Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 21st Oct 2011 23:17 UTC, submitted by jello
So, how serious is the legal battle between Apple and the various Android phone makers, really? Surely, it's just logical business sense that's behind it, right? Calculated, well-planned precision strikes designed to hurt Android where simply making better, more innovative products isn't enough? Well, no, not really. We already knew Steve Jobs took this personal - now we know just how personal.
Thread beginning with comment 493692
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE[6]: Pirates of Silicon Valley
by Moredhas on Sat 22nd Oct 2011 09:29
in reply to "RE[5]: Pirates of Silicon Valley"
Member since:2008-04-10
Most Google people I'm following on G+ say most Gingerbread devices should be capable of an ICS upgrade. That implies to me they haven't changed enough of the kernel to render the old device drivers incompatible, so the third party ROM makers shouldn't have nearly as much trouble porting ICS to Gingerbread phones as they've had porting Donut, Eclair and Froyo to Cupcake devices.
RE[7]: Pirates of Silicon Valley
by frderi on Sat 22nd Oct 2011 09:38
in reply to "RE[6]: Pirates of Silicon Valley"
Member since:2011-06-17
Google can say all they want. There's an ocean of difference between "There shouldn't be much difficulty in porting the device drivers" and "every manufacturer will put out updates so you are sure to run the latest system".
Android is a very different beast in terms of how the device makers look at it. While Android takes obvious queues from iOS feature wise, the device makers look at it from the device point of view. Like all device makers, have done for so many years. You want the new features? You buy the new model. Why would they put effort in releasing something that will compromise sales of their new devices?
RE[6]: Pirates of Silicon Valley
by unclefester on Sat 22nd Oct 2011 10:47
in reply to "RE[5]: Pirates of Silicon Valley"
Member since:2007-01-13
RE[7]: Pirates of Silicon Valley
by frderi on Sat 22nd Oct 2011 11:21
in reply to "RE[6]: Pirates of Silicon Valley"
Member since:2011-06-17
RE[7]: Pirates of Silicon Valley
by viton on Sat 22nd Oct 2011 13:35
in reply to "RE[6]: Pirates of Silicon Valley"
Member since:2005-08-09
RE[6]: Pirates of Silicon Valley
by JAlexoid on Sat 22nd Oct 2011 16:20
in reply to "RE[5]: Pirates of Silicon Valley"
Member since:2009-05-19
Sources for the chipsets of the specific phones aren't included, thus, the source code is useless to upgrade your phone.
Because they are released separately by the manufacturers...
And if you're referring baseband, then I just have to point out that it's illegal to mess with the baseband in most countries. Enabling illegal activity is also illegal.
On how many present day phones will ICS work? Zero.
Zero? That's an overstatement. Phones without a GPU will definitely not get ICS, but zero?
For me, this is not the spirit and intention of GPL.
Why did you mention GPL? GPL demands are very clear and strict. The whole spirit in embodied in the text.
RE[7]: Pirates of Silicon Valley
by pgeorgi on Sat 22nd Oct 2011 19:39
in reply to "RE[6]: Pirates of Silicon Valley"
Member since:2010-02-18
"On how many present day phones will ICS work? Zero.
Phones without a GPU will definitely not get ICS, but zero? "
I think it's safe to say that every phone with Android on it has a GPU - including acceleration features.
It's the Android architecture so far that wasn't ready to make use of that.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 20:46 UTC
"And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 17:32 UTC
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 11:39 UTC
"The key takeaway we've reached (after two less than 24 hours playing with the iOS 7 Beta release) is this - every App must consider even basic updates to its UI to survive in a post-iOS 6 world." Great. Telling developers to update their entire application - user interface and behaviour alike - to target a look and behaviour that isn't final yet. Seems like potential for a lot of wasted work here.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 11:32 UTC
"Overall the app is really basic, and designed for on the go editing. Microsoft says it's not planning to create an iPad version, noting that tablet users can utilize the Office Web Apps instead. We'd like to see some additional options for editing, including more clear options for text formatting and the ability to insert and change images, but it's a solid attempt for something you're only really going to use for editing in emergencies." A resounding meh can be heard from all over the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 19:39 UTC
"Today, most people are using modern browsers that support the majority of the latest web technologies. Better yet, the usage of legacy browsers is declining significantly and newer browsers stay up to date automatically, which means the leading edge has become mainstream. Given these factors we've decided to retire Chrome Frame, and will cease support and updates for the product in January 2014." Eh.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:45 UTC
The Next Web: "First of all, many of the new icons were primarily designed by members of Apple's marketing and communications department, not the app design teams. From what we've heard, SVP of Design Jony Ive (also now Apple's head of Human Interaction) brought the print and web marketing design team in to set the look and color palette of the stock app icons. They then handed those off to the app design teams who did their own work on the 'interiors', with those palettes as a guide. We've also been hearing that there wasn't a whole lot of communication between the various teams behind say, Mail and Safari. And that there were multiple teams inside each group that were competing with various designs, leading to what some see as inconsistencies in icon design. Those may well be hammered out in days ahead." What. Reminds me of how Microsoft does (used to do?) things.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 11:43 UTC
"The German Parliament, the Bundestag, has introduced a joint motion against software patents. The resolution urges the German government to take steps to limit the granting of patents on computer programs. In the resolution, the Parliament says that patents on software restrict developers from exercising their copyright privileges, including the right to distribute their programs as Free Software. They promote the creation of monopolies in the software market, and hurt innovation and job creation." After New Zealand, we now have one of the most powerful economies in the world moving to ban software patents for all the reasons smart people have been outlining for years. also: "The government should also push to ensure that software is covered by copyright alone, and that patent offices (including the European Patent Office) stop granting patents on software." Germany is not a country the EU can ignore. Very good news, this.More News »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2011-06-17
And its about damn time too, if they want to keep this so called "monniker" that the thing is open to begin with.
Mind you, "open" for Android means just open for manufacturers. Not end users. Sources for the chipsets of the specific phones aren't included, thus, the source code is useless to upgrade your phone. On how many present day phones will ICS work? Zero. For me, this is not the spirit and intention of GPL.
Meanwhile, my 2+ year old iPhone 3GS, sans the ideologic BS that its free and open and its the better thing for human society, is humming away just fine on iOS5, the latest version. Talk about warped values.