Sony announces first non-Mac ‘Thunderbolt’ laptop coming to Europe in July

Sony on Tuesday took the wraps off a redesigned VAIO Z laptop, which is scheduled to arrive in Europe at the end of July and will feature a proprietary version of Intel’s Thunderbolt technology. Meanwhile, Apple has issued a firmware update to improve Thunderbolt performance.
VAIO Z
The new 13.1-inch VAIO Z will take on Apple’s MacBook Air in the ultraportable category, weighing just 2.6 pounds with a thickness of 0.86 inches. In order to reduce the size of the notebook, Sony moved the optical drive and dedicated graphics to an external box, dubbed the Power Media Dock.

Though the dock uses a proprietary version of Intel’s codenamed “Light Peak” architecture, which is the same technology that Thunderbolt is based on, Sony has chosen not to market the optical connection as such. Full details on the custom connection are lacking from the company’s press release, but it appears Sony has forgone the Mini DisplayPort solution that Apple co-developed with the chipmaker.

In addition to a Blu-ray optical drive and AMD Radeon graphics, the Power Media Dock will include an ethernet port, additional USB ports, and VGA and HDMI outputs.
The VAIO Z features a 1600×900 display, Intel Core i7 processors and up to 256GB of SSD RAID storage. Sony also touts a Quick Boot feature that loads Windows 7 “up to 50% quicker than conventional notebooks.”
The electronics giant plans to launch the notebook first in Europe at the end of July. Sony declined to provide details on pricing or the timing of international availability, though the laptop is expected to make its way to the States.

Intel and Apple collaborated on the Thunderbolt specification, with Intel providing its then-codenamed “Light Peak” technology and Apple offering its Mini DisplayPort standard. The high-speed interconnect debuted alongside Apple’s new MacBook Pros in February.
The first Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals are expected to arrive this summer. Storage maker LaCie demoed a “Little Big Disk” Thunderbolt solid-state drive last week, with read speeds of up to 827.2 MB per second. Several high end video equipment vendors are preparing breakout boxes and other devices that will take advantage of the technology.

Sony announces first non-Mac ‘Thunderbolt’ laptop coming to Europe in July

Sony on Tuesday took the wraps off a redesigned VAIO Z laptop, which is scheduled to arrive in Europe at the end of July and will feature a proprietary version of Intel’s Thunderbolt technology. Meanwhile, Apple has issued a firmware update to improve Thunderbolt performance.
VAIO Z
The new 13.1-inch VAIO Z will take on Apple’s MacBook Air in the ultraportable category, weighing just 2.6 pounds with a thickness of 0.86 inches. In order to reduce the size of the notebook, Sony moved the optical drive and dedicated graphics to an external box, dubbed the Power Media Dock.

Though the dock uses a proprietary version of Intel’s codenamed “Light Peak” architecture, which is the same technology that Thunderbolt is based on, Sony has chosen not to market the optical connection as such. Full details on the custom connection are lacking from the company’s press release, but it appears Sony has forgone the Mini DisplayPort solution that Apple co-developed with the chipmaker.

In addition to a Blu-ray optical drive and AMD Radeon graphics, the Power Media Dock will include an ethernet port, additional USB ports, and VGA and HDMI outputs.
The VAIO Z features a 1600×900 display, Intel Core i7 processors and up to 256GB of SSD RAID storage. Sony also touts a Quick Boot feature that loads Windows 7 “up to 50% quicker than conventional notebooks.”
The electronics giant plans to launch the notebook first in Europe at the end of July. Sony declined to provide details on pricing or the timing of international availability, though the laptop is expected to make its way to the States.

Intel and Apple collaborated on the Thunderbolt specification, with Intel providing its then-codenamed “Light Peak” technology and Apple offering its Mini DisplayPort standard. The high-speed interconnect debuted alongside Apple’s new MacBook Pros in February.
The first Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals are expected to arrive this summer. Storage maker LaCie demoed a “Little Big Disk” Thunderbolt solid-state drive last week, with read speeds of up to 827.2 MB per second. Several high end video equipment vendors are preparing breakout boxes and other devices that will take advantage of the technology.

Review roundup: HP TouchPad billed as ‘mediocre tablet’

The TouchPad, which arrives Friday, features a 9.7-inch touchscreen with a 1,024 x 768 pixel display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core 1.2GHz processor. The device is Wi-Fi only for now with 16GB and 32GB models that sell for $499 and $599 respectively.
A 3G version of the device is scheduled to arrive on ATT later this summer. HP announced the Touchpad in February as the beginning of a “new era” of WebOS.
HP’s WebOS has been much-anticipated for its potential to break up Apple’s lock on the tablet market. The world’s largest PC maker acquired the mobile operating system when it bought Palm last year for $1.2 billion, promising to “double down” on WebOS.
However, early reviewers see the TouchPad as arriving late to the tablet party. In general, they were enthusiastic about the device’s impressive looks, but took issue with the weight, bugs and lack of applications.


The Wall Street Journal
After testing the device for about a week, Walt Mossberg described the TouchPad as “simply no match for the iPad.” He praised the tablet’s user interface as “attractive and different,” but noted that the UI didn’t make up for “poor battery life, a paucity of apps and other deficits.”
Mossberg found the device’s hardware to be “bulbous and heavy” compared to the iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. He also criticized HP for leaving out key features such as a rear camera or a camera app for taking videos and still pictures. The Touchpad has a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera that can be used only for video chats.
Using his standard video test, Mossberg found the device’s battery to last only 60 percent as long as Apple’s latest tablet. With the screen brightness set to 75 percent, the TouchPad played videos non-stop for 6 hours and 5 minutes, compared to 10 hours and 9 minutes for the iPad 2.
The review also took issue with the just 300 tablet-optimized apps for the TouchPad. Though the tablet can run roughly 70 percent of the 6,200 total webOS apps, it runs them “in a small, phone-size window that can’t be expanded.”
Noticeably missing were apps for streaming TV shows or movies and editing documents, as well as stores for directly downloading TV shows, movies and music. HP has promised a music store at launch and a video download store “shortly” after launch.
“I also ran into plenty of bugs in my tests, even though H-P said I was testing a production unit,” Mossberg wrote. He had trouble with the email app, photos app and the “Angry Birds” game. He also found that he had to reboot the device periodically to keep it from getting too sluggish. HP acknowledged the problems and said an over-the-air update fixing the bugs would arrive in three to six weeks.
The TouchPad’s ability to run Adobe Flash sets it apart from the iPad, but Mossberg found Flash performance on the device uneven. “Most Flash videos played fine, but some froze or stuttered badly, even on a fast Internet connection. A site written entirely in Flash wouldnt even load, he wrote.”
Despite the range of issues, the reviewer found the device a “joy to use,” while concluding that, “at least for now, [he] cant recommend the TouchPad over the iPad 2.”

The New York Times
David Pogue characterized the TouchPad as “late for the ball,” especially because the device’s “biggest distinguishing component” is its operating system. According to him, the tablet “doesn’t get off to a good start” from a hardware perspective because it’s 40 percent thicker and 20 percent heavier than the iPad.
“It supposedly has a blazing-fast chip inside, but you wouldnt know it. When you rotate the screen, it takes the screen two seconds to match an eternity in tablet time,” he wrote. “Apps can take a long time to open; the built-in chat app, for example, takes seven seconds to appear. Animations are sometimes jerky, reactions to your finger swipes sometimes uncertain.”
Pogue also complained that the TouchPad’s battery life lasts only eight hours, compared to the iPad’s 10.
To HP’s credit, the reviewer did note that both the device and WebOS are beautiful. Pogue also praised the company’s Synergy feature that consolidates contacts and calendars from multiple online accounts. The TouchPad boasts changes to the virtual keyboard, adding a number row at the top and adjustable key heights.
HP has also brought over innovations from Palm, such as magnetic charing and close integration with the upcoming Palm Pre 3 smartphone.
“In this 1.0 incarnation, the TouchPad doesnt come close to being as complete or mature as the iPad or the best Android tablets; youd be shortchanging yourself by buying one right now, unless youre some kind of rabid A.B.A. nut (Anything but Apple),” Pogue concluded, adding that HP has shown “signs of greatness,” but is “tilting at windmills.”



The Associated Press

Rachel Metz found the TouchPad to be just a “mediocre tablet,” and not the triumph for HP that it should have been. “Yet while the TouchPad’s software is beautiful and intuitive, overall the tablet is more of a “meh-sterpiece” than a masterpiece,” she wrote.
Metz said the WebOS software made “perfect sense” on a tablet and navigating around the device was “a breeze.” Video performance was excellent, and the device was good for surfing the web, although some websites would not load properly.
However, the reviewer also noted “plenty of fumbles” on the device. For example, IM conversations would sometimes mysteriously stop sending text. Other times, the tablet would stutter and freeze. Metz tested the video chat feature and found it to be “dismal.” According to a colleague, the video from the TouchPad looked “like a Monet painting” and the audio sounded crackly.
“Sadly, the TouchPad is more blah than brilliant. The software is great, though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that HP can come up with a stronger tablet next time around,” she concluded.
 
Bloomberg
Rich Jaroslovsky, a self-professed fan of “the polished, easy-to-use webOS software,” wrote that the operating system made the leap from phone to tablet “beautifully.” However, he was surprised at some of HP’s struggles in the hardware department. In particular, Jaroslovsky took issue with the TouchPad’s weight, which is even heavier than Apple’s original iPad.
The reviewer appreciated aspects of the experience that, like Apple, arose from HP’s control of both the software and the hardware. For instance, the TouchPad can be paired with the Palm Pre 3 to pass information and even answer incoming calls and receive and send text messages.
But, the tablet “sometimes struggles with the basics,” often feeling “sluggish and underpowered,” according to Jaroslovsky. He was also disappointed by battery life, getting only 4 1/2 hours during stress testing.
“Especially given the TouchPads hardware shortcomings, youre probably better off waiting for a TouchPad 2,” he wrote.

Review roundup: HP TouchPad billed as ‘mediocre tablet’

The TouchPad, which arrives Friday, features a 9.7-inch touchscreen with a 1,024 x 768 pixel display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core 1.2GHz processor. The device is Wi-Fi only for now with 16GB and 32GB models that sell for $499 and $599 respectively.
A 3G version of the device is scheduled to arrive on ATT later this summer. HP announced the Touchpad in February as the beginning of a “new era” of WebOS.
HP’s WebOS has been much-anticipated for its potential to break up Apple’s lock on the tablet market. The world’s largest PC maker acquired the mobile operating system when it bought Palm last year for $1.2 billion, promising to “double down” on WebOS.
However, early reviewers see the TouchPad as arriving late to the tablet party. In general, they were enthusiastic about the device’s impressive looks, but took issue with the weight, bugs and lack of applications.


The Wall Street Journal
After testing the device for about a week, Walt Mossberg described the TouchPad as “simply no match for the iPad.” He praised the tablet’s user interface as “attractive and different,” but noted that the UI didn’t make up for “poor battery life, a paucity of apps and other deficits.”
Mossberg found the device’s hardware to be “bulbous and heavy” compared to the iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. He also criticized HP for leaving out key features such as a rear camera or a camera app for taking videos and still pictures. The Touchpad has a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera that can be used only for video chats.
Using his standard video test, Mossberg found the device’s battery to last only 60 percent as long as Apple’s latest tablet. With the screen brightness set to 75 percent, the TouchPad played videos non-stop for 6 hours and 5 minutes, compared to 10 hours and 9 minutes for the iPad 2.
The review also took issue with the just 300 tablet-optimized apps for the TouchPad. Though the tablet can run roughly 70 percent of the 6,200 total webOS apps, it runs them “in a small, phone-size window that can’t be expanded.”
Noticeably missing were apps for streaming TV shows or movies and editing documents, as well as stores for directly downloading TV shows, movies and music. HP has promised a music store at launch and a video download store “shortly” after launch.
“I also ran into plenty of bugs in my tests, even though H-P said I was testing a production unit,” Mossberg wrote. He had trouble with the email app, photos app and the “Angry Birds” game. He also found that he had to reboot the device periodically to keep it from getting too sluggish. HP acknowledged the problems and said an over-the-air update fixing the bugs would arrive in three to six weeks.
The TouchPad’s ability to run Adobe Flash sets it apart from the iPad, but Mossberg found Flash performance on the device uneven. “Most Flash videos played fine, but some froze or stuttered badly, even on a fast Internet connection. A site written entirely in Flash wouldnt even load, he wrote.”
Despite the range of issues, the reviewer found the device a “joy to use,” while concluding that, “at least for now, [he] cant recommend the TouchPad over the iPad 2.”

The New York Times
David Pogue characterized the TouchPad as “late for the ball,” especially because the device’s “biggest distinguishing component” is its operating system. According to him, the tablet “doesn’t get off to a good start” from a hardware perspective because it’s 40 percent thicker and 20 percent heavier than the iPad.
“It supposedly has a blazing-fast chip inside, but you wouldnt know it. When you rotate the screen, it takes the screen two seconds to match an eternity in tablet time,” he wrote. “Apps can take a long time to open; the built-in chat app, for example, takes seven seconds to appear. Animations are sometimes jerky, reactions to your finger swipes sometimes uncertain.”
Pogue also complained that the TouchPad’s battery life lasts only eight hours, compared to the iPad’s 10.
To HP’s credit, the reviewer did note that both the device and WebOS are beautiful. Pogue also praised the company’s Synergy feature that consolidates contacts and calendars from multiple online accounts. The TouchPad boasts changes to the virtual keyboard, adding a number row at the top and adjustable key heights.
HP has also brought over innovations from Palm, such as magnetic charing and close integration with the upcoming Palm Pre 3 smartphone.
“In this 1.0 incarnation, the TouchPad doesnt come close to being as complete or mature as the iPad or the best Android tablets; youd be shortchanging yourself by buying one right now, unless youre some kind of rabid A.B.A. nut (Anything but Apple),” Pogue concluded, adding that HP has shown “signs of greatness,” but is “tilting at windmills.”



The Associated Press

Rachel Metz found the TouchPad to be just a “mediocre tablet,” and not the triumph for HP that it should have been. “Yet while the TouchPad’s software is beautiful and intuitive, overall the tablet is more of a “meh-sterpiece” than a masterpiece,” she wrote.
Metz said the WebOS software made “perfect sense” on a tablet and navigating around the device was “a breeze.” Video performance was excellent, and the device was good for surfing the web, although some websites would not load properly.
However, the reviewer also noted “plenty of fumbles” on the device. For example, IM conversations would sometimes mysteriously stop sending text. Other times, the tablet would stutter and freeze. Metz tested the video chat feature and found it to be “dismal.” According to a colleague, the video from the TouchPad looked “like a Monet painting” and the audio sounded crackly.
“Sadly, the TouchPad is more blah than brilliant. The software is great, though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that HP can come up with a stronger tablet next time around,” she concluded.
 
Bloomberg
Rich Jaroslovsky, a self-professed fan of “the polished, easy-to-use webOS software,” wrote that the operating system made the leap from phone to tablet “beautifully.” However, he was surprised at some of HP’s struggles in the hardware department. In particular, Jaroslovsky took issue with the TouchPad’s weight, which is even heavier than Apple’s original iPad.
The reviewer appreciated aspects of the experience that, like Apple, arose from HP’s control of both the software and the hardware. For instance, the TouchPad can be paired with the Palm Pre 3 to pass information and even answer incoming calls and receive and send text messages.
But, the tablet “sometimes struggles with the basics,” often feeling “sluggish and underpowered,” according to Jaroslovsky. He was also disappointed by battery life, getting only 4 1/2 hours during stress testing.
“Especially given the TouchPads hardware shortcomings, youre probably better off waiting for a TouchPad 2,” he wrote.

Inside iOS 5: New lock screen notifications, receding iMessage keyboard

The second beta of Apple’s iOS 5.0 mobile operating system began making its way to developers on Friday, revealing cosmetic changes to certain lock-screen notifications, a slide away keyboard in iMessage, and other tweaks.
New Lock-Screen Alert Style
As previously discussed, users of iOS 5.0 this fall will be able to select between two distinct styles of notifications: traditional “Alert” notifications that overlay the screen (as they do in iOS 4.0) and require the user to dismiss them, and new “Banner” notifications that appear subtly at the top of the screen for a few seconds before rolling out of view and into the Notifications pull-down without any interaction.
With the release of iOS 5.0 beta 2, Apple has tweaked the display of traditional alerts that appear on the home screen, adorning them with slightly larger typeface and the icon of their associated application. After a few seconds without user interaction, however, these alerts will morph into the standard lock-screen alerts that tile one after the other on the lock-screen.

Receding Keyboard in iMessage
While it’s not exactly clear whether the feature was present in the initial iOS 5.0 beta, developers evaluating the updated iMessage app in beta 2 note that the keyboard will gracefully recede downwards and out of view when scrolling upwards in a message history.

New iCloud icons and Active OTA Software Updates
Also apparent in beta 2 is a switch from the purple iCloud icons Apple had in place throughout various panels in beta 1 to the brushed aluminum style present in iCloud marketing materials.



That same icon also shows up while adding a new iCloud mail account, which is now the default account creation type, relegating MobileMe to the end of the automated email account setup list. Also, the over-the-air Software Update mechanism appears active in beta 2.

Inside iOS 5: New lock screen notifications, receding iMessage keyboard

The second beta of Apple’s iOS 5.0 mobile operating system began making its way to developers on Friday, revealing cosmetic changes to certain lock-screen notifications, a slide away keyboard in iMessage, and other tweaks.
New Lock-Screen Alert Style
As previously discussed, users of iOS 5.0 this fall will be able to select between two distinct styles of notifications: traditional “Alert” notifications that overlay the screen (as they do in iOS 4.0) and require the user to dismiss them, and new “Banner” notifications that appear subtly at the top of the screen for a few seconds before rolling out of view and into the Notifications pull-down without any interaction.
With the release of iOS 5.0 beta 2, Apple has tweaked the display of traditional alerts that appear on the home screen, adorning them with slightly larger typeface and the icon of their associated application. After a few seconds without user interaction, however, these alerts will morph into the standard lock-screen alerts that tile one after the other on the lock-screen.

Receding Keyboard in iMessage
While it’s not exactly clear whether the feature was present in the initial iOS 5.0 beta, developers evaluating the updated iMessage app in beta 2 note that the keyboard will gracefully recede downwards and out of view when scrolling upwards in a message history.

New iCloud icons and Active OTA Software Updates
Also apparent in beta 2 is a switch from the purple iCloud icons Apple had in place throughout various panels in beta 1 to the brushed aluminum style present in iCloud marketing materials.



That same icon also shows up while adding a new iCloud mail account, which is now the default account creation type, relegating MobileMe to the end of the automated email account setup list. Also, the over-the-air Software Update mechanism appears active in beta 2.

Best Buy suspends MacBook Air orders ahead of refresh

Retailer Best Buy has put a hold on online MacBook Air orders, providing further evidence that Apple plans to release an updated version of its diminutive laptop.
 
Best Buy’s listings (via MacNN) for the current-generation MacBook Air are now listed as “Not Available for Shipping.” Meanwhile, all MacBook Air models on Apple’s Online Store remain ready for shipping.
Best Buy continues to offer the portables in its brick-and-mortar retail stores, though some locations have reportedly run out of stock. In the U.K., the big-box retailer allows orders for a MacBook Air with 128GB of storage, but only with in-store pickup at certain locations.
Apple is expected to refresh the MacBook Air line with Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors and the addition of the Thunderbolt port. However, people familiar with the matter have told AppleInsider that Apple is waiting until it can load a Gold Master build of Mac OS X Lion onto the notebooks before releasing them.
Mac OS X Lion is due for release on the Mac App Store in July. As a major upgrade to Apple’s flagship desktop OS, Lion will include more than 250 new features such as full screen apps, additional multi-touch gestures and Mission Control.

AppleInsider also reported earlier this month that Apple’s initial orders for the refreshed MacBook Airs, which were scheduled to begin production this month, were roughly 400,000 units. A recent report corroborated the targeted July release for MacBook Airs, though it also dubiously suggested shipments of the new laptop would reach “eight million MacBook Airs in the third quarter.”
Earlier this month, Apple executive Phil Schiller remarked that the MacBook Air has been a key driver of the company’s outpacing of the PC market. “It’s beautiful, it’s thin, it’s light, it’s fast,” Schiller said during the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. “The whole PC industry wants to copy it.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs pronounced the MacBook Air the “future of notebooks” last October during the current iteration’s unveiling at the “Back to the Mac” event. According to Jobs, the Mac maker took features from the iPad, such as “solid state storage, instant-on, amazing battery standby time, miniaturization and lightweight construction,” and translated them to the MacBook Air.

Best Buy suspends MacBook Air orders ahead of refresh

Retailer Best Buy has put a hold on online MacBook Air orders, providing further evidence that Apple plans to release an updated version of its diminutive laptop.
 
Best Buy’s listings (via MacNN) for the current-generation MacBook Air are now listed as “Not Available for Shipping.” Meanwhile, all MacBook Air models on Apple’s Online Store remain ready for shipping.
Best Buy continues to offer the portables in its brick-and-mortar retail stores, though some locations have reportedly run out of stock. In the U.K., the big-box retailer allows orders for a MacBook Air with 128GB of storage, but only with in-store pickup at certain locations.
Apple is expected to refresh the MacBook Air line with Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors and the addition of the Thunderbolt port. However, people familiar with the matter have told AppleInsider that Apple is waiting until it can load a Gold Master build of Mac OS X Lion onto the notebooks before releasing them.
Mac OS X Lion is due for release on the Mac App Store in July. As a major upgrade to Apple’s flagship desktop OS, Lion will include more than 250 new features such as full screen apps, additional multi-touch gestures and Mission Control.

AppleInsider also reported earlier this month that Apple’s initial orders for the refreshed MacBook Airs, which were scheduled to begin production this month, were roughly 400,000 units. A recent report corroborated the targeted July release for MacBook Airs, though it also dubiously suggested shipments of the new laptop would reach “eight million MacBook Airs in the third quarter.”
Earlier this month, Apple executive Phil Schiller remarked that the MacBook Air has been a key driver of the company’s outpacing of the PC market. “It’s beautiful, it’s thin, it’s light, it’s fast,” Schiller said during the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. “The whole PC industry wants to copy it.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs pronounced the MacBook Air the “future of notebooks” last October during the current iteration’s unveiling at the “Back to the Mac” event. According to Jobs, the Mac maker took features from the iPad, such as “solid state storage, instant-on, amazing battery standby time, miniaturization and lightweight construction,” and translated them to the MacBook Air.

Sprint CEO planning ‘nukes’ to block AT&T, T-Mobile merger

Hesse offered Bloomberg’s Greg Bensinger a rare glimpse into the “White Room” where he plans his offensive against ATT, using the room’s nearly wall-to-wall whiteboards to “map out “nukes” in red, blue and green ink.”

In addition to Sprint’s resources, the CEO has invested his own personal resources in stopping ATT. His strategy has included lobbying Congress, courting technology CEOs to speak out against the deal and convincing state regulators to examine the acquisition. And, according to the interview, Hesse has “other tactics” up his sleeve.

ATT announced in March that it had reached an agreement to purchase T-Mobile USA from parent company Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. The deal has quickly come under federal scrutiny, with the U.S. Senate, Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission all getting involved.
In May, Sprint filed a formal petition with the FCC objecting to the merger. ATT responded by claiming the deal would have no effect on the competitive landscape.

For Hesse, the deal represents a life-or-death situation for Sprint. During a Senate hearing last month, senators asked him what Sprint’s likelihood of survival would be if the proposed merger took place. “My position is that it would more difficult for Sprint to compete,” he replied. “This would be a duopoly, and it would put Sprint to be acquired.”

Hesse believes he’s fighting not just for Sprint’s survival but for the good of the industry and American consumers. The industry just wont be as innovative and as dynamic as it has been, he said during the interview. Itll gum up the works when everything has to go through these two big tollbooths, one thats called ATT and one thats called Verizon.

However, ATT maintains that the merger would help the wireless operator to operating more efficiently, cut costs, and thereby benefit customers. Their arguments about prices going up just defy economic logic, said ATT General Counsel Wayne Watts. Weve had wireless transactions multiple times over the last ten years and prices have gone one direction: theyve gone down.
According to the report, the executive has enlisted “lobbyists, consulting groups, two former U.S. House Judiciary Committee counsels and lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher Flom LLP.” Regardless, he may find himself outgunned, as ATT outspent Sprint in Washington by more than 12-to-1. In 2009 and 2010, ATT contributed $3.26 million to federal candidates, while Sprint donated just $257,500.

Interestingly enough, Hesse spent 23 years at ATT, and ran the company’s wireless business for three years before leaving in 2000. He insists, however, that his campaign against the deal isn’t personal.
Analysts have voiced concerns over Sprint’s long-term post-merger chances. If the deal goes through, Sprint remains the No. 3 player in the industry; their ability to ever become an ATT is shut off forever, said Credit Suisse AG analyst Jonathan Chaplin, who expects the merger will be approved.
However, Hesse remains optimistic. An underdog is not thinking about the point spread; theyre thinking about winning the game, he said. We can win this.

Sprint CEO planning ‘nukes’ to block AT&T, T-Mobile merger

Hesse offered Bloomberg’s Greg Bensinger a rare glimpse into the “White Room” where he plans his offensive against ATT, using the room’s nearly wall-to-wall whiteboards to “map out “nukes” in red, blue and green ink.”

In addition to Sprint’s resources, the CEO has invested his own personal resources in stopping ATT. His strategy has included lobbying Congress, courting technology CEOs to speak out against the deal and convincing state regulators to examine the acquisition. And, according to the interview, Hesse has “other tactics” up his sleeve.

ATT announced in March that it had reached an agreement to purchase T-Mobile USA from parent company Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. The deal has quickly come under federal scrutiny, with the U.S. Senate, Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission all getting involved.
In May, Sprint filed a formal petition with the FCC objecting to the merger. ATT responded by claiming the deal would have no effect on the competitive landscape.

For Hesse, the deal represents a life-or-death situation for Sprint. During a Senate hearing last month, senators asked him what Sprint’s likelihood of survival would be if the proposed merger took place. “My position is that it would more difficult for Sprint to compete,” he replied. “This would be a duopoly, and it would put Sprint to be acquired.”

Hesse believes he’s fighting not just for Sprint’s survival but for the good of the industry and American consumers. The industry just wont be as innovative and as dynamic as it has been, he said during the interview. Itll gum up the works when everything has to go through these two big tollbooths, one thats called ATT and one thats called Verizon.

However, ATT maintains that the merger would help the wireless operator to operating more efficiently, cut costs, and thereby benefit customers. Their arguments about prices going up just defy economic logic, said ATT General Counsel Wayne Watts. Weve had wireless transactions multiple times over the last ten years and prices have gone one direction: theyve gone down.
According to the report, the executive has enlisted “lobbyists, consulting groups, two former U.S. House Judiciary Committee counsels and lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher Flom LLP.” Regardless, he may find himself outgunned, as ATT outspent Sprint in Washington by more than 12-to-1. In 2009 and 2010, ATT contributed $3.26 million to federal candidates, while Sprint donated just $257,500.

Interestingly enough, Hesse spent 23 years at ATT, and ran the company’s wireless business for three years before leaving in 2000. He insists, however, that his campaign against the deal isn’t personal.
Analysts have voiced concerns over Sprint’s long-term post-merger chances. If the deal goes through, Sprint remains the No. 3 player in the industry; their ability to ever become an ATT is shut off forever, said Credit Suisse AG analyst Jonathan Chaplin, who expects the merger will be approved.
However, Hesse remains optimistic. An underdog is not thinking about the point spread; theyre thinking about winning the game, he said. We can win this.

Google confirms FTC conducting review of its business

Google has confirmed that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is opening an investigation into the company’s business practices.
In an official blog post on Friday entitled “Supporting choice, ensuring economic opportunity,” the company said it had received notification from the FTC regarding the initiation of a review of its business.
“We respect the FTCs process and will be working with them (as we have with other agencies) over the coming months to answer questions about Google and our services,” the post read.
Google said the exact nature of the commission’s concerns remained unclear, while continuing to vouch for the reliability and integrity of its search results. The post highlighted the company’s guiding principles for search, which include:

• Do whats best for the user.
• Provide the most relevant answers as quickly as possible.
• Label advertisements clearly.
• Be transparent.
• Loyalty, not lock-in.

“These are the principles that guide us, and we know theyll stand up to scrutiny. Were committed to giving you choices, ensuring that businesses can grow and create jobs, and, ultimately, fostering an Internet that benefits us all,” the company said.
Rumblings of an imminent FTC antitrust investigation emerged earlier in the week. Sources close to the federal agency told The New York Times that FTC lawyers had been looking into Google’s search and advertising operations for months to determine whether the company had engaged in “illegal anticompetitive behavior” in its search result rankings and advertising sales.
Google’s success in the search engine market has drawn comparisons to Microsoft’s Windows monopoly. As of May, Google held 65.5 percent of the U.S. search market, while Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing accounted for 16 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
During the search engine’s rise to prominence, rival companies have called for antitrust investigations of Google. One organization, FairSearch.org, represents companies, including Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak and Microsoft, concerned that “Google is abusing its search monopoly to thwart competition.”
“Google engages in anticompetitive behavior across many vertical categories of search that harms consumers, the organization said in a statement. The result of Googles anticompetitive practices is to curb innovation and investment in new technologies by other companies.
Apple’s complicated relationship will likely come under scrutiny during the FTC investigation. Last year, the agency cited the Cupertino, Calif., iPhone maker’s entry into the advertising market as a reason to approve Google’s acquisition of advertising agency AdMob. Apple launched the iAd platform last year after acquiring Quattro Wireless.

Google confirms FTC conducting review of its business

Google has confirmed that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is opening an investigation into the company’s business practices.
In an official blog post on Friday entitled “Supporting choice, ensuring economic opportunity,” the company said it had received notification from the FTC regarding the initiation of a review of its business.
“We respect the FTCs process and will be working with them (as we have with other agencies) over the coming months to answer questions about Google and our services,” the post read.
Google said the exact nature of the commission’s concerns remained unclear, while continuing to vouch for the reliability and integrity of its search results. The post highlighted the company’s guiding principles for search, which include:

• Do whats best for the user.
• Provide the most relevant answers as quickly as possible.
• Label advertisements clearly.
• Be transparent.
• Loyalty, not lock-in.

“These are the principles that guide us, and we know theyll stand up to scrutiny. Were committed to giving you choices, ensuring that businesses can grow and create jobs, and, ultimately, fostering an Internet that benefits us all,” the company said.
Rumblings of an imminent FTC antitrust investigation emerged earlier in the week. Sources close to the federal agency told The New York Times that FTC lawyers had been looking into Google’s search and advertising operations for months to determine whether the company had engaged in “illegal anticompetitive behavior” in its search result rankings and advertising sales.
Google’s success in the search engine market has drawn comparisons to Microsoft’s Windows monopoly. As of May, Google held 65.5 percent of the U.S. search market, while Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing accounted for 16 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
During the search engine’s rise to prominence, rival companies have called for antitrust investigations of Google. One organization, FairSearch.org, represents companies, including Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak and Microsoft, concerned that “Google is abusing its search monopoly to thwart competition.”
“Google engages in anticompetitive behavior across many vertical categories of search that harms consumers, the organization said in a statement. The result of Googles anticompetitive practices is to curb innovation and investment in new technologies by other companies.
Apple’s complicated relationship will likely come under scrutiny during the FTC investigation. Last year, the agency cited the Cupertino, Calif., iPhone maker’s entry into the advertising market as a reason to approve Google’s acquisition of advertising agency AdMob. Apple launched the iAd platform last year after acquiring Quattro Wireless.

Teardown of Apple’s new Time Capsule reveals consumer, not server, grade HDD

According to one teardown of Apple’s Time Capsule released earlier this week, the hard disk drive inside the wireless base station is a consumer version, not a server-grade disk as advertised by Apple.


French Mac site MacBidouille tore down Apple’s fourth-generation Time Capsule. The 2TB Time Capsule received by the publication featured a Western Digital Caviar Green HDD.
Various publications have noted that the WD Caviar Green model is generally considered consumer class. However, on its website, Apple advertises the Time Capsule as having a “Serial ATA server-grade hard disk drive.”
According to MacNN, a comparable server-grade model to the Caviar Green would be the RE4-GP. However, the RE4-GP does not have a 3TB option.
Apple quietly released the new Time Capsule on Tuesday, adding a 3TB model and discontinuing the 1TB option. Hints of upcoming Time Capsule and Airport Extreme refreshes were discovered inside a routine Airport Utility update earlier in the month.
The first-generation Time Capsule from 2008 used a Hitachi Deskstar, which was also criticized as not being server-grade. The 2009 model used a Western Digital Caviar Blue drive.

The rest of the teardown revealed no other significant changes, though the publication claims that the addition of rumored features, such as a private cloud, an iTunes server for the network, or local storage of software updates, “will certainly come later via a firmware update of the terminal.”

Apple also quietly released a new Airport Extreme model on Tuesday. While the company doesn’t advertise any specific changes to the device, AppleInsider reported on Thursday that Apple’s filing with the FCC for the new Airport Extreme revealed the base station may have as much as a 2.8 times power boost over its predecessor. That power boost could theoretically provide a 60 percent increase in range, but real-world usage will vary.

Teardown of Apple’s new Time Capsule reveals consumer, not server, grade HDD

According to one teardown of Apple’s Time Capsule released earlier this week, the hard disk drive inside the wireless base station is a consumer version, not a server-grade disk as advertised by Apple.


French Mac site MacBidouille tore down Apple’s fourth-generation Time Capsule. The 2TB Time Capsule received by the publication featured a Western Digital Caviar Green HDD.
Various publications have noted that the WD Caviar Green model is generally considered consumer class. However, on its website, Apple advertises the Time Capsule as having a “Serial ATA server-grade hard disk drive.”
According to MacNN, a comparable server-grade model to the Caviar Green would be the RE4-GP. However, the RE4-GP does not have a 3TB option.
Apple quietly released the new Time Capsule on Tuesday, adding a 3TB model and discontinuing the 1TB option. Hints of upcoming Time Capsule and Airport Extreme refreshes were discovered inside a routine Airport Utility update earlier in the month.
The first-generation Time Capsule from 2008 used a Hitachi Deskstar, which was also criticized as not being server-grade. The 2009 model used a Western Digital Caviar Blue drive.

The rest of the teardown revealed no other significant changes, though the publication claims that the addition of rumored features, such as a private cloud, an iTunes server for the network, or local storage of software updates, “will certainly come later via a firmware update of the terminal.”

Apple also quietly released a new Airport Extreme model on Tuesday. While the company doesn’t advertise any specific changes to the device, AppleInsider reported on Thursday that Apple’s filing with the FCC for the new Airport Extreme revealed the base station may have as much as a 2.8 times power boost over its predecessor. That power boost could theoretically provide a 60 percent increase in range, but real-world usage will vary.

Facebook’s Zuckerberg modeled early management style after Steve Jobs

According to one of Facebook’s early employees, founder Mark Zuckerberg admired Apple CEO Steve Jobs and modeled his early management style after Jobs’ “aggressive” style.
Former Facebook designer Bryan Veloso described Zuckerberg’s respect for Jobs while explaining the origin of his notorious “I’m CEO, bitch” business cards. “It’s no secret that [Zuckerberg] looked up to Steve Jobs at the time,” Veloso wrote of the early days of Facebook.
“When Aaron Sittig and I were the only designers in late 2005, he would hold his design meetings with us in that classic “aggressive” Steve Jobs-style,” he continued. “It was during one of those meetings where I remember him first uttering the phrase, “I’m CEO, bitch”"
When designing Zuckerberg’s business card, Veloso “felt comfortable” having fun with the tagline and added the quote. “Quite simply, it was a phrase I typed in that stuck,” he said. According to Veloso, the cards represented the company culture at the time, but were eventually replaced as the company grew.
Zuckerberg’s quick rise to success and idiosyncratic style have drawn comparisons to Jobs. Last December, Zuckerberg beat out Jobs for the honor of Time magazine’s annual “Person of the Year” title. Jobs was instead listed as one of the magazine’s “People Who Mattered.”




The Facebook founder also topped Jobs on Forbes magazine’s list of the wealthiest Americans last year. Zuckerberg came in 35th place with an estimated net worth of $6.9 billion, while Jobs placed 42nd with a net worth of $6.1 billion.
Last fall, Jobs hosted Zuckerberg at his house to discuss Apple’s Ping social music service.
Recent rumors have suggested that Facebook is looking to work around Apple’s App Store with a secretive HTML5 project in order to maintain control over its platform. However, Apple is reportedly aware of the project and is believed to have lent some “minor support” to it.

Facebook’s Zuckerberg modeled early management style after Steve Jobs

According to one of Facebook’s early employees, founder Mark Zuckerberg admired Apple CEO Steve Jobs and modeled his early management style after Jobs’ “aggressive” style.
Former Facebook designer Bryan Veloso described Zuckerberg’s respect for Jobs while explaining the origin of his notorious “I’m CEO, bitch” business cards. “It’s no secret that [Zuckerberg] looked up to Steve Jobs at the time,” Veloso wrote of the early days of Facebook.
“When Aaron Sittig and I were the only designers in late 2005, he would hold his design meetings with us in that classic “aggressive” Steve Jobs-style,” he continued. “It was during one of those meetings where I remember him first uttering the phrase, “I’m CEO, bitch”"
When designing Zuckerberg’s business card, Veloso “felt comfortable” having fun with the tagline and added the quote. “Quite simply, it was a phrase I typed in that stuck,” he said. According to Veloso, the cards represented the company culture at the time, but were eventually replaced as the company grew.
Zuckerberg’s quick rise to success and idiosyncratic style have drawn comparisons to Jobs. Last December, Zuckerberg beat out Jobs for the honor of Time magazine’s annual “Person of the Year” title. Jobs was instead listed as one of the magazine’s “People Who Mattered.”




The Facebook founder also topped Jobs on Forbes magazine’s list of the wealthiest Americans last year. Zuckerberg came in 35th place with an estimated net worth of $6.9 billion, while Jobs placed 42nd with a net worth of $6.1 billion.
Last fall, Jobs hosted Zuckerberg at his house to discuss Apple’s Ping social music service.
Recent rumors have suggested that Facebook is looking to work around Apple’s App Store with a secretive HTML5 project in order to maintain control over its platform. However, Apple is reportedly aware of the project and is believed to have lent some “minor support” to it.