Did you buy and iPhone few days back and paid $499 or $599 for it? Now you have an awesome opportunity to get back $200 by showing the receipt of that iPhone! This is not because of some lottery ticket which you just now won without even buying it but because Apple just now slashed the prices for iPhone by $200 as it was very well feeling the heat from iPod Touch. The method is very simple as stated in Apple’s Store Purchase Policy. [Read more]

99¢ Only Stores®, located in Westchester CA, plans to give out Apple iPhones for just 99 cents to there first 9 customers on 9th August as part of there 25th anniversary.With this awesome iPhone give away comes an issue too. As iPhone’s retail exclusivity is with Apple and AT&T Wireless stores, how on earth will this plan be executed?

And if this turns out to be a success then one should expect more such iPhone give aways at other places, not only at Apple and AT&T Wireless stores!

What do you think? Has 99Only stores done there homework or they should be ready to face fights against Apple?

40 millions of Windows Vista sold licenses later, Mac OS X and Linux bite the dust, and the latest Microsoft operating system is directly responsible. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2007 in Los Angeles in mid May 2007, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates revealed that in the first 100 days of availability the company had shipped approximately 40 million Vista licenses.

Must Read:
Mac OS X vs Vista. The Fight Goes On

With an impressive rate of adoption Windows Vista is right on track to “become the standard version of Windows” as Gates put it. Microsoft’s Chairman and Co-founder also took a swing at rivals by claiming that just in the first five weeks on the market Windows Vista has surpassed the installed base of all other alternative operating systems.

Recent data made available by Market Share by Net Applications comes to confirm Gates’ claims for Vista. According to the Market Share statistics, Vista now controls no less than 3.74% of the operating system market. In this context, Linux was the first road-kill produced by Vista in the very first month on the shelves. However, in May, Linux’s market share dropped to 0.70% from 0.80% in April 2007.

Market Share by Net Applications separated in its statistics Apple’s market share according to platform. In this regard, both MacIntel and MacOS have experienced minuscule growth from April to May. MacOS jumped from 3.89% to 3.95%, just 0.06%, and MacIntel managed an un-spectacular growth from 2.32% to 2.51%.

The superb market performance delivered by Windows Vista has already led to an adoption rate superior to both Mac OS X and Linux put together. Before Vista was launched to consumers at the end of January, there had been voices forecasting the fact that Microsoft was alienating users with the operating system and that Apple and Linux would rip the benefits. Nothing could be further from the truth judging by what Vista has showed so far.
[thanks softpedia for the great article]

Did you buy a computer from one of the above big brands and faced lot of problems. You must have called there tech support for help? How was the response? Were they willing to help you? Or were they fulfilling there responsibilities? It is time to spit all the problems you faced with the company’s tech supports to Vocal Laboratories, a company that helps other companies improve customer service by surveying customer calls. After all you paid them!

Next time you have a technical problem with one of these computer manufacturers, call the numbers below instead of the normal technical support number. The call will go to Vocal Labs and get forwarded to the company in question. Within an hour after the call is over, Vocal Labs calls you back for a 2-minute interview.

The numbers are:
Apple: 800-894-3218 (instead of 800-275-2273)
Dell Technical Support: 800-894-3639 (instead of 800-624-9896)
Gateway Technical Support: 800-894-3552 (instead of 800-846-2301)
HP Technical Support: 800-871-4439 (instead of 800-474-6836)

Related:
HP Ruining Its Name

Source: Consumerist