By Staff Writer –

Since I was so inspired today, I wanted to leave you with something to be inspired with too.

Watch three of the most inspiring TED talks:

1. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos gives an inspiring talk to Princeton graduates. This is one of the best speeches I’ve heard.

2. Steve Job gives a commencement talk to Stanford.

3. J.K. Rowling talks about failure to Harvard grads: “Failure was a stripping away of the inessential. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive. And so, rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

Her talk gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes — very inspiring indeed.

“We have the power to imagine better… Not how long it is, but how good it is matters. I wish you very good lives.”

Photo: shannonkringen/ flickr

Three inspiring videos to watch is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

Here’s what happened after the Gizmodo drama unfolded with the stolen iPhone.

“I got a lot of advice from people who said you got to let it slide…I thought the worst thing that could possibly happen as we get big and get more influence in the world is if we change our core values than let them slide,” he says in the video.

Jobs says want to build the best products for people. He loves getting emails from customers that say how “cool” the products are. It makes his day and it’s what keeps him going.

Steve Jobs gives his side of the stolen iPhone ordeal is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

Most of us are addicted to gadgets. Today, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone4, adding another one for us to get attached to.

“Now stop me if you’ve already seen this,” Jobs joked.

Laughter broke out, as people recalled the Gizmodo exclusive of the phone’s prototype.

It turns out many of Gizmodo’s predictions were accurate. Here are the features the new iPhone will have:

• Video recording in HD (720 pixels at 30 frames per second)
• 16GB or 32GB flash drive
• 5 megapixel still camera
• front camera
• FED flash (finally a flash!)
• Photo and video geotagging

The video calling feature is available through FaceTime, in places where there is a Wi-Fi network. The phone also has built-in video editing and a A4 processor. Oh and the battery life is supposed to be better.

The gyroscope helps detect motion — which is good for all the gamers out there. The “retina” display is the “highest-resolution phone screen ever.” And you can multitask with the phone, which we all love to do apparently.

Jobs called it his “baby.” From what I’ve seen (in pictures and video), I like everything about the phone, except the fact users won’t be able to have unlimited data plans. This seems like highway robbery to me.

Still undecided? Well, PC magazine compared the iPhone 4 to the other smart phones on the market. None of them are perfect.

Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4 is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like rags to riches stories.

I love them. That’s probably why I could watch The Pursuit of Happyness and Slumdog Millionaire over and over again.

Forbes has put together a fabulous list of 10 billionaires who made their vast amount of money, against all odds.

Forbes reports:

“There’s a huge component of betting big and having luck that pays off,” said Jim Ellis, who teaches entrepreneurship at Stanford University, of self-starters who make it into the ranks of the ultra-rich. “But most entrepreneurs I know are better than just gamblers.”

Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey both had teenage mothers. Five of the billionaires didn’t graduate college. Three didn’t bother attending university. They all have vision and persistence.

But perhaps these billionaires didn’t need college to teach them how to take risks. Risk taking is a common trait for entrepreneurs.

Since we learn to take risks when we are teenagers, NPR suggests some health risks your teen can take:

Sports and developing artistic and creative abilities — be it through art or theater — are all activities that involve healthy levels of risk-taking. Teens can engage in volunteer activities, and even Internet activities. It can be as simple — and as scary — as getting up on stage, or asking somebody out, says Steinberg. All these behaviors may satisfy a teen’s need to push boundaries, but are usually in an environment where there’s very little harm that could result.

Image: flickr/ Ryan Cancroft

To get rich, you must know how to take risks is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

The Internet made the news free, it might soon do the same thing to phone calls. Enter Line2, an app that makes the iPhone more robust by allowing the user to get around the rules of its sole mobile provider, AT&T.

Not only does Line2 give your iPhone a second line, it also lets you make calls using Wi-Fi. After the initial investment of a $1 for the app, you have a month to try it for free.

And if you like it, you can pay $15 a month to use its service. Not only can Line2 save minutes on your minute plan, it can prevent the dreaded (and embarrassing) dropped calls.

The New York Times reports:

Line2 gives your iPhone a second phone number — a second phone line, complete with its own contacts list, voice mail, and so on. The company behind it, Toktumi (get it?), imagines that you’ll distribute the Line2 number to business contacts, and your regular iPhone number to friends and family. Your second line can be an 800 number, if you wish, or you can transfer an existing number.

To that end, Toktumi offers, on its Web site, a raft of Google Voice-ish features that are intended to help a small businesses look bigger: call screening, Do Not Disturb hours and voice mail messages sent to you as e-mail. You can create an “automated attendant” —“Press 1 for sales,” “Press 2 for accounting,” and so on — that routes incoming calls to other phone numbers. Or, if you’re pretending to be a bigger business than you are, route them all to yourself.

As The New York Times points out, people with an iPod touch can use their gadget as a phone as long as there is Wi-Fi available.

Hmm, there must be tension brewing behind the scenes of Google and Apple. After all, Steve Jobs rejected the Google Voice app.

In the future, when broadband becomes more ubiquitous, these mobile apps might soon replace our cell phone providers. If you are wondering why you wouldn’t just use Skype, keep in mind Line2 can manage your calls, connect to a Wi-Fi if available to put you on a more reliable network, and improves the sound so that it’s radio station quality. But of course, Skype is completely free to use and it also works on your cell phone.

But the Skype app has to running to accept incoming calls and the Line2 app doesn’t.  But Line2 is hardly perfect and has a few hiccups to solve — some scratchy sound in the background of calls and a slight delay is enough to annoy someone on a bad day.

If your cell reception is really horrible, you can always take matters into your own hands and buy your very own personal cell tower.

Images: iTunes

When the signal is weak, Line2 makes the iPhone into a super phone is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

Finally, multitasking will soon come to the iPhone. But if you want to take advantage of the multitasking feature, you would need to upgrade your iPhone to an OS 4 version.

Physorg.com reports:

“We weren’t the first to this party, but we’re going to be the best,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs declared Thursday, as bloggers, software developers and others in the audience greeted the news of such “multitasking” with applause.

The iPhone already permits some multitasking, but that’s largely limited to Apple’s own programs. Apple had not given users ways to seamlessly switch among all the software “apps” available from outside software companies, the way phones from rivals Palm Inc. and Google Inc. already do.

By being able to multitask, the iPhone really will get closer to replacing the function of personal computer.

Speaking of the personal computer, The Times published a beautiful piece on Edward Roberts, the underdog personal computer “pioneer”.

Image: flickr/ mattjb

Multitaskers look forward to being able to multitask on the iPhone is a post from: TechStartups.com

Did you watch the iPad Keynote video yet of Steve Jobs unveiling the iPad? I believe they’re quite proud of it: “Our most advanced technology in magical and revolutionary device at and unbelievable price.”

And proud they should be. It’s definitely a giant leap forward for tablet computing. (Though many of us have become accustomed to this style of computing thanks to the iPhone and iPod Touch.) We’ve also become accustomed to some other things, thanks to the iPhone: Google Maps.

Google Maps has been part of the iPhone since the original product unveiling and has become integral to how many of us use the iPhone.

Are Google Maps gone from the default software install on the iPad? It would seem so, at least at this point.

During the unveiling, Scott Forstall, SVP of Software Engineering for the iPhone and iPad, shows off the Maps application, but never mentions Google. In the introductory video on apple.com, Forstall also mentions the Maps application and refers to it as “ours” and never mentions Google.

It certainly looks like Google Maps. Perhaps, due to to the increasingly competitive relationship between Apple and Google the map technology has been licensed from Google but not branded as Google?

New details will be provided as we get them.

[iPad Keynote] [iPad Introductory Video]

Disclosure of Material Connection: http://dsclzr.us/0

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Google Maps Replaced In The iPad? is a post from: TechStartups.com

This is my last iPad post . . . for today. I swear it to you.

There are now thousands of tasteless iPad jokes online and a smattering of them on YouTube.

FAILBlog has one post with one new joke, an image for the iPad and the MadTV iPad skit that is making the rounds. Together a great pair. NSFW at all but worth putting in your headphones and privacy screen.

My all time fav is the video below from Mad TV from back in 2007. It has political overtones but they nail the Apple attitude. Much of the lead actors dialogue when taken out of the political context suits the iPad launch brilliantly. Synergistically, as the blonde Steve Jobs in the video might say.

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Tasteless iPad Jokes, Funny Nonetheless is a post from: TechStartups.com

The dust is settling a bit from the iPad announcement yesterday and the world looks strikingly similar to the way it did before Steve Jobs took the stage.

If we were to follow the dystopian film progression this is the point when those first infected would begin to show symptoms  and exhibit zombie-like behavior.

Fortunately, that hasn’t happened yet. What has happened is that sides are being chosen by fanboys and regular folks alike. Those that are infected could be a part of either camp. Which is good for us if we want to have a serious discussion about the iPad, the hype and tech culture.

I think everyone is amazed that they fit all of that technology into such a small space and made it fast. What Apple demoed and then gave press a hands on for was the real-time tablet that I suggested it would need to be. No one will wait for this thing to load. The iPad as a device is a complex engineering feat to be heralded.

However, this iteration is catching flack not only because of the hype prior to the event but from the unseasoned technophiles that now participating in tech culture – the newbs.

Apple, knowing what they were about to put on public display, should have been dampening the hype at every turn. Being humble can go a long way when releasing a product that doesn’t come close to the hype or public expectations for a product that they will spend discretionary income on.

The unseasoned technophiles that I speak of are the iPhone packing mommies, nannies and insurance selling daddies that are now hooked. They want to know all the new gadget information just like we do. Remember, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Engadget, Mashable or this blog wouldn’t exist without our collective techno lust. It has been passed on in spades to a larger, more eager consumer that is ready to spend and get their gadget on.

They were paying attention yesterday just like you. They’ve got opinions that have been shaped by their new smartphones and kindles. Sure they weren’t around for the old brick devices and ascii e-readers but they too know that the iPad, in this iteration is a waste of money.

Most of them, like the nerds, will sit this round out. The people forking over for the iPad will be the developers, engineers trying to figure out how to hack and reverse engineer it and those people that just gotta have it no matter what.

Choose your side carefully, my friends. Remember, even if you see someone with an iPad and your lust-o-meter goes up to 15 – breath deep, don’t let them bite you and hold onto your wallet with both hands. You will not regret waiting for the next version of the iPad or the next competitor that makes a gadget that lives up to all the hype.

Image credit: Joshua Blankenship (thanks to @renaud for the link and Joshua for being a wizard)

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iPad 20 Hours Later (Queue Creepy Music) is a post from: TechStartups.com

Insulated from reality and what must have been focus group after focus group that said, “iPad? You must be crazazy,” Jobs kicked off 2010 with the worst named product since Prince partied like it was 1999 in his little red corvette.

When the guy at the top has ideas and is set in his ways, this is what you get. They deliver to the investors and customers products that are ill conceived and lacking vision. Vision requires the input of many people. It is okay in a company for one person to take credit when they are the figurehead. We like strong front men that can lead the band, whether it is a reality or not we always want to believe that is the guy that makes it all work.

I like Steve Jobs as a front man and wouldn’t knock a man that has survived what he has. It is truly amazing. But it is very evident that those inside Apple are wearing the kid gloves and yessing Jobs to a forced retirement.

The jokes about the name of the iPad are just beginning. There are at least 60 more days to go of them. Late night shows? Jay Leno and his blue humor? As they say in NYC, fuggetaboutit. And those jokes will all be inseparable from Jobs himself.

The iPad is his Elvis toilet and Jonathan Ive is his “magical” Colonel Tom Parker.

It doesn’t matter how amazing the tech is. What matters is usability, experience and how people integrate the entire device into their daily lives. The name is a very important part of that. Regardless of the other short comings of the device somebody should have stepped up and stood up for reality.

The only thing left is to wait for someone to fall on a sword over the next few weeks, if it takes that long, over the name. Hopefully, someone will have some sense and change the name. But maybe all them pretty rigid cardboard boxes are printed already.

Like Fat Elvis, Jobs killed it throughout his entire career as the front man. He was able to take credit for leading Apple to billions in profit with the hard work of thousands behind him.

And not just those in Cupertino, but those in the factories in China that no doubt made production decisions that lead to innovation in Apple’s electronics. All of these players are no different than the hundreds of people that wrote songs for Elvis to perform or the hundreds of people that played the music he crooned to.

Elvis found his demise at what should have been the greatest time in his life surrounded by yes men. Apple has some hard thinking to do about this. This launch was by no means a success. And in my opinion it signals the beginning of the end for what has been a glorious world changing run.

Even Prince wouldn’t have named this the iPad. You can take that to the Apple board.

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Steve Jobs is now Fat Elvis is a post from: TechStartups.com

First, I got the name right! Do I get a gold star? *grin*

Now, on to the hardware specs:

• Full-capacitive 9.7″ glass touchscreen (just like the iPhone/iPod Touch)
• 1 GHZ proprietary Apple A4 processor
• 0.5 inches thin
• 1.5 pounds
• 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB of onboard storage (NAND Flash RAM)
• 802.11n/b/g wifi
• Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR
• HSDPA 3G
• Accelerometer & Compass
• Speaker
• Microphone
• 30-pin dock connector

The iPad Experience

Generally speaking, it’s a big iPod touch with 3G connectivity. (BTW, I may use iPhone and iPod Touch interchangeably in this post.) The home screen looks like a large iPod Touch screen complete with the home button below. It even syncs to your computer using iTunes and a USB 2.0 cable like an iPod Touch.

Like the other devices, it’s designed to be used in Portrait mode the majority of the time but the apps work well in Landscape mode.

Speaking of apps…

The iPad will run nearly all 140,000 apps available in the iTunes App Store, which will be huge for device adoption. Apps can be run in native size, as a box on the home screen, or the OS will do something called “pixel-doubling” that will scale the app up to fit the screen. You can be sure that developers will be updating their apps to be resolution independent soon as the iPad Developer Kit is available now.

Apple Apps

Included with iPad are iPad-optimized versions of Mail, Calendar, Safari and the iTunes store along with a drawing app called Brushes which will be ideal for sketching notes and illustrations.

An iPad-optimized version of iWork is available, though each application will be sold separately for $9.99.

Media

The media experience on this device is stellar. Let’s start with the obvious: video. Video on the screen looks great, though widescreen video may be letterboxed as the aspect ratio isn’t ideal for HD video which, by the way, plays back beautifully (at least in the demo).

Newspapers & Magazines

An iPad-native New York Times application was developed and Martin Nisenholtz as there to show support. Reading syncs to the iPhone app, there are Inline video clips. It’s Newspapers 3.0.

Magazines weren’t demoed but I’m sure we can expect to see apps for them soon or at the very least, iPad-optimized HTML 5 editions.

eBooks

The Apple iPad is going head-to-head with the Amazon Kindle with a built-in application called iBooks. eBooks will be sold in their own iBooks store.

More significant, Apple selected the ePub standard for their eBooks.

That basically divides the eBook reader universe into two camps: Amazon and everyone else. Amazon acquired Mobipocket for their proprietary eBook format and uses it for the Kindle. Books bought in the Kindle store have the .azw file extension which denotes their DRM-protected version, though you can still read books in an unprotected .mobi format.

My guess is that even though Apple is using the standard ePub format that it will also be DRM protected. We won’t know until the device is available.

Connectivity

While there are plenty of apps that will work fine without a net connection, the iPad is definitely better with net. With that in mind, Apple has arranged special pricing for the device with AT&T. For $14.99 you can get a data plan with an allowance of 250 MB or for $29.99, unlimited data. Neither plan requires a contract, which in itself is a very big deal. Of course, you get free use of AT&T wifi hotspots, just like the iPhone.

Cost

Steve Jobs made us wait until the end for the price tag, so I’ll share some of that suspense with to you.

A WiFi-only iPad with 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB will cost you $499, $599 and $699, respectively. An iPad with WiFi + 3g with same drive sizes will cost $629, $729 and $829, respectively.

There’s also an optional Keyboard Dock for those of use who type a lot and a form-fitting case.

No word on the cost of the accessories but you can expect to pay around $1,000 if you get a higher end model with accessories.

Availability

WiFi-only models will be available in 60 days (before April 1) while WiFi + 3G models will be available in 90 days (before May 1).

Be sure to watch the iPad video on Apple.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: http://dsclzr.us/0

Apple Unveils the iPad: A Big Ol’ iPod Touch and So Much More is a post from: TechStartups.com

Would you be crushed if this Wednesday Apple’s big announcement is for a 10″ netbook?

After all of this hype I would say that it would be a major let down.

I only bring this up because after so much speculation, rumor and the 800+ 3D renderings of what it could look like there has been nothing definitive to say that it is a slate. The only real evidence has been that Apple has been snatching up 10″ screens.

Yes, people are way excited, and I’ve said this in the past, there is nothing to even define the usage of this device or any other slate. It is 5x the size of an Apple remote and 3x the size of an iPhone. Will you be happy bending your neck 90 degrees to type on this thing without a keyboard?

I touched a couple slates at CES this years and still walked away with the ‘wow, that’s nifty. but what do i do with it when i really need to get something done’ feeling.

All I’m saying is that even if this thing that Apple is playing close the vest is a slate it is going to need a spectacular set of ancillary uses. And they will all need to be created by Apple and some choice developers because there is nothing out today that warrants usage of the device now beyond taking print, like magazines, to this medium.

So don’t be disappointed if Apple only shares that it has a new netbook that runs iPhone apps and has gaming control options. The Apple netbook is all anyone could have hoped for a year ago!

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Will You Be Disappointed if Apple Drops a Netbook? is a post from: TechStartups.com

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is in late stage negotiations with CBS and Disney to add their shows to a pay subscription service for Apple TV and all other Apple media gadgets in 2010.

This is just what Apple TV needs to give it some real standing as a full fledged multimedia device for home usage. As it stands the ATV is a silver money pit with iTunes attached as a leech to funnel dollars to Apple unless it is hacked for XBMC and Boxee.

Apple is said to be offering major media publishers of subscription based content at $2-$4 dollars per subscriber. This money would come from an overall service fee of something around $30 per month that Apple Insider reported about a month ago.

“Those amounts are in some cases much higher than media companies receive from traditional distributors. The question is whether selling fewer networks at higher prices is better business.” – WSJ

This model isn’t that different that a traditional satellite or cable TV provider but where it does differ would be the possible ability to create a la cart packages. Another advantage for Apple over other companies to make this a reality is the nearly ubiquitous acceptance of iTunes.

iTunes is a far flung and multidevice front end that would appeal to users for in home, mobile or service on the road. Cable companies can only dream of the ability to deliver content in all of these places. Media providers like HBO have been trying for years with Windows only beta apps that are still being tested in small markets. This would usurp all of that effort and any from cable and satellite providers.

If Apple can pull this off, which seems likely, this could be the anticipated media coup d’état orchestrated by General Steve Jobs.

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Apple Television Subscription Plan for Apple TV? is a post from: TechStartups.com

The iPhone and Google changed our life. What’s next?

Whatever it is, it might be predictable. After looking at a 30 year analysis of 300 products in 225 countries, Ad Age concluded that a product’s success can be predicted. “Business dynamics; consumer insights; creativity and design; and innovation patterns” drive the success. Of the four, you really need to look at innovation patterns before you can make good predictions about the future.

Consumer needs are also predictable. This is not surprising, considering our every decision is tracked online. But innovation is evolutionary. A good idea is inspired when someone thinks about previous ideas and thinks about ways to introduce a small change. Pretty soon this new product has competition. When the product reaches a tipping point, it hits critical mass.

That’s what happened with Crest Whitestrips. Who would have thought a decade ago people would want to put strips on their teeth so they could make their teeth whiter?  But nicotine and estrogen patches and breath strips created a market for Crest Whitestrips.

The same goes for the music industry. There was portable music before the iPod. (You probably have an old Sony Walkman laying around your house somewhere). We got used to being able to carry our cameras and computers around with us. When the iPod hit the market in 2001, we went crazy for it.

Then we went crazy for the iPhone. Esquire discussed how Steve Jobs’ idea transformed into a wildly, popular gadget:

First, for the first time in his life, people understood one of his products better than he did. And second, he began to die….He wanted to build a device that moved the world forward, that would take people further. He wanted to build a reality that wasn’t there….The first was that people realized that the iPhone wasn’t primarily a phone; it was a computer — a powerful one, with a full OSX operating system — that could make phone calls.

The iPhone soon evolved beyond what it was designed for. And it all began with a small idea.

Image: flickr/ csitscenter

Success is Predictable is a post from: TechStartups.com

Raise your hand if this news actually surprises you? Yep, that’s what we thought, absolutely no one. Looks like Steve Jobs is already making some early announcements, and the first one out of his mouth was the simple fact that since their release just a few days ago, there have been over 1 million iPhone 3GS’s sold, and downloads of their newest iPhone software have already exceeded 6 million in only 5 days. Impressive? We think so.

According to reports, Steve Jobs was excited and quick to comment about the success of the newest version of their famous iPhone. Here’s what Jobs had to say:

“Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning. With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever.”

Considering the simple fact that they also sold over 1 million of the first iPhone 3G’s sold in only one weekend in July of 2008, it looks like the iPhone is here in a very big way, and will continue to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest mobile device in the world.

Helping that, is the sheer number of apps in the Apple App Store that are available instantly for the iPhone. Clearly, there are those that think this is the direction not only mobile devices are heading, but the internet in general. Could we all be accessing the internet from a mobile device and not the laptops and desktops we’re accustomed to? Looks like it’s already happening.

Over 1 Million iPhone 3GS’s Already Sold is a post from: TechStartups.com