Month: May 2010

‘Not Everyone Gets a Trophy’

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Michael Gartenberg:

Android isn’t summer camp for handset vendors and not everyone gets get a trophy for showing up. Google is treating partners equally, but will not slow the rate of innovation so weaker players can keep up. By constantly raising the bar, both in terms of reference devices and software, Google aims to keep innovating and drive that innovation as a differentiator. Google wasn’t looking for volume sales with the Nexus One, it was looking to raise the hardware bar — and arguably the best way to do that is to do it yourself.

Of course, if you build both the hardware and software yourself, it is a different story altogether.

‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Turns 30

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Mike Ryan for Vanity Fair:

Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of The Empire Strikes Back, a film most Star Wars fans consider the best of the franchise’s six films. Just three years after Star Wars revolutionized the blockbuster, Empire redefined it again, proving that a film that took place in outer space and featured light sabers and blasters could also be smart and, yes, depressing. If watching Star Wars was kind of like being on an amusement-park ride—smiles for everyone! — watching The Empire Strikes Back might be more comparable to getting a root-canal. Han Solo would have gladly traded what happened to him in Empire for full set of root-canals. The Empire, seemingly defeated at the end of the first movie when Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star, struck back in a big way, and it was ugly.

[…]

Empire’s plot taught a generation of children that when life gets you down … it’s probably only going to get worse. The most positive people I know all love Return of the Jedi; the cynics love Empire.

The Empire Strikes Back is gritty, full of reminders that the universe we live in is royally messed up, but not beyond saving. Empire reminds us that redemption is messy, and at times, seemingly impossible.

It is my favorite movie ever.

I also liked this bit by Ryan, and couldn’t agree more:

George Lucas likes to defend his comparatively lame prequels (Episode I, II, and III) by saying that they are kids’ movies. That, he suggests, is why all those thirty-something Star Wars nerds don’t appreciate the new movies. I’m calling bullshit on this. Has Lucas actually seen Empire? Empire is a lot of things, but it’s certainly not a kids’ movie. How do I know? Because I saw that movie when I was five-years-old and it pretty much fucked me up for life.

Search your feelings. You will know it to be true.

Daniel Lyons Moving to Android

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Daniel Lyons — of Fake Steve fame — is ditching his iPhone:

The new version of Android — version 2.2, a.k.a. Froyo — blows the doors off the iPhone OS. It’s faster, for one thing. It also will support Flash, something Apple refuses to do, mostly out of spite.

The new Android OS will support tethering, meaning you can use your phone as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, connecting your computer to the Internet. Apple and AT&T say they’re going to offer tethering—someday. It’s just not clear when. Which is why today, just to be mean, Google showed an Android phone tethered to an Apple iPad. Big laughs all around.

Froyo also will let you buy songs over the air and download them directly to your phone. It will also stream songs from your music library to your phone. I don’t really use my phone as a music player that much, but still, it’s impressive that Google has this feature and Apple still doesn’t.

Froyo is no doubt impressive — it’s features make the iPhone OS look crippled by its dependence on iTunes. However, the bit about Flash not being on the iPhone because of spite is just plain wrong. Flash sucks on Android, where it’s just now in limited beta.

On Foxconn

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Laura June:

We, the people who buy and love gadgets, who write about them, who obsess over their design and minutiae, must think about what this means. We should go into our purchases knowingly — the way most of us think with more knowledge than our ancestors about what we put in our mouths and how we clothe ourselves. Would I prefer that Apple assembled my iPhone in the US of A? Yes: there’s greater oversight and better working conditions here. Would that mean I would have to pay more? Yes, exponentially. Companies like Apple know that their images matter. It’s why they’re all scrambling to “green themselves up” and prove that their products don’t end up contributing to the toxic garbage dump that we call Earth. We shouldn’t accept companies’ meaningless “we’re looking into it” press releases, because at the end of the day, we should come to terms with the fact that they don’t actually care about the workers at Foxconn, not really — as long as the factories keep churning out the goods.

On Mobile Flash

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Ross Miller:

We have to say, it’s really something to have a mobile browser that doesn’t pop up little cubes with question marks all over the web, but we found that rediscovering Flash was much like reuniting with a high school friend; at first you’ve so much to catch up on, but then you realize how far you’ve grown apart. Adobe’s pre-vetted list of Flash-enabled sites do a good job of showing off the technology, but we still can’t help but think the interactive elements still have a lot of catching up to do. As for video, the stream is good quality but gets fairly choppy — especially when you check out something “not optimized for mobile viewing.” Some of the HTML5 footage we’ve seen via the same device shows up in crisper detail and fluidity. Battery and heat are also of concern: the pre-release beta we have, according to Adobe, lacks hardware acceleration. Ergo, our beloved handset got piping hot after about 30 minutes of heavy video watching, and the battery indicator in the upper right had a sizable dent.

My favorite part about people complaining about the lack of flash on Apple products is that Flash barely runs on any mobile platform.

Iconfactory Outlines Twitterrific’s Future

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From the Iconfactory blog:

When Twitter recently announced they were purchasing Atebits’ popular Twitter application, Tweetie, many critics wrote off all 3rd party apps, including Twitterrific. Well, we’re here to say that not only is Twitterrific alive and kicking, but it’s being actively developed with love by the Iconfactory. There are some exciting changes coming to the ‘Little Blue Bird that Could’ and we wanted to give you a wing up.

Twitterrific fans have waited patiently and watched as we released version 1.0 of the software for the iPad as well as subsequent 1.0.1 and 1.1 updates. Although the surprise announcement of the iPad put our iPhone and Mac plans on temporary hold, the diversion turned out to be well worth it. Twitterrific for iPad has been hailed as the best version of the application since its original launch. The app is simple, easy to use and covers all the bases when it comes to Twitter functionality. Developing for the iPad with its short deadline, forced us to take a hard look at our design decisions and streamline the app for the better.

Be sure to check out their “big picture” vision, a sneak peak at v 3.0 for iPhone, and a look at designing apps for the iPad.

Kevin Costner to Save Gulf of Mexico

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NY Daily News:

British Petroleum – desperate for ideas – gave the okay to test six of Costner’s gizmos Wednesday, after the Army Corps of Engineers gave the machine a thumbs-up.

Costner’s $24 million centrifuge machine has a Los Angeles-perfect name, “Ocean Therapy.”

Placed on a barge, it sucks in oily water, separates out the oil and spits back clean water.

“It’s like a big vacuum cleaner,” said Costner’s business partner, Louisiana trial lawyer John Houghtaling.

That’s pretty awesome. Unlike most of his movies.

[via Kottke]

iPads Outselling Macs?

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John Paczkowski:

Here’s a stunner of a data point: Apple is selling more than 200,000 iPads per week. Which means, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky, that sales of the company’s new device have outpaced those of the Mac in the United States and are closing in on those of the iPhone 3GS.

Wow.

‘House’ Season Finale Shot on Canon 5D

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Even if you don’t watch the show normally, you should see this episode for the video work. It is beautiful. There are shots all over the episode with razor-thin depths of field that were simply stunning. I would love to see more of this.

Greg Yaitanes, the show’s director answered some questions about shooting with just a DSLR on Twitter a while back, and they have been compiled over at PetaPixel.

Ars Reviews Aperture 3

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Dave Girard:

For pros who just want to get work done, Aperture 3’s improved interface, flawless curve adjustment, multiple maskable edits, and 64-bit update are more than enough reason to upgrade. Add the metadata improvements and the high-ISO RAW conversion, and you have an essential upgrade. If Apple can rein in the glitches, give pros a toggle for the gooey effects, and polish the masking tools, then the rest is just gravy.

I like Aperture 3 a lot. The preset filters are nice, and the addition of curves and some other tools are more than welcome. I’ve got Faces and Places turned off.

But it is buggy. It’s brought my 2.93Ghz iMac (with a beefy discrete video card) to its knees more than a couple of times.