Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 19th Jun 2012 00:10 UTC
So, the Microsoft announcement - taking place as I write this, 01:45 in my timezone - turns out to be a bigger deal than expected. Microsoft just announced it's going full-on hardware - the company announced a new tablet called 'Surface', and boy, is this thing something to behold. Microsoft's hardware partners? They're not happy right now. Update: Here's Microsoft's official Surface site. I believe someone coined the phrase 'sexy as a succubus' in the comments about Vizio? Stealin' it! Update II: They aren't just taking the iPad head-on - this is a straight-up MacBook Air competitor.
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RE[3]: Nokia is super dead.
by tomcat on Tue 19th Jun 2012 08:47
in reply to "RE[2]: Nokia is super dead. "
Member since:2006-01-06
With the cheap plastic-y phones they've put out recently, I'd say they need to step up their game. I used to think Samsung made the cheapest, flimsiest smartphones out there but Nokia's recent phones seem like they'd break if you set them down too hard.
Is it so difficult to make a phone out of metallic parts these days?
Is it so difficult to make a phone out of metallic parts these days?
Huh? Have you ever played with a Lumia? Pretty damned nice phone.
RE[4]: Nokia is super dead.
by JAlexoid on Tue 19th Jun 2012 13:11
in reply to "RE[3]: Nokia is super dead. "
Member since:2009-05-19
RE[4]: Nokia is super dead.
by Morgan on Fri 22nd Jun 2012 07:41
in reply to "RE[3]: Nokia is super dead. "
Member since:2005-06-29
Yes I have, and I wasn't the least bit impressed. And it's not like I have anything against Nokia; one of my all time favorite phones was the N900 and it was a bit rough around the edges from a design standpoint.
I just wish Nokia and Samsung would stop putting out cheap plastic crap and go back to the great build quality they both used to have. There was a time when you could pick up a feature phone or dumbphone from either company and it just felt solid, even with the plastic casing. Their recent phones, however, feel like those toy cellphones you see in the grocery store candy aisles.
I'm not saying they need to be building two pound metal bricks, I just wish they would consider the fact that some people don't upgrade every few months and prefer a more rugged, substantial device.
RE[3]: Nokia is super dead.
by zima on Fri 22nd Jun 2012 19:06
in reply to "RE[2]: Nokia is super dead. "
Member since:2005-07-06
Is it so difficult to make a phone out of metallic parts these days?
What? I can something else - STUPID FASHION OF MAKING PHONES OUT OF GLASS AND METAL.
Phone, a device which you hold in your hand while operating it ...made out of materials with intrinsic high thermal conductivity ...so often feeling unpleasantly cold.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/20/13 6:17 UTC, submitted by MOS6510
"In the first episode of Microsoft's new film series 'On the Whiteboard', Editor Pamela Woon chats with two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom about the (often underestimated) importance of sound in human-technology interactions. Thom, the lead sound designer at Skywalker Ranch who worked on films such as The Incredibles, Castaway and Forrest Gump, says that people rarely consider the significance of those signature sounds that come from their trusty devices, whether it be a cell phone, a computer or a tablet."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 23:02 UTC, submitted by M.Onty
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 22:28 UTC
"A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
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.More News »
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Member since:
2005-06-29
With the cheap plastic-y phones they've put out recently, I'd say they need to step up their game. I used to think Samsung made the cheapest, flimsiest smartphones out there but Nokia's recent phones seem like they'd break if you set them down too hard.
Is it so difficult to make a phone out of metallic parts these days?