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"The $0 [Mavericks] price is linked to the trend towards vertical integration," says programmer and longtime OS X watcher John Siracusa. "A company that makes both the hardware and the software for a device can choose where to put its profit margins. Given the proven magic of 'free' in the minds of consumers, it's better to put all the profit in a single basket. Free hardware is difficult to pull off, so software gets the nod: buy our hardware, get our software for free."

"This approach doesn't entirely invalidate existing computational idea patents, because they would continue to apply to implementations using special-purpose hardware. This is an advantage because it eliminates an argument against the legal validity of the plan. The U.S. passed a law some years ago shielding surgeons from patent lawsuits, so that even if surgical procedures are patented, surgeons are safe. That provides a precedent for this solution."

But there's a big downside to this Android growth: Severe fragmentation in the Android market means that startups must tune and debug their apps against a whole range of official Android versions, carrier tweaks, internal smartphone hardware, and external screen dimensions. Pundits have warned about this for years, but now the problem has come home to roost.

"Revealed at the company's annual software developer conference in San Francisco, this new OS is called Windows for Internet of Things, and Microsoft will license it for free when hardware makers use the software on devices with screens smaller than nine inches. The door is still open for the company to charge Windows licensing fees for PCs, tablets, and other larger devices, but Microsoft will compete head-on with Android - Google's free mobile operating system - on smartphones and wearables."

"Hapkit is an open-hardware haptic device designed to be very low-cost and easy to assemble. Hapkit allows users to input motions and feel programmed forces in one degree of freedom. This enables interactive simulation of virtual environments that represent realistic physics (such as springs and dampers) and creative new touch sensations (like textures and buttons). The Hapkit can be assembled using household tools, costs less than $50 for all components, including the microcontroller board, and is easily set up and programmed by novices."

"The practical use is simple, even if the underlying technology isn't. Users can walk into a store and point their phone's camera in front of them. After identifying what it is you're looking for, VPS will kick in, using visual data and previous sessions to point you in the right direction. Google showed it off in a hardware store, but it's not hard to imagine how the technology could be extended to malls, large stadiums, theme parks, or museums."

We're speaking over the same overtaxed cellular networks that he hopes will enable Datawind to educate every schoolchild in India through the world's cheapest functional tablet computer. But it's a losing battle, as his connection to one of the 13 separate cell carriers in Mumbai buckles under too much competing traffic. He has to repeat himself when he tells me the ultimate price university students will pay for his tablet, after half its cost has been subsidized by the Indian government. It's $20. In India, that's a quarter the cost of competing tablets with identical specifications. Similar tablets in China, the world champion in low-cost components and manufacturing, go for $45 and up, wholesale. Which means the Aakash 2 isn't just the cheapest fully functional tablet PC on the planet because the Indian government has decided it should be-it's the cheapest, period.

we really don't own our stuff anymore (at least not fully); the manufacturers do. Because modifying modern objects requires access to information: code, service manuals, error codes, and diagnostic tools. Modern cars are part horsepower, part high-powered computer. Microwave ovens are a combination of plastic and microcode. Silicon permeates and powers almost everything we own.

And the iPad's future dominance is far from certain. "The iPad is a powerful pedagogical tool, but we are seeing the market take its course. Other companies are now providing competitive alternatives at lower price points," says Brian Lewis, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education.

It's official: Samsung has announced the Galaxy S4 Zoom, the most powerful smartphone-camera hybrid on the market today. Check out its front side, and you'll see a device very similar to a Galaxy S4 Mini. It has a 4.3-inch qHD display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of storage memory (expandable via microSD cards, and a 1.9-megapixel camera. On the back, it's a full-fledged camera, with a 16-megapixel sensor and 10x optical zoom, which is far better than on any other smartphone or smartphone-camera hybrid we've seen.

All told, 39,457 students and teachers will get Apple's iPad tablet with an annual cost of $266 per unit, including networking, and 24,128 will get Apple's MacBook Air with a cost of $319. Only 5,474 will use the HP ProBook 4440 laptop, equipped with Windows 7, which was the least-costly option for a laptop at $286.

The National Center for Technology Planning (NCTP) is a clearinghouse for the exchange of many types of information related to technology planning. This information may be: school technology plans available for downloading online; technology planning aids (checklists, brochures, sample planning forms, PR announcement forms); and/or electronic monographs on timely, selected topics. The NCTP was created for those who: need help, seek fresh ideas, or seek solutions to problems encountered with planning.

"Still, I'll agree with CNET editor Molly Wood when she observed that, "They missed the price point that would have crushed the competition." As far as I'm concerned, Apple may have the edge when it comes to product lore and sheer ubiquity, but for those deliberately seeking an affordable, portable in-between device, we're looking at a much more level playing field for smaller-size slates -- and an open door for future Android and Windows 8 tablets."

What we saw today is what our classrooms will look like once iPads are far cheaper, once digital textbooks can be handed down as easily as physical ones, once teachers of every subject have several educational material options to choose among. For now though, it's important to remember that "new" and "different" always come at a premium. One that the vast majority of us can't afford.

when I carry my tablet I don't do all that much reading. Instead, I check my email, check Facebook, check Twitter, or-perhaps worst of all-play Words with Friends.

Unlimited Storage for Your Phone, Tablet & PC All your photos, videos, music and more

The Oculus Rift is a next-generation virtual reality headset designed for immersive gaming.

The company, founded in 2006, uses an ultra-low electrical current to charge very thin durable coatings (made of a proprietary substance that can be applied to "almost any surface of any size") on a standard touchscreen. This creates a small attractive force to finger skin that can be modulated; sensations such as texture, edges and vibrations can be felt by the user.

Red wasn't particularly interested in IPOs or the latest tech fetish, even though she was always exceptionally proud of her students and their accomplishments. She knew that technology was a means to an end - and that the end was people.