Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 5th Jan 2013 14:53 UTC
And so this situation is starting to get ridiculous - and consumers are, as usual, caught in the middle of it all. Google has just blocked Windows Phone devices from accessing Google Maps on their phones. In addition, it also seems Windows Phone users are now restricted to the basic HTML version of the mobile GMail website. While understandable from a defensive perspective - Microsoft's extortion scheme targeting Android device makers and all that - it's still a massive dick move that only hurts consumers. Update: the media attention has worked - Google is backpedalling, and will remove the redirect. "We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make sure we deliver the best experience for those users. In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that’s why there is no redirect for those users. Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect. We will continue to test Google Maps compatibility with other mobile browsers to ensure the best possible experience for users."
Thread beginning with comment 547451
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[7]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by Nelson on Sat 5th Jan 2013 21:34
in reply to "RE[6]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
RE[8]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by tidux on Sat 5th Jan 2013 21:50
in reply to "RE[7]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2011-08-13
RE[8]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by Moredhas on Sat 5th Jan 2013 23:45
in reply to "RE[7]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2008-04-10
OEMs capitulating doesn't imply merit of the patents at all, it's simply a statement of how hostile the current patent law environment is that they don't want to risk a court finding against them. Whether or not a patent has merit seems to have had little bearing on the outcome of the more recent court cases.
RE[7]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by jared_wilkes on Sat 5th Jan 2013 22:53
in reply to "RE[6]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2011-04-25
RE[8]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by Thom_Holwerda on Sat 5th Jan 2013 23:13
in reply to "RE[7]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2005-06-29
RE[7]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by andydread on Sat 5th Jan 2013 23:06
in reply to "RE[6]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2009-02-02
Eh, Microsoft is extorting and threatening Android device makers NOW, not 15 years ago.
Its not just Android device makers. Its Linux device makers including Android.
TomTom (Linux GPS Devices)
Amazon. (Linux Servers and Android)
Buffalo (Linux NAS) Devices.
Amdocs (A User using Linux Servers)
Casio (Linux devices non-android)
Itronix(General Dynamics owns them now) (Rugged Linux Notebooks for the military.
Onkyo (Audio Sytems with Linux integrated)
IO Data (Linux NAS servers)
Kyocera Mita (Copiers with embedded Linux)
Brother International Corp (Printers w/embedded Linux)
Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd(copiers,Printers w/embedded Linux)
Kyocera Mita Corp (copiers, printers w/embedded Linux)
There are more.
Microsoft has vowed to use software-patents to destroy the use of the Linux kernel in the marketplace by driving up the cost as much as possible. This is their plan in action.
RE[8]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by bnolsen on Sun 6th Jan 2013 04:42
in reply to "RE[7]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2006-01-06
You've made a good case to me about burying MS's attempts to reenter the mobile market. Their continued abuse of the system to harrass and eliminate competition is really out of hand. I wouldn't be surprised to start seeing other players start to kick microsoft as they continue bleeding marketshare in general.
RE[7]: Why does HTML5 exist?
by Deviate_X on Sun 6th Jan 2013 22:23
in reply to "RE[6]: Why does HTML5 exist?"
Member since:2005-07-11
Eh, Microsoft is extorting and threatening Android device makers NOW, not 15 years ago.
Arguabled Apples intentions are even more damaging to Android than Microsoft. Google however does not dare retalitate against Apple because iOS is the 800 lbs Monkey and Microsoft is the 2%.
You forgot to take that into account in you analysis.
News
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
Google 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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 13:17 UTC
"Android and iOS, the number one and number two ranked smartphone operating systems worldwide, combined for 92.3% of all smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2013 as Windows Phone crept past BlackBerry for 3rd place. According to the International Data Corporation Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Android smartphone vendors and Apple shipped a total of 199.5 million units worldwide during 1Q13, up 59.1% from the 125.4 million units shipped during 1Q12." Windows Phone doubles from a few to twice few, iOS loser market share as its growth is slower than that of the overall market. BlackBerry continues slide into irrelevance.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 12:06 UTC
"According to the latest research from our Wireless Smartphone Strategies service, global Android smartphone profits reached US$5 billion in total during the first quarter of 2013. Samsung dominated and captured an impressive 95 percent share of all Android smartphone profits." Wow.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/15/13 23:03 UTC
"During its Keynote today, Google announced new features coming to its flagship search function - you know, that thing we all started using Google for. VP Amit Singhal spent some time discussing what Google's search functionality will eventually morph into. Google's strategy is summarized by three words: answer, converse, and anticipate. Singhal explained that many of the pieces of these upcoming changes can already be seen in products that Google has recently introduced - namely, Google Knowledge Graph and Google Now, with perhaps a splash of Google Glass, too." I hold on to my hat every time Google changes Search. It's such a vital product in my daily life.More News »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2005-06-29
Eh, Microsoft is extorting and threatening Android device makers NOW, not 15 years ago.