The Floppy is Still Alive, and isn’t Going Anywhere

The following is a guest article by Patrick Jobin. Storagepipe has been leading the way in providing ultra-modern online backup services for business since 2001.

One of the saddest realizations of my life was when a 18-year-old family friend pointed to the Save icon in MS Word and asked me what I thought that symbol might mean. That’s one of those moments when you begin to realize how old you are.

Yes, floppies are very old. But - believe it or not – they’re still alive and kicking.

Of course, you still see them being used for artistic and promotional purposes.

Many trendy bars and restaurants have tried to appeal to “geek chic” by plastering their walls with diskettes, using them as coasters, or grinding them up and mixing them into cement for a nice colourful effect. And craft people have used diskettes to create everything from clothing, to jewelry, to furniture.

But that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean there are still a number of situations where floppies are still used as a storage device!

For example:

• Many organizations have very old, custom-written programs which support their operations. These applications might run on very old DOS-based systems, where the software isn't compatible with modern operating systems. Since this software still works fine for its purpose, the high costs associated with re-writing these programs would not be justified. As a result, reading and writing of data is restricted to the default format of that time period.
• Electronic hardware devices for commercial and industrial applications are designed to take a pounding and last for years under heavy use. That’s why you’ll often see cash registers, credit card machines, ATM machines and industrial machines which are still running perfectly after 20 years or more. And due to their age, they can only be programmed using 20 year old removable storage device standards.
• It’s also common for manufacturers of industrial equipment to avoid redesigning new features into a product that already works perfectly. Many CNC machines today still use floppy drives since their rugged construction makes them an ideal storage medium for the small input files which run these machines. CDs would simply be too fragile for these dirty and rugged applications, and networking capability would only introduce an unnecessary added level of complexity. Besides... if you work in a factory full of 30-year-old presses, robots, and mills, it’s nice to know that a single storage media can be used on all of them.
• Governments in developing countries have to operate on limited budgets. As a result, offices won’t consistently have access to state-of-the-art computer systems like we do in North America. This means that diskettes are still used as a standard protocol for data transfer. Even political agencies in North America might be required to submit documents in diskette format when performing official communications with foreign governments.
• Once a format has been established as an official government standard, the process of updating that standard can be slow and bureaucratic. As long as it still works, nobody will want to fix it. This applies in developing nations as much as developed ones. For example, US prisoners are only allowed to listen to music on cassette tapes.
• A well-maintained aircraft can have a very long life. As a result, there are many planes – still flying today – which rely on floppies to update their navigation systems and perform other routine electronic maintenance.

So if you have a few cases of floppies sitting around in the basement, don’t throw them out just yet. Somebody might need them someday.

Have you recently seen floppies being used for other purposes? Leave a comment below and let us know.

This is what a “SOPA-fied” and “PIPA-fied” Internet looks like

Today, the Internet is fighting back against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (a.k.a. "SOPA") and the Protect IP Act (a.k.a. "PIPA"), both currently making their ways through the United States government. Both acts focus on combating online piracy and copyright infringement, but in turn, many believe that the bills are an "American Internet Censorship" of sorts. 

Over the past week, several websites have been pledging their support to "go dark" for 24 hours today, January 18, 2012, to protest their opposition against these two bills. Companies participating include Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, Mozilla, and others. 

We've compiled a series of images below that show you what a "SOPA-fied" Internet would look like, based on how websites are appearing today. 

If you've got any more screenshots, be sure to leave them in the comments below! 

The English Version of Wikipedia

Wired.com Censoring Text

Google's Homepage Logo

Reddit

Mozilla Firefox Homepage

Consumer Electronics Association

Namecheap

MoveOn.org

What will 2012 be the year of?

We'll probably never forget it - late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on stage on March 2, 2011, proclaiming that 2011 will be the "Year of iPad 2." And arguably, 2011 was the year of the iPad 2 - or at least tablets in general. Apple sold millions and millions of units of the iPad 2, while competitors such as Research in Motion and HP, simply put, failed at their tablet devices.

With a little less than 24 hours left in 2011, it's time to think about 2012. Putting all of the "oh no! The world's going to end on December 21, 2012" rumors aside, what will 2012 be the year of (in terms of technology)? We've seen the rise of the Internet, the rise of the PC, the rise of the smartphone and most recently, the tablet. What's left?

First off, Facebook will reach one billion members in 2012. While that's a huge milestone right there, alongside Twitter and Google+ gaining millions of users, we're seeing the end of the initial social networking "boom." There are only so many people who want to be on social networks, and chances are, those people already are. With that being said, we're just entering the time of social networking - advancements in how we interact with friends and family online are only beginning.

Will 2012 be the year of the Ultrabook? There's no doubt that desktop PCs weren't big sellers this holiday season - their time has come and gone. Laptops were likely slightly better, but people still want the newest and greatest "thing" (whatever that is). When describing what an ultrabook is, it's best to just say "MacBook Air." It's a light, extremely portable computer that still packs a lot of power for end-users. And truly, Apple seems to be one of the few companies that have the ultrabook down right. 2012 may see a lot of new companies, such as HP, Acer, Asus, etc., building light, extremely portable machines for consumers.

Will 2012 be the year of the cloud? Over the past couple of years, you've probably heard the term "cloud" more than once. It's a word that can mean a lot of things (and often used incorrectly), but the general idea is the ability to build a platform that can be easily scaled on demand. We've seen the cloud integrated into services such as iCloud, and even web hosting with Amazon Elastic Cloud services. Despite the fact that cloud computing has been around for a couple of years now, 2012 may just be the beginning of the next-generation of the cloud - the ability to take everything that you own (files, emails, etc.) on any device and just go. We've already seen this with iCloud, but it could be integrated into a much larger scale as well.

Will 2012 be the year of Windows 8? Microsoft will be releasing its next desktop operating system, Windows 8, sometime in 2012, and boy is it a big change! Windows 8 brings unification between the tablet and the desktop, a concept that we haven't really seen (at least implemented) since now. It takes the Metro user interface that Microsoft seems to absolutely love and brings it to the desktop, replacing the entire way we use Windows. Due to the fact that a majority of users still haven't played around with Windows 8 (or even heard about it), it's going to be interesting to see how people react to the big change.

Will 2012 be the year of 3D TV? Over the past year, several tech giants have been taking a shot at 3D television and while nearly each has succeeded, not many have done well in terms of sales. While you shouldn't expect a huge drop in prices of 3D TVs just yet, you should expect a huge advancement in the technology of them (maybe so you don't have to wear those funky glasses?) and maybe even see some in everyday households. But for now, the world is still trying to adopt OLED (organic LED displays) and those seem to be at least a year away.

Will 2012 be the year of the copyright? Hear us out on this one - copyrights have been out for ages now, but keeping in mind everything with the recent "Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)," things may be changing, changing fast and drastically. SOPA aims to end online piracy and while its intentions are certainly good-hearted, this isn't the way to end piracy on the Internet. It would give corporate entities too much power, and even partially go against the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. But if this passes (and even if it doesn't), Internet users can expect to see a lot of changes with how intellectual property is shard online. We're slowly passing the time of being able to illegally download nearly everything you need off of the Internet and companies are beginning to punish those who do. You can read more about SOPA here.

What do you think 2012 be the year of? Let us know in the comments below!

Everything you need to know about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

On October 26, 2011, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was introduced to the United States House of Representatives by Representative Lamar Smith and 12 co-sponsors. The bill focuses on giving the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) and copyright holders the ability to seek bans against websites that promote or house copyrighted and/or illegal material. This includes, but is not limited to, denying online payment systems the ability to work with the accused websites, search engines such as Google to link to the websites, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) banning the websites. 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called SOPA "Internet censorship" and stated, "[it] could allow the U.S. government and private corporations to create a blacklist of censored websites, and cut many more off from their ad networks and payment providers. This bill is bad news, and its supporters are trying to push it through before ordinary citizens realize just how much damage it can cause."

The bill would make streaming copyrighted content via the Internet a criminal offense and comes with a maximum of five years in prison. Website owners, if accused, have five days to submit an appeal to the government before their website is shut down and revenue is lost. 

Before going into the next portion of SOPA, we must first discuss a little about the Digital Millennium Copyrigth Act (DMCA). The DMCA, in short, grants immunity to website owners/hosts from what users post onto the website. For example, YouTube has immunity to whatever its users post onto the website - YouTube does not get into trouble if copyrighted information is published, but the content must still be removed. The same goes for Facebook and Reddit. Under SOPA, the owner of the website would be the main one at fault, even if they did not publish anything illegal. 

Moving on, SOPA also gives immunity to ISPs. A primary example is Comcast, who also owns NBC. Comcast, under the bill, would be given the ability to ban websites (without going through the government) that it deems are encouraging copyrighted/illegal content, but in truth, could just be competing with NBC in some way. Comcast is a supporter of SOPA. 

The House will continue its debate of the Stop Online Piracy Act after the winter recess. What are your thoughts on SOPA? Let us know in the comments below.

Five Incredible Tech Toys for Kids at Christmas

The following article is a guest post by Dan Fenu.

With the holiday season just around the corner, it is time to think about what great gifts to give your kids this year. Growing up immersed in technology, kids practically expect to receive at least one technology related gift these days. There are a few tech gadgets that are sure to bring a smile to your child's face on Christmas morning.

Leapfrog LeapPad Explorer

An incredible technology toy this holiday season is the Leapfrog LeapPad Explorer. A personalized learning tablet, this toy is suitable for kids from ages four to nine. Offering more than one hundred games, apps, books and media content, the LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer is sure to be loved by your child. Equipped with two gigabytes of internal memory, this learning tablet allows for more than enough applications and eBooks to be stored on the device. You can rest assured that with this gadget, your kid will be immersed in educational material. For once, kids will have fun learning!

The Fur Real Friends Cookie Puppy 

Another great technology toy for kids this year is the Fur Real Friends Cookie Puppy. Featuring built-in sensors, this robotic puppy acts as if it were real, responding to any touch or voice that it registers. For kids, it is great since they can enjoy how the puppy reacts based on the actions and attention that they provide the puppy. For you, the parent, it is a fantastic way to test out what it would be like to have a pet if you were thinking of getting one in the near future.

The Vtech InnoTab

Another unbelievable technology gadget for kids this Christmas season. Featuring a touchscreen and motion technology, the Vtech InnoTab is similar to the LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer as it supports learning for kids. Equipped with an e-book reader, MP3 music player, photo viewer, and video player, your child is sure to never be bored with a Vtech InnoTab. A downside of the Vtech InnoTab in comparison to the LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer is that it only has sixty-four megabytes of storage space. Fortunately, there is a memory expansion slot that can be utilized if you ever find your child needing additional space for storage.

Voice Rockerz First Act Discovery

Yet another great technology gift this year is the Voice Rockerz First Act Discovery. Using this microphone, your child can morph his or her voice to become a rock star. Some of the many special effects include Robot-riffic, Hi-note, and drumrolls.

HexBug Nano Habitat Set

Finally, the HexBug Nano Habitat Set makes for an ideal gift for any young nature lover this holiday season. In this habitat set, miniature robots act like real bugs and can be moved around through the habitat. Similar to Legos, your kid has the ability to transform the habitat to his or her own liking. The HexBug Nano Habitat Set makes for an interesting way to stimulate creativity with kids.

There are so many technology toys for kids this Christmas, but only a few really stand out from the rest. Be sure to check out these five extraordinary toys when thinking about what to get your kids this holiday season. With any of these five toys, they are sure to be all smiles on Christmas day.

The new Facebook Timeline – Yay or Nay?

Earlier this week, Facebook announced that its newest redesign, entitled "Timeline," is now available for every user of the world's most popular social network. People have the option of enabling Timeline now, or waiting until December 22 for friends and family to see it live on their profile page. 

Timeline is a complete redesign of the profile page. It overhauls the old Facebook style with a timeline, which shows all of a user's activity since they joined Facebook. The redesign is also focused heavily around integrating applications, such as Spotify or anything else that was built for Facebook. 

As with every major Facebook redesign (and even not major ones), users react differently. From browsing Twitter and Facebook's community support forums for a few minutes, it seems most people are actually not fans of the new Timeline, for one reason or another. Some believe that the design is just too cluttered and some believe that there is no reason for a redesign. In my opinion, those people are just not open to change, which is always happening at Facebook and the rest of the Internet. And then there are the people who probably have not used the new design yet, but are completely against it from the get go.

So, with that being said, the time has come to ask our readers. Do you like the new Facebook Timeline. Have you enabled it / published it to the public yet? What possible improvements do you think can be made? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Kindle Fire’s price is hot but the tablet cools it down

I have been using Amazon's new Kindle Fire device for some time now and I just can't get around to what the hype is, other that the price of course.

The Kindle Fire, which launched last month, is Amazon's first venture into the tablet market while also keeping its famously known Kindle e-reader name. The Fire is no doubt set at a bargain price which is most likely a loss for Amazon. For $199 you got the device, a power source for charging and one-month free service on Amazon Prime. With the low price this is one of the cheapest ways to get yourself into in a new tablet.

The hardware on the device is something that critics aren't liking, such as missing cameras and expandable memory. I most criticize the lack of an expandable memory slot because the tablet only comes with 8 GB of internal memory, 6 GB of which the user can actually use. If your only reading books then this won’t be a problem but with other media it will. Amazon hopes to counter this with its cloud offerings from Amazon Prime and Amazon Cloud Drive. One thing I love on tablets is the stereo speakers, both at the top on the Fire, provide decent sounds output that'll leave most users satisfied. The wake/power button is awkwardly located at the bottom of the device, which happens to be the only user input part besides the touch screen. This means that the device lacks volume buttons, a big disadvantage since you have to change volume through touch screen menus. The touch screen is small but looks great and plenty bright. I admire the small bezel around the device as makes the screen look larger and better. What I like most about the Kindle Fire is the soft black rubbery feel of the back. It's a flat back that feels great to hold in the hands.

The Kindle Fire runs a heavily skinned version of Android. Amazon's own skin completely changes the user interface of the device and you won't recognize almost anything from Android. The user interface is probably my biggest complain about the device. The home features a new carousel type look with most recently used items including books, websites, applications and more. Across the top is a search feature and tabs for Newsstand, Books, Music, Video, Docs, Apps and Web (Silk web browser). On the bottom their is a favorites sections that you can easily put any items in. At the very top of the screen is your device statuses and access to the settings application. You do not have access to the Android Market on the Fire, instead the Amazon Appstore, which is still lacks in the number of applications.

One of the biggest complaints I have about the Fire is the user interface, it's a whole new interface that owners will have to get used to. The carousel type look of your recently used items are too busy and hard to select. You cannot remove items from this so it easily gets cluttered. The sections separate everything nicely but still a pain to switch to and switching isn't always fast. Without a hard "home" button you get a home icon on the screen to return home. Another pain comes up when you need to go home quick or be truly immersed in a full screen experience, such as watching a movie or playing a game. There is a small bar at the bottom of screens that will bring up the home button and other options menu. Volume must be changed through another menu when tapping the top of the screen, something that isn’t easy.

Of course the Kindle Fire is a Kindle at heart, and something Amazon has always got right and still does is the e-reader. If your reading books alone and surfing the web then the Fire will satisfy you. If you want to do more like using your own music and videos that’s where it’ll get frustrating. With the small internal memory you will be forced to reply on Amazon’s cloud services. You’ll even find it hard to store a lot of applications with the small amount of internal storage.

Even with the incredibly low price of the Kindle Fire I would tell those looking for a tablet to consider something else because of the storage issue. Want an e-reader with a browser and the occasional simple application? This your device. Just remember, for $199, you’re never going to get an amazing tablet.

PostPost allows you to strip search your Twitter timeline

Say hello to PostPost. It's a service that allows you to, simply put, "strip search" your Twitter timeline. To simplify that statement even more, PostPost allows Twitter users to see information from only the top 200 people the service believes is most relevant to them. You can track comments, posts, links, videos, etc. from those 200 people. 

Why 200 people? Well, PostPost explained to us that the service is based off of Dunbar's Number, the theoretical limit of people that one person can maintain a "significant social relationship with."

"The deluge of real-time data on Twitter can be overwhelming – somewhat akin to drinking from a fire hose if you’re following hundreds or even thousands of people. As such, I wanted to introduce you to a new Twitter search engine that was designed to strip out the noise from your timeline – and help you find relevant news, products, images, etc. only from the 200 people you are most connected with," the company explained. 

Homepage of PostPost

Using the search box above, PostPost users simply have to type in a query (for example, "Apple") and then all tweets that have to do with Apple from the 200 people are displayed. The search can be drilled-down even further to links, photos, and videos as well. 

PostPost seems like a very good tool if you'd like to use Twitter as an information source or if you'd like to track down specific tweets. 

What do you think about it? 

Siri’s security problems and how Apple can do more

Siri is that lovable artificial intelligence unit that is all the talk these days. The feature is one of the key selling points for Apple's new iPhone 4S. However, Siri may may not be all that is seems for those who like to protect the information in the iPhone with a passcode or password. 

If you setup your iPhone with a passcode then by default Siri can still be activated by holding down the home button and allowing whoever is using the phone to use all of Siri's functionality, with the exception of driving directions and email. There may be other functionality that is prohibited but I did not discover anything else. This means that anyone who has your phone can still send emails, read and send SMS and iMessages, make voice and FaceTime calls, see notes and much more. This may not be a big deal if you don't have sensitive information but what is your phone gets lost or stolen? Of course, you can deactivate Siri in your passcode settings if the phone it locked but that deactivates Siri all together. 

I always use a passcode, on all my electronics, and I know many others who do also. When you turn Siri off with a passcode it turns Siri completely off and won't even activate when your hold your home button, while this seems obvious I think it can be handled better. So, if you use a passcode on your iPhone 4S you have a comprise, use Siri or don't use Siri. It's not often that when I check the weather I unlock my phone and then ask Siri, I just open the weather application since it's right there after the phone unlocked. I am not going to unlock my phone and then tell Siri to text someone or send an email.

I believe Apple can make this better, for example, right now if you phone is locked and you ask Siri for driving directions or to check email it will ask for your passcode first. I believe this can be implemented into other parts of Siri like SMS/iMessage, making calls and sending email.

This way those who have a passcode can still use things that don't pose a threat to valuable information like weather, stocks, Wolfram Alpha, simple questions and more. I think it'd be a toss up for calendar and notes information, either way would work for me. 

Doing the above would allow those who have valuable important information that they want to keep confidential can still do that, while easily using some of Siri's features. I have information on my iPhone that must be kept confidential and I know many other people do as well, for us Siri doesn't help that much. I certainly know that people who are in the same situation as me would appreciate these type of settings for Siri. 

My iPod touch 3G

Well I don't exactly have an iPod touch with 3G data, it's an old iPhone 4 with an AT&T data only SIM card, and it works. Although you can't make calls or place SMS messages you can use the device basically as a faster iPod touch with a great camera and 3G data. 

The process was a little painful to learn since AT&T basically laughed in my face when I told them the idea. With a little help from the MacRumors Forums community and an iPad 3G from the Apple store I was up and running in no time. We will have a tutorial for those that want to know how in a short time. 

Everyone knows that an iPod touch is an iPhone without the phone but the iPod actually features a lot less than that. For example, I can use the iPhone's great camera, GPS and take advantage of the wireless chips. In addition, the iPhone has a pretty good flash for taking pictures and using as a flashlight. 

Speed over AT&T's 3G network seem inconsistently consistent with other iPhone 4s, as expected. Speeds were up and down but as I compared with another iPhone 4 that seemed normal. The top speed I recorded was 2.91 Mbps down and 1.27 Mbps upload, I had four bars when doing this test. 

For those that don't know, even when you have a data only SIM you still receive a phone number, although you cannot make or receive calls or SMS with the number. What you can do is FaceTime and iMessage with that number. The iPhone recognized that I did have a phone number and when people called via FaceTime or used iMessage to that number it actually worked. So when you do this technically you have a phone that others can reach you on. Of course you can setup FaceTime and iMessage with an Apple ID so you can use an email address also. In addition to having your AT&T number, you can also make and receive calls from any number with Google Voice or Skype. 

For what it's worth this will cost you monthly from a provider. I use AT&T and receive 250 MB data for $14.99 per-month or 2 GB for $25 per-month, both plans are month-to-month. In the end this is a great idea for those who want data on the go and don't have a smartphone. Buying a used iPhone and using it this way isn't such a bad idea but I can't see myself paying monthly for an iPhone plus another iPhone. If there was a tethering or hotspot option this may be a different story. 

Speaktoit – the Android alternative to Siri

Earlier this month, Apple announced the iPhone 4S, which later went on to sell four million units on launch weekend. Along with Apple's usual "thinner, faster, and lighter" deal with next-generation devices, the iPhone 4S also includes a new feature dubbed "Siri." Put simply, Siri is a voice-activated personal assistant that allows iPhone 4S users to get things done by speaking. Users can ask Siri a variety of questions, topics, statements, etc., and receive a response most of the time.As expected, the industry saw Siri's potential and it has been a popular discussion since the announcement was made. 

But, don't fear Android users! Speaktoit, a free assistant that is similar to Siri in functionality, has been booming the past couple of weeks. According to information sent to It's All Tech by a PR firm, user numbers have increased by 1250% and the app is receiving about 15,000 downloads per day. 

Speaktoit's main features include the ability to speak naturally to it and the functionalities built into it. For example, users of the app are able to update Facebook statuses, post tweets, find news, receive weather information, call friends and family, and more. There also isn't a specific way users must speak to the app as it recognizes most variations. Speaktoit also includes the ability for its users to create a cartoon avatar to customize the look and feel of the app. 

Speaktoit is available as a free download from the Android Market here. The app requires Android OS 2.1 or better and currently has a 4.5/5 star rating from users. It's All Tech has also been told that Speaktoit for iOS will be submitted to Apple for review sometime in the next two weeks. Windows Phone support will be coming in January 2012 and BlackBerry users will be able to download Speaktoit in early 2012.  

We've included a video of the app in action below:

Screenshots of Speaktoit

What will Siri turn out to be?

Siri one of the biggest new features of Apple's iPhone 4S, if not the biggest. What will Siri become, will it be a takeaway hit that converts everyone to iPhones or will it be a feature that looks amazing but seldom actually used?

Siri is a virtual assistant on the all new iPhone 4S, which launches Friday. You can talk to Siri,  ask it questions and even have it set up appointments. Siri without a doubt looks like an amazing piece of software, but will it be so amazing that it is used frequently or will it be an amazing features that people just like to show off?

For example, when Apple first introduced the iPhone 3GS with a video camera it was the reason I upgraded, I would have anyway actually. With the iPhone 3G it was a faster network. With the iPhone 4 Apple really pushed its FaceTime features with dual cameras on the phone, people saw that as a must have feature. With the fifth-generation Apple is pushing Siri, an exclusive software feature to the iPhone 4S. 

C0mparing Siri to other iPhone update exclusives you may come up with Voice Control, video camera and FaceTime. Let's be honest, how many people actually use Voice Control in normal everyday use? Not many that I know of. I'd say almost everybody has received good use from their video camera. FaceTIme may be a different story. I don't often use FaceTime but I do occasionally. Most of the iPhone 4 owners I've talked to don't use FaceTime, some have never used it. I hope Siri turns out to be something I can use everyday, the factor that determines that will certainly be how well it actually works. 

I can't say for myself how I'll use Siri other than the basic functions. Who knows if I'll continue to use it past the first week of having an iPhone 4S. I have to say though, I am excited.

Wajam – The Social Search Engine That Could

Last month, we posted an interview with the co-founder of Wajam, Martin-Luc Archambault. Wajam is a social search engine that allows users to see results from their inquiries based on what their friends and family shared on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Wajam was founded in March of 2009 and currently employs 10 people. Ranging from web developers to designers, Wajam has developed a social search engine that works well and is easy-to-use. 

To explain the concept of Wajam in more detail, it's probably best to give a real world example of when you could use social search to your advantage. 

While planning a trip to New Orleans and browsing reviews on TripAdvisor, I find a coffee shop recommendation from a friend on Twitter. I didn't know this friend had been to New Orleans, and now I can call her up and ask her for more advice.

In addition, Wajam just last week rolled out a brand new feature - location-based results. Location-based results on Google, Bing, and Yahoo allow users to find friends in the city that you are searching for, find places friends have visited or liked, and find pictures taken by friends at the location you're searching for. These location-based results can be useful when searching for things like hotels - you can see what your friends have said about hotels in a city to see if you'd like to stay there as well. 

Wajam will also be making its way to mobile social searching. The company has stated it will be launching a mobile app soon, but no specific timeframe has been given. Social searching on-the-go is certainly something that would make a lot of people interested in Wajam and it would make life easier when you need to find friends' recommendations quickly. 

To begin using Wajam, all you have to do is visit their website, sign in with either Facebook or Twitter, and install a plugin for your web browser that allows social search results to be displayed on top of search result pages on websites like Google. You can also use Wajam without installing the plugin, but you would have to do most of your searching on the company's website itself. 

Wajam supports several social networks, with more being added. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Google Buzz, and Delicious are all supported. In addition, bookmarks can be used for results. All you have to do is authorize your Wajam account with these different services and results will begin flowing in almost immediately. 

And that's Wajam! Have you ever used it? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Meet Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook

By now, you've probably heard the news that now former Apple CEO Steve Jobs stepped down from his position at the company after 14 years at the helm. Apple's Board of Executives has implemented its previously planned succession plan today, naming Tim Cook, former Apple COO, the chief executive of the company. The Board also added Cook to the board and accepted Steve Jobs' offer to become Chairman of the Board. The changes are effective immediately. 

We though it would be best for you to get to know Tim Cook as he gets ready to take his new position tomorrow morning. 

• Tim Cook grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University. He then received his Master of Business Administration from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
• Cook was initially VP of Corporate Materials for Compaq before being hired at Apple by Steve Jobs. He also served as COO of Intelligent Electronics and worked at IBM for 12 years. Cook was hired as Senior Vice President for Worldwide Operations at Apple. 
• In 2007, Tim Cook was promoted to Apple COO.
• Cook served as Apple CEO in 2004 for roughly two months while Steve Jobs underwent treatment for a rare type of pancreatic cancer that he was diagnosed with shortly prior. Cook then served as Apple CEO again in 2009 while Jobs was on medical leave. He has been serving as Apple CEO since January of this year after Jobs took yet another medical leave from Apple. 
• Tim Cook serves on the Board of Directors at Nike.
• Cook is described as "fitness enthusiast" by Wikipedia, enjoying hiking, cycling, and going to the gym. Cook is said to begin responding to emails at 4:30 AM and has been known for holding Sunday night meetings to prepare for the next week.

You can read our thoughts on the post-Steve Jobs era at Apple here. 

Welcome to the post-Steve Jobs era at Apple

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 will without a doubt be a day Apple fans around the world will not forget for a long time - it's the day that now former Apple CEO Steve Jobs stepped down from his position after 14 years at the helm. Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer back in 1976. For a short amount of time, Jobs left the company to begin another computer business, only to end up back at Apple following an acquisition.

You've likely heard the story of Steve Jobs coming back to Apple, but we thought it would be best to quickly recap it. Following Jobs leaving Apple in 1984, the company began to have its struggles - poor sales and poor innovation led to near bankruptcy. Story has it that Jobs returned to Apple with just 90 days to go before the company filed for bankruptcy. Of course, we all know the story from there - Jobs took over and brought Apple to the top with the iMac and iPod, later followed by the iPhone and iPad. 

And now, we are here today in the post-Steve Jobs era at Apple. What's going to change at Apple? Nothing all that much. Jobs, for those of you who don't know, has been on medical leave since January 2011 (his second in two years). To give a little background of that story - Jobs was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004. He then underwent a liver transplant in 2009. Jobs has appeared at several Apple keynote presentations, including the Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 and the introduction of the iPad 2, despite being on medical leave. 

Short-term changes at Apple are expected. We all know that Apple's stock price will plummet over the next few days (it's already down about 5% in after-hours trading just today). We can also expect that it will take time for Tim Cook, the now former COO of Apple and current CEO, to get acquainted with his new position (despite the fact that he's been acting CEO for months now). 

As far as long-term changes, don't expect Apple to stop doing what they've been doing for the past few years. The company is going to continue to innovate, with or without Steve Jobs at the helm. There's still going to be the iPhone and iPad (with new models expected to be released in the coming weeks and months). There's still going to be the Mac and iPod lineup as well. We don't see Apple and Tim Cook changing all that much, if anything at all, - the different product teams actually developing the hardware and software haven't changed at all. 

What do you think? Do you believe that there will be major changes following Steve Jobs stepping down as CEO of Apple? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Interview with Wajam CEO Martin-Luc Archambault

Wajam is an up-and-coming social search engine that was founded in March of 2009 by Martin-Luc Archambault. Mr.Archambault was formally the CEO of Zango Canada. 

Wajam allows you to search content that your friends share on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and several other social networks around the Internet. The tool is easy to install and works well in most modern web browsers. 

It's All Tech was lucky enough to be able to interview Mr.Archambault, asking him about Wajam and social search in general. 

Q: In your own words, what is Wajam?

A: 

Wajam is a browser extension that shows you recommendations from your friends when you need it the most. 

For example, Wajam gives you social results from your Facebook friends, Twitter followers and Google+ circles when you:

• search on Google, Bing or Yahoo
• look for answers on Wikipedia, Ask.com
• search for a movie on IMDb
• search for travel advice using TripAdvisor
• search for a restaurant reviews on Yelp
• shop on eBay, BestBuy, Shopping.com, Walmart, Overstock

Q: How do you see Wajam changing the way we social search, or search in general, in the coming years?

A:

Wajam makes:

(1) tapping into your social circles a natural extension of your web searches.

(2) your collective intelligence portable, soon on mobile.

(3) results relevant by adding contextual relevancy by location and by profiling your friends' interests and expertise.

In the coming years, more people will have smartphones and will rely less on desktop computers for searches. At the same time, more people will use social apps and connect using social media. Our goal is to give you the knowledge of your friends in your hands, so that you can access it when and where you need it.

Instead of:

• filtering through your friends and
• calling up the ones you think would best answer your question

You get their answer immediately with Wajam.

Today, people use apps like TripAdvisor for travel advice, Yelp for restaurant reviews and Amazon to shop on the fly. We add the social layer to all these popular services so that you can find both curated content and your friends' point of view.

Q: For our readers, how would you define "social search?"

A:

Social search is the act of searching information shared by your friends. It's the convergence of search and social media. Social search lets you to tap into your collective intelligence —what we like to call social IQ— in order to answer a question or solve a problem.

Q: How are you using social media to change the way we interact with search engines?

A:

Search engines give you results based on a proprietary algorithm that ranks websites objectively. While this works for certain types of searches, there are many occasions where your friend would give you a better subjective answer. Examples: when you shop, when you are choosing a restaurant, when you travel.

This is where Wajam comes in. We make social search a natural extension of search engines— you don't have to change your habits, you simply find results from your friends in places where you already search.

We give you results from your friends and we'll match keywords from their profiles to show you which ones have interest/expertise relevant to your search.

Q: Development wise, how are you planning to expand Wajam? 

A:

• We're improving the relevance of search results by adding contextual filters like location and profile interest.
• We are working on a better search algorithm and implementing better machine learning with social signals and semantics that improves the results on the fly.
• The goal is that if somebody searches for a “restaurant”, we automatically know from his social profile that he is probably looking for “Japanese restaurant in San Francisco for the tech crowd that is not too expensive”. It’s obviously very hard to do and is still not perfect, but for now it’s a really good start and we are starting to test this project in production with a few beta users.
• We're improving the user experience so that the average non-technical person can quickly understand what we do.
• We're working on mobile and the best way to bring Wajam to your phone, so that you can truly access results everywhere. 

Our goal is to make Wajam an indispensable part of your search experience.

Q: How can social search change the way we interact with our friends online?

A:

Social search encourages you to share more complete status updates when you share links with your friends. By adding keywords, you help identify content so that it's more easily shared and found by your friends.

Social search also encourages you to talk about your favorite products, your interests and knowledge. This way, you let your friends know what you're good at and you add to your collective pool of knowledge/ social IQ.

By sharing great content, you make your circle of friends smarter!

Q: How do you keep users' privacy when using Wajam?

A: 

Wajam never tracks, saves or shares your browsing history or search history. We're certified by VeriSign and TRUSTe. We use industry standard HTTPS for encryption and also do not store your passwords. Full privacy policy here: http://www.wajam.com/privacy_policy.php.

Q: Essentially, how does Wajam work (setup wise, displaying results)? 

A: 

• Getting started takes about 60 seconds
• You simply sign up with your Facebook, Twitter or Google account.
• Once connected, we start collecting the links, photos and other content from your friends and store them for you. This makes up what we call your “collective knowledge”. We have over 600 million items stored so far from Wajam users.
• The next time you search the web, we show you results and recommendations from your friends directly in your favourite search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo.
• A notification also appears on popular sites showing you relevant search results.

Q: What are some real-world examples of how Wajam can help people?

A: 

AMAZON: While searching for Canon products on Amazon, I can see what friends have said about the brand.

In this screenshot, I see Facebook photos that were taken with a Canon— this allows me to judge the quality of the images. I also see an endorsement for the Canon S90 by my friend Arthur, so I know that I can ask Arthur what his thoughts are on his camera: http://blog.wajam.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/wajam-canon-amazon.png

TRIPADVISOR: While planning a trip to New Orleans and browsing reviews on TripAdvisor, I find a coffee shop recommendation from a friend on Twitter. I didn't know this friend had been to New Orleans, and now I can call her up and ask her for more advice.

Screenshot: http://blog.wajam.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/wajam-tripadvisor-neworleans.png

WIKIPEDIA: While reading the Wikipedia article on Amy Winehouse, I discover a BBC article shared by Ryan Kim, reporter at the BBC, on Google+. I also see that Pete Cashmore @Mashable shared a link to the Daily Mail article.

Screenshot: http://blog.wajam.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Wikipedia-Amy-Winehouse.png 

GOOGLE: While searching for dance shoes on Google, I see what my friends have purchased recently, and if they like what they bought. I can also view dance shoe photos from Facebook. Screenshot: http://blog.wajam.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Screen-shot-2011-08-18-at-4.35.35-PM.png

BING: While searching for "apple" on Bing, I can see the latest news about Apple the company, as well as an apple tree picture taken on Facebook by my friend Nate in Vermont: http://blog.wajam.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Screen-shot-2011-08-18-at-4.49.21-PM.png 

Q: Is Wajam planning to make a move to mobile social search?

A:

Yes, we're launching a mobile app soon!

Q: What search engines does Wajam support? 

A: 

Wajam works in searches on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Amazon, Blekko, Mahalo and we also show results via a toolbar notification on Wikipedia, Ask, TripAdvisor, Yelp, IMDb, eBay, BestBuy, Walmart, Shopping.com and Overstock.com.

Editor Note: This interview is the first part of a two-part editorial regarding Wajam. The second part is coming soon. 

What was Google’s real reason for buying Motorola Mobility?

Earlier today, Google revealed that it has agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. In the announcement, Google states that it hopes Motorola "will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere." 

However, we all know that there's something behind the scenes that Google hopes Motorola will help it out with: patents. Google recently sounded off at Apple, Microsoft, and others, claiming that these companies acquired many patents for anti-competitive reasons against Android and Google. Google believes that these companies are using patents to develop a campaign that would make it more difficult for manufacturers to develop Android phones. 

Motorola Mobility owns over 17,000 patents (with an additional 7,000 pending approval), meaning Google will have access to these technologies and ideas with no legal trouble afterwards. Google can (maybe) finally stop complaining about how it doesn't own as many patents now. These patents will not only allow Android to grow, but also will Google ease of mind that no legal trouble will come. 

In addition, this deal changes everything with manufacturing Android devices. Previously, Google gave out Android OS to companies like HTC, Samsung, LG, etc. Google was also using some of these companies as manufacturers for its Nexus lineup of smartphones. Now, Google has a manufacturer in-house, meaning that these other companies will have one more market to compete with Google - manufacturing. This deal allows Google to use Motorola Mobility as the manufacturer for the next Nexus smartphone and not rely as heavily on others. 

Finally, Google will be able to inform Motorola Mobility about upcoming versions of Android OS well before others know about it. This means Google can launch more exclusive devices with Motorola and have updates kept more secret for a longer period of time. 

What do you think was Google's main reason for acquiring Motorola Mobility? 

First look at iWork for iOS with iCloud support

Earlier this evening, Apple seeded developers with a new build of its iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) for iOS with support for iCloud, the company's new cloud service launching to the public this fall. In addition, Apple launched iCloud.com for developers to begin testing the web apps for the service, including the ability to view your iWork documents. 

Here is a first look at iWork for iOS with iCloud integration:

What does iCloud integration in iWork add?

• The ability to create a document on your iOS device and have it automatically upload to your iCloud account
• The ability to upload a document to your iCloud account and have it automatically appear on your iOS device
• Make changes to documents on either end and have them stay in sync with each other

Notes

• We were unable to find an option to edit a document on the web interface of iCloud, but you can expect to see it come sometime
• There is quite a bit of delay before documents are updated on either side - likely part of the beta
• When downloading the document from the web interface of iCloud, you have the ability to choose which format to save it in
• Nothing out of the ordinary: functionality is simple (nothing too special other than syncing)

Screenshots

What an October iPhone 5 Means

Yesterday, AllThingsD reported that the iPhone 5 will be released in October, contrary to earlier rumors pointing to a September launch. Now, a recent @markgurman tweet really got me thinking that a later iPhone release date would be better for consumers:

Obviously, I'm not taking this tweet as fact, but he brings up a great point that the next iPhone will probably be an iPhone 5, and not an iPhone 4S. The world's second largest company in terms of market cap would not take a year to simply put a new camera and a A5 dual-core chip in, arguably, their forefront product. I am led to believe that the next iteration of the iPhone will be a huge upgrade for a few reasons:

1) The myriad of Android superphones (e.g. HTC Evo, Galaxy S, Atrix 4G) with specs like 4.3 inch screens, dual-core processors and a gig of RAM are really starting to breathe down Apple's neck. The Android OS has 39% of the smartphone market share, compared to iOS' 28%, according to a recent Nielsen report.

2) Apple's will have about 15-16 months between revisions, giving plenty of time for its massive, talented staff to continue innovating. 

3) Droves of would-be Verizon iPhone 4 buyers have postponed their purchases for the iPhone 5. If Apple can please this group, they will continue grow the Apple halo, which will lead to more purchases on the Mac side.

4) Apple needs to please their fan base. 'Nuff said.

>Now, as for the specific improvements, I'm not going to claim that I know what's going to be released. However, I will say that 9to5Mac has indicated from leaked cases (which aren't always the best indicators of form factors) that the next iPhone will have a larger display while being thinner. That is in addition to a similar report by The Wall Street Journal that the iPhone will be "thinner and lighter", and will also have a dual-core A5 processor and a 8MP camera.

What improvements are you looking for in the iPhone 5?

Apple please enable “Gift this app” in the Mac App Store

For some time now applications in the iTunes App Store have had the ability for users to "gift" apps, in other words buy apps for people they may know. This feature is very handy for giving small gifts or just helping out a friend. However, the same capabilities are not there for applications in the Mac App Store. 

I would expect that most users have not used the "Gift this app" feature in iTunes or on their iOS device much, as I admit I have only used it a couple times. It is a nice feature to have whether it is buying a small gift for a friend or helping your grandparents first setup their iPad with essential applications. It is something to get them started on getting used to using the App Store. 

When Apple announced that Mac OS X Lion would released to the Mac App Store I was more than excited, this was going to make it much easier for me to help my family make the upgrade to Lion. Some of the members in my family aren't as technological as I am, they don't use all the features of an operating system and therefore don't think they need to upgrade there OS. The same things have come up with previous Mac OS X releases, some of the family didn't want to take the time to upgrade. Being the person I am, I'm always willing to help them out. 

On the release date of Lion the first thing I did was download and install the upgrade on my Mac. After exploring the new operating system for a while I thought I would go and buy a few more copies for my family using the "gift" feature. Open up the Mac App Store and check out how Lion is now the first thing that is featured, click on it. Great it says Lion is installed, obviously, so I click that arrow to bring up the small options menu, all I see are "Copy link" and "Tell a friend." Unfortunately, there is no "Gift this app" option that I hoped to use. 

So now I sit here stuck at the moment, I don't know exactly how I am going to my Lion for my family. Since there is no install disc for sale I can't just send it to them like usual. One option is to just buy them iTunes or Mac App Store gift cards with the appropriate credit on them. If I do that I am afraid they may just use that credit for music or apps though. For right now, that may be my only option.

Right now this is a problem for me, but I am sure others have had the same experience. This wouldn't only help sales of Lion, it would benefit other application developers on the Mac App Store in the same way it benefits them for iOS devices. In addition this would be the easiest way for someone to buy an app for somebody else, giving them the same capabilities as in the iTunes App Store. 

I ask Apple, please make available a way to "gift" apps, or buy apps for somebody else. The way it is implemented into iTunes is perfect, I am sure the same way in the Mac App Store would be perfect as well. It would be a good thing for everyone, yourself [Apple], customers and developers. For now I'll wait and give it a while until I buy three $32.04 App Store gift cards.