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Michael Scalisi doesn’t think Chrome OS is a threat to Windows:

By completely omitting local apps and storage Google made it obvious that it’s not looking to replace your existing OS. Pichai acknowledged that not all apps will run on the Chrome OS and countered that “most people who buy this device next year…expect them to have another machine at home.” As my colleague Robert Strohmeyer pointed out last week, Chrome OS seems intentionally unremarkable. This demonstrates that Google isn’t positioning Chrome to take over as your media center, gaming machine, or professional workstation.

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Apple support document HT3947:

The Push Notification service in Mac OS X Server v10.6 supports sending Push Notifications to Mac OS X v10.6 (client) iCal and Mail applications. Additionally, the service can be configured to provide Push Notifications to third-party applications which use the ServerNotification framework.

[…]

Currently, iPhone Mail and Calendar apps do not support Push Notifications from Mac OS X Server v10.6.

Getting this working on the iPhone would be a big step forward in getting companies to think about replacing Exchange servers with OS X boxes. That said, everyone I’ve talked to about this thinks going to Snow Leopard Server gives them push mail and calendars. Whoops.

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Engadget has posted their new rules about crazy product names:

1. Product and company names that are regular English words shall be treated like proper English nouns, complete with proper capitalization. Example: DROID becomes Droid and nook becomes Nook.

2. Product and company names that are not regular English words shall be capitalized first as proper nouns, and then as the company treats them. Example: RAZR stays RAZR, but chumby would become Chumby.

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Barnes and Noble on their e-book reader, the nook*:

As we head into December, we wanted to give an update on nook, the eBook reader that continues to be the fastest-selling product at Barnes & Noble.

We are beginning to ship this week, and are committed to doing everything we can to ensure that everyone who ordered a nook before Nov. 20 will receive it by Dec. 25. As units ship, customers will receive e-mails indicating the estimated arrival date.

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MacNN:

The v1.4.0 release will have 13 new features, including an enhanced pedestrian mode for navigation while walking. A new interface will take advantage of the compass in the iPhone 3GS, shifting map position in tandem with a user’s orientation. Google Local Search should meanwhile allow quick access to subject and place searches, with matching directions.

Welcome additions. I’ve been using Navigon for several months with no complaints, though.

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The Need for Notifications

Back in the day, cell phones did one thing — make calls. Since they were so simple, the only time they needed to alert their owners was with a ringtone.

Obviously, phones do a few more things these days. They can send and receive emails, SMS and MMS messages, surf the Internet, give turn-by-turn directions and much, much more. One of the core problems with smart phones is how to handle all of this incoming information and present it to the user in bite-sized chunks.

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Stewart Alsop on the Droid:

The hardware (which is Motorola’s) mostly works. The keyboard is horrible and I’ve never used it, which means that it is a real design flaw given how much weight and mechanical operation it adds to the device. (The software keyboard works well enough that I’ve found it adequate but the other problems with the software make it barely useable.) The camera button on my Droid doesn’t work and never has, so I call up the camera from the home screen. The on-off button is poorly placed for one-handed operation and requires real force to actuate. But this is just version 1.0 issues that Motorola will likely fix next time out.

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James Bach, via Gizmodo:

The pattern I experienced at Apple would be confirmed almost everywhere I traveled in the computer industry: most people have put themselves on intellectual autopilot. Most don’t study on their own initiative, but only when they are forced to do so. Even when they study, they choose to study the obvious and conventional subjects. This has the effect of making them more alike instead of more unique. It’s an educational herd mentality.

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Impressive.

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Holy crap:

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CNet UK has pitted the Newton against the iPhone and the Newton won:

The Newton may be old and dusty, but it still shows the young pretenders a thing or too. The iPhone is a superior device in many ways, we’ll admit, but when it comes to sheer innovation, the Apple Newton MessagePad is a true pioneer. Long live the king.

On a related note: If you haven’t run the appropriate 2010 patch on your device, the time is now.

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After working in an Apple Store for three blac Fridays, I’m not leaving my house today. If you’re like me, and like shopping online, head over to Amazon, buy anything via this link, and help support ForkBombr. You’ll be glad you did.

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