Barnes & Noble may split off Nook, cuts forecast

(Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc cut its Nook sales forecast for this year and shocked investors by saying it was considering a sale of the electronic reader and tablet business, sending its shares down more than 20 percent.

The bookseller has been banking on the Nook for growth, so news that holiday sales of the basic touchscreen e-reader were disappointing raised investors' fears that Barnes & Noble was struggling to keep up with Amazon.com Inc's Kindle.

The largest U.S. bookstore chain has poured tens of millions of dollars into developing and promoting the Nook, hurting its results.

Barnes & Noble lowered the full-year sales forecast for the Nook business to $1.5 billion from $1.8 billion.

It said holiday sales of its Nook Simple Touch, the cheapest Nook device at $99, fell short of expectations, and cited this as a reason for the lower forecast. One analyst said it was a sign that the retailer could be finding it hard to compete with its deep-pocketed rival.

"They're going to have to raise capital for Nook if they want to stay viable," said Morningstar analyst Pete Wahlstrom.

Amazon last week said sold 1 million Kindle devices, which includes the Fire tablet and a touchscreen device, per week in December.

Barnes & Noble did not give out numbers but said the number of Nook devices sold rose 70 percent during the nine-week period ended December 31.

The retailer said it expects a loss of $1.40 to $1.10 per share in the year ending in July, much worse than the average Wall Street forecast of a loss of 63 cents.

Barnes & Noble put itself up for sale in 2010 but attracted only one firm offer -- a bid for $17 per share, or $1 billion, last May from John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. Liberty ultimately decided to invest $204 million in the company rather than buy it outright.

Shares of Barnes & Noble fell 24 percent to $10.30 in morning trading.

PRICE WAR

When Barnes & Noble introduced the Nook tablet in November, it also cut the prices on other versions of the device, including the Simple Touch, in response to aggressive pricing by

Amazon, a company known for uncutting rivals on price.

But unlike Amazon, Barnes & Noble's other businesses do not generate enough money to subsidize its e-reader business. Last month, Barnes & Noble posted an unexpected quarterly loss and warned that investing in the Nook would dent results this year. Last February the bookseller suspended its dividend to finance the Nook.

Barnes & Noble now expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $150 million to $180 million for the year ending in July, down from its forecast last month of $210 million to $250 million.

And despite the liquidation of its main rival, Borders Group, in September, and Nook sales, Barnes & Noble now expects sales of $7 billion to $7.2 billion in the year, down from its initial forecast of $7.4 billion, suggesting an accelerating decline in book sales.

If Barnes & Noble were to spin off its Nook business, it would become a traditional bricks-and-mortar bookseller similar to Borders, which went out of business last year.

Morningstar's Wahlstrom said the company could be banking on being "the last one standing."

Barnes & Noble in August said Borders' liquidation would boost annual revenue by $150 million to $200 million, but now it expects an even bigger boost of $210 million to $250 million.

Indeed, sales at Barnes & Noble stores open at least 15 months, excluding Nook and e-books, rose 4.5 percent during the holidays, an improvement over recent quarters.

But Wahlstrom said splitting off the Nook business would be getting rid of "its one growth driver," given the long-term, industrywide decline in book sales.

"We see substantial value in what we've built with our Nook business in only two years, and we believe it's the right time to investigate our options to unlock that value," William Lynch, chief executive of Barnes & Noble, said in a statement.

Barnes & Noble operates about 700 bookstores as well as a chain of textbook stores on college campuses.

The company, which launched the first version of the Nook in 2009, is second only to Amazon in the e-books market and claims to have 27 percent of that market.

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Samsung surges past Apple in smartphones, upbeat on Q4

(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co overtook Apple Inc as the world's top smartphone maker in the July-September period with a 44 percent jump in shipments, and forecast strong sales in the current quarter in a clear warning to its rivals.

Samsung (005930.KS) only entered the smartphone market in earnest last year, but its sales have skyrocketed thanks to a sleek production system that rapidly brings new products to market. Apple (AAPL.O) introduced its first iPhone in 2007.

"In the handset division, Samsung has no real rival models to challenge its products except for the iPhone 4S. Apple and Samsung will continue to dominate the market in the fourth quarter," said Kim Hyun-joong, a fund manager at Midas Asset Management, which owns Samsung shares.

Profits from the South Korean firm's telecoms division, announced on Friday, more than doubled from a year ago to a record 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) and accounted for 60 percent of Samsung's total profit, offsetting a plunge in earnings from its bread-and-butter memory chips.

Shipments of smartphones jumped 44 percent from the preceding quarter to 27.8 million units, up nearly four times from a year ago, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Apple's iPhone sales shrank by 16 percent to 17.1 million units in the third quarter. Samsung had 23.8 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, 9 points higher than Apple. Samsung's flagship Galaxy line of products is powered by Google's (GOOG.O) Android software.

Apple sold fewer phones in the third quarter, missing street expectations for the first time in year, as customers held off buying iPhones until the October launch of the latest version.

Samsung shares were up 1.6 percent by 0500 GMT (1 a.m. EDT), versus a 0.6 percent gain in the wider market .KS11.

The world's biggest technology firm by revenue reported a 4.25 trillion won operating profit for the July-September quarter, broadly in line with its earlier estimate of 4.2 trillion won.

That was down from 4.9 trillion won a year ago but up from 3.8 trillion won in the preceding quarter.

Samsung said its fourth-quarter earnings could be better than the third, boosted by one-off gains from its $1.4 billion sale of its hard disk drive business to Seagate Technology (STX.O).

"I am cautiously optimistic on the fourth quarter outlook at this point," Robert Yi, head of Samsung's investor relations, told analysts.

"Looking ahead into the fourth quarter, when industry demand is traditionally at its peak, Samsung expects sales of mobile devices to remain strong and flat-panel TV shipments to increase," the company added in an earnings statement.

Apple, whose iPhone sales account for nearly half the firm's total sales, reported a 40 percent gross margin, or the percentage of sales left after subtracting the cost of goods sold. Samsung's phone division reported a 16.9 percent operating margin, which further takes account of marketing costs.

Nevertheless, Samsung faces challenges as the new iPhone introduced earlier this month is notching up strong sales.

Nokia is also fighting back with its first phones based on Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Windows software. And Sony Corp (6758.T) announced on Thursday it would take full ownership of its mobile venture, Sony Ericsson, in a bid to exploit its music and video library.

Samsung on Thursday announced the launch of its Galaxy Note mobile device, adding to the flagship Galaxy lineup of products. The device, powered by Android, will square off against a series of new models released by Apple, Nokia and HTC Corp (2498.TW).

The iPhone, introduced in 2007 with the touchscreen template now adopted by its rivals, is still the gold standard in the smartphone market.

Samsung may not have come up with the concept, but it has adopted Apple's breakthrough smartphone idea perhaps better than any other handset maker. It tries to offer the Apple experience at a better price with better functionality.

"Samsung's rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution," said Alex Spektor at Strategy Analytics.

"Samsung has demonstrated that it is possible, at least in the short term, to differentiate and grow by using the Android ecosystem."

Q4 SEEN BETTER THAN Q3

Profits from Samsung's chip business more than halved to 1.59 trillion won, but the division held up well as its relatively high exposure to lucrative mobile chips helped the firm offset a sharp plunge in prices of commodity computer memory chips.

Samsung was the sole profitable firm among major global dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip makers in the third quarter.

Second-ranked computer memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) and Japan's Elpida Memory (6665.T) swung to deep losses as prices of DRAM chips used in PCs tumbled about 50 percent in the third quarter.

Samsung's chip business is also benefiting from strong demand for mobile processor chips used in Apple's iPhone and iPad tablet as well as its own Galaxy smartphones.

Samsung expected demand for PCs to remain weak in the fourth quarter because of weak seasonality, while demand for mobile devices and servers will be relatively strong.

"I see some signs that chip prices have hit bottom as inventories are running out. However, we don't yet know when the industry is going to pick up since macroeconomic uncertainties overshadow the demand outlook," said Park Hyun, an analyst at Tong Yang Securities.

Samsung's display business posted losses for a third consecutive quarter on weak demand for TVs and PCs.

But losses narrowed from the previous quarter, helped by strong earnings from the OLED display, which is widely expected to replace LCD as the next-generation flat-screen in mobile devices and TVs.

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Apple - iPhone4S - a tribute for Steve

Apple Inc's new iPhone went on sale in stores across the globe on Friday, with fans snapping up the final gadget unveiled during Steve Jobs' lifetime, many buying the phone as a tribute to the former Apple boss.

The iPhone 4S -- introduced just a day before Jobs died.

The dual-core A5 chip delivers even more power. The 8MP camera with all-new optics also shoots 1080p HD video. And with Siri, iPhone 4S does what you ask. Talk about amazing.

for complete Apple - iPhone4S features click HERE

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Research In Motion (RIM) co-CEOs apologized to all BlackBerry customers

Blackberry is BACK...

Research In Motion's co-CEOs have apologized to millions of BlackBerry customers for a four-day outage that has tarnished RIM's image and set back its arrive to catch up with Steve Jobs co founded Apple and other smartphone rivals.

The system-wide failure, which began on Monday, left tens of millions of frustrated BlackBerry users on five continents without email, instant messaging and browsing.

The executives - Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie - made an unusual joint appearance at a news conference on Thursday in an apparent attempt to contain the fallout from a crisis that came at a particularly inopportune time for the company.

RIM, whose share price has tumbled this year, is already reeling after a series of profit warnings and product missteps.

The service disruption could cost the BlackBerry maker millions of dollars in compensation to customers who lost service. Experts say it could also damage the BlackBerry's reputation for reliability, one of its chief selling points.

"We still believe that most of RIM's value is in the network and messaging business and this could crimp that value," Wedbush analyst Scott Sutherland said.

"I want to apologize to all the BlackBerry customers we've let down," Lazaridis said in opening the conference call. "Our inability to quickly fix this has been frustrating."

The Canadian-based company said it had fixed the root cause of a global disruption in BlackBerry services and was working to clear a huge backlog caused by the outage.

Though there was no independent confirmation of RIM's claims, BlackBerry users around the world said on Thursday afternoon that service appeared to be returning to normal.

The outage - and RIM's sluggish communications with its customers - have fanned rising dissatisfaction with Lazaridis and Balsillie.

Even before the latest outage, critics were seeking a shake-up at RIM, saying the top managers have let the company fall too far behind Apple and other rivals in a rapidly changing market.

The session was only the second call that RIM has held since the crisis began on Monday, and it was the first in which the chief executives fielded questions from the media.

Public relations specialists have wondered why it took the company so long, saying its response to the crisis has been slow and poorly communicated.

"I think a statement of empathy that wouldn't cost anybody anything could have been made within hours," said Allan Bonner, a leading public relations crisis management consultant in Toronto.

"They're doing crisis response the way they're designing their software these days -- it's outdated, slow and not being well-received by their customers," said Gene Grabowski, senior vice president at Levick Strategic Communications.

The company did not say for certain whether it would compensate customers. When Balsillie was asked about it, he said: "That is something we are now turning our attention to and that is something that we plan to come back to these customers on very, very soon."

Spain's Telefonica and other network providers have already said they would compensate customers over the lost service, and analysts expects operators to seek to recoup those losses from RIM.

If RIM were to pay back all affected carriers and customers it could knock between 3 and 5 cents off earnings per share in the quarter ending in late November, according to BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long. That would amount to a reduction in profit of between $15 million and $26 million.

ONE MORE OBSTACLE

The outage puts one more obstacle in the path of the Canadian smartphone maker as it looks to reverse a festering loss of market share in the United States that many analysts fear will spread to RIM's growth markets overseas.

RIM released a batch of updated touchscreen phones in August as a holding measure until a major launch next year of a line of BlackBerry smartphones operated by the software that now powers its PlayBook tablet.

The transition is considered crucial to its turnaround efforts and its best hope of catching up with Apple's iPhone and devices powered by Google's Android.

On Thursday, the shares had slipped 1.1 percent to $23.60 by mid-afternoon on the Nasdaq. The stock has lost two-thirds of its value since a peak near $70 in February.

MALFUNCTION

The service disruption both highlights the special features offered by BlackBerry in terms of security and at the same time shows it is vulnerable to massive failures.

RIM is unique among handset makers, as it compresses and encrypts data in its own system before pushing it to BlackBerry devices via carrier networks. Apple and others rely on carrier networks to handle all routing and delivery of content.

RIM said it had determined that the outage - the most extensive in the company's history - was caused by a malfunctioning switch at a data center in Slough, England, and the subsequent failure of a backup to operate properly.

That triggered a massive reservoir of data that jammed up other data centers, spreading the disruption to most regions.

Lazaridis said it would take some time to pinpoint why the switch and back-up both failed, setting off the crisis.

Michael Howard, a principal analyst with Infonetics, a networking equipment market research firm, said the outage indicates RIM needs to expand the capacity of its network.

"Anybody who knows how to build backup builds resilient data centers and resilient networks," he said. "I'm sure they are going to change the way they store and change their data."

Still, RIM is hoping consumers hooked on its proprietary instant messaging system and executives who rely on its secure email service forget the latest hiccup.

Marie, a 28-year old Canadian BlackBerry user who did not want to give her surname, said RIM's problems were of little concern as she eyed the various BlackBerry handsets on display at the Gitex Shopper in Dubai, which claims to be the Middle East's largest electronics fair.

"They can get it fixed - everything that has technology has its flaws - it's not the end of the world," she said.

source: Reuters

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Steve Jobs biography

Synopsis

Steve Jobs was born February 24, 1955, to two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave him up for adoption. Smart but directionless, Jobs experimented with different pursuits before starting Apple Computers with Stephen Wozniak in the Jobs' family garage. Apple's revolutionary products, which include the iPod, iPhone and iPad, are now seen as dictating the evolution of modern technology.

Early Life

Entrepreneur. Born Steven Paul Jobs on February 24, 1955, to Joanne Simpson and Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave their unnamed son up for adoption. His father Abdulfattah Jandali was a Syrian political science professor and his mother Joanne Simpson worked as a speech therapist. Shortly after Steve was placed for adoption, his biological parents married and had another child, Mona Simpson. It was not until Jobs was 27 that he was able to uncover information on his biological parents.

As an infant, Steven was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs and named Steven Paul Jobs. Clara worked as an accountant and Paul was a Coast Guard veteran and machinist. The family lived in Mountain View within California's Silicone Valley. As a boy, Jobs and his father would work on electronics in the family garage. Paul would show his son how to take apart and reconstruct electronics, a hobby which instilled confidence, tenacity, and mechanical prowess in young Jobs.

While Jobs has always been an intelligent and innovative thinker, his youth was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling. In elementary school he was a prankster whose fourth grade teacher needed to bribe him to study. Jobs tested so well, however, that administrators wanted to skip him ahead to high school—a proposal his parents declined.

After he did enroll in high school, Jobs spent his free time at Hewlett-Packard. It was there that he befriended computer club guru Steve Wozniak. Wozniak was a brilliant computer engineer, and the two developed great respect for one another.

Apple Computers

After high school, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Lacking direction, he dropped out of college after six months and spent the next 18 months dropping in on creative classes. Jobs later recounted how one course in calligraphy developed his love of typography.

In 1974, Jobs took a position as a video game designer with Atari. Several months later he left Atari to find spiritual enlightenment in India, traveling the continent and experimenting with psychedelic drugs. In 1976, when Jobs was just 21, he and Wozniak started Apple Computers. The duo started in the Jobs family garage, and funded their entrepreneurial venture after Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus and Wozniak sold his beloved scientific calculator.

Jobs and Wozniak are credited with revolutionizing the computer industry by democratizing the technology and making the machines smaller, cheaper, intuitive, and accessible to everyday consumers. The two conceived a series of user-friendly personal computers that they initially marketed for $666.66 each. Their first model, the Apple I, earned them $774,000. Three years after the release of their second model, the Apple II, sales increased 700 percent to $139 million dollars. In 1980, Apple Computer became a publically traded company with a market value of $1.2 billion on the very first day of trading. Jobs looked to marketing expert John Scully of Pepsi-Cola to help fill the role of Apple's President.

Departure from Apple

However, the next several products from Apple suffered significant design flaws resulting in recalls and consumer disappointment. IBM suddenly surpassed Apple sales, and Apple had to compete with an IBM/PC dominated business world. In 1984 Apple released the Macintosh, marketing the computer as a piece of a counter culture lifestyle: romantic, youthful, creative. But despite positive sales and performance superior to IBM's PCs, the Macintosh was still not IBM compatible. Scully believed Jobs was hurting Apple, and executives began to phase him out.

In 1985, Jobs resigned as Apple's CEO to begin a new hardware and software company called NeXT, Inc. The following year Jobs purchased an animation company from George Lucas, which later became Pixar Animation Studios. Believing in Pixar's potential, Jobs initially invested $50 million of his own money into the company. Pixar Studios went on to produce wildly popular animation films such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Pixar's films have netted $4 billion. The studio merged with Walt Disney in 2006, making Steve Jobs Disney's largest shareholder.

Reinventing Apple

Despite Pixar's success, NeXT, Inc. floundered in its attempts to sell its specialized operating system to mainstream America. Apple eventually bought the company in 1997 for $429 million. That same year, Jobs returned to his post as Apple's CEO.

Much like Steve Jobs instigated Apple's success in the 1970s, he is credited with revitalizing the company in the 1990s. With a new management team, altered stock options, and a self-imposed annual salary of $1 a year, Jobs put Apple back on track. His ingenious products such as the iMac, effective branding campaigns, and stylish designs caught the attention of consumers once again.

Pancreatic Cancer

In 2003, Jobs discovered he had a neuroendocrine tumor, a rare but operable form of pancreatic cancer. Instead of immediately opting for surgery, Jobs chose to alter his pescovegetarian diet while weighing Eastern treatment options. For nine months Jobs postponed surgery, making Apple's board of directors nervous. Executives feared that shareholders would pull their stocks if word got out that their CEO was ill. But in the end, Job's confidentiality took precedence over shareholder disclosure. In 2004, he had a successful surgery to remove the pancreatic tumor. True to form, in subsequent years Jobs has disclosed little about his health.

Recent Innovations

In recent years, Apple has introduced such revolutionary products as the Macbook Air, iPod, and iPhone, all of which have dictated the evolution of modern technology. Almost immediately after Apple releases a new product, competitors scramble to produce comparable technologies. In 2007, Apple's quarterly reports were the company's most impressive statistics to date. Stocks were worth a record-breaking $199.99 a share, and the company boasted a staggering $1.58 billion dollar profit, an $18 billion dollar surplus in the bank, and zero debt.

In 2008, iTunes became the second biggest music retailer in America-second only to Wal-Mart. Half of Apple's current revenue comes from iTunes and iPod sales, with 200 million iPods sold and six billion songs downloaded. For these reasons, Apple has been rated No. 1 in America's Most Admired Companies, and No. 1 amongst Fortune 500 companies for returns to shareholders.

Personal Life

Early in 2009, reports circulated about Jobs' weight loss, some predicting his health issues had returned, which included a liver transplant. Jobs had responded to these concerns by stating he is dealing with a hormone imbalance. After nearly a year out of the spotlight Steve Jobs delivered a keynote address at an invite-only Apple event September 9, 2009.

In respect to his personal life, Steve Jobs remains a private man who rarely discloses information about his family. What is known is Jobs fathered a daughter with girlfriend Chrisann Brennan when he was 23. Jobs denied paternity of his daughter Lisa in court documents, claiming he was sterile. Jobs did not initiate a relationship with his daughter until she was seven but, when she was a teenager, she came to live with her father.

In the early 1990s, Jobs met Laurene Powell at Stanford business school, where Powell was an MBA student. They married on March 18, 1991, and lived together in Palo Alto, California, with their three children.

Final Years

On October 5, 2011, Apple Inc. announced that co-founder Steve Jobs had died. He was 56 years old.

source: www.biography.com

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Apple's visionary Steve Jobs dead at 56

 Apple co-founder visionary Steve Jobs, who changed the daily habits of millions of people from different walks of life, by reinventing computer, music and mobile phones, died Wednesday at the age of 56.

Apple loses a visionary leader who inspired personal computing and iconic products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad, which made Jobs one of the most significant industry leaders of his generation.

His death after a long battle with pancreatic cancer sparked an outpouring of tributes as world leaders, business rivals and fans alike lamented his premature passing and celebrated his monumental achievements.

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement.

Fans paid homage to Jobs outside Apple stores around the world, from Los Angeles to Sydney. Outside one store in New York City, mourners laid candles, bouquets of flowers, an apple and an iPod Touch in a makeshift memorial.

In San Francisco, they held up black-and-white portraits of Jobs on their iPads. Some mourners in Tokyo held a sunset vigil, using apps on their iPads to show flickering candles on the screen.

Many websites, including Apple's own, were transformed into online memorials, a testament to the digital creativity that Jobs inspired.

"For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor," said Microsoft's Bill Gates, who once triumphed over Jobs but has seen his legendary status overtaken by the Apple co-founder in recent years.

Jobs was surrounded by his wife and immediate family when he died in Palo Alto, California, Apple said late Wednesday. Other details were not immediately available.

Jobs stepped down as CEO in August and handed the reins to long-time operations chief Tim Cook. With a passion for minimalist design and a genius for marketing, Jobs laid the groundwork for the company to continue to flourish after his death, most analysts and investors say.

But Apple still faces challenges in the absence of the man who was its chief product designer, marketing guru and salesman nonpareil. Phones running Google's Android software are gaining share in the smartphone market, and there are questions over what the next big thing is in Apple's product line.

LEGENDARY ENTREPRENEUR

A college drop-out and the son of adoptive parents, Jobs changed the technology world in the late 1970s, when the Apple II became the first personal computer to gain a wide following. He did it again in 1984 with the Macintosh, which built on the breakthrough technologies developed at Xerox Parc and elsewhere to create the personal computing experience as we know it today.

The rebel streak that was central to his persona got him tossed out of the company in 1985, but he returned in 1997 and after a few years began the rollout of a troika of products -- the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad -- that again upended the established order in major industries.

A diagnosis of a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 initially cast only a mild shadow over Jobs and Apple, with the CEO asserting that the disease was treatable. But his health deteriorated rapidly over the past several years, and after two temporary leaves of absence he stepped down as chief executive and became Apple's chairman in August.

Jobs' death came just one day after Cook presented a new iPhone at the kind of gala event that became Jobs' trademark. Perhaps coincidentally, the new device got lukewarm reviews, with many saying it wasn't a big enough improvement over the existing version of one of the most successful consumer products in history.

Apple Wednesday paid homage to its visionary leader by changing its website to a big black-and-white photograph of him with the caption "Steve Jobs: 1955-2011."

Google provided a link to the Apple site just below its search box.

The flags outside Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop flew at half mast. Employees left flowers on a bench and a mourner played music on bagpipes in an impromptu tribute.

Cook said in a statement that Apple planned to hold a celebration of Jobs' life for employees "soon."

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve," Apple said in a statement.

"His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."

The announcement of Jobs' death came after almost all trading in U.S. stocks had finished for the day. Apple's stock was last quoted at $377.22, a tad lower than its Nasdaq close of $378.25. Apple shares listed in Frankfurt fell 2 percent.

Outside Jobs' house in Palo Alto, neighbors and friends left flowers and drew messages with markers on the sidewalk. "Thanks for changing the world," read one.

A low fence surrounded a lawn filled with apple trees.

"He was special for the area, like part of the family," said Robert Blum, who brought flowers with his eight-year-old son, Daniel.

NET WORTH $7 BILLION

Jobs, in his trademark uniform of black mock-turtleneck and blue jeans, was deemed the heart and soul of a company that rivals Exxon Mobil as the most valuable in America.

Forbes estimates Jobs' net worth at $7 billion. It was not immediately known how his estate would be handled.

His health had been a controversial topic for years and a deep concern to Apple fans and investors. Even board members have in past years confided to friends their concern that Jobs, in his quest for privacy, was not being forthcoming enough with directors about the true condition of his health.

Jobs, a Buddhist, was born in San Francisco. He started Apple Computer with friend Steve Wozniak in his parents' garage in 1976.

Six years ago, Jobs had talked about how a sense of his mortality was a major driver behind that vision.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005.

"Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only wologyhat is truly important.

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." R

Few thoughts on my mind....Steve Jobs

"A man with an exceptional competence to merge art with technology."

"Jobs said, 'Remember that you will be dead soon"

"He did for technolgy what Leonardo Da Vinci did for art.

"You've got to find what you love"

"Great visionary and Leader"

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

 "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

 "Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new."

 "We're here to put a dent in the universe."

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Dell and Baidu team up for tablets, mobiles

Dell Inc and China's top search engine Baidu Inc plan to jointly develop tablet computers and mobile phones, targeting the Chinese market dominated by Apple Inc and Lenovo.

China is one of the fastest growing markets for tablets and is home to more than 900 million mobile phone subscribers, but analysts were skeptical that the partnership would unseat Apple as the dominant force in the market.

"I suspect this is just Dell, who has a lot of problems on the mobile and tablet front, grasping at straws to get any kind of publicity that it can to make its product more attractive," said Michael Clendenin, managing director of technology consultancy RedTech Advisors.

"Ultimately in China, I still think it is Apple's game, still for the iPad and iPhone."

Dell declined to give a timeline for the launch of the devices, but local media reported on Tuesday, quoting sources, that it may be as early as November.

Baidu launched a new mobile application platform last week and offered a glimpse of its upcoming mobile operating system, which it hopes will serve a growing number of users accessing the Internet from smartphones and tablet computers.

The company said it already had partnerships with Dell and other device makers and declined to comment on the new tie-up. Dell said the partnership with Baidu involved the company's new mobile platform.

Baidu has built on its dominance of China's search market significantly since Google's high-profile exit last year citing hacking and censorship concerns.

Baidu's Nasdaq-listed shares are up nearly 50 percent so far this year, giving it a market value of around $50 billion.

BUSY SPACE

A Dell-Baidu tie-up would be the latest in a series of developments reshaping the mobile devices market.

Last month, Google said it would buy Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion, putting Google into a lower-margin manufacturing business and pitting it against as many as 38 other handset companies that use Google's Android software.

"Dell has got nothing to lose. They don't have a big mobile presence, so by partnering Baidu, they will probably get some momentum for their mobile products," said Sandy Shen, a research director with Gartner.

Dell has chosen China to launch new products before. In June, Dell said it had chosen to launch its new 10-inch Android tablet in China this summer, passing up on a U.S. and European launch, in a sign of the market's growing importance to the company.

Dell's China sales grew 22 percent in the first quarter while its retail presence in China exceeds 10,000 sales points.

In 2009, Dell announced it will enter the smartphone market starting in China before moving into Brazil.

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Blackberry Curve vs Sony Ericson W8 Walkman

Blackberry Curve 3G

Multitask while on the go. Email, text, and socialize wherever you are. Surf and download attachments with ease. Be on the right track with built-in maps and GPS. You can do almost everything with the BlackBerry® Curve™ 3G 9300!

Smartest Smartphone

Maximize the trackpad + media keys, Wi-Fi "n," and 3G for the real Smartphone experience.

One for All

Finally, it's just one list for all your text, email, and social networking messages.

Featured Apps

Enjoy a variety of applications, including the built-in GPS and BlackBerry® Maps.

BlackBerry® Messenger

Stay updated as you chat with your contacts in real time.

Sony Ericsson W8 Walkman

Personalize your entertainment and stay in sync with the Sony Ericsson W8!

Connect with 3G or Wi-Fi, and access all your favorite Google apps like Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube, plus other cool apps available on the Android Market.Download music with the PlayNow app or use TrackID music recognition to get information on a song simply by recording a few seconds of it.

MORE FEATURES

 Walkman music player

 3-inch touchscreen

 Customizable corners (navigation)

Virtual QWERTY keyboard

 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording and geo tagging

 aGPS

 Sync via Google, Facebook and Exchange ActiveSync

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With HP tablet dead, who can challenge Apple?

NEW YORK (Reuters)- The sudden demise of Hewlett-Packard Co's WebOS TouchPad after just seven weeks on shelves was a reminder of how tech giants have failed so far to take a bite out of Apple Inc's iPad.

The TouchPad joins Dell Streak 5 in the tablet graveyard and weak sales for many offerings suggest others are bound to follow.

"The non-iPad tablets just won't sell at retail. That's the clear message from events over the past few days," said Mark Gerber, an analyst at Boston research and investment firm Detwiler Fenton.

Other tablets that have failed to click with consumers include Asustek Computer Eee Pad Transformer and the Xoom from Motorola Mobility, which Google Inc plans to buy.

Research in Motion's PlayBook received scathing reviews and sales have been slack, but it will probably survive since it is key to RIM's strategy.

"I do not expect RIM to be shutting down PlayBook sales any time soon or abandoning that platform, because RIM views it as its future," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial in New York.

Apple's rivals have not fared any better in designing software for tablets.

Apple's iOS tablet software accounted for 61.3 percent of the tablet market in the second quarter, more than double the 30.1 percent share held by Google's Android, its nearest competitor. Microsoft held a paltry 4.6 percent share and RIM 3.3 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.

COMPETITION COMING

But the landscape could soon change. Google's move this week to buy Motorola Mobility, a hardware manufacturer, has also potentially raised the stakes against Apple as it will give the Internet leader devices to showcase its software -- just as Apple does.

All eyes are now on Google's "Ice Cream Sandwich" system, which will unite the Android software used in tablets and smartphones. That is expected to encourage developers to flock to the platform and create better apps.

Microsoft could also pose a threat when it releases its tablet software, code-named Windows 8, but this probably won't be until the fall of 2012.

"The ecosystem built around Microsoft is the largest computing ecosystem out there, so this makes it the company most likely to get significant traction in the tablet marketplace," said BGC's Gillis.

Microsoft has said the software will run on a range of devices from traditional PCs to laptops and tablets, and incorporate mouse and keyboard commands.

Amazon.com, the maker of the popular Kindle e-reader, is also expected to announce plans to release a tablet this fall, providing a challenge to Apple.

The Amazon offering could be a "game-changer," Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert Baird & Co, said in a recent note. The tablet will likely feature Android's Honeycomb OS system, a 7-inch screen and be priced under $300, he said.

Sebastian forecast sales of up to 3 million units in the first year and said they would eventually outsell other Android-enabled tablets from Motorola and Acer, and could potentially surpass Samsung's Galaxy Tab.

Amazon's as-yet unnamed tablet poses a significant threat to Apple because of the Kindle's popularity and the movie and music services the company sells. Analysts also expect Amazon to subsidize the tablet's price, which could also boost sales.

"Amazon is widely viewed as a wild card. It has the potential to be disruptive," said NPD analyst Ross Rubin.

The crowded market has not discouraged Sony Corp either. The consumer electronics giant is going full steam ahead with plans to release its first two tablets in the fall.

"We're going to see many competitors come and go," a Sony spokeswoman said.

"We're going to bring the best of all of the assets at our disposal to bear: hardware, content and network services."

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Top 5 features that make Android a better choice over iOS 5

The competition between iOS 5 and Android is getting more intensed day by day. With each update and head-to-head comparison between the biggies, striking similarities as well as dissimilarities have forced millions of gadget lovers to think twice over their smartphone of choice.

Check out the top five useful features of Android that will make it a better choice over Apple's latest build of iOS.

Flexible home screen and widgets

The beauty of Android home screen and widgets is that they are flexible and can be customized according to users' needs. You can easily customize your home screen, place widgets anywhere you want, and they will give you updates on features that matter. You can use widgets for weather updates, breaking news, emails, clocks, WiFi or even media playback controls. When it comes to iOS, users can only launch apps and create folders.

Customizability

You are free to customize almost anything on your Android. You can extend or replace almost every core Android feature by third-party apps. If you want more, the Android source code is there at your service. You can take the code and customize your ROM, by installing CyanogenMod or Gingerbreak. With Android you can change your default browser to Firefox or any other browser. But in case of iOS, Safari is your only option. If you want to customize your iOS, you need to jailbreak your iOS device.

Better voice control functionality

You just speak and Android brings you what you want. Yes, Android carries voice commands. You can easily search and find with voice search through Google. While listening to music, you just have to speak the title or the artist's name and Android lets you enjoy the music. You can also load third-party music apps like Pandora with the "listen to" command. But in iOS, the voice command options are limited. The music-by-voice feature of the iPhone is only linked to the iPod app.

Flash Support

Android can play Flash games and video, and iOS can't (and never will). It supports only HTML5 web apps. With iOS embracing HTML5 web apps, questions are raised on whether Flash offers what the industry really needs. According to numerous reports, most of the performance related issues have been rectified with Flash for Android Honeycomb.

Google Account Integration

iCloud is interesting. But it's just a cloud storage service. It stores your docs, pictures and apps. With Android, you'll have the benefit of Google Account Integration. You can edit your Google Docs no matter which device you are using, it can be your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop. You can upload music to Google Music, and stream from the cloud to your phone. You even can do a VoIP call via Google voice. But with iOS, you neither get streaming music nor VoIP.

GPS Navigation

Voice-guided GPS is a service which has been there in Android phones as a standard component since October 2009. Although iPhone has some third-party apps that offer turn-by-turn voice guidance, with Android's built-in functionality, you can easily jump in to navigate from other apps. In case of iOS, users have to manually copy and paste the address into the app they want to use.

source : IB Times

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