“TomTom for the iPhone“, the GPS app for the iPhone, is out and being sold at $99, one of the most expensive apps released by Apple.  Continue Reading

It was announced today that the Microsoft Zune HD portable media player is now officially available for preorder. Continue Reading

Last Thursday, Microsoft announced that the next version of Office for Mac, which will come with Outlook, will arrive by the 2010 holiday buying season.

New Outlook for Mac

Outlook for Mac will soon replace the current e-mail and calendar program in the Mac Office package, Entourage. Some differences of the Windows version of Outlook deal with the Mac version having more support for more Exchange features, like public folders and features highlighting rights management.

When Eric Wilfrid, General Manager of Microsoft’s Macintosh business unit was asked about the rumors that Microsoft might be working on mobile versions of Office for the iPhone, he had this to say:

“That’s been a popular question. No, there is no news today about any iPhone work.”

The new business edition will sell for $399.

Yahoo! and Microsoft team up against Google.

After an unsuccessful $47.5 billion takeover attempt, Microsoft is once again in talks with Yahoo!. This time, to forming a partnership on Internet search. The agreement, which could be reached as early as Wednesday would unite the Microsoft and Yahoo! against internet search market leader Google. Continue Reading

Apple

Rumors have been spreading about Apple‘s plans to release a portable tablet-sized computer that can surf the Web later this year. More than that, it may also serve as an electronic book reader. Continue Reading

The new iPod Touch, rumored to be powered with a camera and a microphone. Photo courtesy of Apple.

Gadget rumors are circulating over the internet, especially that from Apple’s iTouch. As told by CNET.com, it is said that Apple is getting ready to launch a new and upgraded iPod Touch that would have a built-in camera and microphone.

This rumor have been appearing on various technology websites but Wired blog author Eliot Van Buskirk provides more credible confirmation:

“A well-connected source tells us those rumors are on the money, and that Apple’s factories in China are already manufacturing iPod Touch models with integrated cameras and microphones.”

With the added hardware upgrade of a microphone and a Skype application in your new iPhone, the iPod Touch would already stand as a VoIP phone as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection. In the future, people expect the new iPod to be enhanced with voice commands, similar to how the iPhone is packaged.

Other rumors concerning Apple circulate around the introduction of a new Apple Netbook.

Exxon Mobil, the most profitable company in the world and second only to Shell in Fortune 500 list of companies.

As talks arise from electric-powered cars which churn out less pollution and more efficiency, energy powerhouse and profit-leading Fortune 500 company Exxon Mobil has decided to take a different direction as it aims to redefine the term “alternative energy sources” to a whole new level.

Just this Tuesday, Exxon Mobil and biotech firm Synthetic Genomics (SGI) announced their new alliance to produce alternative fuel made from photosynthetic algae. Exxon Mobil seems to be very optimistic with the project, because with this venture, Exxon Mobil expects to spend more than a whopping $600 million on the project–$300 million on their own and another $300 million to SGI if specific R&D milestones are met.

Algae is just one of many alternative fuel sources being looked into by many organizations. Another source being looked at and has received much success is ethanol. Algae is now being considered because it can also thrive in a variety of conditions.

Synthetic Genomics (SGI), Exxon Mobil's partner in pursuit of using algae as an alternative source of energy.

SGI’s role will be to provide the R&D backbone – systems to grow large amounts of algae and convert them into biofuels. Exxon Mobil, on the other hand, will provide expert engineers and scientific talent throughout the whole venture – from increasing the level of algae production to manufacturing the final product.

Emil Jacobs, Vice President of R&D at Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering Company, had this to say about this new venture:

“Meeting the world’s growing energy demands will require a multitude of technologies and energy sources. We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low net carbon emission transportation fuel.”

Exxon Mobil is venturing into relatively unsuccessful waters. GreenFuel Technologies, a young company that wanted to focus on algae production for energy as well, announced just last May that it had run out of funds and would be shutting down. PetroAlgae and Aurora Biofuels, though young as well and have not made groundbreaking success, remain hopeful about the commercial production of algae biofuel.

Regardless, SGI remains positive and sees the venture as a global, prevalent need. J. Craig Venter summed it up with the following statement:

“The real challenge to creating a viable next generation biofuel is the ability to produce it in large volumes which will require significant advances in both science and engineering. The alliance between SGI and Exxon Mobil will bring together the complementary capabilities and expertise of both companies to develop innovative solutions that could lead to the large scale production of biofuel from algae.”

Could this finally be the breakthrough we need to bring down skyrocketing oil prices? Or would you rather use an electric or hybrid car?

Black Nintendo Wii

Come August 1, a more mature and stylish Nintendo gaming console is coming to town. Well, at least in Japan. As announced by Nintendo last month, the gaming console giant will launch a black Nintendo Wii on August 1.

There is no news yet though, of the arrival of the black Nintendo Wii to the United States. Many would have preferred the arrival of this black version at around the same time Nintendo released its original Wii, or at least release this black one with added features and functionalities.

Images of the new black Nintendo Wii are posted for your viewing pleasure. While the new console is still pretty much the same as compared to the old one in terms of functionality, will you still buy this new, black, and more style Nintendo Wii? If you had your way, what color would you like your Nintendo Wii to come in?

Microsoft has done it again – as it always has. It has further reinvented and innovated one of its most staple applications, Microsoft Office, and will release Microsoft Office 2010 early next year. In an attempt to discover more about Office 2010, reviews have already been undertaken to test the viability of the changes that Microsoft has implemented. Some of these, as told by CNET, include the following:

"Backstage" feature of Microsoft Office 2010

One of our favorite improvements to Office 2010 is what Microsoft calls the Backstage view. Offered as a replacement for the File menu, Backstage gives you a launching point to share documents, print out your work, set permissions, and other program specific options to get your project ready for distribution. You’ll find all of the usual document management features, like open and save, here as well, but you’ll also get a nice layout of templates for new documents, several different ways to share your work, and print settings and page layouts all in one place. We think people might initially be resistant to a new way of doing things (as is often the case), but once you get used to using the Backstage view for all of your file management, we think you’ll find it useful and efficient to have access to everything in one place.

"Paste Preview" feature of Microsoft Office 2010

Another new feature we appreciate, Paste Preview does away with blind cutting and pasting by showing you what items in the clipboard will look like when you paste them into a document. It works across most of the applications of Office 2010. Once you have content stored in the clipboard, just mouse-over the paste button to view available paste options.

Image editing feature of Microsoft Office 2010

If you use images in your documents, you’ll now be able to perform simple edits from within many of the 2010 applications. Choose from several different image effects without ever opening an image editor. Like most of the new features in Office 2010, these features are found easily in the navigational Ribbon.

It seems that with these new upgrades, Microsoft Office is not only competing against other office-related applications but also photo-editing software. And with many still not inclined to Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Vista, do you think that the major upgrades brought by Microsoft Office 2010 is a good move for the software giant?

Google Chrome

A new player is coming to shake up our knowledge of operating systems as we know it. Three maybe a crowd but Google doesn’t mind. Coming in to battle staple OS players Windows and Linux, Google has officially teamed up with the workd’s largest processesor manufacturer, Intel, to develop Google Chrome OS.

Already the world’s number one search and engine and a major player in providing e-mail service, Google’s expansion into operating systems through Google Chrome OS, which is set to release sometime in 2010, is easily the biggest news in home software technology today. Said to be virus-free, Google Chrome OS is a welcome development to Intel. “We’ve been privy to the project for some time and work with Google on a variety of projects, including elements of this one. We welcome Google’s move here,” Intel spokesman Nick Knupffer said.

It seems that Intel will likely be the biggest winner in all this. The development of the Google Chrome OS under Intel’s processors will not likely affect the long and storied relationship the company has with Microsoft’s Windows or Linux’s own operating systems.

Intel

Not only will Intel score big time on Google Chrome OS, but with additional rumors that Intel is again in talks with Google about supporting Google’s Android OS on Intel-based MIDs, business will apparently boom for both companies. Knupffer has not confirmed nor denied the news.

After capitalizing on this and the whole of desktop computers, Intel seeks to add more value-adding businesses to its portfolio. Intel has pursued netbooks, handhelds, consumer electronics, and embedded applications as its next targets. “That’s what we’re aiming at,” Intel CEO Paul Otellini confirmed. “This is where we think the growth opportunity is for us.”

After steamrolling the competition that is Linux, Windows will inevitably be pitted against the new Google Chrome OS. Google, after toppling Yahoo!, does not seem to be a big underdog against the OS giant. In a war against computer supremacy with billions of dollars of company worth as ammunition, who will win the looming operating systems battle? Which will you choose, Microsoft Windows or Google Chrome?

One thing’s for sure though: Intel has already won the war.