Technology

Everywhere you look, you can see people peering into their bitsy screen and fumbling over Thumbelina-size keys trying to stay connected to work, friends, children, partners… life. We’ve all seen them — stumbling down the sidewalk, steering with their knees or even holding on to a baby carriage while they type away, oblivious to the real world passing them by. Whether e-mailing, texting or SMSing their life away, they have chosen to unplug from the real world while they hook-up with their NBF who LOLs at every benign transmission from you or their 500 other BFFs. [...]

We can’t say they didn’t warn us. Analysts have been predicting the rise of the smartphone for, what seems like years, and it is finally starting to come to fruition. This past week HP bought up the pioneer of the PDA, Palm, followed by the collaboration of Windows mobile software and cell phone giant Nokia. The latter was said to be a strategic move to break the dominance of Research In Motion who, by the way, just launched new phones and a new operating system at a wireless conference in Florida. This is of course, to compete with emerging tech titans Apple and Google, who are taking the market by storm with their iPhone and Android operating systems, respectfully. With all of this going on, Acer announcing its plans to enter the smartphone market was practically insignificant. Meanwhile, for companies that hesitated to jump on the bandwagon early (Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, etc.) the future is grim, but for those with a foothold, the market’s their oyster. So what does this all mean? Who has the potential to become the smartphone super power? The possibilities may surprise you. [...]

The iPad – yes, this is another blog about the device – launched in the U.S. last Saturday. For the layperson, this isn’t significant, but for the iPerson, this is monumental, but what’s the big deal? Should there be all this fuss over an oversized iPod touch? Do people even need another screen to consume themselves with? Frankly, I’m not too sure myself, but what I do know, is that if anybody can “revolutionize” an entire industry single handedly, Apple is the one to do it. However, will they succeed with turning the general store into the App Store? Will the bookstore be replaced by the iBook Store? Or in a broader sense, will the tablet be the next compulsory digital product – the cell phone of the 2010’s if you will? Well I can’t read a crystal ball, but I can do my best to read the writing on the wall. [...]

See what our staff has to say about the iPad. Read more to view video. [...]