It’s no secret to anyone at Microsoft (MSFT) that more than a few employees tote around iPhones in their pockets. Some staffers make little effort to hide the Apple (AAPL) device, while others seem to treat the iPhone a bit like a flask of whisky–a secret, irresistible source of shame.

Of the unspoken rules among Microsoft employees about using iPhones, it’s fair to say this could be second from the top: don’t show it to company CEO Steve Ballmer, who has made turning around Microsoft’s own flagging mobile-software efforts an important priority at the company. And whatever you do, don’t attempt to take a photo of Mr. Ballmer with your iPhone in front of a stadium full of Microsoft employees at the all-company meeting.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

There’s nothing new about mobile computing. In the early ’90s, the industry promised a range of devices, from tablets to mini-laptops to smaller handheld PDAs. Apple’s (AAPL) pioneering offering, the 1993 Newton Message Pad, sought to deliver a sophisticated new operating system and development environment running a unique new platform based upon low-power, ARM RISC processors the company co-developed with Acorn.

Read the rest of this post