Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who left the company as an executive in the 80s while fighting cancer, has pledged $7 billion of his $13.5 billion fortune to philanthropy after he dies.
The decision follows the footsteps of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who have both pledged billions to philanthropy.
Allen and Gates founded Microsoft in 1975, and the company was long the largest tech company in the world, only recently overtaken by Apple in terms of market cap.
Over the last twenty years, through his Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the billionaire has handed out $1 billion in grants.
“Today I also want to announce that my philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime,” said Allen. “I’ve planned for many years now that the majority of my estate will be left to philanthropy to continue the work of the Foundation and to fund nonprofit scientific research.”
There was no word on how the money would be directed after his death.
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While users have been able to playback Audible audiobooks on their iPhones/Touches for some time, the company has finally launched a standalone app for the devices.
The new app, available in the Apple App Store, is also available for the iPad. The app features Wi-Fi delivery of the Audible books, iOS4 multitasking, listening stats, and other smaller features.
Included is the standard audiobook features of chapter navigation, bookmarks, viewing/listening controls and the ability to control audio playback with gestures, eliminating the need for buttons.
Using iOS 4 to the fullest, the app has background audio playback and downloading.
As an incentive to get non-members to sign up, if you create an account through the app, you will get a free excerpt of David Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World
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T-Mobile released the first Android-powered Garmin smartphone in May to mixed reviews, and slow sales.
This week, the wireless carrier has dropped the price of the phone, from $200 to $130, looking to keep the price competitive in a world where Froyo will soon be the norm.
The phone has a 3.5-inch screen, 3MP camera with autofocus, and because of the GPS, the pictures can be geo-tagged. The GPS, as standard, works over 3G and Wi-Fi.
While those specs are not impressive, the Garminfone is notable because of its GPS system, which has on-board US maps, text-to-speech, full driving/walking/public transportation directions, real-time traffic, weather, local events, movie listings and even gas prices.
The next best feature is “Garmin Voice Studio” which lets users “record and customize voice directions which can also be shared with family and friends.”
Because it is more a GPS with phone capabilities than anything else, the device will come with a charging window and a dashboard mount for the car.
