Chrome and Windows 7 Rising

Web data company Net Applications has released its market share numbers for January. ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes notes that it shows Google’s Chrome with 5.2% of the browser market, and that Chrome appears to be stealing users from Firefox.

Technologizer’s Web stats are, of course, representative only of the Technologizer community–and this site is small enough that fluctuation is normal. (For instance, the percentage of visitors who use Macs varies a lot from month to month, which can skew browser data one way or the other.) But for what it’s worth, the last few months of usage data shows Chrome growing almost continuously, and Firefox jumping around in no clear pattern:

Chrome:
September: 9.05%
October: 8.93%
November:  9.69%
December: 12.65%
January: 14.03%

Firefox:
September: 45.79%
October: 41.35%
November. 42.09%
December: 45.46%
January: 41.43%

Net Applications’ January data also has ten percent of Web users on Windows 7. With Technologizer visitors, it’s sixteen percent–making Windows 7 the second-most used version of any operating system, after Windows XP, which 38 percent of you are still using…

The JooJoo Cometh

Over at VentureBeat, Paul Boutin has an update on what is now the second-most interesting tablet device announced to date: Fusion Garage’s JooJoo, the former CrunchPad that until now has been notable largely for behind-the-scenes dramatics and legal wrangling.

The JooJoo has gotten decent reviews from those that have seen it in person–it’s got a bigger, wider, higher-resolution display than Apple’s iPad, and does Flash. On those other hand, it’s Web-only; there’s no JooJoo App Store, nor any JooJoo apps. It sells for $499, the same price as the base iPad.

Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan told Paul that the JooJoo will ship by the end of the month. Assuming you’re intrigued by tablets at all, is this one tempting? Does the fact it’s the subject of a lawsuit filed by Michael Arrington, the man who proposed it in the first place, scare you off?

5Words: Zune Phone Rumors. Yes, Again!

Zune phone about to arrive?

Hey, Colbert’s got an iPad!

iPad vs. Google’s Chrome OS.

Adobe, save Flash: Kill it.

Ihnatko’s hands-on iPad impressions.

Engadget reviews wireless-display Toshiba.

New Wacom tablet goes wireless.

Firefox Mobile here for Maemo.

iPad needs an iMag store.

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Snap Judgments! The Early iPhone Skepticism

A month ago, before any of us knew anything for sure about Apple’s tablet, I looked back at the period before any of us knew anything for sure about Apple’s phone. It turned out that about 95% of the speculation and rumors about the iPhone had nothing to do with the device that Apple actually announced at Macworld Expo in January of 2007.

Now that we know quite a bit about the iPad, a massive rush to judgment is already underway, with pundits predicting everything from historic success to epic failure. Which led me to wonder: How accurate were the first predictions that got made about the iPhone’s fate? So I went back and read scads of stories from the first couple of weeks after the phone’s announcement.

Overall, they weren’t bad. Lots of pundits said it was a landmark product with the potential to transform the phone business. But there were plenty of dissenting opinions, too. This article is devoted to them.

I’m not dredging up these stories to mock anyone. For one thing, some of them make reasonable arguments about the original iPhone’s limitations; it’s just that the phone managed to thrive despite them. For another, I thought that famous flop the G4 Cube would be an influential hit, and am therefore in no position to taunt anyone for making inaccurate forecasts about Apple products. I’m doing this because I think reviewing iPhone predictions is a useful exercise as we think about the future of the iPad.

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Oh No, the “Free iPad” Offers Are Here!

What’s the surest sign that the iPad is the world’s hottest tech product right now? It may not be Steve Jobs telling us it’s magical and revolutionary, or the avalanche of coverage on tech blogs. Maybe it’s the arrival of cheesy ads that dangle free iPads in front of people–almost two months before the gizmo even goes on sale.

Earlier today, I was on Facebook, and saw this ad:

Free iPods for 45-year-old males? I’m 45! I’m male! What a happy coincidence! What a rare opportunity!

Continue reading this story…