Think SMS meets chat room. Seems like a great low-tech way to keep in touch as a group.
Category: General Tech
Teen Converts 73 Bug Into Electric Car
I love that his last name is Stark.
No Jacket Required
At Motorola, we believe a customer shouldn’t have to dress up their phone for it to work properly. That’s why the DROID X comes with a dual antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like to make crystal clear calls without a bulky phone jacket. For us it’s just one of those things that comes as a given when you’ve been making mobile phones for over 30 years.
On Product Design and Web Design
Apple came out with updated Mac Pros and iMacs today. I’m an iMac man myself, so that’s what I checked out. Looks nice! Of course, The League of Internet Commenters is busy finding flaws and comparing it to similar offerings from Apple’s competitors. Hardware isn’t my strong suit, but I know half a thing about website design. So let’s look at the websites for Apple’s primary desktop computer, and the same from Dell and HP.
DMCA Exception Added for Jailbreaking
This is a wild one, and we’re still parsing through the announcement, but on the surface it looks like the Library of Congress has added new anti-circumvention exceptions to the DMCA that, among other things, allow people to tweak their handsets for the purpose of installing legally obtained software – known as jailbreaking in iOS land, and rooting in the Android / webOS world. Check out the full statement from the Librarian of Congress, which is mostly an update of existing exceptions on record, after the break, but here’s the primary excerpt:
New Tron Legacy Trailer
Oh, mama:
On Android and Bloatware
Android phones are being pre-loaded with trial software and apps that can’t be deleted off the device by the user. These apps touting mobile TV, football games, location-based search and games are the new face of bloatware, also known as crapware or craplets in the PC world. The term is shorthand for non-essential software or media files bundled with a device in a bid to boost revenue and ostensibly give consumers a chance to try new services.
On Apple and AT&T’s Relationship
Indeed, Jobs actively considered splitting with AT&T early in the partnership. Just months after the iPhone launched, and not long after Rinne asked Apple to limit YouTube usage, Jobs was investigating another possible solution: dropping AT&T and striking a deal with Verizon. But because Verizon’s network ran on a different transmission technology, making the move would require an entirely new chipset.
The whole piece is fascinating.
Nokia Siemens Buys Motorola Unit
Jenna Wortham of the New York Times:
The Motorola unit that Nokia Siemens is buying supplies wireless carriers with the equipment needed to build and maintain cellular networks, including infrastructure for the fourth-generation mobile technologies known as LTE and WiMax.
$1.2 billion. Holy cow.
Droid X Has Apple Scared? I Doubt It.
Apparently, these are the droids consumers have been looking for: Early numbers indicate that the new Motorola Droid X, carried by Verizon Wireless, has been a big hit, selling out online and in many stores since its debut on Thursday. Time to get scared, iPhone 4.
The success of this smart phone compared to its biggest competitor, Apple’s problem-ridden, antenna malfunctioning iPhone 4, has got to be rankling Steve Jobs just a little bit.
Simplenote on Android
Finally, I can kick Evernote to the curb once and for all.
Droid X Locked Bootloader Won’t Self-Destruct
Yes, eFuse will shut down a phone with an unapproved bootloader — but it won’t brick the phone, it just needs “approved software” to be dropped back on there.
In other words, the bootloader is locked, but it won’t kill the device if tampered with. Running custom ROMs is still pretty much impossible, though. In short, the situation isn’t as bad as it looked earlier in the week, but the Droid X is still far less hackable as the Droid.