Google is supposed to be focusing on Apple, which is currently dominating the tablet market with the iPad. Instead, it has been forced to fend off another major threat to Android – the Amazon Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire is the biggest threat to Google, which has been trying to minimize the fragmentation of Android, and ironically, is the most popular Android tablet yet. Even so, Google has been completely locked out of the Kindle Fire ecosystem, so it probably won’t see a dime of revenue generated by the Kindle Fire.

Google is rumored to be working on a Nexus tablet to compete with the iPad, but apparently, the Nexus tablet will be an inexpensive $199 Android tablet powered by ICS which will compete with the Kindle Fire.

If Google is indeed working on such a tablet, it should stop right away.

Launching a $199 Android 4.0 tablet will not only severely impact sales of all other Android tablets and alienate its device partners like Samsung and HTC, but it will also mean Google taking a financial hit. Amazon itself is losing $10-$20 per tablet, and hopes to make money by selling Kindle content.

Here’s what Google should do instead:

Make it extremely easy to install Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on the Kindle Fire. Launch a one-click flashing tool to flash an Android 4.0 ROM on the Kindle Fire.

This would not only give it back control of the Android ecosystem, but it would also be a huge hit to Amazon, which would continue to lose money on each Kindle Fire sold with no direct way to make it back.

I ‘m not getting into the technical specifics of how it would work; I’m sure Google can figure it out.

In case it can’t be done officially, Google can always bankroll such a project or help XDA developers develop such a pure Android 4.0 ICS ROM for the Kindle Fire.

This way, Google won’t alienate its tablet hardware partners, it won’t lose money selling cheap tablets, and it can focus on its main enemy – the Apple iPad.

Letter from Steve Jobs

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Here’s a compilation of the best articles on the web about Steve Jobs.

The Life of Steve Jobs – So Far

Steve Jobs’ Best Quotes

Robert Scoble on Steve Jobs

Walt Mossberg on Steve Jobs

Om Malik on Steve Jobs

Vic Gundotra on Steve Jobs

And finally,

Steve Jobs – Commencement Speech at Stanford

Truly a legend. Steve Jobs, you will be missed.

Note: The official biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson is coming out soon. Read it.

With Apple’s market cap at an all time high, many investors are thinking what would have been if they had bought Apple stock years back.

Kyle Conroy has posed an even more interesting question. What if you had bought Apple stock instead of Apple products? The results are very interesting.

Apple has launched more than 300 different products over the years (317, to be precise).

If you had bought each of those products at launch, you would have shelled out exactly $591,719.

Now if you would have instead bought Apple stock instead of Apple products for the same price when they launched, the current market value of your Apple stock would have been $11,120,691.

That’s close to a 1800% increase to the original purchase price, not adjusting for time value.

Impressive, huh?

You can check out the original data set here – Apple Products vs Stock

iOS 4.3 is now available for download. it brings a lot of new features including Airplay updates, Safari performance improvements, iTunes Home Sharing, iPad Side Switch and Personal Hotspot.

You can install (upgrade to) iOS 4.3 on your iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3G and 4G and the iPad.

How to Install iOS 4.3 on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad

Just connect your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to your PC and open iTunes. Click on Check for Updates and follow the instructions.

For more details on the iOS 4.3 upgrade, visit Apple – iOS 4.3

Here’s what I think we can expect in the Apple iPhone 5

1. iOS 5
2. Apple A5 chipset (1 GHz, dual core)
3. 1 GB RAM
4. 16 / 32 / 64 GB memory
5. 4 inch Retina Display
6. 8 MP camera
6. 4G (HSPA+ & LTE)
7. NFC
8. Thunderbolt interface
9. Slimmer than 8 mm
10. Mad sales figures

iOS 5, the Apple A5 chipset and 1 GB RAM seem obvious. A 64 GB version seems to be the next logical upgrade, as does a 8 MP camera, 4G and NFC connectivity.

Thunderbolt support seems a bit unlikely, but would be a great addition. The iPhone 5 will definitely be slimmer than the slimmest Android phone (Jonny Ive will make sure of it).

A 4 inch display may also seem to be a long shot, as many Apple fans would argue, but it is the new smartphone standard. 3.5 inches is a bit too small and 4.3 inches is a bit too much. 4 inches is the perfect size for a smartphone display, IMO.