Slashdot Mirror


User: Boycott+BMG

Boycott+BMG's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
135
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 135

  1. Re:I've never understood... on PlayStation 3 Controller On Android Devices · · Score: 3, Informative

    But then I ask something like, "Can I replace the 'telephone' app freely then?" and they nod eagerly and say, "Yep, you totally can, you just jailbreak it like this and-" ...

    If you mean the dialer app, then yes you can replace it, without rooting. In fact, there is very little you must root to do. Off the top of my head I have only had to root to do the following:

    Install custom ROMs/patches.
    Run a personal firewall/ad blocker.
    Run a wireless tether app that doesn't require that I pay the phone company extra.
    Run a VNC server.
    Run a program that over/underclocks my phone.

  2. Re:RTFA: not limited to iPhone, Android almost as on 34% of iPhone Owners Think the 4 Is 4G · · Score: 1

    EVO 4G was extremely popular. Something like 16% of Androids in the US at one point. Sprint has continued with models like Epic 4G, EVO Shift 4G, EVO 3D, and Nexus S 4G.

  3. Re:Typical Mac user... on 34% of iPhone Owners Think the 4 Is 4G · · Score: 1

    The EVO 4G (WiMax) was Sprint's most popular smartphone for a long while. At one point it was 16% of all androids in the US. So, I'd bet that a lot of those 29% are correct.

  4. Been using it for a couple of weeks on Tom's Hardware Dissects Ubuntu 11.4's Interface and Performance · · Score: 1

    I actually didn't find unity to be as horrible as other people were making it out to be. Two things I would fix: 1) Turn off the autohide of the left panel. I hated this so much for the first couple of days until I found some settings to turn it off. 2) The universal (c.f. Macintosh) menu bar at the top also autohides the menu until I mouse over it. I still haven't figured out how to fix that.

  5. Re:Then again... on Motorola CEO Blames Open Android Store For Phone Performance Ills · · Score: 2

    I thought Android already had half that? Here's the first link I found when googling: http://yourmobilesite.net/100-million-active-android-devices-is-android-taking-over-the-world/

  6. Re:Well that's nice. on Sony Encourages Linux On Their Phones · · Score: 1

    Sony Ericsson is owned by both Sony and Ericsson but operates as an independent entity, much like Sony-BMG was. Would it be better if it was named Ericsson-Sony instead?

  7. A little misleading on AT&T Lowers Data Access To Just $500/GB · · Score: 2
    From the press release http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=19623&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=31797&mapcode=consumer%7Cmobile-devices

    NEW: $25 FOR 500MB $5 for 10MB (previously $4.99 for 1MB) $15 for 100MB (previously $19.99)

    It is only $500/GB if someone were to sip 10MB at a time. Although the price for the best deal ($50/GB) is still way higher than those on contract.

  8. Re:My thought: make tablets more like PCs/consoles on Gaming Is the Most Popular Use For Tablets · · Score: 2

    May I suggest an asus eee pad transformer http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=gHh4q7I8dvWJzhdV? It has a detachable keyboard and extra stuff like USB ports and SD card slots. It isn't really moddable to a large degree though.

  9. Re:I remember that episode.. on Tesla Sues BBC's Top Gear For Libel · · Score: 2

    I keep reading misinformation like this and I am starting to wonder if there is some central source where it comes from?

    Anyways, transmission lines losses are at most 10%, usually 5%. A giant power plant is vastly more efficient than what you have in your car. That is why important buildings like hospitals will have diesel generators as backup rather than as the primary source, because getting power off the grid is cheaper (more efficient) than generating your own from a tiny truck size generator.

  10. Re:User replaceable? why? on IPad 2 33% Thinner, 2x Faster, iOS 4.3 · · Score: 1

    I'm sure there have been improvements in LiPo and Li-Ion lifetime, but I find the claim of 1000 cycles for LiPo dubious. Got a link for that? Anyways, according to this link http://www.thermoanalytics.com/support/publications/batterytypesdoc.html Li-Ion can have from 400-1200 cycles and LiPo 400-600 cycles. This link http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/is_lithium_ion_the_ideal_battery also states that Li-Ion can do more charge cycles than LiPO. Perhaps your experience with poor lifetime was on a hot running laptop? Heat is usually the main culprit when we are talking about ridiculously short life for Li-Ion or LiPo.

  11. Re:User replaceable? why? on IPad 2 33% Thinner, 2x Faster, iOS 4.3 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I dunno where you get your information, but Li Ion degrades slower than LiPo. The reason LiPo is used is not because of capacity or extended life, but because the polymer can be made into small thin shapes for use in handheld consumer electronics. Basically anything smaller than a laptop is probably using LiPo.

  12. Re:Who wrote this virus? on Infected Androids Run Up Big Texting Bills · · Score: 1

    I know you are being facetious, but if you have an Android phone on Sprint, then you have a data plan, and those data plans come with unlimited texting by default.

  13. Re:64 Bit RISC on AMD's Fusion APU Pitted Against 21 Desktop CPUs · · Score: 1

    MIPS (the architecture) did this a long time ago. Nowadays everyone is focused on ARM, but ARM isn't the only instruction set that can be low power. The company behind MIPS is still pushing it, and there are even some Android phones out with MIPS after they ported Dalvik to MIPS instruction set. MIPS also has an advantage in that the 64-bit version is already defined.

  14. I hate "mobile" games on Sony Unveils First PlayStation Phone · · Score: 1

    Most of the big, expensive mobile games use a "virtual joystick" which I hate. I tried to get used to them in the diablo clone Dungeon Hunter, but I just couldn't. It was missing the tactile feedback that I need. If this thing takes off to any degree, then I hope it sets a precedent.

  15. Re:That's scandinavians for you .... on After MS-Nokia Pact, Many Nokia Workers Walk Out In Protest · · Score: 1

    Finland isn't Scandinavian, but it is Nordic.

  16. Re:I was physched.... on Kyocera and Sprint Now Hyping a Dual-Screen Android Smartphone · · Score: 1

    FYI, what you are describing is known as handoff, and it is supposed to be implemented in the wimax standard 802.16e-2005. It could be that the tower is older or made from the older wimax standard (originally wimax was meant to be a wireless alternative to cable and dsl. They extended wimax to handle the case of a moving vehicle later.)

  17. Re:I miss small phones on Kyocera and Sprint Now Hyping a Dual-Screen Android Smartphone · · Score: 1

    If you want a small smart phone you could get the Sony-Ericsson Xperia X10 mini/mini pro. Those phones are underpowered and have a low resolution (320x240), but thats the compromise you have to make for a small smartphone. Also they will only be updated to android 2.1.

  18. Re:2GB is far too little for "unlimited" on Verizon To Throttle High-Bandwidth Users · · Score: 3

    A small nit, but I believe Pandora on Android uses 64 kbps HE-AAC. Results in 5 GB/month which is still over the limit, though.

  19. Re:patents, MS on The Abdication of the HTML Standard · · Score: 1

    Perhaps that was when it was officially supported, but I do remember downloading fonts for MathML in Mozilla that predate Firefox. In fact, here's a page from 2003 about those very fonts. http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/projects/intelligent-book/mathml/

  20. Re:patents, MS on The Abdication of the HTML Standard · · Score: 1

    Also, it's not like ie is the only browser to not support mathml. Konqueror doesn't, nor does KHTML which is the basis for many other browsers. Webkit nightlies support it, but this is a rather recent occurance. Gecko supports it, but again, this has only been a relatively recent occurance. (since Gecko 1.8, which is a little less than 2 years old).

    MathML has been in Firefox since forever. I distinctly remember looking at MathML rendering in Mozilla suite before Firefox existed.

  21. Google needs to run faster on Google's Next Challenge, Spam Results · · Score: 1

    Google vs the spammers reminds me of the Red Queen effect in evolution. Basically, google is in an arms race with spammers and other crooks. In order for their search results to remain relevant, google needs to be smarter than the spammers, and constantly on the lookout for any new methods. There is nothing they can 'solve' that the spammers wouldn't find a way around. Perhaps the only way we would ever be rid of spam results is with some sort of AI that automatically adapts to the spam methods. A Google Skynet, if you will.

  22. Re:US on Micro-USB Cellphone Charger Becomes EU Standard · · Score: 1

    I thought all cameras used SD card now? My brother got one of the cheaper ($900) Canon SLR camera 2 years ago, and that one uses SD card.

  23. Re:US on Micro-USB Cellphone Charger Becomes EU Standard · · Score: 1

    Incidentally, being able to pull photos off the camera into Photoshop Express on a tablet is *very* interesting. That's the one capability I don't currently have on my Droid X that would allow me to leave the laptop at home. Being able to pull in photos from a digital SLR, do minor editing, and post from the field from a compact device would be a godsend.

    There is Photoshop Express on the android market. It is ok if I just want to manually adjust contrast, hue, brightness, rotate, or other simple things. It can't do auto-contrast, which I would really like.

  24. Re:open vs closed on Woz Says Android Will Dominate · · Score: 1

    Also, many Android sales are artificially higher due to promotions like Verizon's 2-for-1 offer on Droids...they count that as two sales even though one is likely to be unused or sold at a steep discount. iOS devices aren't sold that way.

    Verizon's 2 for 1 deal requires that you buy a second plan for that "free" phone. So Verizon doesn't care if you don't use it cause you'll still have to pay $2000+ for the plan.

  25. Re:WebM versus H.264 on 80% of Daily YouTube Videos Now In WebM · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apparently you don't understand that there are/were already 10x as many iPhones on the market before Android started to take off, but also that iPhones sold more units than Android last quarter. So I wouldn't say google is *owning*. They are far far behind, and they are falling even further behind. That said, #2 in smart phones is still a nice place to be.

    Android was outselling iPhone worldwide last quarter. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/8125725/Google-Android-becomes-second-most-popular-smartphone-operating-system.html From the article:

    Google's Android operating system now has a market share of 25.5 per cent worldwide, up from 3.5 per cent in the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from Gartner. That means the smartphone platform is now second only to Symbian, which enjoys a 36.6 per cent share, down from 44.6 per cent over the same period the previous year. It puts Google Android well ahead of rival Apple, which has a 16.7 per cent share, and Research in Motion, with a 14.8 per cent share.