Written by NEWS on Saturday, December 6th, 2008 in News.
FROM APPLETELL - The MPTVOutWindow class in the iPhone 2.2 software allows developers to output the iPhone’s screen to a larger screen, such as a TV, thereby taking advantage of its speakers and size. MORE »
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Written by JG Mason on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile, Originals, Columns, Who's On Crack, Features
This is where we call out the tech moves that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack. This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity.
Here’s what I am calling out this week as whack:
Sure, supporting all these OSes isn’t easy. Your tech’s knowledge has to be limited by all the myriad of OSes they’re supposed to know. News came today that you blue-sky-guy says Symbian would be good choice for a company-wide one OS to offer and support. But consolidating down to one OS? And you think Symbian is that OS? Really?
Whispering sweet nothings into Symbian’s ear isn’t going to get you anywhere. Stop worrying about a Nokia take over of the US market, that train isn’t leaving the station. A much better idea, at least in my mind, is to convince Apple to license its software onto other devices. Hitch your train to that engine, crackheads.
Sometimes, all that is needed is an email to customers. Something quiet in the night that says, “hey boys, go here and download this and you get Outlook Calendar support, sweet huh?“. But no, you had to go and issue a press release telling everyone our out-of-the-box expectation of calendar syncing was off. Thanks for pointing this out, as I’ve not made fun of the Instinct in a while. I feel better now. iPhone killer? LOL.
I watch the stock market. I watch the price of light sweet crude. And now, I am watching the daily price of Verizon’s Samsung Omnia. This thing is more volatile than a barrel full of gasoline next to a Sony laptop.
Jump beside me in the way back machine, we travel back to 2008, a cloudy November day, the 25th if you are taking notes. The shiny Omnia is introduced at $249.99 after a lame $70 mail in rebate. Now, as we are chased by the bizarre inhabitants of November 25, we land on Dec 2nd of the same year. Here we find the same Omnia, now priced at $199 after the same lame mail in rebate. Nervous much?
Did you wake up, presumably strung out, in December and say to yourself, “Holy cow! Have you heard about this economy stuff? And this Apple phone, who knew about that? Quick, slash the price before these phones end up at Odd Lot!“ Lay off the dope.
I believe we all keep expecting someone else to “get it” with phone software and it clouds are judgment and/or enjoyment of an otherwise snazzy phone. The new Nokia entry is beautiful, well-built with lovely screen resolution. But. And then things start flowing. The biggest “but” is Nokia refuses to update its OS for the touchscreen times.
HTC gets it. Their Windows Mobile skins walk the line of needed Active Sync support mated with something actually functional and close to fun to use. But not Nokia. And the N97 is a bit brickish. Keep at though, your getting warmer. Appletell’s Josh Holat, while espousing his love for Apple’s device sums up his look at the N97 with:
“Although companies like RIM and Nokia can try to beat out Apple, I don’t see it happening anytime soon, that’s for sure.“
That’s my list for this week. Let me know in the comments what crazy things I missed and stay off the crack kids.
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Written by NEWS on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
FROM APPLETELL - The Joost streaming video app for iPhone/iPod touch crashes a lot and features a terrible user interface, but it also has porn. MORE »
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Written by NEWS on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
FROM GAMERTELL - Here’s another nifty two-controller charge station, this time by TeknoCreations for Xbox 360 controllers. It’s relatively easy to use and the battery rechargeable packs even lighter than a pair of standard AA batteries… MORE »
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Written by JG Mason on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
Man, would I have loved to be in the crowd at the Symbian Partner Conference when AT&T’s Director of Next Generation Services, Roger Smith, stated the telecom’s lofty goal of having the company’s smartphone offerings on the same operating system. You know what is coming: he said Symbian is “a very credible and likely candidate” to become that one operating system.
Symbian, which garners 45% or so of the worldwide smartphone OS market, owes much of its success to Nokia. The platform is stable, works well, and is loved in Europe. As of late, Symbian was purchased by Nokia and is committed to going open source.
Other news this morning from Bloomberg states Apple’s iPhone is recession-proofing AT&T thanks the steady line of new customers for the device. The company is expected to be the only carrier to post accelerating growth this quarter as companies hunker down for the economic storm. While AT&T has announced layoffs, subscribers are not detered from obtaining these luxury phones.
“People still want those iconic devices and are willing to pay up for them,” said Will Power, analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co.. “Look at wireless and consumer behavior generally, this also applies to the lower- income demographics.”
Additionally, iPhone buyers are among the industry’s most wanted customers, those that pay 1.6 times what the average customer pays for phone and data services. In a time where carriers are running out of new customers, they are looking to steal or hold onto these higher-paying customers.
Perhaps Mr. Smith was sucking up the Symbian crowd? Certainly a unified OS would make AT&T’s life easier. One OS to support would be a welcome task to AT&T’s customer support team who currently deal with Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Apple, and then the home brew jobs from Pantech, Samsung and lots more. Is it possible AT&T could narrow that list down to just one?
Perhaps, but at what cost? When you remove consumer choice, demand will typically lessen. Unless other carriers adopt similar rules (and who wants to be the first?), AT&T’s dream of one OS is just pie in the sky thinking.
Source: [Bloomberg]
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Written by Kunal Gangar on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
LG has revealed a new stylish looking 3.5-inch hard drive to please their home crowd. The XD4 is graced by a nice glossy black aluminum finish and features a one touch backup button, enhanced durability and a cooling system to keep the heat levels at a minimum. The drives will come in capacities of 500GB, 750GB and 1TB. No word when on the pricing as well as the release date.
[Via Aving]
Advertisement: Samsung Hub - Tracking minute steps of the Korean Giant
Written by NEWS on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
FROM GAMERTELL - Along with novelty gift cards, the other inexpensive plastic tchockies, I like to scout for kids meal toys. As a followup to last year’s Wendy’s Wii toys, Burger King is offering this year’s Wii-related tiny toys intended for tots (but not those under the age of three, of course).… MORE »
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Written by Naveen on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
If your current phone just can’t handle the extreme conditions such as dust, shock, vibration, temperature extremes, low pressure and solar radiation, all you need is a rugged phone. Are you on the hunt for a phone that could take a beating? Here we present the 10 best rugged mobile phones of all time. Check the out after the jump…
Written by Phillip Torrone on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
Photograph by Kim Dow
Scott Wade of San Marcos, Texas, thought he could do better than write "Wash Me" on the backside of a dusty car. He started drawing caricatures. His father was a cartoonist of sorts and had taught him to draw funny faces. It was Wade's idea to make a dirty car window his canvas.
"For the last 20 years living on a dirt road," he says, "there's always dirt on my car."
With the sun baking it, the dirt takes about two weeks to form a stable work surface. Wade began, like anyone else, by using his finger, and then tried popsicle sticks. To introduce shading, he decided to use brushes. Over time he developed a range of techniques, which included using plants and rubber paint-shaper tools.
Wade particularly likes the dirt of central Texas, where crushed limestone mixed with clay serves as a road base.
"It makes the perfect dirt," he says. "It's very light-colored and the contrast is great against the dark shadow inside the car."
As he got more requests to create his Dirty Car he realized that he had to figure out how to dust up a car himself. Now, he can prepare a car in minutes using a light coating of oil and pyro-lite, a less toxic alternative to fuller's earth.
At the Austin Maker Faire in 2007 (& 2008), Wade dusted up his Toyota and created Monsters from the Movies, featuring the Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman. The next day he painted a tribute to Willie Nelson that included Waylon Jennings. "After a good rain," he says, "it appears to wash off, but in a couple days it comes back in a ghostly form."
Recently, he was asked to draw Biff Henderson for the David Letterman show. In addition to portraits, he enjoys dusting up the old masters. "I have this grandiose idea of parking cars all the way up the ramp of the Guggenheim Museum and painting in dirt reproductions of the pieces that are on the wall next to it."
>> Dirty Car Art: dirtycarart.com
From the column Made on Earth - MAKE 14, page 23 - Dale Dougherty.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Made On Earth | Digg this!
Written by Naveen on Friday, December 5th, 2008 in News.
If we believe what is being rumored now, Apple is further going to strengthen its hold on the smartphone market. Well, the latest news in the air is that a new 4GB iPhone 3G is coming to Walmart store in the U.S. for a mere $99 with a 2 year contract. Although, BGR is saying that the tipster can’t be believed for sure, but this is something that can really happen. Anyone would love to spend $99 for one of the best selling smartphones, even if it has lesser built-in memory. “Lesser” is not an appropriate word here, right? Let’s wait and watch if the rumor sees the day’s light. In fact, it must!
Via: BGR
