after Steve Jobs, is Apple losing some ‘cool’?

tags: apple,steve jobs ,apple stock,timcook,after apple

One year after Steve Jobs died, the Apple stock has risen 78%. If that was the only yardstick, the question in the headline is meaningless. For its cultish followers, Apple is not just a dollar value flickering on a ticker. A mesmerising 'desirability quotient' and breakthrough technology, design, and intuitiveness of all products are as much a part of the Apple aura as the $620 billion marketcap of the world's most valuable company. 

So, last week, when Apple CEO Tim Cook told customers he was 'extremely sorry' for the frustration its new Maps application had caused them, the stock lost $12 billion, a 2.1% decline. The Apple legend had taken another hit, the fourth such blow in 2012. That's how many missteps Cook has publicly acknowledged this year. Apple has made such admissions only 16 times in 36 years. 

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Apple remains the fastest-growing global brand in the world

apple ,fastest growing brand ,steve jobs,market value of apple ,google vs apple
by vamsi pandranki
Apple remains the fastest-growing global brand a year after its founder Steve Jobs' death. The maker of iPhone and iPadimproved its ranking in the annual Best Global Brands report of Interbrand to No. 2 in 2012 from No. 8 last year and its brand value increased 129 per cent to $76.57 billion (approx Rs 4 lakh crore). 

While Coca-Cola retained the top slot, technology brands occupied half of the top 10 slots. This despite Interbrand considering No. 3 IBM a business service brand rather than a technology brand. Here is a look at some findings of the study: 

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Sergey Brin spotted wearing Google Glass specs as he blends in on NYC subway

tags: google ,sergey brin,googleglassspecs,newyork subway

Google last week announced its first two ‘hackathon’ events for Google Glass developers, and the company is aiming to make its wearable glasses technology something that can be used by anyone at any place. Except that this is already happening as you’d have seen if you took the downtown train in New York on Sunday, as Brooklyn resident Noah Zerkindid.

Zerkin, who is a wearable technology and augmented reality enthusiast, ran into Sergey Brin and chatted with “the most powerful man in the world”. As the photo that he tweeted shows, the Google co-founder was sporting a set of Google Glass specs out in public, as he is known for doing.

That a man as fabulously wealthy as Brin uses the train to get around is quite amusing. With his winter hat, beard and plastic bag, he looks just like a regular guy. Albeit one rocking a $1,500 set of glasses.

It’s pretty incredible to think that this technology — which was unveiled last April and demoed at Google IO in June when Brin showed a video of him skydiving with a pair – is being worn out and about among ordinary people, many of whom probably have no idea what it is…let alone how much it is worth.

Is this a glimpse of the future when ordinary folks are wearing Google Glass while doing everyday activities…? Brin will certainly hope so.

Update: When we asked Zerkin what he talked about with Brin, he gave us an account that he preferred to remain off the record (no problem). But, now he has opened up and blogged about it (here) if you’re curious to know more.

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Get a Free .in Web Domain and Hosting from Google

Google India, in partnership with ICICI Bank and HostGator (the web hosting company), has launched a new program called India Get Online where they make it easy for you to setup a website for your business for free (see video).
As part of the deal, you get a free .in web domain (provided it is available) and free web hosting for one year. The .in domain will registered to you while Hostgator will manage the website hosting* though you can move the site to any other web host for free.
Such free offers are always a goldmine for spammers but Google India has made it mandatory for businesses to enter their Permanent Account Number (PAN) or Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN) at the time of registration. Since these numbers are unique for every individual / business, you can’t avail it more than once.
Your website will be integrated with Google Apps so you also get access to other Google products like Gmail, Google Analytics, Google Docs and more. You also get Google Adwords coupons worth INR 2.5k for free to help you advertise your website on Google and AdSense network sites.
[*] If you have purchased a web domain already, you can also use Google App Engine to host your website online for free.You can visit vijashiviinternational.in or khoslaprinters.in to get an idea of how sites created with the “India Get Online” look like. There’s a set of ready-made web templates, pick one that matches your business profile, you can customize the text and pictures of the pages and your site is good to go.
Google hasn’t exactly specified the amount that businesses will have to pay to renew their website registration and hosting after one year except saying that it will be a “discounted fee.”

How to Create a Website with Google

The following video will walk you through the whole process of registering your .in web domain and then setting up your website using one of the available themes.

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How to Sign-up for Google Apps for Free – Video Tutorial

Google Apps is no longer free. If you wish to have a branded email address that reads like myname@mydomain.com instead of myname@gmail.com, you will have to subscribe to the Business edition of Google Apps and that will cost you at least $50 per year.
You have options though. You can either configure your web domain with Outlook.com (for personalized email addresses) or, if you prefer the Gmail interface over Outlook, you can use the Mail Fetcher option inside Gmail to manage your Outlook emails from within Gmail.

How to Get the Free Edition of Google Apps

Alternatively, here’s a quick and simple workaround that will still let you sign-up for the free edition of Google Apps even though Google has officially retired the free edition – all you need is a free Gmail or Google account.

1. Go to appengine.google.com, sign-in with your Google Account and create a new Application. You may fill in any dummy date and click the “Create Application” button.
2. Open the “Dashboard” and on the next screen, click the link that says “Application Settings.”
3. Scroll down a little (refer to the video tutorial) and choose “Add Domain” to associate a domain with your App Engine application.
4. That’s it. Now you should see a special link* to sign-up for the free edition of Google Apps. You may either use your existing domain or buy one through Google Apps.

[*] You have to access this link through App Engine as Google Apps checks the HTTP Referrer information before serving up the sign-up page for the free edition of Google Apps.Related reading: Register Web Domains with Google Apps
Also, the Google App Engine website says that you only get a single-user Google Apps account when you sign-up through App Engine but in my testing, I could create additional users as well inside Google Apps.

Video Tutorial – Sign-up for Google Apps

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