Former IPod chief will leave Apple

Tony Fadell, one of the fathers of the iPod and iPhone, is formally severing ties with Apple after nine years at the company, according to a New York Times report.Fadell had served as senior vice president of the iPod for seven years and was largely credited with playing a key role in Apple's resurgence. Fadell stepped down from his iPod post in November 2008 but remained at the company as an adviser to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Fadell was reportedly expected to announce his departure from the company online Monday night.Fadell became the inaugural member of the iPod engineering team in 2001, eventually being promoted to head of the division in 2006, succeeding Jon Rubenstein, who is now Palm's chief executive officer. Fadell was credited by Fortune as the man behind the idea of a handheld music player combined with a digital music store. He reportedly shopped the idea around Silicon Valley, including a six-week stint at Seattle-based RealNetworks, before landing at Apple.
During Fadell's tenure, the iPod grew from a curiosity into the profit engine that paved the way for Apple's renaissance in personal computers and its entry into mobile computing.Apple representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Fadell said he plans to focus on advising companies and investing in green tech companies.

3rd April Ipad is going to launch....

Computerworld - April 3 is the big day, when everything changes. Are you ready?

I think the iPad is the most important launch in Apple's history -- bigger than Mac, iPod or iPhone. More important, I think it's the most important cultural phenomenon of this generation. It's bigger than technology.I'm no fanboy. I've tried to envision some conceivable series of events that might leave the iPad as only moderately successful, but I can't come up with any. All circumstances, facts and events in technology, media and elsewhere seem to point to the same inexorable outcome: The iPad will be huge.Pundits, bloggers and gadget enthusiasts are talking about the iPad like it's just another device, on a par with other devices. My view is that the iPad is utterly unique.

Everyone from engineers to neo-luddites will buy iPads. It will be the first device in recent years to match the technical-enthusiasm range of the cell phone market.Gamers, readers, TV watchers, movie enthusiasts will get one.Schools, churches, libraries, small businesses, restaurants, nightclubs, malls and other organizations will put them to use.Pilots, teachers, public speakers, artists, contractors, writers, and other professionals will enhance their careers with iPads. The Pentagon will go nuts for this thing.The combination of touch, rich media, third-party applications and familiar (iPhone-like) user interface make it ideal for people who would never dream of buying most other categories of consumer electronics.

But more important than that, I believe the iPad will become such a cultural phenomenon that it will become a symbol or an icon of the coming decade. Future generations might refer to the two-thousand and teens as the "iPad Era."