Archive for the ‘Hardware’ Category

So all those people hacked their iPhones for what? To get away from AT&T, or to install third-party applications?

If they did it to install applications, I bet they feel stupid now.

Apple Inc. will allow third-party applications on the iPhone, Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a posting on its Web site Wednesday.

In a decision that marks a clear turnaround from Apple’s previous desire to control the applications consumers have on their iPhones, Jobs said the company intends to release a software development kit in February that will let people outside the company to create iPhone and iPod touch applications.

“We are excited about creating a vibrant third-party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users,” Jobs said in the posting.

[Source: AP via Yahoo! News]

I don’t even have an iPhone, and I know this is a stupid lawsuit.

Complaints over Apple Inc.’s use restrictions and recent software update for the iPhone have erupted in two lawsuits alleging Apple and its carrier partner, AT&T Inc., engaged in illegal monopolistic behavior.

Two separate lawsuits were filed in San Jose on Oct. 5 — one in federal court and the other in state court and both seeking class-action status.

Both cases accuse the companies of unfair business practices and violations of antitrust, telecommunications and warranty laws.

Apple spokeswoman Susan Lundgren and AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel both declined to comment on them Wednesday.

Wouldn’t this be like suing a jewelry store because the ring you were trying to melt down didn’t fit any more?

Okay… So here’s my unrelated story. I have a T-Mobile Wing. Thanks to the awesome power of Windows Mobile 6 I can set up 6 pop3 email accounts in addition to the Outlook Mail default eamil on the device. Last week I decided to hack the device to delete the Outlook Mail, since I do not use Outlook. After hacking the registry to remove Outlook Mail, the messaging on the Wing, text messaging, email, etc. No longer worked. It literally killed the Wing.

Of course, I was able to do a hard reset to return the phone to it’s pristine naturally installed state so I could start all over installing stuff on it again.

Long story short. If you hack a device and that hack results in killing your device, either through the hack itself or a software update, it is YOUR FAULT. Not your cell phone provider, not the company that makes the phone, not the company that designed the software. It is YOUR FAULT.

Got it yet?

I wonder if it makes phone calls?

It can take your pulse, check your body fat, time your jogs and tell you if you have bad breath. It even assesses stress levels and inspires you with a pep talk. Meet your new personal trainer: your cell phone.

The prototype Wellness mobile phone from Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc. targets users with busy lives who want a hassle-free way of keeping track of their health, according to company spokesman Noriaki Tobita.

The phone, unveiled this week at the CEATEC electronics show outside Tokyo, has an inbuilt motion sensor that detects body movement and calculates how many calories you burn.

The sensor can tell whether you’re walking, running, climbing stairs, or resting, and counts the calories accordingly to tally daily totals, Tobita said.

All they need now is the ability for the phone to burn the calories for you, and the device would be perfect. Then again, moving some of these plasma tv lifts around the room might give you the same results, yes?

Is anyone actually excited about this news? I didn’t see anyone else talking about it yesterday.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) introduced on Tuesday three new models of its Zune digital media player that wirelessly and automatically update their music, photos and videos when placed near a user’s computer.

They mark the second generation of Microsoft’s answer to Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPod, which has sold more than 100 million units in various shapes and sizes since its 2001 launch.

By comparison, Microsoft joined the fray last year with a single 30-gigabyte Zune model and has sold 1.2 million units.

The new Zunes will come in 4-gigabyte, 8-gigabyte and 80-gigabyte models. All will come with a feature that allows a user to automatically sync media via a WiFi network from a PC to the Zune when its battery is charging.

Why wouldn’t they talk about something like this? Maybe people have just had enough news about bricks this week. People seem as excited about Zune’s as they do about Patriots tickets. Although, I would take Patriot tickets over a Zune, any day.

Are these people serious? Give me a frickin’ break.

Everyone and their brother knows that Apple is not working hard to lock out legitimate customers who haven’t tried to “unlock” the phone so it will work with carriers other than AT&T.

Those people who did “unlock” their phones have issues. Boo frickin’ hoo.

Apple Inc.’s decision last week to bundle an iPhone-crippling firmware upgrade with 10 security patches for the device was a mistake, analysts said Monday.

Thursday’s iPhone Update 1.1.1 included not only new features and functionality– including access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store– but plugged holes in the device’s built-in Safari browser, e-mail software and Bluetooth implementation.

But it was the news that the update “bricked,” or disabled, iPhones modified to work with networks other than AT&T that caught the attention of security analysts like Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security Inc.

“With the iPhone update, Apple is now producing a fear of taking their patches,” Storms said. “If they release a functionality update and security fixes at the same time in the future, some users will think twice about applying it. They’ll ask themselves ‘What will it break this time?’ and ‘Will it backfire on me?’

Let’s not forget the fact that when you bought the iPhone you agreed to use AT&T as your carrier, and you agreed to the terms of service that went along with the iPhone. Heck, I don’t even own an iPhone and I know how it works.

So, once you bought it, you decided you wanted to hack the device so it would work on other networks. Too bad Apple found the hole that was allowing this, and per the terms of service, they patched it. They fixed a FLAW in the phone. And you’re bitching about it?

Oh shut up about the phone being yours to do what you please with. You did it. Apple didn’t stop you. You did what you pleased. Apple simply sent out a patch to fix the problem that allowed you to pull your shit in the first place.

If Apple failed to fix the flaws and someone other than Apple had managed to exploit it, in a negative way, you can bet your dollar that you and everyone else would be crying a lot louder than you’re crying now.

Give me a break. Get over it. No one stopped you from doing what you wanted, they simply stopped you from violating the terms of service you agreed to in the first place.

Enjoy your brick. I hope it lays as the cornerstone to the foundation of your new found enlightenment.

[Cross posted at Slobokan's Site O' Schtuff]

I wouldn’t mind purchasing a couple of these, one for my kids and one for a needy child somewhere else, if I was given the choice of where that “needy” laptop would go. What do they use as their priority for sending a laptop to a child? Why would their choice be any more beneficial for a child than mine? Just askin’.

Inexpensive laptop computers designed for students in developing countries will be sold to the public in a buy-one, give-one scheme, the non-profit organization behind the project said Monday.

The “100 dollar laptops” — which currently cost nearly twice that amount — will go on sale for two weeks starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) said in a statement.

The non-profit group was organized by Nicholas Negroponte, a co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Laboratory, who came up with the idea of providing low-cost computers for students in underdeveloped countries as key step to promote education.

The sales program is designed to give the overall OLPC project more publicity, and to encourage open-source software developers to write programs for the laptop’s operating system, the non-profit said.

At $100 a pop, it definitely isn’t running the Apple or Microsoft operating systems. So what is it running? According to this site, it’s operating system is based on Linux. Duh.

Today was a good day. I finally upgraded from an old 17” CRT monitor to a new 22” LCD monitor. Life is good.

Oh yeah… This made my day. It sure beats the day I had yesterday.

I was sitting here, minding my own business, when a guy calls and asks me for me by name. When I assure him that he is speaking with me, he starts rambling about a Dodge Charger accessory that he needs, and he won’t take no for an answer. I finally convinced him that someone had their wires crossed and I was not the person he was looking for. I hope he found the part he needed though, cuz his car sounds ultra cool.

What a bunch of whiners. Everyone knows, you’re always going to shell out more money to be on the cutting edge of technology.

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs apologized and offered $100 credits Thursday to people who shelled out up to $599 for an iPhone this summer and were burned when the company chopped $200 from the expensive model’s price.

In a letter on the company’s Web site, Jobs acknowledged that Apple disappointed some of its customers by cutting the price of the iPhone’s 8-gigabyte model and said he has received hundreds of e-mails complaining about the price cut.

Jobs added that “the technology road is bumpy,” and there will always be people who pay top dollar for the latest electronics but get angry later when the price drops.

Steve Jobs went out of his way to appease those who were left bleeding by that cutting technology. Now, who is going to buy me an iPhone?

I just received a phone call from relatives down in Florida, they are needing some computer work done and they are more than willing to help finance a quick trip down so I can look at their system for them. This really wasn’t what I was thinking when I was talking about a Kissimmee vacation though. I told them I would sleep on it, although I have never been one to turn down a road trip, no matter what the reason.

More talk about a Zune phone…

Microsoft Corp. said on Tuesday that it is “not unreasonable” for the company to introduce a mobile phone combined with features of its Zune digital music player to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

The Zune phone, a topic of speculation for months since Microsoft introduced its first digital music player last year, could be driven by consumer demand for one multimedia device to make phone calls, play music and take pictures.

Although it’s “not unreasonable”, I personally think it’s “not a good idea”. They can’t even sell the Zunes in mass, why would they make a phone with features of a product no one wants?

Just asking.