10 Best Apple Products Ever

Apple has released some of the best-selling products of all time, and has revolutionized whole industries on its own. Music, phones, computers, even advertising have been greatly affected as Apple has continue to grow in size and influence.

Apple started as a computer company April 1, 1976 -- and in those 36 years, has gone from making just computers to making a number of products the masses love and clamor for year in and year out.

Steve Jobs, and to a lesser extent, Steve Wozniak, built Apple on making aesthetically pleasing and easy to use products. As Apple grew from its infancy to the $600 billion behemoth it is now, its reach expanded. It went from being only for hobbyists, geeks and technophiles to being a mainstay brand for the everyday person.

With Apple getting set to announce a slew of new products today (new iPhones, mobile payments and potentially a wearable device), Apple may have another hit product on its hands

1.Apple II

The Apple II started it all. Built just 12 months after the Apple I, the Apple II started Apple on the journey to what it has become today. It was the fastest-selling personal computer of its time, and was designed primarily by Wozniak. A little-known fact is the Apple II was actually a line of computers Apple kept producing up until the Apple IIe, which stopped in November 1993.

The Apple II was one of the first personal computers that had color graphics, and came with two gaming paddles right out of the box. There were also eight slots built into the Apple II allowing users to expand it and customize it, including adding more memory, graphics and the ability to add a printer and a floppy drive.

Apple's first big-time computer cost consumers $1,298 when it first went on sale, but that didn't stop the company from selling "well over 300,000 units." It generated Apple Computer $79 million in revenue during 1979.

2.The Mac

Following the success of the Apple II, Apple failed with the Apple III, a disaster from which the company had a hard time recovering.

In 1984, that all changed when Jobs unveiled the Mac to the world in a Super Bowl commercial unlike anything the world had ever seen.

Originally named the Apple Macintosh, the Mac took the personal computing revolution to a level the Apple II never did. Known for its distinctive beige design, the computer came with a monitor, keyboard and a mouse, and is remembered for its exceptional graphical user interface (GUI).

Once sales of the device were so strong that it would be a hit, a second product came out named Mac 512K and the original Mac was named Mac 128K. Unlike the Apple II, the Mac was not expandable and cost users $2,495.

3.iMac

Apple suffered quite a few flops with its computing line after Jobs was ousted from the company. That changed in 1998, after Jobs returned, when the company announced the iMac series of computers, starting with the iMac 3G.

The iMac 3G was an all-in-one personal computer, with the monitor and CPU in one system, and it was the first computer where you could actually see the inside. The iMac 3G originally came in Bondi blue, then was released in 13 colors. It also included dual headphone jacks and built-in stereo speakers, and is one of the first major products that Jonathan Ive, Apple's vice president of industrial design, is credited with designing.

The original iMac was also the first computer to use USB ports as a standard. The first iMac cost consumers $1,299 in May 1998.

4.iTunes

Apple is known for all the great hardware it has made over the years, but one piece of software helped turned the fortune of the company around forever: iTunes.

Apple introduced iTunes, a digital jukebox of sorts, in January 2001. The program's big innovation was allowing a user to store all the songs on a computer in one place. Unlike many of Apple's products, iTunes is a free download that was originally available only for Mac OS 9, but later came to Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows to help expand iTunes' reach.

Although iTunes was launched with just the ability to store all your music in one place, it became much more. With iTunes, users can now burn CDs and purchase MP3s, albums, movies, TV shows, books, and other forms of content all straight from the platform, giving Apple access to 800 million (and growing) credit cards and user accounts.

5.The iPod

In October 2001, Apple changed the world yet again by introducing consumers to the iPod. It was described as being able to have a "thousand songs in your pocket." The first iPods went on sale on Nov. 10, 2001.

The MP3 player was out long before Apple came up with the iPod, but Apple's ability to reinvent a market and make it easy to use created a product everyone wanted to have and couldn't do without.

The original iPod is known for its famous click-wheel, which helped users scroll through their music library with ease. It originally came in 5 GB and 10 GB models, but in subsequent versions (the latest iPod Classic), Apple increased the amount of storage on the device to 160 GB. The original iPod connected via Firewire, but this later changed to USB, for both syncing and charging. The 5 GB version cost users $399, while the 10 GB version cost $499.

The iPod spawned a line of products, including the iPod Mini, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle and iPod Touch.

6.The iPod Video

The iPod may have changed the way we listened to music, but the iPod Video changed the way we watch videos.

Announced in October 2005, Apple launched the fifth version of the iPod, which had the capability of not only playing music, but also being able to view photos and watch videos. It came in 30 GB, 60 GB, and 80 GB sizes, as more users packed videos and photos onto their devices.

The iPod Video was the first iPod available in colors other than white, as black was introduced. The 30 GB model cost buyers $299, and the 60 GB model cost $399.

The iPod Video is also the first and only iPod available with a brand on it, as the rock band U2 had its own special edition, costing $349.

7.iPhone

In January 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone on AT&T's (T) network, setting a new standard in smartphone design and functionality, according to the technorati.

The first iPhone was unveiled at Macworld 2007 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and was very pricey. The first two models, a 4 GB version and an 8 GB version, cost $499 and $599, respectively. It garnered so much positive attention from the media that it was dubbed the "Jesus phone."

In the first five quarters the phone was available, Apple sold 6.1 million units. The company eventually cut the price by $200, and Steve Jobs apologized to users.

The iPhone ushered in a new era of smartphones, and now accounts for more than 50% of Apple's revenue, per its latest quarterly filing.

8.iPhone 5s

The iPhone proved to be a big hit and get people talking, but not until the iPhone 5s did Apple truly show the capabilities of how a smartphone could overtake the PC and other mobile devices for all your computing needs.

The iPhone 4S was the first phone to include Siri, Apple's personal navigation assistant, but the 5s was the first phone to include a 64-bit chip, the A7, that allows users to do everything they could on a PC, but at an incredibly fast speeds. OneQualcomm (QCOM) employee was quoted as saying the A7 chip took the mobile industry by surprise. "The 64-bit Apple chip hit us in the gut," said the Qualcomm employee. "Not just us, but everyone, really. We were slack-jawed, and stunned, and unprepared."

The 5s is 4 inches, the same size as the previous iPhone 5, and incorporates TouchID, a feature that led to Apple incorporating Apple Pay, its mobile payments platform, into the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

9.iPad Air 2

In April 2010, Apple announced the iPad, which breathed new life into an ailing tablet market that no other tech company had been able to successfully crack. According toReuters via iSuppli, 12.9 million iPads were shipped as of Dec. 10, 2010, including 300,000 sold the first day it was available.

The iPad Air 2, however, has taken the tablet market to the next level.

Apple's thinnest iPad yet, it weighs 0.96 pounds and is 18% thinner than the iPad Air, at just 6.1 millimeters thick. It also incorporates Touch ID and has an astonishing 3.1 million pixels on its Retina Display screen, packing 264 pixels per inch.

10.Apple Watch

Apple's first new product since the iPad in 2010, the Apple Watch has garnered a lot of criticism, praise and everything in between, despite not having actually gone on sale yet.

A lot of the features of the watch will be catered toward fitness and health, as well as toward new forms of communication, such as sending a heartbeat to a loved one or sending a sketch to someone.


The Apple Watch starts at $349 for the Apple Watch Sport and runs up to $17,000 for the Apple Watch Edition, which comes in 18-karat gold. The Apple Watch goes on sale, from April 24.

8 Google Projects To Watch in 2015

Google makes billions of dollars dishing out contextual ads. Its bread-and-butter search revenue makes it appealing to investors, but less so to tech enthusiasts and journalists, many of whom would rather hear about the search giant's forays into self-driving cars or micro-satellites than, say, the latest AdWord upgrade.

As in years past, Google is undertaking an ambitious array of business partnerships and tech projects in 2015. Some of these efforts have the more pragmatic goal of boosting the company's presence in growing mainstream markets such as enterprise cloud computing. Others are blue-sky initiatives, such as self-driving cars or low-orbit satellites designed to make the Internet accessible from just about anywhere on Earth.

Google's business is becoming increasingly diversified. For instance, there's the very successful Chromebooks venture, and the very unsuccessful Google Glass, as well as the too-soon-to-tell Android Wear (software for wearables) and Android Auto (car tech).

What else is Google working on? One persistent rumor claims the company will soon offer its own wireless plan by reselling Sprint and T-Mobile services. If true, it's possible Google might act as a disruptive force by seriously undercutting the prices of the two top wireless giants, AT&T and Verizon. There's a precedent for this in the broadband market. Google charges just $70 per month for its 1000Mbps fiber-optic service, which is currently available in three US markets. Verizon, by comparison, charges $75 per month for its 75Mbps FiOS Internet plan, and $285/month for 500Mbps. So, if you fear you're overpaying for home broadband -- or what your ISP calls "broadband" -- you probably are.

Google's side projects are fun to watch, but they don't always contribute a lot to the company's bottom line. Advertising makes up about 90% of the company's revenue. Many of Google's experiments may seem kooky, but they're really designed to benefit Google's core ad business by bringing more Internet users online, many of whom will use Google Search. For instance, Project Loon, a proposed global network of high-altitude balloons for bringing wireless Internet to rural and remote areas, could help Google's core business a great deal.

1.Google For Work

Google changed the name of its corporate-focused operation from Google Enterprise to Google for Work in September 2014, a rebranding effort designed to embrace the search giant's small and midsized business customers, most of whom probably don't see themselves as an "enterprise." The move is one of several attempts to lure business customers, including opening up Google Cloud Platform to Windows-based workloads, and changing the company's global partner program to better accommodate corporate clients. And while these efforts were announced toward the end of last year, they'll accelerate in 2015 as Google takes on established competitors, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, to attract businesses migrating to cloud services.

2.Google Glass: It Lives

Glass, Google's first stab at a camera-equipped wearable for your head, may have failed spectacularly -- at least as a $1,500 consumer device -- but that doesn't mean it's gone for good. On the contrary, the Glass project lives on as a business-focused effort, one that very well may have a future in select industries. One example is a recent trial by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands. As YouTube video shows, this airport is using Glass apps to help staffers quickly access information, as well take photos, via hands-free voice commands. (FierceMobileIT has the news release.)

3.Collaboration With VMware

In the past year, Google and VMware have gone from cloud service competitors to industry partners, starting with their February 2014 pact to provide virtualized Windows desktops on Chromebooks. It appears the pair are strengthening their bond in 2015 to gain traction in the increasingly lucrative cloud services market. Last month, Google and VMware announced plans to make some Google Cloud Platform services available to VMware customers  via vCloud Air, VMware's hybrid cloud platform. Google BigQuery, Google Cloud Datastore, Google Cloud Storage, and Google Cloud DNS will be available to vCloud Air users later this year.

4.Google Fiber Expansion

In 2014, Google began working with 34 cities in nine US metro areas to bring its 1000Mbps (or 1Gbps) Google Fiber service to an eager public. (It's already available in three cities -- Kansas City, Austin, and Provo, Utah.) In 2015, companies in some parts of Austin and Kansas City (and soon Provo) will be able to get Google Fiber for Small Business, which is quite reasonable at $100 per month. Even if Google Fiber never goes nationwide, it's a disruptive force that's spurring broadband competitors such as AT&T to bring 1-gigabit Internet to more cities this year.

5.Android Wear

The demand for smartwatches is the tech industry's great unknown. But 2015 should give Google, Apple, and legions of other gadget makers a clearer idea of what people want in a wearable. The major event, of course, is the spring launch of the Apple Watch, but Google's ongoing enhancements to its Android Wear platform are significant as well. In October 2014, Android Wear received two significant upgrades: GPS support and the ability to play music stored on the wearable. Both features free the device from the smartphone, and could make Android wearables more appealing to consumers and business users who don't see the appeal of carrying two mobile devices all the time. The changes certainly couldn't hurt; only 720,000 Android Wear devices shipped in 2014, according to research firm Canalys.

6.Android Auto

Google's self-driving car project gets plenty of media love, but it will be a few years before we see autonomous cars cruising down the highway. The company's Android Auto initiative may have a greater impact this year, provided Google's roster of supporting car manufacturers actually builds the software into vehicles. Similar to Apple's CarPlay, Android Auto allows compatible cars to display smartphone content on a customized UI in the dash display. (Phones will need to run Android 5.0 or newer.) Google may also be working on a version of Android Auto that's built directly into cars and doesn't need a smartphone at all, Reuters reports. Don't expect to see this service in 2015.

7.Faster Search, Fewer Links

When searching for information on a mobile device, a list of blue links isn't the best way to find answers, particularly on a small screen. Search providers, most notably Google and Bing, are getting better at providing relevant information at the top of the results page, in an ongoing effort demonstrated by recent changes in Google Search. When searching for medical information (e.g., "What is measles?") you'll see relevant medical information up front and, in some cases, illustrations from licensed medical illustrators. This is significant because one in 20 Google searches is for health-related information, writes Google product manager Prem Ramaswami in a blog post.

8.Space: The Final (Ad) Frontier

Google and Fidelity Investments recently invested a cool billion dollars in Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), giving them 10% ownership of Elon Musk's space transport company. Why is Google interested in space exploration? The main attraction may be SpaceX's proposed satellite Internet service, an orbiting network of micro-satellites that would bring Internet access to developing and rural regions in every nook and cranny of the world. A Google spokesperson told Ars Technica that imaging satellites and other space-based apps can help people access information more easily. And for Google's core business -- data-driven advertising -- the more people online, the better.

Biggest R&D spenders worldwide

“Innovative” has become, it seems, a trite descriptor, since marketing departments plaster the word everywhere. So who is actually investing the most in research and development? As it turns out, companies are spending more on R&D than ever before. The Global Innovation 1000, a list of public companies that spend the most on innovation, last year invested a record $647 billion, an increase of $9 billion over the previous year. That total represents two-fifths of all innovation spending by organizations worldwide, according to a report from Strategy, the consultancy formerly known as Booz & Co.

Where does all that money go? Over the past decade, two industries have accounted for half of all R&D spending: healthcare and computers. Other resource-intensive industries include healthcare, autos, and software.Fortune combed through the annual reports of Strategy&’s top 10 to learn more about how big companies spend their R&D budgets. Here’s what we found.

Think “innovation” is just a buzzword? These 10 companies spend the most on research and development.

1. Volkswagen

• R&D spending in 2013: $13.5 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 5.2%

For the third year in a row, the German carmaker tops the Strategy& list of research and development spenders. Volkswagen says its spending results from being a “highly competitive and innovative car manufacturer which must fulfill a whole host of environmental and safety standards.” Much of that spending has gone into hybrid vehicles and adding new technology, including semi-autonomous features to some of its 12 brands. It also is looking to reduce CO2 emissions across its fleet and invest in ways to electrify vehicles.

2. Samsung

• R&D spending in 2013: $13.4 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 6.4%

The South Korean conglomerate claims second place once again. Its many R&D centers range from Silicon Valley to Bangalore to Beijing. The company says it is developing a smart TV monitor and a smart TV service as part of its research program. Domestically, Samsung breaks R&D into three organizations: business unit development teams that have a one-to-two year development outlook; research institutes that have a three-to-five year development outlook; and the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, which works on projects with a further line of sight.

3. Intel

• R&D spending in 2013: $10.6 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 20.1%

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip manufacturer invests in R&D to keep pace with Moore’s Law, an observation by company co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965 that computing power doubles every two years. As the company works to cram more transistors onto its circuits, development eats most of the company’s R&D spending. “It’s getting more expensive to do the development piece of it because wafers get more expensive over time as more steps get added to the process,” says Michael Mayberry, vice president and director of components research at Intel. “Complexity drives cost.” One recent example of the company’s R&D efforts includes the 14nm Intel Core M processor, which is half the size of the previous generation of chips with 20% longer battery life and 60% less energy expenditure.

4. Microsoft

• R&D spending in 2013: $10.4 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 13.4%

Microsoft, the biggest spender among software and Internet companies, likes to refer to the “small r” and the “big D.” The company prides itself on developing products for the current market while searching for the next big thing. With more than 1,000 doctorate-holding researchers, its research program contributes to nearly everything the company ships today—one of the latest examples being Microsoft Band, a wearable device that aims to help people live a healthy and more productive life. Over the years, other technologies emerging from the company’s R&D program have included Xbox 360 and Xbox One, Kinect and Skype Translator.

5. Roche

• R&D spending in 2013: $10 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 19%

Leading the healthcare industry in R&D spending, the Swiss biopharmaceutical company spends more today than it did when it topped the Strategy& list three years ago. The company invests an overwhelming majority of its R&D budget —almost 90%—on pharmaceuticals, while the rest goes into diagnostics. Oncology, the largest part of Roche’s business, eats about half of its pharma R&D spending. One of the company’s latest drugs, a targeted medicine for advanced breast cancer called Kadcyla, was approved in the U.S. and E.U. last year. Roche says it is looking to leverage parts of the Kadcyla platform (for instance, the innovative way it links chemotherapeutic agents and antibodies) for future drugs.

6. Novartis

• R&D spending in 2013: $9.9 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 16.8%

As the second-biggest health care spender, Novartis invested nearly 17% of its revenues into R&D in 2013 and has more than 200 projects in clinical development, including 138 in pharmaceuticals. Among the big discoveries from its R&D program was the drug Zykadia, which treats patients with a certain form of lung cancer and, in August, the company presented data on its drug LCZ696, an investigational heart failure medicine, showing it was superior to the current best treatments. And in October, an advisory committee to the FDA approved unanimously to support the approval AIN457 (secukinumab) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

7. Toyota

• R&D spending in 2013: $9.1 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 3.5%

The Japanese automaker's biggest R&D investment areas include environmental and hybrid systems like electric and fuel cell vehicles as well as safety technologies, like vehicle dynamic control and crash safety performance. In its Q2 financial results, the company reported that these technologies are “a foundation for future growth. We will focus our investment in these areas.”

8. Johnson & Johnson

• R&D spending in 2013: $8.2 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 11.5%

The American health care company has long prided itself on investing in R&D and for the past five years has consistently been among the top spenders in the pharma industry. That investment has paid off big, with the pharmaceutical business launching 14 new compounds since 2009. J&J says it plans to file more than 10 new drugs and 25 line extensions between 2013 and 2017.

9. Google

• R&D spending in 2013: $8 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 13.2%

Known for pursuing moonshot R&D projects, the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet company has invested in seemingly outlandish technologies such as self-driving cars, computer eyewear and balloon-distributed Wi-Fi. The company employs about 18,600 people in research and development according to its latest annual report, and most of its R&D costs go into staffing and personnel support. According to Google's annual report, "our product development philosophy is to launch innovative products early and often, and then iterate rapidly to make those products even better."

10. Merck

• R&D spending in 2013: $7.5 billion


• As a percentage of revenue: 17%

The N.J.-based pharmaceutical company lists its top R&D investment priorities as oncology, infectious diseases, vaccines, and diabetes. This year Merck received approval from the FDA for an immuno-oncology drug called Keytruda that treats a dangerous form of skin cancer known as advanced melanoma. “We see Keytruda and immuno-oncology drugs as a fundamental change in how we treat cancer patients,” says Dr. Roy Baynes, senior vice president of global clinical development. Merck is also extending studies of the drug to more than 30 other tumor types, he says.

Biggest Engineering Projects in the World

1) International Space Station

In cooperation with the Russian cosmonauts, American astronauts began work on a permanent space station in 1998. It has been in operation since 1 November 2000.

It is called the International Space station because fifteen nations take part in its programs. It has permanent accommodation for six, and short-term accommodation for up to fifteen when a space shuttle visits.
The International Space Station in orbit over the Earth

From the International Space Station (ISS), pieces of which were built in fifteen countries, scientists will conduct research and experiments that are impossible to conduct on Earth.

The purpose of the ISS is to make it possible for long term exploration of space and to allow research into how humans cope living and working off the planet. This research is needed for future human exploration of space. New materials and technology will be tested.

The International Space Station is the largest space project so far undertaken and is the biggest structure ever to orbit the Earth. It is a research facility 400km above the Earth jointly operated by the space agencies of 16 countries.

2) Three Gorges Dam

It was once considered as China’s largest engineering project since the Great Wall. the Three Gorges Dam is almost half a mile and a half wide and a mile high, which has created a reservoir large enough for huge cargo ships to travel inland. In fact a dam has also been created to produce nearly 10% of China’s electricity supply.

3) Big Dig

It is one of the most complicated engineering projects in the world. Boston’s Big Dig has so many complex components. It is hard to explain. There are so many planned components and the crews have run into many extra complications along the way including rearranging centuries of gas, water, electric phones and cable lines. Another challenge is obliterating the city’s main traffic route in creating a new landscape which will finally have public green and space parks– we hope it will.

4) Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository

The proposed repository is designed to store nuclear waste which is currently being stored in over 121 sites around the United States. The project dwindled along the way in February 2010 after years of legal and political issues. Close $9 million has already been spent on the project.

5) Dubai Canal

It is a massive Dubai engineering project and spectacular in general. The Arabian Canal is working hard to blow all the rest of the projects from the water. It would be the world’s largest man-made canal with 46.6 miles long .it will bring water inland to create a planned desert oasis along the canal banks.

6) Panama Canal

The Panama Canal has been called the eighth wonder of the world. It has created an impact on trade routes between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic.
A shortcut has also been created through the Isthmus of Panama that is only 50 miles at its widest point by this canal.

This has reduced travel time in nearly half for cargo ships, since ships no longer need to sail around South America in reaching the Pacific Ocean from New York City.

7) Pathway through the Bering Strait

If there was a bridge or tunnel connecting Europe and North America, what would be possible? The project was originally pioneered by Czar Nicholas II in World War I and is regaining traction in the form of a tunnel which would allow passage between the two continents. Since work would only be possible 4 months out of the year, the project would be long.

8) Transatlantic Train

The project would allow one to travel in New York City and back to London in less than an hour. The proposed Transatlantic Train will be traveling 4,000 miles per hour along a submerged oceanic tunnel. It would be able to travel between the major cities in 54 minutes. However there are complications that must be worked out, leave alone the massive cost!

9) New York Subway System

The New York Subway system is the largest subway system in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. It operates approximately 6,500 cars on over 700 miles of track. . It is run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Owned by the City of New York. The trains run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

10) Sky Cities

They will create residential and commercial space, which will be a solution to overcrowding predictions. It is a futuristic engineering proposal for futuristic buildings that would tower over the Earth.
Engineers are busy exercising their brains for new projects, whether it is sky cities or current train and subway systems that have been in use for years. This is to challenge the world and physics.