Wireless data hogs who jam the airwaves by watching video on their iPhones will be put on tighter leashes, an AT&T Inc. executive said Wednesday.
The carrier has had trouble keeping up with wireless data usage, leading to dropped connections and long waits for users trying to run programs on their devices. AT&T is upgrading its network to cope, but its head of consumer services, Ralph de la Vega, told investors at a UBS conference in New York that it will also give high-bandwidth users incentives to “reduce or modify their usage.”
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Droid is Time’s "Gadget of the Year"
Time:
Everybody likes Android, Google’s open-source smartphone operating system. But a smartphone operating system isn’t all that satisfying without an actual kick-ass smartphone wrapped around it. Now Android has one: The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it. The Droid’s touchscreen is phenomenally sharp and vivid, it has an actual physical (not great, but good enough) keyboard, and best of all, the Droid is on Verizon’s best-of-breed 3G network. It’s Android’s first credible challenge to the iPhone.
Chrome Beta is Well ... Beta
Ars:
We have already mentioned a few of the downsides of this beta (lack of bookmark organization, no extensions), but there are other downsides that inevitably come as part of prerelease software. A few Ars staffers have already had Chrome crash during not much more than regular browsing (though I, personally, have not). There’s also the cadre of users who are mounting a campaign against the “toppy tabs” that sit above the address bar—not a detail that I’m in love with, but is also not throwing me for a loop either.
Google Chrome for Mac Enters Beta
Lies? On Twitter? SAY IT AIN’T SO!
Wired highlights some of the widely-spread, widely-believed, totally untrue statements made on Twitter this year:
Bill O’Reilly is gay (Jan.) // Rick Sanchez is high on crack and might not be coming into work today (Jan.) // Britney Spears is dead (March) // Pork gives you swine flu (April) // Google is buying Twitter (April) // Apple is buying Twitter (May) // Prop 8 was overturned (May) // Steve Jobs is dead (June) // Sarah Palin is getting divorced (Aug.) // Kanye West is bisexual (Aug.) // Jeff Goldblum is dead (June) // Zach Braff is dead (Oct.) // Microsoft is buying Twitter (Oct.)
Finally, I Can Tell AT&T How Much They Suck
The sad thing is that they even have to crowd-source this.
This also comes to mind.
Do People Need an Apple Tablet?
Tablet computers have never really taken off, but if rumors are correct, 2010 will be the Year of the Tablet. Jeff Bertolucci of PC World raises a good question, though: do consumers want these things? Here’s an excerpt:
Conceptually, a tablet device is appealing: An 8- or 10-inch LCD color display with touch input — essentially a netbook screen minus the rest of the computer. A tablet could resolve many of the ergonomic limitations of today’s smartphone, namely the small display that limits its usefulness as a Web browser and media player.
My New Man Crush? Mike Rowe
Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel recently filmed a video interview, answering questions submitted by Reddit users. It’s great. Here’s the best question:
Is there any chance you’ll stop having sex with my wife in her dreams? It’s getting pretty old, Mike.
Here are links to the interview on YouTube:
Another Look at the Never-Ending ‘MobileMe vs. Google and Dropbox’ Debate
I’m totally bookmarking this chart.
‘A Game Changer’
Jenna Wortham of the New York Times has written one of the best stories I’ve read about the App Store yet.
I Agree
I want a 3GS with the original aluminum enclosure. Plastic gets slimy.
The Rockefeller Tree
Time has a look back at what has become a national tradition:
Today it’s a multimillion-dollar extravaganza that attracts thousands of tourists every year, but the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree hasn’t always been so glamorous. On Christmas Eve 1931, with the nation mired in the Great Depression, a group of construction workers erected a 20-ft. tree on the muddy site of what would become one of the city’s greatest architectural and commercial monuments. Despite their grim faces, the men had cause to celebrate. Unlike most of their colleagues, they were about to get paid. (Notice the wooden crate at the foot of the tree and the clerk behind it dispensing checks.) Two years later, a Rockefeller Center publicist organized the first official tree-lighting ceremony.