The Need for Speed Keeps Technology Moving

Happy June! Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is a big developer conference from June 6-10 this year and will preview the future of iOS and Mac OSX.

With ten years of retail service, Apple has changed how companies do business. It began with a full size mockup that was built in a warehouse. Gateway retail stores faced problems in the early 2000's with poor customer service and out-of-the-way locations.

It was a financial failure from the start since many other retailers sold Gateway TV's and other gadgets that competed with their own stores. The first Gateway store opened in 1996 and at the peak they had over 300 stores. With a physical storefront, Gateway had to apply sales tax to its online store. Gateway lasted for eight years and Apple now has well over 300 stores and is now over ten years old.

The Genius  Bar originally did not require you to have an appointment to get your new gadget serviced. Theaters that were in most of old larger stores were used to show product demonstrations or for other special events. Now that floor space is given to the Genius Bar and Creative training tables.

Original stores had dedicated cash registers around the store and were phased out as Apple introduced EasyPay to accept credit card transactions. The EasyPay devices migrated from Windows CE applications running on Symbol hardware to an iPod touch outfitted with a card reader and barcode scanner.

Receipt printers were installed under tables so the staff could stay with the customer longer. Now the product can be delivered from the back room so the customer can continue to ask questions or receive help.

 You thought your new fiber optic service was fast? Try 26 terabits per second data transmission! This speed was achieved using a laser to create multiple pulses which was then separated into a 12.5Ghz wavelength, encoded, and sent down a 30 mile line then decoded back into the original data.

They sent 200,000 high resolution images in one second. That much speed could be used for cloud computing or 3D HD television or virtual reality applications. The data is encoded in real-time using two programmable arrays broken up and transmitted; the results are electronically processed by algorithms.

Japan may require residents of new buildings to have solar panels by 2030 to deal with the continuing nuclear crisis and its power supply. Currently Japan gets about 30 percent of its power from nuclear. For power companies to share electricity it would have to be converted since east Japan is set at 50 hertz and 60 hertz in the west.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said that three of the reactors at the Fukushima plant suffered meltdowns early into the emergency; their inner pressure vessels may have been breached. Units 2 and 3 had partial meltdowns while Unit 1 was mist severely damaged from the March 11 earthquake.

With the unofficial start to summer underway here are this month’s apps:

Weber’s On the Grill™ iPhone ($4.99)

Gears Universal ($.99)

Pandora Radio Universal (Free)

Netflix Universal (Free)