The Smithsonian looks at ways to cheat in baseball
Cheating in baseball is a time honored tradition except when it annoys the sports writers, who are after all the arbitrators of the sports unwritten rule book. The Smithsonian took a scientific look at a couple of the more popular topics in this space such as the impact that using a corked bats or confining baseballs to a humidor can have on the distance a baseball can travel. Fun read.

Samsung and Apple at odds, again
Samsung Electronics is suing Apple for violating its patents and using the technology in Apple’s iPhones and iPad. If this rings a bell it might be because Samsung already has other litigation brewing versus Apple. On the other hand Apple is suing Samsung for copying Apple’s iPhone look and feel in Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones.

Pac-12 official; Did ESPN ‘lose” the Big Ten over hardball tactics?
Today is the day that changes are occurring in College football. One of many is that The Pac-10 Conference is officially dead, Long live the Pac-12 Conference. With the Colorado Buffaloes and the Utah Utes joining the Pac it will now have two divisions and a playoff, as well as considerably more revenue from a new TV deal. In other news it was reported in the Chicago Tribune that ESPN played hardball with the Big Ten and that led to the creation of the Big Ten Network as feeling were bruised.

Smartphones continue market gains, Android and iPhones lead the pack
Smartphone sales continue to grow as the communications devices are increasingly popular with consumers, according to a May survey conducted by Nielsen. Currently 38% of all US mobile users have a smartphone and in the last three months the handsets accounted for a robust 55% of all mobile phones purchased in the last three months. Android-based systems lead the way with a 38% market share while Apple’s iOS-based devices account for 27%. Apple has seen a surge in recent months according to Nielsen, something that coincides with its move to a second major US carrier. RIM’s Blackberry is third with a 21% share with a number of others having less than 10% market share.

Microsoft adds Office 365 for mobile users
Love the Cloud and want to use it for your business applications? Then Microsoft wants you and has released its Office 365 this week which enables collaboration and access between e-mail, web conferencing, documents and calendars. There is a $6/month version for professionals and small businesses and a $10/month plan for mid and large size offices. Designed for sharing across a range of devices including smartphones it supports versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari browser; mobile devices requires Wi-Fi. Some mobile functionality requires Microsoft Office Mobile 2010, which is included with specific releases of Windows Phones and Nokia phones. So for full functionality sorry iPhone and Android users, Windows phones will rule in this space for the near term.