Apple iTablet - where will you use it?

The rumours around Apple's tablet computer/hand-held device still persist and it seems like there is a news item somewhere on the web almost every day. Is Apple working on a tablet or not? The answer is definitely yes. Do I have any inside information then? No.

The thing is that many computer manufacturers have been working on tablet computers for years. They have been around a long time and if you want one a quick search at Google will turn up a supplier and you can order one today. With big companies like HP already having tablet PCs on the market and no doubt new models under development, it would be surprising if Apple didn't also have a tablet computer, at least in prototype form. I bet there's one at Apple's headquarters or development labs right now.

Many computer manufacturers have experimented with tablet computers and no doubt they would love to create a new market sector, but none has been successful so far. Netbooks have grabbed a large slice of the market and their success has been rapid and surprising.

Tablets have been around much longer than netbooks and they can be found in niche markets, but the wider general public just isn't interested and sales are poor. The question is not whether Apple is working on a tablet, but whether it can make one a compelling purchase. The problem facing Apple is how to coming up with a product that appeals to more than just a tiny market niche. This is probably the reason why it hasn't yet launched the iTablet.

No matter how good the hardware and software, you have to ask where people would use an iTablet. If you are at home then you'll have access to a desktop or laptop computer. If you are at work then you'll have a desktop or laptop computer. So an iTablet would only be useful when you are out of the home and office. However, an iTablet would not be as portable as a smartphone and you wouldn't want to carry a large device around. And if you need more than a smartphone offers, it makes sense to take a netbook or laptop.

It would be very difficult to sell the idea of an iTablet. Microsoft and Intel tried the UMPC and even produced ads showing people walking down the street with them in their hands as they shopped or went to work, but people don't want a device that won't fit their pocket. It's too much of a hassle. Putting a touch screen on a Mac and enabling it to swivel round and sit flat on the keyboard as current tablet PCs do, just won't sell any more than MacBooks or current tablets from HP and others.

It's easy to see why smartphones, netbooks and laptops sell, but it is hard to see a market for a tablet no matter who produces it.

Current rumours suggest it is more like an ebook reader that also has web access to allow newspapers and magazines to be read. That's interesting, but at current prices ebook readers are just an expensive toy for rich people. Prices need to fall by at least 50% before they'll take off in any numbers and Apple really wants to sell high price quality kit, not cheap stuff. Predictions of the end of newspapers and current ebooks readers are wrong. They aren't going to go away even if Apple's iTablet is the best thing since sliced bread. MP3 players haven't been killed off by the iPod and there are plenty of alternatives.

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Should you upgrade to Windows 7?

The release of Windows 7 is just a few days away as I write this and inevitably the question of whether to upgrade the current version of Windows on their PC will occupy many PC users’ thoughts. Is it worth upgrading?

The advice for most people has to be No. It’s not that Windows 7 isn’t worth it, it is actually a great version of Windows and it’s one of Microsoft’s best. The problem is that a lot of people have old and/or cheap PCs that may not be suitable for Windows 7. An old PC running XP should not be upgraded to Vista. Firstly, it’s probably running XP just fine and there is an old saying that goes, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” Even PC’s running might be best left alone too.

The only Windows users that should consider upgrading are those that have recently bought a new PC. If it is only a few months old then by all means upgrade Windows, but anything more than a couple of years old is best running the operating system that came with it.

Don’t rush to get Windows 7. When you buy a new PC it will come with Microsoft’s new OS and that’s the cheapest way to buy it and it avoids any compatibility problems. All new PCs from October this year will come with Windows 7 and will be designed to run Windows 7.

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Install software properly in Windows 7

Isn't installing software easy? It is certainly supposed to be, but occasionally you can run into strange problems. It can start when you get a new PC or install a brand new operating system like Windows 7. With Windows 7's launch not far away now, here is a simple technique to avoid problems later.

What you might do is to boot up your brand new computer or install Windows 7 and then set about installing all the software you need. Later on you might then create user accounts for the other members of the household. However, this is the wrong way to do things.

What you should do is to create all the user accounts you will need as soon as you boot up. When they have all been created, log off and log back on with each account. Just logging on with an account and going to the desktop will create all the default settings for it.

Once this is done, you can install the software you want to use. During installation it can see the other accounts and set itself up for them. After each program you should log off and log on with each account. Start the new program and then close it and log off. What this does is to initialise the program settings for each account.

During installation the software might need to apply settings for each account, so by installing it after creating the accounts it can then see them if it needs to. And by logging on with each account and running the software once, it can create default settings and you can answer any setup questions it might display. You don't want other users of the computer to be faced with technical configuration questions when they first run the program.

You may do this anyway, but it's just something to remember when you get your hands on Windows 7 and it can avoid problems.

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Decoding a website URL

It is easy to get caught out by phishing scams if you don't know how website addresses work. The URL of a web page has several components and understanding them is important to your security. It's easy to spot fake ones and to avoid phishing if you know how to decode them.

URLs like http://paypal.verification-processing.com/index.htm look complicated, but it isn't. Chop off the http:// because that is unimportant, at least to us reading the URL. (To a computer it actually specifies the communication protocol.)

This leaves paypal.verification-processing.com/index.htm. Now chop off everything after the first forward slash. That refers to a page or program on the website.

We are now left with paypal.verification-processing.com from the original URL. Now read from right to left. The item on the right in this case is .com, but it could be .org, .gov, or any one of a number of two or three letter country codes. Let's skip this for a minute.

What remains is paypal.verification-processing and the right-most item is the important bit. In this case it is verification-processing and that is the website we would visit if we typed in the original URL or clicked a link with the URL. So what looked like a PayPal website URL at first glance is actually a website called verification-processing. This is obviously not PayPal. It's a fake website that is designed to look like it and to steal your login details.

This recent news story tells of a new Twitter scam that steals your login username and password. The URL that you are sent to is http://videos.twitter.secure-logins01.com/ and it's an obvious fake. Strip out the unnecessary bits and you get the name of the site, secure-logins01, and it's clearly not Twitter, so don't enter your login details!

Going back to the .com that we skipped earlier, it's worth noting that not all companies register all possible URLs. For example, www.apple.com is the Apple website where you'll find Macs, but www.apple.co.uk is The Apple Agency, which is a completely different company that deals with artwork and illustrations. In theory it would be possible to create a look-alike website with a different top level domain name, such as www.paypal.ru so it pays to know what it should be - .com in this case.

One final point, it is easy to disguise URLs. Click http://www.google.com/ and you'll get Bing and not Google.

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Call me, even when I'm out

For anyone that has a website, blog or some other online page that your friends, work colleagues or customers visit, you need to think about how they can get in touch with you. One way is to use Skype, the free PC-to-PC internet telephone. The best part is that you can include a Call me! button on your website or blog that enables people to call you through Skype without having to load the program, find you among their contacts and then call you. One click and they are chatting with you.

There's a useful Call me! button generator at the Skype website and you enter your Skype username and then select one of four different styles. The code to paste into your web page is shown at the bottom of the page.

Click the cursor inside the box then press Ctrl+A to select all the code and then Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard. Now you need to go to your web page editor or blog editor. Place the cursor where you want the button to appear and look among the menus and tools for an option to insert some HTML code (don't paste it in wysiwyg mode or it won't work). When you've switched to HTML code view, press Ctrl+V to paste in the button code.

The Call me! button can be inserted into emails too and it's great to include it with your signature at the end of a message. Once again you need to paste it into code view and not the normal view. In Outlook Express, for example, choose Source Edit on the Edit menu and then select the Source tab at the bottom of the New Message window before pasting in the code.

What if you are out when someone calls? With a normal call you would have an answerphone that enables the caller to leave a voice message. Skype doesn't have any built in facilities to record calls, but Pamela can. Pamela is a great utility and there are four versions. The free Basic one is good enough for home use. Download it and install it. When you run it with Skype, Skype will ask if you want to allow Pamela access to its features and you must say yes. Now whenever you make a call a window will pop up asking if you want to record the conversation. There are also facilities for automatically answering calls when you aren't around. Of course, you'll need to leave your PC switched on and connected to the internet with a broadband connection, but that's OK.

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Windows vs Snow Leopard

The latest version of Apple's operating system, Snow Leopard, OS X version 10.6, has just been released. There is no shortage of reviews and articles on the web praising it or criticising it. Apple users say it is the world's best operating system and that it is much better than Windows 7. They call Windows 7 just a Vista Service Pack that Microsoft has quickly thrown together to try and make up for the disasterous current operating system. Snow Leopard is the ultimate operating system, of course.

You will also find reviews of Windows 7 on the web that praise Microsoft's next operating system and they say that it is the best yet. It is full of brand new features and Windows has been completely redesigned. Windows fans also occasionally criticise Apple's Snow Leopard, although not as much as the other way around, claiming that it offers very little that is new and that it is merely a service pack. After all, it's just a 0.1 version number increase and it's still called Leopard.

Each operating system is very different and each one has its fans. Snow Leopard has some good features, but also some drawbacks and the same is true of Windows 7. Some people will prefer one while others will prefer the other. Can't we respect each other's preferences?

There isn't a winner in this contest. In fact, there isn't even a contest. In October when Windows 7 goes on sale you will be able to buy it and install it on your PC, but you won't be able to buy Snow Leopard and install it on your PC because it only works on a Mac. Windows 7 and Linux are direct competitors because you can choose to put either of them on your PC, but you can't choose to put Snow Leopard on it. This means that Apple and Microsoft aren't true competitors because Microsoft sells operating systems and Apple sells computers. Apple competes with the likes of Dell, HP and Acer - when buying a new PC you have a choice, but when it comes to upgrading the OS, there's no choice at all.

If you have a Windows PC then you'll love Windows 7, but if you have a Mac then Snow Leopard is a great upgrade.

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New slimmer PlayStation 3

Sony has reworked its popular PlayStation and the new version looks a treat. It is 32% smaller than the old one that it replaces and it is 36% lighter. It uses 34% less power consumption too, so that means we can claim we're helping to save the planet when we're playing games!

The updated machine will feature a 120Gb hard disk drive and this is in response to demand for more space and more downloadable content from current users. System Software version 3.00 is said to be an improvement over the old version and it has been optimised for access to websites providing TV content, such as the BBC iPlayer (other countries will follow). There are dynamic wallpapers, better navigation, and a shortcut to the PlayStation Store from Game. There is a What's New section that shows shortcuts to the previous three games you played.

Network Video Store for PS3 and PSP (coming November) will offer lots of Hollywood blockbuster movies and also local content for rent or purchase. Standard or High Definition formats will be available. A Digital Reader service will be available in December and at launch it will include digital comics like marvel's SpiderMan, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, plus other titles. With a wireless connection you'll be able to access the store to download the digital reader. No need for credit cards - you'll be able to purchase PlayStation Network Cards with £20 or £50 credit on them.

The new PlayStation 3 will be available from the first week in September and you can pre-order it from Amazon. The recommended retail price is £249. See the photos here.

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