Remembering 9-11

             Ten years is a long time. Think about it: the elementary school kids President George W. Bush was reading to on the morning of September 11, 2001 are now seniors in high school. In 2001, web sites looked primitive and there was no Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or StumbleUpon. Before 9-11-01, generations of Americans had never experienced a significant national tragedy, and today, all that many young children know about 9/11 are the stories from family members and the lessons they hear in class (or perhaps not).

We wanted to make it easier for you to find the most affecting 9/11 tributes, documents and multimedia this weekend as the world once again remembers that horrible day. So we curated a playlist of the most compelling eyewitness accounts, moment-by-moment unfolding of events captured in emergency phone calls and newscasts – and, of course, the chilling photos we’ve come to know too well. We also wanted to highlight some of the lesser known details of that day and the days after – like how the producers and actors of Saturday Night Live felt that their show must go on, how dogs rescued people in the twin towers wreckage, how the Wall Street Journal staff scrambled to publish a paper on September 12, and how the bravery of United 93 passengers prevented a female F-16 pilot from having to give her own life. And of course, the effects of 9/11 continue to impact the daily lives of many people, as this son’s open letter to his late father shows.

Kal Ho Naa Ho - Title Song (1080p HD Song)

sundariye vaa - Song from malayalam album - Chembakame

RIP TouchPad: HP To Shut Down WebOS Operations

After confirming that it is looking into spinning off its PC business, Hewlett-Packard made a more shocking announcement Thursday: it is going to “discontinue operations for webOS devices.” And that’s the end of the line for its just-launched tablet, the HP TouchPad.

HP, the world’s largest computer maker, has had limited success with mobile devices. In April 2010, HP purchased Palm for $1.2 billion, largely because of the potential of the webOS platform.

So HP’s about-face on webOS comes as a surprise, especially coming six weeks after the TouchPad went on sale.

In the press release detailing its preliminary Q3 2011 financial results, the company had this to say:

HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.

The webOS-based TouchPad was seen by many (including Mashable) as a real competitor to Apple’s iPad. Our initial review of the device was lukewarm, but the device (and webOS itself) seemed full of potential.

Earlier this week, AllThingsD reported that Best Buy had sold at best just 10% of its TouchPad inventory, leaving more than 225,000 units in warehouses.

In recent weeks, HP has tried to entice customers to the device by dropping the price by $100 — to $400 and $500 for the 16GB and 32GB versions, respectively. Evidently, that wasn’t enough.

HTC Sues Apple Over Patents, Wants 

Injunction And Lots Of Damages

For lack of a better term, Apple has been more than a little litigation-happy lately. While they’ve focused most of their recent efforts on Samsung and Motorola, Apple is now coming under fire from a company they’ve already sued: HTC.

HTC has filed a suit (warning: PDF) in the U.S. District Court in Delaware claiming that Apple has infringed on three of their patents by producing what they refer to in legalese as “Accused Apple Products.” The list of said products is extensive, to say the least: it lists among other things “personal computers, mobile communications devices, wireless printers, streaming wireless capable television, wireless network equipment [and] portable digital music and video players.” In short, nearly everything that Apple makes allegedly infringes on the patents that HTC owns.

Of the three patents HTC claims were infringed upon, only one (#7,765,414) was filed by HTC themselves.The other two of patents in question (#7,672,219 and #7,417,944) were picked up when HTC paid $75 million to purchase ADC Telecommunications’ patent portfolio last April. They deal with “multipoint-to-point communication using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing” and “method for orderwire moduation” respectively, two topics that are apparently far-reaching enough to encompass Apple’s entire product lineup.

HTC’s suit also aims for the bleachers when it comes to the nitty-gritty of their compensation. On top of compensatory damages for Apple’s patent infringement, HTC also seeks enhanced damages of up to triple the amount of compensatory damages. What’s more, the suit calls for a possible injunction against making, selling, or importing any of Apple’s accused products within the U.S.

It’s a huge move by HTC, with whom Apple has shared some rough history. Given what’s been going on in the tech world in recent weeks, it feels as though this suit could be the result of many factors. HTC could simply be firing back at Apple for another patent infringement lawsuit they were on the receiving end of. It could also be on some level a show of force after the Google/Motorola deal, a way to bolster their public image as fighters in the face of future competition with Motorola. In any case, HTC has asked for a jury trial, so there will be much, much more drama to come.

Steve Jobs the Patron Saint of 

Perfectionists

The most amazing thing about Steve Jobs and the revival of Apple he engineered over the last 15 years is so improbable it is. Most of the digital innovations that have transformed our lives have been logical outgrowth of increasing power and decreasing cost of semiconductors. Someone was going to invent personal computers, cell phones, the Internet, even search engines.

But there was nothing the slightest bit inevitable about a company whose digital products are perceived as so distinctive they attract dominant market shares despite premium prices. As recently as 2002, personal computers were seen as such a commodity business—dominated by high volume and low costs—that Hewlett Packard paid $25 billion to buy Compaq and vault past Dell to be the No. 1 in the market. Last week, HP, still the leader, said it is considering abandoning PCs altogether, at least partially a concession that Apple was taking an increasing share of the market and most of the profits.

I haven’t been a Mac user since I sold my first generation model—with 128K of memory and one floppy drive. But I recently walked into an Apple store and fondled the latest MacBook Air. I was blown away by how the use of multi-touch gestures and a few other innovations transformed the experience of this very mature category of products. Again.

The succession of new products from the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad has become the business lore of our age. A keynote by Steve Jobs is anticipated, at least by many, more eagerly than the State of the Union address. Even aspects of the computer business that most rivals see as—product sourcing, manufacturing process, and even retail store operations—have become areas of disruptive innovation at Apple.

Jobs created a growing snowball of innovation, hype, customer loyalty, and scale that could be seen with astounding force in the iPad. Here was a product category that was entirely new (except for someregrettable Microsoft missteps). But instantly it was a hit—not just among gadget geeks—but with tens of millions of people who saw something that immediately appeared useful and alluring. They trusted that Apple could deliver something that would just work without the glitches and disappointments that dependably accompany the first generation of products from lesser companies.

Behind this success was not an engineer, like the troika that until recently led Google, nor a professional manager, like the succession of leaders at HP, nor even an entrepreneur like Michael Dell.  Steve Jobs was an impresario, in the tradition, more than anything, of a classic Hollywood studio boss (which he also was in his spare time). It’s fitting that Jobs is now the largest individual shareholder of the company founded by one of the 20th Century’s all time great perfectionists: Walt Disney.

This approach didn’t make apple a pleasant company to deal with or to work at. Everyone at Apple worked with the anxiety that they must meet the impossible demands of Jobs or endure his anger. To the public and even to Apple’s biggest partners the company was about as responsive as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory; no one ever went in and no one ever came out. And yes to work at Apple was to accept the lot of an Oompa Loompa. The company took secrecy to such an extreme that employees were divided into small groups and ordered not to talk to each other, let alone anyone outside of the company.

My one encounter with Jobs was true to form. In 2004, I had just started covering consumer electronics, and I was writing about the battle between iTunes and Microsoft’s initiative at the time “Plays for Sure,” an effort to create an open standard for music formats. This was before Apple’s reputation—and the arrogance it enabled– blew past all previous records. Still, when I asked Jobs at the end of a press conference to discuss Apple’s strategy in the music market, he blew me off saying “We don’t like to talk about that.”

We all know lots of people who are nice. We know many people who are smart. We’ve seen a bunch of corporate leaders who have the rare combination of skills to surf the waves spawned by Moore’s Law. But it’s hard to think of anyone besides Steve Jobs who through the sheer force of will, self-confidence, vision and perfectionism could upend the powerful forces of technology to make so many products that delighted so many people precisely because they were improbable.

Apple’s COO Tim Cook Replaces Steve 

Jobs As CEO

Apple’s Steve Jobs has resigned from his position as CEO and Apple has just announced that COO Tim Cook has taken over as CEO.

As COO, Cook was responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and plays a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.

Before joining Apple, Cook was vice president of Corporate Materials for Compaq and was responsible for procuring and managing all of Compaq’s product inventory. Previous to his work at Compaq, Cook was the chief operating officer of the Reseller Division at Intelligent Electronics. Cook also spent 12 years with IBM, most recently as director of North American Fulfillment where he led manufacturing and distribution functions for IBM’s Personal Computer Company in North and Latin America.

Jobs will be Chairman of the Board of Apple and Cook will take a position on the board as CEO. Jobs actually submitted his resignation to the Board today and ‘strongly recommended’ that the Board name Tim Cook as CEO.

In January, Jobs took an indefinite medical leave of absence from the company, and while he remained as CEO, Cook took on the day-to-day operations for Apple.

Jobs’ previous medical history includes Pancreatic cancer as well as a liver transplant. In 2004, Jobs contracted Pancreatic Cancer, which he beat. Then Jobs underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and also made a full recovery. During Jobs’ absence in 2009, then COO Tim Cook took over Apple’s day-to-day activities.

Check out my colleague MG Siegler’s analysis from January: A Few Thoughts On Apple’s 2011, Stock, Tim Cook, And The Future

The full release is below:

Apple’s Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

Jobs submitted his resignation to the Board today and strongly recommended that the Board implement its succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO.

As COO, Cook was previously responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.