PC Pro School

Stanza, now a universal app for the iPhone and iPad alike, is an e-reader from Lexcycle. Lexcycle, in turn, has been bought by Amazon because our very first review from the then iPhone-only Stanza appeared. But Stanza's feature set differs notably from Amazon's Kindle app.

Probably the most obvious difference is Stanza's lack of integration with its own dedicated e-book store. The app connects to some variety of online sources for free and paid guides, and can read other books in non-DRM-protected ePub, eReader, PDF, Comic Book Archive, and DjVu formats. That means you can't study iBookstore purchases or Kindle store books in Stanza, but you are able to study free books from Project Gutenberg, the Random House Free Library, and buy guides within the application from Fictionwise, BooksOnBoard, and O'Reilly, among others. It's a far cry from the far much more robust Kindle bookstore (with 600,000 titles), or even Apple's iBookstore (with "tens of thousands" of titles)--but if you can discover books which you want to study, that's all that matters. I do discover it annoying that, even when afforded all the display real estate that the iPad offers, Stanza doesn't show guide prices in most views when you shop--you have to tap into the individual guide itself to discover out how much it expenses.

Where Stanza bests its competitors is in its customizations. The app sports impressive display controls: You can select from more than 40 fonts (even though, admittedly, you'll likely never want to read a guide in Marker Felt or some of the other much more whimsical fonts offered). You can also adjust not just font size, but also font and background colors. Stanza provides numerous reading themes, all of which you can further customize, saving settings for daytime and nighttime reading. I tweaked each defaults--switching to a sepia-toned background for daytime reading, and dark gray on black for night. Stanza even lets you set a background image, but I can't imagine most sane readers would go that route. And inside a particularly clever touch, swiping up and down about the screen adjusts the screen's brightness.

You are able to also control text justifications, line spacing, paragraph spacing, indent width, and margins. To date, Stanza may be the only iOS e-reading app that I'll enable full justification on, simply because the application supports automatic hyphenation. (Without having hyphenation, it's necessary to employ ridiculous word spacing, depending on the words in a given line, to maintain the right side flush.)

Whilst all those functions are excellent, Stanza also includes a few frustrations. It's impossible to leave the app's controls visible whilst you study, because that view also superimposes a dark info box smack dab in the center from the text. Kindle and iBooks each permit you to toggle controls in and out of view without having obscuring the book's text. Making this even more frustrating is that Stanza is a little sensitive about recognizing center taps; the "touch zones" for pagination are too big for my tastes; if I'm just a hair off-center when tapping and unintentionally turn the page.

About the iPad's large display, I find landscape reading unmanageable; the column of text is just too wide to read manageably. Because you cannot set the margins separately for portrait and landscape, I simply stuck with portrait mode for most of my reading through. About the iPhone, though, I found a comfortable margin exactly where reading in either orientation with Stanza felt fine.

In spite of its minor flaws, Stanza offers a really pleasant reading through encounter. My general requirement for any e-reading application or device is that it be able to fade away, and not distract in any way from enjoying the text you're reading--and Stanza certainly passes that test. Regardless of the app I'm using, I a lot prefer reading through about the iPad towards the iPhone, but both versions from the application work very well.

Probably the most significant distinction between Stanza and its big-name competition is the book-source needed. Stanza feels a bit much more "do-it-yourself"-focused, because you'll need to dig a bit more to discover books to read. If that approach suits you, Stanza won't disappoint.

Original story - http://www.macworld.com/article/152383/2010/06/stanza.html

A California law firm may be searching to develop a class action lawsuit against Apple over the iPhone 4's network reception issues, now recognized online as the iPhone 4 death grip. "If you recently purchased the new iPhone and have experienced poor reception quality, dropped calls, and weak signals, we would like to hear from you," reads a notice on the Web website for the law organization Kershaw, Cuttiner and Ratinoff.

The Sacramento-based injury attorneys, who marketplace themselves as "Lawyers Who Fight," are only conducting an investigation to the iPhone 4, and have not announced a formal lawsuit filing.

iPhone 4 death grip may turn out to be Apple chokehold

Soon following Apple launched the iPhone 4 on June 24 customers began complaining of cellular reception loss caused by gripping the new iPhone in the lower left corner. Unlike its predecessors, iPhone 4's antennas for telephone and data connectivity are integrated to the steel band encircling the device. The telephone antenna appears to be located correct where you would usually location your palm. So rather than improving signal strength--as the new steel band is meant to do--your hand ends up interfering with reception resulting in dropped calls and usually poor phone reception. PCWorld was in a position to replicate the reception problems throughout independent tests.

Apple responded towards the iPhone 4 antenna complaints by saying that gripping any cell telephone causes some signal loss, with "certain locations being worse than others depending on the placement from the antennas." The organization suggested that customers ought to either adjust their grip so they do not cover "both sides of the black strip within the metal band" or to buy an iPhone situation that prevents your hands from coming in contact with the steel band. Some users have discovered that placing Scotch Tape around the affected areas will also avoid signal loss.

Will iPhone 4 users unite?

It's not clear yet if Kershaw, Cuttiner and Ratinoff will probably be in a position to build a situation towards Apple more than the iPhone 4 difficulties, but the organization is definitely no stranger to bringing class action suits towards technology firms, according to Gawker. In late 2009, the organization filed a lawsuit against Facebook and Zynga, the social gaming organization behind Farmville and Mafia Wars, over allegedly deceptive third-party promotional offers presented to users. The third-party offers were very first detailed in TechCrunch's multi-part series.

Source: PC World

A teardown from the iphone 4 reveals that Apple spent almost $188 in components and electronics to produce a device that's highly profitable and reflects the company's style prowess, a research firm says.

Apple's bill of materials for the new iphone is really a continuation of the company's capability to hold down costs, as reflected in previous versions from the smartphone, iSuppli mentioned in releasing its teardown analysis Monday. However, what makes the iphone 4 "radically different" is the design. "Just as it did with the iPad, Apple has thrown away the electronics playbook with the i phone 4, reaching new heights in terms of industrial style, electronics integration and user interface," iSuppli analyst Kevin Keller said in a statement.

Apple's BOM of $187.51 for that fourth-generation i phone is in line with those of earlier versions, Keller mentioned. "With the iphone maintaining its existing pricing, Apple will probably be capable to maintain the prodigious margins that have allowed it to construct up a colossal cash reserve -- 1 whose size is exceeded only by Microsoft Corp." In earlier teardowns, iSuppli estimated the BOM from the 2009 i phone 3GS at $170.80; the 2008 3G at $166.31 and also the very first iphone in 2007 at $217.73. While the i phone 4 provides better performance and more capabilities than its predecessor, the starting cost remains the exact same at $199.

The most expensive element from the i phone 4 may be the 3.5-inch LCD display that Apple calls a "retina display." The element functions a 960 x 630 resolution, four times that from the iphone 3GS. The cost from the new display is $28.50, iSuppli said.

While the screen is unlabeled, it was most most likely made by LG Show. Nevertheless, iSuppli mentioned Toshiba Mobile Display could also be a supplier.

Apple's most apparent innovation within the iphone 4 is within the redesigned housing, iSuppli said. Unlike the unibody housing of earlier models, the new phone's enclosure is composed of multiple pieces, producing it feasible to accommodate a larger battery and turn the metal sides from the enclosure into an antenna.

"This adds much more complexity and cost, but elegantly uses every feasible cubic millimeter of the i phone for function, and not just form," Keller mentioned. "The tight intertwining of form and function is an area where Apple has usually excelled."

While innovative in design, the iphone 4 antenna has not met the expectations of numerous Apple clients. Buyers have reported that the new smartphone drops its signal if the bottom left corner from the device is covered by the palm from the user's hand, a common occurrence when the phone is held by lefties. Apple is reportedly preparing a software patch to fix the flaw.

One more innovation within the iphone 4 may be the far smaller wireless section of the device, which is the result of integrating much more functionality into the core chipset elements.

"Out from the almost 300 cell phones torn down by iSuppli, the iphone comes the closest to integrating the entire wireless interface -- including all the supporting Radio Frequency (RF) modules -- on a single chip," Keller mentioned. "This further enhances the i phone 4's space efficiency and serves as yet one more testament towards the advanced state of Apple's style."

A new element within the smartphone is really a gyroscope supplied by STMicroelectronics. The 3-axis digital component makes it possible for that i phone 4 to record movement three dimensionally for more realistic game play. The element cost $2.60, iSuppli mentioned.

A teardown analysis released last week by InformatonWeek's sister company, UBM TechInsights, discovered that the gyroscope is most likely slated for the next-generation iPad too. TechInsights senior analyst Steve Bitton said there's an almost-perfect spot for it, located correct beside the iPad's accelerometer.

The global positioning program utilized in navigation applications for that iphone is created by Broadcom and expenses $1.75, iSuppli mentioned. Broadcom also created the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth wireless chip, which price $7.80.

Other elements include the Apple-designed A4 processor constructed by Samsung Electronics. ISuppli estimates the cost of $10.75.

The glass capacitive touch screen that overlays the iphone 4 cost $10, ISuppli estimates. Whilst the element is not labeled, the researcher believes it was built by Balda and/or TPK Holding.

ISuppli's overall price estimates does not consist of the price of labor, marketing, patent licensing or other non-BOM expenses. The latest teardown was the 16 GB version of the i phone 4, which sells for $199. Apple also sells a 32 GB model for $299.

In the last quarter, the i phone accounted for 40% of Apple's revenue.

Source

As promised, AT&T Inc. today started selling the iPhone 4 to walk-in customers, but many stores quickly ran dry.

AT&T confirmed that some stores have already exhausted their supply of iPhone 4s.

Lines ranged from the dozens to more than 100 at various stores, and AT&T rapidly exhausted its stock at some outlets.

"There was [sic] 40 people waiting outside the AT&T store this morning. No iPhone 4 today," said Californian Mando Fauzey on Twitter. Others celebrated getting their hands on a new iPhone. "Score! The last iPhone 4 at AT&T in Longmont. Nice!!," said George Morris of Boulder, Colo., on Twitter.

Some said that obtaining a phone was a breeze. "Casually walked into an AT&T store and walked out with an iPhone 4 all of 20 minutes later," reported Daniel Shusta of Athens, Ohio, in a tweet at 11.30 a.m. Eastern time.

In Lexington, Ky., police were called to a local AT&T store to handle a crowd of more than 150 would-be buyers. According to WKYT-TV, AT&T employees called police after "fearing customers in line may get out of control."

AT&T also again began taking online orders for Apple Inc.'s new smartphone today.

Apple's exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier stopped taking online orders for the iPhone two weeks ago, after its ordering and eligibility systems collapsed when customers swamped its servers with pre-orders prior to the official launch last Thursday. At the time, AT&T said it had decided to halt pre-orders so it could fulfill the orders it had accepted.

Today, AT&T confirmed that in-store sales were brisk enough to drain its iPhone 4 supplies.

"Things are going well and demand for iPhone 4 is strong," said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel in an e-mail reply to questions. "Given the demand, some stores are running out of inventory."

Siegel said that customers can call stores to check on iPhone 4 availability, but added that "available supplies depend on the individual store's situation."

The iPhone 4 is also in short supply at Apple. Orders placed Tuesday will not ship until July 20, according to the company's online store.

On Monday, Apple said it had sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the first three days of availability and boasted that this has been the most successful Apple product launch ever. Analysts have said they expect the new model to be hard to get for at least the next several weeks.

Apple has had problems keeping enough iPhones on hand to meet initial demand in the past. Although last year's iPhone 3GS was relatively easy to obtain, the 2008 iPhone 3G was in short supply for several weeks.

A research analyst said today that the iPhone supply issue could hurt Apple and push customers to competitors.

"What is happening now certainly has done some damage to the Apple brand," said Tina Teng, an analyst at El Segundo, Calif.-based iSuppli, in a statement. "Consumers, questioning Apple's supply chain management capability, have started looking for alternative devices. In particular, consumers are not satisfied with Apple's response to the antenna issue causing poor reception and dropped calls."

Teng was referring to mounting complaints that holding the new iPhone can impede signal strength, making it difficult or even impossible to make and maintain calls.

"With threats coming from every corner, can Apple afford another slip in its supply chain management?" asked Teng, pointing to recent countermoves by rivals Nokia and Research In Motion.

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Apple mentioned Monday that it marketed 1.7 million iPhone 4s in three days following its launch last week, calling it its most effective product launch ever.

The iPhone 4 is still marketed out at numerous stores. Online purchasers are told orders will ship in 3 weeks. "We apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have sufficient supply," Apple CEO Steve Jobs mentioned in a statement.

Last year, the 3GS iPhone marketed 1 million units in its first 3 days.

Inside a spot check by telephone, Apple Shops in New York, St. Louis, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Seattle were sold out from the new iPhones on Monday. Shops are offering to put clients on a reservation list, having a wait of several weeks. Customers are alerted by e-mail when a telephone is obtainable for pickup.

Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, had predicted that Apple would sell 1.5 million phones in four days. He doesn't believe Apple will pay a price with consumers for not being able to meet demand.

"Somebody decides to buy an iPhone, they'll wait it out," Munster says. "This is confirmation that Apple has another hit. Apple is competing with Google, which appears to have a brand new Android telephone from another partner out every two weeks. Apple gets 1 chance a year to launch a new phone, and they hit it out from the park."

The new iPhone starts at $199 with a brand new or extended two-year contract with AT&T, the only U.S. carrier. The telephone sports a sharper display, improved camera, faster processor and the ability to make video calls.

Munster doesn't believe the iPhone 4 will be fully stocked in Apple Shops for at least a month.

AT&T begins selling the new iPhone in its shops today. The company had delayed in-store sales to fulfill its preorders very first.

Numerous early buyers nabbed new iPhones with the intent to resell them. On Monday, about 32,000 iPhones had been available for bid on eBay at asking prices up to $1,200.

This is a big summer for phones, with state-of-the art Google Android phones also hitting shops soon. Verizon Wireless will begin selling the Droid X, the follow-up to Motorola's popular Droid smartphone, on July 15.

However, Richard Doherty, an analyst at the Envisioneering Group, doesn't see iPhone fanatics switching to the Droid just because the iPhone is not in stock.

"I don't think you'll see any announcement from Google saying 1.7 million phones had been sold — maybe 170,000," he says. "This is about the iPhone."

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said that 160,000 Android phones ship globally every day.

Source: USA Today

When it comes to transmissions in between companies, emails are most preferred. Close to 83% of critical information for a business can be found in its email files. Actually, emails are of such significance that they are normally stored for the same period as any written confirmations or other orders. A recent analysis released by Gartner Group states, "Email transmission accounts for around 97% of all connection of a business. Hence, it is essential that any business organization definitely invest directly in an email archiving system to ensure that not only would their email be maintained for long term use, but that it would also be preserved in a safe and sound manner."




The major aim of such an archive program is to extract the subject along with body of any emails that are sent or received. The process stores all such archives in a read-only file format, thereby guaranteeing no conflict in the emails. Another advantage connected with such email archiving is that it helps preserve space normally needed for an email on the server, because all archives are kept in a compressed structure.




Among the list of primary good reasons why organizations might require such emails to be stored is for future reference. For example, these emails may be used as permissible evidence in court for any lawsuits. If instead of an archive, such emails were just placed on a backup system, it would cost the organization immense manpower and fees when looking through the hundreds of emails. When saved in an archive, such emails are stored in their initial structure, limiting the likelihood of spoilage or tampering. At the same time, they can also be explored fairly easily.



An email archive helps limit the chances of a company being found responsible of fraudulence or disregard by court as all emails are well stored and kept for future use.