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Forrester Research has released statistics that indicate that consumers will spend approximately 10.6 percent less on information technology products this year than last year.  In January, the research firm had predicted a 3 percent drop in tech spending in the United States.  They have now revised that figure to 5.1 percent less for the U.S.

The reports from Forrester Research also predict that technology spending will increase during the fourth quarter of this year for the United States.  Other global areas may not see spending resume until the first quarter of 2010.  In a statement released by Forrester Research, it said the following of the predictions, ““While Q1 2009 saw a scary drop in purchases in the US tech market, ironically that is good news for the long run and we expect to see a stronger rebound sooner.”

All information technology products are expected to experience a drop in sales this year, including computer equipment, software and communications products.  This is not the only market forecast firm to indicate that sales will be much worse than first expected. Gartner released similar findings back in March.

Read [Information Week]

• Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction

When you buy Fraps, you are probably purchasing the software as a way to capture screenshots.  With Fraps, you don’t have to copy and paste into another application as a way to capture a screenshot.  You will instead set up one touch copying, which will automatically name and save the file.  Check out these free alternatives for your screen capturing needs.

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Twitter is updating its interface to make certain features more user friendly.  Most of the updates are to affect the Follower and Following list pages found on the mini blog website.  You can now perform more actions while at the pages, which will likely make these lists better utilized.  New actions added to these pages include mobile updates, direct messaging, and unfollow.  Previously, there weren’t any actions permitted on these pages and they were just a listing of your Following and Follower friends.

Additional updates include the ability to change Follower and Following pages to the easier to read list view.  The expanded view previously available made it difficult to view information about all of the accounts you were following.  The design has also been adjusted on these pages to accommodate these changes.

More over, Twitter is now allowing users to view the accounts that other people are following on the site.  If you see an account that interests you, you will have access to the action that allows you to follow them for yourself. 

Read: [Twitter Blog]

• Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction

Most of the major cell phone companies based in Europe have signed an agreement that requires them to employ a universal cell phone charger for all of their models.  Newly released models will all use the same port in order to charge, the micro USB.  This transition is supposed to start as quickly as next year.

Manufacturers that have currently signed the agreement, include Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Apple and RIM.  Apple was a surprise addition to the agreement since everyone knows that Apple utilizes a dock connector.  The agreement is not legally binding, but it is expected that most companies will cooperate in order to offer universal charging capabilities in Europe.

Currently, there are dozens of mobile phone charger types available for European cell phones, which makes this agreement all the more impressive.  Unfortunately, the United States has no such deal in the works, which probably means we’ll be stuck with different charger types for years to come.

Read: [ZDNet]

• Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction

Sharp has released the new Solar Phone SH002 in Japan this month as a way to get a jump on the solar powered cell phone market.  The company claims that ten minutes of sun exposure allows for one minute of talk time or two hours of standby time.  Sharp has also stated that the Solar Phone SH002 is waterproof.

To use, the solar panel on the outside should be placed in direct sunlight.  As it charges, either a “Charging” or “Solar Power Not Available” will appear on the device.  Outlet charging is also available on the mobile. 

Initial reports state that the Solar Phone SH002 does not have the ability to rely solely on the sun to operate and the solar powered functionality should only be used as a backup.  Product testers found that it took approximately sixty minutes to get three minutes of talk time out of the device.  The solar power option is ideal though for an emergency situation where a charger is not available.  Announcements have been made that Samsung and LG are both currently working on solar powered cell phones for distribution in the United States. 

Read: [Fast Company]

• Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction

In order to stay competitive with Apple, Sony is considering adding cell phone functionality to its portable gaming console, the PSP.  The phone and game hybrid may not be marketed under the PSP name, but the device will likely have many of the similar features of the Sony PSP, including using discs to play movies and games.

According to sources, a development team is expected to start working in July to combine the features of PSP and Sony Ericsson phones.  Many top name game manufacturers have started to offer gaming options to Apple, including Capcom.  If Sony wants to remain relevant, they have to consider ways to alter their current product line to appeal to more consumers.

Sony has not officially commented on the reports and similar rumors floated around about two years ago when Sony filed a patent for a PSP/phone hybrid.  At the time, British Telecom had stated it was working with the company to bring phone functionality to the PSP.

Read: [Reuters]

• Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction

Wikipedia editors have found themselves overwhelmed as scores of users log on to make edits to Michael Jackson’s Wikipedia page.  His death was quickly reported on the site, but users continuously tried to delete the references and made comments, such as “He’s Not Dead” and “Unverified.”  The references came soon after TMZ reported the death on their website around 2:00 PM yesterday.

Due to the overwhelming number of users that descended on the site, Wikipedia was overloaded by 3:00 PM and visitors received an error message when trying to log on. The editors of Wikipedia finally had enough of the unsubstantiated reports that flooded the pop star’s page and locked it for six hours until more information was available on the death.

You can now find a disclaimer at the top of Jackson’s Wiki page that states, “This article is about a person who has recently died. Some information, such as that pertaining to the circumstances of the person’s death and surrounding events, may change rapidly as more facts become known.”  The page is also has a semi-protection grade lock which prevents unknown IP addresses and unconfirmed users to make edits.

Read: [CNET]

• Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction

With news reports stating about how Iranian protesters have been using Twitter as a way to relay events, Google and Facebook have both rushed to add Iranian language support on their respective websites.  Both are adding Persian translation services on the sites as a way to help Iranians communicate to other parts of the world.

Discord has erupted in Iran since the election last week and there has been a spike in the amount of Google and Facebook pages devoted to the aftermath.  Most have been created in Persian with English speakers unable to read the content.  Facebook was able to quickly offer translation by enlisting the aid of hundreds of Persian speakers.  The Google translation service is currently only available to translate between English and Persian.  Efforts are being made to expand the service to include the other 40 languages included on Google.

The news about the translation options were posted on both of the sites’ blogs.  All translation services are free to users.

Read: [CNET]

• Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction

WinRAR is software used to compress files in order to save space on your hard drive.  It can minimize the size of downloaded files from both the Internet and email attachments. Supported file types include CAB, ZIP, TAR and more.  For a single user license, you will need to pay $29 for WinRAR.  Check out these alternatives instead.

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If you log on the Microsoft Office website, you will get to view a newly posted trailer for the company’s 2010 version of the productivity software.  The trailer teases out the features to expect from the newest Office suite.  Besides viewing the trailer, you can also sign up to get a technical sneak peak at the features of Office 2010 starting next month.

Microsoft also posted a fake behind the scenes video that made fun of some of the recent leaks of the software.  Screenshots and downloadable files were released illegally on the web with some of the versions containing viruses.

Pricing information or an official release date has yet to be announced for Office 2010, but it will come out sometime next year.  The software will contain all of the essential elements of past versions of Office, but will now work within a user’s web browser.  Supported browsers will include Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.

Read: [CNET]

• Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction