Linked by snydeq on Wed 6th Jan 2010 20:08 UTC
InfoWorld's Galen Gruman writes that the main potential game-changing attribute of the Nexus One - that Google is selling the device direct - does nothing to move the industry past carrier lock-in. "At first, I wanted to credit Google for making a tentative step in the direction of smartphone freedom. But that step is so tentative and ineffectual that frankly I think it's a cynical fig leaf covering the usual practices," Gruman writes. At issue is a political battle regarding walled gardens in the U.S. cellular market, a fight that will take years to result in any true consumer freedom. "The only way we'll ever get the ability to choose a smartphone and carrier independently is for the platform providers that count - Apple, Google, and RIM - to first develop only multiband 'world' smartphones and then refuse to sell their devices (or in Google's case, use its Android license to forbid the sale of devices) to carriers that block or interfere with device portability."
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RE[3]: Actually you're missing it!
by arpan on Fri 8th Jan 2010 01:31
in reply to "RE[2]: Actually you're missing it!"
Member since:2006-07-30
RE[4]: Actually you're missing it!
by nt_jerkface on Fri 8th Jan 2010 19:52
in reply to "RE[3]: Actually you're missing it!"
Member since:2009-08-26
Yeah, but what if that other guys gets the unlimited text messaging and sends you a thousand texts.
Well if it is your friend then you need to tell him that you are too cheap to get the $5 a month account upgrade.
If someone you don't know keeps sending you unwanted texts then that is harassment and you can have the number blocked and the charges removed.
What most people don't realize is that charges from excessive usage are negotiable. The cell phone companies are afraid of losing you as a customer since people in the US typically sign 2 year contracts and rarely switch companies.
There's also prepaid phones if you don't want to sign a contact. They get pretty cheap which is why you see elementary school kids with them. The phone price is subsidized with the expectation that you will buy more minutes. To give you an idea of how cheap they get I saw a $30 new model nokia at the grocery store that came with 1000 minutes.
Edited 2010-01-08 19:54 UTC
RE[3]: Actually you're missing - 2$ per meg
by jabbotts on Fri 8th Jan 2010 01:53
in reply to "RE[2]: Actually you're missing it!"
Member since:2007-09-06
Text is bad.. data is even worse. Exactly what justifies $2.00 per meg of transfer? Don't pay 40$ a month for the data plan and your 50 meg of iPhone usage will be a 100$ extra on next month's bill.. and that's if your lucky enough to notice that it's using the cell towers instead of local wifi as desired.
Let's all say it together:
"What the market - because alone, none of us is as stupid as we are together - will bare."
(what ever happened to fair markup.)
RE[4]: Actually you're missing - 2$ per meg
by nt_jerkface on Fri 8th Jan 2010 19:59
in reply to "RE[3]: Actually you're missing - 2$ per meg"
Member since:2009-08-26
Text is bad.. data is even worse. Exactly what justifies $2.00 per meg of transfer? Don't pay 40$ a month for the data plan and your 50 meg of iPhone usage will be a 100$ extra on next month's bill.. and that's if your lucky enough to notice that it's using the cell towers instead of local wifi as desired.
Isn't the data plan required now? I'm guessing they got too many complaints with that.
Not that I want to diminish your complaint any. I once downloaded peggle for a cell phone and while the game was $7 the transfer fee was $8. It didn't exactly inspire me to buy more games.
Edited 2010-01-08 20:00 UTC
RE[3]: Actually you're missing it!
by erak on Sun 10th Jan 2010 23:01
in reply to "RE[2]: Actually you're missing it!"
Member since:2006-09-24
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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Member since:
2009-08-26
The system comes from ye old cellular network in the 80's when wireless data transmission was very expensive so they charged whenever the cell was in use.
The US system has been more of an innovative wild west while other countries have been able to design their systems around our experiences.
You only get screwed if you have a plan that isn't designed around your habits. For example send a thousand texts without getting the $5 a month unlimited texting.
As a percentage of living costs the cell phone bill isn't much. Most of the day labor Mexicans have cell phones.