I experimented with some of the scripts, but didn’t have any luck getting them to work. Many of these can be quickly written, and using a beta product doesn’t help. Aaron Boodman, who wrote the post explaining how these scripts work, states that between 15-25% of the scripts will not work in Google Chrome, and that you should consider letting the author know.

Even if you have never used an extension before you might want to consider checking out Userscripts.org, which is the repository for all the Greasemonkey scripts. Simply click the install button, and you’ll be on your way to installing and using the simple productivity solutions.

What I still need in Chrome before I begin to use it more of the time include the following:

• A better experience. Currently, it is (like Firefox) a pain to use, compared to Safari.
• A faster experience. I figure users with slower connections like the speed of Chrome compared to Internet Explorer, but between Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, Chrome is remarkably slow.
• Options. Sure, there are options included like within Firefox, but many are unusable at this point or appear to be hastily integrated into the browser.

Google’s latest project, which the company is putting a lot of emphasis on, is the Chromium OS, which is an open source project. The primary focus is on netbooks, but it may eventually scale to other devices, including tablets. A mockup and UI concepts have emerged on this page, which indicate the direction Google may be taking when it begins producing a device for market.

The main UI and features included will be as follows:

• Keyboard interaction with the screen will be anchored, split, attached to focus.
• Access to websites will be provided using touch or search.
• Contextual actions triggered through speech or touch input.
• Zooming UI for multiple tabs.
• Tabs presented along the side of the screen.
• Creating multiple browsers on screen using a launcher.

If Google goes after the tablet market like they have been going after the phone market, it is likely that multiple manufacturers will be sporting devices powered by the Chromium OS, although Google may have the last say as to what can be customized and what can’t be.

The main problem with how Google is trying to corner these markets is the same reason Microsoft ultimately failed at launching products like the Zune and their Windows Mobile phone platforms (which are both dramatically losing sales). While many respect Google for their search business, which is shown with their share of the search market, those who aren’t familiar with their motivation behind releasing these products will fall in the trap. With the Nexus One and any devices Google releases under their branding, they have full access to everything on your phone, which is said to “improve Google’s search results.”

Apple is in the market of providing evolutionary devices. We’ve seen plenty of tablets in the past, but Apple’s approach on how the tablet should be used is completely different. Never before has a company launched a device with an extremely successful application store. There are less apps available for the iPhone OS than the Windows platform, but they are generally regarded (as a whole) to be better and easier to use.

Many of Apple’s products have had nearly two decades of research behind them. The MessagePad, the first device made available under the Newton platform, was released in 1993. Some of the overall technology and ideas behind the device made it into the iPhone and later, the iPad. Google wasn’t even a company at this time. Those who purchase Apple’s products are accustomed to an experience regarded to as higher than the competition.

The Nexus One, Motorola Droid, and Palm Pre are all in the smart phone market, yet none have really been able to steal significant sales from the iPhone. Perhaps they are slowing the growth of the iPhone in the near-term (next several months), but this may simply be due to the fact that Apple hasn’t updated their iPhone since last summer. Flooding the market with devices won’t help Google: support has reportedly been horrible for their Nexus One launch.

Upfront costs for these devices are all quite similar, between $179 and $199 for contract-base devices and in the $529 to $599 range for devices without a contract. Two-year plans are also quite consistent across the board, only changing when data plans must be included or the carrier is different.

Google’s marketplace for their tablet computer will be much like the experience of Google Chrome. While they promote a clean, fast experience, as soon as you begin using the software, it becomes evident that the speed and interface haven’t been polished. Apple’s iPhone has been polished (as well as many of the included apps).

When someone spends $2,500 to $3,000 on a device over the lifespan of a contract, will they choose a device that works as intended or a device that looks like it should work as intended, that has all the specs. to go with the look?

Ultimately, the tablet market will boil down to some of the same principles as the latest saga of the smart phone market.

For now, we have user-created mockups and a video showing how the Chromium OS will look on a tablet device. Remember, the device is still in “mockup” stage, and there have been no prototypes displayed yet. Apple’s device will hit the market in about two months’ time.

Concepts and UIs

Video Showing Tablet UI

As a precautionary method for preventing further problems, Apple is halting production of the 27-inch models for some time, to ensure the fix works. The main problem was that the displays would intermittently flicker, which can be a real problem when you are trying to get work done.

On the Apple forums, more than 4,000 replies were made, which makes the issue appear larger than it actually was. The issue didn’t affect all the 27-inch models, and there were plenty of working displays, but those who did experience the issue voiced their opinion.

While Apple doesn’t claim to have a flawless track record in their products, in many cases, fixes are issued or replacements are given should the problem continue to exist. The ability for them to solve the problem is what continues to garner Apple high marks in customer satisfaction.

Deep discounts were given, although quarterly revenue is still much lower than in the 2007-08 time frame. Sales at electronics retailers like Best Buy benefitted from the surge in new customers with the arrival of Microsoft’s latest operating system, but largely, shipments vs. revenue has not been great for the PC manufacturers.

Apple, on the other hand, posted record earnings last quarter, and research firm NPD now says that, of computers priced at more than $1,000, 90% of all sales were directed towards the Cupertino-based company. This is an indication that not only are people continuing to buy Apple products (which are perceived to be much more expensive than the Windows counterparts), but they are stealing some of the profits from the PC manufacturers like HP and Dell.

However, while Apple is seen to have benefitted from the recession as more people turn to quality over affordability, the average selling price did slip from $1,499 to $1,361, but this could also have been due to price cuts on the high end of their product lines.

It would be interesting to see how Apple’s mobile phone and multimedia player line (including the iPad) are further able to shape the pricing of the competitors’ products.

At any rate, other PC manufacturers only wish they had the market that Apple is in. My guess is that their lineup of premium products aren’t selling too well—3.36 million Macs were sold in Q1 2010, indicating that PC manufacturers only sold about 10% of those.

They are constructed of polished white ABS plastic with a matte black steel grille. Each speaker is 4″x6″x2″, so they are quite small, but can still produce a good sound.

The speakers come from designers Mihoko Ouchi and Sherwood Forlee, who have also designed Anti-Theft Lunch Bags, a “New” Lamp, and Stacked Cups.

Availability is by early summer for $120, although there will only be a thousand sets produced.

Images of The Speaker have been included below.

[via Unplggd]

Advanced options are available, but they are only ideal for those who have a specific function in mind, like adding footers, changing the page height, or adding a table of contents. You can also drag the bookmarklet to your browser bookmarks bar, and you’ll have instant access to the tool, giving you the ability to create a PDF for any webpage.

The service appears to have launched recently, as their Twitter account has only been active for about three weeks. Nonetheless, the service makes PDFs that are compatible and usable (images and links are clickable), ideal for anyone who needs to send or share web pages.

[via Lifehacker]

While there are plenty of new infographics being published each day, we feel that these are some of the best published in recent months, and we invite you to share your favorite from those showcased below or add your own through a comment.

2010 is the Year of the App

This infographic shows how we will begin to use more and more apps, as this year we will average more apps than ever before. However, it also predicts that we will recover by 2013, although our average number of apps will only decrease by about six per user.

Twitter Territory

This is an infographic showing the top Twitter cities and states around the US. Not surprisingly, California and New York are more than three percent higher the average, and Alaska is 3.3% below average.

Nearly a Decade of Tablet Talk

If you thought talk about the tablet erupted suddenly, you’d be half wrong – we’ve been talking about it for nearly a decade. This chart shows how the evolution of the tablet occurred and what rumors were true.

Global Map of Social Web

The social web is mass market, as hundreds of millions of web users are creating and sharing content every month. This infographic shows where the largest markets are.

Facebook vs Twitter

Facbeook and Twitter are now considered the most popular social networking sites by the number of users and interactivity on the sites, but how much of a difference is there between how members use them?

The Boom of Social Sites

A look at how many of the social sites erupted in the past few years, at least compared to those that still exist from 1995.

AT&T Wi-Fi Growth

A look at how smartphones are forcing cell phone companies to expand Wi-Fi coverage to accommodate increased usage.

Phishing for Your Money

Perhaps not the best example showing web stats, but this one is connected with the web, as millions of accounts are hacked (or phished into) each year.

Make Social Media Work for Your Company

This is more of a chart showing how you can integrate social networking into your company’s mission than anything else.

The Internet’s Undersea World

The Internet is a huge marketplace, but how do you access websites that have servers located in China and elsewhere?

Who Rules the Social Web?

It wasn’t too hard to guess who rules the social web. Other than Digg, there is equality or matriarchy on most of the main social networking site.

Now, the site may appear quite similar to popular sites like Craigslist, although this site makes the whole process extremely social. You won’t need to create a new account using all-new credentials: simply use any other social networking site like Google, MySpace, or Facebook to login to the service and begin creating your own profile.

The site has been around for at least three months, but it hasn’t quite reached a level of popularity to give it an advantage over competing services, which offer the ability to list much more than just your skills (products and other goods). What really makes the site unique is how you can browse through the listings and communicate with others through the site.

While the service appears to be based in the U.S., there is the ability to switch between a number of other countries using the drop-down link in the header bar.

In these times, sites like these would be great solutions for people who are in need of services, but don’t want to go to the professionals, helping them save money. The site solves this problem, offering the ability to search between individual and professional members, as well as premium members (although no details are listed about this membership).

The same reaction came when the first iPod was released, as well as the first iPhone. These two products revolutionized the two industries that they entered, and although there were other devices that allowed one to listen to music and answer phone calls, they were different, tying the software, hardware, and interface together. We’re at the point in Apple’s history where this same reaction is occurring again, and application developers: get ready!

Why I Will Repeat Myself

I try to offer both sides of the discussion and debate surrounding the new product from Apple. While it isn’t being sold at the moment, there have been outrage over the name, the features (or the lack thereof), and the ultimate question of “why should I buy an iPad?”Just a few hundred people have held the device, and the consensus from them has been remarkably positive, ranging from “stunning screen,” to “a generation faster than the iPhone 3GS,” to “the iBooks eBook reading application is fast and clean and feels a real advance on the Kindle’s monochrome.”

There is a circle of followers who insist that the iPad is nothing much than a bigger iPod or iPhone, yet many of these are the same that claim the Zune would overtake the iPod in sales. Recent sales figures of the Zune (after between two and three years on the market) at the February 2009 time frame put sales at 3.2 million. The original iPod was released in late October 2001, the Zune in mid-November 2006.

There were a whole lot less MP3 players in the market in 2001, but there was still a lot of interest in the market when the Zune arrived. All iPods were still hard drive-based, and the iPhone was just a rumor. During the first two years of the iPod, Apple sold 1.313 million devices, and 5.729 in the first three years. Considering Microsoft has had at least 92% of the OS market during this three-year period, and Apple introduced the original iPod as Mac-only, sales of the Zune dwarf in comparison to what Apple was able to achieve.

The iPad is no different, and won’t be a flop until this time next year, when sales figures come in. If analysts’ projections of the device were extremely high, then we know that there really isn’t a market for a “large iPod touch/iPhone,” but instead that it is a niche market. Again, this isn’t like Apple is introducing a revised iPod. It’s as though they’re testing the waters for a whole new market – the market that includes tablet computers, netbooks, eBook readers, as well as portable media players, photo frames, and to an extent, iPods (some would consider the iPad rather than an iPod touch or an iPhone).

Onto the Kindle, a device that entered a relatively non-existent market. People were reading digital books, but has now proven to be a successful market. More digital books are being sold than print, and the market for newspaper and magazine content sold in the traditional paper format will continue to dive. Estimates of sales of the three main Kindle products—Kindle, Kindle 2, and Kindle DX—range from 1.5 to 3 million, taking place in the 2.5 year period since release. The Kindle is a dedicated device for reading books and other forms of print content. Browsing the web is essentially non-existent on the device, as Amazon wants you to stay on their site for purchasing books and magazine subscriptions. Pricing for the original Kindle (6″ display) was $359, a price many criticized the company for setting, as profit margin was later revealed to be very high.

The Kindle and Zune are two devices released in the last four years, both of which have seen a mild level of success and each helped define what can be accomplished by multi-billion dollar companies. One is the leader in the category, while the other isn’t. Hint: the leader in the Mp3/entertainment industry isn’t Microsoft.

The Size Comparison

Toting around a netbook instead of a large-scale 13-17″ notebook has become common for many on-th-go computer and web surfers over the past few years. The screen sizes, cramped keyboards, and “light” size have made these devices great for people who want to browse the web and open up an occasional text document. The only reason they sell is due to their price – they are quite a bit cheaper, but they offer a level of performance similar to the price – cheap.

In the graphic above, you can compare a MacBook Pro with an ASUS Eee PC 10.1″ netbook, as well as the iPad. Some say that you should aim for having the most power in a small package, but with the above graphic, there is obviously something people are missing with netbooks: they are quite bulky, especially compared to the iPad or other eBook readers. Would you want to put a netbook in your pocket? No. The iPad was never meant to be placed in a pocket, nor will it ever be. It’s meant to replace (or complement) a full-size (13″ or above) laptop while you are on-the-go or consuming content.

Another question for those who claim the iPad is just an oversized iPhone or iPod touch: why do people demand larger computer displays, while they also promote smaller phone displays? The resolution of the iPad is at 1024×768, which is perfectly ideal for viewing most websites and working on the device. The same can’t be said for similar resolutions of 480×800 pixels, or 3.7″, found on “powerful,” “multi-tasking” phones. Try typing, let alone reading small text on a screen of that resolution without constantly trying to zoom in.

While traveling, weight is a bigger consideration than size. You’re more likely to simply carry an iPad with you that weights in at 1.5 pounds, rather than a netbook, which offers a far-worse experience (at least compared to many users’ experiences) weighing in at 2.9 pounds or more. Most 13″+ laptops are double that.

Now, the Kindle may be slightly slimmer, but only does one thing (but well), and that is reading books. When you need to browse the web and access applications while on the road, you won’t want to carry a Kindle, phone, and netbook with you, but an iPad alone, as it offers the ability to access 95% of what an iPhone or similar phone can do.

Multi-Tasking: Uh, Why?

There are people who can concentrate on multiple windows at once, work on multiple projects at once, then there are those who only want to read a book or answer a phone call, without being distracted or weighed down by background processes. The iPhone and iPad will be able to run the basic programs in the background on top of other applications. For example, while you are reading a book or browsing the web, you will be able to listen to music. On any screen of 10″ or smaller, there really isn’t a benefit to having multiple windows open and multi-tasking unless you have a processor that can handle this.

In Apple’s eyes, when you use the iPad (like the iPhone), you intend to only do one thing at a time. Even though they have excluded the ability to “multi-task,” this doesn’t mean they aren’t working on a way to solve the problem or waiting until they get their hands on faster processors. For all we know, iPhone OS 4.0 might include better management of application processes to conserve battery and function better. At this point in time, it doesn’t make sense to offer this ability, due to the experience trade-offs.

A similar stance can be taken with Adobe Flash, although I wont’ get into that discussion again. Apple follows an emerging trends, develops that trend, and then others follow in their footsteps.

Price Comparison

Apple shocked us with the price of $499. Pundits questioned why someone would pay this much for a large iPod touch, and Apple answered, yet no one listened. The iPad will be a great solution in the medial and design industries, as well as any market where “visuals” come into play. It will beat carrying around a 13″+ laptop, as it can also be used to create presentations, display them through projectors, and show latest reports. The App Store is what will continue to deliver the experience needed to convince millions it offers the highest-quality applications.

The eBook reader niche is continuing to be carved out, and the tablet/slate PC market is just starting to grow. How will other companies combine these markets, and if they do, how will they stack up against the iPad? HP is bringing to market a Slate product later this year, which, like many of the other products Steve Ballmer showcased at CES 2010, mimics a large-scale iPod touch. Nothing was impressive about the device, other than the fact that he positioned the device exactly where Steve Jobs did – in-between a phone and a laptop. Pricing details, specs, and is rather just a prototype at this point, offering nothing more than Windows 7 with touchscreen capability. What actually lies on devices like the HP Slate to differentiate it from the next eBook reader/hybrid tablet than the processor, memory, storage, etc.?

I expect many of the devices to be released in the $400-$800 price range, and if anything else, they will trend higher as time goes on. These devices could one day replace the netbooks, although it may be a number of years before the processors are powerful enough and users are comfortable enough with the experience they offer. For now, we only have a chart that has been compiled, which compares some of the latest eBook readers/slate computers into one convenient chart.

A link to the full-size image can be found here.

Conclusion

Share your thoughts on these topics in the comments area – will you be purchasing an iPad, and how do you think it will evolve?

If stats are correct, anywhere from 11-14%, up to 21% of all Internet Users are still browsing the web with IE6. Generally, these are users in corporate and business settings, where the process of rolling out an update to IE7 or IE8 was skipped due to cost and compatibility issues. While the update is free, development on new programs to be compatible with the browser, including the support staff/development team costs can reach into the millions. Therefore, like Windows XP, these businesses will try to hang onto the version (as it works “perfectly fine”) for as long as possible.

A post from Google recently offers a brief explanation behind the lack of support for IE6, as well as their direction for the future. Beginning March 1st, Google Docs and Sites features may not work properly in other browsers. Rather than gently phasing out support of IE6, they are going with the approach of “we’re dropping compatibility (rather than support), so you must upgrade.”

IE7+, Firefox 3.0+, Chrome 4.0+, and Safari 3.0+ are the currently supported browsers of most sites around the web, although it might be better at this point if everyone moved away from Internet Explorer altogether. At the current rate of adoption and support timeframe, we’ll be dealing with a similar situation with IE7 in five years’ time. Microsoft will continue to support IE6 until 2014, 13 years after release. At the time of this writing, Internet Explorer 6 is still the most popular version of Internet Explorer, making up 20.99% of all browsers. Internet Explorer 8 comes in at 20.86% of all browsers, and 36.27% of Internet Explorer browsers. This information is according to Net Applications.

Should businesses skip Vista (and many are) and go directly to Internet Explorer 8, or switch operating systems/browsers altogether, the web may be given the opportunity to evolve at a faster rate. Flash may also be less prevalent in five to ten years’ time if enough websites stop using it.

The ultimate question is this: will businesses listen to a company that is ultimately trying to cause a huge disruption in the industry? Not likely. If the web apps built by many companies has been tested to be compatible with IE6 only, and they don’t see the benefits in the cost of upgrading to Windows 7 and IE8, why should they upgrade? Many companies refuse software updates for these reasons alone, and simply blocking access from web search, online office suites, and YouTube won’t necessarily persuade companies to upgrade.