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http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2009/10/500x_wrong_on_internet.jpg

Shouldn't Palm at least be checking to see if the apps are malware?

'cause Apple's application inspection regime has worked well to prevent malware, right?

If your platform security relies on code inspection to catch malware, you're setting yourself up for epic fail.

Is that functionality malware? From post #29585841,

I was curious if this was possible on other devices. Seems like all the big ones have some API functionality to retrieve similar information:

- http://docs.blackberry.com/en/developers/deliverables/8540/Retrieve_phone_number_BB_device_565546_11.jsp Blackberry

- http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2004/11/28/271110.aspx Windows Mobile

- http://www.forum.nokia.com/infocenter/index.jsp?topic=/S60_5th_Edition_Cpp_Developers_Library/GUID-3EB7E846-A29F-4546-B04D-A90B009903EF.html [nokia.com] Symbian (while on casual inspection there appears to be no function to retrieve the phone number, you can retrieve the IMEI, and be notified on events such as phone calls, at which point you can retrieve the caller ID as well as the dialed number)

- http://developer.android.com/reference/android/telephony/TelephonyManager.html Android (requires permissions be granted to the app)

So it's malware on the iPhone, when it's a supported API on a number of other platforms, except Symbian.

OTOH, this is good for Palm - we'll soon be inundated with Norton Antivirus for WebOS, McAfee Antivirus for WebOS, etc. Just like Symbian and I believe WinMo have. After all, we can't have another Liberty virus that afflicted PalmOS devices. (This was named after the Liberty Game Boy Emulator for PalmOS).

And I suppose, good for developers of fart apps, flashlight apps, and other spam apps. Last one was particularly interesting. Helps the Pre's app numbers, though.

Except the whole point of Windows 7 is that it's being re-written from scratch to compete with the iPhone (and other multitouch phones.)

I'm with him on 6.5, but that doesn't necessarily mean 7 will also be a huge failure.

But 6.5, like 6.1 and 6.0, is basically just a facelift to the years-old 5.0. Since 6.0 was launched, Google, Palm, and RIM have rewritten or created new mobile OSes that can hold their own, and here we have Microsoft slapping yet another veneer on their tired old OS. Why isn't 7 out already? Why can't Microsoft even keep up with everyone else?!

As Gizmodo pointed out, the really bizarre thing is that even the Zune is more polished and up-to-date than Windows Mobile. What the hell have the WinMo team been doing for the past five years?!

As much as I love my 22" widescreen LCD monitor, I still miss the crisp, solid, and reliable CRT. This article is a prime example of why we have used CRT's for such a long time. But what I want to know is, why hasn't anyone mass produced a Thin CRT yet? I'm sure all of you remember the articles posted back in 2004 about Samsung developing a Thin CRT. What the hell happened and why did this idea fall through?

Once you find an app that interests you, it just takes one click to acquire it and have it installed on your iPhone.

One click. Oh, and then enter your password. Which better be secure, since it's linked to your credit card number. And a good secure password includes upper case, lower case, numbers, and symbols randomly interspersed, making it a pain in the ass to enter into the iPhone. The app is free? Apple doesn't care, they damn well want your password.

As far as the customers are concerned, the iTunes App Store is a smashing success.

My first generation iPhone is perfectly capable of recording low frame-rate video. Apps have been developed to do exactly that. Where exactly do I download them? Oops. I don't get to, Apple refused to let them ship.

iTunes for Windows is festering crap, and the ITMS on the iPhone itself sucks for following a podcast. I need a dedicated podcast tracking and downloading system. Hey, there's an app for that! Oops, denied. But Apple kindly changed their mind, and simply required the developer to remove all of the useful functionality and turning it into a crippled streaming solution..

I'm a big fan of text adventure games, and I loved that iPhone Frotz could download games from the IFArchive. Oops, Apple disagreed and the functionality had to be removed..

I'd dig an e-book reader that gave be easy access to everything in Project Gutenberg. Apple's okay with that, so long as "everything" means minus historically important books about sex.

I sure would love an app to give me a better interface to Google Voice! Rejected. Remote control of a bittorrent client (not bittorrent on the phone itself, mind you). Rejected. I'm an adult, maybe I'd like some immature but "adult" apps. Rejected.

I'm a customer, and as far as I'm concerned the iTunes App Store a bland mush, not a smashing success. I'm coming up on the end of my contract with AT&T, and I'll be getting something different, something that serves me, not Apple and AT&T. I'm looking at the Android options and the Pre. I was hearing good things about the Pre, but this makes me very wary.

When you pay $599 or $499 for something, and two months later the more expensive version is $100 cheaper than the originally cheaper version - that counts as a new model.
See... it has this unique function that makes it COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the originally released model.

Now... just two months after the most loyal customers bought the original 8GB version - each box comes with TWO PHONES inside instead of just one.
OK... Almost two. They would still have to fork over extra $100.
Even with that iCoupon for $100 that they got for being loyal suck... I mean customers.

And I can just imagine how those who bought the 4GB version felt. They've ended up with a more expensive, yet suckier phone.
I guess it can get worse... One might have his manhood snipped off for an iPhone - followed by the price being snipped off too about a month later.

The 9400m is a lot better than the Intel GMA integrated graphics, especially when you consider that most Mac games were written expressly for ATI and nVidia chipsets. But the 9600 is 50 to 100 percent faster than the 9400m. I suppose that it doesn't matter if you don't play games, or play only relatively undemanding games that "take advantage" of the smallish 1280*800 screen.

If any apps you use are rewritten to take advantage of OpenCL, the 9600 will run them faster.

Or if you have an extra DVD player lying around, you could just take it apart use that to make the macro lens

Unless "yeah he'll with a huge cannon when that should I cheer force or hit back, it."

I hope it's not against Slashdot ethic to quote another blog's commentary, but -- damn. I salute Hilo over on Gizmodo for his better-than-Great-Justice comment. Or Racter; it could have been Racter. Go see it folks - sometimes you need a better source of pure noise than you get here.

From the title I thought TFA was about the Toyota i-Real. Way cooler, it's basically a powered arm chair.

Sort of like this?

http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet

Sorry, I flippantly posted without really R'ingTFA. Apparently is really is Zune-brown:
http://gizmodo.com/5365297///gallery?selectedImage=4

Cardboard PC Case by Lupo.
Another article, from Gizmodo.

PC cases are one thing, but please don't take it too far!

They did it with the monster cables vs a coat hanger. You could probably just grab a $500 violin and pit it against one of these 2 million dollar ones and see. The only problem is that the cost of $2m and $500 vs $150 and a coat hanger is a much bigger monetary difference.

But in 10 years that monster cable will be worth the price of scrap copper and the Strad will probably go from $2M to $5M.

They did it with the monster cables vs a coat hanger. You could probably just grab a $500 violin and pit it against one of these 2 million dollar ones and see. The only problem is that the cost of $2m and $500 vs $150 and a coat hanger is a much bigger monetary difference.

WRT160NL with a bonus USB port for your external hard drive (who said cheap media server?)

http://gizmodo.com/5301321/linksys-wrt160nl-is-fully-linux-powered-80211n-and-acts-as-media-server

What sort of explanation would you like?

A general overview for the layman?

A more thorough overview for the OS enthusiast?

A detailed overview from a developer's perspective?

Looks authentic to mee

It seems that these days, slashdot takes all of its news from gizmodo, wired, and ars. This is news I (and much of the tech community) read already. Please find new sources. As evidenced here.

Say what? There's already one coming: (gizmodo link) in a month .

Open handset alliance has members of basically every phone provider, so don't think that a singular google phone will, nor will have to, take over the iphone. They'll simply have one to fit every person's preference, unlike the iphone.

Yeah, well, I have a Sony XEL-1, you insensitive clod!!

... okay, maybe I don't deserve sympathy for that. It is Sony, after all.

Gizmodo has an excellent article with video from their tour of the Lego factory. It's a must-see for people who like seeing how things are made: http://gizmodo.com/5022769/exclusive-inside-the-lego-factory

There are not OS X Netbooks yet, though.

:) I beg to differ! :) Well, you are right, there aren't any Apple sanctioned netbooks. However,
can you build one based off of Dell's mini 9.

http://gizmodo.com/5156903/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-9-into-the-ultimate-os-x-netbook

Btw, I got the company that I work for to buy me a netbook w/ Ubuntu and it is very nice! :)
They did a good job polishing the OS :) It even included video chat software! :)

Precisely.

I wonder what explanation Apple's engineers have for the laptops that spontaneously smoked & sizzled? I think it's clear the flaw lies in the Lithium battery not the user, and Apple should simply SAY that rather than deny it. Like so: "Dell recently started it's corporate blog called dellone2one.com. One of posts is dedicated to Dell's infamous "flaming notebook" from Osaka. Dell thinks that it was a fault in a lithium ion battery cell, which caused laptop to burn.

"Dell's engineering teams are working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and a third-party failure analysis lab to determine the root cause of this failure and to ensure we take all appropriate measures to help prevent a recurrence", says post. LINK: http://laptoping.com/wp-content/flaming_laptop.jpg LINK: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/sony-beancounters-tremble-as-own-vaio-batteries-come-home-to-roost-208031.php LINK: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/gizmodo-reader-witnesses-ibm-laptop-catch-fire-at-lax-201115.php

I'm glad all my laptops use NiMH, since it's been around quite a big longer (almost 20 years) and the bugs have been removed. I'm sure Lithium batteries will be a great product to own... circa 2020.

Precisely.

I wonder what explanation Apple's engineers have for the laptops that spontaneously smoked & sizzled? I think it's clear the flaw lies in the Lithium battery not the user, and Apple should simply SAY that rather than deny it. Like so: "Dell recently started it's corporate blog called dellone2one.com. One of posts is dedicated to Dell's infamous "flaming notebook" from Osaka. Dell thinks that it was a fault in a lithium ion battery cell, which caused laptop to burn.

"Dell's engineering teams are working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and a third-party failure analysis lab to determine the root cause of this failure and to ensure we take all appropriate measures to help prevent a recurrence", says post. LINK: http://laptoping.com/wp-content/flaming_laptop.jpg LINK: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/sony-beancounters-tremble-as-own-vaio-batteries-come-home-to-roost-208031.php LINK: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/gizmodo-reader-witnesses-ibm-laptop-catch-fire-at-lax-201115.php

I'm glad all my laptops use NiMH, since it's been around quite a big longer (almost 20 years) and the bugs have been removed. I'm sure Lithium batteries will be a great product to own... circa 2020.

Are you honestly claiming to have read every review ever?
Those are all reviews with praise OTHER than "It's better than vista".

In other words: [citation needed].

Atoms are mostly empty space. The photo is of the electric field caused by the electrons.

This photo is better. The article says it is a 20-hour time exposure. The photo was available through a Reddit story yesterday.

Yeah, HTC phones do suck. The Samsung Galaxy is the one I'm waiting for, personally. It looks like it has none of the shortcomings of the HTC phone, and I've never had a Samsung phone that I didn't like (okay, maybe individual gripes, but they makes solid gear). Hopefully they'll be out in the US sometime soon.

Replying to my own post, it looks like BlueTrack specifically disclaims working on glass. However, a different mouse already claimed to work on glass two years ago.

I suppose what I most want is a bit of an overview of what current mouse tech we have and what they're good for.

The Apple response is so funny it is hard to believe it is real. It sounds like something someone would type up mocking Apple like this famous fake ad:

http://cache.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/iProduct.gif

But instead it is some hilariously fake iFCCResponse.gif

Tablet PCs have been here for a long time, but 2 things have changed since earlier. First is the introduction of low cost tablet netbooks like Gigabyte T1028 and Asus T91. Next is really Windows 7 - with its much improved support for handwriting and brand new support for touchscreens. You no longer need to buy a 2000 USD Dell tablet.

So units are being sold, and most manufacturers plan to improve their models after Win 7 comes out in October. For example, Gigabyte is planning to upgrade T1028 to handle multitouch, and Asus will release T101 with Win 7. So the market is definitely being ignited, but whether it will cath fire or not remains to be seen.

So now people will have to put greasy fingers on the screen to do anything ?

Oleophobic coating to the rescue... maybe this is one of the advances that will propel adoption of touchscreens? I remember using touchscreens back in 1994, and the tech was old back then too. Oiling up your screen is one of the reasons I think they never really caught on.

Given that the most-used features of cellphones are things other than talking on the phone (presumably included in the "Other 9%"), I predict that they will become like this Nintendo controller of the future.

Wasn't there also a story a while back about robots fueled by biomass? This was twisted to mean "human eating" and we all laughed. Combine that with what you said and we could have a certified evil, lying and flesh eating robot...

with weapons...

@ethana2

http://lifehacker.com/348653/install-os-x-on-your-hackintosh-pc-no-hacking-required

http://www.hackintosh.com/

http://gizmodo.com/5156903/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-9-into-the-ultimate-os-x-netbook

http://gizmodo.com/5339694/heres-one-way-to-temper-your-road-rage-igun-for-iphone

It's been done already. :)

oh, that and it works with the ipod touch if you buy the kit.

Here is an easier method (version that may make from work).
There are commerical version that do alot better bending job, try http://www.garner-products.com/ for videos and pictures to gladden your hard drive destroying heart.

> I don't know of any energy source that can power airplanes other than carbon-based fuels.
Your unawareness of alternatives doesn't mean that carbon is a requirement for flight. Consider these planes:
Hydrogen
Solar
Electric

...because of crap like this.... ...because of their secret rooms.. ...because they spied on Americans' emails... ...because they provided the NSA with a database of American's phone calls... ...because they used their influence to lobby Congress to retroactively get immunity and hide their activities... ...because of their former CEO's stated views on Network Neutrality...

I'm telling everyone I know to switch to T-Mobile. I get great 3G reception, they will actually unlock my phone after a couple months, they have great customer support (in my experience), visual voicemail, and they support Android. $25/a month for unlimited internet...

I have NO affiliation with T-Mobile aside from using them for a couple years, and I would invite criticism of them so people can make an informed decision. I'm just sayin... in MHO an iPhone isn't worth AT&T. For anyone on the fence, Android is actually pretty damn great.

a $1 netbook?

I saw that offer from a quick search in Google. However, here in Germany those offers are really common ($1 netbook w/contract) and a similar contract with an iPhone is considerably more expensive.

So, using your same logic, a netbook is almost a hundred times cheaper than an iPhone.

Do you have any inside knowledge as to when Apple will fix the dual DVI mini display port "issue"?

http://gizmodo.com/5119858/apples-mini-displayport-to-dual+link-dvi-adapter-has-periodic-distortion-issues

Typical comment on problem: "I don't understand why there's still no fix for this. This adapter isn't exactly cheap either. I'm using an Imac 2.93 Ghz with the crapdapter to a 3007wfp Dell 30" LCD and am experiencing the exact problems as everybody else."

My previous generation MacBook Pro worked fine out-of-the-box with my 30" monitor at its native resolution. The new one didn't, I had to spend $100 to get one that "would" (after being sold the wrong adapter by a Mac store genius) and it's STILL screwing up my display periodically.

"Surprised, why?"

Because it leads to distrust. Distrust leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much distrust in you.

But seriously, it's not just the first link, the entire page is links to articles of why Macs are so expensive. Do that in google and you get Why Windows Vista and Office 2007 are so Expensive. And you could argue "Yeah but a Microsoft search engine is not going to say their own software is expensive", but if you google why does google suck and you get whydoesgooglesuck.com.

Might be just a fluke though, binging (is that a word yet? "Binging"?) Why does Vista suck and you get lots of great articles, but then a search of why does Windows 7 suck and you get nothing relevant compared to the google search that has 7 things we hate about Windows 7 as the first link.

Grow up Microsoft. If you don't give me the info I want I'll go somewhere else.

Mr Balmer, is that you?

Just one question for ya ... If I bing something, won't I end up squirting flying chairs or something?

Not if you use protection!

A Zune Condom is always the right call!

Sure, but submarines are not totally safe. Lets say a group of people manage to board the ship and with some aid from some crew, hey, they have 160 nukes that can reach pretty much an entire continent or more.

Of course, unless one of the "some of the crew" include the Captain, they can't actually arm the weapons. And if they have the captain, well, there are other people they have to have, any one of which can make the weapons unusable.

Plus, of course, the boats with the missiles are either underwater (and therefore the "group of people" can't reach it to take it over), or tied up alongside a subtender full of sailors and marines, in a port full of sailors and marines, all of whom have a very bad attitude about the notion of stealing a boomer.

Or lets say two subs manage to crash into each other as had previously happened ( http://i.gizmodo.com/5154315/two-nuclear-submarines-collide-in-the-atlantic [gizmodo.com] ) and lets say for some reason some safety measures failed and if this happens in a populated area it becomes another Chernobyl even with an incomplete detonation.

Aside from this being impossible (there is no scenario where an "incomplete detonation" can occur - nukes have been present on aircraft that crashed without doing anything other than laying there), there aren't actually too many "populated areas" in the middle of the ocean where these boats spend their time.

The USSR is no longer in power, and a nuke or two is all it takes to neutralize any potential other nuclear threat from a non-stable nation, so why risk it?

Because the USSR isn't the only threat conceivable. It never was, and never will be.

This ignoring the fact that there has never been an accidental detonation of a nuclear device, in ANY of the nuclear powers. So why assume that the risk is meaningful?

Sure, but submarines are not totally safe. Lets say a group of people manage to board the ship and with some aid from some crew, hey, they have 160 nukes that can reach pretty much an entire continent or more. Or lets say two subs manage to crash into each other as had previously happened ( http://i.gizmodo.com/5154315/two-nuclear-submarines-collide-in-the-atlantic ) and lets say for some reason some safety measures failed and if this happens in a populated area it becomes another Chernobyl even with an incomplete detonation. The USSR is no longer in power, and a nuke or two is all it takes to neutralize any potential other nuclear threat from a non-stable nation, so why risk it?

1) Wow. Must be pretty cool to have the richest man in the world read, and write for, your blog. I'm sure there were 9 layers of PR people between Bill and Gizmodo, but still. Damn.

2) Almost as important, 1979 was a good year for Lego, too. I remember the original space sets well.

"I have a feeling that the opinion of Vista will stay largely static forever; it may have introduced new features, but it still wasn't that good. This is already how the public feels about WinME -- it added useful features like System Restore, but it wasn't until XP that those features were incorporated in a good OS."

I couldn't say it better myself. Going XP to Vista feels like 98 to ME. ME was absolutely AWFUL. It took Windows 2000 and finally XP before M$ finally got it right (w2k was good but didn't play the games XP could).

I have a feeling Windows 7 won't be there either, I think it'll be Windows 2000 all over again, a big improvement but not XP. But I really think this might be Microsoft's last chance, I think if anyone could topple M$ it'd be Google's Chrome OS. I know you guys are all linux lovers, but I've tried redhat and ubuntu and it's just not there, not enough to switch. If anyone could convince me to switch it'd be Google. Reviews of Android software have been positive, some calling it the open source iPhone so that shows Google knows what they're doing.

I'll have to get Windows 7 for the laptop because it already has Vista but I'll dual boot into Chrome OS when it's released.

For one shameful example is this gizmodo article which ranks highly on google. It's Fox News-like way they use the headline of an admission. The arcile is long, and Greenpeace sounds quite reasonable in it. At they very end of the article the gizmodo author bolds a bit of Greenpeace's words as the basis for the "admission" in the title. But it it no such thing. It's a pathetic stretching of context worthy of Fox news. (But perhaps you are a fan of Fox news?)

At any rate, Greenpeace took the time to rebut the criticisms on several official lengthy pages.

The gizmodo article makes reference to another article where an "bromine industry group" dismisses googles claims. This is like the tobacco industry dismissing claims of tabacco's harmful elements. It's like oil companies denying global warming. (But perhaps you deny that too?)

Do you have any other references for this claim? You might want to look into them a little deeper.

I posted once AC and that was more because i didn't want the post to have a high rating that to be anon as it was a direct reply to somebody.

Astroturfing is a word in English describing formal political, advertising, or public relations campaigns seeking to create the impression of being spontaneous "grassroots" behavior, hence the reference to the artificial grass, AstroTurf.

I've never given the impression of being anything other than a fan, and as im not associated with the company in any way (other than being a fan), i live on a different continent, i hardly count as astroturfing. Is everybody that post positive comments about something they like, a shill "astroturfing"? Look what happens whenever people mention pandora or do you think openpandora are paying people to sit around and promote their product on slashdot whenever its mentioned?

How can you be a "big fan"

:
It's a touchscreen & tablet device
It's running on open hardware (the change from entirely open specifications to ones they only mail to you if you work in OSS is worrying)
It's running on a much more suitable chipset than x86 for portable devices
It's running linux
The screen is detachable

I'm sorry if your experiences have left you bitter and jaded by products in the past, but if somebody is putting out a good product that I would like to see succeed, I still get excited.

And to add insult, just look at the "real" pictures in the gallery, they are more renders than a toy story movie.

Let me guess you can tell by the pixels? I'm no expert so i can't say either way but i doubt your such a pro either.

the page say they are "expecting" the first units to go out in July (hello, it is mid july and there's nothing),

Again neither of us pre-ordered and so can't really be sure but this suggests that the product isn't just vapourware.