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Apple may have taken a look at the future of mobile chip development and decided to forge its own path.

The companies that license ARM’s instruction set are increasingly butting heads with Intel as the ARM community tries to move up from smartphones into more powerful mobile computers, and Intel tries to shoehorn its PC processing know-how into a mobile environment. There has been much speculation over the past year or so that Apple will one day add processors for mobile devices to the invoices orders it sends Intel every quarter for
Mac processors, but the PA Semi acquisition apparently means Apple is prepared to go it alone.

The New York Times scored an interview with Apple CEO Steve Jobs following Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, and buried inside a rambling exchange about parallel processing and Mac OS X Snow Leopard was this little nugget about PA Semi, the chip company Apple acquired in April. “PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods,” Jobs told the Times.

System-on-chips, or SOCs, are pretty much what they sound like: complete computer systems on a single chip, including the processor, memory, graphics, networking, and all the regulator chips needed to manage things like power consumption. ARM’s licensees, such as Texas Instruments, Samsung, and Nvidia build SOCs around ARM’s processor cores for smartphones such as the
iPhone, and Intel wants to head down this path with its Atom processor family.

(Credit:
Apple)

In an interview with Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang last week, we got to talking about mobile processors and the evolution of that market, and he insisted that Samsung, widely thought to be the processor supplier inside the iPhone, merely “fabbed” the chip. In his view, Apple was the chief designer of the ARM-based processor that’s used to run the iPhone–and presumably the iPhone 3G unveiled Monday–with Samsung just providing the factory. The PA Semi engineers would allow Apple to draw up a complete design in-house and take it to a chip foundry without having to let any other mobile processor companies in on its plans, Huang said.

Future successors to the iPhone 3G might use a chip completely designed by Apple.

It’s well known that Apple has played an active role in the design of chips that go into its system for years, but the acquisition of Dan Dobberpuhl’s PA Semi team means it will apparently play an even more active role in the future. Jobs has previously said that Apple acquired PA Semi for its talent and patents–not its products–but had not shared many details about its plans for that talent.

But then, you took over and promised your shareholders and employees a new culture and a new Yahoo that would change the Internet and adapt far better to the changing needs of your customer base.

Whew, things aren’t going so well lately, huh? First, the company you founded and love was being pushed into turmoil by some executives, like your old buddy Semel, who had no idea how to run an organization. And then, to add insult to injury, you found a company that was marked with issues, like over-spending and too many acquisitions that caused your beloved organization to become a bloated mess.

On top of that, aren’t those shareholders the people who theoretically own your company and thus, have the power to tell you what they want out of their company?

Your conclusion? “Yahoo’s management…believes that Microsoft’s proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo and is not in the best interests of [its] stockholders.”

It’s time to move over, buddy.

Go count your billions and get out of the way!

It’s over, Jerry. It’s time to move on and do what you want elsewhere. If you don’t, this is going to get much worse and that company you’re trying to protect could very well be destroyed.

“More importantly,” you told your stockholders. “I want you to know that your board is continuously evaluating all of Yahoo’s strategic options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment, and we remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all our stockholders.”

After all, aren’t those shareholders the same people who have already started lawsuits urging you and the board to accept Microsoft’s offer for the good of the company?

First, Microsoft offers you a 67 percent premium on your floundering stock price. After taking a weekend to mull the offer, you sent out a cryptic message explaining your reasons for why you wouldn’t take the deal.

(Credit: Yahoo)

Do what’s right for Yahoo, Jerry: step aside.

Really, Jerry? Is that true? Hey, I’m not one to doubt your intentions and I honestly believe you want what’s best for Yahoo, but if you truly do, why not listen those shareholders you value so much?

Sure, you own a considerable piece of the pie still, but I think there’s more to this story than your distaste for Microsoft and the rancid thought of your beloved company heading into the grimy hands of Steve Ballmer.

And while you succeeded in reducing expenditures and changed the culture of Yahoo by putting it on the right track with an open source initiative with your mobile products and a vastly improved home page, something much larger than even you came along and spoiled your party. And it’s that organization — Microsoft — that will lead to your downfall unless you realize that not even you can save the company you founded.

Jerry, I can appreciate where you’re coming from and understand that you’re trying to stay true to your company. But in the end, you’re standing up to a foe that is much bigger and more powerful than you and even those who should be on your side are already counting their cash.

And then there’s this other issue that you don’t want to talk about — a proxy fight. What if Microsoft succeeds in obtaining support from those people that are more likely to acquiesce to its demands and you’re the only person guarding the door against a mob? How do you handle that?

Dear Jerry,

What? You disagree? Well, certainly I can understand why you would, but have you taken a thorough look at what exactly is going on?

Barely a week after Virgin Mobile launched its new Arc, the prepaid carrier is now showing the new TNT! handset on a Beta page on its Web site. Though it is billed as a “dynamite flip phone,” the TNT! hardly packs an explosion. In fact, it is as basic a cell phone comes. Inside the simple design you’ll find a color display, text messaging, a Web browser, and a speakerphone. The TNT! (is the exclamation point really necessary?) is made by Kyocera and is a variant of the company’s Adreno S2400, though with a stripped-down feature set. It will be just $19.99 when it goes on sale in August.

Virgin Mobile TNT!

(Credit:
Virgin Mobile)

In a short beta test of Mochi Coins from mid-June to mid-July, Ninja Kiwi, the developer of the popular “Bloons” series, generated an effective RPM, or revenue per one thousand game plays net to developer, of $7 on its game “SAS: Zombie Assault 2.” Micro-transaction revenue from this one game was rivaling total advertising revenue from the rest of Ninja Kiwi’s game catalog.

Micro-transactions open up a new world of options for Flash game developers and could play a part in ushering in a new era of better, more creative, interactive, and successful Flash games. As these games mature and more people become comfortable and aware of this alternative medium, they will continue to encroach on console games and develop into a serious competitor.

While the idea of selling upgrades directly to gamers is not necessarily a new one, there have been substantial barriers to developer adoption in the past, such as the ability to retroactively make updates to games after their release.

Mochi Media is launching Mochi Coins on Tuesday, a micro-transaction platform that allows developers and game portals to make real money off quality Flash games. Mochi Coins lets gamers sign in through their Facebook accounts and buy game upgrades (weapons, level unlocks, etc.) directly through the game by PayPal, credit card, or marketing offer.

Follow me on Twitter @daveofdoom.

In the past, Flash game developers relied on advertising or licensing as primary revenue streams–both, however, require an immensely popular game to make big-time money. Micro-transactions can change the landscape of the entire Flash games industry by rewarding innovation and creativity–the better product developers turn out, the more gamers will be willing to spend on in-game offerings.

This shows that there is a huge market there that has big numbers in terms of users and time spent that can now inject serious cash via micro-transactions.

ComScore released a study a few weeks back that showed the U.S. audience for online games grew 22 percent since last year to 87 million visitors this past May. By comparison, console game sales plummeted 31 percent in June from the previous year.

(Credit: Mochi Media) According to Mochi Media co-founder Jameson Hsu, the big difference between Flash and console games is quality–of graphics, service, and general game-play.

Mochi Coins

According to Hsu, “Mochi Coins facilitates the Flash games industry’s shift to micro-transactions by enabling developers to test and optimize price-points and game upgrades through analytics and updating features.” In layman’s terms this means that game developers can experiment with monetizable functions and see what works best.

But as Flash games become more sophisticated and interactive, and business models emerge that take advantage of the low development costs of the platform, the line of delineation between the two mediums is beginning to close.

There are many differences between the console games we all know and see commercials for, and online Flash games we all play for a bit when we’re bored.

Apple has cut its 2008 flash memory orders by $200 million, according to iSuppli, setting up a down year for flash vendors.

The overall flash memory market is in turmoil, as overcapacity and slowing demand come together at the worst possible time. Plunging flash memory prices are expected to dent Intel’s first quarter, among other companies likely to be affected. iSuppli projects that the entire market will grow just 9 percent this year to $13.9 billion, down from previous expectations of 27 percent growth to $17.9 billion.

In February, iSuppli reported that Apple was slashing its orders of flash memory amid a weakening economy, but iSuppli wasn’t sure exactly how far the cuts would go. After crunching the numbers, iSuppli now expects Apple to spend $1.4 billion on flash this year for iPods and iPhones, up 12 percent from $1.2 billion last year. But the analyst firm, and the flash memory industry, had been expecting much more purchasing out of Apple, at least $1.6 billion.

Last month, Digitimes reported that Apple had yet to make a significant flash memory purchase in 2008, as it worked down through their existing inventory.

Now, Garmin is probably just testing the waters and again, this all speculation at this point, but we’re thinking it’s going to get a lot of “no, thank yous” for that price. Which begs the question: What’s a fair price? What would you be willing to pay for the Nuvifone?

It’s no secret that the Garmin Nuvifone is one of the most anticipated smartphones of this year–partly because of its killer feature set (GPS with full navigation, 3.5-inch touch screen, quad-band world roaming, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, 3-megapixel camera, and so on) and partly because everyone wants to see if Garmin can actually pull this off. However, what has remained a secret is the carrier and pricing, or at least, until now?

(Credit:
Engadget Mobile)

What would you pay for the Garmin Nuvifone?

According to a story from Engadget Mobile, one of its readers received a customer survey from Garmin asking, “Now, how likely would you be to buy the Garmin Nuvifone (for yourself or as a gift) if offered by AT&T for $499.99 with a two year contract? You would be required to have both a data plan that would include unlimited Internet browsing and unlimited Navigation for $19.99 per month and one of the standard voice rate plans for a monthly fee.” Zoiks! What? OK, it’s not so much the carrier we’re surprised about (AT&T is HSDPA ready, T-Mobile isn’t–simple as that) but $500? Seriously? The AT&T Tilt offers pretty much the same features for $299.99.

(Credit:
Facebook)

TweetDeck
TweetDeck is one of the most popular Twitter desktop clients, and now the app’s developers are vying for Facebook dominance too. The upcoming version of TweetDeck lets you send a message just to Twitter, just to Facebook, or to both simultaneously. Once installed, the new version also includes a column displaying friends’ status updates, and it offers the ability to chat with them via Facebook chat directly. The app isn’t available to everyone just yet, but its public release is right around the corner.

Bloom makes it easy to add images.

FBLook
FBLook is useful, if you’re an Outlook user. Besides filling you in on friends’ status updates, you can update your own Facebook status, and see notifications and requests without going to the Facebook Web site–it all works within Outlook on your desktop. Although I’m running a
Mac every day, I still use FBLook whenever I run my Windows machine. In fact, it’s one of the first apps I fire up.

The newbies: AIR apps

Seesmic for Facebook
An Adobe AIR app, Seesmic for Facebook (news) uses Facebook Connect to let you update your status and view friend status updates without surfing to the Facebook site. It’s in beta testing, but it works as advertised: updating status is quick and easy, and whenever a friend updates their own status, it’s there for me to see. It’s a little buggy, but it was just released.

FBQuick
If you’re looking for a nicely designed app that will work on your Windows PC and give you some of the best functionality around, look at FBQuick. The app sends you profile notifications, including tagged photos, pokes, and messages, but it doesn’t allow you to update anything while on your desktop.

Windows Apps

Facile
If you simply want to update your status update or view all your friends’ status updates, Facile for the Mac is a nice way to do it. It provides a simple interface showing your friends’ profile pictures and latest status updates, and allows you to input your own updates above the list (it’s a lot like Seesmic for Facebook).

Bloom
Bloom, available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, allows you to upload photos, download other albums, and view your friends’ photos without surfing to Facebook pages. A recent update allows you to add captions to images, rotate them before you upload, and tag different people. It has a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Mac Apps

Exporter for iPhoto couldn't be easier to use.

(Credit:
Facebook)

Facebook Tray Notify
Sometimes, a desktop client just gets in the way. If you feel that way, turn to Facebook TrayNotify. It’s a lightweight app that sits in your taskbar awaiting Facebook notifications. Once it receives them, alerts pop up, letting you know about the updates. If you want to act on them, you’ll need to go to the Facebook site to do so.

Dashboard Widget
Dashboard Widget gives you Facebook on your OS X Dashboard. It will display messages, pokes, friend requests, group invites, and other notifications. It updates whenever new notifications filter in.

FriendSaver
This is a Facebook screensaver. It finds your friends tagged in photos and starts displaying those in succession while your Mac is dormant. And if you want to take some friends out of the queue, you can filter them out with a simple click. Or just display your male or female friends.

Facebook Exporter for iPhoto
If you want to upload photos into Facebook, and you don’t want to waste your time firing up
Safari, use the Facebook Exporter for iPhoto. It’s the best photo-uploading service for Macs. It allows you to find photos in iPhoto, tag them with your friends’ names, add captions, and upload them as an album to your profile. It’s incredibly easy to use.

Zebr
AIR app Zebr allows you to update your status without going to your profile page, and it keeps track of your friends’ status automatically.

(Credit:
Facebook)

Lightweight and unobtrusive makes Tray a great app.

Drag-and-Drop Uploader
If you don’t want all the extras that Bloom provides, Drag-and-Drop Uploader (for Windows) makes it simple to add images to your Facebook profile. The service is lightweight, and in a matter of seconds, you can drag photos from your desktop and add them to the app, which will then be uploaded into albums in your profile.

Flair
Flair’s functionality won’t blow you away–it’s a notification app that lets you know when a friend wants to add you, or you receive a poke–but it does that in a lightweight bundle that doesn’t hog resources, and it offers one of the best designs of any app in this roundup. It’s not unique, but it sure is pretty.

Fonebook
If you’re an Outlook user, and you have a mobile phone that supports Outlook, check out the Fonebook app. Once installed on your desktop, the app will transfer your contacts and photos from Facebook to Outlook. The app copies a contact’s photo, Facebook profile URL, the “About me” details, and status. That can then be synced with an Outlook-compatible phone so whenever someone calls, the person’s picture and information will pop up on your mobile-phone screen.

Facebook Photo Uploader
The folks at the Google Code Base have a neat little desktop app for Windows users that allows them to upload photos directly to Facebook and tag them before they get to the service. It’s not the best-looking app, and it’s a little buggy, but I’m impressed by its ease of use.

DeskBook
The Windows app DeskBook allows you to access Facebook features and information without accessing your profile page. Regardless of whether you want to see how many notes you’ve received, how many friend requests you’ve ignored, or if you want to just search for friends, DeskBook does it all. It even lets you accept or reject group and event invitations, as well as friend requests. It’s my go-to app when I want to get the full Facebook experience without going to my profile page.

A lot is happening on Facebook. Not only are your friends telling the world what’s going on in their lives, but the social network itself is changing. It’s more open now than before, thanks to the Facebook Connect program, and there are several good products that let you see Facebook data in new ways. You don’t have to use Facebook.com to use Facebook anymore. Here are some of the best desktop applications.

FacebookSync
If you’re an Address Book user, FacebookSync will automatically sync information from Facebook into your Apple Address Book. The service finds matches in your friends list and adds all their information, including name, address, phone number, and other data to your Address Book. It even adds their photos to the app.

The others

PhotoBook
A Facebook photo browser for your Mac, PhotoBook allows you to manage, share, and view your friends’ Facebook photos without ever going to their profile pages. All the photos are available on a single page, and they can be viewed by tags or in a slideshow. Every photo or album can be downloaded into iPhoto.

Facedesk
There’s not much to Facedesk, but that is its appeal. The app can be downloaded to your desktop, and it runs Facebook directly in the app instead of your browser. Yes, it acts like a browser, but it runs only Facebook, so you won’t be able to open any other sites. It’s Facebook for people who care about nothing else in the world.

Facebook Desktop
A Windows-only app, Facebook Desktop provides real-time updates, lets you see wall posts, view messages, and read friend requests. It’s one of the best-looking apps, too.

(Via Google Blogoscoped.)

A decidedly tame video plays on the bottom of a pool in a Google Lively chat room called 'porn place.'

Google is having to work to try keeping its Lively online 3D virtual worlds from getting a little too lively.

Google Lively’s community standards prohibit nudity and sexually explicit material: “We don’t allow nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material. This includes making sexual advances toward other users. We also don’t allow content that drives traffic to commercial pornography sites or that promotes pedophilia, incest, or bestiality. Google has a zero-tolerance policy against child pornography. If we become aware of child pornography, the content will be removed and we will report it and its owners to the appropriate authorities.”

“We’ve received complaints about recently created ’sex rooms’ in Lively, and we take these complaints seriously,” Google said on its Lively group. “Our community standards prohibit sexually explicit images and rooms intended for sexual activity, even if virtual. When we become aware of ’sex rooms’ that violate or Terms of Service, we’ll work to remove them.”

(Credit:
Google)

Google wants to keep it clean for mainstream users, and users who violate Google’s terms could find themselves banned from Lively and their Google account disabled, Google said.

“So the girls are hidden in here,” griped one avatar in one room called SEXY & HOT Monday morning. “Show up,” ordered another. There wasn’t much in the way of naughty pictures beyond the welcome screen, but some posters in the room linked to girl.cb-w.com, a Web site that sells a guide about “How To Approach Any Woman, Anywhere And Know Exactly What To Say To Get Her To Give You Her Number And Go On A Date With You - NOW.”

Despite some injunctions to the contrary, sexual overtones are creeping into Google’s cross between a chat room and Second Life.

Another room, called porn place, seemed fairly tame–even the YouTube video playing on the bottom of the pool. Other rooms were called Sexo Virtual, sexy babes, and BDSM Espana.

A little snooping around revealed some evidence of borderline rooms, but nothing as risque as shows in the more permissive realm of Second Life.

“When browsing or searching for rooms, some Lively citizens come upon these rooms as the top results, which can erode their Lively experience…Lively is intended to be a place for Lively citizens to connect with each other and express themselves freely and in a safe environment,” Google said.

Also, ever since February, when Microsoft came to Yahoo with intent to acquire, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has been on the defensive. Farber argues that we haven’t really seen or heard of plans for it to move forward. Are they simply holding out for more money? Or does it have legitimate reasons for wanting to maintain its independence?

In Thursday’s edition of the Daily Debrief, I chat with CNET News.com Editor in Chief Dan Farber about the state of Yahoo. Company news seems to emerge on a daily basis, but what does it all really mean? Farber, who has his finger on the pulse of the company, explains that at least personnel-wise, the search giant has been in a state of turmoil for the last year and a half.

This type of recommendation engine, which taps into the social graph, is like a Las Vegas slot machine that keeps on giving. Every time you pull the lever you get a bunch of new friend connections, which makes you want to keep pulling the lever until it runs out of recommendations.

People You May Know finds people within six degrees or so of separation and suggests them as potential friends. It appears that the threshold is set at four, meaning you are connected to four of the same people as the suggested “friend.” FriendFeed has taken a somewhat similar approach for recommending new people to “follow.”

Facebook has about 67 million members. With the new “People You May Know” feature, the number of connections per member will skyrocket, extending the reach and stickiness of Facebook’s social graph.

The end result is that Facebook generates some exponential growth, creating more density in its web of people connections. And, Facebook members now have an easy way to find new connections based on relationship proximity, as well as a potential source of irritation as they get inundated with friends of friends requesting connections.

Along with the new privacy options, the forthcoming chat service, and People You May Know, Facebook is making some smart moves to stay ahead in the social-networking game.