Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Tributes for Steve Jobs, dead at 56
BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN"Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor."
MARK ZUCKERBERG, FACEBOOK FOUNDER AND CEO, ON FACEBOOK
"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.
BOB IGER, CEO OF WALT DISNEY CO
"Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started."
MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL, ON TWITTER
"Steve Jobs is an inspiration to American entrepreneurs. He will be missed."
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, FORMER CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR, ON TWITTER
"Steve lived the California Dream every day of his life and he changed the world and inspired all of us."
INVESTOR MARC ANDREESSEN
"Steve was the best of the best. Like Mozart and Picasso, he may never be equalled."
PAUL ALLEN, CO-FOUNDER OF MICROSOFT
"We've lost a unique tech pioneer and auteur who knew how to make amazingly great products. Steve fought a long battle against tough odds in a very brave way. He kept doing amazing things in the face of all that adversity. As someone who has had his own medical challenges, I couldn't help but be encouraged by how he persevered."
MICHAEL DELL, CEO OF DELL INC
"Today the world lost a visionary leader, the technology industry lost an iconic legend and I lost a friend and fellow founder. The legacy of Steve Jobs will be remembered for generations to come."
LARRY PAGE, CEO OF GOOGLE, ON GOOGLE+
"He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me."
STEVE CASE, FOUNDER OF AOL, ON TWITTER
"I feel honored to have known Steve Jobs. He was the most innovative entrepreneur of our generation. His legacy will live on for the ages."
SPIKE LEE, PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/ACTOR, ON TWITTER
"VISIONARIES are always called CRAZY in the beginning. A VISIONARY sees things that everybody else says is IMPOSSIBLE, sees a World that People can't invision (sic)-MAC, IPOD, IPAD, IPHONE, ITUNES and PIXAR. I have nothing but Love for Mr. Jobs and Apple, they have always given me and my films L-O-V-E. Peace and Blessings to his family."
Steve Jobs, Apple's visionary leader dies
His death was announced by Apple and sparked an immediate outpouring of sadness and sympathy from world leaders, competitors and other businessmen including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The Silicon Valley icon who gave the world the iPod, iPhone and iPad had stepped down as chief executive of the world's largest technology company in August, handing the reins to long-time lieutenant Tim Cook.
He was deemed the heart and soul of a company that rivals Exxon Mobil as the most valuable in America.
"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve," Apple said in a statement.
"His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."
Apple paid homage to their visionary leader by changing their website to a big black-and-white photograph of him with the caption "Steve Jobs: 1955-2011." The flags outside the company's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop flew at half mast.
Jobs' health had been a controversial topic for years and his battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer a deep concern to Apple fans and investors.
In past years, even board members have confided to friends their concern that Jobs, in his quest for privacy, was not being forthcoming enough with directors about the true condition of his health.
Now, despite much investor confidence in Cook, who has stood in for his boss during three leaves of absence, there remain concerns about whether Apple would stay a creative force to be reckoned with in the longer term without its visionary.
Jobs died one day after the consumer electronics powerhouse unveiled its latest iPhone, the gadget that transformed mobile communications and catapulted Apple to the highest echelons of the tech world.
His death triggered an immediate outpouring of sympathy.
"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come," Gates said. "For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely."
Outside an Apple store in New York, mourners laid candles, bouquets of flowers, an apple and an iPod Touch in a makeshift memorial.
"I think half the world found out about his death on an Apple device," said Robbie Sokolowsky, 32, an employee for an online marketing company, who lit a candle outside the store.
Cook said in a statement that Apple planned to hold a celebration of Jobs' life for employees "soon".
Apple, NeXT, iPhone A college dropout, Buddhist and son of adoptive parents, Jobs started Apple Computer with friend Steve Wozniak in 1976. The company soon introduced the Apple 1 computer.
But it was the Apple II that became a huge success and gave Apple its position as a critical player in the then-nascent PC industry, culminating in a 1980 initial public offering that made Jobs a multimillionaire.
Despite the subsequent success of the Macintosh computer, Jobs' relationship with top management and the board soured. The company removed most of his powers and then in 1985 he was fired.
Apple's fortunes waned after that. However, its purchase of NeXT -- the computer company Jobs founded after leaving Apple -- in 1997 brought him back into the fold. Later that year, he became interim CEO and in 2000, the company dropped "interim" from his title.
Along the way Jobs also had managed to revolutionize computer animation with his other company, Pixar, but it was the iPhone in 2007 that secured his legacy in the annals of modern technology history.
Forbes estimates Jobs' net worth at $6.1 billion in 2010, placing him in 42nd place on the list of America's richest. It was not immediately known how his estate would be handled.
Six years ago, Jobs had talked about how a sense of his mortality was a major driver behind that vision.
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005.
"Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."
"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
Symantec to offer data loss prevention solution for Tablets
It's the first comprehensive Data Loss Prevention solution for monitoring and protection of sensitive information on tablet computers, the company said in a statement.
Available first for the Apple iPad, Symantec Data Loss Prevention for Tablet would provide content-aware protection.
"The solution is designed to maintain user productivity and protect an organisation's confidential data at the same time", it said.
The company said Symantec Data Loss Prevention for Tablet would enable users to utilise the tablets they are demanding while monitoring and controlling the transmission of confidential data from these devices with content awareness.
The product is designed to enable organisations to support work and personal use concurrently across corporate and personal email, web communications, and common applications available for the iPad, it was stated.
The protection would extend to the device and information on it, irrespective of whether the user is connected via 3G or Wi-Fi. Support for the Android tablet operating system is also scheduled to be available next year, the company said.
"With the massive growth in tablet adoptions, customers have struggled how to extend information protection to this new consumer tool as it makes its way onto the enterprise networks." said Gaurav Mahendru, Specialist - Sales, Information Protection, India, Symantec.
"Symantec Data Loss Prevention for Tablet will enable IT to better support their businesses in adopting this new technology, while also maintaining strong protections for their sensitive information", he added.
Samsung pays tribute to Steve Jobs
The two firms are embroiled in a bitter patent row but Samsung chief G.S. Choi said: "Chairman Steve Jobs introduced numerous revolutionary changes to the information technology industry and was a great entrepreneur."
"His innovative spirit and remarkable accomplishments will forever be remembered by people around the world," he said in a statement, adding the Korean company was saddened by Jobs' death.
Jobs died in the United States at the age of 56 on Wednesday after losing a long battle with cancer.
Samsung, the world's number two mobile phone maker, has been competing against Apple in global smartphone and tablet computer markets led by the US technology giant's iconic iPhone and iPad.
The two rivals have launched a series of patent lawsuits around the world, accusing each other of infringing technologies and designs of their smartphones and tablet PCs.
Samsung said Wednesday it would seek a ban in France and Italy on sales of Apple's newly released iPhone 4S, in the latest round of legal battles underway in nations including Australia, Germany and the Netherlands.
India unveils world's cheapest tablet computer
India plans to provide the tablet computers, which cost $50, to students at a subsidized rate of $35. Critics say the greater need in rural areas is for teachers.
Apple's iPad at $499, Amazon's Kindle Fire at $199 and the HP TouchPad at $99. How about a tablet computer for $35 with hope of an eventual $10 price tag?India on Wednesday unveiled the Aakash, which means "sky" in Hindi, and billed it as the world's least-expensive tablet. The plan is to distribute thousands of the computers in coming months to students at a government-subsidized rate of $35.
It has taken several years to develop, faced a lot of skepticism and received help from taxpayers given the state's actual cost of around $50.
But the Aakash offers the promise of computing to millions of people in rural India who seem to be living more in the 19th century than the 21st.
"Today we reach to the sky and demonstrate what is possible," said Kapil Sibal, India's information technology and human resources development minister. "Let me send a message, not just to our children but the children of the world: This is for all those who are marginalized."
The 13-ounce touch-screen device can handle basic computing, including email, social networking, Web surfing, online banking, instant messaging and multimedia. The stripped-down system uses Google's Android 2.2 operating system and comes with headphones, WiFi access, two USB slots, 256 megabytes of internal memory and a 7-inch screen. It's not considered on the same level as the more advanced tablets available.
"This will allow basic computing beyond the mobile phone," said Vishal Tripathi, an analyst with Gartner, a high-tech research firm.
The device will probably get a strong reception from students in remote areas, many of whom have never used a computer, provided the government can deliver on its promise.
Pervasive corruption and bureaucratic ineptitude have undermined a host of government programs, including food distribution, jobs, healthcare and road building. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhionce said he was lucky if 15% of every rupee got to its intended recipient.
Some critics also questioned the program's basic premise of providing electronics to help students in rural areas.
"I'm not against computers, but it needs to be thought through," said Aruna Sankaranarayanan, director of Prayatna, a civic group focused on education. "Most rural schools aren't even equipped with toilets or teachers. Just giving computers [doesn't] guarantee computer literacy. There are more crying needs."
Despite its reputation for call centers and legions of engineers, India still lags in many high-tech areas. Only about half the nation's 25,000 colleges are linked to the Internet under the government's National Mission on Education program. Of these, less than 15% have broadband of at least 512 kilobits per second.
Many of the potential student users may also see the computers more as a way to chat with friends than read the lectures India is offering online.
"I'll probably use it mostly for Facebook," Ravi Banshiwal, 22, a commerce student from Delhi, said with a laugh. "So we need to thank the minister for that. We'll send him a tweet first thing."
Suneet Singh Tuli, chief executive of Britain-based DataWind, the company that designed, sourced and built the device, said he's negotiating with Indian telecom carriers for a low monthly rate for Internet access bundled with an upgraded Aakash. The current model can access the Web only through WiFi hot spots, which are nonexistent in many parts of the country.
The Aakash will be assembled in India, and officials expressed hope that it will jump-start its computer hardware industry and complement the nation's software strengths. About 16% of the 800 components are sourced here, while about 70% comes from South Korea, China and the U.S.
History is littered with well-meaning products that fell short. Initially conceived in 2006 as a personal computer, this one morphed into a tablet after repeated delays and coordination problems. Two years ago, DataWind showed off a $10 version that was dismissed as little more than a storage device.
Officials hope the new device will become cheaper and more powerful over time.
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