Even though the consumer electronics industry wants to have some company -- any company deliver an Apple (AAPL) iPhone killer, that company won't be Google (GOOG). Google, on the other hand, has become Apple's Microsoft (MSFT) from the late 1980s. What's that, you say?

Microsoft took the personal computer market by storm by not tightly controlling every piece of hardware and software that was used with its now-ubiquitous Windows operating system. Apple, on the other hard, guaranteed a solid user experience by tying its excellently-designed hardware with only its own operating system software. It's been said that Microsoft, more than any other company, enabled the PC era by not controlling the hardware it's software rode on top of. Google has the same goal in the mobile space, which is where the future of consumer computing is headed.

Dell's (DELL) is about to start thinking that it's newer Mini 5 hybrid device will be an Apple (AAPL) iPad competitor. Each device has not even been released yet, and there are competitive stirrings already afoot. The Dell unit, which looks like a large smartphone but not quite as large as a tablet computer, will bring a ton of Amazon (AMZN) services to bear in order to try and compete with the Apple content ecosystem that will surely blow all others away once the iPad starts shipping next month. Can an Amazon Kindle e-reader application pre-loaded on Dell's device really give an iPad a run for its money?

Apple (AAPL) has shown that a locked-down, incredibly easy-to-use wireless handset like the iPhone is precisely what customers want. Even with all the limitations the iPhone seemingly has, it "just works" -- and that's what tech-overwhelmed consumers want. Is Apple so fearful of its secrets and products under development that its suppliers are acting Orwellian? Sure.

This Reuters article is as accurate as anything that's turned up recently about how Apple's super secrets are kept until a product is announced on launch day. Suppliers and outsourcers are kept in the dark in many ways, employees are treated like spies and even mild violence can occur sometimes. For all the good press Apple receives, is this the way its suppliers are told to operate -- like clandestine nuclear arms operators? To protect all things Apple, apparently so.

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) has a vision for where it feeds you your digital video and audio content: the web. Instead of iPods, iPhones and iPads having storage devices like flash memory, hard drives or memory cards, wouldn't it be great to have all that zapped to your Apple device of choice anywhere there would be a wireless WiFi or 3G signal? Sure it would!

Yes it can. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B) can outperform Apple Inc. (AAPL) in 2010. That was my thesis in December (see Buffett's Berkshire vs Jobs' Apple for 2010?) and I still believe all the Apple hype in the world will still succumb to a solid value proposition in the long run.

While Apple was reaching new all time highs Berkshire was treading water through 2009. However, after a monster run-up Apple is taking a breather.

Today was one of those days that started out strong and just stayed strong. Spending in January rose 0.5% but outpaced a 0.1% gain in personal income. This morning's strength came on the heels of an overseas stock market rally and that was enough to keep things rolling all day, even if the manufacturing data was lackluster. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA: 10,403 (+0.76%)
S&P 500: 2,273 (+1.58%)
NASDAQ: 1,115 (+1.02%)

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Palm (PALM) was the talk of the town back about a year ago when its vaunted Palm Pre smartphone won all kinds of awards and was hailed as the savior of the once-powerful technology company. After the Palm Pre was released last June and was followed up by the Palm Pixi wireless handset, the turnaround started but never really revolutionized the company as many thought would happen.

Since hitting the market in 2007, Apple's (AAPL) iPhone has seen incredible growth. The design is sleek and the experience is user-friendly. Besides, there are more than 140,000 applications to download.

Interestingly enough, more and more entrepreneurs are using the iPhone to help run their businesses.

When Apple (APPL) launched the iPhone three years ago, the big attraction was the sleek design and cool graphics. However, there was something else that was truly innovative: the app store. Basically, Apple allowed third-party developers to create applications for the iPhone, which certainly benefited customers. It has turned into a cash machine, as Apple gets a cut of all the downloads.

Wanting to capitalize on this -- as well as try to slow down Apple -- a group of mobile companies have formed an alliance, called the Wholesale Applications Community. The members include 24 companies, such as AT&T (T), China Mobile (CHL), Verizon (VZ), NTT DoCoMo, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone (VOD).