Going Ape Over the iPad. Firefox Phones Are Coming

Isn't it tragically funny or funnily tragic that some people in China, and most likely in a lot of other countries as well, are willing to give up a kidney or two, or some other internal organs, just to own an iPad?

But even more tragic or funnier is the news that the Smithsonian's National Zoo has gifted the orangutans under its care with an iPad each.

Such a piece of news could either give you some laughing fits or make you really angry, especially if you are among us who cannot just afford an iPad yet.

I wonder what the humane societies would have to say about this. What if those apes wanted a Google Nexus 7 instead or perhaps a Microsoft Surface RT?

Should somebody be suing the Smithsonian's zoo for committing acts of cruelty against helpless animals?

Firefox Phones

Mozilla announced the Keon and Peak, the first handsets that run the organization's HTML5-based Firefox mobile operating system.

The first handsets running Mozilla's HTML5-based Firefox mobile OS are coming.

Developed in partnership with Geekphone and Telefonica, Keon and Peak are not full-retail models. Instead, the units are designed for developers interested in building and testing apps for the Firefox mobile OS.

Nokia launches 1 Series of mobile phones: Nokia 110 and Nokia 112

Seeking to regain its long-held and recently lost crown as the world's largest vendor of mobile phones, Nokia today launched its 1 Series of affordable handsets. But in a twist of some sort, instead of the usual low-cost mobile phones, the Finnish company came up with the Nokia 110 and Nokia 112.

Nokia 110 offers users an inexpensive yet fast means of connecting to the Internet, its vendor says.

Now, these phones may be inexpensive, but they offer young and urban consumers a fast and affordable means of connecting via social networks. They come with the Nokia Browser, an Internet browser Nokia claims reduces data consumption by up to 90 percent. This means the phones offer online access, while saving their users in terms of time and data costs.

Nokia needs to arrest decline in emerging markets

Nokia is having a hard time catching traction in the smartphone market.

While most reviewers have only good things to say about its Lumia series of Windows Phone-powered smartphones, consumers are somehow not buying.

Nokia's Lumia 900 and other Windows Phone smartphones get all the media attention.

And although most of the more than 2 million who actually bought the phones as of the first quarter of 2012 are very much satisfied about their Nokia smartphones, there are just not enough of them to counterbalance all the bad news hitting the Finnish mobile vendor.

Finally, with Nokia's Lumia 800, Windows users need not be embarrassed by their phones

Let's admit it, most fans of Windows have been afflicted with smartphone envy, for the longest time. While lovers of the iOS and Android platforms have been proudly and at times brashly displaying their iPhones and Android phones, users of Windows-badged smartphones are surreptitiously using their own.

The humiliation, both self-imposed and bestowed by popular culture and market realities, has continued for quite some time. That is, until now.

Nokia's Lumia 800 eases Windows users' smartphone envy.

Last week's launch of the Lumia 800 smartphone by Nokia finally ends most Windows users' wait for a real "Windows smartphone." Finally, Windows users need not feel inadequate each time an Android or iPhone fan whips out his or her smartphone.

Microsoft and Nokia join forces in smartphone market

Of all the analysts who publicized their reactions to the Microsoft-Nokia smartphone deal announced on February 11, Blue Badge Insights founder Andrew Brust seemed to be the most rational I have seen so far. He said (in an interview with http://www.eweek.com/), "The two companies are on their respective back feet."

Brust added, "But they can certainly help each other: Microsoft gets global reach and market share from Nokia; Nokia upgrades from the somewhat stunted Symbian OS to something modern, touch-centric and contemporary in design value, through Microsoft's WP7."

Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

Now, compare that with the vitriol and beratings mouthed by some other analysts, industry rivals and partners, and even consumers. These people seem to remain unable to forgive Microsoft for its role in the Wintel homogeny during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Gadgets on my wish list

Christmas is barely a couple of months away, and this early, people are getting ready with their lists -- of the people (family, friends, and coworkers) they would give gifts to and of the goodies they would buy for them. This happens every year.

And on these islands, the effects seem more pronounced than they are overseas. Somehow, whenever the "Ber" months come, people transform into clones of Santa Claus and his helpers, combined. Manufacturers and sellers, meanwhile, are crossing their fingers too. After all, the holiday season accounts for a large portion of their annual sales.

Nokia fights for smart-phone turf with the N8

(Nokia's N8 smart phone)

Nokia has got news for all smart-phone enthusiasts out there. The Finnish mobile phone vendor wishes to remind you all, it is the number 1, numero uno, the big boss, in the smart-phone arena. And Nokia might have a soft voice right now, it is nevertheless holding a very big stick -- the N8.