The Technophilez

Reuters is reporting that Sybase plans to start selling soon software that lets businesses securely distribute e-mail to the iPhone, which could help the popular device gain use among business clients.

The program for the iPhone will be released before the end of this year, John Chen said on Monday at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York. When asked to be more specific, he said, "It will be soon."

The new program lets workers use the iPhone to access their e-mail with the same security safeguards that are currently available in products for use on Treo smartphones from Palm and Research in Motion's BlackBerry, Chen said.

He said that Sybase is also working on similar software for Android, a new smartphone platform that Google is developing with dozens of other companies.

The new Sybase software programs will allow businesses to deliver e-mail to several different types of phones, depending on which device a user carries, Chen said.

"It will be secure enterprise grade," Chen said. "It will let the IT guys manage it."

Apple, Inc. has filed a suit to prevent New York City's non-profit 'GreeNYC' initiative from using a logo that incorporates an apple in its design. Commentators have noted the substantial differences between the two designs, not to mention the irony of this sort of infringement claim. The city of New York has filed to have the claim rejected, and even possibly the cancellation of Apple's logo in light of the long history of the nickname 'The Big Apple' to describe the city.

A German telecommunications company announced that it was cutting the prices of its Apple iPhones bringing the cost down to $156 from a minimum of $629.

The price cut, announced by Deutsche Telekom AG, was intended to drive up exclusive German carrier T-Mobile's sales numbers of the Apple iPhone in the German market.

The offer is set to be available from April 7 to June 30, said CNN, and will be open to customers who subscribe to an "XL" service contract that costs at least $140 per month.

The telecom company also introduced a starter offer of $45 a month, and will come with a $393 iPhone.

Deutsche Telekom AG, according to the Wall Street Journal, is one of selected telecom operators authorized by Apple to several countries. Only one carrier per country was given permission to sell the handset, coupled by a service contract.

Apple Inc on Tuesday introduced models of its popular iPod touch handheld computer and iPhone with double the memory available in previous versions.

Apple, which said in January it had sold more than 4 million iPhones since sales began last June, says the iPhone will now also sell with 16 gigabytes of memory.

The iPod touch, a wireless touch-screen device that plays music and videos, adds a 32 gigabyte model. Both devices will sell for $499, Apple said.

Apple will continue to sell its iPhone with 8 gigabytes of memory for $399, and two lower-capacity versions of the iPod touch, 16 gigabytes and 8 gigabytes, for $399 and $299, respectively.

The updated models come amid a slump in Apple's stock, due to fears that a U.S. recession could make consumers less likely to buy iPods or iPhones. The stock, which closed on Tuesday at $131.65 on Nasdaq, is down more than 33 percent so far this year.

Other PC makers are reportedly looking to slim down their laptops like Apple did this month with its MacBook Air.
Intel (NSDQ: INTC) has reportedly sold a version of the miniaturized Core 2 Duo processor in Apple's recently released MacBook Air to other manufactures, which could then build Windows-based competitors to the ultrathin and light notebook.

Two PC manufacturers have already signed on to use the custom-designed chip, and products powered by the processor are expected to be released soon, CNET and tech magazine PC Advisor reported Wednesday, both quoting a source familiar with the plans.

An Intel spokesman declined to give any sales details but did note that Apple is the only hardware manufacturer that sells a laptop based on this specific Core 2 Duo processor.

"If other OEMs are interested in this 65-nanometer Core 2 Duo processor, we are welcome to talk with them," an Intel spokesman told InformationWeek.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the Air this month at the Macworld conference in San Francisco. The thinness of the notebook was achieved in part by a miniaturized 65-nanometer Core 2 Duo processor that came from Intel's older Merom line. The processor is 60% smaller than the typical Merom chip and uses less power while delivering comparable speeds. The processor, however, is significantly slower than the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors used in other new notebooks. Performance is not necessarily an issue with Apple as it customizes its operating system to maximize performance out of any processor it uses.

Nevertheless, the size and weight of the Air, which has a 13.3-inch display and full-size keyboard, placed the machine in a class of its own. The notebook weights 3 pounds and is three-quarters of an inch thick at the hinge, tapering to 0.16 of an inch at the opposite side.

Intel is working on smaller chips for ultramobile PCs and handheld devices, including a processor that's built using 45-nanometer process technology. But miniaturizing the Merom processor gave Intel a product that would fit Apple's slim design for the MacBook Air and deliver the necessary horsepower.

In making the Air thinner than other notebooks, Apple also left out a DVD drive, adding instead software called "remote disc" that can recognize an optical drive on a PC or Mac computer through a wireless network. Tapping into those machines, an Air user can install software from a CD or DVD.

The MacBook Air design has also caused some frustration among Mac users who want to use software from older Macs to install the sleek new laptop's operating system. The installation media that comes with other Macs can't be used to install "Leopard" on the MacBook Air, Apple said Wednesday.