After MapQuest and other similar services made computer based mapping second nature to millions of people, software developers decided to turn their attention to the skies, bringing “sky mapping” to the desktop. Microsoft WorldWide Telescope, Google Sky (part of Google Earth), and Stellarium offer three different takes on how to explore the galaxies from your computer. Best of all, all three are free, so the cost of entry for accessing all of this information is nonexistent. Read on to learn what differentiates each product and how good of an experience they deliver to the user.

Part 1: Google Earth with Google Sky

Part 2: Microsoft WorldWide Telescope

Part 3: Stellarium

WorldWide Telescope, a free product from Microsoft Research, offers both a Silverlight based Web application for Windows, OS X, and Linux, as well as a richer desktop application for Windows only.  Content is provided by the Hubble Telescope and other NASA sources, as well as numerous other astronomical image repositories.  The application offers excellent guided tours by leading astronomers, a very polished interface, and easy ways to learn more about a given topic and save images.

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Our model is clean and simple. We build something, we sell that thing. If something is free, you should take a look and find out where the real cost is.

Steve Ballmer, in response to a Windows Phone 7 pricing question.

The HP Slate is slated (sorry, couldn’t resist) to offer more versatility, more power, and a lower price than the rumored Apple slate; it’s truly a do-it-all device.

On January 27, Apple will likely introduce a new tablet product. For the past two years, rumors have been circulating the internet about what that device might consist of. Many speculate that it will be an “enlarged iPod touch,” running a derivative of the iPhone OS. Others suspect it might be a “tablet Mac,” running a stripped down version of Mac OS X. This “middle ground” area that lives between the laptops and smartphones we use every day is a brand new market, and many companies have been working hard over the past year to define it.

When Apple entered the smartphone market with the iPhone in June 2007, it was already a fairly mature market. Four years prior, Microsoft had launched Windows Mobile 2003, a huge release that offered a full touchscreen smartphone experience with multi-tasking, robust email and music support, and syncing for music and TV shows. That same year, Palm launched the Treo 600, a remarkable device that offered an incredibly seamless solution for consuming media, email, and other content on the go. BlackBerry devices had been offering a refined mobile email experience for several years. Essentially, the iPhone entered a market that was already defined, and brought new levels of media consumption and refinement to the table, while lacking real applications, games, copy and paste, multi-tasking, and MMS (features that have all been added besides multitasking, which is expected to arrive with iPhone OS 4.0). (continue reading…)

We’ve learned that Microsoft is preparing to role out an incentive program for using its Bing service.  Users would be rewarded points for performing different activities, from as simple as setting Bing as their default search engine and home page to purchasing air line tickets and products through Bing.  After installing the “Bing Bar” browser toolbar, users would be able to keep track of their points and redeem them for prizes or donate them to charity.  Possible names for the program include Bing Search & Earn, Bing Rewards, Club Bing, Bing Perks, and Bing VIP (our favorite).  Take a look at the screenshots below to get an idea of what the program might look like.  If and when Microsoft does roll out this program, remember that you heard it here first!