January 30, 2010



Via Nicholas Carlson at BusinessInsider.com
Lore has it than when Google's (GOOG) top Android developer first showed off the mobile operating system in 2007, CEO Eric Schmidt's first question was, "So what do I do when Steve Jobs kicks me off board?"
Well, that finally happened over Summer 2009, and relations between the two companies and the two men have devolved since.
Today, a reporter asked Eric what he thinks of Apple's new iPad. His answer: "You might want to tell me the difference between a large phone and a tablet."
I personally agree. As I said in my previous post, this device isn't a real contender for geeks/professionals like my self. I can run Adobe products on netbooks as well as PC Tablets just fine so....WTF, Apple?
One more thing, if I'm to hold this device like a tablet, (ie. clipboard, notepad,) then why didn't the put a button or even a scroll wheel on one of the sides? They brag in videos that "the user doesn't have to change to use this device." That leads me to believe that in holding this device, I would want to do what comes naturally, and for me, touching a button at the bottom doesn't seem natural to me. I see how the location is natural for a mobile phone or music player...but not a tablet. 
Maybe I'm just crazy and too l33t, I don't know. What do you think? Leave a comment or Tweet me @Krubuntu 
Cheers.
eric schmidt nexus one google AP

January 29, 2010

Well, I knew the inevitable iPad Jokes would occur soon after Apple's announcement but I had no idea that Mad TV had parodied Apple many years ago. So, for your enjoyment, here's an iPad ad I created as well as the Mad TV parody.


Cheers,




January 27, 2010

PC world has a great article pointing out the good & the bad features (or lack of) that the newly announced iPad brings to the world. One thing I spotted is that it's running the iPhone OS so that may explain our earlier post but I'm not sure how the data was aggregated but it makes sense that the devices would look similar when accessing the internet. I personally am disappointed with the device as I thought it would be something that I would replace my laptop with and run Adobe PS-CS3, Dream Weaver CS4 among just a few applications. Looks like I may as well purchase a high powered touch PC/ Tablet Notebook, throw Ubuntu or Win 7 on it and rock & roll.
The full specs of the iPad can be found here, the PC World article is below and watch for the inevitable "iPad-maxi-pad" Photoshop images popping up everywhere.
Cheers


Steve Fox and Edward N. Albro, PCWorld
Jan 27, 2010 11:40 am


At today's big event, Apple delivered all the rah-rah, buzz phrases ("whole new experience" "it just works," isn't it awesome"), and slick industrial design we've come to expect. But at the end of the day, the show's centerpiece - the iPad -- is just a big iPod Touch. Lots of folks will want it, in a hypothetical sort of way. But it's hard to imagine all that many of them will fork over the initial $499 for a crippled version, or as much as $829 (for the 64 GB/3G model you'd want). Then there's the $15 to $30 per month you'd need to add to your existing carrier bill for the privilege of a persistent connection.
The unanswered question is whether we really need a "third device" - something to fill the gap between smartphone and laptop.Steve Jobs pitched that such a machine would need to be better than a laptop or a smartphone at email, photos, videos, music, games, and ebooks to justify its existence. One could argue that the iPad is better at these things only in that it is bigger. There's no fundamental advance here.
Consumers have not shown an overwhelming interest thus far in tablets. The iPad may be the best (and slickest) tablet we've seen. But that's like advertising yourself as the tastiest cod liver oil. Where's the real multitasking that might set this apart? Will developers really rush to develop apps for this if there isn't a groundswell of support among users? Where's the camera?
Here we have a fabulous browser, with a beautiful high-res display, that mostly matches capabilities found in lots of lightweight notebooks. Not to mention a certain phone already owned by millions.
Certainly the Apple faithful will snap this up, despite the pricing. For the iPad to succeed, it has to reach beyond that tight-knit fraternity, as the iPhone did. Best guess: This may not reach much farther than the Apple TV.
Full disclosure: These are first impressions based on Apple's presentation. We'll be following up with more reporting, analysis and hands on experiences once the device becomes available.

January 25, 2010




I am into tablet PC's lately because, well, until they come out with a really good one, they'll remain a 'geeky' and somewhat niche product. So although I am not the biggest fan of Apple, they do make great User Interfaces so I would love to see them come out with an 'iTablet.' 
I was pretty excited when I heard about the rumors that Apple Tablets have been accessing the web but according to this article over at Wired.com, the 'iTablets' detected could very well just be iPhones. (Boo! lol) Read on for more.



apple-tablet-islate-ipad-app-usage
A mobile analytics company has come forward with what it touts as evidence that Apple tablet prototypes are being tested — without offering any solid details suggesting the mystery devices are tablets at all.
Analytics firm Flurry has tracked down 50 devices that it believes are Apple’s expected tablet. The devices’ IPs and GPS data give away they have not left Apple’s Cupertino campus, according to Flurry, which raises the firm’s suspicion that these are prototypes in testing. Flurry goes on to say its app tracking matches the “characteristics of Apple’s rumored tablet device” even though the analytics don’t provide any data about the characteristics of the prototypes.
Flurry concludes the devices being tested are tablets because games, entertainment and book apps are being launched the most, according to analytics tracking, corroborating rumor reports that the tablet will have a strong focus on gaming and e-reading. But those are the types of apps you would expect to be tested the most on any iPhone-related prototype device to gauge performance and display quality. And there are more games in the App Store than any other kind of app. Moreover, Flurry’s data set — 200 apps — is extremely scarce relative to the App Store’s 100,000 offerings.
Flurry’s analytics state the devices are running a newer, unreleased version of the iPhone OS, version 3.2. Current iPhones run OS 3.1.2. That’s where Flurry’s argument falls apart, because a tablet would be unlikely to run the exact same OS as the iPhone. More realistic is a modified version of the iPhone OS that would probably be called something else, such as “iSlate OS.”
Flurry’s blog post then quickly gets lost in rumor territory, reporting claims on screen size and other unsubstantiated nuggets, even though its analytics do not retrieve any data about screen size or resolution.
Flurry tracks mobile applications and offers its customers usage stats and other handy numbers. It also knows what applications are being downloaded, to what device and where. It works like Google analytics: developers add Flurry to their applications and then their usage can be tracked, including geographic location, time spent online and even which mobile carrier they are on. This data is then aggregated so the developer sees just how their software is used.
“[We] identified approximately 50 devices that match the characteristics of Apple’s rumored tablet device,” Flurry said in a blog post. “Because Flurry could reliably ‘place’ these devices geographically on Apple’s Cupertino campus, we have a fair level of confidence that we are observing a group of pre-release tablets in testing.”
So Flurry’s analysis is such: Prototype devices aren’t leaving Apple’s campus, and they’re running iPhone OS 3.2. Out of a sample of 200 apps, they’re launching games, entertainment and e-reader apps the most. Therefore, they are tablets. To believe that conclusion, you’d have to take a few logical leaps of faith. First, you’d have to assume the tablet is running the same OS as the iPhone, and that’s unlikely. Or you could assume the tablet launches the iPhone OS in the background of its own OS, which is why it’d register as iPhone OS. (Good-bye, battery life.) Then you’d have to believe the 200 apps being tested are a strong representative sample of the App Store’s 100,000 wares.
If we were to make an assessment, these sound more like fourth-generation iPhones in testing. But there is no solid assessment to make, based on such a small sample of data that offers zero insight into the device’s hardware.
The figures just raise more questions. Do we assume that the tablet can run existing iPhone apps? Or are there, as we have heard, already larger, tweaked versions of current apps already in existence?
In just a couple of days, we’ll know for sure. One thing that can be predicted with almost 100 percent certainty: Whatever Apple shows us, we will all suddenly have to go buy one.
Updated 8:20 a.m. PDT: Wired’s Brian X. Chen contributed his skepticism about the report after contacting Flurry.

January 23, 2010

PSA

January 13, 2010

Android and Me captured this video of a microwave running an Android interface. Is there anything that Android can't do?

January 8, 2010


I recently saw this post by Mike Masnick over at TechDirt.com and it astonished me. As the article notes, a court has established that ringtones are not a public performance but what about ringback tones? (AKA: Caller Tunes) What's your opinion? 



BMI Sues T-Mobile, Claims It Needs To Pay Up Over Ringback Tones



from the are-ringbacks-a-public-performance? dept

I'm still in the camp of folks who doesn't quite understand "ringback tones" -- the ugly stepchild of ringtones, where it's not what music your phone plays, but what music a caller hears when they call you and are waiting for you to pick up. While ringbacks have been a big deal in Asia, they're still a relatively small market in the US. But, that's not going to stop collections societies from demanding cash, of course. mike allen alerts us to the news that BMI has sued T-Mobile over its ringback tones. Of course, here's the thing: a court has already established that ringtones are not performances, so are ringback tones performances? Or, of course, T-Mobile could just ban the use of any BMI songs as ringbacks, and then see how those artists feel about how BMI is "protecting" their interests...