Apple iPhone Web marketshare outgrows Google Android in May

Despite a larger variety of devices running the Google Android operating system available on the market, Apple's iPhone operating system still outgained its rival in terms of Web presence in the month of May.

New statistics released this week by Net Applications show that Apple increased its mobile browser share from 30.3 percent a month prior to 32.8 percent in May. During the same time, Android also grew, but by a smaller amount -- from 5.3 percent to 6.2 percent.

"Google's operating system, Android is rapidly gaining usage share. However, the iPhone still maintains a large lead," the report said.

The top platform remains Java Micro Edition, which is found in use on a variety of older smartphones. However, it is rapidly losing share to both the iPhone and Android.

Apple's next closest competitor is Symbian, which had a 13.98 percent share in May. During the same period, BlackBerry accounted for 3.59 percent of mobile Web browsing, while Windows Mobile took 2.97 percent. While many competitors have remained static or shrunk, monthly tracking data from Net Applications has shown steady growth for the iPhone over some time.

The firm also tracked a spike in iPad usage over the weekend, after the device launched internationally in nine new countries. Last Friday, Apple's new multitouch device went on sale in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Net Applications found that iPad usage jumped from an 0.08 percent total Web presence on May 27 to 0.12 percent on Friday, May 28. The numbers crept higher over the weekend, with the iPad representing 0.17 percent on Saturday, May 29, and dipping slightly to 0.16 percent on Sunday.

Saturday's total of 0.17 percent represented the highest single day of Web use of the iPad yet, according to Net Applications. The company began tracking the online presence of its device soon after it launched, and found that it quickly began to rival the Android and BlackBerry mobile platforms.

Hulu headed to a Xbox 360 dashboard near you?

From its humble origins as a chunky black box of PC parts, the Xbox has grown into a strapping young adult -- attracting a social circle including Netflix, Facebook and Twitter. Now, rumor has it that the Xbox 360's preening for a date with Hulu, too. Though plans aren't set in stone, Gear Live tells us Hulu has been spotted in internal Xbox 360 dashboard builds, and that Microsoft will introduce the streaming video service as part of their Xbox LIVE experience at E3 2010. The publication is mighty certain here, but at this point we can't corroborate for ourselves. If this does end up happening, the question is how much it might cost, as we hear there's going to be some sort of fee -- perhaps Hulu will be part of that "Xbox LIVE Platinum Tier" rumor that gets dragged out most every year.

Why My Boss Is Cooler Than Yours

When I asked my boss who the hell he is to give me orders, he sent me this picture. Yeah, he's the goddamn Batman.

Steve Jobs Will Fix This Foxconn Suicide Nonsense

Steve Jobs thinks that this Foxconn suicide thing is way overblown. But still, he's gonna fix it.

In an email exchange with a random guy, which is apparently how he communicates with the outside world now, he had this to say to accusations that Apple is party responsible for the recent rash of factory suicides:

"Although every suicide is tragic, Foxconn's suicide rate is well below the China average. We are all over this."

So on the one hand, Steve buys into the argument that since the number of suicides amongst Foxconn employees is below average, it has nothing to do with the working conditions there. On the other hand, they're "all over" it, as he knows that this sure isn't good publicity for Apple (or any of the other companies who work with Foxconn).

The argument that the Foxconn suicide rate is lower than China's average was taken on pretty pointedly by Fake Steve Jobs last week:

"But, see, arguments about national averages are a smokescreen. Sure, people kill themselves all the time. But the Foxconn people all work for the same company, in the same place, and they're all doing it in the same way, and that way happens to be a gruesome, public way that makes a spectacle of their death. They're not pill-takers or wrist-slitters or hangers. They're not Sylvia Plath wannabes, sealing off the kitchen and quietly sticking their head in the oven. They're jumpers. And jumpers, my friends, are a different breed. Ask any cop or shrink who deals with this stuff. Jumpers want to make a statement. Jumpers are trying to tell you something.

Also, consider this. Walmart has 1.4 million employees in the United States. Can you remember a time when 10 or 15 Walmart workers jumped to their deaths from the roofs of Walmart stores over the course of a few months? Have you ever heard of Walmart asking employees to sign a no-suicide contract, or putting safety nets up on all of its buildings? If this did happen, would you think maybe something is going on at Walmart? Or would you just say, well, 10 or 15 people out of 1.4 million is still waaaay below the national average?"

But in any case, whatever the motivations, here's hoping Apple follows through and ends up improving the working conditions at Foxconn. Whether or not these suicides are a direct result of said conditions, it's clear that they would be seen as near-barbaric if tried here in America. [MacStories]

We Could Get to Neptune and Back in 5 Years for a Mere $4 Trillion

Manned spaceflight is an expensive and impractical proposition. But what if we had all the funds we wanted at our disposal? What could we do? Quite a bit, it turns out.

Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Laboratory recently did a study that examines what sorts of missions we might be able to undertake in the latter half of this century.

Sure, some of the tech, like an "onboard 100MW nuclear reactor powering magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters," don't quite exist yet. But they should in another 50 years. And we'll need all that power to send people moving faster than any spacecraft ever has before.

Speed is of the essence because of the danger of cosmic radiation. Rather than slap on a 4240-ton aluminum shield to protect the crew, it would make more sense to just make the trip as short as possible by going really fast. Hence that crazy engine.

But with that lower weight without the shield and the aforementioned engine, it could be possible to get as far as Neptune and back within 5 years, limiting the radiation exposure to those on board.

It wouldn't be cheap, however. The estimate? $4 trillion. Yes, that's more than the entire US federal budget last year. But hey, maybe by 2060 we'll have a lot more money to play with. It could happen! Please, let it happen. [Study Link; Ars Technica]