New iPod Video Design

The new iPod video design and style is definitely unique and very different from its predecessors from the old iPod series. But definitely the new iPod design is meant to adapt to the optimized functions, features and characteristics of the product.

The most significant change that is found in the latest video is the large and color screen. This new and definitely appreciated feature provides the most exciting viewing experience that one can have when using iPod. And albeit it is a high tech gadget, the iPod provides better and fashionable style, that is uniquely its own. This is done without forgetting that with or without its fantastic outward appearance, it still delivers excellently on the usual areas such as providing music, photos and videos.

We all know how the generation of iPod devices can be had in many various colors. Indeed, the gadget has maintained its bright hues, since the first generations of iPod models. Needless to say, the gadget has become very famous with its bold, bright colors such as pick, green, orange or even turquoise.

The iPod video design of today can actually be experienced in two basic hues which are black and white. The gadgets are made available via these two colors owing to the fact that the iPod nano also were available on black or white and was such a hit on these two collars. However, it is said that the reason why the new iPod are available on either black or white is because of the elegance and subtlety that these two hues lend to the gadget.

For more interesting articles on IPod video features and the IPod device in general, do visit our IPod Video Download blog.

The Curse of Curfew

Curfew is a point of contention in just about every house where there are teens. They want more freedom, we want them to be safe. When we don't let them stay out late, they feel we don't trust them. When we do let them stay out late, we worry.

I was fortunate to attend a Parenting with Love and Logic class when my children were 6 and 2. I thought the teen years were so far off, but they really were not. A few short years later, we've hit them full force!

In my class, we learned about curfew and the guidance was incredibly helpful. I've blended it with my own personal approach and come up with a solution that seems to work around here.

When everyone was mellow, I sat down with the kids and we talked about curfew. We talked with both of them so the younger one would know what we were thinking so he'd be ready for the talk when he hit 13.

We listened to our son's argument about why he should be allowed to go out, what he thought was a reasonable curfew (based on what friends his age were doing) and how he was feeling. We really, really listened and let him know we heard him. He was making a lot of sense. He's a responsible kid. So why weren't we feeling better about letting our 16 year old stay out until midnight?

If just doesn't work into our value system. Call me over-protective, but letting my child wander around at night just isn't in my nature. I know other parents are cool with that. I'm just a fuddy duddy I guess.

After our son finished what he was saying and felt heard, we asked if it would be okay for us to share what we were feeling. He agreed and we explained (as briefly as possible) that we are concerned for his safety and so we need to know where he is, need to be able to reach him and need to have him home early enough that we can get a reasonable night's sleep.

In Love and Logic I learned that kids need to have some freedoms but that those freedoms shouldn't impact other people negatively and staying up watching the clock is not good for my well-being.

We took time to negotiate, explaining that we're not running a dictatorship. Our house is set up as a democracy. We wanted to come to a place where we could all feel good about curfew.

Over the next thirty minutes we hammered out a plan. It involved us knowing where he is, who he is with and when he'll be home. We set up a curfew and explained that if he was going to be late, he needed to call or we would worry and worried parents call the police to come find you. (How embarrassing!!!)

The curfew plan is fluid and that's what can lead to fight after fight. It will change as your child grows. However, when we approach the situation not as a "yes you can" or "no you can't" but as something that needs to be worked out together - with each party having an equal voice, tons of respect and empathy, we're much more likely to find a solution that works for everyone.

If this article was of interest to you, you might want to read part two - When Curfew is Broken

Aricia has worked with families as a psychotherapist, mentor, coach and instructor for over 20 years. Her work has been featured in USA Today, Family Circle, Mothering magazine and on NPR. She runs a supportive online parenting community providing resources, ideas and encouragement for moms. Stop by http://www.dynamicfamilycoachingsolutions.com for a free Mp3 download about disrespectful teens an article on "Why Kids Ignore Their Parents."

Operating Healthy Vending Machines: Follow These 5 Simple Rules For Massive Success

The idea of healthy vending is not new, but success in the industry is. Most traditional vending operators think healthy vending will fail because they have been doing it the wrong way. To guarantee success in the healthy vending industry, it is necessary to follow these simple 5 rules.

#1 Healthy Vending Machines Must Stand Out

It is impossible to distinguish yourself as a health food vending operator if you operate machines that look like traditional junk food dispensers. If your machine doesn't stand out in the crowd and scream "I am different!" you will not attract health-conscious customers. Health-conscious customers won't bother to look in a traditional vending machine because they know there is nothing for sale they will eat. If your machines don't look fresh, clean, and hi-tech, the health-conscious crowd you are targeting will not give your machines a second look. Spend the money on a new high-tech vending machine, it may cost a bit more get up and running but it is the only way you can expect success.

#2 Don't Combine Healthy Snacks/Drinks With Junk Food

Hungry people lack self control. A hungry customer may walk towards a vending machine intending to eat a bag of pita chips, but when they get there and see a Twix bar staring them in the face their stomach gets the best of them. There is a reason that millions of dollars are spent every year on junk food marketing, it works! Those TV commercials have conditioned us to believe these items actually make us feel good. 15 minutes after the candy or chips are gone, the customer is filled with regret, and the healthy items are still your machines. Combining junk food with health food will cannibalize your sales of healthy items. Keep them separate for massive success!

#3 Healthy Vending Is About The Experience

Just like a traditional health food store, it is all about creating a higher-end, better experience for your customers. Think of your machines as "automated retail health stores" instead of merely vending machines. Think out of the box when creating your product mix and don't be afraid to experiment with items that traditionally haven't been vended. Think about your customers needs and wants and develop a plan to provide these.

Example #1 If your machine is in a gym, think about the people in the gym and their needs: workout towels, water bottles, Mp3 players, protein drinks, Nike + items, recovery tablets, etc. All these items can be vended and will sell to people who are in a gym.

Example #2 If you are sitting in a hospital chances are you are feeling one of two ways; either you sick, or you are worried about getting sick because you are surrounded by sick people. What will sell to people who are sick or worried about getting sick? Try placing immune boosting supplements and hand sanitizers in your machines. Think about what items will provide value for your customers, and then provide those items!

#4 Find The Right Location

Healthy Vending Machines will not be successful everywhere, so don't place your machines in locations that are destined to fail. Kids play areas that already have candy machines are an example of a high traffic areas that would not be a great location for a healthy vending machine. Children armed with quarters probably can't be trusted to make healthy choices when they are surrounded by machines that dispense candy and toys. Some great locations for healthy vending machines include schools, gyms, health-conscious companies, and hospitals. The key is to place your machines in high traffic areas filled with health-conscious people. Use common sense and analyze your clientele. Your local dive bar is probably not going to be a stellar place to push your healthy snacks and drinks!

#5 Develop Creative Healthy Vending Solutions

Because eating healthy is something that will improve all aspects of your life, make sure to develop plans to encourage people to make good choices. It has been proven time and time again, healthy employees are more productive and cost much less to insure than unhealthy employees, so convince your corporate locations to subsidize healthy products to increase uptake. This can be part of an overall wellness plan that integrates healthy vending machines with nutrition seminars and yoga workouts. The sky is the limit, any integrated wellness plans you can develop as an operator will help your pitch to top locations. If you plan to place machines in schools, think about offering a young entrepreneurship program that allows students to run the machines themselves. This is the best of both worlds, students are eating healthy and learning how to run a business, and as an operator you are gaining profitable school contracts. Creativity makes money!

Follow these simple rules and you will be on your way to surefire success in the healthy vending industry!

Austin Brawner is a vending industry expert for http://www.healthyvending.com, and an advocate for providing healthier food & drink options to students across the USA. Click through to download your exclusive guide to generating explosive profits with healthy vending machines.

Gaining Mastery Over Your Emotions

Something happened yesterday which prompted the writing of this brief article. I experienced a very real sense of frustration relating to dealing with something which I could not control. I nearly reached a total melt-down point yesterday after five days of intermittent internet access whilst trying to deal with the testing of a new website.

If you can imagine the scenario; there are some parties to the job based in Serbia, some in the UK and others in the USA. We rely upon Skype, which is internet based, to communicate, and the new website, needless to say cannot be tested without being online. We're also running behind schedule, although this wasn't particularly bothering me, I didn't think; I learned a long time ago that where websites are concerned they get finished when they get finished.

It was interesting however to note that this whole scenario over the last few days finally triggered off emotions which I thought had dissolved. My brain had evidently stored and saved a whole host of experiences which made a good "pattern match" with "computer-internet-website building-problems" and they all came flooding back to me, along with a lot of really frustrating emotion. The current experience instinctively triggered off these stored emotions and wham! Melt-down (well, almost).

This is a great example of how our minds work. There are many occasions when you think you have come to terms with something fully, but all you have done is put it to the back of your mind. And there those emotions sit, waiting patiently, until you happen to confront a similar type of experience once more, and it is as if a dam has been breached and it all comes flooding back to you.

This ability of your mind to store emotional experiences and then release them in response to a familiar trigger is in fact a defense mechanism. Your mind has been put on "high alert" as a result of your emotional reactions in the past and certain circumstances have been "red flagged" as threatening to your health and equilibrium.

This brain mechanism was essential when the threat was a bear or a tiger that might be licking his lips as he contemplates his dinner. But in the modern day, the types of threat have changed and this automatic instinct to "red flag" can sometimes be more of a hindrance than an asset.

If you want to really resolve underlying emotional issues, you have to do more than just put them to the back of your mind. You have to find a way in which to change the emotional attachment to the experiences. An adaptation of the NLP fast phobia cure will do exactly this. It really doesn't take long at all to drain the water from these muddy emotional pools and replace with fresh, clear and sparkling water...so long as you use hypnosis.

Hypnosis is a state of relaxation which allows you to take a step back and to access the inner workings of your mind. With hypnosis you gain access to your subconscious mind and you can gain mastery over emotions which would otherwise be free to flood your mind in response to the slightest trigger.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis downloads for health, success and well-being.

P.S. Are you fed up with emotional turmoil? Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.

With a degree in psychology and qualifications in hypnotherapy, NLP and sports psychology, Roseanna Leaton is one of the leading practitioners of self-improvement. Grab a free hypnosis MP3 from http://www.RoseannaLeaton.com and peruse her extensive library of hypnosis downloads to help gain emotional mastery.

Using Astrology to Understand Our Soul's Purpose and Destiny

Can Soul purpose be considered the same as destiny? In a sense yes, in that we can do very little about it at the personality level, in this lifetime. Our Soul purpose is created by ourselves but was set out in previous lifetimes and is currently unfolding. So in this lifetime we can do little else but align with it and live harmoniously, or try and resist the calling and live disharmoniously! (Even experiencing disharmony may be needed for our Soul's growth!) In our birth chart the rising sign, or ascendant, indicates our Soul purpose. It is our 'Soul Sign'.

Understanding, aligning with and expressing our Soul's Purpose is our Life's work. Many people fulfil their Soul Purpose without even being aware of it, or necessarily being on a particularly 'spiritual' path. Maybe this is what we experience as destiny, when our Soul's journey appears to be beyond the reach of our individual awareness.

For example The Soul Sign of the USA is Aquarius(1), and the Soul Sign of President Obama is Aquarius. Is it a 'coincidence' that the American people chose to elect an Aquarian Soul, to lead a nation (the most influential nation in the world at this time) that also has an Aquarian Group Soul? Especially at this particular point in history when, astrologically, we are entering the Age of Aquarius? Or is it Destiny? Is it an alignment of individual Soul purpose with that of the larger group?

There are examples in every family and community of people living and expressing their Soul purpose without being aware of it. I know a humble, practical, and quite shy businessman who would never consider himself on a spiritual path of any kind. (Nor would he think much of Astrology!) He has Cancer Rising so his Soul purpose is to 'build a lighted house and dwell therein'. He wouldn't consider himself a humanitarian, yet his Aquarian sun sign led him into a form of group service. (Humanitarianism and group service are Aquarian values) In building his business, he employed the people closest to him: friends, family, and neighbours, in a small, poor, community with high unemployment.

Although he didn't set out to 'be a humanitarian' his Aquarian approach to business by recruiting from a group that he already belonged to, had unintended humanitarian consequences. There is now a stable core in this community of people with homes, jobs and families. Without his input who knows what could have happened here in a neighbourhood that was deteriorating into unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse? His approach raised the status of a neighbourhood, created a stable framework, created jobs and brought people together with a shared purpose to form a close-knit and supportive community. The fact that this was done in the context of 'family and neighbours' is an expression of his Cancer Soul: Cancer is the sign of the home and family. So even though he doesn't think of it in these terms he is in himself being, and creating, a 'light' in his community. His home. Perfectly in alignment with his Soul purpose.

If we can be fulfilling our Soul purpose without being aware, is there any point in learning about our Soul purpose and developing awareness? The answer depends on the stage of our Soul's development. For some of us, Soul awareness may not be our path in this lifetime, and so we wouldn't feel drawn to pursue the matter, as in the example of the businessman above. For some the path involves developing conscious awareness of our Soul work and for others this includes a conscious experience of Soul.

It may be true that you are probably fulfilling your destiny anyway, and it may also be part of your Soul work in this lifetime to understand more deeply what that means, and to begin consciously creating your future Soul path: your future destinies!

(1. According to Esoteric Astrologer Phillip Lindsay: "Esoterically, the USA is an Aquarian soul and a Gemini personality. If an esoteric chart was erected, it would be Aquarius rising with a Gemini Sun in the fifth house." See http://www.esotericastrologer.org/EAauthorEssays/EAessaysPGL21ObamasDrama.htm.)

Ruth Hadikin is a Coach, Author and Soul Astrologer. She writes regularly on Soul Astrology and other topics for http://www.LifeCoachingMagazine.net.

Do you know your Soul Sign? Send Ruth an email with your day, date, time and location of birth and she'll be happy to tell you. FREE MP3 download: "The Energetics of Soul Astrology" from http://www.SoulAstrologyWithRuth.com.

3G Wireless Communication Systems

The activities in Research and Design (R&D) have always brought out new innovations, and it brought forth the development of the future generation of wireless systems. The third generation (3G) of mobile telephony promises to provide significant features, in higher data rates, up to about 2Mbits/second, teleconferencing with video transmission, web browsing, etc. With IMT-2000 standarisation, 3G mobile systems provide full roaming feature, allowing integration with GSM systems. The International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) is a global standard, defining the parameters, specifications and recommendations for the third generation mobile technology. A framework for access of the 3G system, linking the diverse land based, wireless and satellite systems, is provided in IMT-2000.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is involved in 3G systems since 1998 and its role in this work of analysis and modeling of more advanced systems, in collaboration with Wireless Communication Technologies Group (WCTG), will be an ongoing process and will not stop at the 3G systems. The objective of NIST is to play an important role in future development of wireless communication systems, mainly contributing in -

- Developing software test methods to aid the R&D of future wireless communication systems.

- Evaluating the performance of various wireless communication systems technologies.

- Developing new, improved technologies and methodologies in wireless communication systems.

- To make significant contribution in improving the national and international standards in wireless communication systems.

The third generation (3G) wireless communication was primarily developed to provide high-speed data connectivity to cellular phone users. The technology was conceived far back in the early stages of the internet boom, when it was thought that there was a need to establish a feature to provide the cellular phone users the facility to access data and multimedia services at a suitable rate. In many countries in the world, the required spectrum was auctioned to the different service providers for fees ranging in millions of dollars.

IMT-2000 defines 3G as a wireless communication system, which provides data rates from 144kbps to greater than 2Mbps, which depend on the speed of the cell phone. The definition has been created by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is referred to as International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000). There are ofcourse a number of technologies which could fulfill the features of the 3G system, with variations in the existing GSM 2G technology and this modification, or enhancement on 2G, is often referred to as 2.5G. This enhancement has brought in General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) in the 2G system, with CDMAone (IS95a) systems defining a number of evolutionary technologies, which are grouped and classified under CDMA2000.

Very briefly, CDMAone is a description of the entire wireless system based on TIA/EIA IS-95 (Telecommunications Industry Association / Electronic Industries Association Interim Standard - 95), which was first published in July 1993. CDMA2000 describes the family of 3G wireless communication systems, which uses Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), which is a multiple access system for digital radio to transmit voice, data and signalling data, such as, a dialed telephone number, between cellular systems and base stations.

There exists confusion as to the difference between the 3G and 2.5G systems. Though most of the CDMA2000 systems are technically modifications of the existing 2G architecture, they are being offered as 3G systems in the market. The GSM on the other hand, though capable of 3G performances, are being are being classified as 2.5G systems. The new standard was brought into the GSM 2G systems, classifying it as 2.5G, mainly to fulfill the 3G requirements, while the original 3G system uses an entirely different technology to achieve the same. This extension of the 2G system to 2,5G is called the Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), a technology used for transmission of data and voice.

There are efforts going on to deliver more global standard advanced services out of the CDMAone technology, which is basically the GSM 2G system. This will enable the market to provide services as the market demands. The efforts of CDMA Development Group (CDG) is leading to complete capabilities of the 3G systems and is now concentrating aggressively enable fast-track development of the CDMA2000, one of them being the 3G standard.

The GPRS services provided by 2G systems is similar to that serviced by 3G, but the 3G data services are a next step up from the GPRS services that we know of. The main difference is the faster data transfer rates that are available in 3G systems, offering up to 384 kilobits per second, which is 7 times faster than the standard dial-up systems. With 3G systems, you can achieve everything that you want to do, but in a much better way, a lot faster and from anywhere. The main advantage with 3G wireless communication system is that you can have a large call volume and it provides you with the support of multimedia data applications such as video and photography.

The 3G system has brought about a good many advantage in the application of wireless communication system and some of the main features include -

- Video Calling - While calling someone, you can see the person on the other side in real time. As long as both the phones are 3G supported, you need not have to imagine, how your caller or the person you called looks like as you can see him on your cell phone screen as you converse.

- Obtaining Information and News - You can search for Information and News from the internet, using your phone as a modem with your PC or laptop. You are able to use your favourite search engines to find the information that you are looking for, the daily news, stocks and shares, or practically any other information for you to keep yourself updated.

- E-Mail - While you are out from your office, there may be occasions when you want to send a e-mail message to your business associate or to anyone else for that matter. You can use your cell phone and directly send such e-mails. You may also look into your inbox to find out if you have any important e-mail. The 3G-enabled cell phone can also be used as a modem with your laptop or connected to your PDA.

- Games - Since the time mobile telephony has come into the market, games has always featured to be of great interest to cell phone users. Games have become more interactive and would still improve with the advancement of technology. For those who play these games on the cell phone for recreation purposes or for passing time, they would benefit more from 3G system, which enables downloading of these games at anytime from almost anywhere.

- Film - The quality of film over mobile system is greatly enhanced by the speed and video quality of the 3G system. It is now possible for you to view the trailers, film reviews and interviews relating to various films. You can also download mp3 music, wall papers and enter into competitions by means of your 3G-enabled cell phone.

- Sport - With enhanced graphic capability, you can now watch highlights of the sports that interests you and also have access to the scorecards of the sports that you are interested in.

- Music - the 3G system allows you to download various music streams, videos and interviews. It lets you compose your own ring tone through your cell phone keyboard.

The necessity of having a website has become imperative, as much as, that if a company does not have one website, it is as good as the company not existing. With the introduction of 3G systems, this has become truer, and you can gain access the internet from your 3G-enabled cell phone at anytime, from practically anywhere.

Cell phone use overseas. In 99% of the world the local cellular service standard is called GSM. We use this in the states as well. When combined with a SIM CARD (which usually goes under the battery of the phone) the phone is able to communicate and the SIM CARD also holds the telephone number and memory for pre-paid credit. Rates can be extremely low using this system. For example in 99% of all SIM CARDS incoming calls are free and calls to the states can cost a trifle. Such as, from the UK to the USA 7 cents/minute, from Israel 22 cents, from Australia 27 cents. Yes, USA Dollar cents! There are today even prepaid service providers in the USA offering rates of 10 cents per minute to call anywhere in the US to any type of phone. No contracts, no credit card checks, no bills. Pre-paid always means no minimums no contracts, no obligations. You only pay for the calls made. You'll need an unlocked GSM tri-band or quadband UNLOCKED phone. You can buy factory unlocked phones and sim cards for more than 170 or the 193 countries on earth from http://www.planetomni.com Tel. # 800-514-2984.

Cell phone use overseas. In 99% of the world the local cellular service standard is called GSM. We use this in the states as well. When combined with a SIM CARD (which usually goes under the battery of the phone) the phone is able to communicate and the SIM CARD also holds the telephone number and memory for pre-paid credit. Rates can be extremely low using this system. For example in 99% of all SIM CARDS incoming calls are free and calls to the states can cost a trifle. Such as, from the UK to the USA 7 cents/minute, from Israel 22 cents, from Australia 27 cents. Yes, USA Dollar cents! There are today even prepaid service providers in the USA offering rates of 10 cents per minute to call anywhere in the US to any type of phone. No contracts, no credit card checks, no bills. Pre-paid always means no minimums no contracts, no obligations. You only pay for the calls made. You'll need an unlocked GSM tri-band or quadband UNLOCKED phone. You can buy factory unlocked phones and sim cards for more than 170 of the 193 countries on earth from http://www.planetomni.com Tel. # 800-514-2984

Weight Loss Tool - Does Self Hypnosis Really Help in Losing Weight?

Weight loss through hypnotism is a common practice and widely accepted as a real self help tool for losing weight for many years now. It is so widely known and accepted because it does work. This is not a quick fix. Changing how you process information and how you view your weight takes a lot of time to make permanent positive changes. There are many benefits to using easy self hypnosis techniques to change how you think about losing weight.

Perform Self Hypnosis

The best weight loss hypnosis program is also extremely easy to use. It can be as simple as using a hypnosis audio program in the evening before you go to sleep and in the morning when you awake. A quality audio program can be as simple as using a professionally recorded tape done by a licensed hypnotherapist. When you buy a hypnosis mp3 for your own use you will have it at your fingertips whenever you have the time or are in the mood to listen to it. When you buy hypnosis download weight loss program audios, you will not need to make an appointment with a licensed therapist and spend time out of your day traveling to the appointment. You will also not need to pay every time you have a session. By using the recorded audios you will be performing self hypnosis and still reaping the benefits of a professionally guided weight loss session by a hypnotherapist.

Benefits

Losing weight is more than just counting calories or exercising. It is about changing your lifestyle habits where it involves the way you eat, your exercise habits and how you view your body. Using the hypnosis audio program for weight loss will provide your subconscious mind with powerful motivation to not only exercise but to enjoy exercising. It will also give you a deep desire to eat healthy foods that provide the nutrients and antioxidants that your body needs not only to lose weight but to maintain a healthy weight. This will in turn improve your digestion and overall wellness. The hypnosis file downloads will also help to boost your energy levels.

To receive a free self hypnosis mp3 download please go to http://selfhypnosis.elertgadget.com and sign up. Give this audio a try and it will give you a good idea how self hypnosis audios work and how they can work for you. Along with the free hypnosis file download you will receive a free eBook about self hypnosis that goes into detail about how easy self hypnosis really is to use in the comfort of your own home.

Groceries More Expensive Than Ever - NOT!

I was standing in line at the grocery the other day and the woman in front of me rolled her eyes and said "groceries are getting more expensive than ever, aren't they?" She had about 12 items and paid over $90. I shrugged because I bought about 60 items and got out of the store for under $15.

Groceries are actually cheaper than they've been in a long time - if you're careful. People are freaking out about the economy so they're holding on to their money - and grocery stores as well as just about everyone else - are offering great deals to get you to part with your greenbacks. Now is the time to look for coupons, special deals and to shop around for the best prices. Stores are changing their policies to lure new shoppers. And you're the winner.

Around here, circulars come in the mail every Wednesday. This Wednesday, I found a $10 off when you buy $50 worth of stuff. There was also a $30 gift card when filling a new prescription. Then they had a few coupons for: a free 2 liter of Pepsi, eggs for .87 cents a dozen and some 10 for $10's that were incredible. On top of that they had some things on sale for which I had coupons.

Finally, I'd gotten an $11 rebate card for one of my memberships at a big box store.

Total savings: $97 and that includes diapers.

I very rarely buy anything unless I have a coupon for it AND it's on sale. I watch the circulars and then go through accumulated (and not expired) coupons and get what I can find. Also, I try to make sure that I'm actually getting a good deal. Sometimes things that are advertised $10 for 10 that you can find elsewhere for .58 cents each.

Some places offer membership rewards which can provide great savings - just make sure you're still getting good prices when you're earning those rewards.

When you check out at the grocery, on the back of your receipt or in addition to it, you may find valuable coupons there.

Don't wait until you need something. Buy it when it's on sale. For example, I usually make cupcakes for parent/teacher conferences. I buy the cake mix and icing when it goes on sale (usually not together) so that I have it. If I bought it when I needed it, I would send three times as much.

Finally, there are some new generic companies that are coming out - spurred on by people getting in touch with their inner frugality. They offer items at around half the price of other generics that have been around awhile.

Aricia has worked with families as a psychotherapist, mentor, coach and instructor for over 20 years. Her work has been featured in USA Today, Family Circle, Mothering magazine and on NPR. She runs a supportive online parenting community providing resources, ideas and encouragement for moms. Stop by http://www.dynamicfamilycoachingsolutions.com for a free Mp3 download on lowering your food bill.

Listening To iPod Touch Music

Music is almost a need for some people in society. Lots of young people dream about being the next famous idol. With the advent of new music players around the world, the next generation of singers are soon to be crowned. The easy cost effective way of promoting to the masses have blossomed due to the internet. Gone are the days of paying record stations to promote your song on the air. You can now get FM stereo stations broadcasted online streamed to your computer. Starving musicians would have a hard time to make it even if they had a great music product in the old days. You needed luck back then and knew somebody. That was then and this is now.

Welcome to todays music explosion. With the advent of MP3 formatted songs and the iPod touch, you can now be heard everywhere and anywhere around the world. Watching a heavy metal band in a theatre near you was the one chance you got to hear a live show back then. Now you can download audio from all around the internet with a little know how. Downloading music to your iPod is easy. The best thing about your downloads is the way it is nicely stored on your player.

Viewing your videos and songs could be the most instrumental part of this device. Album covers are now pictured on your screen and can be shuffled thru with ease thanks to Apples user friendly software. The built in wi-fi interface is a substantial twist in how a product can be used anywhere you have a wi-fi connection. This has opened up a whole new world for music players. Now you can download music instantly from anywhere to your iPod Touch.

Thanks to Apple's ingenuity and luck with the iPhone, you can now enjoy countless hours of music enjoyment for yourself. To learn more on how to download music and more to your device, visit us today.

K M Salazar -Fair Oaks, Ca USA Visit us at http://www.ipodfreetouch.com/Ipod-touch-Music.html to view a free report.

The Shaolin Workout - Body and Mind

It's most important to stay loose and relaxed in mind and body. To enjoy your life, you must be relaxed. When we were children, our bodies were loose, relaxed, and flexible. We could do splits, flips, jumps, and twists without thinking about it. We were pure mind in babies' bodies.

But you're never too old -- we just get too tense, too stiff. We think too much. One of the most important lessons you can learn doing the Shaolin Workout is how to get back that childlike relaxation and flexibility -- to be at home in your body again. It makes no difference if you are in your twenties, fifties, or eighties. Relax. Never feel old. Tell yourself you're not getting older every year -- you're getting younger!

Sifu explains that there are two kinds of meditation: action meditation and no-action meditation. In the West, we're most familiar with the no-action kind. We can all form images of Buddhist monks sitting with their legs crossed and their eyes closed, still and silent, for hours and hours, as they strive to achieve enlightenment.

The only problem is that too much no-action meditation can be as bad for your joints, your back, your neck, as sitting at a computer all day. This is what Da Mo saw happening to the monks at Shaolin. They spent so much time sitting in meditation that their bodies were as stiff as wooden dolls. He saw that Ba Tuo had not given them the proper tools to adapt Buddhism to Chinese life. Why do we meditate? To cleanse our minds and open our hearts. But if we burden our bodies with tension and pain, our minds and hearts can't be cleansed. Your mind and your heart and your body are inseparable.

Kung fu is action meditation. The goal of kung fu is to relax your body and your mind, to extend your body and your mind, to cleanse your body and your mind. To be relaxed in your body, and relaxed in your life, is how you live fully in the present, experiencing this moment, here and now.

In our modern world, there's another benefit to action meditation. We all have lives, jobs, families. We have wonderful things coming into our lives every day. Who among us has the time to sit and meditate for hours a day, like monks in a monastery? As you'll find out, a half-hour of action meditation can be as liberating, for your body and your mind and your heart, as several hours of no-action meditation.

Kung fu and martial arts represent a refined form of action meditation. But any exercise program can be a form of action meditation -- running, swimming, playing tennis, riding a bike. In the West, we speak of that point in an exercise routine where we "get in the zone," where we "release endorphins," where we achieve "the runner's high." Those are all Western ways of approaching the same concept: action meditation. A relaxed mind in a relaxed body.

As you go through your day today, relax. Stay loose. Be flexible in your body and in your mind. Enjoy your beautiful life every minute of the day.

Reprinted from: The Shaolin Workout: 28 Days to Transforming Your Body and Soul the Warrior's Way by Sifu Shi Yan Ming © 2006 Rodale Inc. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098. Available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher by calling (800) 848-4735 or visit their website at http://www.rodalestore.com.

an excerpt from the book The Shaolin Workout

by Sifu Shi Yan Ming

Published by Rodale; May 2006;$29.95US/$39.95CAN; 1-59486-400-4

Copyright © 2006 Sifu Shi Yan Ming

Sifu Shi Yan Ming, a 34th-generation Shaolin warrior monk, is respected not only in the martial arts world but also in the entertainment world by stars like Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes, and the Wu-Tang Clan. His kung fu classes have been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, New York Daily News, and Entertainment Weekly. Brian Gray of Inside Kung Fu magazine has called him a "living treasure of China." He has also appeared on the Discovery Channel, MTV, and CNBC, among other major networks. Sifu Shi Yan Ming lives in New York City.

How to Download Learn Spanish Courses

Learning Spanish is becoming more and more popular. It is estimated that there are more than 400 million people around the world speak Spanish. In USA, there are more than 15 per cent to of the population who are Spanish speaking people. You can benefit from this information by knowing Spanish. You can learn Spanish quite easily on the internet. This article will give you some tips on how you can download learn Spanish courses.

1 Use the power of the search engine

You can use search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSN to find out how many lean Spanish courses available on the internet. You then decide which ones you want to download. Most of these courses may cost you some money but it should be worthwhile since most of the goods online are guaranteed. You can ask for the refund if you are not happy with the product.

2 Check to see if you can find this item on eBay

eBay can be one of the sources that you can find information. There may be some of the materials that you can find on eBay. Unfortunately, eBay has stopped the selling of digital products on their site this year. Therefore, you can download learn Spanish products there. But you can get some idea where you can dig further.

3 Check the learn Spanish Review site

There are many sites that you can look for the review of the courses that you can buy and that you can download. You can check out again at Google by entering "learn Spanish course +review". You will be able to get plenty of results you are looking for. Check to find which one matches you the most. This simple technique will help you to download what you want.

Learning Spanish online can be one of your choices if you are interested in Spanish learning. This article is about how to download learn Spanish courses online.

Jim Somchai

Want to learn Spanish fast? Discover the one that will help you learn Spanish faster and easier. Don't spend you money until you read this review. Visit Learn Spanish Lessons [http://learnspanishlessons.com] Now!

A Walking Meditation

• Are you feeling stressed and down?

or

• Are you feeling overwhelmed by life, the universe and everything?

or

• Are you feeling unable to cope?

Well the answer is only a few lines away. The key to de-stressing is obvious. It is RELAXATION. But we all know that you can't make someone relax or order someone to relax. That would be like asking them not to imagine a pink elephant wearing sunglasses.

So how can you achieve this wonderful, soothing state at will, when your mind is being pulled in different directions, when you have the worries of the world on your shoulders? You know what I mean. Maybe even as you read this, you can feel tension building up in your body; maybe it is in your stomach or in your neck and shoulders; maybe your heart is beating a little faster, you might feel you are unable to think straight as you ponder the backlog of work or deadlines to be met or family issues and so on.

STOP! You owe it yourself to free yourself from this state of mind and as soon as possible, to calm your mind, to give it a breather. I want to introduce you to one very simple, effective technique which only takes moments of your time, which you can learn easily and apply anytime. The technique I am highlighting is a form of self hypnosis, whereby you use your brilliant subconscious mind to help you to relax your mind and body. I hope you enjoy it. This is what I call the Walking Meditation and I have divided it up into a number of phases so that you can easily remember it. You can also record this and play it on an MP3 player.

This is what you do:

· PREPARATION PHASE

You can do this anywhere, for example in your office building or outdoors, walking from one place to another, or even in your mind! There is no need to be self conscious about doing this practice, and if you prefer do this somewhere where you are not observed. It is preferable to do this meditation in a quiet place, and if you are walking it for real, pick somewhere peaceful and safe and make sure you are dressed appropriately for the weather.

· INTENTION PHASE

Make a conscious decision that for the next 5 or 10 minutes (more if you can or want) that you are taking this time for yourself to relax from the stresses and strains of the day.

· ATTENTION ON YOUR BREATHING PHASE

Stand up straight and balance yourself squarely over your hips, feet shoulder width apart, head level, arms loosely by your side, eyes open and now focus on your breathing. There is no need to change the pattern of your breathing. Just stand there and notice the way you breathe in and out, and the more you focus on your breathing the more you relax and now slowly take a deep breath in, pause and exhale slowly and relax. Do this three times and with each breath just feel your body beginning to relax from head to toe, each muscle, nerve and fibre relaxing as you take in the perfect breath of air which is just right for you. And while you are doing this, you might notice noises in the background and you can relax and accept them, as they are just normal everyday sounds. And if you find some stray thoughts come into your mind, just accept them and bless them and send them on their way, like little puffs of smoke disappearing into the air. You can just blow them away.

· SCAN YOUR BODY PHASE

As you breathe you can begin to scan your body for areas of tension and if you find those areas, breathe in another breath of fresh air, this wonderful healing air and breathe this healing air right down into your body, sending it directly to the places of unease, easing the tension away and if necessary adjust your posture or your stance, so that you are even more comfortable and while you are standing there you can use your mind to talk to each part of your body, asking each part to 'SOFTEN' or visualise each part of your body and relax each part one by one from head to toe or from toe to head. It is all up to you as you are in control over everything you think, feel and do.

· WALKING PHASE

And now let's get ready to walk and you know the rate at which you usually walk and you know that this varies depending on your purpose. Sometimes it's very fast as you rush from A to B, sometimes it's slow as you amble along, relaxing outdoors. So I just want you to set off now at an average walking speed, a pace which is right for you and now here is the fun part, I want you to start slowing your pace down, maybe to half that pace and even to half that pace again. And for the next few moments and the time is up to you, I want you to walk along very, very , very slowly and maybe you are going at a snail's pace, barely putting one foot in front of the other and while you are going at this wonderfully slow pace, start noticing again your breathing, your body, how it is moving, notice the sounds your feet make on the floor. And maybe you notice the things around you now from a different perspective and allow your eyes to soften to take in more of the things that are around you and just notice how different everything is from what it was a few moments ago as you continue to breathe in and out, each breath relaxing you even more and more. And know this, that you are in control and you can do this walking meditation for as long or as little as your want, and I am sure the more you do it, the more you realise how good it is for helping you to relax by slowing you down, by giving your conscious mind some time out from everyday concerns.

· POSITIVE SELF SUGGESTIONS PHASE (Optional, I highly recommend this!)

And while you are in this wonderful state of relaxation, it is now time to treat yourself kindly by programming your wonderful subconscious mind with positive beneficial suggestions. So say the following affirmations 3 times (aloud or in your mind, it is up to you):

· I am calm, I am relaxed, I am in control, I am confident.

· I feel calm, I feel relaxed I feel in control, I feel confident.

And feel what it is like to be calm, relaxed, in control and confident. Feels good doesn't it?

· COMPLETING THE MEDITATION PHASE

And whenever you are ready to come back to 'now', just take another 3 breaths and notice how good it feels to be relaxed, knowing that you can achieve this state anytime you want, anywhere you want. On the third breath, just shake your body out, feeling good, relaxed, alert and energised.

Anne M. Courtney. I am a Certified Hypnotist based in Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland and am a member in good standing of the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH) based in the USA. My business is called Integrated Health Therapies and I offer three healing modalities - homeopathy, hypnotherapy and neuro linguistic programming. My aim is to help my patients or clients in a gentle and safe manner to overcome personal limitations on mental, physical and emotional planes.

So I hope you enjoyed doing the Walking meditation. If you want to learn some more about me, the services offered or hypnosis just go to my website where you will also find a free relaxation download. My contact details are also on my site if you would like further information: http://www.annemariecourtney.com or http://www.hypnosistralee.com

Can Symbian BREW Blackberry?

Perspectives of Wireless Marketing Wars - Who will Be the Winner?

According to the research held by analytics company Canalys the market of "smart" mobile devices in Europe, Near East and Africa grows more rapidly than market of mobile phones. Within the first half of 2005 9.6 million of smartphones and PDAs were sold compared to 3.6 million during the same period of the previous year. Such trend is observed worldwide - almost 70 million full feature handsets are sold worldwide. According to analysts the two main processes in progress stipulate such growth at the moment. On the one hand, ordinary users interchange their old smartphones and PDAs to newer ones. On the other hand, there is an upsurge in interest in mobile E-mail and extended abilities of smart mobile devices from companies and corporations.

Modern smart mobile systems are to be: always available (small sized / handy), always On (optimized memory usage, minimal battery use), extensible (new software can be added if necessary), affordable, and of various form factors. Moreover, a smart mobile device should combine the maximum of mobile technologies available at the moment: GPS, VoIP, Bluetooth, IrDa, GPRS/EDGE, Wi-Fi, mobile E-mail, support of HTTP protocol, MP3 etc. This is a vast domain for competition among manufacturers of operation systems for smartphones and PDAs.

There are several very large players in this market: Symbian OS, BREW OS, Blackberry OS, Windows Mobile OS and Palm OS etc.

Experts' Area

Ulf Morys, General Manager at Gameloft GmbH:

- Symbian: more important in the future, but still niche market (Nokia market share ca. 33 % overall; not more than 1/3 of this Symbian phones & some other Symbian phones). Overall optimistic estimate: ca. 10 % of total newly sold phone base.

- BlackBerry: interesting for business / productivity applications; no mass market.

- WindowsCE: difficult to judge. Microsoft will keep pushing it's platform, but results were often unsatisfactory in the past; make sure that the partners can actually bill for applications delivered to this platform. We've seen problems with this.

- BREW: real mass market potential in US and Chinese market, not very relevant for European market."

SYMBIAN

SYMBIAN - is a software licensing company that develops and supplies the advanced, open, standard operating system - Symbian OS - for data-enabled mobile phones and PDAs.

As of September 2005 60 phones that run under Symbian OS from eight manufacturers are shipped worldwide and a further 56 phones from eleven manufacturers (among them Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, BenQ and Motorola) were in development. Symbian OS is an undisputed sales leader in Europe and has a strong market share in other countries. Currently Symbian's market share is 55.9 per cent from worldwide sales (according to IDC analytics company), at that 82 per cent of devices were manufactured by Nokia (in whole since 2005 beginning there were sold approximately 34 million data enabled devices with Symbian OS on board).

Experts' Area

Philip Solis, ABI Research senior analyst, author of the study "Smartphones: The Market for Smartphones and Smartphone Operating Systems":

"Symbian's chief advantages are that it is easy to build applications for, and that it has a large developer community. Disadvantages are that Symbian is primarily limited to Nokia handsets, and its market is concentrated in "GSM-heavy" regions."

19 of 60 devices with Symbian OS support WCDMA. By the way, smartphone Nokia 6680 is recognized a 3G world bestseller telephone.

Key features of Symbian OS

Rich suite of application engines - the suite includes engines for contacts, schedule, messaging, browsing, utility and system control; OBEX for exchanging objects such as appointments (using vCalendar) and business cards (vCard); integrated APIs for data management, text, clipboard and graphics

Browsing - supports WAP 1.2.1 for mobile browsing

Messaging - multimedia messaging (MMS), enhanced messaging (EMS) and SMS; internet mail using POP3, IMAP4, SMTP and MHTML; attachments; fax

Multimedia - audio and video support for recording, playback and streaming; image conversion

Graphics - direct access to screen and keyboard for high performance; graphics accelerator API

Communications protocols - wide-area networking stacks including TCP/IP (dual mode IPv4/v6) and WAP, personal area networking support include infrared (IrDA), Bluetooth® wireless technology and USB; support is also provided for multihoming capabilities and link layer

Quality-of-Service (QoS) on GPRS/UMTS networks

Mobile telephony - Symbian OS is ready for the 3G market with support for GSM circuit switched voice and data (CSD and EDGE ECSD) and packet-based data (GPRS and EDGE EGPRS); CDMA circuit switched voice, data and packet-based data (IS-95, cdma2000 1x, and WCDMA); SIM, RUIM and UICC Toolkit; other standards can be implemented by licensees through extensible APIs of the telephony subsystem

International support - conforms to Unicode Standard version 3.0

Data synchronization - over-the-air (OTA) synchronization support using SyncML; PC-based synchronization over serial, Bluetooth® wireless technology, Infrared and USB; a PC Connectivity framework providing the ability to transfer files and synchronize PIM data

Security - full encryption and certificate management, secure protocols (HTTPS, WTLS and SSL and TLS), WIM framework and certificate-based application installation

Developing for Symbian OS - content development options include: C++, Java
(J2ME) MIDP 2.0 and PersonalJava 1.1.1a (with JavaPhone 1.0 option), and WAP; tools are available for building C++ and Java applications and ROMs with support for on-target debugging

User Inputs - generic input mechanism supporting full keyboard, 0-9*# (numeric mobile phone keypad), voice, handwriting recognition and predictive text input.

BREW

BREW - Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless is a combination OS, application platform, and marketing system. BREW started with QUALCOMM-based CDMA chipsets and technology - a vast market - but BREW is independent of the wireless technology utilized by a particular handset or network and can support other wireless technologies. Ideally, BREW can work with any device, and Qualcomm is planning to port it to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). Qualcomm is trying to remove the gap between GSM and CDMA operators. As CDMA strengthened hand, the GSM lobby propped its own version of CDMA which they named WCDMA (Wideband CDMA). WCDMA has been launched in a group of countries (80 operators in 29 countries), and many more are gearing to launch it within this year, it is already successfully running in countries like Korea, Japan, China, India, Brazil and in some parts of North America.

So far prevalent in the CDMA domain, BREW is gradually transiting to the GSM bastion of Europe as the continent's operators introduce 3G services based on WCDMA (by the end of year 2005 the number of WCDMA networks users worldwide increased by 2,6 times compared to December 31, 2004 and reached 43,81 million users). Such a scenario could make Qualcomm a worldwide flag carrier in mobile market. In all, 40 commercial BREW device manufacturers (Audiovox, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, BenQ etc.) offer over 135 BREW-enabled devices - as of January, 2006 according to Qualcomm. Almost 10% of all handsets shipped worldwide are BREW compatible and the number of application downloads (May 2005) exceeds 300 million. The success of BREW has been built on CDMA platforms of major mobile operators, including Verizon Wireless, China Unicom, Telstra and KDDI.

Regardless of platform, BREW requires little memory (150KB), which makes BREW applications workable even on low-end phones.

BREW provides basic capabilities for such advanced services as GPS, VoIP, Bluetooth 1.1, MP3 and MIDI support, video recording and playback, multimedia streaming, e-mail. The set of BREW services includes communication capabilities of TCP/UDP sockets, HTTP protocol support, SMS-MMS services, extended telephony capabilities. BREW supports several programming languages including Java, and via extensions BREW understands C/C++, interactive animation Flash and XML.

The Wall Street Journal paralleled BREW with Microsoft Windows in wireless communication domain.

Experts' Area

Victoria Alexandrova, Project Manager, PDA applications Department of QArea Company: "Who I see a winner? Symbian, of course. It is convenient, applicable, multi functional and easy for understanding. However, if I were in the USA I definitely would rather use BlackBerry, since they provide top quality service."

BLACKBERRY

BLACKBERRY - is a proprietary operating system, provided by RIM (Research in Motion, Canada), for the BlackBerry devices and BlackBerry enabled devices (BlackBerry email is already on a few handsets including Siemens SK65, Nokia 6820/6822, Motorola MPx220). BlackBerry is one of the leading wireless solutions, which allows users to stay connected with wireless access to email, corporate data, phone, web and organizer features. The true power of BlackBerry is mailbox integration. BlackBerry can integrate seamlessly with a user's existing corporate or personal email account providing a wireless extension of their regular e-mailbox.

The first BlackBerry was released in early 1999. The first BlackBerry with integrated cell phone, as well as the first BlackBerry sold outside of North America was released in 2001, using the European GSM/GPRS standard. RIM at the moment has a very dominant position in the mobile email market. BlackBerry is used worldwide, available from 95 wireless carriers in 40 countries. In November 2004, RIM announced the number of subscribers to the BlackBerry service to have reached two million, having doubled within ten months. Proceeding their steady growth, RIM announced an additional one million subscribers in May 2005, only six months after having reached two million.

Experts' Area

Rudy de Waele, CEO at Random One (R1):

"The market is going more Symbian due to the strategic moves Symbian did with S60 platform, delivering Symbian to various devices of different brand manufacturers and Nokia's latest partnership with Vodafone to increase the use of S60 as a standard software platform.
Windows Mobile is going to catch up bit by bit, they have the market advantage in US and they can benefit from the Microsoft PC/Mobile synchronization that becomes more and more popular and is a crucial element for the success of mobile data services, but I don't see them getting quickly at the same level of Symbian on a global level, it's going to take at least 4-5 years for them to catch-up, if ever they will...

Meanwhile I don't see a bright future for Palm OS, neither BREW, though BREW is still quite strong in the market due to Qualcomm strength on the market.

Nobody can compete with Symbian as of now, their competitors will have to come up with a stronger OS and that doesn't look obvious.

At last, don't forget about Linux who has a lot of potential, specifically in mobile, I see a bright and growing future for them."

No wonder, RIM manufactures a top notch device (with BlackBerry OS on board) that is secure, stable, and dominates market share with state and local government, the military, and with commercial corporations. In 2005 RIM was the first largest PDA supplier, and their technology BlackBerry occupied the second place among OS manufacturers giving Microsoft product the go-by.

RIM develops its own software for its devices, using C++ and Java technology. Third party developers applications must be digitally signed, that guarantees the application authorship.
Available services are: Wireless Email Service, Wireless Calendar Service, Wireless Internet (HTML and WAP formats) Services, Voice and SMS, Mobile Data Service, Attachment Service, Instant Messenger, GPS Service, Bluetooth etc.

Diagram Year-on-year increment of devices shipments

Note BREW includes CDMA and WCDMA chipsets

The full feature handsets market is hard to predict, however almost all analysts predict steady and increasing growth of this market (which is observed at the moment). Each manufacturer aspires to create a common OS to globalize and standardize application development, distribution and management (as they say) to develop applications for all but not for each distinct device. Some people welcome such opportunity and some are bothered by possible monopolization and subsequent abuses in this domain. What is observed at the moment that each of the manufacturers had occupied a distinct characteristic niche, where he is successful, and already from there with mixed success tries to "conquer" the mobile wireless world.

Experts' Area

Alexei Golovashov, Senior QA Engineer, QArea Group:

"BlackBerry? One of its main advantages is an advanced ergonomics both of the device itself and its software. The user interface, as of today, I suppose, is one of the best among developed for PDA devices. While its main disadvantage is absence of memory card. Absence of the latter means that it can not be used for other purposes, it is narrow directed. I use my Symbian as MP3 player and to watch movies. I will not be able to use BlackBerry for that even if I want to. BlackBerry is convenient only for business domain, I guess, while Symbian also can be used as a game platform, and its a rather essential part of users who use it that way. BREW, from my point of view, has no bright future at all. J2ME is that well-developed that nobody pays attention to BREW. Furthermore, all BREW applications are to be certified, that complicates their usage and distribution," - says Alexei Golovashov, QArea's Senior QA Engineer.

What then

The whole world, and wireless market in particular, moves toward high speeds, multiple functions and extended business possibilities. 3G networks is the next inevitable stage of mobile market development. It provides plenty of capabilities both for business and entertainment, communication and data transfer, Internet access and mobile e-mailing. Most of 3G devices should combine all available 3G technologies to be competitive. This factor will also affect the development of devices and operating systems for them. As we can see, the mobile market requires a device that could fullest reveal the capabilities of next generation mobile networks 3G and 4G. These numbers are dramatic confirmation of 3G leading position: 173 Commercial 3G Operators in 75 Countries worldwide (as of February 02, 2006), over 228 million reported 3G CDMA subscribers (as of November 30, 2005), 826 models of 3G devices worldwide. The industry standard for 3G wireless networks consists of 5 operating modes - three of them are based on CDMA technology: CDMA2000, WCDMA (UMTS) and TD-SCDMA. In this light BREW OS has a great opportunity to become a leader, though Nokia 6680 under Symbian OS is a 3G world bestseller telephone. The services by 3G carriers are quite actual already - 80% of British mobile users are ready to pay for mobile TV service, nothing to say about GPS, high-speed packet data access and high quality voice services.

Still large companies, financial giants, transnational corporations and government institutions adhere to the tried technologies - they use BlackBerry - undisputed leader in enterprise mobile solutions for mobile professionals and seek no alternative for it. However, if You still want an alternative for You BlackBerry You should be set for paying a pretty penny of some $500 for a new device and a new connection and it is not easy at all to find an equal substitution.

And let us don't forget that more players like Windows Mobile OS and Linux OS are on their way and hit their stride.
Table Annual global sales gain and market share of each OS
Note BREW OS is not included in the table

OS vendor	   2004	      % share	      2005	     % share

Symbian       14,365,850      61.2%	 34,000,000	      53,27

Linux	        6,380,160      27.2%	  9,300,000	      14,57

Palm Source    1,210,090       5.2%      2,200,000	       3,45

Microsoft      1,119,610       4.8%	 14,000,000	      21,94

RIM	          135,180       0.6%	  4,000,000	       6,27

Others	          277,520       1.2%	    322,000	       0,5

Total	       23,488,410		 63,822,000

Undoubtedly, there's still a long way to go: Symbian powered nearly 34 million devices last year, more than double what Microsoft was able to ship, but the gap is narrowing.

Microsoft is preparing their new mobile operating system Crossbow which is to replace Windows Mobile 5.0 launched in May 2005. Crossbow will have both Push Email and built in Internet Pager, thus Crossbow will provoke competition to BlackBerry OS. Microsoft aspires to get over Symbian and BB at a time and we know how this usually results. New product will take time to be tested to make sure it runs smoothly in operator's networks. After all, will operators agree to update their software and servers for new applications to run properly?

MS provided an adequate tool set for the developers to develop software for their platform. In many ways they are helping to open up software innovation on devices. While developers for Symbian OS quite often complain of its being bad documented and too many OS versions. Microsoft's long legacy includes an understanding of the Developer and providing Developers tools. Symbian is a newcomer. Still, we shouldn't forget about the power of open source: Why would a Developer want to restrict themselves into a platform with a proprietary software code? Some experts consider that just the developer support is going to be key in who wins in the consumer market place.

Much also depends on marketing and promotion: Symbian's operating system is used in many top-end business phones today, because of its support for features such as PIM, voice-conferencing, push email and Web access. Nokia phone stands for world recognized brand and image phone - and it does pay dividends. To have Nokia's smartphone is almost the same as to drive Mercedes.

The potential of growing markets should also be considered: the demand for mobile phones in India, China, Eastern Europe and Africa is not a new phenomenon. Just in time enter a growing market and you can lead the race (Industry analysts forecast that 80% of the next billion mobile phone customers will come from emerging markets).

This is a niche market, all around. We say Europe - we mean Symbian, we say USA - we mean Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and BREW. BREW - is limited to CDMA markets (US and Chinese markets), Blackberry - is closely tied to business and corporate clients, Symbian is prevailing mainly in Europe: it turns out they have nothing to "brew". I hope none of them comes to dominate, since that is a recipe for stagnation; the 3 equally balanced would be perfect for fair competition and product development. We can not provide adequate predictions for someone's success or failure. It will be just a forecast.

All is left is to guess who to place stake on ...
http://www.qarea.com

Why Should You Meditate?

Everyone's mind needs a little downtime. We all need time to focus on one task, instead of multi-tasking all day and night. In fact, your mind doesn't take a complete rest when you sleep. Your mind moves from dream to dream for about two hours per night.

Your mind needs rest and a vacation. Have you ever noticed that when you take a vacation, you come back with fresh ideas, a better attitude, and establish clear priorities? This is due to getting some time to relax and reflect on your life. The time off allows you to think clearly.

Our problem stems from being so busy that we lose touch with our inner self. We fill our time with too many activities to realistically accomplish them. Companies do this to their employees, but we voluntarily do it to ourselves. You have the ability to take control of your own life, and the solution is as simple as daily meditation sessions.

The answers to our problems are within ourselves, but many of us don't want to look that deep, for fear of what we might learn about ourselves. It is always easier to blame outside forces for our problems. However, closing down outside distractions and listening to our inner voice is natural medicine.

Who knows? You could actually find yourself and your identity. This could lead you to make changes and put ideas into action. All of this progress could happen as a result of you making a "meditation appointment" with yourself. It only takes 20 to 30 minutes a day for a single meditation session.

There has never been a better time to meditate than right now. People have so much "going on," these days; the only time they stop is when they are sick. The problem is how busy will people be in 20 years from now? Now you see why having downtime is so important.

Information about meditation techniques is widely available in books, DVD's, and CD's. You don't have to join a monastery, and live according to a strict moral code, with multitudes of rules, but you do need the self-discipline to continue a daily practice.

Strangely - self-discipline, alone, will keep the masses away from this ancient practice, which has survived a battery of tests and modern scrutiny. This is amazing when you think about the rewards of self-mastery, contentment, and mindfulness, which result from daily meditation practice.

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Playing Pebble Beach

I have just come across an article which I wrote last year for publication in a UK Golf Magazine. It is exactly one year since I played my first round of golf in the USA...and yes, it was at Pebble Beach. What an experience. I still can't believe it.

Driving along the 17 mile drive from Carmel, looking out of the car window, avidly seeking my first peek of this magnificent course, passing some incredible properties, I cannot describe my excitement. We had booked a two night stay in the Lodge, with a 9.30 am tee time on the Monday. The Lodge itself is a luxurious place to stay; It has a small lobby which opens out into a lounge and terrace with unparalleled views of the 18th green and the sea beyond. Everything is quietly understated. We had an ocean view room, with open fire and double doors onto a balcony which looked straight out over the 18th green. Logs were neatly stacked outside the room and the fire all set and ready to go. And with that sea fog, the warm fire was very welcome. It might be 100 - 110 degrees inland, but on the coast it was more like 55-60 degrees.

Unfortunately, the sea fog obscured a lot of the view for much of our stay, but allowed tantalizing glimpses of the rugged coastline and the sparkling ocean. It in no way detracted from the golf, I hasten to say. It's an integral part of the Pebble Beach experience. My playing partners turned out to be a gentleman from New York, who had brought his 13 year old grandson to play here for three days, and also a gentleman from Illinois. I was once again reminded of the international nature of the game and the immediate connection which you have with total strangers, simply by sharing a passion for this splendid game. I cannot think of an easier way in which to meet such a wide range of people.

My own partner (who had booked this as a treat for me - lucky, lucky me) hasn't played golf for years and decided to caddy...except that's not allowed, so he drove the cart instead, and assures me he got an equal kick out of the experience as I did; And we're off to the driving range at Stanford later (the scene of Tiger's university time practice), seeing as he's now caught the golfing bug!

Back to Pebble Beach..the borrowed clubs were, needless to say, Callaway, graphite shafted and not far off new. The range was just up the road, easily accessible with the assistance of the courtesy bus and once there the golf balls were neatly lined up in baskets. It was great to get a few swings in and relax on the range, although the fog made it a bit difficult to see where the ball was going!! Still, if you cannot see the result, it's easy to assume that all the balls flew well!! (A positive mental approach is always best for your confidence!) And, joking apart, it does help you to hone in your kinesthetic awareness, and learn to feel better where the ball is going. That's always a plus in golf.

On the tee box, our starter had a few words to say - no mobiles, no mulligans, we were expected to take 4 hours 20 and to keep half a hole behind the group in front. The advice given was that the course is eminently playable...although the greens are all small and so not to go for the pin, just aim for the centre of the green...and to have fun. Sound advice.

I was aware of the amount of adrenalin coursing through my body due to sheer excitement, and wondered once again at the task professional players have in controlling this instinctive response whenever they play. It pays off to have as many mental skills as possible to draw upon, so as to stay calm and relaxed and focused. It also pays to have a plan of how you are going to tackle each and every hole, particularly so when the greens are as tight as these ones. You need to know your yardages and plan your ideal approach to the green and then play your tee shot accordingly.

It's no good just smashing your driver down the fairway and then seeing what you can do from there...that's not the way to play any course, let alone Pebble Beach. I can fully appreciate why Tiger spent a lot of time shooting into every green, practicing with every pin position, from every conceivable approach position, so as to produce the phenomenal result he did back in the 2000 US Open - 15 shots under his nearest rival.

Tiger showed us just how playable Pebble Beach is, so long as you use your mind as well as your body - thinking clearly and logically so as to employ the best course management, and then remaining calm and focused so as to execute that plan. Sounds easy, doesn't it? But that's the way good golf is played. Unless you use your mind well, all you will ever do is aim to hit the ball forwards and hope for a good result - sometimes you'll get lucky, sometimes you won't.

And this isn't the only difference between a professional and a good club golfer. A professional practices and practices and practices; every available moment is spent practicing. I'm not suggesting that all club golfers should do the same; simply that one cannot expect to play like a pro unless you undertake to practice as diligently and also to learn the mental skills which are equally essential. The mental skills, of course, take far less time to learn and to rehearse, and so this is the quickest, easiest and least time consuming way in which to foster consistency and, ultimately, to lower your handicap.

Those club golfers, who play for their scratch league team, or your area team, or such like, should all be emulating the professional golfer. If you are on a team, you owe it to your contemporaries to do your best. For the rest of us, it only matters to ourselves personally how we choose to approach the game. Whatever approach you want to take is the right one for you...but to play your best golf, learn from the preparation habits of a professional - practice different shots, learn the mental game...and don't forget to have fun; remember, golf is a game - enjoy it!

I certainly enjoyed Pebble Beach. I, like many other golfers, I'm sure, would play there every day, if only that were possible. Jack Nicklaus once said that if he only had one more round to play, he would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. The fairways are magnificent, the greens aren't too slow or too fast, the rough is fair, the bunkers are full of white powdered sand (I know - I spent a lot of time in them!), the holes are interesting and challenging, the views are great (even when seen through a haze of fog!), and there's nothing quite like playing this legendary course.

The US Open is back there again in 2010, and I for one will be getting tickets. I'm already looking forward to walking upon that hallowed ground once more. And, who knows, perhaps I'll get to play there again sometime?...and hopefully next time I'll retain my ball on the 18th...which I unfortunately hit rather too enthusiastically out of the bunker, over the green and off into the beautiful blue ocean! I wouldn't mind but I'd used that same ball all the way until that fateful moment; quite an achievement I felt. A dramatic end to my round, which only serves to fuel my resolve to play there again at the earliest opportunity.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis mp3 downloads.

With a degree in psychology and qualifications in hypnotherapy, NLP and sports psychology, and a great passion for golf, Roseanna Leaton is one of the leading golf psychologists. You can get a free hypnosis download from the website and view the GolferWithin golf hypnosis CDs and hypnosis mp3 downloads.

How to Clean a Computer Key Board

For proper maintenance of your computer it's a good idea to clean it regularly. If in doubt review the cleaning instructions from your manufacturer.

The supplies you will need are the following:

• Cotton swabs


• Rubbing alcohol


• Can of compressed air (can be found in most computer accessory shops)

1. Unplug your computer from the power source. This will ensure you don't get shocked and inadvertently hurt yourself.

2. Turn your laptop computer keyboard upside down and give it a bit of a shake. This will dislodge some of the dirt before you begin the cleaning process.

3. Next, grab your can of compressed air and give it a shake. Then carefully aim the nozzle to the spaces between the keys and spray. This will blow out loose particles of dirt and dust.

4. Now, take a cotton swab and dampen it in the rubbing alcohol. Don't soak it; it only needs to be dampened. What you don't want to happen is dripping alcohol between the keys and getting into the inner workings of your computer if you have a laptop.

5. Run the cotton swab around the outside of every key. Then do the same with the top of each key.

6. When you are finished, then and only then, plug your computer back in.

What happens if you spilled something on your computer keyboard?

1. Immediately turn off your computer.

2. Unplug it from the power source

3. Turn your laptop or keyboard upside down

4. Use a lint free cloth or paper towel to blot up the liquid. Don't rub, just blot

5. Now get your trusty can of compressed air and gently spray in between the keys

6. Let your laptop computer or keyboard dry over night before plugging it back into power

7. If the spill is large, remove the battery from the back as well (laptops) and when you start it up, if it does not work properly, call your computer technical support.

There are lots of things that can spill onto your beloved computer and keep in mind that liquids other than plain ordinary water can really mess your computer up. The best thing to do is to keep all liquids as far away from your laptop as possible. If you're like me and need that java fix....keep it handy but far enough away so that if it spills, it won't land on your computer.

Deb Marsden is an experienced Internet training customer support manager.

Deb and her good friend and equally experienced customer support gal,Lee Ann, have joined forces and offer their services to computer newbies and not so newbies, solve issues they may have in learning how to use their computer.

Also, for those Internet entrepreneurs who want help with their personal branding...this team has lots to offer.

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This short video will give you ideas for your own personal brand.

Essential Equipment For an English Lesson

So you're going to spend a year abroad teaching English? Full of enthusiasm, you pack your bags with tons of books, resources, teabags, so that by the time you've finished packing, you're three times over the maximum luggage weight allowance. Or perhaps you're a travelling teacher who has decided to backpack around the world, and you need a rucksack that you can carry. With limited space, do you actually need all of those heavy books to teach English? No, not really. In fact, the good news is that you need very little in the way of resources to teach fun-packed English lessons. The only really essential item is your imagination!

If you are lucky enough to teach in a state-of-the-art language school, where they have everything from satellite TV and video cameras to DVD players and an interactive whiteboard, then fantastic! But even if you are teaching in a small impoverished village, with little in the way of resources, don't panic. Here are a variety of suggestions of essential equipment to help you prepare for your time in the classroom.

Ideas, ideas, and more ideas (and preparation!)

Making your own lesson plans will not only build your confidence, but prepare you mentally for teaching English. Spend a little time thinking through lessons, and writing your ideas down. We guarantee that this is time better spent than searching for free lesson plans on the internet. These will often disappoint, and are rarely more than a grammar tables that suggest few, if any activities.

First, take a notebook and list a variety of games, songs and activities, and the age groups or levels you think they are suitable for. These will prove to be worth their weight in gold, and can be adapted and used as supplementary materials for every lesson. A few simple lesson plans and activities for beginners will give you space and time to organize yourself, and ensure you don't panic when you first start teaching English.

Teaching children?

Hand puppets are a small, light, and fun addition to the classroom! You can probably buy something from the local pound shop, or if you're a budding artist, they can easily be made! Make up stories, games, or simply start a simple conversation between the puppets. Also, make sure you always have a ball in your classroom, an indispensable item in numerous TEFL games.

No whiteboards?

Perhaps you have a fervent dislike of blackboards; maybe you're not sure of the facilities in your planned destination; or perhaps you're contemplating teaching privately in people's homes. Whatever the reason, it's always handy to have something to write on.

Now you can buy roll up whiteboards: plastic sheets that can be used exactly as a whiteboard, with all the added advantages of paper. Whether it's for brainstorming ideas, class presentations or creating role-plays, they can be passed round, written on and wiped clean ready for the next English lesson.

Blu-Tack?

Yes, Blu-Tack (or Poster Putty if you're from the USA)! Some of the cheapest objects aren't always easily found abroad. And it's incredibly useful material. Much-loved amongst teachers, it is recyclable, portable, and stickable to almost any material.

What about gadgets?

A year ago, we wouldn't have dreamed of suggesting, but the relentless march of technology has seen prices drop quicker than a stone thrown off the Empire State Building, so an MP3 player/recorder is definitely a worthwhile investment! Not only is it a brilliant piece of equipment, but an item you can stash in your inside pocket, and it won't add to that weight allowance. Record a scene from a soap opera, news items, a children's program, or a discussion on radio 4. You have dozens of options.

On one of these nifty gadgets, you'll also have songs for every age group to hand, and be able to record your students' role-plays. Cheap and portable, it's a really useful gadget, and a great way of bringing multimedia into any classroom to tap into your students' creativity.

Chris Soames - Online TEFL courses with over 20,000 course graduates each year, international accreditation and certification recognised by schools worldwide.

To Teach English abroad is the perfect opportunity for any English speaker to explore the world and immerse themselves in new cultures. Whether you're a trained teacher or a complete beginner, a TEFL qualification is your ticket for the journey of your life.

Contacts
For interviews, images or comments contact:
Chris Soames
Marketing & PR
Email: chris@i-to-i.com
http://www.onlinetefl.com

Cellular Phone Downloads

Cellular phones are taking a leap forward by offering camera phones with better picture resolution and MP3 players with plenty of memory, while offering these new features at prices lower than present models. In such a scenario, you can juice up your phone with several cellular phone downloads available on the internet.

Themes

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These cellular phone downloads are exchangeable skins and user interfaces for your cell phone. When you apply a new theme on your phone, it will get a totally new look. Not only does the wallpaper change, the menus and other bits of the interface might change as well. In addition a theme might contain a screensaver and a ringtone, to make the change complete. These cellular phone downloads are like getting a totally cool new phone for free.

Wallpapers

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These cellular phone downloads are another word for background or a logo. It's an image you can use as a desktop background on your cellular phone. You can have these cellular phone downloads on your mobile phone through WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) or upload it by bluetooth, infrared (IR) or by using a cable. The cellular phone downloads can be obtained in the following image formats: jpg, gif and png. The screen on the cell phone has a resolution of 128x128 and higher so it's best to use image cellular phone downloads that are exactly the correct size.

Videos

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These cellular phone downloads are 3GP videos that are small movies for your cell phone. It is like having your own portable movie player with you wherever you go. Although the image quality of these cellular phone downloads is sometimes uninspiring, seeing moving 3GP images on your cell phone can be quite cool. 3GP is based on the MPEG 4 (MP4) standard, and includes AMR for the audio soundtrack. These 3GP cellular phone downloads are a cool addition to your cellular phone.

Animations

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These cellular phone downloads are moving images (almost videos) that can be used in several ways on your phone. Such a gif animation can be used as a screensaver on your phone which activates when the phone is idle. These cellular phone downloads can also be used in picture messages (also known as MMS) which can be sent to your friends and family using your cell phone. Adding a cool screensaver to a phone and your picture messages is a popular way to customize it. Commonly, these cellular phone downloads are in gif format.

Ringtones

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These cellular phone downloads are different types of music files used as alerts on the mobile phone when receiving incoming calls. These cellular phone downloads can be customized and by doing this you get a personalized and cool cellular phone. There are many different types of ring tones but the most common format is midi (.mid extension). You get ringers in 4, 16, and 40 midi channels and most cellphones support at least 16. Another popular format is smaf (.mmf extension). These two cellular phone download types are called polyphonic ringtones. Newer mobiles support something called realtones or soundalikes. Realtones are music files stored in the popular mp3 format or as wav tones. You also get realtones in a format called amr and wbamr.

Games

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These cellular phone downloads are Java games that are interactive games for your cell phone. It is like having your own portable game console with you wherever you go. Although these cellular phone downloads used to be quite primitive, being only in black and white and with beeping sounds (like snake), the best of these cellular phone downloads now have great color graphics, sound and gameplay with well known characters.

Applications

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These cellular phone downloads are Java applications that are interactive software for your cell phone. It is like having your own portable computer with you wherever you go. Modern cellphone applications (usually in Java MIDP/midlet, Symbian SIS or Pocket PC format) can be quite advanced.

There are many ways to get the above accessories to your phone but the easiest is through cellular phone downloads from the internet through WAP. You can also carry out this cellular phone download from your pc through an infrared connection or by using Bluetooth if both your pc and phone support it. Many cellphones also have memory cards. If you have one and a memory card reader/writer for your pc, you can save these cellular phone downloads on the card and put them back in your phone. The last option is to transfer cellular phone downloads using a cable connection but usually mobile phones are delivered without such a cable.

According to recent studies, the demand for cellular phone downloads will triple within the next 12 months. According to a survey sponsored by LogicaCMG, 20% of mobile phone owners all over the world have already used cellular phone downloads, a percentage that is expected to grow 60% within the upcoming twelve months.

The study was carried out in Europe, Asia, North America and South America and has also revealed that monthly average of expenses with subscriber's cellular phone downloads is currently 6.32 euros. About 40% of interviewees have expressed expected growth of cellular phone downloads for upcoming years. Ringtones, games and music are the three most popular cellular phone downloads.

Forty-one percent of the interviewees want to have the possibility of sharing the content of cellular phone downloads with their friends. Moreover, 17% of mobile phone users expect their phone carrier to provide network storage for all their cellular phone downloads.

Saurya Ghosal for http://www.discount-cellular-phone.com Read more about Cellular Phones [http://www.discount-cellular-phone.com/audiovox-cellular-phone.html] Copyright 2005 http://www.discount-cellular-phone.com

Romulus and Remus, Apple and Google

My 2 favourite companies, Apple & Google. I feel like a child would feel watching parents fighting. You can't take sides because you love them both and you wish they could just live in harmony all the time.

For the tangible products Apple delivers the best experience matched by no other.

For the intangible Google provides me with a bevy of free to use cloud services that also deliver on a user experience not to be found any where else.

In the real world each has a master it must obey. The share holder. A share holder wants to see growth even if growth means playing Romulus to Remus.

We have seen Google strike the first blow.

I talk about brands for a very good reason as I believe it is in the brands that the direction and outcome of this war can best be seen.

A brand is an emotional anchor, it is a religious icon to the consumer. Every brand has an ideal that consumers who worship it believe in. It secures their loyalty at both the rational and irrational levels of consumerism.

Apple as a brand stands for beautiful to look at, simple to use, reliable and productive TANGIBLE products. Try thinking of Apple as the company that only provides. Mac/MobileMe? That leaves most people cold and probably the majority completely turned off. (iTunes isn't a service it's a shop)

Google as a brand also has a pearl veneer of simple to use, free to use and productive INTANGIBLE products. Their claimed mantra of "don't be evil", that Jobs recently scoffed at, is the clue to their ambitions of who they want to be. Google is stepping in to the space that Microsoft has owned for decades. A market that Apple could have owned but failed to win for its belief in delivering a complete solution in house. The only way Apple can provide the level of product excellence it does is to keep tight control of everything.

No clones.

Microsoft waged a clone war in the PC market and won. It focused on software and let others provide cheap hardware. The outcome was a product that left much to be desired by the user but was affordable and universal in format. Too often inferior technology wins the day over superior. Remember VHS & Betamax? We are witnessing the 2nd Clone war in the smart phone.

Google had it's own phone but has opted now for the Microsoft route, let others provide the hardware.

However Apple has a head start this time, a significant head start. Take a look at how it found itself in the mobile phone business. The iPod & iTunes have given Apple 25% of the USA music market. 1 in 4 songs are sold by Apple now in America. Technology moved on and the phone companies tried to muscle in on the iPod by producing phones that were also MP3 players. Apple responded by doing what Apple does best, innovating. The smart phone market today is Apple's creation, it defined the game and set the rules. It almost has a monopoly on the music market, a complete monopoly on the MP3 player market (80-90%).

Now the iPad arrives and Apples re-invents a whole market once again. Innovation not only in technology but in marketing and lifestyle. Sounds like Apple has it nailed doesn't it?

How dated does a 2001 model iPod look? Ancient, bulky, low capacity, etc. Today it's as small as your thumb and mass produced to almost a commodity. How will the iPad today be perceived in 10 years?

Jonathan Ives, Apple's gifted chief designer was quoted as saying about the iPad "we are most proud of what we have left out". Apple's refinement of the UI has boiled the device down to nothing more than a slate of glass. In 10 years time that slate will be a commodity. The value left to harvest in the market in another decade will be not be the hardware. It won't be the software either as Microsoft burned the world with a closed proprietary system.

Everyone embraces open standards now, software tie in is long gone. It will be the customer service and experience. Apple already is an expert in selling customer experience end to end. Just look at the Apple Stores.

If you can find a copy I highly recommend reading Pine & Gilmore's paper from the Harvard Business Review "Welcome to the Experience Economy". Would you pay just to enter an Apple store? In the future you might have to if these academics have got it right. The pioneers of selling consumers experience, Disney, now have Job's as their largest share holder. Apple theme parks?

In light of all this it seems incredible that we have yet to see or hear anything that indicates that Apple will provide service and experience in The Cloud. No indication, yet, of an iWork's online edition. Even Microsoft has conceded moving Office to the cloud.

Apple's major investment in the North Carolina data centre has been assumed to be for supplying virtualised content (music/video/books). Can it also deliver cloud applications and services?

Why do we need to buy and own a fully featured computer at all? Why should we backup regularly? The majority on the internet are consumers, not producers.

Apple doesn't have a crystal ball, it can't see the future although has proven it can define the future. Job's never saw the iPhone back in 2000 with the iPod. Fate, Karma, Moores-law & competition evolved Apple to that point. Unless Apple throws it's chips on the table and calls google on "The Cloud" it has no hope of a long term future. It's brand will peak now and fade with time. Google doesn't need to win the smart phone war, it's just a side show, a distraction.

Was it a planned move on Google's part to antagonise Apple into fighting and moving into Google's space? The world benefits most and history will remember a war that leaves humanity much in it's spoils.

To the victor in this war go the greatest honours and history will remember them.

Just like Romulus and Remus.

George Taylor's career spans over 20 years at the forefront of internet technologies beginning with the Scottish startup Spider Systems before moving to Cisco Systems R&D in San Jose in 1994. In 1998 Taylor persuaded Cisco to open a European R&D office in Edinburgh, Scotland and was instrumental in it's setup. After completing an MBA at Edinburgh he took over at Logicalware Ltd a provider of Cloud Computing services to the ecommerce market. After an 18 month sabbatical in New Zealand George has returned to Scotland and is looking for new ventures.