Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 27th Jun 2012 20:27 UTC
So yeah, Google totally just won the conference showdown by easily beating both Apple and Microsoft. Not only did Google announce Android 4.1 with some really cool new features, a cheap but non-crippled tablet, and a new Android device called the Nexus Q, but they also opened up pre-orders for Google Glass. So yeah.
Thread beginning with comment 524064
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2006-07-14
What content does amazon have that an android device does not? Amazon streaming content? I'm not aware of anyone using that service. Although I must admit, I don't see the value in buying *any* tablet.
And agreed on Q, roku is aprox $60. Why use any other set top box? It even has Amazon Streaming video, for all the millions that depend on that service for critical life sustaining video.
Member since:2007-04-25
Why would anybody buy a Nexus Tablet when they can simply buy an Amazon Kindle Fire?
Android 4.1? Higher resolution screen? Twice the RAM? USB? Front facing camera?
Was that a serious question?
You might try http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/spec_comparison_new_ipad_v._... for a spec comparison. This Apple-centric site concludes, "we think that Nexus 7 and Jelly Bean combine to make for the first Android tablet that can reasonably give the iPad a run for its money in terms of the user experience".
Of course, if you're only interested in Amazon content, stick with the Fire. My wife owns one, and simply adores it. I, OTOH, have an iPad - but I think I see a Nexus in my future.
Member since:2006-01-06
"Why would anybody buy a Nexus Tablet when they can simply buy an Amazon Kindle Fire?
Android 4.1? Higher resolution screen? Twice the RAM? USB? Front facing camera?
Was that a serious question?
You might try http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/spec_comparison_new_ipad_v._... for a spec comparison. This Apple-centric site concludes, "we think that Nexus 7 and Jelly Bean combine to make for the first Android tablet that can reasonably give the iPad a run for its money in terms of the user experience".
Of course, if you're only interested in Amazon content, stick with the Fire. My wife owns one, and simply adores it. I, OTOH, have an iPad - but I think I see a Nexus in my future. "
Improved hardware specs are of marginal benefit in a tablet. Kindle Fire does everything that tablet users need to do, and you answered that issue, yourself. Your wife is the average test case.
Member since:2005-11-14
I can answer 2 for you: anyone living outside of the U.S. wanting a cheap and powerful 7" tablet. The Kindle Fire is U.S. only. It also sucks, and most of the content you speak of -- except the books you can read in the Kindle App available through Google Play -- is U.S. only.
Personally, I have no use for the Q and the glasses.
Member since:2005-09-01
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:15 UTC
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:11 UTC, submitted by Drumhellar
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:06 UTC
"At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn't developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports' Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as 'crap' and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. 'The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet', tweeted Bob Summerwill, listed as a senior software engineer at EA Canada, in a reply to a tweet posting a link about EA's no-Wii U news. 'Nintendo are walking dead at this point'." The Wii U is turning into the 21st century's Virtual Boy.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 7:37 UTC
"In NixOS, the entire operating system - the kernel, applications, system packages, configuration files, and so on - is built by the Nix package manager from a description in a purely functional build language. The fact that it's purely functional essentially means that building a new configuration cannot overwrite previous configurations. Most of the other features follow from this." Interesting approach. A Linux distribution, sure, but with some very refreshing ideas about system configuration.
Linked by fran on 05/18/13 1:38 UTC
Appfour added, among other features, C/C++ support to its new version of AIDE. From Android-IDE, "Now you can write parts of your app or your whole app in C/C++ on your device. AIDE supports the Standard Android NDK toolchain (GCC 4.6 + Bionic, STL, ...). No changes are necessary if you want to build an app developed on a PC with Eclipse. C/C++ development is fully integrated: Build errors appear in the error list and files can easily be navigated to with Go to file. The editor supports C/C++ syntax highlighting."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/17/13 23:35 UTC, submitted by kragil
Ars nails it: "The answer is that Google did announce what amounts to a fairly substantial Android update yesterday. They simply did it without adding to the update fragmentation problems that continue to plague the platform. By focusing on these changes and not the apparently-waiting-in-the-wings update to the core software, Google is showing us one of the ways in which it's trying to fix the update problem."
Linked by MOS6510 on 05/17/13 22:22 UTC
"It is good for programmers to understand what goes on inside a processor. The CPU is at the heart of our career. What goes on inside the CPU? How long does it take for one instruction to run? What does it mean when a new CPU has a 12-stage pipeline, or 18-stage pipeline, or even a 'deep' 31-stage pipeline? Programs generally treat the CPU as a black box. Instructions go into the box in order, instructions come out of the box in order, and some processing magic happens inside. As a programmer, it is useful to learn what happens inside the box. This is especially true if you will be working on tasks like program optimization. If you don't know what is going on inside the CPU, how can you optimize for it? This article is about what goes on inside the x86 processor's deep pipeline."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/17/13 22:15 UTC, submitted by Tom
"It was the only moment I heard regret slip into Otellini's voice during the several hours of conversations I had with him. 'The lesson I took away from that was, while we like to speak with data around here, so many times in my career I've ended up making decisions with my gut, and I should have followed my gut,' he said. 'My gut told me to say yes.'" The world would've been a much different place - Apple would have been less dependant on Samsung for its chips, which probably would've meant less money for Samsung to develop its Galaxy business.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 21:41 UTC
Glass is getting some love at Google I/O as well. New applications have been released - Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Elle, Tumblr, and CNN. Perhaps more interesting: the newly announced Google Glass Developer Kit will allow offline applications and direct hardware access - great for hacking and expanding Glass' potential. This kit will really allow hackers to put Glass through its paces.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 17:04 UTC
"But Beck and Merrill decided that simply banning toxic players wasn't an acceptable solution for their game. Riot Games began experimenting with more constructive modes of player management through a formal player behavior initiative that actually conducts controlled experiments on its player base to see what helps reduce bad behavior. The results of that initiative have been shared at a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and on panels at the Penny Arcade Expo East and the Game Developers Conference." Absolutely fascinating stuff. I'm a League of Legends player, and to be honest, the community isn't nearly as bad as some make it out to be. I'm happy Riot games has the guts to employ science to address the issue.More News »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2006-01-06
1. Q is going to be a complete flop. The only ones who install it are going to be Google employees. The architecture and content are inane. There's just no other way to describe it.
2. Why would anybody buy a Nexus Tablet when they can simply buy an Amazon Kindle Fire? Where's the value prop? Amazon has the content.
3. Google Glasses. Cool concept. Google would like you to believe they invented this concept. They did not. I think it will remain a niche device for a long while. Probably 3-5 years.