Apple wants to change the way television, news, and books are distributed once and for all, and it’s going to use its soon to be unveiled tablet to try and do it. That’s according to a Wall Street Journal article citing what seems to be several unnamed sources “familiar with the situation.” The Cupertino powerhouse has reportedly been in contact with television networks as well as magazine, newspaper, book, and textbook publishers for some time now in hopes of giving the tablet a purpose and not just a cool piece of hardware.

Apple’s vision is supposedly of a tablet in every home—a shared device between family members that allow them to quickly check their e-mail or read the news. The device, which will sport a virtual keyboard, could have virtual sticky notes to leave for other family members or user identification using the device’s built-in camera. Although it’s unclear whether these features will make it into the final product, they do seem to have a family-oriented focus.

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Hard drive maker Western Digital joined the parade of tech companies reporting good earnings for the quarter ending December 31, 2009.

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Reuters

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Windows 7 sold well during the 2009 holiday season, and the results are showing up, not only in sheer revenue, but in the OS market share numbers as well. Nevertheless, in December 2009, Linux was the only operating system to show positive percentage growth in market share.

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Apple is reportedly in negotiations with Microsoft to replace the default search engine in mobile Safari on the iPhone with Bing. Those negotiations may even result in Bing being added as one of the search engine options for the desktop version of Safari, according to a report by BusinessWeek. Google is the current default on both platforms—and would likely remain a user option—though increasing contention between Apple and Google may be the reason behind a possible switch.

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Sony’s upcoming motion controller for the PlayStation 3 was slated for a spring release, but without any hands-on time with the peripheral, any details on launch games, or any real details at all, it should come as a very mild surprise to learn that controller has been pushed back to autumn 2010.

“We have decided to release the Motion Controller in fall 2010 when we will be able to offer an exciting and varied line-up of software titles that will deliver the new entertainment experience to PS3 users,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 

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The countdown toward Apple tablet nirvana begins in earnest as we are now one week away from Apple’s “latest creation” announcement. In addition to more rumors about the tablet, we’re also getting information about what to expect from iPhone OS 4.0. Here’s a rundown of what’s growing on the grapevine.

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As you likely already know, Port-au-Prince Haiti was struck last week by a devastating earthquake. The rescue, relief, and rebuilding process, will continue to be a long, intensive, and very expensive one; thus, most humanitarian agencies are looking for donations to help with their efforts.

On Wednesday, January 20 (that’s tomorrow), a group of over 140 Mac and iPhone developers will donate 100 percent of their software sales from the day to a charity of their choice through Indie+Relief. The charities are all helping with the relief efforts in Haiti and include such organizations as Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, and UNICEF. Applications range in price, but they start at $0.99 so there really is something that practically everyone can afford.

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Jefferies & Company analyst Katherine Egbert told her clients last night that Redmond is getting ready to launch a phone based on Windows Mobile 7. “Our recent industry checks indicate Microsoft will be debuting its own phone sometime in the next two months,” Egbert said. “We expect the new phone to debut soon, at either the Feb 15-18 Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona Spain, or possibly at CTIA in Las Vegas one month later.”

Egbert says the company is “partnering with a few OEM manufacturers,” similar to what Google has done with the Nexus One, to create a Zune-like phone which will have 720p HD video capabilities, at least a 5MP camera, and that will run Windows Mobile 7. She also notes that Windows Mobile 7 will include “premium mobile services,” including a Zune video store and music subscription and purchasing services. It will have an interface “similar” to the Zune HD UI, “and could include social networking apps like Xbox Live, Facebook and Twitter,” she writes. “We don’t have any information about the cost of the Pink phone, nor do we know what service providers might be partnered with Microsoft,” she admitted.

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Quantum information is the physics of knowledge. To be more
specific, the field of quantum information studies the implications that quantum
mechanics has on the fundamental nature of information.
By studying this relationship between quantum theory and information,
it is possible to design a new type of
computer—a quantum computer.
A largescale,
working quantum computer—the kind of quantum computer some
scientists think we might see in 50 years—would be capable
of performing some tasks impossibly quickly.

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The latest report from market research firm Gartner suggests that mobile apps are big business, and that business should only grow in the next few years. According to Gartner’s numbers, Apple completely owns this market, grabbing almost every one of the 4.2 billion dollars spent on mobile apps in 2009. Based on Gartner’s estimates and our own analysis, Apple could hold on to at least two-thirds of the market if current sales trends hold for 2010.

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