The Atlantic: Digital Rights Group Blasts iPhone’s Faustian Developer Deal.
”‘Steve Jobs has confirmed that Apple can remotely disable apps, even after they have been installed by users’ ... [snip] ... The contract also strictly bans tinkering with any Apple products, a limitation that Lohmann points out could prevent developers from making apps that work with open source software.” Perhaps a bit of FUD; perhaps not.
Panic Blog: The Panic Status Board.
Brilliant. Via Bump’s Twitter.
Macworld/MacUser: Are Macs really cheaper to manage than PCs?
“Macs in the enterprise aren’t just cheaper to manage — they’re a lot cheaper, according to a new survey released today by the Enterprise Desktop Alliance.” After switching back from PC to Mac a year ago, I concur wholeheartedly.
Macworld: Taiwan earthquake may send LCD, chip prices higher.
“One analyst in Taipei called the impact on global supplies minimal, but said the impact depends on what kinds of chips were affected. TSMC and rival United Microelectronics make a wide range of chips, including mobile phone chips for Qualcomm and graphics chips for Nvidia and ATI.”
NY Times: What Apple vs. HTC Could Mean.
“It’s a bad scene right now. The social value of patents was supposed to be to encourage innovation — that’s what society gets out of it [snip] The net effect is that they decrease innovation, and in the end, the public loses out.”
Gizmodo: Apple Sues HTC For Infringing On 20 iPhone Patents.
“Apple’s asking for a permanent injunction, which would bar HTC from importing or selling phones here that use these patents, along with triple damages with maximum interest (read: a lot of money). As you can see, some of the patents are fairly broad, like “unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image,” which seems to cover like every touchscreen phone ever.” Here’s to open technologies, kids.
Gizmodo: The Nexus One’s Dirty Display Secret.
I think the real question is, do you need 32-bit color on a mobile phone? Nexus One apparently doesn’t see the need for it. Personally, if I’m working with a vendor who is habitually judging colors from a mobile device - I’ll take my business elsewhere. If I’m working on a project and I’ve already got my colors sussed, I’ll drop the monitors to 16 just to speed everything up. If you’re viewing a lot of gradients, that’s when the 16/32 issue matters. Otherwise, probably not.
Digital Photography Review: CompactFlash cards to offer petabytes of storage.
“Enabling 48-bit support (as against the current 28-bit), the new specification theoretically allows for an increase in the maximum capacity to 144 petabytes (1PB = 1000 terabytes), up from the current limitation of 137GB, as well as data transfer speeds of up to 32MB/s.” I need more/bigger hard drives ...
Engadget: Infinitec details Infinite USB Memory Device functionality ahead of launch.
“We’re told that the company is gearing up to officially launch the stick soon, promising ad hoc streaming from any Windows-based PC to just about anything you can think of: Blu-ray players, media streamers, printers, and practically any other gizmo with a USB port.”
CNN: Steve Jobs’ six sneakiest statements.
Gizmodo: Fatman’s Wi-Tube Valve Amplifier Streams Audio Wirelessly To The FatDock.
“The Wi-Tube valve amplifier can stream music wirelessly from a docked iPod or by the multitude of outputs the FatDock also offers.” Mmmmm. A tube amp.
dynaTrace Blog: The Real Performance Overhead of CSS Expressions.
“CSS Expressions are evaluated very often – especially when scrolling or moving your mouse over the document. Using the dynaTrace AJAX Edition on this document and moving the mouse over the document showed that IE is constantly re-evaluating the CSS expression, recalculating the layout and redrawing the page – for every pixel the mouse moves ...” Sounds like a very good way to get yourself booted off a shared server.
NY Times: Do E-Readers Cause Eye Strain?
”Doctors and researchers note that in most instances, paper can offer more visual sophistication than a screen. But certain types of paper, including inexpensive newsprint and the paper in softcover books, can actually provide an inferior reading experience for our eyes than the electronic alternatives.” As we get older, more light is always better for reading. The bigger factor is: physical books aren’t crippled by DRM.
Insure your iPhone.
SF New Mexican: City Council delays decision on Wi-Fi.
Macworld: Dell’s new 27-Inch IPS monitor now shipping.
“The new widescreen UltraSharp U2711 boasts a clarity similar to that of Apple’s high-end iMac, placing a massive screen resolution real-estate of 2560x1440 in front of users eyes. However, unlike the iMac, Dell customers will be pleased to know that the new monitor comes with a matte finish, to reduce that annoying screen glare.” The 27” iMac has the most astounding screen I’ve ever seen - and the gloss doesn’t bother me one bit. If this monitor approaches the same quality, I’ll be mightily impressed.
GQ: Warning, Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous To Your Health.
Europe’s been way ahead on this one.
Been playing with stats lately.
I am astonished at how many visit here using IE6. And how many are still rocking 800x600 monitors! I don’t need to tell you to upgrade, switch to Firefox or Google Chrome as soon as you can. Chrome requires Service Pack 2 - Firefox doesn’t. Get rid of skanky IE6!
The monitor resolution thing just confuses me. Just a few short months ago, 800x600 was way down on my resolutions list. It’s popped back up near the top! Has my audience changed that much? Or is it the economy? Tempted to start posting widescreen monitor deals. You can pick ‘em up cheap nowadays. As one friend to another, I can tell you a larger monitor will improve your web surfing experience and productivity immeasurably.
Later: Here I didn’t think I needed to keep offering my flexible width design ... but apparently I do. Note to self: check stats before every redesign.
Atlantic, McArdle: Apple Says it Will Lower Prices if iPad Doesn’t Sell.
”Still, they can probably cut the cost deep enough to make it worth waiting for. So why announce it? It seems to me that this practically guarantees a slow start to sales.”
Later: She has further thoughts.
CNN: Google analyst: U.S. Internet needs to get faster.
”Broadband is the dial tone of the 21st century.” Bring us faster speeds - yesterday!
Flex IRA: No-Flash iPad vs Netbook.
BBC News: Technology changes ‘outstrip’ netbooks.
With smartphones, and now tablets, netbooks may be obsolete. Already.
CNet: Report: Apple paying 15 percent refund on broken 27-inch iMacs.
Hmmmph. Doesn’t come close to the billable time this flickering screen problem has caused (try working on a detailed annual report with flicks every 30 seconds and blackouts every few minutes). Not that I expect them to make good for things out of their control. Next time, get the hardware right before you ship.
Photo.net: Is the Apple iPad a Tool for Serious Photographers?
”For the tasks that most serious photographers would want to do on a device like this, the iPad can’t deliver. The storage is too small, the input/output options are limited, there is no proper image processing software yet, and even if there were software, we don’t know if the device will be robust enough to handle the large files (RAW included) that are generated by today’s DSLRs.”
BusinessWeek: Apple vs. Google.
Missed this a couple of weeks ago. Congruent with my beliefs, in the wake of the Apple/Adobe invective of late. “Some analysts believe the Apple-Google battle is likely to get much rougher in the months ahead. Ovum’s Yarmis thinks Apple may soon decide to dump Google as the default search engine on its devices, primarily to cut Google off from mobile data that could be used to improve its advertising and Android technology.” No Flash, no Google? I wonder if Steve really thinks he could pull that one off. Even my most Luddite acquaintances are gravitating to Google’s free web apps.
