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News

The U.S. Department of Justice reaches settlement with Apple, and five other companies

Six technology companies involved in no solicitation agreements were ordered to stop by the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. Department of Justice filed antitrust complaints towards Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp, Intuit Inc. and Pixar because of the no solicitation agreements that the companies took part in. The no solicitation agreements among the six companies prevented the companies from soliciting, or trying to hire each others employees by offering more money as an incentive. The agreements also prevented employees from the opportunity of having a better job at another company. Following the no solicitation agreements, the company executives at the six high-tech companies agreed not cold call each other employees. The no solicitation agreements were between Apple and Google, Apple and Adobe, Apple and Pixar, Google and Intel, and Google and Intuit.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the no solicitation agreements stopped competition and allowed the company to place a monopoly on their employees. The U.S. Department of Justice and the six companies had later reached a settlement. The settlement prevents the companies from making no solicitation agreements for the next five years. In general, that allows the companies to solicit freely.

I think the settlement was a good settlement. The no solicitation agreements prevented competition, which is very important by-product of capitalism. Business competition ensures that companies survive if it provides its customers with products and services that it needs. The U.S. Department of Justice is very strict on antitrust issues and I think it did the right thing. The six companies still don’t admit that they did something wrong and still insist that they made the agreements to maintain good relations with the other companies. That is still debatable. What do you think about this issue?

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Reviews

Bowers and Wilkins P5 Mobile Hi Fi Headphones

Bowers & Wilkins’ have struck again, except this time, with Hi-Fi headphones.  The B&W P5 Hi Fi headphones surpass many others in the same price range with their extreme comfort, quality materials, and of course, sound quality.  Before I go any further, here are the specs:

Technical features: Closed back design

3.5mm/ 1/4″ jack adapter included

Fold Flat

Driver Type Dynamic

Neodynium Magnets

Price= $299.95 (Bowers and Wilkins)

Drive units 2x Ø40mm
Impedance 26 ohms
Frequency range 10Hz to 20kHz
Left/right tolerance +/-1dB at 1kHz
Max. input power 50mW
Distortion @100dB I25<0.05% for 80-20kHz <0.2% for 20-20kHz
Sensitivity 115dB/V at 1kHz
Inputs 3.5mm stereo mini jack (on cable)
2.5mm mini jack (on Headphone)
Height 180mm
Width 150mm
Depth 35mm folded flat, 60mm in service
Weight 195g
Finish Enclosure: Real Leather and metal

Quality:  B&W’s P5s scream quality from the box opening to the materials on them.  B&W have not taken the easy way out, and to use painted plastic, yet they only use the best materials.  For instance, the pads are made from New Zealand Sheep Leather. Let me repeat that, the pads are made from New Zealand sheep leather. The outsides are made of quality aluminum bearing the Bowers & Wilkins name.  The headband on top is also made of sheep leather as well.  The P5’s feel is overall, flat out incredible.

Design:  Bowers and Wilkins do a great job making the P5s stand out from other competitors  with the different kind of style. These cans are on ear, but B&W tilted the pads slightly so the headband will sit more with more comfort toward the front of the head instead of slipping off the back.  The colors are a modern silver and black combination giving them a pleasant look.   The pads are also magnetic so changing the audio cord is easier (The connection to headphones is secured under the pads) to change out.

Features:  The P5s  have a microphone and remote on the cord allowing one to use these as a mobile headset.  This can be a very handy feature for those that want to have high quality sound headphones, as well as a hands free headset for the road.  On the box it specifically reads, “Made for ipod” and “Works with iPhone”.  As I was listening to my iPod Nano (2nd Gen) I was attempting to turn the volume up with the remote.  After being frustrated with my iPod, I checked the box again. It read  that the remote and mic are supported by iPhone 3GS, iPod Nano (4th and 5th generation), iPod Touch (2nd generation), iPod classic (120gb/160gb), and the 3rd Generation shuffle.  I then tried out the P5s on my 2nd Gen iPod touch, and the remote worked great. I have heard that the remote and mic are compatible with all iPods, as well as iPhones that offer the features this remote/mic is designed to work with so there’s no need for doubt about if it is compatible with the new Apple iPods. Bowers and Wilkins also include another cord for compatibility with all other sources. These cans also fold flat for storage in the case.

The Case: Usually I will say a bit about the case because I believe it is important, for a high quality product to come with protection.   Bowers and Wilkins uses an all black quilted type soft case for the P5s.  This case is very soft, but not as sturdy as some of the harder cases (like the Quiet Comforts, or the Koss Mv1s).  This means that the P5s can easily be slipped into a backpack or purse without taking up too much space, but it sacrifices a bit of protection.

Sound Quality of the B&W P5s is incredible.  Rich sounding bass and clear cut treble give these headphones high marks on my sound quality charts.  Considering that all B&W make are Hi definition speakers, putting them in headphones definitely worked out.  They managed to fit the enormous amount of sound quality into a pair of luxury headphones.  The P5s also have good sound isolation considering that they cover the ear openings.  This truly makes it a “Concert for One”.  Needless to say, I was extremely pleased while listening to these headphones.

Point-Scaled Grading

For reviewal of all products by The Real Mac Genius.com, a point-scale grading system is used to cover each individual aspect of the product. Said grades on varying scales are then weighed to determine a final score, which is then translated to an overall grade, as follows:

Style: 1-25 Given: 25
Price: 1-15 Given: 12
Quality materials: 1-15 Given: 15
Brand name: 1-10 Given: 9
Modern technologies: 1-15 Given: 15
Compatibility: 1-15 Given: 12
Ease of use: 1-5 Given: 5

OVERALL:93 /100 A-

The Bower and Wilkins P5 Hi Fi Mobile headphones prove to be worth more than the price tag that they are set at.  Although the value for what comes in the box is great, the price tag is still a lot for the common consumer.  I would recommend these for people who have the money to spend the P5s are worth every dime.  Try them for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

Categories
Uncategorized

Update 9/26/10 iPad, iPad, iPad

Dive into critical news involving Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPad.

Categories
News

App Store “To Approve or Disapprove”

Apple’s App Store has over two hundred thousand apps and it is still growing. Since its launch in 2008, Apple has allowed third party application developers makers to develop and submit new applications to be approved or disapproved to run on iOS devices all over the world. The approval process of Apple’s App Store has been   controversial throughout the world. Apple is constantly updating their guidelines. Recently, new guidelines letting more “fair play” in Apple’s monopolized ecosystem. For example, the existence of an iOS version Adobe’s Flash Players and the opportunity of a Google Voice app to be existent.

Apple is sometimes rather lenient when accepting apps, but can also be harsh to disapprove of them. . According to Stackoverflow, the average time it takes Apple to review an app is about two weeks. This depends on how complex your app is, if your app is simple to use and easy to figure out, your app can be evaluated in about a week. When you do finish your app, the third party app maker has to make the adjustments to Apple’s rules. Such as, when Apple changed their software to iOS 4, the third party app maker has to manage their own app to fit the new software. They also have to fix the bugs that affect the apps when they either start up or crash in the middle of the game. Your app can be seen by anybody who has an Ipod product, and your app can be the talk of the world, or the nobody of the app world. The success to an app is great idea, doesn’t crash, and is winnable or has a solution to a problem.

I think that Apple has the perfect-ehh mixture of being lenient with apps but can also drop the hammer on some. Many reviewers such as engadget.com have expressed that having multiple apps of the same thing is not a good thing. Like the flashlight app, is there really a need to have fifteen of the same kind of app? I think that Apple needs to get rid of some of the apps that are appearing to many times through the search engine. Over the past two years, Apple has developed a great presence in the mobile application industry. Apple has taken many risks by letting third party app makers into the App Store, but also has great reward. In order to improve, Apple needs to look into applications on the App Store since there is an existence of “garbage” applications. I think they need a better filtering system that gets rid of apps that are duplicates of one another.

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Average Joe's Tips

How to: Add Multiple Google Calendars into iCal

Do you have a GMail or Google account and use Google Calendar?  Have you ever needed to view multiple calendars in iCal, but can’t? Getting your Google Calendar into your iCal is fairly easy with a few simple steps.

To begin, you will need to do is fire up iCal, in iCal “Preferences,” and click on “Accounts” at the top. Then under “Account Type” select “Google” and fill out your username and password. After the window disappears go to “Server Settings” and make sure the server address is www.google.com, and that the port “use SSL” is checked. After you have checked over those things you will need to click on “Delegation” which should be right next to “Server Settings.” Click all the boxes of Calendar Categories that you would like to have in iCal and it in a few minutes your calendar should have the events from Google Calendar. iCal will automatically bring in new changes every 15 minutes; however, if you wish to have it done faster, just change the rate in the “Refresh Calendars” box.

There you go, all of your Google Calendars should now be in iCal, now you don’t have to view Google Calendars’ “Microsoft looking” interface.

Let us know how this worked for you. Comment below!