In the most recent update for iTunes, Apple has secretly included installation for MobileMe, a paid service specially for iPod Touch and iPhone owners. MobileMe is a service to keep your iPhone or iPod Touch synced even you’re working on a different computers, as your information will be kept online.

The thing that puzzles me, do Apple expect every of their iTunes user to be an iPod Touch or an iPhone owner? I have been using iTunes for two years and I do NOT own any iPhone or iPod Touch and MobileMe is definitely NOT going to have anything to do with me. I just like the phrase “Apple is installing commercial product without the user realizing it”.

You can have a look under Network and Internet in your control panel if you’re running on Windows Vista. You will see how the beautiful icon is being forced to sit there. Apple just doesn’t seem to understand what is a software update. First they include the entire Safari browser, now a MobileMe. What’s next? Installing the entire Apple website locally so that you can view them offline?

The iPhone is now available at 16GB and iPod Touch at 32GB, both of them selling at $499. Too bad, it is just the capacity that have been doubled, but no new features has been added to the iPhone. No 3G, no whatever.. the same old thing as before. The new pricing structure would be as follow:

iPhone
8GB - $399
16GB - $499

iPod Touch
8GB - $299
16GB - $399
32GB - $499

It is good to make late purchase on gadgets sometimes. They are always better as time goes, and the price will be lower. For just an additional $100, you can have double the capacity. Read the full press release on Apple Press Info.

Beware if you are searching for domain names availability on Network Solutions. Every searched domain names will be registered automatically under the name of Network Solutions for 5 days, making the domain unavailable to register under any other registrars in this period, but Network Solutions itself. They name this as customer protection measure.

This might be a good way to reserve the domain name you wanted to register if you currently have not enough money or under similar cases. But you will end up paying the higher price of what Network Solutions charge, which is $34.99 instead of the usual less than $10. Not to mention that if your searched domain is a good one with high potential of reselling at a much higher price, it might be hijacked.

There are users that have complain this to ICANN, and this is what they have responded:

I contacted ICANN and they said that although they believe it to be an unethical business practice they said that it is legal for Network Solutions to hijack domain names and hold them for ransom when searched off of their site. ICANN stated that there is nothing they can do to stop the practice.
—Stratagenix of DomainState.com

Not sure whether Network Solutions is doing this for their customer’s good or for their own good. If they are doing this just merely to increase their sales and to grab great domain names, then they are very wrong. If it is for the customers, then I would suggest them to have an option before searching the domain, whether to reserve it or not.

Sclipo, a skills video hosting website, is hosting a contest giving away an iRobot (vacuum cleaning robot), iPod Touch and iPod Nano.

To enter, you just have to make and upload three tutorial videos on how to do some technical related stuff.

Be it computer tweaking, internet tricks, web design or just anything similar.

You should receive at least 500 views and 30 ratings on all the three uploaded videos. Winners will be selected based on number of views, number and average of votes, comments and number of incoming links to videos.

Sclipo will stop accepting new videos by Feb 19, 2008. If you are good in something technical, take this opportunity to grab some of the best gadgets out there. If I were to choose, I would rather have the iPod Touch than the iRobot as I don’t clean much.

—via hongkiat.com

Microsoft has proposed to acquire Yahoo! at $44.6 billion, equivalent to $44,600,000,000 or about 27 YouTubes. Read more about it at:

• Microsoft PressPass
• TechCrunch
• Microsoft CEO’s Internal email to Microsoft employees

It’s funny to see things run as time goes. Back in 1998, Google’s co-founders, Larry and Sergey once contacted Yahoo! to sell their search engine technology. Yahoo! founder, David Filo, then encouraged them to grow the service themselves by starting a search engine company instead.

“When it’s fully developed and scalable,” he told them, “let’s talk again.”

But today, Google is the one who has the most U.S. search market share, at 58.4%. Microsoft and Yahoo! is still being left behind even if they successfully combined.

The MacBook Air was unveiled by Apple, Inc Chief Executive, Steve Jobs on Tuesday at the Macworld trade show. The thickest part of the world’s thinnest notebook is 0.76 inches, while the thinnest part of it is just merely 0.16 inches. It can be fitted into a manila envelope just easily, as seen in the ad.

Brief Tech Spec

• 0.16-0.76 inch thick, 12.8 inches wide and weights at only 3 pounds (1.36 kg)
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 1.6 Ghz (optional 1.8 Ghz)
• 80GB hard disk drive
• 13.3 inches display
• 5 hours battery life

The $1799 MacBook Air will be available in two weeks time. Watch the MacBook Air Ad and the guided tour after the jump. » Read the rest of the entry..