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EIC Squared: Amazon's Kindle, iPhone, and Dell laptops

On this week's EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet Editor in Chief Larry Dignan and I debate whether Amazon.com's Kindle e-reader is the next iPhone.

That is a big stretch, especially given the way the iPhone has turned the smartphone business on its head, at least from a product design standpoint. The Kindle is a nice product, and Amazon could bring music, video, and other kinds of content to the device, but it's doesn't have the Steve Jobs touch.

In addition, all the talk about Kindle's skyrocketing sales doesn't ring true. If the Kindle were … Read more

HSBC could order 200,000 iPhones

Global banking giant HSBC is considering ditching the BlackBerry and adopting Apple's iPhone as its standard staff mobile device, a move that could result in an order for some 200,000 iPhones.

"We are actually reviewing iPhones from a HSBC Group perspective...and when I say that, I mean globally," Brenton Hush, HSBC's Australia and New Zealand chief information officer, told ZDNet.com.au this week.

HSBC has some 300,000 staff internationally. A decision to standardize on the iPhone on its corporate networks would likely lead to one of the world's largest iPhone orders.

"A decision on a piece of hardware like that would potentially be deployed, conservatively, to 200,000 people," Hush said. "You know, it's a big decision, especially when you have an existing fleet out there."

"But it's definitely something we are considering from a HSBC Group perspective," he said. "We always explore the potential application of new technologies, and this is no different."

Should HSBC select the iPhone as its official corporate mobile device, the decision would be a major blow to Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, which is HSBC's current standard staff mobile. … Read more

Apple market cap tops Google

Apple's stock price, which has been on a steady upward tear for the last few years, closed at $179.30 on Wednesday, sending its market capitalization to $158.84 billion.

That figure, Apple fans were quick to note, is higher than that of search engine giant Google, which closed at $500.03 on Wednesday, with a market cap of $157.23 billion. (Market cap is simply the value of shares times the numbers of shares outstanding. While Google has a higher share value, it has far fewer outstanding shares than Apple, 314.45 million vs. 885.88 million.)

Both … Read more

Swedish researcher claims iPhone 3G's sensitivity is poor

Updated 3:15pm with some clarifications due to language issues.

A wireless researcher in Sweden claims to have identified the issue causing iPhone 3G reception problems around the world.

Ny Teknik, a Swedish tech newspaper, has published the account of a scientist at the University of Gälve who investigated the iPhone 3G and discovered that the phone is not as sensitive to 3G signals as other phones. Claes Beckman is claiming that the iPhone 3G's nominal sensitivity is below that of published standards for 3G phones, meaning the phone drops the connection with a 3G tower more … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: Latest rumblings in the Caucasus' cyberwar

Early reports had it that the war between Russia and Georgia had spilled over into cyberspace. But after looking more closely at the Internet traffic, a noted security researcher offers a more nuanced conclusion.

Bill Gates took time out from his new role as full-time philanthropist to talk technology on a visit to China.

And for the man who has everything: the Goatee Saver. I don't know about you, but this has me more excited than the iPhone ever did. (Could also be that's because I never trim my "goat" without making a mess.)

Listen now: … Read more

The Digital Home 28: It's about making customers happy

In this week's episode of the Digital Home podcast, Don talks about Hulu and asks why it's so hard for companies to make customers happy. After that, he interviews Soundcast Systems and finishes the day off with a call for help with his video show. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 28 … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 787: Let me see that Tong

Brian Tong fills in for Tom Merritt in today's show and it's just as awesomely fun and crazy as you'd expect it to be. Granted, there's some news in there, too: Best Buy will start selling iPhones (yay!), more and more users, analysts, and companies are pointing to serious problems with 3G connectivity (boo), and we give our official reviews of Clone Wars and Madden. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 787

Intro (Thanks Vic the Texas Rancher Pilot!!)

Best Buy to sell iPhones in September http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/13/iphone_best_buy_deal/ … Read more

Valleywag names the "10 most terrible tyrants of tech"

Perhaps it was just a stunt to drive traffic (It's working!), but I enjoyed Valleywag's collection of the "10 most terrible tyrants of tech." It's perhaps telling that some of the industry's top companies (Microsoft, Apple, Salesforce.com) are headed by some of the most difficult people with whom to work:

Here's to the screaming ones. The chair-throwers. The death-threat makers. The imperious gazers. The ones who see things differently -- and will stare you down until you do, too....[T]hey have no respect for conversational decibel levels. You can cower before … Read more

3-alarm fire scorches Apple facility

A building at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus sustained unspecified damage overnight in a three-alarm fire.

The blaze at the Valley Green 6 building, which appeared to have started under a ventilation and air-conditioning unit on the roof, was reported by workers at around 10 p.m. PDT Tuesday.

The location of the fire at the rooftop HVAC unit, where work was being done, offered a clue as the possible cause of the fire. "It lets us know it might have been an electrical issue, might have been a gas issue," Hal Rooney, deputy chief in the Santa … Read more