Microsoft: Retail Stores Open This Fall, Some Next to Apple Stores; "Laptop Hunters" Ads Work

Space shuttle Endeavor blasts off at last
The space shuttle Endeavour lifted off en route to the international space station Wednesday evening after several days of weather delays.
Microsoft: Retail Stores Open This Fall, Some Next to Apple Stores; "Laptop Hunters" Ads Work
In February announced it was going to being opening retail stores. On Wednesday, the company announced stores would be opening in the fall, some of them next to Apple Stores.
MacChat: iPhone the one device to rule them all?

WE’VE lost count of the number of so-called iPhone killers that have tried and failed to dethrone Apple’s hit handset. Meanwhile, the device is shaping as a multiple-category killer.

As its hardware improves and more applications are added to Apple’s 60,000-strong App Store, the iPhone is disrupting more and more industries. Let’s check out the major victims.

Mobile phones: The iPhone is having the biggest effect on the mobile telecommunications industry. It doesn’t have a huge market share, but the fact its major rivals are scrambling to create iPhone and App Store lookalikes suggests it’s on the right track.

Music players: The iPhone is basically an iPod Touch with a phone and camera, so between the two devices Apple is dominating the music player business. With a superior Multi-Touch interface and music, video and application library on the iTunes Store, the iPhone and iPod Touch are a hard act to follow. Those who don’t want an iPhone or iPod Touch often buy a different type of iPod, so Apple has the music player market sewn up.

Portable gaming: The iPhone 3GS has a more powerful graphics processor than Sony’s PlayStation Portable, and the App Store boasts more than 10,000 games of all genres, many free or under $10. This spells trouble for Sony and Nintendo, who could see their portable gaming sales decline with the increasing popularity of iPhone and iPod gaming.

Handheld GPS: The original iPhone featured mobile tower positioning, the 3G model added GPS, and now iPhone OS 3.0 adds support for turn-by-turn navigation. With the new 3GS model throwing in a digital compass for good measure, the iPhone is now a fully fledged navigation device. There already are turn-by-turn maps available for Australian cities, and GPS maker TomTom is making iPhone software and a car kit, figuring if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Point-and-shoot cameras: The iPhone’s camera (and, with the new 3GS model, video camera) isn’t the most powerful on the market, but it doesn’t have to be. The iPhone’s software makes the user experience better than most, and easy to share your pics and video via social networks or YouTube. The iPhone won’t be threatening high-end multi-megapixel cameras anytime soon, but it covers the needs of most consumers arguably better than anything else.

Thanks to the App Store there are myriad other uses for the iPhone, from e-reading to real-time motoring data to musical instrument tuning and medical apps. It may even replace your credit card, with e-wallet software in development.

No, the iPhone wasn’t the first phone to perform many of the above functions. But by doing them all, and doing them so well, it might just be the ultimate all-in-one portable device.