Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 3rd May 2011 22:54 UTC
Surprising it is not, but unfortunate it remains. Carriers in the United States have started working together with Google to block tethering applications in the Android Market from running on certain Android devices. While this pretty much seems like a US-only thing, it's still bad.
Thread beginning with comment 471719
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE: Google's rationalisation...
by Thom_Holwerda on Tue 3rd May 2011 23:16
in reply to "Google's rationalisation..."
Member since:2005-06-29
RE[2]: Google's rationalisation...
by guilhermefdc on Tue 3rd May 2011 23:28
in reply to "RE: Google's rationalisation..."
Member since:2011-02-17
Agreed.
What I would love to hear, though, is the opinion of someone who actually publishes apps on the Market - is "Verizon doesn't want it" allowed by Googles 'open' terms of service?
EDIT: hmmm, quoting Android Market Developer Program Policies
Network Usage and Terms
Applications must not create unpredictable network usage that has an adverse impact on a user's service charges or an Authorized Carrier's network. Applications also may not knowingly violate an Authorized Carrier's terms of service for allowed usage or any Google terms of service.
Given the way the Android Market is fragmented into multiple, carrier-specific stores, this pretty much gives Google the right to remove apps such as PDANet from a specific Market - Verizons and AT&Ts for example.
Edited 2011-05-03 23:37 UTC
RE[2]: Google's rationalisation...
by daedliusswartz on Wed 4th May 2011 03:47
in reply to "RE: Google's rationalisation..."
Member since:2007-05-28
RE[2]: Google's rationalisation...
by mrhasbean on Thu 5th May 2011 00:28
in reply to "RE: Google's rationalisation..."
Member since:2006-04-03
I think it's more like:
Carriers: Help us block these tethering apps like Apple is doing for us or else we'll decrease the Android advertising budget.
Google: Okay.
Carriers: Help us block these tethering apps like Apple is doing for us or else we'll decrease the Android advertising budget.
Google: Okay.
Oh really? Considering my original iPhone had tethering blocked - by the carrier - then later added as a fee service - by the carrier after complaints to Apple - then later made free - by the carrier after more complaints to Apple - and my current iPhone has four times the original's monthly data limit and has HotSpot enabled, I'd suggest you might just be (yet again) wrong...
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/25/13 0:45 UTC
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 23:59 UTC
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 22:33 UTC
Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Linked by Howard Fosdick on 05/24/13 21:41 UTC
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 14:44 UTC
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 23:22 UTC
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:04 UTC
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:01 UTC
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 17:52 UTC
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 22:23 UTC
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.More News »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2006-04-03
AT&T: Help us block these tethering apps so we can sell more data and we'll give you a percentage of the take.
Google: Ok