In 2009, Steve Jobs took a medical leave of absence from Apple citing health issues. Several months later, we learned that the Apple CEO had a liver transplant and was recovering well. Fast forward two years later to present day, and he’s taking a leave of absence again. This time, he hasn’t set a specific time for when he’ll return.

Jobs sent the following e-mail to the team at Apple:

Team,

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve

That last line has some people believing that he may never return, but it’s a little too early to speculate on that. Even if Jobs ultimately hands over the CEO reigns to Tim Cook, he would have accomplished probably more than he could have imagined during his second term at Apple.

Get well soon, Steve.

[Apple]

And we’re back! So, there may be a small chance that you’ve heard Verizon is getting the iPhone. It’s true. For years the media have speculated about the coming of a CDMA iPhone, and while they were wrong for many years, this time around they’re right. When is it coming and how much will it cost?

The Verizon iPhone will be a CDMA/EV-DO smartphone, which means it will be compatible with Verizon’s network for calls, text messages and 3G data. It will be available for pre-order February 3 to current VZW customers, and everyone else on February 10. It will be priced the same as AT&T’s models – $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB.

The only catch is that it won’t do simultaneous voice and data, which probably isn’t a big deal to existing Verizon users and maybe a small nuisance to those migrating from AT&T or other carriers. The iPhone 4 for Verizon will also have mobile hotspot capabilities allowing up to five users to connect to the device via WiFi.

Unfortunately, unlike the image above, it will not be a 4G LTE compatible device.

Hey, folks! We at Xenohub just wanted to wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year! We know things slowed here a bit the past few weeks with the holidays, but we have some exciting things in store for 2011. There are a lot of exciting things we’re looking forward to this year – faster wireless technology, new games, more advanced mobile software and hardware – so be sure to stay tuned and we’ll kick off the new year together!

Seeing gadgets explode or catch on fire isn’t something new to us, and neither is seeing those flaming gadgets hurting their users. However, to hear of a Motorola Droid 2 exploding right in a man’s ear and seeing the bandages around his head leave us wondering: how on Earth could that have happened?

There’s no telling, actually. Some tear downs would show nothing in Motorola Droid 2 that would or could explode in or near the earpiece. However, that’s allegedly what happened according to 30-year-old Aron Embry as he was using his Verizon smartphone.

The mini explosion left his ear bleeding and he needed stitches, but the doctors say there is no real damage to his hearing.

Hopefully he heals up quickly and that Motorola gets to the bottom of this so that – if the phone really just blew up out of nowhere – this won’t happen to anyone else.

[Via ABC]

Uh oh. It looks like Google is seeing its gears slow down and employees are wanting out. Obviously, there is no such thing as sustainable growth and the search engine has grown to become such a behemoth that its talented employees are looking to move elsewhere before becoming insignificant cogs in the Google machine.

From the NYTimes:

“Google’s gotten to be a lot bigger and slower-moving of a company,” said the former [product] manager, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity to protect business relationships. “At Facebook, I could see how quickly I could get things done compared to Google.”

Apparently, raises and other perks aren’t enough to keep those want out, and employees who want to leave end up doing just that.

Recent departures include low-level engineers, product managers and prominent managers like Lars Rasmussen, who helped create Google Maps and Wave before he left for Facebook, and Omar Hamoui, the founder of AdMob who was vice president for mobile ads at Google and is now looking for his next project. At least 142 of Facebook’s employees came from Google.

The mini exodus may end up not hurting Google at all. The company has grown to be so big and powerful that this sort of thing may be natural as a business or corporation grows to be so dominant.

Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google, seems to be convinced that people are “dying to come [to Google],” and “putting up with the complexity.”

Perhaps adding cafeterias, spas, laundry service and playgrounds helps just a little bit. After all, why let the employees have much of a life outside of the Googleplex when they can get everything done from within the compound?

One thing is for sure: the changes happening aren’t stifling innovation. Not counting Google Wave, of course.

[Via NYT]

The next generation iPad may be due out soon and the rumor mill is cranking and churning away. The Apple tablet has seen far more success than most analysts imagined last year when they bemoaned the idea of Apple building a tablet PC, saying that there was no market for such a device. Millions and millions of iPad units later, we’re already looking forward to the next iteration.

What can we expect to see in the next iPad? Technically, since it’s Apple, its tough to expect or predict anything, really. But that doesn’t stop the ever so sketchy Digitimes from speculating or relaying shoddy info regarding Apple products. According to the publication, the new iPad will be thinner and smaller for improved portability, it will have a USB port, video phone capabilities, a Retina display and 3-axis gyroscope.

Let’s start with the USB port. Whether it’s micro or mini, how many Apple products can you think of that feature such a port? Not saying it’s impossible, but it seems that Apple is hanging onto that 30-pin connector as if its life depended on it.

Thinner and smaller iPad? Perhaps that’s feasible, but if it’s thinner, smaller and lighter it doesn’t necessarily mean it would be more portable. Come to think of it, what does “more portable” mean, anyway? The iPad is damn portable when you compare it to a MacBook Pro. Can we consider this a new feature when we really can’t define it? The iPad may be cumbersome to hold at certain angles or positions, so guessing that Apple might have made some changes to this doesn’t necessarily make you Nostradamus.

The retina display is tricky. Imagining the cost of having to produce such a display on a 10-inch tablet is iffy. But perhaps the definition of retina display changes based on how far away you hold the device from your face. Will the new iPad need 326ppi or pixels-per-inch in order to be considered a retina display if we typically hold it further from our eyes than a cell phone? It could be considerably less. Then again, I can hold my laptop about 4 feet away from my eyes and call that a retina display, too.

Overall, it’s surprising that Digitimes got this much attention over an inconsequential rumor on the iPad’s new features. On the other hand, it has reported far greater inaccuracies with little to no hedging, but its reports still manage to see the light of day.

Could we actually see these features on the new iPad, or is this just a mix of wishful thinking along with some semi-educated guesses?

I say we just wait until January when the next iPad is announced.

[Via MacRumors]

So you want to unlock your iPhone 3G or 3GS. Good news: the iPhone Dev-Team has the solution for you, albeit a very risky one. It seems that the iPhone 3G and 3GS have the same baseband as the original iPad 3.2.2 software version, and so the Dev-Team was able to create a new unlock tool using the baseband from the iPad software version for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Oh, those crafty hackers.

However, it does come with some warnings. This isn’t like your simple, run-of-the-mill jailbreak – oh, no. There will be several items to consider and steps to take before you can free your iPhone 3G or 3GS from its carrier chains.

Since the details get rather heavy, your best bet is to visit the Dev-Team Blog down below. Remember to exercise some caution and discretion — if you feel that this might be beyond what you can handle, it’s better that you have a locked phone than a bricked phone. Remember that. Otherwise, enjoy!

[Via Dev-Team Blog]

It seems less people are inclined to get up at 3 a.m. on Black Friday and hit the retail stores with the herds as online spending saw a 9% increase this year over last year. Impressive, to say the least, but also not very surprising. So just how much did retailers see during this year’s Black Friday in online sales?

According to comScore, $648 million versus $595 million last year. We consumers sure do love our stuff, and apparently we love getting our stuff online. After all, who really wants to get up at the crack of dawn with hundreds of thousands of other folks who are way too stuffed with turkey and cranberry sauce to be in line?

comScore breaks down some stats:

• The number of visitors to coupon sites on Black Friday grew 4 percent versus year ago to 3.6 million visitors, while the total number of visits to the category increased 16 percent to 7.4 million.
• BlackFriday.info was the most visited coupon site on Black Friday with 630,000 unique visitors, followed by CouponCabin.com (543,000), RetailMeNot.com (332,000 visitors) and Groupon.com (332,000).
• ShopLocal.com ranked as the most visited comparison shopping site on Black Friday with 2.1 million visitors, up 45 percent versus year ago.

Not only did shoppers hit the web for deals online, but online surfers have been getting more savvy and visits to comparison shopping sites and coupon sites also increased.

For more details on this year’s Black Friday trends, check out the link below.

[Via comScore]

Black Friday is just two days away and the deals keep getting sweeter. Amazon will be dishing out the previous generation Kindle, the Kindle 2, for just $89. That’s not such a bad deal if you really just want an eReader to help you idly pass the time.

Here’s a message that CNET got regarding the sale:

Black Friday Deal: This Friday, 11/26, you can get our previous generation Kindle for $89! Our previous generation Kindle uses the old E Ink technology (the same E Ink as in the current Nook). Our all-new Kindle uses the latest generation E Ink (Pearl) for 50% percent better contrast, and is available at the everyday low price of …$139.

The best part is that you don’t have to go line up and get trampled to get this deal, so be sure to hop onto Amazon on Black Friday and grab your Kindle 2. Honestly, $89 is a damn tough deal to beat.

[Via CNET]

AT&T has joined the club with its very own MiFi wireless mobile hotspot, joining Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Virgin Mobile. The MiFi allows up to five users to connect at once and takes advantage of AT&T’s relatively fast 7.2Mbps HSPA network. Given the long time availability on other carriers, why should you pick up the AT&T version?

In truth, you shouldn’t. Unless AT&T offers the best data coverage in your area, you’re better off going with Sprint or even Virgin Mobile whose Broadband2go plan allows for unlimited data at just $40 per month.

The data plans for AT&T MiFi are outrageously high and are as follows:

• $35/month for 200MB of data
• $60/month for 5GB of data

The other three carriers that offer MiFi data cards are all considerably less than AT&T’s offering, so if a wireless mobile hotspot is in the cards for you, consider the pricing options.

AT&T will be offering the MiFi wireless mobile hotspot for $49.99 after a $100 mail-in-rebate and a two-year contract.

[Via AT&T]

Twitter for iPhone finally has push notifications. It took long enough, as it was a feature I’d been yearning for since Tweetie was picked up by Twitter and the iPhone app had a name change. So now when you get @ mentions on Twitter, you’ll also receive a push notification like you would when you get a text message.

The only problem I’ve seen so far is that it seems to work only when the tweet starts immediately with your username. As an example:

@Xenohub I love your website! It’s sweet. LOL.

Messages like that will get pushed straight to your iPhone. But if your Twitter handle is buried within the message, they don’t seem to appear – at least not for me:

So I read about Twitter for iPhone updates on @Xenohub and it’s pretty cool.

Tweets like the one above, where the mention of the account is within the message, don’t seem to get pushed at all.

If you haven’t already updated your app, do it! Open up the app store if you have Twitter for iPhone and you’ll see the update ready to. If you’re using another Twitter client, I highly recommend the official one. It’s clean, easy to use and works well with almost all the little things you’ll ever need to do like adding images or links.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, too!

Well, look at what Verizon is up to these days when it comes to planning its “4G” LTE network — higher data pricing. It’s probably only natural that the carrier is considering adjusting pricing based on data speed and usage, but here’s to hoping it doesn’t go overboard as it is pretty pricey right now.

Ivan Seidenberg, CEO, says that the possibility of altering pricing schemes for the new network is a strong one, though nothing is set in stone. I’d venture to say that it’s almost a certainty given my experience with Verizon’s nickel-and-diming.

Later this year, Verizon is going to launch LTE in 38 markets, but there probably won’t be any phones that will work with the network just yet. We’ll probably see USB sticks and mobile hotspots before we see smartphones that work with LTE.

Here’s something interesting that the Wall Street Journal reported:

“If you want to pay for less speed, you’ll pay for less speed and consume more, or you can pay for high speed and consume less,” Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said Wednesday.

Those don’t sound like attractive options to me. I want faster speeds and the ability to consume all the data I want. That’s what I’ve become used to: whether I was with AT&T or Sprint, when I had unlimited data I felt like I could use it as much as I wanted – whenever I wanted – without worrying about getting overage charges.

Everyone’s usage will vary, and maybe some of the tiered pricing plans will be completely suitable for most users, but as it stands it would be nice to see an not-so-pricey option for top tier speed and all-you-can-eat usage. Besides, it’s going to be pretty tough to justify that pricing if you find yourself having a mixed experience with coverage.

If you get great LTE coverage at home, but it sucks at the office or wherever you go to play or hang out, would you have to make considerations about which plan you’ll choose based on averages of where you find yourself and when?

The Wall Street Journal has more details via the link below.

[Via WSJ]

Path is a new photo sharing and social networking site that lets you share photos with your closest friends and family. The company has some pretty big-named supporters like Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Rose of Digg. Unlike other photo sharing apps like Instagram, Path takes a, well, different path, and it’s what might make or break the service.

Path only allows you to share your photos with up to 50 people at a time. This means that you can’t go broadcasting your photos to your hundreds or thousands of Facebook, Twitter or Flickr followers. The idea is that you’ll have a more private place to share your pictures with a small group of select viewers – things you might not share when you have strangers looking, too.

However, the principle might also be the new company’s downfall. It’s obviously difficult to predict the future, but after having used the application on my iPhone for a day, I don’t see why I’d use this instead of Instagram. I don’t separate my private and public life in such a way that a select group might make it easier for me to share certain pictures. So that makes me wonder: who will use Path instead of other photo sharing and social networking services that give you the option to broadcast your photos to whomever you want on any platform you want?

Oh, and right now it’s only available on the iPhone. For my friends and family, that’s not a big deal since we all use iPhones, but for others, the app might be completely worthless if they have no one with whom to share pictures.

Or maybe I’m being short-sighted. Maybe Path will be the next big thing. The app is free for the iPhone and is coming to other platforms soon. Here’s a video that shows the application in action.

[Via Path]

Apple iOS 4.2 has been delayed, apparently due to iPad Wi-Fi issues, but it looks like it will be coming relatively soon. The GM (Gold Master) version has already been dished out to developers earlier this week, so it rumors of a November 24 launch date seems to fit just nicely.

The Telegraph reported yesterday:

The iOS 4.2 software update had been expected today, but Apple has delayed it release until Nov 24, a reliable source has told the Telegraph.

Apple has refused to comment on the speculation, stating only that it had said the software update would be released in November.

But a source that works closely with Apple said that the company had shelved its original plan to release the software update today, and had instead pushed back the launch until later this month.

Of course, it’s very difficult – if not impossible, as history has shown us – to determine when Apple is going to release anything. It’s not unusual for Apple to delay software releases if they aren’t perfect, so it is better to wait than to be served some undercooked version of iOS that will only need upgrading again immediately.

One of the new features in iOS 4.2 is AirPlay, which will allow users to stream media from an iOS device to compatible hardware like AppleTV. Pretty neat, and along with AirPrint – an application that will allow wireless printing – iOS 4.2 should bring some much wanted new features to the mobile platform.

[Via The Telegraph]

I’m not going to get into Android fragmentation jokes with these gingerbread cookies, but the fact that the image you see above was tweeted from Google Mobile’s Twitter account tells us that it’s coming pretty darn soon.

The photo was apparently taken with the Nexus One, and not the Nexus S, which will likely be the first device to hit the market with Android 2.3, or Gingerbread. When it’s finally ready to serve, users will get the Gingerbread update via an over-the-air (OTA) transmission. It’s how Android devices have been updated in the past and it seems to work well for most folks.

We’re hoping that Android 2.3 Gingerbread becomes available to the majority of devices out there, and that it fixes some of the issues we have with Android — like a cluttered and confusing Android Market and perhaps maybe even a little more uniformity in design and UI.

Given the nature of this tease, here’s to hoping that it becomes available in time for the holidays!

[Via TechCrunch]

Android takes a small hit from Netflix when the streaming video service provider said that it currently isn’t on the fragmented platform due to a lack of a “generic and complete platform security and content protection mechanism available for Android.” Ouch. So when will the Google OS finally get the video streaming service?

According to the Netflix blog, it should be coming to select Android devices early next year. That’s a pretty vague time frame, but at least we know it’s coming. The downside is that we also don’t know which handsets will get the app. If you’re a serious Netflix user rocking an Android device, you’re probably envious of your iPhone and Windows Phone 7 counterparts.

Netflix also highlights another problem with Android fragmentation — it’s not just that software versions aren’t the same across the board, but its features can vary due to carriers and manufacturers, too.

So, Netflix says, “Unfortunately, this is a much slower approach and leads to a fragmented experience on Android, in which some handsets will have access to Netflix and others won’t.”

The folks at Google are going to have to get it together, and hopefully Gingerbread 2.3 or perhaps even Honeycomb (which may be 3.0) solves this Android problem.

[Via Netflix]

Black Friday 2010 is nearly here and Walmart is making sure that we’re up to date on all the hot deals well in advance. The trick is actually getting there in time and beating the crowds, lest you get beaten or trampled by them. This year, Walmart plans to open up its doors at 5:00 a.m. on November 26 for all us hungry consumers.

Various news sources say that Walmart is planning on putting up Black Friday 2010 ads on November 21, which gives consumers five days to start drooling over all the deals they’ll want to take advantage of.

A word of advice to Black Friday 2010 shoppers: be careful! Every year it seems like someone is getting killed or seriously injured from the stampedes. As much as we love gadgets and technology here at Xenohub, no piece of consumer electronics is worth a life or your health and safety.

Check out this video from Mahalo below about Walmart, Black Friday 2010 and some of the issues it has faced in the past.

You might know Minka Kelly best as a cheerleader from Friday Night Lights, or perhaps more recently as Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive, but more recently she’s helping Microsoft promote Windows Phone 7. AskMen.com decided to ask her a few questions about phone etiquette, and the answers may not surprise you (or at least they shouldn’t).

See the video below to see what Minka thinks about text messaging, phone calls, Facebook and how we should move from the virtual to the personal.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is out, and AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon will be carrying the device by the time Christmas rolls around. It’s the Android answer to the Apple iPad – though whether it’s a good one is still up for debate – and the good folks at iFixit got their hands on one and tore it down to bits!

Here are some details that we can gather from the tear down:

• 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Hummingbird Multimedia Applications Processor based on the ARMv7 architecture.
• 16 or 32 GB internal storage capacity + microSD external expandable storage.
• 512 MB total DDR RAM
• 3.2 MP rear facing camera and 1.3 MP front facing camera.
• Android 2.2 (Froyo) + Samsung TouchWiz
• Measuring 190.1 x 120.6 x 12.0 mm, the Galaxy Tab is dimensionally smaller than its competitor. The iPad measures in at 242.8 x 189.7 x 13.4 mm.
• Volumetrically, the Galaxy Tab measures 275.1 cm³, whereas the iPad measures 617.2 cm³.

Those are just a few details on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, but for the full breakdown/teardown and images to go along with it for you DIYers, visit iFixit at the link below.

[Via iFixit]

As a kid, I remember playing Tetris for hours at a time – maybe without even blinking. The music, shapes, speed and increasing difficulty put me in a strange zone. Now it looks like that same experience can help those afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. How exactly does Tetris help cure PTSD?

It’s not a cure or a viable method of therapy just yet, but a small experiment yielded some interesting results. According to PC Mag:

In the study, participants with no history of mental illness watched 20 minutes of traumatic footage involving injury or death. They were then divided into three groups. Thirty minutes after the film, one group sat quietly, one group played Tetris, and another group played a different trivia-based video game called Pub Quiz for 10 minutes each.

Participants who played Tetris had fewer flashbacks than the other two groups. In the 10-minute period, those who played Tetris had an average of four flashbacks, while those who played Pub Quiz had about six and those who did nothing experienced an average of 12.

Obviously we aren’t talking about soldiers here who have had the misfortune of watching a brother fall, or to see one suffer through painful medical treatments just a few feet away only to succumb to his wounds. My cousin was a combat medic for eight years and he doesn’t seem like the same person since he’s been back. Is it within the realm of possibility that Tetris – or what the mind goes through when it’s engaged in such a game – can cure or even remotely alleviate PTSD?

Follow-up reports showed that those who played Pub Quiz instead of Tetris had more flashbacks in the following weeks, but PC Mag was careful to say, “However, the experiment requires significantly more testing before Tetris or a similar task could actually be prescibed as a treatment for PTSD.”

[Via PC Mag]