在1125名进入福布斯全球富豪榜的亿万富翁中，有755名依靠自己积累了大量的财富。当然，一些继承遗产的亿万富翁也在努力工作，以进一步增加自己的财富。不过，在《福布斯》评选全球最勤奋亿万富翁的过程中，首先考虑那些起点较低的人。

　　除此之外，《福布斯》的其它评选标准还包括：有多少人为他们工作？他们执掌的“帝国”有多少营收和影响力？他们是否经常乘坐飞机，并在自己想不起来的地方发表演讲？他们是否愿意在第一线推广公司产品？他们吸引了全世界多少关注？

　　按照上述标准，《福布斯》确定了多名候选人，其中包括：香港首富李嘉诚，他运营着一个多种经营的企业帝国，但最初只是从塑料花工厂起步；甲骨文CEO拉里·埃里森(Larry Ellison)，他随时都在寻找收购的机会；卡尔·伊坎(Carl Icahn)，作为一名激进投资者，他努力介入那些处于困境的企业，并谋求从中获利。目前，伊坎已经发动了针对雅虎董事会的代理权争夺战，希望促成微软收购雅虎交易。

　　最终，《福布斯》锁定了一位人选，他出身于一个中产阶级家庭，从未创建过自己的公司。但是，他现在管理着一个8万人的软件帝国，公司年营收高达510亿美元。他有着鲜明的个人风格，经常为自己的公司据理力争，每年要在全球参加数十次会议和活动，并发表演讲。过去12个月里，美国之外互联网用户通过谷歌搜索他的次数超过了其他亿万富翁。他就是微软CEO史蒂夫·鲍尔默。

　　为了提升微软在互联网市场的竞争力，鲍尔默今年的工作更加艰苦，他也更加勤奋。鲍尔默愿意借任何机会推广微软产品，而不介意被人看作傻子；他经常在公开场合像猴子一样大叫大跳，完全不惜个人形象。但是，鲍尔默有足够的资本成为笑到最后的人。在最新福布斯全球富豪排行榜上，他以150亿美元的总资产排名第43位。

“吐舌头”是鲍尔默在公开场合的经典动作

　　在鲍尔默最为看重的搜索广告市场，谷歌占据了绝对的领先优势，而微软被远远甩在了后面。基于这一原因，他发动了针对雅虎的收购大战。经过长达三个月的接触，微软和雅虎未能在价格上达成一致。最终，他于5月3日选择了放弃。在不久前召开的一次科技会议上，鲍尔默重申，“我们并没有重新收购雅虎，但我们保留着相关权力。”如果微软最终未能成功收购雅虎，那绝不是因为鲍尔默不够勤奋和努力的原因。(摩尔)

LAS VEGAS - With its sleek design, flashy menus, haptic feedback, and full-on 3G access, this touchscreen delight for Sprint users looks to be one of the strongest iPhone competitors to date. Read on for my hands-on impressions.

Announced Tuesday here at CTIA, the Instinct (set for release in mid-June) looks like a virtual clone of the iPhone, but it delivers many of the features missing from Apple's red-hot handset, including 3G access for speedy browsing and downloads, a replaceable battery, expandable memory, and haptic feedback for the touchscreen - that is, a slight vibration each time you tap the screen. This key feature is sorely missing on the iPhone.

I got an early, hands-on look at the Instinct a couple of weeks ago in New York, and I have to say, it's the most impressive iPhone contender I've seen yet-or at least until I try out LG's touchscreen Vu, which is also set to debut here at CTIA.

The Instinct certainly scores in the looks department, with its smooth, jet-black face (à la the iPhone) and 3-inch display, along with three keys-Back, Home, and Call-just beneath.

Measuring 4.6" by 2.2" by 0.49", the Instinct is a tad narrower but a bit thicker than the iPhone, and it's also a bit lighter, weighing in at 4.4 ounces.

The Instinct's sleek, animated touch interface looks promising, if still a bit rough-and-ready. The unit I tried was still in the testing stage, so I'll hold off on direct iPhone comparisons until I've seen a final device.

 Still, a lot of the UI innovations that I love on the iPhone are right here. Navigating on the touchscreen was a pleasure, and I liked the roulette wheel-like scrolling through long lists of items.

 Another ace up the Instinct's sleeve is its access to Sprint's 3G "EV-DO Rev. A" data network, which means speedy Web surfing, full-track downloads from the Sprint Music Store (which got a badly needed makeover for the Instinct), video clips from Sprint TV, and the ability to tether the phone to your laptop for on-the-road Net access.

More good stuff: GPS navigation combined with voice commands, allowing you to bark "Go pizza" to the Instinct and get turn-by-turn directions to the nearest slice.

And here's a feature that travelers will love: the Instinct's removable battery, good for swapping out during, say, coast-to-coast flights. The iPhone's battery is-as many have groused about before-sealed in its shell, meaning that if it runs out of juice and you're nowhere near an AC outlet, you're out of luck.

Rounding out the Instinct's features are microSD memory expansion (up to 8GB), a 2MP camera, stereo Bluetooth, and a media manager for sideloading music and videos.

Good stuff, although I should point out that the Instinct's Web browser (or at least the version I saw) looked pretty clunky compared to the iPhone's, and the Instinct's POP/IMAP/Outlook Web access messaging won't be able to match the iPhone's upcoming support for Microsoft Exchange servers. There's also the iPhone's potential as a software platform to consider, now that the iPhone SDK is out in the wild.

And of course, by the time the Instinct arrives in Sprint stores (sometime in mid-June), we may well have a new 3G iPhone on our hands.

No definitive word on pricing for the Instinct quite yet, although I'm told it could be in the $200-250 range.

So, what do you think? Do we have an iPhone killer in our midst? 

April 2, 2008 7:21 PM PDT

Though Sprint is carefully avoiding any direct comparisons with the iPhone, it's obvious that its new Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800) is meant to compete with Apple's device. They look almost the same (our Instinct slide show has a gallery of shots), they do a lot of the same things, and they rely heavily on touch screens and unique interfaces. These comparisons are inevitable and Samsung and Sprint are doing nothing to silence them. So Apple fanboys and slamboys, just take a deep breath before the flame wars begin.

I have to emphasize the Instinct is no iPhone killer, but I don't think one device ever will be. When you really think about it, the whole concept of an iPhone killer is ridiculous. Indeed, the iPhone is a good device that does many things well, and it's going to have a genuine appeal for a long time. And no matter what the iPhone critics say, some users will continue to love it no matter what.

Samsung's Instinct

(Credit: Sprint)

The other cell phone manufacturers know this, but so far their collective response to the iPhone has been simply to ignore it. But now, nine months after the iPhone hit stores, Samsung is trying a different tactic. The Instinct is the first cell phone I've seen that throws some serious competition Apple's way. Even at this early stage, the Instinct looks far superior to LG's Voyager, not only in how it looks but also in what it offers. Though I doubt the boys and girls in Cupertino will be losing much sleep over it, they shouldn't dismiss it completely. If the Instinct does everything Samsung promises--and more importantly, it does it well--it could steal away a whole class of users who like the idea of the iPhone, but don't want to switch to AT&T or fork over the cash for it. These "iPhone fence-sitters" (as I call them) appear to be the target market for the Instinct.

To the untrained eye, the Instinct and the iPhone may appear to be two versions of the same device. Both have large touch screens with few external controls and both handsets have just about the same dimensions. The iPhone is noticeably sleeker on the whole, but the Instinct is lovely in its own right. The display is gorgeous, and it has a comfortable and solid feel in the hand. Also, I liked the extra navigation controls, even if they are touch sensitive. On the downside, the Instinct lacks the iPhone's multitouch interface, but it did offer a cool panning feature in the Web browser. By tilting the phone up and down or side to side, you can move around the Web page. Also, you can also drag around a page with your finger.

It's all about the interface.

(Credit: Sprint)

But cosmetic differences aside, it is the Instinct's user interface that poses the most serious threat to Apple. The iPhone's slick and easy-to-use interface is one of its biggest attractions and Samsung has taken note. I've been able to handle only an Instinct preproduction unit so far (real devices won't be out until June) but it looks quite promising. Sure, it was noticeably buggy and a bit sluggish but Samsung appears to have laid the groundwork for something cool to come. Finding my way through the menus took little acclimation; there were a lot of sharp icons and graphics and I loved the nifty Favorites menu. Though I don't think that the Instinct's menus are quite as pretty as the iPhone's, perhaps they don't need to be. Ease of use is the real key and the Instinct may just have it.

One area where the Instincts trumps the iPhone (at least for the moment) is in its feature set. It offers many goodies the iPhone lacks including 3G, stereo Bluetooth, multimedia messaging, and video recording. You can also use the onscreen keyboard in landscape mode when you're typing a message. While all of this could, and probably will, change when the 3G iPhone is unveiled, it's a mark in the Instinct's favor for now. What's more, the Instinct also has its own version of Visual Voicemail. I didn't get to see it in action but the fact that it's there is interesting enough.

Of course, only the next few months will tell just how the Instinct plays out. By introducing the Instinct so early before release and by unveiling it at a high-profile event like CTIA, Samsung and Sprint take a big risk. Though they will get a lot of positive attention for now, the two companies have to deliver on their promises. As I mentioned earlier, there's a whole crowd of people who like the idea of the iPhone, but still haven't made the jump for whatever reason. The Instinct's design and features have a lot of potential for winning them over, and the the sub-$300 price tag won't hurt. All Sprint has to do is not muck it up between now and release time.