Seems like every time Steve Ballmer has appeared for a Q&A over the past four months he's been asked about Chrome OS at least once. His usual response is something like "Ah...erm...uh...well...WHY DO YOU NEED TWO OPERATING SYSTEMS?!?" Now that we know why Google wants two operating systems, and now that we see where Chrome OS fits in the OS marketplace, it's easier to understand Ballmer's, ah, consternation. Chrome OS is all about being fast and light, basically everything Windows isn't, which makes it perfect for your everyday user. That could be really bad for Microsoft, considering the hordes of people who are unhappy with Windows but unwilling to pay for a Mac or bother with Linux.

But Google is only releasing Chrome on pre-selected hardware devices. There will be no download for your current netbook. There will be no install disc. If you want Chrome, you'll have to buy a new machine. I was surprised to see Google take this path because it really limits the initial install base. I know a lot of people who would love to drop Chrome on a separate partition, if only to give it a shot. Those same people are highly unlikely to buy a new machine for the OS, though. The only way the hardware limitation makes sense is that it controls the Chrome experience for users in the same way Apple controls the OS X experience. Approved hardware should ensure a positive initial experience for every user, giving Chrome the kind of word-of-mouth power it needs behind the marketing.

Now obviously the most appropriate place for Chrome is the netbook market, where computers are designed with basic tasks in mind. By stripping down the specs, manufacturers are able to offer netbooks at unprecedented prices, something consumers have really loved. I'll avoid extended discussion about the sole merit of netbooks being price, because I think that should be clear to everyone at this point (laptops at the netbook price sell just as well as netbooks these days). Chrome allows manufacturers to drive costs even lower because there is no "Microsoft Tax." Imagine a netbook plunging to $199 (ignore Black Friday deals for a moment). You wouldn't be able to keep those things on the shelf. Hell, I'd get one just to stream content to my TV. At that price point, more consumers would likely be willing to give the new operating system a try, especially if it sports the Google brand.

Google isn't aiming for an overnight coup with Chrome, just a nice, slow bleed. By slowly turning money-conscious consumers toward a simpler operating system, Google can leech people away from Microsoft from the bottom up. Granted, Chrome isn't going to replace Windows for the people who want to play Modern Warfare 2, at least not on their gaming rig. But even those guys need a laptop, and $199 looks a lot better than anything running Windows.

Google had its official Chrome OS reveal today, finally giving us some screenshots and a whole lot of Q&A to dig through over the coming weeks. YouTube is flooded with new footage of the OS in action, so I'll leave you to watch it while I cover the more general details here.

First and foremost, Chrome OS is about speed. “We want Google Chrome OS to be blazingly fast," said Sundar Pichai, Google's VP of product management. It should be so fast that it will be able "to boot up like a TV," according to Pichai. If you're trying to figure out whether or not your TV has a boot time, just think of the time it takes for the screen to warm up to fully vibrant color. That's how quickly Chrome will go from pressing the power button to ready to check email. About 7 seconds. Now that's fast.

Most of that speed comes from the shift to web applications from traditional local applications. Everything in Chrome OS will be managed on the web, even Photoshop-like functionality (though that will come at a later date). For consumers it means no more software updates or hardware backups. The first will be nice, but I'm sure people will have trouble getting used to trusting their data to Google (let's just avoid the discussion of how that's already the case, shall we?).

A lot of people wondered why Google would need two operating systems. The company says that Chrome OS is all about the web, while Android is more app-oriented. Chrome, much to my surprise, won't support any Android apps. Pichai and Sergei Brin were pretty clear about the intentions for Chrome - that it's all web, all the time - and that it won't share in Android's Marketplace.

Check the gallery at Gizmodo for some official screenshots.

For the most part I'm still comfortable saying that Android growth is a good thing. The platform still needs to expand its app offering to be able to effectively compete with the iPhone. But while most would consider the number of devices sporting Android these days a good thing, it could drive developers crazy.

Android's adaptability is one of its best features, but it's a bit of a nightmare for developers. It means making sure apps work on all kinds of hardware, while iPhone developers have just one handset to worry about. For big developers its less of a problem, but for the small guys it means spending time debugging instead of updating apps and releasing new features. “You may build an app that works perfectly with all three firmwares, but then when you run it on carriers’ ROMs it completely blows up,” said Chris Fagan, co-founder of the Android development house Froogloid. “So we find ourselves having to create apps that are compatible with multiple firmwares, multiple ROMs and multiple devices with different hardware.”

Obviously this could cause some problems for carriers as well. As newer versions of the OS are released, older handsets might be left with out-of-date applications that no longer receive support from developers. Even though Android's open-source platform means it can be hacked onto older devices, some of the features won't work, like multi-touch from 2.0 on the original HTC G1.

Unfortunately that's probably just what will happen. Developers will decide who they want to target and just support a set of devices. Everyone else will be stuck wishing they'd paid the extra benjy for the next phone up.

Source: Wired

This should come as no surprise, but Apple officially came out the victor in its case against Psystar. We could get into specifics, but it just seems easier to say that Psystar failed to get anything it wanted. Well, that's what happens when you're copying, modifying, and redistributing another company's software without permission.

There's still going to be a trial, as the courts need to determine, "Apple's allegations of breach of contract; induced breach of contract, trademark infringement; trademark dilution; trade dress infringement; and state unfair competition under California Business and Professions Code § 17200; and common law unfair competition," or, how bad will things really get for Psystar. The answer: terrible. It's goodbye money, hello damage payouts.

Source: Groklaw

It's been a long time since we've heard anything about Michael Arrington's CrunchPad, the slim little web tablet the TechCrunch founder was developing. As Arrington has it, though, the project is moving forward, headed for production at some still unannounced date. The price has gone up from the original $200 to somewhere between $300 and $400.

A few months back everyone thought the CrunchPad was dead, doomed because of rising production costs. While the price has gone up, the new range is definitely reasonable, but what about the features? The longer the CrunchPad gets delayed, the less likely that it can really be competitive. Apple already has a desirable tablet in the works and ereaders like the Nook are getting sturdy enough to make the CrunchPad look irrelevant.

I can't say a November release for $400 would have been better, because that's the weird price point everyone seems to want to avoid. At this point, though, the CrunchPad needs some new life, or it's going to be a huge flop.

Source: YouTube (Gillmor Gang)

Developer builds- who can trust 'em? You may have seen this coming, but the newest most recent build of Snow Leopard, version 10.6.2, restores support for Intel's Atom CPU. Yes, that means your hackintosh is safe if you've made the 64-bit upgrade.

As to reasons for the flip-flop, there's still no word from Apple. That likely means it was a bug, or an unintended consequence of some other change to the system. As such, I'd like to officially recant all those things I said about Apple going after the hacking community in light of a tablet release. It just ain't happening, folks. Carry on.

Nothing's official just yet, but the latest Snow Leopard developer build, version 10.6.2, does away with Atom CPU support. It's not a big deal to the average Mac user, but for anyone who has put the hours of dedication and frustration into making a Hackintosh, it's a huge deal. It would effectively kill Snow Leopard for the little lappies, at least until someone can find a workaround.

For the few among us running OS X on a Dell Mini or other such devices, you're going to be stuck on 10.6.1 if you made the upgrade work. It has to make you wonder, though, if Apple isn't targeting the tiny community ahead of the tablet release to encourage a few more purchases. Then again, the community is so small and the anticipation of an Apple tablet so great that it's hard to imagine that to be the case.

Mac addicts are almost proud to spend hundreds of extra dollars when it comes to buying a computer, but an Apple tablet might not just be for Mac nerds. The general expectation is that Apple's tablet will be like the iPhone or an iPod, bridging the gap between the diehards and the average consumer. With the average consumer, though, price becomes more important, and as a recent study by Retrevo suggests, $600 might be the break point.

According to Retrevo, 68% of Mac users would be willing to spend over that $600 point on Apple's tablet. In fact, 41% are willing to break $800 for the device. That hangs in line with what we know about Mac users' spending habits. PC folks, on the other hand, aren't so easy to persuade. Granted, there are still armies of them willing to pay premium dollar for the Apple brand, but not nearly as many by percentage.

From the survey results, it looks like 36% of PC users would consider spending over $600. Strangely enough, only 16% would spend in the $600-$800 range, while 20% were willing to break the $800 mark. Still, that leaves a huge base of people dreaming sub-$600, a price that I just can't imagine we'll see.

Now that Windows 7 has officially launched we'll get to see if PC manufacturers were a little overzealous in their anticipation of the new OS. Comments from AMD toward the end of last week suggested there might be a little too much PC stock because of the new Windows OS.

AMD has lowered its expectations for Q4 sales because of the high buildup for Windows 7. But a new OS doesn't necessarily mean buying a new computer. For a lot of people, Windows 7 is just a fix for Vista - a remedy to that compelling desire to put fist through laptop when using Microsoft's previous generation of operating systems.

If anyone's to blame for misguided expectations, I'd say it's Microsoft. Ballmer came out way too late in the game to say "hey, it might not be as big as we thought." Prior to that it sounded like Windows 7 might save the planet.

Just two days before the Windows 7 launch, Apple made sweeping changes to its Mac lineup, adding a few new toys for holiday buyers along the way. Most notable among the update was the iMac overhaul and entry-level Macbook redesign. The Mac Mini also caught some upgrades, and Apple introduced the Magic Mouse, a touchpad and mouse blended into on sexy little device.

iMac
The first thing you'll notice about the new iMac is size. It's up to 21.5" and 27", both in a 16:9 aspect ratio. The computer also went from aluminum/polycarbonate to the unibody styling of the Macbook Pro line, adding an edge-to-edge glass display that looks really amazing. Apple also added the ability to use the 27" iMac as a secondary display via an integrated Display Port.

As for internals, there are some nice upgrades but one big missing feature: Blu-ray support. Granted, the Display Port on the 27" model gives you the option to watch your HD movies on a brilliant screen, but integrating Blu-ray would have been really nice. The iMac can now be purchased with Core i5/i7 chips, the newest chips from Intel.

Macbook
The entry-level Macbook has been long overdue for a redesign and finally got one. Apple took it the Unibody route, though still in white polycarbonate. The touchpad now matches the Macbook Pro line and fully supports gestures, and the bottom has a non-slip finish added. Other than that things have remained essentially the same.

Magic Mouse
I've been looking for a mouse for my Macbook Pro for some time, but I never found anything I liked enough to give up on gestures. Apple's Magic Mouse answers that problem by integrating a capacitive touchpad into the surface of the mouse. It's a really fantastic design in my mind, giving you the control of a gliding mouse with the convenience of gestures for navigating webpages, zooming, and the like. The new mouse will run you $69.

The Rest
The rest of the updates were less interesting. You can now purchase a server version of the Mac Mini, which sort of killed the rumors that Apple would position it as an HTPC. Seems like there's still some confusion about where that product will land in Apple's lineup. There's also a redesigned remote that now matches the iMac/Macbook Pro design aesthetic (instead of that glowing white plastic) for $16. Apple also announced upgrades for the Airport Extreme Base Station and the Time Capsule that are shipping now. There have been antenna redesigns and a couple software tweaks that supposedly reduce backup time and increase network range and reception.

All in all, Apple made some welcome changes to the Mac line, strengthening the all-in-one iMac and giving the Macbook a sorely need redesign. The Magic Mouse probably won't be the runaway peripheral of the season, but it's definitely cool and I really want one.

There's a good read up on Wired's Gadget Lab about Apple's recent removal of in-app purchase restrictions for free iPhone apps. The article suggests that the move, when implemented with the Apple tablet, could be the defib the publishing industry needs.

There are already a couple apps out there using this model, though they weren't free to begin with. The McSweeney's app, for instance, allowed you to purchase six months of content on installation. From there it was a subscription service for more of the premium goods. Wired thinks newspapers and magazines could use this model to differentiate premium quality content from the everyday stuff like blogs and user content.

The key to the publishing transformation, though, is the Apple tablet. For my part, I really don't like to read content exclusively on my iPhone. I love the flexibility to do so as I please, but having content limited to just that little screen is exactly the reason I've avoided the McSweeney's app. It's just too small to use for all of my daily reading. A tablet would change that, offering the real estate necessary to make daily reading an enjoyable experience.

For more on Apple's plan to pluck a struggling industry from the brink, check out the original post at Wired.

I hate to call netbooks a section of the PC market. They're just laptops. Small laptops. That's all. The world's great surprise at the success of the netbook makes as little sense to me as defining these little laptops as their own section of the market does. We're in a recession and the machines are cheap. It's also not a secret that computers usually deliver more than most consumers ever need. Smaller, less-powerful laptops are a welcome deviation from that course. So why is Michael Dell bashing the tiny PCs?

Speaking at a dinner party in Silicon Valley last night, Dell said user excitement with netbooks lasts all of 36 hours. Dell says users long for their larger screens, their bigger keyboards, shortly after the netbook thrill passes. "We see a fair amount of customers not really being that satisfied with the smaller screen and the lower performance, unless it's like a secondary machine or it's (a) very first machine and the expectations are low," said Dell. "But as a replacement machine for an experienced user, it's not what we'd recommend. It's not a good experience, and we don't see users very happy with those."

It's a strange sentiment from the CEO of a company that has a full line of netbooks for sale. Apparently this was Dell's way of saying his company can give a customer options, that it can meet any need. As Don Reisinger at CNet pointed out, netbook sales have gone up 264% in Q2 over last year, while notebook sales dropped 14%. Mr. Dell would likely do well to consider those numbers when making sweeping statements about the future of the computer market.

I think I'm starting to understand AT&T's strategy for the next few years. As complaints continue to pile up, the company will just add more and more bandwidth-hungry devices until it inevitably crushes the network, at which point customers will be so fed up they will pay for anything, including tiered data plans. That's a long introductory sentence for a netbook, I know. Now, the netbook.

Nokia confirmed its 3G capable netbook, the Booklet, to be released on subsidy with AT&T. The little lappy will run $299 with a two-year contract at data rates of $60/month. You will also be able to get the computer for $599 unsubsidized. The system runs Windows 7, which supposedly seamlessly handles 3G to wi-fi crossover, has a 120GB hard drive, and sports an A-GPS card for location services. Nokia has also crammed a 16-cell battery into the thin frame for an estimated 12-hour battery life. I'll believe that when I see it, but for now it's nearly double most other netbooks.

Through the holidays you'll only be able to buy the Booklet at Best Buy stores. Execs from Best Buy, Microsoft, and Nokia were all in Manhattan for the announcement today and seemed optimistic about sales potential. If you're looking for an ultra mobile device and don't already have a laptop, will you really want one of these on a service contract? How bout when it's sitting next to a 32GB iPhone?

Now don't panic. There's a lot of context to be had here. I am, of course, going to start with the incendiary remarks, though. Steve Ballmer said last week that the Windows 7 launch may not be so different from Vista.

“The test feedback has been good, but the test feedback on Vista was good,” said Ballmer. “I am optimistic, but the proof will be in the pudding.” To be honest, I think the whole world is optimistic. Windows 7 is isn't making the big leap like Vista did from XP. While plenty of things have been improved, not everything is completely different. The driver situation is pretty much under control (Nvidia has had drivers ready for months), which was one of Vista's biggest setbacks. All things considered, I'm betting on a smooth launch.

Source: Bloomberg

Dell let employees at its Winston-Salem plant know to expect cuts in March of this year. What the company didn't say was that the whole plant was in danger. Today Dell announced it would be closing the plant, eliminating more than 900 jobs from the NC market.

As a new resident of NC I can vouch for the state as a reflection of how truly awful the job market is all over the country. But Dell was struggling long before the economy went down the shitter, so this isn't a huge surprise. The Winston-Salem plant was responsible for desktop production, a slice of the market that's quickly headed the way of the dodo.

Source: CNet