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YOU are the sheep because you think that defective gadgets - ones where you need to spend time and energy on maintenance that a PROPERLY designed gadget wouldn't require...

I think you meant to use "perfectly" instead of "properly". All tools require some maintenance, no matter how well designed. Case-in-point: Multiple iPhone OS updates.

I want tools that DO WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO with a minimal amount of hassle and that don't require me to spend tons of time making sure they're in good shape before I use them.

And if you only use the tool for what it's supposed to do, it requires little maintenance. Even Windows, despite its reputation, isn't a terrible OS unless you're trying to install every FreeScreensaver.exe you can find -- in which case, the tool is doing what it's supposed to do but the user isn't knowledgeable about the tool.

When I want to use a web enabled device, I want to just surf the goddamn web. I don't want to spend 30 minutes checking for the latest viruses and exploits, scanning my system, and dealing with all that bullshit - I just want to surf the web and do whatever it is I'm going to do there.

Hm... yet Safari isn't without security flaws either. Remember PWN 2 OWN? (Hint: It's the contest where the Macbook Air got compromised in 2 minutes via an exploit in Safari.) Sounds like you'd give up all Flash-based web content just so you can have a browser that you feel superior about, though it may not actually be more secure.

When I want to install an application on my computer I don't want to have to dick around with making sure permissions are right or that all dependencies are met or any of that - I just want to click as few buttons as possible and then use the application.

Honestly, short of installing Wolfenstein XXII, how often do people check system requirements? The software either has a Windows logo or a Mac logo. And as far as "click as few buttons as possible"... what's so hard about downloading an MSI or DMG and installing? The App Store isn't a bad idea on its own, but using that store as the exclusive distribution channel is a bad idea.

Talk about being a brainwashed sheep!

Indeed!

Face it... Apple can't do wrong in your world. In another post you even claim that Apple releases its products with all features enabled as opposed to MS releasing multiple versions with multiple features. Do you even remember the iPhone's debut? No 3G, no clipboard, and no SMS while every other manufacturer in the market had models with those features. Enjoy the Kool-Aid...

AT&T now allowing iPhone VoIP calls over 3G

AT&T Greenlights VoIP For the iPhone

I've heard no plans of a Google tablet

Here:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/msi-shows-off-10-inch-android-tablet-running-new-tegra-chipset/

Now you've heard of one, it will reportedly be available later this year for $500.

T-mobile has some trademarks on the color Magenta. Not kidding.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/09/know-your-rights-does-t-mobile-really-own-magenta/

The article also has good info on the trademarking of colors in general.

there is no confirmation one way or the other on that

Engadget played around with one.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/apple-ipad-first-hands-on/

There's no multitasking at all. It's a real disappointment. All this power and very little you can do with it at once. No multitasking means no streaming Pandora when you're working in Pages... you can figure it out. It's a real setback for this device.

Nope

According to Engadget it doesn't multitask at all.

That's the deal killer for me.

I have tried a bunch of eInk devices and they are complete junk. I have been waiting for a mainstream LCD-based electronic reader.

While I prefer eInk myself, I can understand that this is highly subjective, and that some people would prefer more traditional screens. That said, for a reader, I think that an OLED screen would be preferable (which iPad doesn't have), so if I were you, I'd rather be looking forward to ASUS DR-570.

Ironically, that one has 3G, and is more compact, so it may turn out to be a better "web tablet" than iPad, as well as a better ebook reader.

$499 according to Steve Jobs for the base model.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live-from-the-apple-tablet-latest-creation-event/

GSM is 2G
Telus has HSPDA (or commonly called HSPA).
No GSM-only phone will work on Telus or Bell.

Many new 3G phones can use Both, so an unlocked phone can be on either network by just switching sim cards.
Besides having the same Tech. The phones must also support the specific frequencies used by that carrier.
Many European 3G phones will not work in North America.

It is rumored that Telus will get both the Milestone and perhaps even the Opus one this year.

Enter Disney Keychest
http://topnews.net.nz/content/2686-disney-project-aims-play-film-any-device
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/disney-keychest-to-make-buy-once-view-anywhere-movies-a-reality/

Maybe not applicable to games/mp3/etc. just yet. But consider this:
A vendor-neutral system to manage bought and paid for digital licenses. It doesn't matter if iTunes goes belly up, because your license lives on in the keychest.
I know, I know. It's disney and all. Evil corporations shouldn't mess with this. BUT! It is a good idea, and a step in the right direction. Now if only we could get Keychest out of the hands of captain jack sparrow, erhm, I mean Disney, it would be perfect.

This tab thing makes Slashdot front page and the following didnt? Windows 7 way hotter than Vista off the line, now more popular than all OS X versions. Okay then...

How is this tab things news or interesting at all? Here is what Brittany Behrens a PM for the editor team said:

Hi Brien,

Thank you for logging this issue. Before making this change we solicited feedback on the decision to combine Tab Size and Indent Size from a wide variety of sources, including public blog posts and forum threads, and found that the vast majority of user feedback was in favor of combining the two. If its seriously impacting your code to have Tab Size always equal Indent Size, it is possible to write a short editor extension to override the Tools->Options dialog and set the two options separately. If thats something youd be interested in, please let me know and Ill see about posting sample code for how to do this.

Im resolving this issue as By Design because we intentionally combined these options for VS 2010, but please feel free to post again here if you have any further questions or comments and well be happy to help.

Thanks for trying Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and sending your feedback!

Brittany Behrens

Program Manager, VS Platform - Editor

(bolding above mine for emphasis)

Gee, the team solicited comments, did some research and made a change that people wanted. Of course, any change will make somebody unhappy.

Brittany even volunteered to give folks a simple editor extension to make the settings different for those that want it. My assumption is that anyone using Visual Studio is a developer and capeable of using such an extension, or writing it themselves. It is not difficult.

-Foredecker

I keep seeing the N900 on /. yet all the reviews I've read paint it as mediocre.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/19/nokia-n900-review/

"And to jab the Apply fanboys - Apple releases OS updates YEARLY for $130. MS fanboys have had the pleasure of paying $200 retail (or $140 OEM w/ a mouse or stick of ram, or anything else cheap), for 5 years"

I'm still running OS X 10.2, 10.3, and 10.4 systems, just as I'm still running some Windows 2000 and XP machines. Just because a new OS update is sold doesn't mean you have to buy it.

"So, back to reality, if you stole Windows, expect the genuine advantage to show up. And I love it, you know why? Because I'm a legitimate sysadmin, and when I load on Windows XP, Server, or even Linux (Redhat, or another one with support) I purchase the program, and make sure my clients are fully licenced."

I also make sure my machines are fully licensed. That's why I complain bitterly about a program continuously running in the background that does no good for me at all, and which can occasionally incorrectly claim my system is illegitimate. WGA is one of the first things I disable after installing my legitimate copies of Windows. It is one of several ways that you can optimize Windows performance and reliability. That Microsoft chose to foist it on unsuspecting users as a "critical security update", when it was nothing of the sort, is unethical.

"Back in reality", what will you tell your clients when this happens again?

Wasting resources trying to attack a ghost like Linux, where there is no one corp they can go after...

But they keep attacking, don't they? TomTom, Novell, Lindows, other attacks from 1998 to 2007.

And, since 2003 MS has considered Linux their number two threat.

Microsoft disagrees with you.

You sir, are just plain wrong.

Wikipedia: Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution

Evolved EDGE improves on EDGE in a number of ways. Latencies are reduced by lowering the Transmission Time Interval by half (from 20 ms to 10 ms). Bit rates are increased up to 1 MBit/s peak bandwidth and latencies down to 800 ms using dual carriers, higher symbol rate and higher-order modulation (32QAM and 16QAM instead of 8-PSK), and turbo codes to improve error correction.

Wikipedia: Evolution-Data_Optimized

These changes included the introduction of several new forward link data rates that increase the maximum burst rate from 2.45 Mbit/s to 3.1 Mbit/s. Also included were protocols that would decrease connection establishment time (called enhanced access channel MAC), the ability for more than one mobile to share the same timeslot (multi-user packets) and the introduction of QoS flags. All of these were put in place to allow for low latency, low bit rate communications such as VoIP. In the United States, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel have migrated 100% of their EV-DO Rev.0 networks to EV-DO Rev. A.

In a survey (Gearlive) Verizon's 3G had an average download speed of 1,940 Kbits/sec (about 2Mbps/sec). Compare that to AT&T edge speed tests (Engadget) where AT&T's edge network ran 264Kbits/sec.

Thus, as far as I can tell from a theoretical perspective (based on the technology) Verizon's 3G is three times faster (3Mbps compared to 1Mbps) than AT&T's EDGE. In the real world the difference is worse though, with Verizon showing over 7 times faster performance (1940 Kbits compared to 264 Kbits). As someone who has used both, let me say that matches with my own personal experience.

A survey by J.D.Powers showed T-Mobil and Verizon pretty much tied in customer satisfaction. TM is cheap, friendly, and competent, VZ has best signal quality. Another survey checked top plans and top signal and had similar results. I fear before you can find the best, you will have to define best for you.

To muddy the waters, it seems that Sprint and Verizon struck a deal to let Sprint customers use the Verizon data network. I'm not sure how that plays for you, clearly people who value call quality now have another way to get it.

h.264 might be incredible, but I have no way of playing it on my TV.

Cough.

Sorry, but there's plenty of other options out there that are extremely affordable and will happily play h.264.

Boy was THAT the wrong link. My bad, folks, Here's the Engadget article: Engadget

Don't be a troll: http://mobile.engadget.com/2006/12/18/sprint-users-can-get-their-data-served-verizon-style/

It has nothing to do with phones. The patents Nokia have are essential to the GSM standard, and are thus licensed for a reasonable price to members of the standards body, which Apple apparently don't want to be a member of. More here.

I might believe some of this if it survived double-blind testing. Without that, you're just comparing Monster Cables to coat hangers.

"Thin" CRTs from a few years back got down to 16" thick. Without the need for powerful magnets, you could probably use even thinner displays assuming you had accurate enough galvanometers for addressing edge pixels.

The TFA talks about the war between Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) from 6 of the big movie studios versus Keychest from Disney. But the important this is that Keychest is not DRM . As the name implies its a Key management service, proposed by Disney. It needs DRM such as DECE or Apple's Protected AAC stuff to work. The TFA's author doesnt seem to grasp the basic difference.

You should be sorry, because this IS big time news.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/qualcomm-mirasol-display-video-hands-on-in-glorious-1080p/

'Nuff said!

Then you haven't seen Qualcomm's Mirasol display tech. It is flippin' awesome:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/qualcomm-mirasol-display-video-hands-on-in-glorious-1080p/

Not only is it full color and full motion, but they even claim 6x better energy efficiency. What's not to like?!

But which one of these smartphones is going to let me install Ubuntu 9.10 and let me have root ? That's all I want. A pocket computer with wireless Internet that can make and receive phone calls, and that will let me do "apt-get install " Also let's not go over the board with the size. That LG phone is not going to fit in my pocket, and I don't want to get a purse. http://www.engadget.com/photos/lg-gw990-hands-on/2595625#2595617

I know this is news because Intel has said its got a new product to launch for laptops, but full-definition HD is already being streamed wirelessly. Check out the top-end Panasonic Z1 plasma.

See a review(pdf) of the TV, which does mention the wireless aspects:

Streaming Full HD video and high-res audio is no mean feat. It takes considerable bandwidth to ensure a constant and clean feed of 1080p24 footage over 10 metres, yet the gizmos here perform that task admirably. Not once during testing was the signal interrupted or hampered by additional artefacts. Admittedly, I remained within the recommended catchment area, but it is highly unlikely that, with a set like this, you'll set the separate media box more than 32 feet away. And anywhere within that area offers as clean an image as a normal HDMI cable is capable. That's it.
There's no more to it than that. To be honest, it's weird being so impressed by something actually doing what's it's meant to, but I am. And you will be too.

It uses WirelessHD which is (I guess) designed for home theatre, but it should work with any HDMI port - so your laptop could send out wireless signals using this too, it doesn't need any fancy processing from the CPU or OS (as if my cheapass DVD player works with it, my $2000 laptop should be able to!)

It doesn't have super range (32 feet), but it does 10Gbps by all accounts, and 4k support (that's 4x the resolution of 1080p) in the next version.

Well, I have an iPod Touch and a Droid. I don't experience any of the problems you mentioned,

Well, maybe the Droid has a fast enough processor to cope. Hopefully, the Nexus has too. The Hero is ok lacks the responsiveness to make the illusion work as well as on the Apple.

and multitouch is turned off (by default) because Apple has a patent for it.

Well there seems to be some doubt over the broadness of that patent. My Hero (urgh!) has pinch-to-zoom in the browser, and other devices have implemented it...

As for OS upgrades, how's that Apple G5 desktop running Snow Leopard?

On the one hand, we're talking about a computer that was at least 3 years old before Apple dropped PPC support from new products, and who's obsolescence was widely reported in 2005. It will still run the last-but-one version of OS X (10.5) which is mature, stable and likely to be maintained for some time yet.

On the other hand, we're talking about a 6-month old phone (often tied to an 18 month contract) with a fairly new, rapidly evolving OS. So far, its 3 releases behind although, to be fair, the Hero definitely might be getting a bump to 2.1 sometime this year, if your carrier can be arsed to distribute it.

Maybe the other Android phones have fared better...

1)
the iPhone and touch keyboard are the best out there for that screen size, I wish my G1 implemented a similar style.

2)
You need t get the right kind of glove.

I use these:

http://www.rei.com/product/305045

or make your own using conductive thread:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/03/diy-touchscreen-gloves-are-as-simple-as-a-few-stitches/

3)
The iPhone touch screen is awesome, and I wish they would enable multipoint touch on my G1.
I find it useful as hell on my iPod Touch. I'm not sure what you are doing, or what you mean by 'actual work'.

I would have got one, but it is/was lacking features compared to the G1. TO many to give up in exchange for a more stylish phone with a great UI.

If T-Mobil comes out with a family plan for the Nexus one, I'll grab one in a heart beat.

No one want's to have to deal with 3-D that requires you wear glasses or contact lenses or what not,

The expectation is that in roughly 5 years consumer-grade displays will be able to do 3D without the need for any glasses.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/16/hitachi-exhibits-10-inch-glasses-free-3d-display/
http://hd.engadget.com/2009/05/11/ny-storefront-hosts-the-first-no-glasses-3d-lcd-ad/

No one want's to have to deal with 3-D that requires you wear glasses or contact lenses or what not,

The expectation is that in roughly 5 years consumer-grade displays will be able to do 3D without the need for any glasses.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/16/hitachi-exhibits-10-inch-glasses-free-3d-display/
http://hd.engadget.com/2009/05/11/ny-storefront-hosts-the-first-no-glasses-3d-lcd-ad/

I'm glad you are asking for evidence. General evidence:
http://roboticnation.blogspot.com/
http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/2009-November/005926.html

I mentioned robot garbage trucks as an alternative and cited the DARPA grand challenge as evidence such were possible. Just look at US military plans for self-driving vehicles for more predictions by hard-nosed people of what is likely to be around in ten years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Grand_Challenge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_car#History

Just because flying cars did not happen for everyone (there are some prototypes by the way), doesn't mean logically it makes sense to deny self-driving cars won't happen for most people. Safety concerns alone with an aging population who wants to stay mobile will drive their adoption. You can already buy Hondas in the UK that drive themselves on highways.
"Honda Accord ADAS auto-pilot system takes the reins"
http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/30/honda-accord-adas-auto-pilot-system-takes-the-reins/
"We've heard of radar assisted cruise control, that has certain luxury cars running at set speeds on the highway, but slows them down or speeds them up when they get too close to a car in front or behind. Well now Honda UK is taking it to another level with their Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) that not only regulates your speed, but manages the turning, allowing you a full auto-pilot system for your Accord when you're out on the freeway. The Adaptive Cruise Control is your regular radar variety, but the Lane Keep Assist System keeps you headed in the right direction by using a camera on the rear-view mirror to watch the white lines and turn accordingly. Honda was quick to point out that their system isn't exactly set up for you to take a nap, since the ADAS system will beep every 10 seconds to make sure you're paying attention, requiring you to touch the steering wheel to inform the car you're still in charge, but we're sure someone is going manage an accident and an ensuing lawsuit or three out of this "convenience"."

So, your skepticism is way behind the reality of these things.

Note that compared to a century ago when many women and children worked in mines, mining is much more pleasant and already heavily automated (including the use of explosives to do the work of many people). Here is an NPR story on that:
"Could Robots Replace Humans in Mines?"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12637032
"So far, the U.S. mining industry has shown little interest in funding such research. The robots are expensive and mining companies have little incentive to spend money developing and deploying them. Advances in other technology have already reduced the number of miners in the U.S. by more than two-thirds, compared with 40 years ago. Today, only about 100,000 people work in the coal-mining industry. Partly for that reason, and partly because of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the in the past. Since 1990, fatalities have declined by 67 percent, and injuries by 51 percent, according to the National Mining Association."

So, they are not really trying very hard because humans are forced to do the jobs for money. But it could be mostly automated if we wanted to.

As for robotic material handling systems, there are plenty of them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWsMdN7HMuA

This Engadget review addresses Nexus vs. Droid in some depth:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/04/nexus-one-review/

Like most recent android phones the hardware supports multi-touch. Also like most recent android phones multi-touch isn't used in the basic interface by Google, supposedly because of legal threats from Apple. (No, i haven't seen anything specific about those supposed threats, though i have seen an analysis claiming that Apple doesn't actually have a patent on "pinch to zoom." So i dunno what's actually up with the supposed legal threats. Anyone have a link they want to share?)

However there's nothing preventing other developers from using multi-touch in their apps. So if someone wants to add multi-touch to a game they're writing for Android app store there's nothing stopping them as far as i know.

This fits with a tablet. http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/02/new-apple-bluetooth-keyboard-arrives-at-the-fcc-new-mouse-rumor/

    Carry the tablet around, touch screen, at home or at the office, or on the table at galaxy caffeine bux. Seamless synch with the keyboard and mouse, you now have a netbook/notebook thing. Also could be synched/tethered auto-apple-magically with the iPhone providing the connectivity needed. I would also imagine they have a tweaked safari to make all this work well, so you can transition from phone screen to tablet. Heck, that would give you two screens to use as well, simultaneously, a small portable "dual monitor" set up. Like your important work stuff on the iPhone screen, and "world of facewarbook craft" going on the iSlab. Ya know, *priorities*...

In the mean time you can use this 10.1" touchscreen handset

except it is a fake, unless you dont see how it registers button presses before guys finget gets close to the screen

In the mean time you can use this 10.1" touchscreen handset

Apple says Nokia's patents aren't actually essential to GSM / UMTS, denies infringing them, and says they're invalid and / or unenforceable anyway. Apple also says Nokia wanted unreasonable license terms for the patents, including a cross-license for Apple's various iPhone device patents as part of any deal, which Apple clearly wasn't willing to do.

I don't live in NYC, but I have to say it was very disconcerting the first time I encountered the MMS issue where a friend sent me a photo, and it appeared to come from some random number 8 states away. The same occurred if I sent a picture, although it showed as coming from a local number, but still the wrong number. Fortunately or not, the random phone numbers didn't appear to get a copy of the messages, but if you weren't paying attention and just replied to the message, then that reply would go to the wrong number.

Breaking News! Company plans on updating a successful product line!

Seriously, why is this news? We all know that a new revision will come down the road at some point. The only "new" information here (for me at least) is the ordering of the 5mp cameras...

What I found more interesting than what's posted here, is what Engadget reported yesterday:

The most interesting word, however, comes out of the Silicon Alley Insider, who is quoting a "plugged-in source in the mobile industry" who says that Apple is working with some select app makers on prepping high-res apps to demo on a "new, larger mobile device."

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/apple-planning-event-for-january-with-high-res-iphone-or-small/

This is NEWS, because pretty much all major carriers have caught up with the iPhone (both OS and Hardware) in terms of what they offer. The question is, will Apple be able to increase the gap once again with a new revision of both the Hardware and OS of a new device ? What new features can they establish that can steer them apart ? The original iPhone was major because Multi-touch was still in its infancy, but now what new feature(s) are they going to cook up if any ?

The most interesting word, however, comes out of the Silicon Alley Insider, who is quoting a "plugged-in source in the mobile industry" who says that Apple is working with some select app makers on prepping high-res apps to demo on a "new, larger mobile device."

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/apple-planning-event-for-january-with-high-res-iphone-or-small/

Engadget did a similar test a year-ish ago. AT&T was leaps and bounds faster than Verizon's 3G, in fact AT&T's 2G tested as fast as Verizon's 3G, and the latency was measurably lower on AT&T as well, at least where they tested the four providers: [engadget]

Here you go.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/20/i-engadget-com-engadget-for-your-iphone-or-ipod-touch/

And here is their blatant claim about 95.8% of ALL mobile views -
"So far in 2008, the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod touch account for some 95.8% of all mobile views on the full site."

I would fully recommend at least going with 104 inch's as one can never have a TV too big...

http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/19/panasonics-103-incher-gets-model-price/

So cheap too.... I can only imagine what the 3D version would cost lol

Blah, here's the engadget link, the chart is embedded. http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/18/iphone-nabs-46-pecent-of-japanese-smartphone-market-the-tiny-ja/

Engadget Mobile provides a better perspective:

iPhone nabs 46 pecent of Japanese smartphone market, the tiny Japanese smartphone market

So you read a headline like "iPhone grabs 46 percent of the Japanese smartphone market" and the first thing you're likely to think is, "wow, Apple is really doing well for itself." Well, it is and it isn't. While it has made some considerable gains in the smartphone market at the expense of phones like Sharp's W-ZERO3 and the Willcom 03, it still hasn't gained nearly the same total mindshare or market share that it has over here. That's because "smartphones" as we know them are still a relatively small market in Japan, where carriers' lineups consist of a whole range of offerings including everything from mobile TV-equipped phones to true camera phones to perfume holders.

Source

That's a good option for playing videos. But what makes VLC VLC, and not just VC, is the LAN support. VLC can pretty easily be set up as a video server as well as a player. You can't do this with Mplayer.

this story reminded me of this http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/video-wiimote-controlling-a-15-ton-grapple/ ... its amazing how many uses there are for what is marketed as a toy for children and the elderly....

Well in that case... you're probably right about Larrabee. Microsoft's scheduler isn't ready for this hardware, but OS-X has Grand Central Dispatch so it would behoove Microsoft for it to not come out yet. But it does seem more likely that Intel's unable to get it to work or can't get the SDK ready than that someone convinced them it was a bad idea.

About Snapdragon I'm not so sure...