iPad madness reaches obscene levels

What's the most important news story in the world today? The Haiti earthquake, the possibility of peace talks with the Taliban or Tony Blair facing questioning in the inquiry into the invasion of Iraq? Don't be silly. It's a new consumer gadget from Apple.

A quick glance at Google News US shows 1,118 stories covering the Haiti quake - fewer than the number of people confirmed dead - 3,151 on the Taliban peace talks and 1,962 on ex-British PM Tony Blair appearing at the Iraq inquiry. The Apple iPad appears to need 8,667 almost identical stories telling us how wonderful it is.

Am I the only person who finds this obscene?

By what right does the religious cult of Apple - and be assured that's exactly what it is - dominate the news completely?

This Wednesday, it seemed that the world stood still. Nothing was happening anywhere in the world that came close to the importance of the launch of a big iPhone that you can't even buy yet.

Now, I realize a lot of people love everything Apple does, but surely even they would agree that 200,000 people dying in an earthquake should possibly take precedence over a bloody computer.

Apple's hold over the media and media wannabe bloggers is total. Normally if a company refuses to talk about its products or send out review samples, coverage is minimal. But Apple's contrived shortage of information only serves to generate fevered speculation and then speculation on that speculation.

The chosen few - who due to their blind subservience to the Cult of Apple means they can be trusted to write in glowing terms about every new nut, bolt and pastel-hued earbud the company turns out - get free publicity for their pictures which are used by every other media outlet on the planet.

How the hell did Apple get to this position? This whole huge viral marketing machine costs them nothing to operate. They can just let slip a rumor to AppleInsider and within hours, there's a worldwide media feeding frenzy.Apple is laughing all the way to the bank.

The media even speculates about whether or not the founder and high priest of the Church of Scientapplogy, L. Ron Jobs, is going to turn up at a press conference.

Who the hell cares? He's just this guy, you know.

Once upon a time, news editors would stand up to this crap and make companies work for their publicity - and indeed they still do for people like Microsoft and Intel and indeed every company that isn't called Apple.

Lots of people will go out and buy an iPad, even if they're not entirely sure what they will do with it. They want one because it's a religious artefact - a piece of the True Cross. It doesn't matter that you can't pick the thing up without accidentally touching the screen and deleting a file or emailing your entire porn stash to the boss, they just have to have one.

The fact that the faithful can't get one yet and that there will be shortages when it finally arrives will just add to the frenzy. This plays into Apple's hands too. Can you honestly tell me the company won't deliberately keep a tight hold on availability to keep the mania going and to keep prices up?

Of course, Apple could offer a free iPad to every survivor of the Haitian earthquake and then people might bother to write about that insignificant little local problem as well.

Sometimes I despair for journalism. Pull yourselves together for God's sake and write about something important for a change. Here's a tip for all you writers out there - if it features a ten inch OLED display, it probably doesn't count as real news, OK?

It seems the iPad adverts are telling iPorkies, pretending the much hyped device can actually handle Adobe Flash, even though it can’t.

Promotional images of the device are replete with flashy slide shows from the likes of The New York Times, loading in all their glory on the built-in safari browser.

Sadly, this hipster dream was shattered by Steve Jobs himself during the live onstage demo of his deliverance of the holy tablet to the world, not that it should have come as any surprise, seeing as Safari on the iPhone has never supported it, and the iPad is just a wider screened version without voice capabilities.

Even Adobe itself has thrown its hands up in despair at Apple’s stubborn refusal to support its product, with Adrian Ludwig of the firm’s platform product marketing team noting in a recent blog that "Apple is continuing to impose restrictions on their devices that limit both content publishers and consumers."

Indeed, “without Flash support, iPad users will not be able to access the full range of web content, including over 70% of games and 75% of video on the web,” he notes.

“If I want to use the iPad to connect to , Hulu, Miniclip, Farmville, ESPN, Kongregate, or JibJab-- not to mention the millions of other sites on the web -- I'll be out of luck,” he concludes scathingly.

We can’t imagine Disney will be too pleased about it either, especially considering Saint Jobsworth is one of the firm’s biggest shareholders.

But perhaps Apple thought people would forget all about the failed live demo, and just rely on the oh-so-pretty mocked up photos online instead - which all seem to show Flash working fine and dandy on the device.

Likewise, the firm’s video adverts for the iPad don’t seem to show any issues with Flash, which means someone in Apple’s ad department went to great lengths to fake it. Classy.

And speaking of classy, check out this video parodying Hitler’s supreme disappointment with the device:

Think this rather calls for a Flash mobbing, don’t you?

Apple has apparently been forced to temporarily halt production of its 27-inch iMac model.

"According to one of our sources, the company completely stopped the iMac 27' assembling lines," claimed Hardmac's Lionel.

"Production will not resume before Apple has finally found a reliable and definitive fix for the remaining past (flickering displays) and new issues (yellowish panels) affecting those models."



It should also be noted that Gizmodo recently posted an internal Apple document which outlined the Club Cupertino's approach to the malfunctioning panels.

"Do not attempt a repair or replacement at this time. Explain that slight color variability is normal for LCD displays and in general does not warrant replacement," read the alleged document.



"Customers who are concerned that their iMac has a yellow tint issue, and who provide contact information, will be contacted by Apple in approximately three weeks to arrange a LCD panel replacement."

Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness... and internet access

Four in five people around the world reckon internet access is their fundamental right, according to a poll conducted for BBC World Service.

The survey of more than 27,000 adults found that 87 per cent of those who used the internet felt that internet access should be "the fundamental right of all people." Even non-internet users agreed, with more than seven in ten believing that they should have the right to access the web.

South Korea felt most entitled, with 96 percent agreeing, followed by Mexico with 94 percent and China with 87 percent.

Most web users enthused about the information available, the greater freedom the internet brings and social networking.

However, there was caution about expressing opinions online.Respondents were evenly split between those who felt that "the internet is a safe place to express my opinions" and those who disagreed.

For some reason, three-quarters of Germans felt they couldn't express their opinions safely online, as did 70 percent of South Koreans and 65 percent of Japanese. Indians, Ghanaians and Kenyans felt most confident.

More than half of internet users feel that the internet should not be regulated by governments.

The poll also found that fraud was the aspect of the internet that caused people most concern, with 32 percent saying it was what worried them most.

GlobeScan Chairman Doug Miller commented: "Despite worries about privacy and fraud, people around the world see access to the internet as their fundamental right. They think the web is a force for good, and most don’t want governments to regulate it."

The bottom begins to fall out for Palm

A senior vice president at Palm has just left the company, and one of its biggest retail partners, Radio Shack, as of today will phase out all systemwide stock of Palm phones.

Michael Abbott, Palm's SVP of Software and Services, will officially leave his executive post on Friday, April 23 after the company confirmed his resignation last Friday.

And today, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that Radio Shack no longer plans to sell the Palm Pre or the Palm Pixi, the mobile company's two current models.

Radio Shack sold the phones with its biggest mobile partner, Sprint. However, sales of other Sprint handsets like the Blackberry Curve easily outsold the Pre and the Pixi.

The retailer will replace the Palm phones with a new Blackberry and another "message-centric device."

In a Barron's interview, Sprint spokesperson Scott Sloat. "This is in line with Radio Shack’s normal product planning process - there is a designated amount of space in stores for handsets and they work to keep the line up of devices as current as possible."

The two losses for Palm come as the company continues to be unsuccessful in its bid to find a buyer. The company, once regarded as a leader in mobile electronics, has sunk to a point where it is now relegated to the bottom of the totem pole.

Analyst Lawrence Harris told the Wall Street Journal that Palm's "fundamental outlook remains highly challenging."

Low-power Bluetooth spec announced

The next generation of Bluetooth gadgets is less likely to just sit in a drawer, following the launch of a new low-energy version of the technology.

While Bluetooth watches have been available for some time now, their blink-and-you-miss-it battery capacity has meant they've never really taken off.

But the forthcoming Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0 will feature a powerful low energy mode that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) says could open up new applications in health, sports and fitness, security and home entertainment.

"Bluetooth v4.0 throws open the doors to a host of new markets for Bluetooth manufacturers and products such as watches, remote controls, and a variety of medical and in-home sensors," says Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG.

"Many of these products run on button-cell batteries that must last for years versus hours and will also benefit from the longer range enabled by this new version of the Bluetooth specification,"

Bluetooth v4.0 consists of three elements - the classic Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth low energy technology, and Bluetooth high speed technology – which can be used on a pick 'n mix basis.

For example, watches will take advantage of low energy technology while collecting data from fitness sensors on the body, and then Classic Bluetooth technology when sending that information to a PC, or separately displaying caller ID information when wirelessly connected to a mobile phone.

As with previous versions of the spec, the radio range can be optimized according to application. With Bluetooth v4.0, manufacturers may choose to optimize range to 200 feet and beyond.

The SIG expects to finish the integration of Bluetooth low energy wireless technology by the end of June. End-user devices are expected to reach the market late this year or early next

Garmin intros navigation-centric Garminfone on Android

GPS manufacturer Garmin for the first time will be releasing its own branded mobile phone, bringing its navigation technology to the Android platform exclusively through T-Mobile.

The Garminfone will come packed with tons of navigation features, including a brand new app called Garmin Voice Studio that allows users to send and share custom directions to friends and family.

Android already offers its own built-in GPS app through Google Maps' "Navigation" service, but Google warns that it is in beta form and the company certainly doesn't have the expertise in the field that Garmin does.

Expanded functionality for the Garminfone will also include automatically hyperlinking street addresses (from texts, e-mails, Web sites, etc) on the device to bring up direction information. Users can also geo-tag pictures with the built-in 3-megapixel camera and Garmin will introduce a suite of location-based services like movie listings and local gas station prices.

Garmin's full navigation suite that is used on its GPS devices will also be transferred over, allowing complete voice-based navigation information and guaranteed functionality even if the cell signal is lost.

The phone will also come with a mount that makes it easy to stick it to a dashboard or window. Other specs of the Garminfone were not specifically detailed, though it does include support for Microsoft Exchange e-mail, native social networking functionality, and a 3.5-inch touch screen.

The Garminfone will be available later this spring.