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This article is about how Apple's competition with Google is hurting both Apple and its users. The removal of Google maps and no Google+ integration in iOS6 is an example of this. It relates whats going today with Apple in 1985-1997 which had tried making many unsuccessful products. The author believes this has to do with its strong competition with Microsoft. They were focusing more on beating Microsoft with new products than actually developing quality ones. After Steve Jobs came back from leaving Apple he decided to partner with Microsoft and the quality of new products greatly improved. The author says that the same thing is happening with Apple vs Google, and unless Apple decides to stop, it will hurt the company and its users. I chose the tag of eLifestyle because everyday users of Apple are being affected by the new maps unreliability and no Google+ integration. Apple will continue to affect us even more if they don't decide to focus on creating quality products. In my opinion, I agree with the author and I think that Apple needs to think a little more like how Steve Jobs would.

In this article, the global state of the current smart device market is addressed with its top two consumers being the U.S. and China. As of February 18, 2013, China has officially surpassed the U.S. in its number of active iOs and Android devices, a year after being named the fastest-growing smart device market in the world. According to estimations, China will have a 16M lead in smart devices installed on the U.S. by the end of February and their market will continue growing exponentially putting them far ahead of any other country. China's purchases in the smart device business, makes them an important group of interest for smart device companies such as Samsung and Apple, and the choices of the people will have a great impact upon the market. Especially in the competition between iOs and Android devices. In recent studies, the Android has nearly 75% of sales in China. This is not very comforting for the iOS since it might fall behind in competition due to consumer behavior in China's economy.

This article talks about a new tablet line from Microsoft called "Surface". It is supposed to go with the new Windows 8 operating system which is supposed to be a more touch and mobile friendly system. At an event in LA Steve Ballmer showed 2 versions of Surface.  One is running Windows 8 Pro the other Windows RT. Each tablet comes with a stand and magnetically attachable covers to allow the tablet to be like a laptop. The type cover has a keyboard and trackpad, while the touch cover is a thinner keyboard cover that comes in many colours and has an accelerometer to let the system know when it's folded to deactivate the keyboard. Both have a 10.6-inch display. The RT version is 9.3mm thick and weights 673g while the Windows 8 Pro is 13.55mm thick and weighs 903g. Only the RT comes with productivity software like Office Home and Student pre-loaded. This release ties in with portable computing because it is an all new portable tablet that is from Microsoft. It also ties in with their new operating system that goes hand in hand with this tablet. It is something with a new innovative style and can be used in various ways as a laptop or tablet. It also ties in with economics and the whole Apple vs. Microsoft competition. Microsoft has created an "even better" version of the iPad. Now instead of going for the iPad people that like PC's and working with them can make the choice to use the Surface tablet which once again puts Microsoft and Apple in competition with one another for sales. All in all this is a great new tablet and I think it is great for all those Windows users that can get their hands on a new tablet from Microsoft.  It will be interesting to see if this new technology will blow up compared to the iPad and now the iPad Mini.

On October 29, 2012 Google will unveil its new Android operating system called Android 4.2 or an update of Jelly Bean. Google will be showing Samsung Electronics Nexus 10 tablet and LG Electronics will be showing their first phone the Nexus 4 and the Nexus will be showed but won't be for sale until July of next year. This will be Google's biggest Nexus unveil with three new products. Google said that its new Nexus 10 tablet has a higher resolution camera of the iPad 3 and the Nexus 10 will have a pricing similar to the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and Galaxy Note 10.1. I chose portable computing as one of my tags because now many companies are starting to unveil new tablets at a much lower price than usual and with better quality. Tablets are becoming more and more popular with people because of size and versatility and it's becoming a more competitive market. I chose economics as my other tag because tablets are becoming cheaper and with better apps, components, and size. A lot of companies are selling more of them so it is a competitive market and companies have to come with new tablets within a few months.

This article explains the fall of the leading company in smartphones. RIM experiences a significant decline in profits. I think that smartphones have risen in popularity and RIM is unable to keep up with their competition and it shows in their profits. I think that in order for RIM to recover from such a loss, they must provide an new and innovative feature to their products or a completely new product that will separate themselves from the competition. I think it is unfortunate that such a successful company experiences such a drastic downfall. This goes to show how unpredictable the world of technology can be.

Google Inc buys Nik Software's "Snapseed", in competition to Instagram, which was recently bought by Facebook. Despite being less popular than Instagram, and costing $4.99, in contrast to Instagram being free on Apple's mobile devices, Snapseed won Apple Inc's "iPad App Of The Year (2011)" award for its photo editing abilities. This article describes reactions to Google's purchase from companies including Google Inc., Nik Software, and BGC Partners. It seems once again that Google is playing catch up in social media to companies such as Facebook. Google Inc. reported this week that Google+ had reached 400 million users, and 100 million monthly active users. As a user of both Facebook and Google+, I feel as though Google is once again the underdog, albeit a rising one. In comparison to the battle for social media supremacy, Snapseed also has 9 million users, versus Instagram's 100 million. Google is rising in popularity and Facebook may have some competition. Perhaps this purchase of the photo-editing power of Snapseed may help Google in their obstacle ridden climb.

Once again it is a race for the worst company in the United States of America. The matchups are good but Electronic Arts will be going for the win as they have won the last two years and are now going for the hat-trick. EA has been delaying a lot of games and has had plenty of launch problems. Who will the winner be?

Flipboard has some competition coming its way. With Google and Yahoo both -reportedly- coming out with their own applications for tablets that is suppose to be coming out next week.  the application there coming out with is called Livestand that looks and feels exactly like the AOL's Edition app that`s for the iPad. the functions that Livestand can be personalized, magazine-like publication that has dynamic content and with video-based advertising. Well see if Livestand can stack up.

If you're the type of person who loves Samsung and has every product they have released, then you'll probably get interested in their new product, the Samsung Galaxy Camera. This camera will be based off the Galaxy S III. That means it'll have a screen size of around 4.8'', have the TouchWiz UI, and JellyBean. However, instead of the original 8 Mp camera on the SIII, this'll have 16Mp camera with xenon flash. Too me, I think Samsung is taking it a bit too far. Yes I know that their are many competitors out there trying to steal the competition, but I thought that Samsung releasing their Smart Tv's was already the big thing. I have to admit, this is an innovative product. No doubt there'll be many good things to be said about it in the future.

The new Wii U review came out today. The Wii U is longer than the old one and looks sleeker. Also it's lovely fingerprint black. It has an HDMI port (cord is included), other USB ports, and a SD card slot. It runs on an IBM Power-based multi-core processor and an AMD Radeon custom high-def GPU. It comes in 8GB of internal flash memory for $300 and for $350 you get 32GB of memory. The Gamepad is pretty much all your Nintendo devices in one. It comes with a camera. The battery life is about 3.5 hours with everything turned down. If your parents are watching TV you can still play on the gamepad. The pro controller is small copy of the PS3 and Xbox 360's controller. The battery life is 6-10 hours. Overall there are many interactive games and the family will love playing together. eLifestyle because this will become the new trend. Many people will want to get it. Sunday nights the family will get together and play all night. Economics because the Wii U is going to be big competition for the other companies because they don't have a gamepad and you can play while dad is watching CFL playoffs. 

In this article, Apple's current CEO, Tim Cook expresses his opinion on the suing of South Korean company, Samsung. Although, Steve Jobs was very clear with his intentions to take out Samsung as a major source of competition, Tim Cook was opposed to suing Samsung because the company was a major supplier of parts for Apple. However, Jobs suspected Samsung was abusing the supplier relationship to shield it from any legal claims and his fears were confirmed with the early release of the Galaxy Tab which was very much like the iPad. Apple's dependency on Samsung is displayed by the nearly $8 billion dollars worth of components bought from Samsung last year. For this reason, Tim Cook has made several moves to wean Apple's dependence on Samsung products, including hiring away a top chip designer formerly working for Samsung. This and the $1.17 billion dollars apple was given from the jurisdiction between the two rivals was a big win for them. This article fits under the legal category because it touches upon the legal issues between the two rivaling companies, and the opinions of stakeholders such as Jobs and Cook. Also, this article is related to economics because it predicts the future of major companies like Samsung and Apple. With these two companies at the top, changes in consumer behaviour can easily result if one of the companies falls behind.

With Google's new product, "Google Glass", the company must come up with a new way to promote the product to its customers. Since the device will be costly, most likely to be around $1500, the company has decided to expand into retail stores which will be open all around the world. This can make it easier for consumers to test out products before buying it, and Google is also promoting and expanding its market in this way. The launch of Google retails stores can create competition for other companies, like Apple or Microsoft, and is a risk to invest in such a large project. Google, however, think this idea makes sense if the company wants to expand its business, and they believe it will satisfy its customers. I think these stores can create easier access to electronic information and products, which can benefit the company's profits, and with the rapid expanding of new technology, Google stores can use this factor to benefit and change the way people buy products from the company.

On October 29 Google unveiled its new tablet the Nexus 10. This is Google's first 10 inch Nexus device and it runs on an Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Google's newest mobile system, also it comes with some new cutting edge hardware you ever seen in an Android tablet. Google has priced its new tablet at $399 to compete with the other new tablets such as Microsoft Surface, iPad 4th generation, and Kindle Fire HD. The Nexus 10 has a 2560 x 1600 pixel Super PLS display at 300ppi and has a denser display screen than other competitors. The Nexus 10 runs on an ARM Cortex-A15 processor and quad-core Mali T604 graphics processing unit. It has a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.9 megapixel front camera. The Nexus's new software has a new user account option that lets multiple users customize the tablet to their own needs without disrupting other users that may have access to it. The only bad thing it lacks the proper apps for a tablet that are available to Android. It is eLifestyle because a lot of people have been waiting for this new tablet and it's different than the latest tablets. It's portable computing because it runs on the new Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and Google's latest mobile system. Has a bigger screen and it will compete very well with the other companies.

Video gaming is pretty big in our society.  It may seem like it's just fun and games to most people, but to others it could be serious.  Is it possible that video gaming could be bigger than sports?  Possibly.  The amount of spectators spectating individual gaming events are immense.  Not only do people spectate it live, but they could also spectate from the comfort of their own computer.  The Major League Gaming Spring Championship in June attracted 4.7 million online viewers.    This affects our everyday life because instead of training for a physically active competition, people could "train" and hone their skills to play video games.  People from all around the world could connect with each other and compete with each other through video games.    Whether I agree or disagree with regards to making video gaming a real sport or not is still in between the borderline.  You can practice your skills while playing a sport, but you can also hone your skills by playing video games.  Nonetheless, if video gaming does become an official sport, then we could say goodbye to society as we know it today.

While the tablet was originally supposed to be out in May, the date has been pushed back until July. Reasons being: they hope to make it more cheaper than what it was originally supposed to cost ($250). This is also because they are in competition with the Kindle Fire only costing $200. I think that this was a bold move for Google because it it makes sense that they would've seen a flop with their product because theirs would've been more expensive. While lowering the price would be beneficial for us, no one really knows if it'll be a success for them like the Kindle Fire was for Amazon.

Gigabyte has recently released yet another amazing graphics card. This time it is the ever so popular GTX 780 Ti. The 780 Ti is currently the highest end video card, featuring the absolute best performance, and a budged of which is going to require another wallet. However, this non-reference card (not stock design) features the best a 780 Ti can offer. With it's new super popular windforce cooler, custom PCB (Motherboard) and highest stock clock (speed) of any 780 Ti, this Gigabyte windforce card will surely many the eyes of any enthusiast shine. Capable of an insane stable overclock of 1203GHz this card smashes its competition. It is truly the best of the best, and with a price tag of $810, if your wallet can afford it, you will surely not come across anything better.

Sony is developing a new virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4. This headset will have1080p quality with a 90 degree field of view. The headset is very stylish and refined compared the other giant in virtual reality technology, the oculus rift. Morpheus (codename for the vr headset) will be the only competition for Oclulus Rift concerning customers seeking virtual reality gameplay. Although we don't know yet if Morpheus out performs the rift I believe that there will be a virtual reality was between the two. Being a gamer myself, I really like the possibility of virtual reality gameplay. Unfortunately at the moment the Morpheus is not for me because prefer playing games on the pc and will probably never buy a next gen console.

Just when you thought that the Apple-Samsung dispute was long gone, the two rivaling tech companies will once again appear in court next week in Silicon Valley. As usual, they are accusing each other of ripping off designs and features. Apple is accusing Samsung of infringing on 5 patents including Samsung's popular Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Samsung on the other hand is accusing Apple of stealing ideas to use on Apple's iDevices. According to Apple attorneys, Apple "revolutionized the market in personal computing devices, while Samsung "systematically copied Apple's innovative technology and products. Samsung in defense says that it has been a "pioneer in the mobile business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry, and that Apple copied many of Samsung's innovations on Apple's iDevices. Some things Apple claims that Samsung copied are tap to search technology, and "slide to unlock" the latter in my opinion, is not true. However, each smartphone has many patents, but Apple is only challenging 5 of them. personally I think that Apple and Samsung devices are very different. Sure some features may be similar or identical, but that's just to have competition. Although both of them are innovators, I think that Samsung/Google is innovating more nowadays than Apple.

Amazon already has an online grocery shopping business with competitive prices and same or next day shipping. This business venture is called amazon fresh. Amazon Fresh has also announced a new gadget that aids their website. "Dash" allows you to automatically scan barcodes to order food, or speaking into a mic for a certain need of food. "Dash" is completely changing the world of online grocery business'. The problem is though, that this service will cost up to 300$ a year for the same-day+next day shipping. In my opinion I would personally purchase this if I lived in an area that was Amazon Fresh supported. Toronto is still not on the list yet for delivery.