Why Facebook wants employees to use android over iphones?

If you thought Facebook has suddenly developed some sort of vendetta against Apple, it is not the case. Nor is there a new bonhomie with Google. This is a practical decision, according to Chris Cox who is the chief product officer.
                          
Actually, a large chunk of Facebook's expanding user base in the developing world access the social network on Android devices, and not iPhones.

As Facebook seeks to reach more people around the world, Cox said he wanted his team to switch to the world's most popular mobile platform "so that they can be reporting bugs and living in the same experience that most Facebook users experience today".

The directive shows just how much attention Facebook is paying to the emerging markets, crucial as they are for the social networking giant's further expansion.

Facebook's focus are the people who are just coming online, or have yet to come online. And Cox is ensuring his men understand the clients' needs first hand.

Apple envisions PC with wall being the display

The so-dubbed "desk-free" computer would jettison the monitor and use a projection system to display the image on a wall or other surface.

Would you buy a computer with no case or monitor or tangled cables to deal with? Apple has proposed such a system in a newly-awarded patent.

Granted on Tuesday by the US Patent and Trademark Office, a patent called "Computer systems and methods with projected display" describes a "desk-free" computer that would dispense with a case, monitor, and wired cables. Instead, the entire package would be housed in a projection system that would include all the necessary components and display the image on a wall or other surface.

Similar to an all-in-one PC, Apple's projection system would house the CPU and all the other internal parts. A wireless network interface and speakers could also be integrated, eliminating the need for any external peripherals. Onboard sensors would control the projected image to display the optimum color, resolution, and size.

The system would also combine elements of a desktop and laptop, displaying a large screen but offering some degree of portability so you can use it beyond the confines of your office or living room.

Perhaps best of all, the system would be virtually or entirely cable-free. The mouse and keyboard would talk to the computer using Bluetooth or another wireless technology. The system could grab its juice through batteries or inductive charging rather than directly via AC power cords.

The patent itself describes the technology as follows:

Computer systems and methods may provide a projection display as a primary visual output. In particular, a computer system may include an integrated projector output. Such a computer system may be substantially or even entirely externally wire-free. Methods of image processing may involve a computer system with an integrated projector output. Such methods may involve using raw presentation data for image processing, including adjustment and/or correction for brightness, color and/or geometry artifacts generated from aspects of the projection surface (such as geometry, texture, color or the like), the surroundings (such as ambient light), the relation of the computer system (or integrated projector output) to the projection surface (such as distance, orientation or the like), and/or the relation of a user/viewer to the projection surface (such as viewing angle, distance or the like).

As always, even an awarded patent doesn't mean the technology will ever see the light of day. But such a system would certainly be an innovative step up from all-in-one computers that include all the internals but still saddle you with a large monitor that takes up space.

Source

Mac Pro Launch Nears as Apple Business Staff Begin Offering Price Quotes

With potential customers of the new Mac Pro eagerly awaiting any sign of a more concrete launch date than the "December" timeframe announced by Apple at its October media event, increased activity from Apple's business team members suggests that a launch may indeed be very near. 

While Apple has publicly remained silent on pricing for various Mac Pro configurations beyond the $2999/$3999 stock models in shown in its U.S. online store, members of the company's business sales team have on occasion been offering pricing quotes on build-to-order configurations upon request. 

One Canadian forum member at FCP.co posted late last month that he had been quoted $9700 for a maxed-out Mac Pro with 1 TB flash storage, 64 GB of RAM, dual AMD FirePro D700 graphics, and a 12-core processor. Given Apple's current currency conversions, U.S. pricing should fall in the range of $9400-$9500, although that quote almost certainly incorporates a small discount made available to certain business customers. A somewhat lower-specced model with 512 GB of flash storage and an 8-core processor was quoted at $7700 Canadian. 

But while Apple business team members have had some access to the full price list for the new Mac Pro for at least several weeks, team members appear to have become more proactive over the past several days, contacting business customers who had previously expressed interest in the new Mac Pro to offer them price quotes ahead of the official launch. 

One MacRumors forum member yesterday posted a price quote he received from an Apple business sales representative for a build-to-order Mac Pro configuration, a higher-end stock model upgraded with additional RAM and flash storage. Pricing for that configuration came to $4464 in the quote, but retail pricing would be slightly higher. 


A second MacRumors reader reported today that he was contacted by a member of Apple's business sales team requesting desired configuration options for the purposes of generating a price quote. The Apple representative indicated that a price quote could be available by Monday, December 16, but it is unknown if that corresponds to any public release of additional information for that date. 

Aside from the recent activity from Apple's business sales team regarding the new Mac Pro, the rapidly approaching holidays also led to speculation that a Mac Pro launch could come sooner rather than later. Next week is the last full week before Christmas, and with many Apple employees having time off around the holidays, the company would likely prefer to avoid conflicts with the holidays as much as possible. 

An alternative theory suggests, however, that Apple may still be working to secure the component volumes it needs to produce a launch batch of the machines. As a result, the company could have little alternative but to launch the new Mac Pro in small volumes at the very end of the month in order to technically meet its stated launch timeframe while being able to push the bulk of its initial deliveries into early 2014.