there was a short-term service disruption which prevented Windows Live Hotmail customers worldwide from accessing their in-box for approximately two hours. Microsoft worked quickly to restore access. No data was lost during the outage. Microsoft apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused." The company didn't share details about how many people were affected.E-mail is central to the lives of a growing number of people, but nobody's perfect when it comes to offering the service. Comcast had an e-mail outage on Saturday, and Google's Gmail went down in February.

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Yahoo and Microsoft Said to Be Weighing Ad Pact

Yahoo and Microsoft, which held a marathon series of fruitless merger and partnership negotiations last year, have restarted discussions, this time over a possible advertising agreement, a person briefed on those discussions said Friday.Conversations between the two sides have been scant since Carol Bartz was named Yahoo’s chief executive in January. But they have started anew recently, and Ms. Bartz met with Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, last week, said the person briefed on the discussions, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential.Yahoo and Microsoft declined to comment.The discussions are in early stages and may not lead to any agreement, the person said. They have centered on ways for the companies to pool their advertising efforts, including a possible partnership under which Microsoft would sell search ads for Yahoo, and Yahoo, in turn, would sell display ads on Microsoft properties, this person said.After merger and partnership talks collapsed last year, Microsoft continued to make sizable investments in its search business to better compete with Google. Those investments included the hiring of a string of top search executives and engineers, some of whom had previously worked at Yahoo, including Qi Lu, a well-regarded technologist who is now in charge of Microsoft’s overall online business, including search.Microsoft is expected to release the results of its latest research and development efforts in search technology this summer when it plans to introduce a major overhaul of its search engine.Microsoft executives are bullish about the capabilities of the new service. But they readily admit that it does not address one of the principal challenges the company faces in competing with Google: Microsoft’s audience and its base of advertisers are tiny compared with Google’s. That makes Microsoft’s search business, in which advertisers bid against one another in an auction, less lucrative than Google’s.A partnership that would pool Microsoft’s and Yahoo’s users or advertisers could go a long way toward addressing that problem, and could help create a more powerful No. 2 competitor to Google in search.

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Apple iPhone Apps: Nearly 1 Billion Served

Nearly 1 billion applications have been downloaded from Apple's App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch, according to a countdown page on Apple's Web site.Techweb's Weekly Comedy Show on Humanoid Robts, A Quarter Million Dollar Rocket Belt, China Going To The Moon and More Techweb's Weekly Comedy Show on E-mail bankruptcy, Catering to Virgins Who Run IT, TSA's Lost Employee Records and more Len Elmore, Former Basketball Star, Talks About The Affect of Technology On Today's Sports CoverageAs of publication time there were more than 930 million apps downloaded, which is a staggering figure considering that the App Store is less than a year old. The company also revealed the top 20 downloaded apps of all time, and this includes games Tap Tap Revenge, Super Monkey Ball, and Koi Pond, and a Facebook app.It doesn't appear that the momentum is stopping either, as the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software is expected to attract even more developers because it will offer peer-to-peer connections, in-app purchases, and hardware accessories. Additionally, if a new iPhone surfaces this summer, there likely will be many new potential app buyers.To celebrate the milestone, Apple is launching a promotion that will give away more than $13,000 worth of merchandise once the billionth app has been downloaded. The winner will get $10,000 in iTunes credit, a 17-inch MacBook Pro, a 32-GB iPod Touch, and a Time Capsule. Users who download apps are automatically entered for the prize, and non-iPhone users can enter here.Places like MobiHand and Handango have been selling mobile apps for years, but the market really came to the forefront with the success of the App Store. Apple's rivals have definitely taken notice, and soon every major player will have an over-the-air way to distribute mobile programs.Apple's competitors will be taking a few steps to differentiate their app stores, though. Google said its Android Market will be more open, Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM)'s App World is more enterprise-friendly, Nokia (NYSE: NOK)'s Ovi Store will integrate social networking and location, and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Windows Marketplace for Mobile will allow users to be billed through their carriers.

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