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Google Posts Images, Binaries For New Nexus 7
In the wake of AOSP maintainer Jean-Baptiste Quéru's resignation, there was speculation that there would be no factory images or binary drivers released for Google's new Nexus 7 tablet. Happily, that's not the case — whatever other open source gaps there are in the Android world, Ars reports that those images and binaries have been released for the Nexus 7.
Get an iPad instead, there's more apps and the ecosystem is far far more secure anyway.
I'll take neither. Apple is one of the few companies I trust less than Google.
Google and apple are evil on the same level. If you think either are better than th other you are fooling yourself.
Every season the usual idiots tell us Google won't release the source and binaries for new, proper Android devices, and every season the usual idiots are proven wrong. Why does Slashdot keep dribbling this same old rubbish?
There is ZERO mystery as to what Android is, or what strategy it is pursuing. Too many cretins who claim some expertise in computing actually don't know the first thing about the subject. Look at all the morons who claim 'protected path' for DRM video rendering in Android somehow "locks the device down". One minute of research explains exactly what the 'protected path' initiative actually is, and how it will NEVER infringe on the ability to decode non-DRM video.
The REAL question about Google's relationship with Android is when they will finally release the DESKTOP version, and provide a free alternative to XP, Vista, Win7, Win8 and all the funny Linux distributions no-one wants to use that way. Most Android hardware is already far better than the first PCs that ran XP. Google merely has to choose a windows interface and shell, and stand behind that choice. The current Android kernel and API sets are already good enough (although they can always be improved for the coming muti-core 64-bit ARM parts).
In the meantime, the new Nexus 7 is a killer tablet that shames Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Nvidia. It projects Qualcomm to the top of the game as the 'new' Intel. And this is before Qualcomm even goes A15 or one of the new 64-bit cores. And worse for Intel, Qualcomm has the leading GPU solution in its space.
Again, for those to thick to get it- Google is NOT going to close source Android. It is NOT going to prevent you from watching your own videos, or reading your own books, regardless of the source or the file format. This would be technically impossible, since by design Android gives apps access to their own rendering surface, just like Windows. Now, if only Google would make the new Android (desktop version) as much like XP on the surface, a true workhorse desktop/laptop OS for people who need to get things done, we could actually move into a true post-Microsoft era.
I am a long time Apple fanboy, really love the iPad. But honestly, I am starting to get annoyed with some missing customizations that Android has had for ages. Not talking themes.
For example: Intents. iOS 6 looked like Apple was headed that way with the way you share pictures or links. However, only a few select companies are integrated with it. I want to be able to add a screenshot right into Evernote. Use a different "read later" provider. I use Chrome on the desktop, which doesn't integrate with iCloud reader. Same thing goes for bookmarks. I use xmarks for syncing across multiple machines and I primarily use Chrome. Xmarks is also awesome for having work profiles. iOS xmarks integration is very limited because of Apple.
Widgets: I can't believe that after all these years of widgets in OS X they haven't brought them over to iOS. It would be very nice to have a dashboard for lets say system status at work. I don't want anything too abusive on system resources, but allowing one of these widgets to update in the background or via notifications would be awesome.
I was honestly considering picking up a Nexus 7 once the LTE version is announced. The announcement of factory images for the Nexus 7 has sealed the deal for me. Will I customize it to that level ? Not sure. But I would like the option.
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Oh why am I responding to this? Dumb I guess.
The whoie thing about Google devices and the AOSP is that people can get the source and make their own custom (filtered and examined) system load. And the reason many of us will use the Google devices at all is because of AOSP. AOSP gives us the chance to trust the platform a little more than we would if it were completely closed.
Now there are lots of binary blobs in this and that's disturbing enough, but at least it narrows down potential sources of any compromises of unwanted data movement and such. (And there are definitely people who are watching the data I/O from their devices. We've had some stories right here on Slashdot on that very topic.)
But the other thing I wanted to add to this is that while "the drama is over" the damage is still done. We lost a guy with much experience on the matter. (I don't know the guy personally. Was he good at his job? Don't know... but who is doing it now?)
Trusting Google is a hard thing to do. It's getting harder and harder. But trusitng Microsoft and Apple is even harder still. So there just aren't so many options.
I have a tag in my car dock that turns on GPS, bluetooth and maxes screen brightness(It could set car mode, but I don't like it). Use it multiple times a day, but I guess that's not in the wild enough for some people.
If sharing a song makes you a pirate, what do I have to share to be a ninja?
Trusting Google is a hard thing to do.
The really funny thing is that this conversation about it being hard to trust Google is in response to an article disclosing that Google has fulfilled its promises and, indeed, been trustworthy.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
That's because they're loyalty cards. They don't really care about security and they want something that's cheap for them and which doesn't require their customers to own a smartphone. But as of a year+ ago, all new/renewed Visa and Mastercard plastic in Canada comes with "contact" transaction capability. Unfortunately, NFC also happens to be fundamentally insecure and makes it easy for somebody to charge up to $100 on your card elsewhere. I have a Faraday cage wallet because I've been burned once and the last thing I want is the same thing on my phone.
Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde. - Voltaire
That's how iOS is designed to be. It's pretty much all-or-nothing, you use Apple products for everything or you can't integrate/sync your stuff.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Is there a point of posting images of the phone nowadays? They all look the same.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
They are "evil" in different ways.
Apple is strongly pushing locked down "curated computing" devices where you have little choice* but to buy all your apps from their appstore
Google is providing devices where there are officially allowed (i.e. unlikely to dissapear) ways to unlock the bootloader and do whatever you like to the device and are releasing the sourcecode for their OS (minus a handful of third party blobs). OTOH they are also pushing software as a service and all the crap that brings with it (features you need can dissapear at any time and you have no recourse, your data is far more readilly available to the spooks than it would be on your own machines). Then there is the whole fiasco of replacing talk (open federated platform) with hangouts (closed platform).
* You can register as a developer for an annual fee or you can hack the device in ways that are unsupported and may become unusable at any time.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
If Google was trustworthy we'd have the source for blobs and there wouldn't have been a delay in the first place
Google still doesn't own all that source. And you really can't expect the source to Google Apps themselves. You get source to everything you need to run the device, except for drivers. That's not up to Google.
I have my own concerns about Google but your objections aren't among them, because they are nonsensical.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Google still doesn't own all that source.
They are in charge. They make the choices about who to partner with and under what agreements.
No, no they don't. Google selects from the available choices. They don't get to write their own ticket. None of the available choices provides what you want. nVidia is beginning to, so you will have a valid complaint eventually.
And you really can't expect the source to Google Apps themselves.
Then they shouldn't use GPL components. At least Apple got it right and went with BSD.
And in this case, you'll have a point when you can show that the Google Apps contain GPL code. You don't understand the licenses you're complaining about.
Fuck you too.
You'd need a ladder.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Trusting Google is a hard thing to do.
The really funny thing is that this conversation about it being hard to trust Google is in response to an article disclosing that Google has fulfilled its promises and, indeed, been trustworthy.
True,
But AOSP means I dont have to trust Google if I dont want to.
Using Occams razor, there are enough skilled people in the community to know if there is any malicious code maintained by Google and that its not possible that all of them are in on the conspiracy (the more people in a conspiracy the less secret it is, the whole "information wants to be free" thing).
People complain that google wants to sell ads and collect some personal information (to sell presumably), Apple and Microsoft are doing the same thing (read the Itunes EULA, Apple reserves the right to sell your information to third parties) however the big difference between Google and Apple/Microsoft is that Google are honest about doing it.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.