CourseCast of the Week

Episode 104, 06/08/2009

Title/Description: Palm Pre has Arrived and Other Tech News Headlines

A new smartphone has been released that caused fans to line up hours before stores opened Saturday morning, and it wasn't an iPhone! The Palm Pre is the first smart phone to be released that analyst

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 104, recorded June 7th, 2009. This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information. This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.cengage.com/coursetechnology for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

This week's CourseCast goes out to Suzanne Stark and the students in her Intro to Computers and Intro to HTML courses at The Community College of Rhode Island. Follow Suzanne on Twitter @LetsTalkNerdy. Thanks for listening to CourseCasts. If you would like a shout out to your school, email me at cousrecasts@gmail.com and let me know how you use CourseCasts in your classes.

And now, the news.

Story 1: Palm Pre has Arrived

A new smartphone has been released that caused fans to line up hours before stores opened Saturday morning, and it wasn't an iPhone! The Palm Pre is the first smart phone to be released that analysts are saying is a serious competitor to the iPhone. In addition to many iPhone features, the Pre also includes a slide out keyboard, a wireless charging platform, and a new OS that supports multiple applications running simultaneously. Palm is looking to the Pre to save its diminishing market share, while Sprint, the only network to offer the Pre, is hoping the new device will improve its reputation. So far the Pre is getting positive reviews, and has sold out in many Sprint stores. Only time will tell if the Pre will be successful in competing against the powerful momentum of the iPhone. A new iPhone is expected to be one of the big announcements at this week's Worldwide Developers Conference at Apple.

• Fans gather for launch of "iPhone killer" Palm Pre [Reuters]
• Sprint CEO sees Pre as Sprint "coming out party" [Reuters]
• Palm Pre gets thumbs up in media reviews [Reuters]
• Apple Races to Keep Ahead of Rivals [NYTimes]
• Who Should Have a Palm? [NYTimes]
• Palm Pre Gets Good Reviews as Launch Nears [NewsFactor]
• Review: Dazzling Palm Software Beats the iPhone [NewsFactor]
• Palm Pre goes on sale nationwide, line forms on the right [Engadget]
• Palm Pre fans line up in early hours to be first with the new smartphone [Computerworld]

 And that brings us to news briefs

• We knew online social networking is growing in popularity, but by how much? A Nielson Online study found that the overall time spent on social networking sites has increased by 83 percent over the past year. Twitter has seen a 3,712 percent growth and Facebook grew by 699 percent.MySpace is down 31 percent.
  Time Spent on Social-Networking Sites Jumps 83 Percent [NewsFactor]
• The US Government Printing Office slipped and accidentally published a list of the nation's civilian nuclear programs and their locations.The document was quickly pulled but so far remains accessible at Wikileaks.
  Confidential list of US nuke sites ends up on Wikileaks [Ars TEchnica]
• Apple has closed a deal to construct a one billion dollar data center in North Carolina.
  Apple plans first East Coast data center [Reuters]
• Amazon will be acquiring E Ink, the company responsible for the innovative display used on the Kindle ebook reader, for $215 million. The acquisition will build Amazon's strength in the ebook reader market preparing it for stiff competition coming in the months ahead.
  E Ink to Be Acquired for $215 Million [NYTimes]
• Google has announced that over the next six months it will roll out a platform on which users can purchase and read ebooks from any Internet connected device.
  Google plans to enter the e-book business [Computerworld]
  Google's move into e-books could be explosive [Computerworld]
• A Harvard Business School Study found that only about 10 percent of Twitter users generate more than 90 percent of Twitter content. Most Twitter users post messages only every 74 days. This calls into question the idea of using Twitter tweets to accurately gauge public opinion.
  Just a few on Twitter do all the tweeting: study [Reuters]
• This week the US government plans to open more than 100,000 data sources to the general public at its new data.gov Web site. Reported as a key move towards "open government" data.gov will enable developers to create tools to mine previously inaccessible federal records for useful information.
  White House set to unleash 100,000 federal data sources via data.gov [Computerworld]
• New malware has been discovered that attacks the operating systems that govern bank automated teller machines or ATM's. The malware is able to harvest private bank account and credit card information.
  ATM malware spreading around the world, researcher says [Computerworld]
• Surprise surprise! Less than a week after its release, Microsoft's new Bing Decision Engine has overtaken Yahoo! Search as the second most popular search tool. Google is still number one with a 71 percent share.
  Bing overtakes Yahoo in global search wars [Computerworld]
• Google has released a new type of search tool called Google Squared. The software uses a spreadsheet style grid to display related search results in a matter that assists users in researching topics. The new technology is an obvious response to Microsoft's Bing but is getting less favorable reviews.
  Smarter Google Squared Fires Back at Microsoft's Bing [NewsFactor]
  Google Squared: The perfect search tool if you like inaccurate spreadsheets [VentureBeat]
  Google Squared Struggles To Make Search More Helpful [ComputerWorld]
  Google squares the Web, hilarity ensues [Ars Technica]
• The years biggest gaming convention, E3, has just concluded. Amoung the big announcements was a new Play Station Portable, the PSP Go was unveiled, and Microsoft apparently is looking to morph the XBox into a full-fledged media hub and social networking environment that provides access to Facebook and Twitter.
  E3: A closer look at the PSP Go [MercuryNews]
  Microsoft morphing Xbox 360 into social, entertainment hub [Ars Technica]
• Last week the Chinese government blocked access to Twitter, Hotrmail, and other social networking sites in order to combat anti-government online dialogue during the 20th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown.
  China Blocks Twitter Service Ahead of Anniversary [NYTimes]

That's it for this week's CourseCasts. Remember that what you hear in the CourseCast is just the tip of the iceberg! Go to coursecasts.course.com for links to the full stories covered in this CourseCast. There you will also find discussion questions for use in your course, and the CourseCast Archives. Email me with your comments and suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!