Apple says iPhone, Cisco says iSue

Yesterday, the entire World & the blogsphere was talking about how cool the iPhone is. Today, they all are talking about the Cisco's copyright infringment suit. I am an Apple Inc. stock owner BTW. My take on it this

• Apple was completely stupid enough to announce and use a copy righted name in Good Faith? This does not make sense to me at all
• I definitely have to agree Apple is bringing some new ideas to the market with the new phone. But I do not agree that it is revolutionary. Using touch and On-Screen keyboards are not anything new. A Windows Mobile based phone can do all that iPhone can do (and more). It is just that the Mobile Operators and OEM's who build on Windows Mobile probably did not think the high cost would cut for the target audience which is the mass market. I for one will not pay $499 for such a device. For me a reasonable price is to not exceed $199.
• I am fed up of Apple naming everything iSomething. That simply shows that it is not being very creative. Infact, I rather prefer names like OSX, Safari, KeyNote which are much more attractive.

I really want Apple to rename their device instead of paying Cisco in millions.

How to get a Windows tax refund?

This is awesome. Power to the consumer. I have always been critical about the EULAs which are unnecessary and nothing but non-sense just for the reason that no one ever reads them let alone the ability to understand the legal language. I am glad that he was able to use it in his favor (for the first time in the history, I think)

I am so glad he was able to get a refund. Yes, I am a Microsoft employee, but I am a strong consumer advocate as a well.

How Un-American Rep.Virgil H.Goode Jr can be?

Read Reps spar over Quran usage first

How can he call himself an american or someone who understands the constitution? Constitution separates church and state and also America is the land of the free which also includes free from religious persecutions. That is exactly what the pilgrims wanted it to be and that is what America is. Didn't the people of Minnesota elect him to be their representative knowing that he is a muslim?

If this SOB (I don't feel anything for calling him like this) thinks that he could get away for saying racist comments and standing his ground as an elected representative, I feel sorry for the state of the nation. What is most troubling about this is that the RNC et al are remaining silent about this. For God's sake, say at least that you folks either support or reject this idealogies so that everyone understands where you folks stand.

For your reference, here the some excerpts from the article:
Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota, said he planned to use the Quran only as part of an unofficial individual swearing-in before friends and supporters. That event will follow the official ceremony for all House members.

However, Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. is standing by his demand for strict immigration controls that he said would prevent Muslims from gaining a majority in Congress and using the Quran during swearing-in ceremonies.

He also said "When I raise my hand to take the oath on swearing-in day, I will have the Bible in my other hand," Goode wrote. "I do not subscribe to using the Quran in any way. ... If American citizens don't take up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Quran."

Decide for yourself.

Zune: A disappointing first experience

Our household got Zune as Christmas gift and I have to admit that my first impressions are a little disappointing.

First, The look and feel is not great. I got the black Zune and the color is dull. It probably is my personal preference but I rather prefer the Sansa/IPod look.

Secondly, when I first connected it to the PC and turned on the Zune device I expected to see a welcome screen and be able to do something. BUT it is showing me the flashing low battery icon and it is going on for at least 30 minutes now. I then went to zune.net and looked around to find that my USB hub is not a high-powered hub to charge the device. How in the world my mom or pop is going to figure that out???

Third, it does not support some picture/video formats that I already have. What is wrong with these people? Why can't I have all the format support???

But I do like its Audio/Video/Pictures/FM capabilities and would consider this on par in terms of functionalities with other top players.

Are people this desparate (and stupid)?

O.K, I am hearing enough of this to warrant a blog. Sony's new PS3 gaming console is a rarity as expected and there are several folks who are can't wait to get their hands on. But these folks also tend to ignore the fine print or should we say dump?

Case No 1: Some one in ebay puts "3 PS1 for $900" and cleverly words it to fool people into thinking that it is PS3. There were takers for this

Case No 2: "Sony PlayStation 3 PS3 NO RESERVE, HOT HOT HOT" and even supported by a picture of the console itself. And seeing all the features and specs spat out on the page certainly clutters the one, very important bit of text at the very bottom: "note: you are not bidding on an actual ps3, you're only bidding on an e-mail address (Hot_PS3s@hotmail.com), winning bidder will recieve password.". But as expected, it found a buyer too!

Case No 3: Some seller is really smart and figured that "PS1 + PS2 = PS3" and so put it up for sale. Some sorry bloke did not read the fine print and ended up paying $900 bucks again

www.engadget.com is continually updated with stories and so check it out.

U.S Mid term election - What really mattered?

You ask anyone what is so good about the mid-term elections and anyone would say without hesitation that it was the democrats take over of both Senate and House. But here is what mattered most to me and am happy about besides democrat's victory

• Maccaca lost to Jim Webb in Virginia senate race by a razor thin margin. I apologize for using the term Maccaca and I don't know what it means. I forgot his name for a second and that is what came to my mind. It is republican George Allen who lost to Jim Webb. Welcome to America George!
• Ken BlackWell the current secretary of state for Ohio lost in the governer's race.
• Katherine Harris the secretary of state for Florida lost to democratic incumbent Bill Nelson by a significant margin with Harris garnering only 38 percent of the vote

That was the best part of this election. On a related note, I don't understand why democrats are so happy about the election results. Neither of the party got a landslide victory in terms of percentage of votes. Most of the races were won by a very thin margin or by very few percentage points. The country is divided across party lines, I really wonder if any single party could make any significant contributions till the next elections!!!

Zune: it's not just the player stupid

I couldn't agree more with this assesment. It may seem like a marketing brilliance at work but I beg to differ. I have asked myself the very basic question which is "What does Zune offer that the existing products don't?" and I am not sure what the answer is.

If you say that it is the wireless, it seems too crippled and is only used for sharing music which again seems very limited in scope and functionality.

If you say it is the Zune marketplace, it does not offer as much as other offerings in terms of content not is it compatible with content purchased from other online stores

If you say it is the "Microsoft" seal, I tend to agree and we may get the top 5 spot just because it came from a company that has huge piles of cash and negotiation power and its ability to steer the the industry for the better or worse.

But frankly, it seems it is being released too soon and rushed to the market which seems to most as merely a copy cat. Microsoft had an opportunity to save it face but lost it. As usual, it takes couple of releases for Microsoft to get a foothold in any market. What is worse is the confusing message that Microsoft is sending w.r.to PlayForSure DRM and WMP compatibility..