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Memo to Apple: You Might Want to Dispatch an iPad Team to Stanford U ASAP! [BoomTown]
Earlier this week, BoomTown dispatched All Things Digital intrepid intern Drake Martinet to the campus of Stanford University–located in the heart of Silicon Valley and where he is a student–right after Apple launched its new iPad tablet computer. His mission: To find out if fellow students at the famous institution of higher learning–presumably one of the big consumer targets for Apple (AAPL)–were going to go out and get the mobile, multimedia device asap. While there were no dopey jokes about the iPad name, it turned out: Not so much. Here’s the video:  Source: Gizmodo | 29 Jan 2010 | 3:19 am Deadlock could drive World Cup online in Singapore
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 Reuters | Oracle hands out love and handcuffs to Sunware Register Oracle has unveiled a Java and open source strategy extending some but not all of the existing efforts at Sun Microsystems. Among the winners: Sun's HotSpot Java Virtual Machine, which will be integrated with the fast JRockit VM from BEA Systems; ... Oracle and Apple shift the hardware game Oracle, Sun Face Rocky Post-Merger Road Map Oracle Outlines Post Merger Roadmap |
Tesco ban on shoppers in pyjamas (via Neatorama)A spokesman said Tesco did not have a strict dress code but it does not want people shopping in their nightwear in case it offends other customers...
[The signs] read: "To avoid causing offence or embarrassment to others we ask that our customers are appropriately dressed when visiting our store (footwear must be worn at all times and no nightwear is permitted)."
"I think it's stupid really not being allowed in the supermarket with pyjamas on.
"It's not as if they're going to fall down or anything like that. They should be happy because you're going to spend all that money."
(Image: Spencer in Pajamas, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from sociotard's photostream)
Using live organisms to create synthetic solar cells has several advantages over traditionally made solar panels. No environmentally toxic chemicals are required to make biologically derived solar cells, unlike traditional solar cells. Growing solar cells in tobacco plants could put farmers back to work harvesting an annual crop of solar cells.
There's just one rather big catch:
[S]cientists haven't even demonstrated that the cells can turn light into electrical or chemical energy yet. But they hope to do soon.
They can grow the cells, but they can't do too much with them yet. Geez. Let's hope they get around to sorting that part out, because until that happens this will be yet another way-too-good-to-be-used-in-real-life concept. While waiting around for that to happen though, you can read more about the details of the process over at Discovery and Treehugger. [Discovery via Treehugger]
Check out this video of construction workers who've practiced their tape-measure skills to the point where they use it like Spider-Man uses his web-shooter.
Superhuman tape measure skills (original) (via Kottke)
Where I grew up in Tokyo, there was never enough room to build a treehouse; I was always envious of kids in America, who all seemed to have one in their giant backyard. (Of course, I know now this is not true.) Looking through the portfolio of German architecture firm Baumraum as me wishing once again that I had one — they've created a series of beautiful modern treehouses made with simple materials for fancy clients. Commissioning a treehouse from these wood construction experts costs upwards of $25,000 and takes three to seven months to build, depending on the health of the tree and complexity of design.
Baumraum (via Apartment Therapy)
Source: Boing Boing | 28 Jan 2010 | 10:30 pm
How to make The Internet (from The IT Crowd). (Thanks, Ed!)
Depictions of Female Orgasm Being Banned by Classification BoardThe Board has also started to ban depictions of small-breasted women in adult publications and films. This is in response to a campaign led by Kids Free 2 B Kids and promoted by Barnaby Joyce and Guy Barnett in Senate Estimates late last year. Mainstream companies such as Larry Flint's Hustler produce some of the publications that have been banned. These companies are regulated by the FBI to ensure that only adult performers are featured in their publications. "We are starting to see depictions of women in their late 20s being banned because they have an A cup size", she said. "It may be an unintended consequence of the Senator's actions but they are largely responsible for the sharp increase in breast size in Australian adult magazines of late".
(Image: 124, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from brittsuza's photostream)
 AFP | McAfee report exposes cyber extortion of US power grid The Klaxon Operation Aurora in December 2009 silently was launched by Chinese hackers. Their goal: Retrieve the source codes from Google, Adobe, Juniper and 34 other high-profile companies. ... Report: Critical Infrastructure Under Constant Global Attack Critical Infrastructure under Siege from Cyber Attacks Utilities, Refineries and Banks Are Victims of Cyber Attacks, Report Says |
AFP - Power plants, oil refineries and water supplies increasingly dependent on the Internet are under relentless attack by cyber spies and thugs, according to a McAfee report.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
 The Guardian | IPad Changes Landscape for App Makers Wall Street Journal Apple Inc.'s new iPad has the potential to be both a blessing and a curse to the growing ranks of companies that have developed more than 140000 applications for the company's iPhone. Many developers, including game makers and ... Kindle not ready to surrender to iPad Apple iPad can be a game-changer in many fields The Apple iPad: It's just ahead of its time |
Computer voice-to-text technology has come a long way, and every time it gets better, new applications open up. It is still not 100 percent accurate. Hell, it’s not even 90 percent accurate. But it is accurate enough for automated voicemail transcription services to become increasingly available and good enough not to have to listen through 15 voicemails to get the gist of what they are about. Of course, voicemails are often translated incorrectly, sometimes to comic effect.
In a study comparing the accuracy of four different voice-to-text technologies (Google Voice, Preview in Microsoft Exchange, Ditech’s PhoneTag, and Yap) the one which came out on top was PhoneTag, which is now part of Ditech Networks. PhoneTag showed an 86 percent accuracy rate in translating 500 spoken messages into text. Google Voice was only able to achieve an 82 percent accuracy in its voice-to-text translations. The study only evaluated purely automated voice-to-text systems. Here’s how all four fared:
Automated Voice-to-Text Accuracy:
The study was commissioned by Ditech and carried out by William Meisel of TMA Associates. You can read his methodology in the document embedded below. Of course, a study commissioned by Google might show Google Voice coming out on top But what I find more interesting is that 86 percent accuracy is considered something to boast about. Ditech’s Chief Strategy Officer, Jamie Siminoff (who founded the company behind PhoneTag, Simulscribe) points out that each percentage point gain in accuracy is a big deal and that his goal is to get to 90 percent accuracy. To get beyond that, it si still necessary to use humans to clean up the automated translations.
PhoneTag offers both fully-automated and human-assisted transcription. One service which uses PhoneTag is Ribbit Mobile, which I’ve been using with the human-assisted transcription option turned on. I also use Google Voice on another phone. I’ve certainly noticed that the human-assisted transcriptions are incredibly accurate. It can even make sense of my three-year-old son’s messages:
Hi, daddy. Hello. We’re calling you from the kitchen. We just made, what we had just made, a banana (??). Bye. Bye.’
I turned off the human-assisted option and tested some purely automated transcriptions today, so I could compare it more fairly to Google Voice. Some messages were pretty much the same, for others the accuracy went way down, but I really couldn’t say that PhoneTag was noticeably better than Gogle Voice. But I do notice the difference when I have the human-assisted option turned on. So while 86 percent accuracy might be something to crow about, adding human translators to the mix is still by far the best way to go.
Accuracy of Voicemail-To-text Services
Before Steve Jobs had even brought yesterday's iPad-announcing keynote to a close, I called together a quorum of indie gaming's Justice League -- a handful of the best and brightest developers pushing the medium forward across every new device -- to ask: what's the iPad going to mean for the future?
Between those that've already staked out a strong presence on the iPhone and iPod Touch (Canabalt's Adam Saltsman, Eliss's Steph Thirion, Rolando's Simon Oliver, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor's David Kalina and Critter Crunch's Nathan Vella), those that've seen their PC hits brought to the device (Fantastic Contraption's Colin Northway), those that haven't landed there yet but will soon (Fez's Phil Fish and Henry Hatsworth's Kyle Gray), and those that I selfishly hope eventually might (World of Goo's Kyle Gabler), opinions were cautious, but on the whole optimistic.
While it's clear that the past two years of training on the iPhone have taught us that there is indeed a viable future in multi-touch and accelerometer-based gaming, and that the App Store can provide developers with an enthusiastic and sustainable audience, its position as a third-pillar between the phone and the laptop is entirely unproven, leaving many developers in a holding pattern before diving nose-first into an unquantifiable market.
But despite this, with the problems it solves (like: the issue of the Big Fat Thumbs) and the opportunities it opens (its screen is now not necessarily only for a single person), you can already hear the sound of hundreds of collective gears turning to chart gaming's future course.
So below, the thoughts of all the above developers, with -- as a bonus where applicable -- off-device screenshots that blow up to their iPad-native 2x resolution when clicked, for a preview of what the device's scaling simulator will look like when it lands in March.
Adam Saltsman, co-founder, Semi Secret (Canabalt, Wurdle), creator of Flixel:
I have been forcefully ignoring all the buzz until today, but I have to say I'm a little giddy right now. Pixel doubling means Canabalt is ready to ship right now, and I did all the assets for Wurdle (and our new unannounced game) at 2x resolution, so we can actually very easily ship 'HD' versions of those alongside our iPhone res stuff.They haven't shown much in this regard, but this device is pretty much begging to be subjugated for all sorts of insane multitouch music composition purposes, and there's also the possibility here to do something pretty special, which is finally getting to do what board games do - a big shared playspace that you interact with in an intuitive way. This would be a pretty big deal in getting people into games that might otherwise be intimidating from a dual-sticks perspective.
We're also making a big tech announcement that will be super extra awesome, very soon I hope!
Colin Northway, creator of Fantastic Contraption:
Two things strike me as interesting about this:1) is there going to be another gold rush?
And the more interesting:
2) What kind of games are going to work really well on the iPad?
The first question is really just about answering if we can afford to explore the second.
The iPhone's interface has proved itself capable of supporting some great game experiences that wouldn't work nearly as well with a mouse. You could play Flight Control perfectly fine with a mouse but you wouldn't draw the same sweeping natural lines.
At the same time there is a brutal lack of screen real estate which means some game ideas just can't exist on the iPhone or feel shoe-horned onto the iPhone (like Fantastic Contraption). So this is kind of the best of both worlds. We get the wonderful tactile interface but people don't have to squint to see what's going on or wish they had see-through fingers.
There will be some people with game ideas that didn't quite work on the iPhone who will be dusting them off and examining them under this new light. I am definitely one of those people.
Kyle Gray, creator of Henry Hatsworth, Experimental Gameplay Project co-founder:
The Apple Hype Machine never fails to impress. I was in the middle of a meeting when this thing was announced and my inbox practically exploded with talk about the iPad in the interim (mostly from you lot, but some from friends pitching ideas as well).Most surprisingly was my wife falling in the "do want" category. It's a real testament to Apple's prowess that it can have such a strong pull on someone who's more into purses than processors.
That being said, a buddy and I have been working on an iPhone game in our spare time, so this is pretty damned exciting news.
Now to just make something for it without getting pulled in by its siren's song...
Phil Fish, co-founder, Polytron (Fez and the iPhone's upcoming Power Pill [above]):
It isn't the huge leap forward in terms of multi-touch interface i was hoping for, but it's certainly still a big step forward. It isn't the multi-touch terminal to my MacBook I think it should be. Lack of camera is a missed opportunity for augmented reality overlays that the 1ghz processor would handle a lot better than even a 3GS.I guess it's up to the developers to make good use of it now.
But I'm still incredibly giddy. "Just a bigger iPhone" is already a huge step forward in terms of multi-touch usability. I don't understand what people are complaining about. A bigger screen here means a lot more than just a bigger screen. It implies so much more.
Backwards compatibility with iPhone apps is good, but is just that. The real meat is going to be in iPad exclusives, designed for the huge real estate.
Simon Oliver, founder, Hand Circus (Rolando and the upcoming Okabu):
The larger real-estate is going to be great, in terms of being able to interact with it without your fingers smothering the screen, and being able to add more functionality without tons of clutter. I think it definitely opens up the iPhone/iPod/iPad range to quite a few genres that a lot of people might have considered verboten previously - you know those games on the iPhone where the screen is covered in UI clutter. Simulation and construction games, MMORPGs (I'm sure Blizzard was watching the keynote with avid interest), and as Adam was saying, this is gonna be awesome for fun music/painting/animation creation tools and games. With that big touchscreen you've got a perfect canvas for creative play. I hope an iPad lands in Toshio Iwai's lap!I'd love to do a Rolando title with a more "zoomed-out" perspective - i.e. same size characters but you can see 4x the playspace - would definitely be fun to explore what the bigger screen could afford in terms of more elaborate puzzles, more characters and fun multitouch interactions.
David Kalina, co-owner, Tiger Style (Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor):
While the iPad seems like a pretty incredible piece of hardware, I can't help but wonder if there will actually be a viable marketplace for an independent game developer. The iPhone revolutionized the way people thought about cell phones, whereas the iPad seeks to occupy some hole between the laptop and the phone that may or may not actually exist. Of course, the market has a way of working these things out.As a developer of touch interfaces, more screen real estate really does make a difference beyond allowing us to draw more pixels on the screen. It means that we should be able to communicate to players more clearly when fingers are present, as well as allowing multiple touches to take place without obscuring all of the game content.
Hopefully, this will encourage developers to explore more native interfaces for their games, rather than settling for the awkward and uninspired 'virtual gamepad'. But also, it gives developers the potential to explore interesting new designs for single-device multiplayer. As a designer, this is the aspect of the iPad that I find most intriguing.
Steph Thirion, creator of Eliss:
I just spent the past two hours reading announcements and tech specs and iPad programming guides, so my head is a bit fuzzy, and it's a bit early to come to conclusions. I still have a lot of important questions, but here are some early thoughts and feelings.Like my girlfriend was just saying, this could be 'the Wii of general computing': accessible to everyone. This is the first device (at an accessible price) that makes web browsing like reading a newspaper: a casual, pleasurable thing, not done on a professional workstation. And for the not so common tasks (like Adam said, music making, etc.), a multitouch screen of this size for $500 is absolutely mad (JazzMutant are officially fucked).
As far as gaming, I think David has a very good point (why go for expensive development for a smaller market), but on the other hand, if the first point holds true, and a couple of these devices start to pop up in every household, then we have a market. What we could potentially see then is the border disappearing between general computing devices and gaming devices!
Any way this evolves, this device opens up a world of possibilities for new interfaces. Even if we don't get rich off of it, we'll still be able to build the coolest shit on it.
But even then, we still need to hold one of these devices. Are they truly responsive? If I'm correct, this is the first time Apple has made their own processor. How many touch points does the multitouch handle? Is multitouch as precise as the iPhone? Following on Apple's history, this device will rock, but that doesn't change the fact that we haven't yet seen it fly.
Finally, is it true that all apps in the AppStore can be run on the tablet, without modifications, without a green light from the developer? I haven't tested Eliss on the iPad, yet Apple has basically announced that it's coming out for this new device I had only heard rumors about. If this is true I find this a bit surprising. We should have the right to decide if we want to allow our apps to be run and stretched on a different device than they were designed for.
Nathan Vella, president, Capy Games (Critter Crunch and the upcoming collaborative Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP):
When it comes down to it, I am really excited to see what people make for the platform. Some of my favorite games of 2009 were iPhone games, and despite the fact that there's an astronomical amount of shit on the App Store, the gems (pretty much exclusively made by indies) really validate it. I sincerely hope the same thing happens with the iPad.Sure, we'll get our Need for Speeds and our Monkey Balls, but it's the games from Steph Thirion, Hand Circus, Mr. Saltsman/Semi-Secret, Mobigame and the other super-awesome indies that will pull me into the platform as a gaming device. While functionality-wise it doesn't offer an earth-shattering step forward from the iPhone, I think there's a lot of possibilities for insanely creative people to make something special for the iPad.
On the "specs" side, since Capy (and Capy in collaboration with Superbrothers) makes iPhone games with pixel art, I am really interested to see how the device handles its up-scaling. We've always thought of iPhone as a great place to continue our love of pixels, so I am terrified at the thought of muddy anti-aliased pixel art (much akin to what happens when you zoom in Firefox 3+). Here's hoping that they implement it in a way that easily and effectively maintains nice clean pretty pixels. We have our collective fingers crossed.
Capy is working on a WiiWare game called Heartbeat, and we've been toying with the idea of eventually bringing it to iPhone, since games built specifically for the Wii interface have a real good shot at translating well into touch controls. Now that there's another addition to the iPhone "family" - specifically one with a big-ass higher-res screen - it certainly makes that possibility more interesting. The combination of WiiWare and iPad/iPhone might be a powerful thing to consider for future development, especially for small studios making interesting stuff on WiiWare.
I know for sure we'll have a huge push internally to put our Capy/Superbrothers/Jim Guthrie collab Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP on the iPad. Superbrothers would probably sacrifice a limb to get the game on that screen, and rightfully so. It would look mighty pretty at that resolution.
Kyle Gabler, co-founder, 2DBoy (World of Goo):
What? What's an IPAD? Can I install Windows XP on it?I totally don't follow Apple news at all, but I'm suddenly hungry for Stone Soup!
I am an old man,
Kyle
 Aljazeera.net | Obama to End NASA Constellation Program FOXNews When President Obama releases his budget on Monday, there will be a big hole where funding for NASA's Constellation program used to be. A bow shock forms around the Ares IX test rocket traveling at supersonic speed during its Oct. 28, 2009 launch from ... NASA to Get $6 Billion to Outsource Crew Ferry Obama Plan Privatizes Astronaut Launchings Obama to scrap Moon, Mars expeditions - report |
Section: Computers, Mobile Computers
Well, leave it up to the western hemisphere to manage to get their hands on the new Dell Mini 5 tablet aka, the Dell Streak. A prototype surfaced on the Shenzhen black market this week and, in one case, is being sold for the equivalent of $1,098. Guarantee that that price is at least double what the retail price will be.
And the specs are the same as they were before: Android 1.6, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 5-inch 800x480 touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G. Not too big but should run pretty smoothly. What concerns me is the size. 5-inches is too large to really fit easily in your pocket but is too small to be anything more than a web browsing device. I don’t look forward to trying to use the on-screen keyboard on it either.
It’s things like this that make me wish I had access to a “black market.” Of course, legality issues would stop me from purchasing but you know, I like to window shop too. I don’t know, I guess it’s just the mystique of the thing that intrigues me. Oh well. I’ll just have to hope the Streak goes into US production.
Read [Electronista]
Yesterday a change to the iPhone SDK allowed for VoIP over 3G and we heard about the first app which'll offer the functionality. Today another iPhone app, Fring, has begun allowing video and voice calls using Skype over 3G.You don't need to update your version of the Fring app as it was simply a matter of Apple lifting some restrictions on its end. You can now freely make Skype calls without being connected through Wi-Fi—assuming you've got decent reception.
Still no word on when we'll get an official app from Skype though. [Fring via Pocket Lint via Engadget]
AFP - Heady from the success of the iPhone and iPod, Apple is getting spanked with criticism, even mockery, by pundits who expected the company to change the world anew with its iPad tablet computer.
As is to be expected of any device that the masses get excited about prior to it actually existing, the iPad has torn the Internet in two. Some love it, seeing it as the first iteration of an eventually world-changing device; others just don’t see a point. “It’s just a big iPhone,” they say, “and I already have an iPhone!”
These iPhone owners are exactly who should be the most excited about the iPad – even if they don’t plan on buying one. Even before its release, the iPad has heralded a number of changes on the way for iPhone OS – and presumably, the iPhone itself.
Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile
Motorola has been suffering ever since its glory days of the RAZR. But with the DROID now boosting sales and another 20 smartphones due out in the coming year, we can only hope that stockholders will turn it around for Motorola.
One of those 20 smartphones, however, might help out the cause. Motorola’s Co-Ceo Sanjay Jha confirmed that one of those smartphones will be partnered with Google. More interestingly, however, not only will it support Android, but it will not be a telco phone, instead sold directly to consumers through Google.
Whether or not this is the rumored Nexus Two enterprise edition that we have heard about is still unknown.
Read [TheStreet] Via [Boy Genius Report]
Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
As is to be expected of any device that the masses get excited about prior to it actually existing, the iPad has torn the Internet in two. Some love it, seeing it as the first iteration of an eventually world-changing device; others just don’t see a point. “It’s just a big iPhone,” they say, “and I already have an iPhone!”
These iPhone owners are exactly who should be the most excited about the iPad – even if they don’t plan on buying one. Even before its release, the iPad has heralded a number of changes on the way for iPhone OS – and presumably, the iPhone itself.
Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch >>
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
As is to be expected of any device that the masses get excited about prior to it actually existing, the iPad has torn the Internet in two. Some love it, seeing it as the first iteration of an eventually world-changing device; others just don’t see a point. “It’s just a big iPhone,” they say, “and I already have an iPhone!”
These iPhone owners are exactly who should be the most excited about the iPad – even if they don’t plan on buying one. Even before its release, the iPad has heralded a number of changes on the way for iPhone OS – and presumably, the iPhone itself.
Now, many of the changes found in the just-released iPad SDK are strictly iPad only. For example, all iPad applications (presumably excluding games) are required to support both landscape and portrait orientations – a requirement which, with some 140,000 apps already made, really wouldn’t be feasible to introduce on the iPhone.
Other changes, however, seem almost certain to trickle down to the iPad’s pocketable brother. Apple’s not officially acknowledging that any of this will find it’s way to the iPhone; as is par for the course for them, they’re not even acknowledging that iPhone OS 3.2 will ever make it to the iPhone, ignoring that the damned thing is called “iPhone OS”.
Here are some of the changes introduced in the iPad that seem likely to make their way over the iPad Nano iPhone :
iPad also comes with Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, letting you connect to devices like wireless headphones or the Apple Wireless Keyboard.
Considering that the Bluetooth stack that the iPhone uses (Qualcomm’s BlueMagic) already supports it, many have assumed that the lack of Bluetooth Keyboard support thus far was either an intentional choice on Apple’s part, or a side effect of the limited Input system (which has been overhauled in OS 3.2, also allowing developers to make custom keyboards within their applications). If the iPad supports Bluetooth keyboards, there’s no reasonable reason why the iPhone won’t – unless, you know, Apple says so.
With iPhone OS 3.2, Apple has introduced a new key called “UIFileSharingEnabled”. As Apple puts it, this means:
Applications with [this key enabled] can share files with the user’s desktop computer. A connected iPad device shows up on the user’s desktop and contains subdirectories for all applications that share files. The user can transfer files in and out of this directory.
In other words, you’ll now be able to drag-and-drop files from your computer into a third party application’s storage folder, as if they are sitting on a standard external hard drive. Imagine being able to build levels for your favorite game in a desktop level editor, then simply dragging those files onto your iPhone to play them.
Opening files on the iPhone can be a bit of a chore, be it that it’s not a file type the device recognizes out of the box. Even if you’ve installed an application that can read that specific type of file, you’ll need to find a way to get that file into the app’s sandboxed storage space. A lot of applications have implemented clever — albeit hacky — workarounds, but they’re by no means the most user friendly.
The desktop file transferring option mentioned in the last point will help considerably – but what if you need to launch a file that’s been emailed to you?
As it currently stands, you can’t launch a file from an email into a third party application – but on iPhone OS 3.2, you can do just that. Did work just send you an obscure type of file that only one app can read? Don’t sweat it – just make sure the app is installed, open the email, and launch the attachment.
It’s not clear yet whether or not you can override defaults, allowing third party applications to launch files the iPad already supports.
When you’re working on the go — with the iPad’s iWork apps, for example — you don’t really have time to worry about whether or not people will be able to open the files you’re creating. That’s where PDFs come in; while they’re not without their faults, PDFs will open (and more importantly, look exactly the same) on just about every modern computer.
Apple had to build PDF creation functionality for iWork – but rather than keeping it for themselves, they went and built it into the operating system. Any iPad developer looking to add PDF creation support can do so without having to write the system from scratch.
During the iPad announcement, Apple disclosed that the tablet was running on a custom-built 1Ghz processor. It doesn’t take too much much conjecturing to figure out where Apple’s probably going with this; the competition is starting to jam 1Ghz chips into their smartphones, and now Apple has one of their own. Put one and one together, and it sure seems likely that the next iPhone will be clocking in at 1Ghz.
So what do you think? Is the iPad a sign of the things to come for the iPhone? Sound off in the comments below.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
AP - It was a party to celebrate Lady Antebellum's success, and singer Charles Kelley thought the stream of plaques and praise would never stop.
Yes, Mitsubishi. We’re all very impressed with your 149″ OLED TV (even though it runs at a ridiculous 1024×640), but we also know that thing is one-of-a-kind and proves nothing. Why don’t you skip the showboating and put out a couple sweet displays people might actually want to use in their homes? I know they’d be expensive, but someone would buy them because they cost less than infinity dollars. And you can fit them through doors.
The pic above is a non-real OLED display from last year, and still the only OLED in my possession is in the Zune HD.
[via OLED-display.net]
Basically the gun is disarmed and a red LED lights up unless the corresponding watch is close enough to send a wireless signal. While I really don't see a high demand for it, Armatix's .22cal weapon will be shipping next month for 7,000 euro, which is just under 10k in Washingtons. The watch is probably included. [Wired]
I visited my friend Lara at her home in Tokyo yesterday. She just had a baby boy, who is the proud owner of this adorable little pacifier that doubles as his very own mute button.
Update: You can buy it on Amazon for $6.
Source: Boing Boing | 28 Jan 2010 | 6:18 pm
Section: Computers, Software / Applications
Thats what a leak from a disgruntled ex-employee of Microsoft’s has posted. Basically, it is PDF of a Microsoft Project file with tentative schedules for the release of many new products for the next few years. Now, the leaker, aka Chris Green, has put a fairly large amount of disclaimers on this file so it is not sure how much of this is legitimate fact.
But looking past that, the PDF states that Windows 8 will be released to manufacturing (RTM) on July 1st, 2011. 2011… thats only giving Windows 7 two years in the spotlight. This fact leads me to believe that Windows 8 won’t be a jump like 7 or Vista but rather more of an upgrade.
Along with it are RTM dates for Windows Server 2012 and Office 2012. Both of which fall a year later at July 2nd, 2012. The PDF has many other dates for many other products as well. Things like Visual Studio 2010, Sharepoint 2013, SQL 2011, etc…
So whether these are fake or not, I’ll leave up to you to decide. Tell me your thoughts on this.
Read [Electronista Via Chris Green’s Blog]
Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
As we noted back in December, VeriFone wasn’t just going to sit back and let Square, the new startup by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, dominate the iPhone/iPod touch payment space. Unfortunately, their announcement of PAYware Mobile looked rushed (and Photoshopped), and Dorsey himself didn’t seem too worried. Since then though, VeriFone was nice enough to send us the hardware they are going to use to accept payments on the iPhone — it’s very real.
Today, the other key part of the equation has just gone live in the App Store, the PAYware Mobile app. This free application, when paired with the hardware, allows you to use your iPhone to easily accept credit card payments, just as Square does. Still, as Dorsey noted in the original video we took with him (second video below), Square is being aimed at a broader market of people who may not have merchant accounts but still wish to be able to accept payments. Also, while VeriFone’s hardware is clearly better designed for use with the actual iPhone, Square’s method of using the headphone jack is so that it will be able to be used with other mobile devices eventually (Square is currently working on an Android app, for example). VeriFone promises support for other platforms as well, but this particular hardware unit will only work with an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS.
VeriFone also clearly believes its solution is the safer bet for merchants thanks to its secure payment gateway. Truth be told, running transactions on this device does feel a bit safer than Square’s, but there are also a range of confusing options. And setting the thing up is kind of a pain. You’re also paying for this extra security. VeriFone’s solution has a $49 activation fee, along with a monthly fee of $15 — on top of the 17 cents you’re paying on each transaction. Square gives its hardware and accounts away for free, but plans to take a small percentage of each transaction. This will be an interesting battle to watch.
Watch a quick demo of VeriFone PAYware Mobile in the video below. You can order the hardware here. And you can find the app in the App Store here.
Working from home can be a good gig, but as any of us bloggers can tell you, there are real challenges. Lack of regular human contact, for instance, can make a wild animal out of anyone. My neighbors can testify, having occasionally to disengage my teeth from the calves of FedEx guys who come to my door. I’d chase them outside, but it’s so bright! And with no appearance standards to live up to, hygiene can become a problem. This is the beard of a lazy man, my friends, a lazy, lazy man. But I try to keep the birds out of it, at least.
But enough of that. You know what I’m talking about, homebodies. Luckily for us, a Mr. Gordon Wu has introduced a series of products that recreate the office environment at home. Like the Eleva-door! Who wouldn’t want to wait for an imaginary elevator to come to your “floor” before being allowed to enter your work area?
And of course, you must keep active while at the office! I remember walking to and from the front desk, mail room, copy room, and so on until my feet hurt back when I was a 9 to 5er. But now I just wave my arms around and flex my toes to keep the blood moving. What I need is a Wu Fit Wonder Walk!
There’s lots more home-office (or truck-mounted office) insanity at the designer’s website. Check out the PDF on the right side there and learn of such marvels as the stapler phone and iHolepunch.
[Nice find, Treehugger]
AP - Microsoft Corp. said Thursday its earnings in the most recent quarter jumped 60 percent, as a rebound in the personal computer industry drove sales of the company's latest Windows operating system.
Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Desktops, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Netbooks, Wireless, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Lifestyle, Features, Originals
Apple’s announcement of the iPad has created quite a stir. Many of us have had the time to reflect on how we might use or not use the new tablet. For a look at two opposing views, I asked our editor Robert Nelson to point/counterpoint with me.
JG: I dont’ think I’ll be getting an iPad. The device is neither my smartphone nor a laptop I can bang out “work” on. I just don’t need an entertainment device that is bigger than my iPhone.
Robert: Am I going to get one? I am slightly upset that I cannot place my order, or even a pre-order yet.
JG: And that is the problem. Apple is really good at taking a popular existing product and making it remarkable. They’ve deviated this formula with Apple TV and now again with the iPad and it might suffer similar consequences. They are trying to find a third screen and beyond my smartphone, laptop and HDTV, I don’t need one.
Robert: And that is the reason I want one. I like my smartphone, both the HTC Hero and iPhone 3GS that I use, but there are times when I want to surf on something bigger and do not need or want to use a netbook or laptop. That is where the iPad will fit in. I do agree with JG though, this is not a case of Apple taking an existing product and making it better. Honestly this is not the most appealing tablet right now, but it has the apps.
JG: The only thing that makes sense to me, other than Apple is out to Kindle-bust, is this is how they see the future of computers. Forget the desktops/laptops, Apple could be creating computers that are on the go. The keyboard intro’d on day one starts to lead me toward that idea. Now maybe thats an idea that could stick, a tablet that is your primary home computer but we’ll need to see more peripherals and ports for that to happen, right?
Robert: I hope not. Personally I still use a desktop (iMac) for my primary computing needs. But at the same time could see this replacing my netbook or even a regular laptop, well it could replace them assuming at some point Apple will allow us to run multiple apps.
JG: I’ve got issues here. When I am mobile, 95% I am after specific answers, so I grab my phone and get it. When I am in my car and my kids ask for the 987th time, “are we there yet”, my iPhone gets handed back and serenity is restored. For plane trips, my phone (along with a battery backup case, like the one from Energizer) is pulled out for games and movies. It does all these things OK. Not amazing, like the iPad would but OK. Plus, I already have the smartphone with me that can do the job.
Robert: I think it will be mobile enough for my needs. As far as around the house use, the iPad will be lightweight and small enough to easily use, say, while lying in bed. As far as being on-the-go, I am certainly not going to be running around the store carrying an iPad like I would my iPhone, but at the same time it would be nice for my kids in the back seat, or my to distract my wife from my crazy driving. I could also see this being added to a gear bag in addition to my netbook, after all its only an extra 1.5 pounds. So, yes, I guess its mobile enough—at least for me.
JG: Right now, there is no Flash on the iPad. Adobe seems steamed about it as they have been over the exclusion on the iPhone. Without Flash many of today’s sites, such as Hulu, means we can’t access them. As an entertainment device without Hulu is frustrating. Won’t the JooJoo have Flash?
Robert: Flash and Hulu, little loss for me. I would say that people put far more desire into getting Flash support than needed. Sure there are times when I would like to have it, such as when I am trying to follow a link to something, but those are rare for me. No offense to all the Hulu fans, but there are plenty of other ways I can entertain myself.
Summary
Just because Robert and I don’t agree doesn’t mean that the iPad will win or lose. We recognize that the product was only demo’d briefly and there are tons of things we don’t know about. Apple has a pretty good way of building enthusiasm before launch and we expect that will happen again. The question is, will it be enough to entice you.
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 New Zealand Herald | Drama, No Dilemma, Over iPad Name Wall Street Journal From Internet jokes to legal rumblings, the name of Apple Inc.'s latest gadget is taking a bit of a beating. But Apple has been down this road before, and marketing experts don't expect the brouhaha to dent the new ... Fujitsu: 'iPad? That's ours' Fujitsu Says it Owns Rights to 'iPad' Name, Not Apple From engines to bras, Apple faces legal scrap over iPad trademark |
 Telegraph.co.uk | AT&T boosts network investment CNET AT&T said Thursday that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its network in 2010 to make sure it keeps up with the growing demand from new smartphones and other 3G data devices, such as the Apple iPad, on its network. ... Apple iPad Adds to Pressure on AT&T AT&T profit rises 26 percent, plans more spending AT&T Plans To Double Wireless Network Investment |
Apple iPad’s most striking feature, its gorgeous 9.7-inch touchscreen display, uses liquid crystal display technology — but with a few unusual twists — to present a vivid image and a wide viewing angle.
“The iPad’s display uses the same capacitive touchscreen technology as the iPhone and iPod Touch,” says Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for iSuppli. “At the same time, it offers a better picture quality than conventional LCDs.”
After months of speculation, Apple launched its tablet, the iPad on Wednesday. The lightweight device (1.5 pounds) features a luminous touchscreen and a user interface similar to the iPhone. The iPad, which can cost $500 to $830 depending on the model, runs an expanded version of the operating system used in the iPhone.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPad’s screen as a LED-backlit with In-Plane Switching (IPS). Jobs was referring to a type of LCD screen that is more often found in HDTVs than it is in mobile devices.
So-called twisted nematic LCDs have dominated consumer laptop and phone displays. The viewing angle on these screens is limited, ranging from 110 to 120 degrees. When the screen is viewed outside this optimal range, its colors can look “off” and the overall image is faded or invisible.
In-Plane Switching helps fix those problems. In IPS LCD screens, the crystal molecules are oriented so their motion is parallel to the panel, instead of perpendicular to it. For viewers, the result is a very wide viewing angle — up to 180 degrees — with brilliant color.
“TVs have always used some variation of IPS in their LCD screens but now we are seeing this move to smaller computing devices,” says Jakhanwal.
The iPad’s screen, though, doesn’t have a wide aspect ratio, which is unusual in the TV-display world, says research firm DisplaySearch. Instead of a 16:10 or 16:9 aspect ratio, the iPad screen uses a 4:3 ratio.
“Perhaps they were trying to find a middle ground between the requirements for books, magazines and newspapers and the requirements for video and gaming,” say analysts at DisplaySearch.
The iPad display has some other interesting features. It is arsenic- and mecury-free and has a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating, which Apple had introduced in the iPhone 3G S. The iPad’s 1024 x 768 display resolution, at 132 pixels per inch, has chunkier pixels than the iPhone 3G S, which has a smaller display but a resolution of 163 pixels per inch.
But that may not be a fair comparison, says Jakhanwal. “If you have a smaller form factor, you need a higher resolution to better read the information on the display,” she says. Also, she adds, “the iPad has a more vivid display than a laptop screen.”
The iPad’s display is likely sourced from LG Display and Innolux, says iSuppli.
The biggest disappointment for tech enthusiasts is the lack of an OLED screen option in the iPad. That should be no surprise, say DisplaySearch and iSuppli. Display manufacturers just don’t have the fabrication capacity to create large quantities of big OLED displays, says Jakhanwal.
“The single supplier for active-matrix OLED screen today, Samsung Mobile, [its] current production capacity is all taken up by the mobile phone market,” she says. That means large volumes of very small screens.
“It’s unlikely they will scale back on that to produce lower volume, larger displays for Apple.”
Sony also produces OLED screens but in limited quantities, largely for its own products, like the Sony XEL-1.
Though Apple showed the iPad’s potential as an e-book reader, iSuppli and DisplaySearch remain skeptical about it. LCD screens, even in black-and-white mode, get washed out in bright sunlight. And if users turn on the backlight to improve the contrast, they are likely to draw down the device’s battery. On top of that, reading on an LCD means you’re staring into a light source, which produces more eyestrain than reading words by reflected light, as you do with printed pages or E Ink displays like those used in the Kindle, Nook and Sony Reader.
“Ultimately, reading for a few hours on a handheld LCD screen can be quite a strain,” says Jakhanwal.
See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Unless your whole home is decorated with weirdo technology scraps, these lamps, cool as they are, will probably look out of place. But! Do you work in an office that values design and decor? These would be perfect for the copy room. Am I right?
Etsy seller boxlightbox’s hanging Epson cartridge lamps are 6″x6″x8″ and sell for $45 plus shipping. That ain’t bad, though you’ll need a few of these 40-watt wonders to make your work environment any species of bright. They come in various colors, obviously.
[via GeekSugar]
Oxnard, CA, – January 28, 2010 – Scosche Industries, an award-winning innovator of iPod and iPhone accessories, is proud to announce its first iPad accessory the new kickBACK. The shatterproof polycarbonate and rubber hybrid provides superior protection for the Apple's new iPad tablet. The case's patent pending locking kickstand enables both vertical and horizontal viewing and has a low angle setting for an optimal typing position. Scosche also included molded grips on the back of the kickBACK for more secure handling.
"We pride ourselves at consistently being one of the first accessories manufacturers to market with leading edge products following an iPhone, iPod, or now iPad announcement," said Kas Alves, executive vice president of Scosche Industries. "It's that ability to react quickly without sacrificing quality that has helped us develop necessary accessories like the new kickBACK."
Like all of Scosche's kickBACK cases the kickBACK ships with a screen protector and cleaning cloth. The kickBACK will ship in early-mid Spring 2010 and is the first of an entire line of accessories Scosche has planned.
[Scosche]
Section: Peripherals, Storage
Apart from the fact that the Kingston DataTraveler 5000 comes in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities, this is no ordinary USB flash drive. It comes with a built-in 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption. In the unlikely event that you lose your USB flash drive, it would take ages to crack your data. How hard could it be? For starters, the flash drive is FIPS 140-2 Level 2 certified with Level 3 pending, featuring XTS cipher mode and elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) algorithms, all approved up to Suite B standards by the U.S. government. I have no idea what I just said, all I know is that your USB flash drive’s data is secure in the hands of the DataTraveler 5000. They’re priced at $111 for 2GB, $185 for 4GB, $231 for 8GB and $400 for 16GB capacities.
Product Page [Kingston] Via [Ubergizmo]
This demonstration is being proclaimed as a "key step towards nuclear fusion" by the National Nuclear Security Administration. After all, this is apparently the first time such a level of laser energy was reached. More experiments will occur in the summer of this year, but you can start with the pewpew jokes now. [Physorg]
Laser beam pictured is not the 1 megajoule beam, instead it's a picture by Daily Galaxy
Everyone has an opinion about the iPad, even at Davos. Michael is there this week at the World Economic Forum, grabbing video interviews with the people he is running into (like Michael Dell showing off a yet-to-launch Android device). In the video above, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff talks about the iPad (what else?). Other people might be wowed by the touchscreen or the 140,000 apps or the iBooks, but not Benioff. He’s impressed by the battery:
“The most important feature is the 10-hour battery life. That he was able to get that kind of capability in such a robust device, I think we have a game-changer.”
He also gives Michael a hard time for not getting into some CEO dinner. Watch the video.
Here’s All Things Digital’s photo slideshow from Apple’s iPad event in San Francisco on January 27, 2010. Click here for a larger slideshow.
This week, social networking site MyYearbook launched a revamped design, changing some key UI elements to better reflect the way people use the site. One of the more interesting points of the redesign isn’t its appearance though — it’s how it was actually put together. Rather than simply rolling out a new design, MyYearbook actually polled its userbase for suggestions, then drafted some mockups that users voted on. The result? Users favor the new design by a factor of over 3 to 1, without the kind of backlash other sites have seen from their redesigns.
The most obvious change to the site is the logo, which has gone from cartoony to something a little more professional (though it still has a couple of smiley faces). The navigation bar has also been simplified. CEO Geoff Cook says that over time MyYearBook had integrated a bunch of gaming menu options into the main navigation area, without doing much to differentiate the core features that actually make the site a social network. Now, they’ve been moved to a different section of the header.
This is actually only Phase I of a two-part change; soon MyYearBook will be modifying profile pages to more prominently feature Chatter streams. A Chatter stream looks visually similar to Facebook’s News Feed, but features a more heavy emphasis on meeting new people rather than only seeing content from your friends. The default Chatter feed displays recent content updates from other users in your vicinity (assuming you’ve told MyYearbook where you are), and there are tabs to see updates from just your friends.
Because MyYearBook is a social network, it obviously knows some key demographic information about each of its users. With that in hand, the site pulled together some interesting data analyzing exactly which members were in favor of the new design, and which ones weren’t. The conclusion? While the new design was favored over the new design by over 3 to 1 when averaged across all members polled, there was an obvious trend when age was taken into consideration: the older the user was, the more averse they were to the new design. That may not be especially surprising, but it’s interesting to see just how consistent the graph below is.
 Reuters | Nintendo profits drop; DS lifetime sales top 125 million USA Today Despite US sales records notched by its Wii and DS systems, Nintendo profit fell 9% during the final nine months of 2009, the company revealed. Although sales and income figures represent the third best performances in Nintendo's history, ... Nintendo Operating Profit Drops 23% on Wii Price Cut Nintendo 9Mos Grp Net Pft Y192.60B Vs Y212.52B Pft Yr Earlier Nintendo Profit Drops Despite Strong Holiday Sales |
Section: Communications, Smartphones, Web, Web Browsers
With Android finding its way into more mobile devices, Firefox Mobile is now set to conquer Android-powered devices. Apparently, someone at the German Mozilla Community website, camp-firefox.de, announced that the first usable version of Firefox Mobile for Android will be available in February and, coincidentally, the Google Labs site listed a Labs Night meeting on January 26th, where Jay Sullivan (Mozilla VP of Mobile) discussed their mobile strategy and demoed the Firefox for Android beta. The Firefox team had better start working on a functional version of Firefox Mobile for Android now that Android is getting a lot of attention.
Read [Camp Firefox] Via [AndroidSPIN]
Full Story » | Written by Cheng Hung for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
The iPad? What were they thinking? Didn’t they consider the implications of people mocking the name? “How will Twitter react?” Doesn’t Apple have a social media ninja on its payroll?
It’s a pesky vowel, “A.” Yes, it’s the first letter of the English alphabet, but it’s nowhere near as popular as the letter “E.” Maybe that’s it? Maybe they should have called it “iPed.”
Check with Twitter, call moot. Can “iPed” be mocked?
Ped, ped… Pedestal? Pedestals are fun. You put people on pedestals when you think they can do no wrong. Sounds perfect for Apple. They can do no wrong. Well, except for naming it “iPad.” That was obviously a horrible, horrible mistake.
Let’s try another vowel. How about “I”? “I” is good. It’s the first-person pronoun for me. I like me. (Who doesn’t? Oh, right: you.) But “iPid”? That sounds rubbish. Who makes that, Microsoft? Yeah, probably.
“iPud”? Now we’re talking. No! No, we can’t. P-U? That means it stinks. “I p-yood.” Can’t have people thinking the big iPod touch stinks. (It does stink, but that’s besides the point.) Not helpful. Go away, “iPud.”
Wait, idea! Maybe use “iPod” again? People liked the iPod until that home-wrecker, the iPhone, came and stole its heat. (“Heat” is a pro-wrestling term that means “popularity.”) Put two dots above the “O,” like they do in Fränce, and no one will know the difference. It plays music, right? (I honestly don’t know. All I know is that it’s a magical and revolutionary device that will change the game and that it will innovate markets and shift paradigms for the foreseeable future. Well, until the iPad S comes out.)
Clearly, though, it needs the name “i-Something.” “i-Things” sell well. Remember the Apple TV? Of course you don’t: none of you own one.
And what’s wrong with “iPad,” by the way? I mean, ignoring the fact that Fujistsu owns the rights to the name. It’s a perfectly good name made up of four perfectly good letters. Two vowels, two consonents. Anything more than that and you’ll start confusing people.
“Big iPod touch” just doesn’t roll of the tongue as nicely as “iPad.” Yes, that’s a much more descriptive name, but that’s not the point, now is it?
What else could they have called it? “Huge disappointment”? “Over-Hyped”? “ROFL, That’s It?” No, none of these will do. Not snazzy enough. Plus, too many letters—look at all those vowels.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
I'm enjoying Alex Wild's colorful bug photos. He's a biologist at the University of Illinois. This is a Thasus acutangulus nymph, taken in Mexico. "The bright colors advertise this bug's distastefulness," he writes.
Here he talks about the macro lens he uses for many of his shots, Canon's MP-E 1-5x macro.
Alex Wild's Myrmecos Blog (Via AntBlog)
Source: Boing Boing | 28 Jan 2010 | 4:14 pm
Intelius, a site that helps users find information about others, continues to have more bad news around its senior execs. John Arnold, a cofounder and EVP, has been indicted on a charge of lying to a grand jury about having sex with a dancer.
The company has been trying to go public despite hundreds of scam complaints, and the atrocious legal record of CEO Naveen Jain. We covered many of the issues back in 2008. Last year the U.S. Senate began an investigation into the post transaction marketing offers that drive much of Intelius’ revenue.
The new charges are somewhat ironic, since Intelius recently launched an iPhone dating application called datecheck.
Arnold, now charged with lying to a grand jury about his sexual exploits, said of datecheck:
Date Check is like having a private investigator in your purse..Letting a stranger into your life is a huge risk, and in the age of Internet anonymity, a simple online search isn’t enough to tell you everything you need to know.
Indeed. Except, datecheck isn’t so useful if you want to date an Intelius cofounder. The company has removed the legal records of its own founders from the application.
Apple updated the iPhone software development kit on Wednesday to allow internet telephony apps to work on the 3G network. The little-noticed move effectively unlocks the ability for the iPhone — and the upcoming iPad — to be used as web phones.
ICall, a voice-over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) calling company, said the latest revisions in Apple’s iPhone developer agreement and software development kit effectively enable the iPhone to make phone calls over 3G data networks. ICall promptly released an update to its app today, adding the 3G support.
Because the iPad includes a microphone and will run iPhone apps, that means the tablet will gain internet telephony, too.
The FCC on Thursday issued a statement applauding Apple’s policy change.
“I commend Apple’s decision to open its platform to 3G calling, an action that will create new opportunities for entrepreneurs and provide more choices for consumers,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.
Previously, Apple’s policy had prohibited VOIP functionality on 3G networks — Skype, for example, was crippled so that its voice calling capabilities would only work over a Wi-Fi connection. The only way to use VOIP iPhone apps over 3G was by hacking (i.e., jailbreaking) the device.
Apple and AT&T had a secret agreement to ban apps that would let iPhone users make phone calls using the 3G data connection to prevent cutting into AT&T’s profits. That agreement was revealed in summer of 2009 when the FCC asked Apple and AT&T to explain why Google’s Voice app was rejected from the iPhone store.
After the FCC announced it was planning to extend internet openness rules to mobile networks, AT&T in October 2009 announced it would extend VOIP to 3G networks for the iPhone.
It appears that AT&T’s policy change is only now coming into effect, beginning with iCall and a few other VOIP apps that can now work with 3G.
“I applaud Apple’s decision to allow iCall to extend its functionality beyond Wi-Fi and onto the 3G networks,” iCall said in a press statement. “This heralds a new era for VOIP applications on mobile platforms, especially for iCall and our free calling model. I hope that now more developers will begin using our VOIP as a platform to integrate VOIP into their applications.”
Though VOIP services offer cheaper calling plans to consumers, Tero Kuittinen, an MKM Partners telecom analyst, said the impact of VOIP on the telecom market won’t be immediate. He noted current VOIP technologies suffer from poor voice quality compared to traditional cellular calls, and with the current state of network congestion, it’s not going to get much better anytime soon.
“There’s a handful of kids who have always wanted to just make their voice calls on VOIP, but regular consumers have not been very excited about it,” Kuittinen said. “With voice over IP over 3G, the quality isn’t going to be there for quite some time.”
He added that VOIP will probably be much more popular when telecom companies roll out their faster fourth-generation networks, dubbed Long Term Evolution.
The move won’t necessarily change things for the famously rejected Google Voice app for the iPhone. Google Voice lets users channel all their calls through a single Google Voice number, which offers cheap international calls, free long-distance calls, free text messaging and voicemail transcription.
Google Voice is not a VOIP service. The calls are placed on a cell connection and use the minutes on a mobile phone. Circumventing Apple’s blockade, Google recently released a web-based version of Google Voice, which can be accessed through the iPhone browser. But that web-based version of Google Voice still depends on the iPhone’s telephone app to actually place the calls.
Google did not have an announcement regarding Google Voice in light of Apple’s new policy.
“We haven’t heard any updates regarding our native app for the iPhone,” a Google spokeswoman said.
Many have speculated that Apple would not allow Google Voice in its App Store to protect its partner AT&T’s profits. When asked why Google Voice was rejected, AT&T said it had no part in the decision, and Apple said it had not rejected the app and was still examining it.
Apple has been considering the Google Voice app since at least July 2009.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
See Also:
iCall Download Link [iTunes]
 New Zealand Herald | Video VoIP calls over iPhone 3G? You betcha CNET Apple may have focused all its laser-beam attention on the iPad at Wednesday's press event, but that wasn't the computing giant's only announcement. Effective immediately, Apple has given up blocking voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls over ... Apple opens up VoIP over 3G, finally Apple lets 3G VoIP onto iPhone Apple Allows iPhone VoIP Calls Over 3G Networks |
This particular DIY project makes sense. It’s been proven that in order to increase the MPG on your motorcycle (or scooter in this case), all you need to do it add a cowling. Cyclists use this concept in increase speed, the solar powered cars use this, it makes sense. That still doesn’t mean that you should do it, at least, not in this color.
The builder, a man named Allert Jacobs was getting 114mpg on his Honda Innova scooter. He was convinced he could get more, so he built this rather nice shell to go over the scooter to see if it would help him be more efficient. Turns out it worked! Allert was able to get an amazing 214mpg at 55 miles per hour. It’s just unfortunate that he likes seafoam green.
[via Gizmodo]
Samsung announced recently that they will be mass producing 3D HDTVs. They are the first manufacturer to actually come out and say so, but I doubt they will be the last given the sheer volume of 3D technology we saw at CES. Samsung stated they will be producing three sizes initially, in 40-inch, 46-inch, and 55-inch screens. All three sizes will support the current 3D Active Glasses, which is currently the industry standard.
There’s no word on pricing or exactly when you’ll be able to pick them up as of yet, but it’s safe to assume that it will be sooner rather then later.
From the press release:
Samsung Electronics First to Begin Mass Producing 3D TV Panels
Samsung to Produce Six Panel Types Using ‘3D Active Glasses’ Technology
SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in display technology and digital media, announced today that it has become the first company to commence mass production of panels for 3D LED TVs and 3D LCD TVs.
“Samsung Electronics aims to lead the global 3D TV panel market in pioneering panel mass production for 3D LED and LCD TVs.”
“Recently, 3D displays have captured the industry spotlight,” said Wonkie Chang, president of the LCD Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung Electronics aims to lead the global 3D TV panel market in pioneering panel mass production for 3D LED and LCD TVs.”
The company began producing LED and LCD compatible panels for 40-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch full-HD 3D TVs using ‘3D Active Glasses’ this month, employing Samsung’s exclusive true 240Hz technology.
Samsung’s true 240Hz technology delivers full-HD viewing in 2D, and also smooth, natural, full-HD 3D images that can vividly capture rapid movements.
By incorporating true 240Hz technology, operating at 240 frames per second, Samsung’s panels deliver a more lifelike picture with alternating left and right eye images through the use of 3D Active Glasses technology.
Samsung has reduced the response time of its LCD and LED panels by 20 percent to less than four milliseconds, eliminating any interference between left and right eye images. With this improved response time, Samsung is able to achieve natural 3D images and also deliver 2D pictures capturing rapid movement with exceptional clarity.
Samsung’s new 3D Active Glasses technology first blocks the left and then right lens, causing a momentary lag when images are shown to each eye to achieve more lifelike 3D images. The term, ‘3D Active Glasses,’ was selected as an official term by the Glasses Standardization Working Group of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) earlier this year.
The polarized glass method previously used in 3D glasses produced separate images for the left and right eyes, resulting in half the resolution of two-dimensional pictures as only half of the screen can be viewed through each polarized filter. Brightness was also lowered because of the polarized filter.
According to a market research firm, DisplaySearch, the 3D display market is expected to grow from $902 million in 2008 to $22 billion in 2018. The 3D TV market is expected to expand to a $17-billion market, with sales increasing from 200,000 units in 2009 to 64 million units in 2018.
Apple’s new tablet doesn’t include a camera, but the screenshot above reveals a “Take Photo” button in the iPad’s Contacts app.
Is it a hint that Apple is planning to release a camera-equipped iPad later? Or just a messy accidental result of sharing code between the iPhone Contacts app and the iPad’s? As much as we believe the former will happen eventually, the latter is more likely to be the case.
We can’t draw any conclusions from that since there are too many theories, but the screenshot is interesting nonetheless. The latest iPod Touch doesn’t include a camera, and Steve Jobs said that was because the gadget’s focus is gaming. However, iFixit’s teardown of the new iPod Touch found a small compartment that would be perfect for a camera. A rumor report also suggested the iPod Touch was supposed to have a camera but left it out due to technical problems.
Kudos to CrunchGear for spotting this.
See Also:
Dretzin and Rushkoff begin on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, home to some of the most technologically savvy students in the world. Many of these "digital natives," who have hardly known a world in which they weren't connected 24/7, confess to having increasingly limited attention spans that make it difficult for them to read books or learn in conventional ways. "Honestly, I can't sit somewhere for two hours straight and focus on anything," says a student named Alex. "Maybe it's some technology dependence I've developed over the course of the years, but at this point I don't think I can go back to just focusing on one thing."
It was back to normal for Microsoft, at least if you looked at its stellar results in the second quarter, which the software giant reported earlier today.
BoomTown liveblogged the company’s call with Wall Street analysts, which began at 2:30 pm PT today.
Microsoft (MSFT) has been through the financial wringer over the last year, announcing the first mass layoffs in the its 35-year history a year ago.
But after the markets closed today, Microsoft said its earnings for its fiscal second quarter handily beat expectations.
Net income for the period rose to $6.66 billion, or 74 cents a share, from $4.17 billion, or 47 cents a share in the same period last year. Meanwhile, revenue rose 14 percent to $19.02 billion.
Analysts had been expecting earnings of 59 cents a share, and $17.9 billion in revenue.
It’s hard to tell if Microsoft–which has been one of the grumpier tech companies publicly, due to its weaker results over the last year–would start to put on a happy face or not.
2:31 pm: Welcome to new CFO, Peter Klein (pictured here) for his first earnings call. He replaced Chris Liddell, whose kiwi-cute New Zealand accent will be missed.
Klein gave a big hello, which was made happier by the news he got to deliver. “We reported record revenue and record profits,” he said.
Thank you, consumers!
But Klein also noted that Microsoft did “not see return of enterprise spending growth,” which was the big bummer.
No thank you, business folks!
But working the cost side made that all okay, for now at least.
Then the call was turned over to investor relations dude, Bill Koefoed, who also noted that the results were “phenomenal.”
Koefoed went through the numbers reported, which were all in the press release.
2:47 pm: Klein came back, discussing the outlook, which is not as glum as any of the Microsoft quarterly calls over the last year.
Then it was onto questions.
The first was on what will drive sales going forward, besides the success of WIndows 7 operating system software.
Microsoft’s future results would depend on and be “in line with PC” business, said Klein.
What about costs–will Microsoft keep the screws on?
We’ll see!
Next question: More details on enterprise?
We’re working on it! “As the enterprise [business] picks up…we are very well positioned,” said Klein.
More enterprise questions. “We have a great product pipeline,” he said, but we can’t predict what will happen.
2:57 pm: How’s the shrink-wrapped retail business going?
Great!
I became numbed into a stupor by the dullness of the next several questions, all internal chair-moving queries and repetition of previous questions.
Finally, one about exactly what Microsoft might be increasing spending on!
Well, the still-unapproved search and online advertising partnership with Yahoo (YHOO), for one, said Klein.
Back to more dull ones, until one on when the MicroHoo deal will be approved by federal regulators and how Bing is going to keep growing market share, which it has been doing admirably.
Klein said nothing on either, but very politely.
Another sleep-inducing question and then one on Microsoft’s giant pile of cash and whether the compay would hand it back to shareholders.
Klein gave another nonanswer.
The last question was about the flat performance from the gaming unit.
Well, there is the upcoming Project Natal, said Klein, to look forward to. But–keeping up his newly hatched CFO equanimity–no news to report here either.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
There have only been a few games that I’ve been more excited about that Command & Conquer 4: Half-Life 2, Day of Defeat: Source, and Command & Conquer Red Alert 2. That’s it. C&C 4 should launch on March 16, 2010, but follow this quick guide ASAP and you’ll be able to see a bit of the game early through the beta program. But you better hurry. There is limit to the amount of keys they are giving out.
It seems like EA has teamed up with Gamespot for this program. Fine with me.
FROM APPLETELL - It is probably a good idea to take some steps to protect all of the personal data stored on your iPhone, just in case the device goes AWOL. These apps can help you out.
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A recent AT&T earnings call consisted of a lot of talk talk talk but one slide stands out: it essentially admits that 3G in San Francisco and New York sucked ween AKA were both far below their official performance objective.
Although I can’t figure out what the actual “Performance Objective” truly is based on this slide, those lines do seem to be going up. While anyone can make up a statistic, for AT&T to come out and say “we suck in those areas” is big news. Good on you, lads.
Now just let me search Google on 34th Street and Broadway without getting a “Cannot connect to server error” with four bars and plenty of bandwidth while not hanging up my calls to my mom and we’re good.
The slide goes on to mention the addition of RNCs (Radio Network Controllers) to those areas as well as a general improvement in calls in Q4 of 2009.
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TwitBit [iTunes link] is a fantastic Twitter client on the iPhone. With dozens of apps from which to Tweet, competition is stiff. Moreover, once you find a Twitter client you like, it’s even harder to understand why you should switch.
TwitBit, a Twitter client from High Order Bit, has finally made me change my ways and delete Tweetie from my iPhone. And though TwitBit definitely lacks some key features of Tweetie, there’s one major reason why I am now using TwitBit instead of Tweetie: Push notifications.
Sure, with Tweetie, TweetDeck, Birdfeed, and others, you can get Boxcar (which is an app that provides you with great push notifications for your iphone) to supplement the app’s lack of push notifications. But that ends up being a pain-in-the-ass sometimes; your iPhone first sends you to Boxcar and then to another app when you want to @ reply or re-tweet a post. Instead, now when I unlock my phone after a push notification saying I’ve been @ replied, TwitBit opens up right away.
TwitBit has been around since August, and has a similar user experience to Tweetie. Both do a solid job with providing the right options to the user at the right time (for example, easily accessible options to DM or @ reply when you click on a person’s handle). Both look fairly similar and present your Tweet stream in a user-friendly manner. Most importantly, TwitBit has all the bells and whistles of Tweetie – geolocation, support for lists and trends, and solid search options. It also has the standard photo-uploading with the added benefit of Flickr integration.
All the praise aside, TwitBit has its downsides to Tweetie and I can see many users preferring Tweetie to TwitBit. I feel like TwitBit doesn’t update the stream as quickly as Tweetie, but it is a minor issue at most. TwitBit also doesn’t do geolocation nearly as well as Tweetie (sometimes it doesn’t even seem to work). Furthermore, TwitBit’s UI is damned similar to the standard iPhone UI, so there’s very little ingenuity there. Finally, and this may be a compelling reason to keep Tweetie+Boxcar for some, TwitBit doesn’t “save” a history of the tweets you’ve viewed like Tweetie does.
I won’t rigorously compare TweetDeck for iPhone (or any other iPhone Twitter client) to TwitBit here, except to say that TweetDeck on my iPhone 3G hardly works. It often crashes and the UI often gets distorted due to a bug. Though TweetDeck’s UI is absolutely fantastic (and the list support beyond any other iPhone app), it doesn’t matter if it isn’t a serviceable application.
At the end of the day, I care about a Twitter client that provides me with the basic features I need to tweet my heart out. And the one thing Tweetie, TweetDeck, and most other Twitter iPhone apps don’t have is Push. And that’s what sold me on TwitBit. I generally don’t use push; it’s so damned annoying and poorly designed. But there are two applications for which Push is practically a godsend: Twitter and IM.
I have push notifications whenever someone @’s me (@gaganbiyani in case you were wondering) and DM’s me. Because of those two features, Twitter has slowly started to replace e-mail and text for me. I compared TwitBit’s Push against Boxcar to test how well it worked (which, to my knowledge, is the best Twitter Push app on the iPhone). TwitBit was at most 30 seconds to 2 minutes late, but never significantly worse than that. That’s really solid, considering that TwitBit is a full-fledged iPhone app (unlike Boxcar) and now I replace two apps with one.
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Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
Yet another BlackBerry handset has been making the rounds lately, first we saw some leaked images and now we are seeing a brief hands-on video. The handset is the Magnum and has a Bold-like design but also features a touchscreen display
Other features of the BlackBerry Magnum include a microUSB connector, microSD card and a clickable touchscreen display. It was noted as being a cross between the Bold and the Storm. In other words it offers a touchscreen display as well as a full QWERTY keyboard.
Unfortunately, the device that is being shown off in the video is a prototype, and a prototype that does not have a working OS. But at the same time, this video does offer some solid evidence of the upcoming Magnum.
Though nothing has been made official just yet, some are calling for this handset to be announced during Mobile World Congress.
Read [The Cellular Guru] Via [Gizmodo]
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FROM GAMERTELL - The iPad may look like an oversized iPhone but how will it stand up as a game system? Click through for Gamertell’s analysis of the iPad and ow will it will - or will not - work as a game system…
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FROM GAMERTELL - Researchers from Canada’s Queen’s University are developing a way to make interactive board games that might not even require a projector…
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Everyone loves the feeling of a brand new BlackBerry trackball; you slide your finger across it, and it rolls in place like a hamster in a ball on top of a sea of butter. A few weeks later — primarily on the older devices — it starts to get a bit chunky; within months, it feels like the inside of your BlackBerry is filled with sand.
If it feels like there’s a little angry man inside your BlackBerry pushing the opposite way whenever you try to use the trackball, T-Mobile wants to help. Beginning February 15th, they’ll be replacing the trackballs on any BlackBerry 8100, 8120, or 8320 handsets, free of charge. That still leaves owners of the 8820 and a few other handsets out in the cold – but considering that nearly all T-Mobile BlackBerry handsets are packing optical trackpads at this point, I doubt there will be too many angry folks picketing their long T-Mo spots.
[Source: TmoNews]
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Remember the BlackBerry Magnum? That half touchscreen, half physical keyboard handset that supposedly got nixed in lieu of something better? Good news!
Well, sort of good news. Neither this handset or its potential replacement have gotten any more official, nor do we have any idea where this project has gone, but the guys at CellularGuru who released those stills a few weeks back have followed up with video. The only catch? The device doesn’t actually.. you know, work. You don’t get much out of seeing it in motion that you wouldn’t get out of seeing it in stills – but isn’t it just nice to look at?
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I’ve used VoIP apps on the past few iterations of of the iPhone as well as a number of other devices including some from Nokia, HTC, and Samsung. Those apps always only worked over WiFi and have mostly worked as advertised. Experience shows that if there’s one thing cellular companies are good at it’s ensuring a call can get from point A to point B (although AT&T has been sucking wind lately). It’s what they’ve been doing for almost two decades.
Now that Apple has lifted the ban VoIP over 3G – note it is Apple lifting these restrictions, not AT&T – you have to wonder what’s going on. Won’t 3G tear down the network around our ears? Won’t dogs and cats start living together?
Absolutely not. First, most international carriers have used 3G for calls for years, if not decades. When I was working as a telecoms consultant, back when WAP was a big roll-out, we already had 3G provisioning systems. Heck, some of my former colleagues were preparing video calling before America even knew how to spell Skype.
Why wasn’t it broadly used until now? Because carriers hadn’t stress-tested the network nor did they have billing methods in place. Thankfully, the iPhone 3G did most of the work for them, ensuring them that even under heavy use conditions most networks can survive intact.
Despite AT&T’s inability to hold a connection for more than a minute, 3G over VoIP adds a negligible amount of load to the 3G network and, more important, is billable. In an era of $29 unlimited plans, carriers can’t make money on regular old calls.
They can, however, make money on 3G data, especially in roaming. Anyone who’s ever been bit in the hindquarters by a massive roaming bill will know that data is precious. You can buy a 300MB roaming plan on AT&T for $59 or else pay thousands off plan. That’s 300MB. People are so used to always-on Internet that 300MB of 3G can be eaten up in a few days time, resulting in a quick flurry of SMSes to remind you that the meter is still running. While the average person eventually gives up and turns 3G off, the road warrior sees no need: after all, he’s not paying. In the end, you have a delightful group of roaming businessmen with five-figure cellphone bills.
Is this always the case? No. But it’s definitely on someone’s balance sheet at most carriers. Think of it as business class for wireless – there are plenty of folks who fly coach, but if you have a couple of suckers with an expense account, why not charge them a few thousand more for a glass of bubbly and a warm dinner?
Apple Lifts 3G VoIP Restrictions, iCall with 3G Support Available Immediately
iCall VoIP services for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch are now available for use over 3G networks such as AT&T wireless.
GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ — Apple Computer, Inc. has updated the iPhone developer SDK to allow VoIP over cellular networks. iCall is the first and only VoIP application that functions on the iPhone and iPod Touch over cellular 3G networks.
iCall is a market leader in desktop and mobile-based desktop calling platforms, including its highly popular version for the Apple iPhone. Until today, restrictions imposed on developers prohibited VoIP functionality on any 3G network.
VoIP on the iPhone has been the source of many debates with companies such as Google being denied access to the platform and the FCC inquiring as to the restrictions in the Apple App Store; iCall is one of the few VoIP applications that has been permitted by Apple to operate on the iPhone platform.
With the latest revisions Apple has made to the iPhone developer agreement and Software Development Kit, iCall for the iPhone and iPod Touch now enabled unrestricted free local and long distance calling over 3G data networks. iCall with support for VoIP over 3G networks is now available in the App Store for download. iCall is the first and only VoIP application available for the iPhone platform that allows use over 3G networks. iCall for the iPhone and iPod Touch may now be downloaded from the App Store here.
iCall CEO Arlo Gilbert is quoted as saying, “I applaud Apple’s decision to allow iCall to extend its functionality beyond Wi-Fi and onto the 3G networks. This heralds a new era for VoIP applications on mobile platforms, especially for iCall and our free calling model. I hope that now more developers will begin using our VoIP as a platform to integrate VoIP into their applications.”
About iCall, Inc.:
iCall is a privately held company providing a free and low-cost VoIP calling platform that is currently available for your desktop PC, iPhone and iPod Touch. iCall saves consumers money on phone calling through ad-supported calling.iCall was founded in 2005 by Arlo Gilbert and Andy Muldowney with the goal of providing low and no-cost calling services to consumers. In January 2006, iCall first released its iCall Free Calling desktop application. iCall’s free calling network now boasts over more than 4 million unique downloads.
In addition to consumer products, iCall offers wholesale VoIP solutions and a developer platform through iCall Carrier Services. iCall’s private network carries over 350 million minutes of voice traffic per month to destinations around the globe.
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The rumor: Activision is looking to bring DJ Hero to mobile devices. You can assume the iPhone would be among the platforms supported. The facts: DJ Hero didn’t do too well, but Activision put a hell of a lot of money into it, so it wants to make as much of that back as possible.
Kotaku, which is essentially my home page (Drudge Report is, actually), says that Glu Mobile will be handling the port. They’ve made a lot of games over the years.
Also of note, Tiesto may well be in the game. That’s good news in the year 2005. The world needs a mash-up of “Nyana” and “November Rain“.
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The iPad was supposed to change the face of computing, to be a completely new form of digital experience. But what Steve Jobs showed us yesterday was in fact little more than a giant iPhone. A giant iPhone that doesn’t even make calls. Many were expecting cameras, kickstands and some crazy new form of text input. The iPad, though, is better defined by what isn’t there.
Flash
Many people will bemoan the lack of support for Adobe’s interactive software, Flash. It wasn’t mentioned, but eagle-eyed viewers would have seen the missing plugin icon on the New York Times site during yesterday’s demo, and given that Apple clearly hates Flash as both a non-open web “standard” and as a buggy, CPU-hungry piece of code, it’s unlikely it will ever be added, unless Apple decides it wants to cut the battery life down to two hours.
Who needs Flash, anyway? YouTube and Vimeo have both switched to H.264 for video streaming (in Chrome and Safari, at least — Firefox doesn’t support it), and the rest of the world of Flash is painful to use.
In fact, we think the lack of Flash in the iPad will be the thing that finally kills Flash itself. If the iPad is as popular as the iPhone and iPod Touch, Flash-capable browsers will eventually be in the minority.
OLED
One of the biggest rumors said that there would be two iPads, one with an OLED screen and one without. But as our own Apple-master Brian X Chen pointed out, an OLED panel of this size runs to around $400. Add in the rest of the hardware and even the top-end $830 model wouldn’t be making Apple much money.
OLED also has some dirty secrets. It may be more colorful, but it uses more power than an LED backlit screen when all the diodes are lit up (white on black text is where OLED energy savings shine). It is also rather dim in comparison, and making an e-reader that you can’t use outdoors would be a stupid move from Apple.
USB
The iPad is meant to be an easy-to-use appliance, not an all-purpose computer. A USB port would mean installing drivers for printers, scanners and anything else you might hook up. But there is a workaround: the dock connector. Apple has already announced a camera connection kit, a $30 pair of adapters which will let you either plug the camera in direct or plug in an SD card to pull off the photos.
The subtle message here is that it’s not a feature for the pros: the lack of a Compact Flash slot in that adapter says “amateur photographers only.”
Expect a lot more of these kinds of accessories, most likely combined with software. How long can it be before, say, EyeTV makes an iPad-compatible TV tuner?
GPS
Apple put a compass inside every iPad, so you’d think that there would be a GPS unit in there, too. The Wi-Fi-only models get nothing, just like the iPod Touch, but more surprising is that the 3G iPads come with Assisted GPS.
Assisted GPS can be one of two things, both of which which offload some work to internet servers and use cell-tower triangulation. The difference is that some AGPS units have real GPS too, and some don’t. We’ll know which the iPad has as soon as we get our hands on one.
Multitasking
From the demonstrations at the Jobsnote it appears that, like the iPhone, we can’t run applications in the background. This will annoy many Wired readers, but it will not matter at all to the target user, who will be using the iPad to browse and consume media. In fact, this user will benefit, as the lack of CPU-cycle-sucking background processes is likely a large part of that ten-hour battery life.
If you are authoring content, like this post, then multiple browser windows, a text editor, a mail client and a photo editor all make sense. If you’re reading an e-book, not so much.
Keyboard
Nobody really thought the iPad would have a physical keyboard. That won’t stop the whining, though. The difference, again, between the iPad and a MacBook is that one is a multi-purpose device and the other is a media player.
The fact that Apple actually has made an optional keyboard for it is the biggest surprise (apart from the iPad’s base $500 price). In fact, this little $70 keyboard will mean that, despite its simplified nature, the iPad is enough laptop for many people. Why bother with a $400 netbook when you can have this instead?
Camera
No video camera, no stills camera, and no webcam. The first two will likely never make it into a future iPad, as we all have our iPhones or actual cameras with us, too. But the lack of a webcam is odd, as it closes off the possibility of using the iPad as a videophone.
I figure this is a cost-saving measure on Apple’s part. Too bad, though, as it is the only thing that stops me buying an iPad for my parents, whom I talk to on Skype. There seems to be no other reason not to have a webcam in the bezel other than price. We expect to see one in v2.0.
Verizon
iPhone users hate AT&T, but the only alternative is T-Mobile, whose coverage isn’t as good. Until Verizon switches to the world-standard GSM SIM card, don’t expect to see an Apple product on its network. You can forget all those Verizon iPhone rumors right now.
16:9
The iPad screen is a relatively square, by today’s standards, with an old-school 4:3 screen aspect ratio. This is not ideal for watching widescreen movies: you get a thick black “letterbox” bar top and bottom. But take another look at the hardware: the Apple on the back, and the position of the home button both tell us that the iPad is meant to be used in portrait mode, at least most of the time. And a 16:9 aspect ratio in this orientation would look oddly tall and skinny, like an electronic Marilyn Manson.
It’s a compromise, and a good one. If you really do spend most of your time watching movies on the iPad, maybe you should think about buying, you know, a big TV.
HDMI
There will be video out, likely through the dock connector, as Jobs said during his presentation that you’ll be able to hook the iPad up to a projector. But no HDMI out? How do you hook it up to your HD monitor?
The short answer is that you don’t. The maximum audience for an iPad screening is two. You want more? Use your laptop and hook that up, or your desktop machine. Remember, there are two kinds of people who will buy the iPad. One, nerds like you and me, who care about things like HDMI and also already own a computer that can do that.
And two, people who are buying this instead of a computer. Those people will probably still have DVD collections, or even VCRs. They don’t even know what HDMI is. I think I can guess what Apple thought about putting another expensive connector into the machine just to please a few geeks.
Photo: Jon Snyder
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Straight from the source, you can now get the official $45 desktop dock for your shiny new Nexus One. When you dock your phone, the clock automatically launches. Behold the future!
Right up until the world changed yesterday, and Steve Jobs stepped down from Mount iSinai with the Moses Tablet, we still had no idea what the iPad would look like. But that didn’t stop anyone from guessing, and better, turning to Photoshop to share their visions.
Some we laughed at, others we would have put down money for. But just how accurate were they? Here we look at the worst (and best) of Fake Tablets.
First up is Adam Benton’s concept for an Apple Netbook, commissioned by MacFormat Magazine. Ironically, for a *netbook* it is a spookily accurate prediction of the iPad, complete with a real keyboard (a keyboard which I scoffed at when I first saw it). Sure, it’s a little taller and thinner, and there’s a camera up top, but Adam’s Netbook is pretty much dead-on.
Biggest mistakes: Webcam. And a bluetooth keyboard.
The iPad might have iBooks, but if Apple’s built-in iPhone apps are anything to go by, then it will likely be gorgeous but limited (the Mail app, anyone?). We think that it’ll be the third party e-book readers that turn the Moses Tablet into the Kindle Killer people so obviously want it to be.
Ironically, the Kindle application will be among those that will run just fine on the iPad as it is, and Amazon is likely to update it. But the first third-party e-book announcement is from Kobo, the maker of the fine iPhone app of the same name. Kobo will run on the iPad as is, but the team is already working on a larger version.
In the screenshots, you can see that the bookshelf metaphor is there, as we presume it has to be with all future e-book applications, but it has been joined by a navigation list at the side, like the new Apple Mail application for the iPad. It’s fine, but little more than an amalgamation of two existing screens in the iPhone version.
What we really like is the reading screen. Instead of lamely aping the pages of a paper book like Apple’s iBook, the entire screen is available for text. A page-curl animation made it in, but you can switch that off, and the progress bar along the bottom is genuinely useful, like that on the Kindle only easier to read.
The one thing these reader applications will need is in-app purchasing. Not because Apple will necessarily demand it - Kindle for iPhone uses content bought at Amazon - but because the consumer will want it. Faced with a separate login, adding credit card details and having to navigate to a separate web site, most users will just use the simple, quick, built-in iTunes book store.
The iPad Is Finally Here And Kobo Is Ready!) [Kobo. Thanks, Nick!]
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“Millions of people now own Kindles,” 
This is a guest post by Daniel Tenner, CTO and co-founder of 
Obviously, yesterday was all about 
While Apple didn’t say much about Google during the event, Jobs did note that the Maps application on the iPad was equipped with the Google Maps backend. And despite the talk that Apple might be in discussions with Microsoft about making Bing the default search on the iPhone, Google remains the default on the iPad as well.
I’m going to keep this post short and sweet because no one likes a blogger who says “I told you so.” But, Spotify fans: Paul Carr and I 